If a baseball fan was approached on June 1 and told that the Pittsburgh Pirates would make MLB history in June, most fans would probably assume the history was not good. The Pirates did make history, only it wasn’t bad.
Pittsburgh catcher Michael Pérez hit three home runs for the Pirates on Thursday in their victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
ICYMI: Michael Perez hit three home runs tonight. pic.twitter.com/jkY29CHviG
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 1, 2022
One day earlier, Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds hit three home runs in a win over the Washington Nationals. On Father’s Day, Jack Suwinski hit three home runs for the Pirates in a victory against the San Francisco Giants.
Three players on one team hitting three home runs in the same month had never been done before.
Michael Perez has 3 home runs tonight for the Pirates.
Bryan Reynolds hit 3 yesterday.
Jack Suwinski hit 3 on June 19th.
The Pirates are the first team in MLB history to have 3 different players with a 3-HR game in the same month. pic.twitter.com/Me8avDpZ5p
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 1, 2022
Baseball fans reacted to Pittsburgh’s history making month with surprise and bemusement.
First time ever. Quite a feat. https://t.co/5tTEBIntPc
— John Lydic (@ENNJohnLydic) July 1, 2022
I love this team. https://t.co/KMtLlzcO24
— patrick (@muldowney) July 1, 2022
America’s team https://t.co/4RBh542nIC
— Charlie Wolfson (@chwolfson) July 1, 2022
Same month? How about in 12 freakin’ days! #bucn https://t.co/RWWWZDwzD2
— DP (@412potter) July 1, 2022
The blisterin' blastin' batterin' boomin' Buccos I say https://t.co/Oqz9RuZPfF
— Jake Crouse (@JakeCrouseMLB) July 1, 2022
This gotta be the weirdest season ever lol https://t.co/HztHsAepUk
— Ron Burgundy (@DIFS412) July 1, 2022
Baseball! https://t.co/aIZPVvsQ3T
— Mark Spillane (@MarkSpillane_) July 1, 2022
I can’t believe I’m going to say this.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are fun to watch. https://t.co/jegTNXCDVn
— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) July 1, 2022
Even Pittsburgh’s manager, Derek Shelton, couldn’t quite explain his team’s recent power surge. Though, naturally, he wasn’t exactly complaining about it.
Derek Shelton on this stat: "That’s strange. I don’t know. I think since I’ve got here, I’ve seen a ton of stuff that’s different. Why not just add three guys hitting three homers in the same month to it." https://t.co/hSnynjXSBR
— Justice delos Santos (@justdelossantos) July 1, 2022
And while the historic run of single-game home runs has been fun to watch for the Pirates and their fans, it hasn’t necesarilly translated into wins.
The Pirates are still 31-45 overall and still finished June with a record of well below .500.
Pirate hit 44 HRs in June but only have a 10-18 record to show for it #Pirates https://t.co/o1iT7OeOwl
— pittsburghpirateguru (@harvardplayer) July 1, 2022
Nevertheless if we were to power rank the teams likely to break this record at the beginning of the year (or even at the beginning of June), the most obvious answers would be teams like the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros. Many teams — and possibly every team — would have been named before the Pirates.
But over less than two weeks, the Pirates did something that none of the best teams in the history of the game have ever done.
[ESPN States & Info, Justice delos Santos]
