![\"Four](\"https:\/\/baseballroundtable.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Four-Homer-book.jpg\")
<\/a>The Four Home Runs Club \u2026<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\nSluggers Who Achieved Baseball\u2019s Greatest Feat<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n <\/p>\n
By Steven K Wagner<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Rowman & Littlefield (2018)<\/strong><\/p>\n$33.00<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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Spoiler Alert:\u00a0 Baseball Roundtable recommends \u201cThe Four Home Run Club\u201d as the ideal Christmas gift for every baseball fan on your list.\u00a0 This is a Grand Slam look at, perhaps, the 18 greatest offensive displays in the history of our national pastime.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cResearch<\/em> is endlessly seductive. Writing<\/em> is hard work.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nBarbara Tuchman, Best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize winner<\/p>\n
When you pick up a Steven Wagner K. Wagner work of prose, it is clear that he is skilled at both research and writing.\u00a0 It is also clear that Wagner has a passion for both story-telling and baseball.\u00a0 Bring all of that together and \u201cThe Four Home Runs Club \u2026 Sluggers Who Achieved Baseball\u2019s Rarest Feat\u201d<\/em><\/strong> is a good read that belongs on every baseball fans bookshelf.<\/p>\nFrom Bobby Lowe<\/strong><\/span> in May of 1894 to J.D.\u00a0 Martinez<\/strong><\/span> in September of 2017 \u2013 and from players with nicknames like Rocky,<\/em> the Iron Horse<\/em> and the Hammerin\u2019 Hoosier<\/em> to the less likely Scooter<\/em> and Fat Pat<\/em> – Steven Wagner\u2019s book takes a look at the eighteen players who have launched an MLB-record four home runs in a single game.<\/p>\n![\"Four](\"https:\/\/baseballroundtable.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Four-Homer.jpg\")
<\/a>The former United Press International assistant bureau chief put his journalist skills to work in this book, combining ample research with dozens of interviews with individuals who were in the batter\u2019s box, on the mound, in the field or on the bench for the momentous clouts.<\/p>\nWagner adds in descriptions of the ballparks, cultural context (signs of the times) and a look at the lives (before and after their achievement) of the hitters being recognized. And, of course, there is the obligatory statistical section at the end of the book \u2013 career statistics for each player and rankings by career home runs, years of service and age at the time of each player’s four-homer binge.\u00a0 There is so much for the baseball fan in the book\u2019s 18 chapters and approximately 200 pages that I considered the opportunity to review \u201cThe Four Home Runs Club\u201d<\/em> to be an early Christmas present.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s all there and in a well-written, well-organized, smooth read \u2013 in a style that falls somewhere between modern journalism and the more descriptive sports coverage of the past.\u00a0 To give you a better idea of what I\u2019m talking (writing\/reviewing) about, here are just a few highlights of what you can expect.\u00a0 In each case, I can truthfully report, you\u2019ll find much, much more.<\/p>\n
First, there are those interesting bits of history that can translate into trivia stumpers:<\/p>\n
\n- At 5\u201910\u201d and just 150 pounds, Boston Beaneaters’ (NL) second baseman Bobby Lowe<\/strong><\/span> – the first player to knock four long balls in a single game (May 30, 1984) – was the shortest and lightest ever to achieve the feat. (Lowe, however, may have been a bit heavier post-game.\u00a0 After Lowe’s third home run, Wagner reports, fans showered the field with approximately $160 in coins, a figure equal to \u201croughly one-third the average annual income for wage earners that year.\u201d)<\/em><\/li>\n
- The four-homer game Hall of Famer Ed Delahanty<\/strong><\/span> notched for the Phillies on July 13, 1896 included two inside-the-park round trippers. Delahanty is the only player to include a shot that did NOT clear the fence in a four-homer contest.<\/li>\n
- The Milwaukee Braves\u2019 Joe Adcock,<\/strong><\/span> who launched four home runs against the rival Dodgers on July 31, 1954, came the closest to a five-homer game. In his final at bat, Adcock slugged a double to deep right-center. Dodger pitcher Carl Erskine said the ball \u201chit a rail and came back onto the field. Six inches higher and he would have had five home runs.\u201d<\/li>\n
