Photo by rchdj10 
Yesterday (July 25, 2020), Chicago White Sox’ 2B Leury Garcia went deep twice against the Twins, as the White bounced Minnesota 10-3, behind a five-home barrage. Garcia – batting in the nine-hole – went three-for-four in the game, with two runs scored and four RBI. Side note: It’s nice to write about something that happened this season for a change.
What made Garcia’s game a bit special in BBRT’s view is that the switch hitter homered from both sides of the plate. He hit a solo shot left-handed to lead off the fifth (off Zack Littell) and added a three-run home run – right-handed – with two outs in the seventh off Devin Smeltzer. It was only the second two-homer game for Garcia (in his eighth MLB season), who has a .257-25-123 stat line in 464 MLB games.
Now, homering from both sides of the plate is not as rare an occurrence as you might think. It’s been done in the regular season a total of 341 times, and by 118 different different players. Still, it a feat the deserve recognition. And, now, here are a few more “From Both Sides Now” tidbits:
- The first player to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game was Wally Schange of the Philadelphia Athletics on September 8, 1916.
- The career regular-season record for homering from both sides of the plate in the same game is 14 – shared by Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher. Leaders among players homering from both side of the plate in the same game:
____________________________________________________________________
In 2019, two Diamondbacks homered from both sides of the plate in three games each: Ketel Marte (April 5, April 24, May 3) and Eduardo Escobar (June 10, July 17 and August 3.
_________________________________________________________________________
Players to Homer from Both Sides of the Plate in Ten or More Games
Mark Teixeira – 14 times
Nick Swisher – 14
Carlos Beltran – 12
Chili Davis – 11
Eddie Murray – 11
Tony Clark- 10
Ken Caminiti – 10
Mickey Mantle – 10
- Only three players have hit home runs from both sides of the plate in the same inning: Carlos Baerga, Indians (April 9, 1993); Mark Bellhorn, Cubs (August 29, 2002); Kendrys Morales, Angels (July 30, 2012).
- In 1996, the Padres’ Ken Caminiti hit a home run from both sides of the plate in the same game a record four times in a single season – three times in the month of August alone. Note: Caminiti also achieved the feat three times in a single month in September of 1995.
_____________________________________________________________
No team has had more instances of a player hitting long balls from both sides of the plate in a game than the Yankees – 56 times. Here are the perpetrators:
Mickey Mantle (10 time)
Mark Teixeira (9)
Bernie Williams (8)
Jorge Posada (8)
Roy White (5)
Nick Swisher (5)
Tom Tresh (3)
Aaron Hicks (2)
Roy Smalley
Ruben Sierra
Tony Clark
Melky Cabrera
Carlos Beltran
Neil Walker
_____________________________________________________________________
BIG BOMBS IN THE BIG APPLE
From 1955-1965, a game in which a player homered from both sides of the plate occurred in the AL 14 times, with 13 of those being Yankees (Mickey Mantle 10, Tom Tresh 3).
The only non-Yankee to achieve the feat in the AL during that time span was the Red Sox’ Pumpsie Green (August 15, 1961). Green hit a total of just 13 home runs in his five-season MLB career. BBRT Note: Green achieved historic significance as the first African-American player for the Boston Red Sox – the last MLB team to break the color line (1959). In the 1955-65 time span, there were only three NL games which saw a player homer from both sides of the plate – two by the Cubs’ Ellis Burton, one by the Dodgers’ Maury Wills.
- Carlos Beltran and Nick Swisher share the record for hitting a home run from both side sof the plate in a single game for the most teams at five: Beltran – Mets, Cardinals, Royals, Astros, Yankees; Swisher – A’s, Yankees, White Sox, Indians, Braves.
Only three players have homered from both sides of the plate in a post-season game.
Bernie Williams, Yankees ALDS Game Three (October 6, 1995
Bernie Williams, Yankees ALDS Game Four (October 5, 1996)
Chipper Jones, Braves NLDS Game Four (October 4, 2003)
Milton Bradley, A’s ALCS Game Two (October 10, 2006)
Primary Resources: Baseball-Reference.com; Stathead.com; Baseball-Almanac.com
Baseball Roundtable is on the Feedspot list of the Top 100 Baseball Blogs. To see the full list, click here.
I tweet baseball @DavidBBRT
Follow/Like Baseball Roundtable’s Facebook Page here. More baseball commentary; blog post notifications; PRIZES.
Member: Society for American Baseball Research (SABR); The Baseball Reliquary; The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
