The iconic Fenway Park has been around for 112 years, and a Seattle Mariners catcher accomplished something that no other player in the stadium’s history ever had until Monday night.
In the top of the fifth inning, Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh crushed a 438-foot homer batting left-handed to give Seattle a 2-0 lead over the Boston Red Sox.
Cal Raleigh just obliterated this baseball.
109.3 mph off the bat, 438 feet. pic.twitter.com/59tZiTiH3a
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) May 16, 2023
An inning later, Raleigh batted from the right side, and he crushed a 434-foot homer over the Green Monster.
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
It’s the first time in the switch-hitter’s MLB career that he’s homered from each side of the batter’s box in the same game.
But what’s particularly incredible is that it’s never even happened in the 112-year history of Fenway Park. Raleigh becomes the first catcher in the history of Fenway Park to homer from each of the plate in the same game.
Cal Raleigh is the first catcher to homer from BOTH sides of the plate in a game in the 112-year history of Fenway Park.
— Alex Mayer (@alexmayer34) May 16, 2023
That’s a hard-to-believe factoid.
Raleigh finished the game 3-for-5 with the two homers, and four runs batted in.
He also played some terrific defense behind the plate.
Another big play tonight from Cal Raleigh, this time with an on-the-money throw to nab Pablo Reyes on a steal attempt. He's now 8-for-26 in throwing out runners in this year.
Arm strength: 84.1 mph
Pop time: 1.91 seconds pic.twitter.com/CWrdWuPNF3— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) May 16, 2023
Raleigh’s big night led the Mariners to a 10-1 road win over the Red Sox. Seattle improves to 21-20 on the season, while Boston falls to 22-20 with its fourth straight loss.
[Daniel Kramer on Twitter; Alex Kramer on Twitter]
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.