Homer the Brave

Andruw Jones hit two home runs yesterday in going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and four RBI as the Braves suprefluously beat up on the Mets 12-6. He now has 31 home runs on the year and three straight years with 30 or more homers (also, 4 of last 5). But maybe the most interesting thing about his home runs is that they rounded out four straight at-bats with a home run dating back to September 7. In that game Jones hit two homers and then got plunked on the helmet by Expo Tomo Ohka, missed a game, and then missed another day because of the Braves' day off. So his four straight homer at-bats took four days to complete. Here are the others to do it thanks to CNN/SI:

One Game
2002 Mikeameron, SEA
1976 Mike Schmidt, PHI
1959 Rocky Colavito, CLE
1932 Lou Gehrig, NYY
1894 Robert Lowe, BOS
Two Games
2002 Andruw Jones, ATL
2002 Shawn Green, LA
2001 Barry Bonds, SF
1998 Manny Ramirez, CLE
1997 Bob Higginson, DET
1996 Benito Santiago, PHI
1994 Tuffy Rhodes, CHC
1990 Bo Jackson, KC
1982 Larry Herndon, DET
1979 Mike Schmidt, PHI
1975 Don Baylor, BAL
1971 Deron Johnson, PHI
1971 Mike Epstein, OAK
1970 Bobby Murcer, NYY
1966 Art Shamsky, CIN
1962 Stan Musial, STL
1962 Mickey Mantle, NYY
1961 Willie Kirkland, CLE
1959 Charlie Maxwell, DET
1949 Ralph Kiner, PIT
1947 Ralph Kiner, PIT
1944 Bill Nicholson, CHC
1938 Hank Greenberg, DET
1933 Jimmy Foxx, PHI
Three Games
1995 Jeff Manto, BAL
1961 Johnny Blanchard, NYY
Four Games
1957 Ted Williams, BOS

Some notes:

- Jones is the third man to do it this year. Cameron and Green both had a 4-HR game in 2002, but Green's were not in consecutive at-bats. He did it three weeks later with two back-to-back bi-homer games.

- Mike Schmidt and Ralph Kiner are the only ones to have done it more than once.

- Bobby Lowe was the first to do it and the only one for nearly 4 decades. He did it in Congress Street Grounds, which was a 2-month (May 15 to July 19) transitional field between the old South End Grounds (number 2) and the new one (#3-as was routine back then with wooden grandstands #2 burnt down). It must have been some kind of 19th century Coors. The Beaneaters hit 103 dingers that year to lead the league playing part of the season in this park with a 250-foot left field wall. Their miserly pitching staff only allowed 51, second in the league. The staff ERA was at least half-run lower than the rest of the teams in the league though. The Colts (i.e., the Cubs) were second with 65. Boston had about one-sixth of the home runs in the NL that year. They had 65 in old South End Grounds the year before (still 2nd in the NL), and 54 the next year in new South End Grounds (4th in NL).

I had always heard that Lake Front Park was the 19th century homer dome. It's the place that Ned Williamson established a record 27 homers in 1884, which wasn't broken until Babe Ruth. Evidently a ball over their right-field wall prior to 1884 was a double, but in 1884 it became a home run. The White Stockings hit 142 homers while playing there in 1884. Chicago moved to a new stadium in 1885,and the team hit only 54 that year but still led the league.

By the way, Lowe was the last man in Braves' franchise history prior to Jones to accomplish this feat.

- I wondered why it took Ted Williams four games to get four at-bats. BaseballLibrary.com had the answer:

" September 22, 1957: Ted Williams hits his 4th consecutive HR, a grand slam, in 4 official at bats over 4 games, as he is walked 11 times. He ends his HR streak with a single.