Texas Rangers: Remembering the most remarkable streak in team history

Remembering the greatest streak in Rangers history

Next to toe the rubber in the 7th inning was southpaw Zach Phillips, who Hamilton took dead-center over the outstretched glove of Adam Jones for his third long ball of the night. He stayed in on a hanging breaking ball and properly sent it over 400 feet.

Tallying three home runs in a game is special, but it’s not as rare as you might think. According to Baseball Almanac, there have been 320 three-homer games since 1922. Thus, Josh Hamilton had more work to do before isolating his name in the MLB record books.

He steps to the plate in the 8th inning; it would likely be his final at-bat as the Rangers are up 8-1. Side-winder Darren O’Day stands 60 feet, 6 inches away. He heaves a change-up Hamilton’s way, and each Camden Yards attendee anxiously eyes the ball off the bat, until it lands beyond the center-field wall. Hamilton hit his fourth home run of the game.

He rounds the bases at a faster pace than usual, clearly eager to face the celebratory onslaught from his teammates. The crowd is on its feet, Rangers and Orioles fans aggressively clapping while taking in a historical night at Camden Yards.

5-for-5. Four 2-run home runs. 8 RBI. 18 total bases. Some 2,000 feet of baseball travel off the bat of Josh Hamilton  – all in a day’s work.

Hamilton became the 16th player in MLB history to hit four homers in a game, the first since Blue Jays’ Carlos Delgado did it in 2003.

Only two players have accomplished the feat since Hamilton: Scooter Gennett and J.D. Martinez, both in 2017.

Furthermore, Hamilton ranks second all-time with 18 total bases in a game. The record is held by Shawn Green, who touched 19 bases in a 6-for-6 performance with the Dodgers in 2002 (he hit four home runs that game).

You may recall, however, this article being about Hamilton’s week, not just May 8th vs. the Orioles.

Remembering the greatest streak in Rangers history

The lefty slugger notched another round-tripper two days later in the closing game in Baltimore. Next up was a home set against the Los Angeles Angels. Guess what?

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Hamilton hit two more home runs in the opening game of the series, both off right-handed starting pitcher Jerome Williams. If you’re keeping track, that’s eight long balls over five games.

But wait, there’s more!

The following afternoon, Hamilton took ex-Ranger, C.J. Wilson, deep to right field for yet another bomb – his 9th home run in six games.

I remember watching that game from my college dorm room, standing in disbelief that he was able to keep such a magical streak going. I had never seen anything like it on a baseball diamond. Hamilton seemed super-human.

He made hitting look so easy. It’s like he was at home plate with a nine iron in his hands naturally popping golf balls in whatever direction he wanted. Though, in actuality, he was timing up fastballs, curveballs, change-ups, and sliders, taking advantage of every mistake a pitcher made against him.

Hamilton was one of the most feared hitters in baseball at the time, so pitchers were doing everything they could to keep him in the yard, even if that meant pitching around him to the result of a walk. Having hit nine home runs in a six-game span with the odds so heavily stacked against him is truly remarkable.

A 2014 article from The Wichita Eagle answered the question, “What is the record for most home runs in a week?” It turns out Hamilton’s nine homers that week fall one shy of Frank Howard‘s ten in a week in 1968. Ironically, Howard set the record as a member of the Washington Senators, a team that became the Texas Rangers four years later.

Present-day Josh Hamilton is an enigma. A life littered with extreme highs and lows, he was most recently in the news regarding an extreme low. His character is severely in question, but there’s always proof of the countless sensational things he did on the baseball field. Hamilton’s streak the week of May 7th, 2012, is on the shortlist the greatest highlights in Texas Rangers history.