Last Updated on November 22, 2023 by Matt Musico
One of the best things about baseball is you have a chance to see something new every single night. The sport has been around well over 100 years and it still happens every season. One of those occasions took place at Fenway Park when Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh enjoyed a powerful night at the dish on May 15th, 2023.
The Boston Red Sox and Mariners were locked in a scoreless tie for four innings before crooked numbers started getting put on the scoreboard. Seattle struck first and much more often, winning by a score of 10-1. The Mariners racked up 15 total hits, with seven going for extra bases.
Three of those extra-base hits left the yard, with two of them coming off the bat of Cal Raleigh. He went deep in the fifth and sixth innings. Hitting a homer in consecutive frames is a cool accomplishment, but it got a little cooler since he hit one from each side of the plate.
Fenway Park officially opened for business in 1912. It’s the oldest active baseball stadium in MLB. Raleigh’s two-homer game was the first of its kind at the ballpark for a catcher:
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Neither one of those dingers was cheap, either. You can see both above, but I’m in the business of making things easy and enjoyable for you, so they’re also below:
Cal Raleigh – Seattle Mariners (6)
pic.twitter.com/XF8GcfPKjK— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) May 16, 2023
Cal Raleigh crushes another one, this one way over the Green Monster — his first career game with homers from both the right and left side.
107.1 mph off the bat, 434 feet pic.twitter.com/qM26jQAOfw
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) May 16, 2023
Absolutely smoked. This was part of another stellar year with the bat in Raleigh’s hands, too.
After hitting 27 homers and producing 4.2 fWAR in 2022 for the Mariners, he bested both of those numbers. The backstop finished 2023 with 30 homers and 4.7 fWAR while producing a .762 OPS that was nearly identical to what he did the year prior (.774).
And, if you’re wondering whether hitting 30 homers as a primary catcher is an impressive feat or not, it definitely is:
Julio Rodríguez, who wears #44, became the 44th member of the 30+ home run, 30+ stolen base club in MLB history.
Cal Raleigh, who wears #29, becomes the 29th catcher to hit 30+ home runs in a season (min. ⅔ of games at C) in MLB history.
— Alex Mayer (@alexmayer34) September 23, 2023
We’ll see what the man they call Big Dumper has in store for his age-27 campaign in 2024.
Want to see some homers in person this season? Of course you do. Grab MLB tickets from our friends at Vivid Seats. And before you get to the stadium, make sure you’re decked out in the right gear. Get your favorite team’s official merch from the MLB Shop or a ‘Big Dinger Energy’ shirt from our apparel store.
