8. Opening the season with power
Before April 4th of 1988, no one had done it in the history of baseball. Coincidentally, it’s been accomplished two more times since, and each were on April 4th!
George Bell was coming off of a magical season in 1987. Bell won the American League’s Most Valuable Player award after hitting .308/.352/.605 with 47 home runs and 134 RBI. He was established as a power-hitter, but he put his name in record books when he opened the season against Kansas City Royals ace Bret Saberhagen. Bell opened the 2nd inning with a crushing home run, then followed up in the 4th inning with a 2-run shot. After a fly ball down the line was snagged to retire him in the 6th, Bell tagged Saberhagen for his 3rd home run of the day off of him in the 8th, another solo shot.
Bell’s accomplishment, while astounding, was not terribly out of place for who he was as a hitter. In 1994, with Mets ace Doc Gooden on the mound, no one walking into Wrigley Field had any idea that a young outfielder was about to etch his name into history.
Tuffy Rhodes played just 225 games in the major leagues, and he hit all of 13 home runs in his career, but on that April 4th, he came to the plate in the 1st inning to lead off the bottom of the inning, and he knocked the ball out for a solo home run. He would follow suit in the 3rd and 5th innings, all three off of Gooden. Rhodes also singled and drew a walk, reaching base all five times he was up to the plate on the day. In spite of his heroics, the Cubs lost the game.
For a decade, Rhodes and Bell were two-of-a-kind until 2005, when Dmitri Young joined their ranks. Facing peculiar Royals starter Jose Lima, Young hit a 2nd inning leadoff home run, then followed with another in the 3rd inning with a runner on base. He would hit his 3rd off of reliever Mike McDougal in the 8th inning, also with a runner on base. All told, Young went 4-4 on the day with a 3 home runs, a single, and was hit by pitch.
Next: Ruth opens his house