Adam Dunn’s Walk-Off Grand Slam & Rick Camp’s Improbable Pitcher Dinger – OTD in HR History For Week of 6/30
We also have the anniversary of Albert Pujols' 300th homer and a couple of Rickey Henderson leadoff bombs to enjoy this week.
With MLB’s regular season in full swing, my weekly home run videos have shifted from being random to looking at what happened on each specific day in home run history.
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!
Monday, 6/30
6/30/2006: The Reds were down to their final out, but Adam Dunn took care of business by blasting this walk-off grand slam.
6/30/2012: Yasmani Grandal collected his first two MLB hits. They were home runs, with one coming from each side of the plate.
6/30/1998: Sammy Sosa ended an insane June with his 20th homer of the month for the Cubs. That’s still a record for the most homers in one month.
Tuesday, 7/1
7/1/2006: Down to their last strike against the Cubs, A.J. Pierzynski blasted this three-run homer to give the White Sox a ninth-inning lead.
7/1/2015: Justin Smoak impressed lots of people with this tank at the Rogers Centre, including his teammates in the dugout.
7/1/2016: Brandon Nimmo’s first career homer was this three-run shot for the Mets at Citi Field.
Wednesday, 7/2
7/2/1993: Cecil Fielder hit the roof at Tiger Stadium with this two-run homer for Detroit.
7/2/2006: Justin Morneau hit a missile out to right field for the Twins at the Metrodome. He finished the year with 34 homers, 130 RBI, and the AL MVP Award.
7/2/2022: Justin Upton slugged his first (and only) home run of the year for the Mariners. A+ call in the booth, too.
Thursday, 7/3
7/3/1995: In a 15-10 win at Coors Field, Andres Galarraga collected six hits, which included two homers and five RBI.
7/3/2002: Jim Thome hit this solo home run against the Yankees. It was his seventh straight game with a dinger.
7/3/2016: Danny Espinosa provided some early fireworks for the Nats with a four-hit, six-RBI day, which included two homers. He’d finish the year with 24 dingers and 72 RBI, both single-season career-high marks.
Friday, 7/4
7/4/1985: The Mets eventually beat the Braves in 19 innings, but pitcher Rick Camp hit this game-tying home run to tie things up in extras. Camp was a career. 074/.109/.114 in 197 plate appearances.
7/4/2011: Shaun Marcum provided his own Independence Day fireworks by becoming the first Brewers pitcher to hit a grand slam since 1969.
7/4/2008: Albert Pujols slugged the 300th career homer. He became the fifth-youngest player to reach that milestone.
Saturday, 7/5
7/5/1993: The A’s played a doubleheader against Cleveland. Rickey Henderson hit a leadoff home run in each contest because of course he did.
7/5/1998: Juan Gonzalez got himself over the 100-RBI mark before the All-Star break after hitting his second home run of the game.
7/5/2000: Luis Gonzalez became the first DBacks player to hit for the cycle in a 12-9 comeback victory.
Sunday, 7/6
7/6/1983: Fred Lynn celebrated the 50th anniversary of MLB’s All-Star Game by hitting a grand slam for the American League.
7/6/1986: Bob Horner became the 11th MLB player to hit four home runs in one game. Here’s his fourth dinger of the day for the Braves.
7/6/2010: Entering the ninth inning down six runs, the Rockies scored nine to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. It was punctuated by this three-run homer from Seth Smith.
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