Andrés Galarraga's Late-90s Power Binge Doesn't Get Talked About Enough
Big Cat enjoyed five straight years of 30-plus homers, but one stretch stands out like a sore thumb.
Andrés Galarraga was a fearsome slugger during the late 1990s with the Colorado Rockies and Atlanta Braves. That’s getting some love today.
Big Cat Straight-Up Mashed at Coors Field
I feel like the three-year run Andrés Galarraga went on between 1996 and 1998 doesn’t get talked about enough. And yea, I know about the Coors Field stuff, but he still raked and did it while playing for Atlanta in ’98:
⁃ 1996: .958 OPS, 47 homers (led the league), 150 RBI (led the league)
⁃ 1997: .974 OPS, 41 homers, 140 RBI (led the league)
⁃ 1998: .991 OPS, 44 homers, 121 RBI
If non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma hadn’t forced him to miss the 1999 season, he wouldn’t still be sitting at 399 career homers.
Home Runs to Enjoy
6/25/1995: The first Rockies slugger to hit three homers in a game? Yup, this man right here.
5/31/1997: Galarraga hit an absolute tank in Miami for a grand slam. (I’ll be sharing this again on Saturday!)
4/3/2000: After missing the entire 1999 season, Galarraga returned to the Braves and celebrated the occasion by hitting a home run.
9/18/2001: Not many people can reach the soda bottle at Oracle Park. The Big Cat could, though.
Andrés Galarraga Blog Spotlight
Galarraga’s 47-homer campaign in 1996 is still among the most powerful ever in Colorado. While Larry Walker (49 in 1997) and Todd Helton (49 in 2001) are tied at the top of the Rockies’ single-season home run leaderboard, Galarraga’s effort in ‘96 ranks third. He slugged 172 dingers across five seasons with the club, which ranks eighth all-time in franchise history.
As I established earlier, Galarraga is a member of the 300-homer club but came up just one dinger shy of being in the 400-homer club.
P.S. I’ve compiled some of my best blog posts into a book for a comprehensive look at each MLB team’s single-season home run leaderboard at each position. You can buy the ebook on Gumroad (or get it for free as a paid subscriber) and the paperback book on Amazon.
Single-Season HR Performances | Career HR Performances | Postseason HR Leaders | HR Derby Performances
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Such a fun name to say. And great nickname.