16 Responses to “Most HR In 1st 6 Games Of Season Since 1919”

1. Dr. Doom Says:
   April 2nd, 2011 at 4:26 pm

   It's definitely Jeromy Burnitz. Of course, I was thirteen and living in Milwaukee, which would make it easy to remember. And, although I knew Burnitz couldn't keep up that pace for the whole season, McGwire's 70 seemed in reach. He had been great in limited duty the previous year (142 OPS+ in 130 games). Home runs were hit all the time in the NL Central (Sosa and McGwire had each hit 60+ each of the last two years). Oh well. Frankly, the hot start probably ruined his bat the rest of the year - he had a disappointing season.

   Bonds in '02 would be a good second pick, though, simply because his pace practically didn't slow down. He averaged over half a homer per game by season's end, and in process broke the home run record, as we all remember.

2. DavidS Says:
   April 2nd, 2011 at 5:31 pm

   I remember a lot of "is Chris Shelton for real?" articles in 2006 and I definitely remember tracking McGwire's HR progress in 1992. (I have been an A's fan for a long time.) The most surprising name on this list to me (other than Shelton) is Lou Brock. Almost all of the rest were legitimate power threats.

   Bonds broke the HR record in 2001, btw.

3. Dr. Doom Says:
   April 2nd, 2011 at 5:51 pm

   @2

   Good call. Whoops (I had been looking at Bonds' Games Played for '02 before, but his HR from '01). But regardless, his pace in '02 was ridiculous, as well - 46 HR in 143 games. Not quite as good as '01 (73 in 153).

   Also, regarding Bonds, does anyone remember which year it was that he had some truly ridiculous swing-and-miss stats? It was like a month into the season, and he had more HR than he had swings-and-misses! I remember being flabbergasted. If anyone can remember, I'd appreciate the reminder.

4. SocraticGadfly Says:
   April 2nd, 2011 at 5:53 pm

   I remember Schmidt's in 1976.

5. Ian Says:
   April 2nd, 2011 at 6:35 pm

   This brings back memories of Scott Servais' hot start to the 1996 season: four homers in the first seven games.

6. PhilsPhan Says:
   April 2nd, 2011 at 9:33 pm

   Was one of these games when Schmidt hit 4 in one game?

7. cubbies Says:
   April 2nd, 2011 at 9:48 pm

   chris sheltons caused the "who is this guy and why is he so good??" quote to go around for like a month, until he returned to his regular below average self

8. oneblankspace Says:
   April 2nd, 2011 at 10:32 pm

   The expanded version of the table stopped at 300. I wonder if any player alphabetically before Baker had 3 HR in his team's first six games. If the list is shortened to the first three team games, this list would be rearranged (I was at the end of the game where Fernando Tatis extended his HR streak to 3 games in 1999, so I missed the homer. Darn 12:30 start!)

   It was during McGwire's 4-game HR streak to open the '98 season that I started listening to baseball regularly again.

   @6: According to his player page and game log here, Schmidt hit 4 in game 5, an 18-16 extra inning win over Chicago (out of the #6 slot in the order!). It was his only 3-homer game of the season and started a 4-game homerun streak that included career homerun #100. He finished April with 11 HR in 14 GP, and hit another on May 1 (first game).

9. Scott H Says:
   April 3rd, 2011 at 1:47 am

   Chris Shelton's sticks out. I'll never forget his hot start before he fell back into obscurity.

10. steven Says:
    April 3rd, 2011 at 4:05 am

    I remember Brock's homer-happy first week of the 1967 season. The Cardinals won their first six games that year. That week also saw Larry Jaster finally give up a run to the Dodgers, after shutting them out five times in 1966. I was in the fourth grade, and heard it all on KMOX radio, courtesy of Harry Caray and Jack Buck.

11. John Autin Says:
    April 3rd, 2011 at 4:08 pm

    @2 -- Lou Brock wasn't a slugger, but he was no slapper either. He hit 21 HRs in '67, and averaged 14 a year over the 7 years 1964-70, hitting at least 12 in 6 of those seasons. In '68, when he hit only 6 HRs, he led the majors with 46 doubles and 14 triples.

    With 149 career HRs, Brock ranks 44th in MLB in power-speed number

    BTW, Brock in '67 was the first player ever with at least 20 HRs and 50 SB, a feat achieved by only 10 players in modern history.

12. BSK Says:
    April 3rd, 2011 at 10:07 pm

    Chris Shelton, largely because I had actually drafted him in fantasy before the season because I think he had a hot spring training or something, tried to aggressively shop him, failed, and ultimately got nothing except the hot start and dismal month that followed.

13. John Autin Says:
    April 3rd, 2011 at 10:46 pm

    So, now we know why Babe Ruth wasn't able to sock that HR record away to an unreachable level. In his 16 years as an everyday player, he hit a total of 24 HRs in the first 6 games of the season, out of a total of 80 games in which he had at least 2 PAs -- an average of just 0.3 HR per game.

    In that same span, Ruth hit averaged 0.32 HR per game when he got at least 2 PAs (687 HRs in 2,159 G).

    Why, if the big galoot had taken opening week seriously, he would have finished with 716 HRs!

    I'm kidding, of course, but April truly was Ruth's worst month, by far. In the 17 years for which we have splits, he hit just .323/.459/.655 over 169 games. In those years overall, he hit .346/.481/.705. In July alone (472 games), he hit .369/.498/.728

14. Larry R. Says:
    April 4th, 2011 at 9:28 am

    Poor Billy Williams. He wakes up to check the morning paper after 6 games and sees he's second in the league with 5 HRs in '64.

15. ctorg Says:
    April 4th, 2011 at 9:45 am

    Interestingly, Nelson Cruz had 4 HR in his first six games last year and has 3 already this year.

16. Michael Says:
    April 4th, 2011 at 9:22 pm

    Cruz now has 4 homers in the first 4 games!