A 14th-inning Walk-Off & Julio Franco’s Historic Grand Slam -- Random HR History for Week of 3/3

Come for the random homers, stay for a fact about one stone-cold (and well-traveled) slugger.

Baseball (that counts!) is closer than ever now that spring training games are in full swing. But until the regular season starts, you get a chance to see which random players/moments I’ve been thinking about recently.

And since you’re on this email list, you get a sneak peek of what I’m sharing for the upcoming week before everyone else does. Enjoy!

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Monday, 3/3

8/15/2015: Chris Davis sent the Orioles home happy with a walk-off win after flipping this ball into the right-field stands.

Craig Biggio hit his first and last MLB homers almost exactly 19 years apart. His first tater came on 8/22/1988 and his final homer came on 8/21/2007.

10/8/1973: Rusty Staub powered the Mets to a 9-2 NLCS Game 3 win with a two-homer performance.

Tuesday, 3/4

9/10/2010: Bobby Abreu put an end to a 14-inning marathon between the Mariners and Angels with this walk-off homer.

10/13/1999: Bernie Williams won ALCS Game 1 for the Yankees with this walk-off homer in the Bronx against the Red Sox.

10/3/2014: Eric Hosmer’s first postseason homer was this go-ahead two-run missile for the Royals in the 11th inning of ALDS Game 2.

Wednesday, 3/5

4/13/2013: Jhonny Peralta extended the Tigers’ lead over the A’s by slugging a three-run homer.

9/15/1991: Ray Lankford hit for the cycle against the Mets. He finished the year by placing third in NL Rookie of the Year voting after swiping 44 bases and hitting a league-leading 15 triples.

9/25/2014: Nick Markakis led things off for the Orioles with this home run against Hiroki Kuroda at Yankee Stadium.

Thursday, 3/6

6/27/2005: Julio Franco became the oldest player to hit a grand slam, doing so at the age of 46.

8/15/2015: Ian Desmond hit an absolute tank against the Giants at Oracle Park. Bryce Harper still might be in awe of the blast.

7/18/2015: Kole Calhoun’s second home run of the game extended the Angels’ lead over Boston. He appeared quite certain it was gone once it left his bat.

Friday, 3/7

10/4/1989: Kevin Mitchell extended the Giants’ NLCS Game 1 lead over the Cubs after slugging a three-run blast at Wrigley Field. He dropped some knowledge before going deep, too.

6/13/1997: Ray Durham led off an interleague matchup between the White Sox and Reds with this home run.

4/24/2009: Kevin Youkilis helped push the Red Sox past the Yankees with an 11th-inning walk-off homer at Fenway Park.

Saturday, 3/8

10/30/2019: Howie Kendrick’s clutch dinger gave the Nationals a World Series Game 7 lead in Houston.

5/25/2009: Milton Bradley helped push the Cubs ahead of the Pirates with this two-run homer.

4/4/2005: Kenny Lofton celebrated Opening Day at Citizens Bank Park by slugging this three-run homer for the Phillies.

Sunday, 3/9

8/2/2009: Cody Ross enjoyed a two-homer day for the Marlins and capped his performance with a walk-off tater.

4/10/1998: Steve Finley hit a walk-off grand slam to help push the Padres past the Dbacks. He finished the year with a .702 OPS 14 homers and 67 RBI in 159 games played.

10/15/2015: Daniel Murphy gave the Mets a lead in NLDS Game 5 with this go-ahead homer in the sixth inning.

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Gary Sheffield Hit Lots of Homers For Lots of Teams

Nobody played on more teams during their big-league career en route to reaching the 500-homer club than Gary Sheffield. He suited up for eight clubs:

• Los Angeles Dodgers: 129 homers

• Florida Marlins: 122

• New York Yankees: 76

• Atlanta Braves: 64

• Detroit Tigers: 44

• San Diego Padres: 43

• Milwaukee Brewers: 21

• New York Mets: 10