Cal Raleigh breaks Dodgers legend's 70-year-old record
Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh is blowing hot and after his 19th home run of the season, he broke a 70-year-old record held by LA Dodgers legend and Hall of Famer Roy Campanella.
On Tuesday, Raleigh struck two home runs against the Washington Nationals. The first one came in the first inning as the Mariners catcher hit a solo shot off Mitchell Parker to extend the team's lead to 3-0. Raleigh's record-breaking second home run came in the fifth inning.
According to MLB stats expert Sarah Langs, Raleigh now holds the record for the most home runs by a primary-position catcher through his team’s first 53 games of a season, surpassing Campanella's mark of 18 set in 1955.
With his second home run, the switch-hitter had his third multi-home run game of the season and his first coming from his right-hand side.
Moreover, with the Mariners fighting to stay in postseason contention, Raleigh’s bat has been a game-changer. His 19 home runs lead all MLB catchers and rank among the league's top power hitters.
Cal Raleigh exudes confidence after two blasts
Cal Raleigh was the MVP of the Mariners' 9-1 win over the Nats on Tuesday. He now leads the American League in home runs and trails only Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, who has 20, for the MLB lead.
After the game, Raleigh made his feelings known, expressing confidence after two home runs.
"I definitely feel the confidence is there,” Raleigh said, “in the sense of, obviously, early in my career, I got turned around a lot right-handed. And I was just not getting the reps there, the consistent reps. If a lefty was on the mound, maybe that'd be a day I got off or something like that. So I just think it all started when I started getting everyday reps and getting that confidence back.”
Raleigh's home runs turn out to be winners. In 16 games, when he has homered at least once, the Mariners are 13-3. Raleigh was filled with gratitude knowing his home run earned him comparisons with all-time greats of the sport.
“Those are some old names, so it’s pretty cool,” Raleigh said. “I say this a lot, but probably one day I’ll look back and be pretty thankful. It’s a pretty cool thing to look at.”
If the catcher continues his production, he'll probably get lots of MVP votes when the season ends.