3 Home Runs from the 8 Hole
Posted by Raphy on July 4, 2010
In Andy's post from earlier today, Gonzo raised the question about Drew Stubbs hitting three home runs from the 8 hole in the line-up. Amazingly, Stubbs is already the third #8 hitter to have a 3-homer game in the first half of 2010. Prior to this season, no year in the PI era has featured more than 1. Here are the previous #8 hitters who hit 3 home runs in a game. (1920-1939, 1952-2010)
| Rk | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | IBB | SO | HBP | SH | SF | ROE | GDP | SB | CS | WPA | RE24 | BOP | Pos. Summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edwin Encarnacion | 2010-05-21 | TOR | ARI | L 6-8 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.044 | 2.754 | .380 | 8 | 3B |
| 2 | John Buck | 2010-04-29 | TOR | OAK | W 6-3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.448 | 4.094 | 1.005 | 8 | C |
| 3 | Tony Clark | 2004-08-28 | NYY | TOR | W 18-6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.253 | 3.787 | .956 | 8 | 1B |
| 4 | Bill Mueller | 2003-07-29 | BOS | TEX | W 14-7 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.235 | 6.533 | 1.098 | 8 | 3B |
| 5 | Jason Varitek | 2001-05-20 | BOS | KCR | W 10-3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.291 | 5.444 | .660 | 8 | C |
| 6 | Kevin Elster | 2000-04-11 | LAD | SFG | W 6-5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.478 | 3.821 | 1.042 | 8 | SS |
| 7 | Dan Wilson | 1996-04-11 | SEA | DET | W 9-1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.244 | 3.581 | .590 | 8 | C |
| 8 | Cory Snyder | 1994-04-17 | LAD | PIT | W 19-2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.199 | 6.471 | .372 | 8 | 1B |
| 9 | Brook Jacoby | 1987-07-03 | CLE | CHW | L 9-14 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.399 | 2.822 | .613 | 8 | 3B |
| 10 | Freddie Patek | 1980-06-20 | CAL | BOS | W 20-2 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.139 | 4.652 | .312 | 8 | SS |
| 11 | Larry Parrish | 1977-05-29 | MON | STL | W 14-4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.093 | 4.871 | .324 | 8 | 3B |
| 12 | Adolfo Phillips | 1967-06-11 (2) | CHC | NYM | W 18-10 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.168 | 5.413 | .447 | 8 | CF |
| 13 | Alex Kampouris | 1937-05-09 | CIN | PHI | W 21-10 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 8 | 2B | ||||
| 14 | Tony Lazzeri | 1936-05-24 | NYY | PHA | W 25-2 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 8 | 2B | ||||
| 15 | Mickey Cochrane | 1925-05-21 | PHA | SLB | W 20-4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 8 | C |
July 4th, 2010 at 8:11 pm
I am amazed that Bill Mazeroski isn't on this list -- he was far and away the most consistently productive eight-slot hitter of his time; a fact that is mostly obscured these days by the memory of that one World Series homer he belted back 1960. As a card-carrying, founding father of the "I Hate the Yankees" club, hearing that on the radio initiated a career-long following of Maz for me; and I was always amazed at how underrated he truly was while he was playing.
July 4th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
I'm most impressed with the NLers who have done it. They are normally worse than the 9 hole hitters in the AL. Nice work, and thanks, Raphy.
July 4th, 2010 at 8:18 pm
Frank, take a look at Bill's numbers. They were dreadful. 138 homers in 17 years and a career OBP of .299 - My guess is he was a defensive wizard.
July 4th, 2010 at 8:39 pm
You're right with regard to Maz's defensive ability, Gonz; but Mazeroski was also a surprisingly sharp clutch hitter for someone in the eight slot; as well as being a team leader. That homer off of Terry in the '60 Series wasn't that much of a fluke; in fact, he was considered "miscast" as an eighth place hitter for a fair portion of his career; and his raw stats were pulled down by the fact that the final third {roughly} of his career were his least productive.
July 4th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
Dale Sveum had three homers from the 9-hole on 07-17-1987.
July 4th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
@4
Maz split is career roughly equally in the 6th/7th/8th slots. He had three two-HR games batting eighth. His 48 HR batting 8th appear to be ninth in the years available here.
Del Crendall 106
Ron Karkovice 64
Gabby Hartnett 61
Charles Johnson 61
Joe Crede 54
Steve Yeager 53
Clete Boyer 52
Joe Oliver 51
Bill Mazeroski 48
Chris Hoiles 48
FYI - retrosheet finished filling the 1940-1951 "void" today. Not sure how long it would take that data to get to this website. Is Sean planning on doing a mid-season update or will it wait until the offseason?
July 5th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
My guess is no one really cared much about Maz's OBP out of the 8 hole. Since the pitcher comes up behind him and a whole lineup of better hitters came ahead of him, wouldn't it be more important that he hit for average? I understand the importance of OBP at the top of the lineup, but if they guy coming up after you is an easy out it seems to take some of the value out of walking.
Also, compare Maz's numbers to other guys in the 1960's. That was a pitching dominated decade... some teams had team batting averages under .220 and team OBPs under .290... a lot fewer runs were scored back then.
July 5th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
And Maz's HR totals were killed by Forbes Field. 1/3 of his HR's at home (45/138) in his career.
July 6th, 2010 at 8:26 am
I would assume that Mickey Cochrane did not bat 8th for long after his 3 HR game.
July 8th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Mueller's 3HR game had two grand slams, one from each side of the plate.
Lazzeri's game was notable because everyone in the starting lineup scored at least twice for the Yankees.