Lance Junker

Lance Ronald Junker

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 175 lb.
• School Mission College, Loyola Marymount University
• High School Herbert Hoover High School (Glendale)

• Born September 24, 1959 in Burbank, CA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Lance Junker played in the minor leagues from 1980 to 1983, the first two seasons in the San Francisco Giants organization and the other two in the California Angels system. He was drafted twice by the Giants, the first time in the 14th round of the 1979 amateur draft out of junior college, and the second time in the secondary phase of the 1980 amateur draft, out of Loyola Marymount University, after which he signed with the team.

He was a solid hitter in his four minor league seasons, including putting up an average of .279 with 7 homers and 45 RBIs in 57 games with the Great Falls Giants of the Pioneer League in 1980. He split 1981 between the Clinton Giants of the Midwest League and the Fresno Giants of the California League, with a batting line of .275/.367/.385 in 105 games. In spite of these good numbers, he was released by the Giants in June of 1982, without having played any minor league games that year, and went back to the Midwest League after signing with the Angels, appearing in 55 games with the Danville Suns. There he hit .272 with 4 homers and 32 RBIs, consistent with his production until then. In 1983, he was assigned to the Redwood Pioneers in a second go-round in the California League, and it was there that he made some history.

On June 30, 1983, he became only the third player in professional baseball history to hit two grand slams in one inning, doing so in the 9th inning against the Reno Padres at Moana Stadium. After he hit the first one against Tom Biko, which was his first long ball of the year, his teammates batted around, but he only got to come up again because C Frank Castro dropped a routine pop-up hit in front of him hit with two outs by David Bady, the man who hit before Lance in the line-up. He took advantage of the opportunity to take Greg Steffanich deep. Both homers went to the opposite field, while he was normally a pull hitter. Redwood trailed 5-4 coming into the 9th, but ended up 16-5 winners after his heroics. The only other men before him to have done what he did were Ken Myers in 1947 and Armando Flores in 1952. In 1999, Fernando Tatis became the first player to pull off the feat in the major leagues. Junker finished the year at .262 with 3 homers and 32 RBIs in 85 games, his one glorious inning representing a good chunk of his output for the season.

He retired from baseball after the 1983 season. He went back to school to complete his degree and worked as a defense contractor, eventually rising to President of Aero Engineering and Manufacturing, based in Los Angeles, CA. He married and had three daughters.

Further Reading

• Kevin T. Czerwinski: "Junker seized rare baseball opportunity: Cal League outfielder hit two grand slams in one inning in '83", MiLB.com, June 18, 2008. [1]