Cal Raleigh becomes seventh MLB player to hit 60 home runs in a season

Cal Raleigh (YouTube)

The remarkable milestones for Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh of Cullowhee, North Carolina are continuing. After setting the record for the most home runs in a season by a primary catcher, switch hitter and Seattle Mariner, Raleigh became the seventh player on Wednesday to hit 60 home runs in a single season.

Raleigh accomplished the feat in a 9-2 Mariners win over the Colorado Rockies at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington. Raleigh’s milestone home run came in the bottom of the eighth inning. It was 389 feet to right field and put the Mariners up 9-1. It was actually Raleigh’s second home run of the game. He opened the scoring with a 438 foot solo shot to right field in the bottom of the first inning.

The first player to hit 60 home runs in a game was New York Yankees outfielder Babe Ruth of Baltimore, Maryland (60 in 1927). Ruth was followed by Yankees right fielder Roger Maris of Hibbing, Minnesota (61 in 1961), St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Mark McGwire of Pomona, California (70 in 1998 and 65 in 1999), Chicago Cubs right fielder Sammy Sosa of San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic (66 in 1998, 63 in 1999, and 64 in 2001), San Francisco Giants left fielder Barry Bonds of Riverside, California (73 in 2001), and Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge of Linden, California (62 in 2022).

It was also a very meaningful night for the Mariners organization as a whole. That is because they won the American League West Division title. Seattle was able to clinch first place with a win over Colorado and an Athletics win over the Houston Astros.