Cal Raleigh Breaks Home Run Record As The Year Of Big Dumper Continues
Big Dumper is a man possessed, and his season has officially become historic.
Cal Raleigh cannot be stopped.
The Seattle Mariners catcher isn't just having a season to remember, but a truly historic one, as he has officially broken the record for the most home runs hit by a catcher in a single campaign.
Raleigh, also known as ‘Big Dumper,’ tied the record for catchers (48) with a 448-foot bomb in the bottom of the first inning during Seattle's 11-4 win over the Athletics on Sunday. He wasted zero time to break the record, as he left the yard in his next at-bat in the second frame.
Raleigh's record-setting home run came against A's lefty Jacob Lopez.
Raleigh's multi-home run game snapped a bit of a drought as he entered Sunday's contest riding a three-game hitless streak. He had gone five consecutive games without a home run as well.
Raleigh is just the ninth catcher in MLB history to hit at least 40 home runs in a single season. Johnny Bench and Mike Piazza accomplished the feat not once, but twice during their careers.
While Raleigh undoubtedly benefited from taking hacks in the DH role - he's hit nine of his 49 homers this season as DH - you can't exactly discount his numbers given that Seattle still has 30 games remaining on the schedule.
The 28-year-old reaching 60 home runs is certainly not out of the question, and it's going to be electric to monitor all while the Mariners sit just two games back of the Houston Astros atop the AL West standings.