- In his four-homer game (June 10, 1959). The Indians’ Rocky Colavito<\/strong><\/span> may have had a bit of extra incentive as a fan dumped a beer on the right fielder after he made a fine running catch on a drive by the home town Orioles\u2019 Albie Pearson in the third inning. As Wagner reports, Colavito spent the game sweaty, sticky and irritated.\u00a0 In Colavito\u2019s own words, \u201cHe threw a beer right in my face. I was livid.\u00a0 The nerve of somebody doing that. I\u2019m only doing my job.\u201d<\/li>\n
- The Cardinals\u2019 Mark Whiten<\/strong><\/span> drove in an MLB-record 12 runs in his four-homer game (September 7, 1993); while the Mariners\u2019 Mike Cameron<\/strong><\/span> (May 2, 2002) drove in the minimum four.<\/li>\n
- The Blue Jays\u2019 Carlos Delgado<\/strong><\/span> (September 25, 2003) is the only member of the Four Home Runs Club to achieve the feat in the minimum four at bats.<\/li>\n
- Scooter Gennett<\/strong><\/span> (four homers on June 6, 2017) was waived by the Milwaukee brewers (and picked up by the Reds) after Spring Training that season. He went into the game having hit three home runs in his previous 46 games – and having never hit four homers in a month.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
You\u2019ll also read about the players lives (and deaths), exploring such topics as Willie Mays\u2019<\/strong><\/span> childhood watching his father playing for the Negro Leagues\u2019 Birmingham Black Barons; Josh Hamilton<\/strong><\/span>\u2019s battle(s) with drugs and alcohol; the Bronze Star Gil Hodges<\/strong><\/span> won for bravery in World War II; Ed Delahanty<\/strong><\/span>\u2019s mysterious and fatal fall\/jump from a bridge into the Niagara River at age 35 \u2013 and (I repeat) much, much more.<\/p>\n\nHow Young Ryan Gennett became “Scooter”<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nExcerpt from The Four Home Runs Club …<\/span><\/p>\nWhen the child (Ryan Gennett) got wind that his mother planned to take him to the police station for a lecture on the importance of buckling up in the car, something he had apparently failed to do, he borrowed the alias from the orange-tone Muppet character \u201cScooter\u201d in hope that it would throw the local authorities off track and keep him out of jail \u2026 \u201cI thought I was going to be arrested,\u201d he (Gennett) said. \u201cSo, I told the policeman my name was Scooter.\u00a0 After we left there, I didn\u2019t answer to Ryan because I though if I answered to my real name, I might be arrested.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\nAs Wagner weaves the stories of the Four Home Runs Club, he also takes readers into the ballparks \u2013 describing the action inning-by-inning and pitch-by-pitch and providing a well-painted picture of the crowds and the parks themselves. (Consider Philadelphia\u2019s Shibe park, where Lou Gehrig<\/strong><\/span> had his four-homer day in 1932.\u00a0 The park held just 23,000 fans and \u201cwas built of steel and concrete and boasted an elaborate front entrance and a double-deck grandstand that sported a French-Renaissance portico.\u201d Perhaps more important, the outfield dimensions were not exactly home-run friendly \u2013 378 feet\u00a0 to the left field bleachers, 340 feet to right field and 515 feet to straightaway center.<\/p>\nWagner further fleshes out each hitter\u2019s story with a look at the signs of the times. Just one example \u2013 when examining the Braves\u2019 Bob Horner<\/strong><\/span>\u2019s big day (July 6, 1986), Wagner tells readers, \u201cIn 1986, the United States needed a happy milestone. The country had largely put behind it the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan five years earlier, however, two years after that a deadly disease with the curious acronym AIDS was recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If that weren\u2019t enough, the space shuttle Challenger exploded just months before the 1986 baseball season began, killing all seven crew members. A landmark baseball event would surely boost the nation\u2019s spirits.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Wagner sets the stage for each of the 18 four-homer games with a look at not only what was going on in the national pastime, but also with a look at such era-defining factors as global and U.S. news events of the day, popular culture and life-events affecting the players involved.<\/p>\nAll of this adds up to what Baseball Roundtable sees as a four-star \u2013 or better, a four-homer \u2013 recounting of the national pastime\u2019s 18 four-homer games. The Four Home Runs Club is a fast-paced, informative and entertaining read, which \u2013 as I said in the beginning of this review \u2013 would make a great addition to any baseball fan’s bookshelf.<\/p>\n
