Yesterday (September 24), as the Braves fell 7-6 to the Rockies in Colorado, MLB had another of those #InBaseballWeCountEvrything moments. In the third inning, Braves’ 2B Ozzie Albies took Rockies’ starter German Marquez deep for his 25th home run of the year. The “moment?” The solo shot made the Braves just the second team in MLB history to have its entire starting infield hit at least 25 home runs each. For the Braves, it was:
1B Freddie Freeman – .292-28-72
2B Ozzie Albies – .261-25-88
3B Austin Riley – .305-28-84
SS Dansby Swanson – .258-26-80
At the close of play that day, the Braves (NL East Division leaders) were third overall and second in the National League in home runs with 198 (three behind the Giants and six behind the Blue Jays).
The only other team to accomplish this infield feat? That would be the 2008 Miami Marlins.
1B Mike Jacobs – .247-32-93
2B Dan Uggla – .260-32-92
3B Jorge Cantu – .277-29-95
SS Hanley Ramirez – .301-33-67
That season, the Marlin finished third in the NL East at 84-77. Like the current Braves, they were third overall and second in the National League in home runs (with 208).
As usual, with Baseball Roundtable one thing led to another and I was spurred on to look at some other team home run records.
The Yankees finished in first place in the American League that season (109-53), and won the World Series. Their 240 home runs were (at the time) MLB’s single-season team record.
Despite leading MLB in home runs with 206 and in runs scored with 799, the 1973 Braves finished in fifth place in the NL West with a 76-85-1 record. Their team earned run average of 4.25 was the worst in the NL and third-worst in MLB that season.
The 1996 Rockies’ 243 home runs led the NL and were fourth in MLB. The Rockies finished third in the NL West with a 83-79 record. The Padres, who led the West Division at 91-71 hit 147 round trippers.
The 1997 Rockies’ 239 long balls led the NL and were second only to the Seattle Mariners’ 264 in MLB. The Rockies finished at 83-79, third in the NL West. The Giants won the Division at 90-72 – hitting 172 home runs.
The 2019 Twins set a new MLB single-season record with 307 home runs – edging the Yankees by one. The Twins won the AL Central with a 101-61 record, while the Yankees topped the East at 103-59. On the final day of the season, the Yankees got just one home run (Aaron Judge) in a 6-1 loss to Lance Lynn and the Rangers; while the Twins got home runs from C.J. Cron, Jake Cave and Jason Castro (in a 5-4 loss to the Royals) to claim the home run record. The Yankees got their revenge, sweeping the Twins three games-to-none in the ALDS.
The 2019 Yankees, who finished just one home run behind the Twins for MLB’s all-time single-season high, set the record for the most players on a team with ten or more home runs. Notably, the Yankees used 18 players at DH (seven for ten or more games) – and got 41 home runs out of the position in the lineup.
Primary Resources: The Elias Book of Records, 201 Edition (Elias Sports Bureau, Inc.); Baseball-Reference.com
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