Four HR games - a pattern
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK - Milwaukee Braves' first baseman Joe Adcock became the 7th player in major league history to hit 4 home runs in a 9-inning game on this date in 1954. His 4 blasts, a double and 7 RBIs helped the Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 15-7 at Ebbets field. Adcock wasn't the only guy poking them over the fence. There were ten home runs that day. Teammate Eddie Matthews had 2. The Braves hit 7 in all.
Joe Adcock was one of those all-American sluggers; not exactly Hank Aaron (the guy who batted ahead of him that day), but a hitter who put fear in the hearts of opposing pitchers every time he came to bat. The big first baseman, he was 6-4, hit 336 home runs in a 16 year career - 79th on the all-time list.
Here are the players who've hit 4 home runs in a 9-inning game up to this writing (7.31.11):
1. Bob Lowe, Boston NL, 1894
2. Ed Delahanty, Chi NL, 1896
3. Lou Gehrig, NY AL, 1932
4. Chuck Klein, Phila NL, 1936
5. Pat Seerey, Chi AL, 1948
6. Gil Hodges, Brklyn NL, 1950
7. Joe Adcock, Milw NL, 1954
8. Rocky Colavito, Cleve AL, 1959
9. Willie Mays, SF NL, 1961
10. Mike Schmidt, Phila NL, 1976
11. Bob Horner, Atl NL, 1986
12. Mark Whiten, StL NL, 1993
13. Mike Cameron, Seattle AL, 2002
14. Shawn Greene, LA NL, 2002
15. Carlos Delgado, Tor AL 2003
The names absent from the list are noteworthy. The three greatest home run hitters of all time; Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds never hit four home runs in a game.
The table below offers another perspective of the 4-home run games; the decades they were hit. There were only two from the beginning of the National League in 1876 until 1932 - almost 60 years. From then on they're fairly evenly spread, though in 2002-2003 there were three 4-HR games in 16 months.
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1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
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CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
Retrosheet - baseball statistics, milestones, etc
Baseball-Almanac 4 HR games
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