Cal Raleigh made history twice in one night at Kauffman Stadium, smashing back-to-back home runs to break records that seemed untouchable just hours earlier.
The Seattle Mariners catcher went deep against Michael Wacha in the third inning, batting left-handed, to surpass Mickey Mantle’s switch-hitter record that stood since 1961. Mantle hit 54 that year. Raleigh’s 55th home run on a breaking ball sailed rows deep into right field, officially breaking the longstanding mark.
But he wasn’t done.
One inning later, batting right-handed against Royals reliever Daniel Lynch IV, Raleigh launched his 56th home run of the season. That towering shot tied him with Mariners legend Ken Griffey Jr., who set the franchise record with 56 homers in 1997 and matched it again in 1998.
Twenty-seven years later, that mark has company.
The Mariners were leading the slugfest 10-3 through seven innings when this was written, meaning Raleigh had at least one more plate appearance to potentially break Griffey’s franchise record in the same game he’d already rewritten the history books.
What makes this even more remarkable is where Raleigh sits among this year’s power hitters. His 56 home runs put him well ahead of the next-best major league hitter, Kyle Schwarber, who’s hit 53 so far. NL and AL MVP favorites Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge follow with 48 and 49, respectively.
The question now isn’t just whether Raleigh can break Griffey’s record tonight. It’s whether this kind of power display puts him in serious AL MVP consideration.
From where I’m sitting, numbers like these are hard to ignore come award season.
