Shawn Green put together a day for the ages in Milwaukee against the Brewers on May 23, 2002.
It was a six-hit performance that included a double, a single, four (!!) home runs, six runs scored, and seven RBI for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Green recorded 19 total bases in the contest, which set a new MLB record.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, the Dodgers won this game easily by a score of 16-3. What Green did from the left-handed batter’s box is still one of the greatest individual offensive performances in baseball history. Let’s dig into that day a little more and how things turned out for Green the rest of the season.
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How this Legendary Game Unfolded
As you can imagine, Green’s day got off to a fast start. He drove in the first run of the game with an RBI double off Glendon Rusch in the top of the first. He came right back with another turn in the batter’s box during the top of the second inning against the southpaw. That’s when Green helped Los Angeles start to pull away with a three-run homer, resulting in a 6-1 lead.
Rusch, unsurprisingly, lasted just 1⅔ innings. Brian Mallette relieved him, but didn’t have much better luck — especially against Green. As the Dodgers extended their lead to 10-1, the left-handed slugger collected a pair of solo homers in the fourth and fifth innings.
With a chance for history, Green had to settle for a single during the top of the eighth. But thanks to more offense from the Dodgers’ lineup, he got another opportunity in the ninth and didn’t waste it. Adrian Beltre, Green, and Dave Hansen clubbed back-to-back-to-back homers against Jose Cabrera.
Talk about a way to put an ending on a memorable day, right? Six at-bats. Not a single out. Four home runs, a double, a single, seven RBI, and six runs scored. When asked about it afterward, Green said the ball “had been looking like a ping pong ball. Today, it probably looked like a softball.”
The Impact This Performance Had on Green
Green’s 19 total bases broke Joe Adcock’s MLB record of 18, which he set in 1954. He also became the first player in MLB history to collect six hits in a game, with five of them going for extra bases, while tying the modern record for runs scored in a game with six.
What makes this performance particularly remarkable is the context. Before landing in Milwaukee, Green had been struggling. Across 16 games between May 1 and May 19 (73 plate appearances), he posted a .641 OPS and accumulated just 16 total bases.
Then, he hit two homers in the series opener against the Brewers on May 21 before his legendary four-homer performance two days later. After that initial rough patch, his final 120 plate appearances of the month included a 1.127 OPS with 16 extra-base hits (10 homers, five doubles, one triple), 22 RBI, and 21 runs scored.
It’s also worth noting that Green’s season-long OPS was sitting at .685 before the Milwaukee series started. In the 10 games that followed, that number jumped nearly 300 points to .922.
Where This Performance Stands in Baseball History
A year after setting the Dodgers’ single-season home run record with 49 taters, this performance effectively helped turn Green’s campaign around. Through May 19 (183 plate appearances), he was slashing .231/.339/.346 with 12 extra-base hits (three homers and nine doubles), 21 RBI, and 17 runs scored. Over his final 116 games (502 plate appearances), his triple slash was .305/.402/.636 to go along with 62 extra-base hits (39 homers, 22 doubles, and one triple), 93 RBI, and 93 runs scored.
His 42 homers marked the second straight year he surpassed 40 in a season (and third time in four years). He was also elected to his second All-Star Game while finishing fifth in the National League MVP Award voting. That May 23 game effectively kicked off a stretch where he hit 16 home runs over a 24-game span.
Green was a solid player for much of his career. The 15-year vet owns a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger Award, accompanied by a lifetime .850 OPS with 328 home runs, 1,070 RBI, and 1,129 runs scored. However, the argument for May 23, 2002, being the greatest single-game hitting performance in MLB history is also a legitimate one. And no matter what happens in the future, that day at Miller Park will always be part of the conversation.
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