Other books by Steven K. Wagner:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nPerfect: The Rise and Fall of John Paciorek, Baseball\u2019s Greatest One Game Wonder.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em> Review, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\nSeinsoth: The Life and Rough-and Tumble Life of a Dodger.<\/strong> Review, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\nAbout Steven K. Wagner<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nSteven K. Wagner has worked as a freelance journalist since 1989. He began his career with the Monmouth Sun-Enterprise in Oregon and worked for the Oregon City Enterprise-Courier and Portland Daily Journal of Commerce before joining United Press International. He has also worked for the Portland Oregonian and has freelanced extensively for the Los Angeles Times, Oklahoma City Oklahoman, Seattle Times, Baseball America and numerous other newspaper and magazines. He is also a lifelong fan of the national pastime.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n
There’s still time to vote in Baseball Roundtable’s unofficial fan Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot.\u00a0 To access the ballot, click here.<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0For BBRT’s “take” on the 2018 nominees, click here.\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n
BASEBALL ROUNDTABLE MAKES TOP 100 BASEBALL BLOG LIST<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"100\"](\"https:\/\/baseballroundtable.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/100-1-150x150.jpg\")
<\/a>Baseball Roundtable has made the Feedspot list of the Top 1oo Baseball Blogs.\u00a0 To see the full list, click\u00a0here.<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nI tweet baseball @DavidBBRT<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
Rowman & Littlefield (2018)<\/strong><\/p>\n $33.00<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Spoiler Alert:\u00a0 Baseball Roundtable recommends \u201cThe Four Home Run Club\u201d as the ideal Christmas gift for every baseball fan on your list.\u00a0 This is a Grand Slam look at, perhaps, the 18 greatest offensive displays in the history of our national pastime.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cResearch<\/em> is endlessly seductive. Writing<\/em> is hard work.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Barbara Tuchman, Best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize winner<\/p>\n When you pick up a Steven Wagner K. Wagner work of prose, it is clear that he is skilled at both research and writing.\u00a0 It is also clear that Wagner has a passion for both story-telling and baseball.\u00a0 Bring all of that together and \u201cThe Four Home Runs Club \u2026 Sluggers Who Achieved Baseball\u2019s Rarest Feat\u201d<\/em><\/strong> is a good read that belongs on every baseball fans bookshelf.<\/p>\n From Bobby Lowe<\/strong><\/span> in May of 1894 to J.D.\u00a0 Martinez<\/strong><\/span> in September of 2017 \u2013 and from players with nicknames like Rocky,<\/em> the Iron Horse<\/em> and the Hammerin\u2019 Hoosier<\/em> to the less likely Scooter<\/em> and Fat Pat<\/em> – Steven Wagner\u2019s book takes a look at the eighteen players who have launched an MLB-record four home runs in a single game.<\/p>\n Wagner adds in descriptions of the ballparks, cultural context (signs of the times) and a look at the lives (before and after their achievement) of the hitters being recognized. And, of course, there is the obligatory statistical section at the end of the book \u2013 career statistics for each player and rankings by career home runs, years of service and age at the time of each player’s four-homer binge.\u00a0 There is so much for the baseball fan in the book\u2019s 18 chapters and approximately 200 pages that I considered the opportunity to review \u201cThe Four Home Runs Club\u201d<\/em> to be an early Christmas present.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all there and in a well-written, well-organized, smooth read \u2013 in a style that falls somewhere between modern journalism and the more descriptive sports coverage of the past.\u00a0 To give you a better idea of what I\u2019m talking (writing\/reviewing) about, here are just a few highlights of what you can expect.\u00a0 In each case, I can truthfully report, you\u2019ll find much, much more.<\/p>\n First, there are those interesting bits of history that can translate into trivia stumpers:<\/p>\n You\u2019ll also read about the players lives (and deaths), exploring such topics as Willie Mays\u2019<\/strong><\/span> childhood watching his father playing for the Negro Leagues\u2019 Birmingham Black Barons; Josh Hamilton<\/strong><\/span>\u2019s battle(s) with drugs and alcohol; the Bronze Star Gil Hodges<\/strong><\/span> won for bravery in World War II; Ed Delahanty<\/strong><\/span>\u2019s mysterious and fatal fall\/jump from a bridge into the Niagara River at age 35 \u2013 and (I repeat) much, much more.<\/p>\n How Young Ryan Gennett became “Scooter”<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Excerpt from The Four Home Runs Club …<\/span><\/p>\n When the child (Ryan Gennett) got wind that his mother planned to take him to the police station for a lecture on the importance of buckling up in the car, something he had apparently failed to do, he borrowed the alias from the orange-tone Muppet character \u201cScooter\u201d in hope that it would throw the local authorities off track and keep him out of jail \u2026 \u201cI thought I was going to be arrested,\u201d he (Gennett) said. \u201cSo, I told the policeman my name was Scooter.\u00a0 After we left there, I didn\u2019t answer to Ryan because I though if I answered to my real name, I might be arrested.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n As Wagner weaves the stories of the Four Home Runs Club, he also takes readers into the ballparks \u2013 describing the action inning-by-inning and pitch-by-pitch and providing a well-painted picture of the crowds and the parks themselves. (Consider Philadelphia\u2019s Shibe park, where Lou Gehrig<\/strong><\/span> had his four-homer day in 1932.\u00a0 The park held just 23,000 fans and \u201cwas built of steel and concrete and boasted an elaborate front entrance and a double-deck grandstand that sported a French-Renaissance portico.\u201d Perhaps more important, the outfield dimensions were not exactly home-run friendly \u2013 378 feet\u00a0 to the left field bleachers, 340 feet to right field and 515 feet to straightaway center.<\/p>\n Wagner further fleshes out each hitter\u2019s story with a look at the signs of the times. Just one example \u2013 when examining the Braves\u2019 Bob Horner<\/strong><\/span>\u2019s big day (July 6, 1986), Wagner tells readers, \u201cIn 1986, the United States needed a happy milestone. The country had largely put behind it the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan five years earlier, however, two years after that a deadly disease with the curious acronym AIDS was recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If that weren\u2019t enough, the space shuttle Challenger exploded just months before the 1986 baseball season began, killing all seven crew members. A landmark baseball event would surely boost the nation\u2019s spirits.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Wagner sets the stage for each of the 18 four-homer games with a look at not only what was going on in the national pastime, but also with a look at such era-defining factors as global and U.S. news events of the day, popular culture and life-events affecting the players involved.<\/p>\n All of this adds up to what Baseball Roundtable sees as a four-star \u2013 or better, a four-homer \u2013 recounting of the national pastime\u2019s 18 four-homer games. The Four Home Runs Club is a fast-paced, informative and entertaining read, which \u2013 as I said in the beginning of this review \u2013 would make a great addition to any baseball fan’s bookshelf.<\/p>\n Other books by Steven K. Wagner:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Perfect: The Rise and Fall of John Paciorek, Baseball\u2019s Greatest One Game Wonder.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em> Review, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Seinsoth: The Life and Rough-and Tumble Life of a Dodger.<\/strong> Review, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n About Steven K. Wagner<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Steven K. Wagner has worked as a freelance journalist since 1989. He began his career with the Monmouth Sun-Enterprise in Oregon and worked for the Oregon City Enterprise-Courier and Portland Daily Journal of Commerce before joining United Press International. He has also worked for the Portland Oregonian and has freelanced extensively for the Los Angeles Times, Oklahoma City Oklahoman, Seattle Times, Baseball America and numerous other newspaper and magazines. He is also a lifelong fan of the national pastime.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n There’s still time to vote in Baseball Roundtable’s unofficial fan Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot.\u00a0 To access the ballot, click here.<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0For BBRT’s “take” on the 2018 nominees, click here.\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n BASEBALL ROUNDTABLE MAKES TOP 100 BASEBALL BLOG LIST<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a>The former United Press International assistant bureau chief put his journalist skills to work in this book, combining ample research with dozens of interviews with individuals who were in the batter\u2019s box, on the mound, in the field or on the bench for the momentous clouts.<\/p>\n\n
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<\/a>Baseball Roundtable has made the Feedspot list of the Top 1oo Baseball Blogs.\u00a0 To see the full list, click\u00a0here.<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nI tweet baseball @DavidBBRT<\/h3>\n