Jason Giambi is one of the oldest players to hit 3 homers in a game
Posted by Andy on May 19, 2011
Damn straight, I wrote about how long it took for a 3-HR game in the majors this year, and now they are coming in rapid-fire fashion.
Jason Giambi already has 3 homers against the Phillies tonight. He'll have a shot at 4.
Going back to 1919, the oldest players to hit 3 homers in a game are:
| Rk | Player | Age | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | WPA | RE24 | BOP | Pos. Summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stan Musial | 41.229 | 1962-07-08 | STL | NYM | W 15-1 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0.122 | 4.045 | .270 | 4 | LF |
| 2 | Reggie Jackson | 40.123 | 1986-09-18 | CAL | KCR | W 18-3 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0.175 | 5.664 | .348 | 4 | DH |
| 3 | Babe Ruth | 40.108 | 1935-05-25 | BSN | PIT | L 7-11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 3 | RF | |
| 4 | Dave Winfield | 39.192 | 1991-04-13 | CAL | MIN | W 15-9 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.340 | 5.613 | .538 | 4 | RF |
| 5 | Frank Thomas | 39.113 | 2007-09-17 | TOR | BOS | W 6-1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.228 | 3.841 | .660 | 4 | DH |
| 6 | Bob Thurman | 39.096 | 1956-08-18 | CIN | MLN | W 13-4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.219 | 4.050 | .438 | 3 | LF |
| 7 | Steve Finley | 39.047 | 2004-04-28 | ARI | CHC | L 3-4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.539 | 2.886 | .930 | 5 | CF |
| 8 | Ted Williams | 38.287 | 1957-06-13 | BOS | CLE | W 9-3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0.347 | 4.273 | .538 | 3 | LF |
| 9 | Ted Williams | 38.251 | 1957-05-08 | BOS | CHW | W 4-1 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0.280 | 3.511 | .446 | 3 | LF |
| 10 | Ty Cobb | 38.138 | 1925-05-05 | DET | SLB | W 14-8 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 3 | CF | |
| 11 | Lee Lacy | 38.059 | 1986-06-08 | BAL | NYY | W 18-9 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.216 | 3.785 | .333 | 2 | RF |
| 12 | Barry Bonds | 38.034 | 2002-08-27 | SFG | COL | W 7-4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0.481 | 4.116 | .856 | 3 | LF |
| 13 | Mike Schmidt | 37.260 | 1987-06-14 | PHI | MON | W 11-6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.279 | 5.288 | .733 | 4 | 3B |
| 14 | Johnny Mize | 37.251 | 1950-09-15 | NYY | DET | L 7-9 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 5 | 1B | |
| 15 | Larry Walker | 37.207 | 2004-06-25 | COL | CLE | W 10-8 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0.808 | 5.572 | 1.787 | 5 | RF |
| 16 | Barry Bonds | 37.047 | 2001-09-09 | SFG | COL | W 9-4 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0.227 | 4.124 | 1.133 | 3 | LF |
| 17 | Pete Rose | 37.015 | 1978-04-29 | CIN | NYM | W 14-7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0.281 | 4.320 | .578 | 1 | 3B |
| 18 | Moises Alou | 37.001 | 2003-07-04 | CHC | STL | L 8-11 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0.060 | 4.177 | .456 | 4 | LF |
| 19 | Barry Bonds | 36.299 | 2001-05-19 | SFG | ATL | W 6-3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.481 | 3.638 | 1.110 | 3 | LF |
| 20 | Jack Fournier | 36.288 | 1926-07-13 | BRO | STL | L 10-12 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 3 | 1B |
Today Giambi is 40 years, 131 days old, making him the second-oldest to accomplish the feat (at least since 1919).
May 19th, 2011 at 10:08 pm
The greats are still great late. By my count 14 of the 20 spots are either
HOF or should be, gambling illness aside.
Also, those three homers by the Babe were the final three of his career.
Also, one of them, not sure which, cleared an 89 ft. roof in rightfield and
is generally considered the longest homer hit in the history of Forbes
Field, 1909-70.
May 19th, 2011 at 10:13 pm
A lot of names it's no surprise to see on that list. Fournier spent 3 years in his prime tearing up the PCL because Charlie Commiskey was an idiot, Thurman was a victim of Jim Crow. Lee Lacy is the only real shocker on the list.
May 19th, 2011 at 10:44 pm
Make that all-time. Before 1919, no player in his age 39 season or older hit as many as 3 HRs in a game.
source: PI season finder and HR logs
May 19th, 2011 at 11:31 pm
I saw the Dave Winfield game in person, I was 10 years old and pretty impressed by Winfield's power!
May 19th, 2011 at 11:39 pm
Pete Rose is the name that stands out to me.
I remember the Frank Thomas game. It was awesome to see the "washed up" Frank have a game like that (even in a different uniform).
May 19th, 2011 at 11:53 pm
i saw the pete rose game on tv. i was eleven years old, living in rochester, ny. i was a reds fan, through and through, because of the big red machine. but there were few opportunities to see them play on national tv. when we got cable tv, i got mets games on WOR and yankee games on WPIX. the mets were boring, except when kingman played. and the yankees were exciting. but i made sure to watch the mets games when they played the reds. which only happened a dozen times a year. i remember the focus during the game was on his chase for 3000 hits, which he was closing in on. no one was thinking about him hitting home runs. and i remember that rose left the game before it ended. and the guys in the booth kept saying 'we're trying to get pete on the air after the game'...and they did. he was the guest for Kiner's Korner, and I was elated.
May 20th, 2011 at 12:26 am
In fairness, Giambi hit his HR off Kendrick and Baez so it's like he hit them in AAA
May 20th, 2011 at 6:37 am
@6: grew up in So. Jersey, but still got the WOR, and WPIX, on basic cable.....a little later in my life. Would have been two years old, when Rose's game occurred (Rose's name, as Mccombe also said, is the one, from this list, that jumped out at me, as well), but, guess the point is, I still do remember "Kiner's Korner". So I can kind of see it all happening, including Kingman- (the second time around w/the Mets, anyways) god the Mets were awful in the early 80's! *smiles
Thanks for the memories!!
May 20th, 2011 at 8:28 am
Finley, Williams...and now Giambi. The 3 geezers whose HRs accounted for all their team's runs.
May 20th, 2011 at 8:55 am
No middle infielders, no catchers. Not a surprise since guys usually get moved off those positions by the above ages, not to mention many years of light hitting at those spots.
May 20th, 2011 at 8:56 am
Also, surprised there isn't more DHs.
May 20th, 2011 at 9:59 am
How about that game by Cobb!
6 for 6 with 3 home runs in a game in 1925!
May 20th, 2011 at 10:13 am
The best thing about this list for me is it made me look up Bob Thurman who I had never heard of.
He made his MLB debut a month before turning 38. He slugged .542 as a part-time outfielder at age 40.
He didn't play in the minors before age 32. I wondered why and then looked up his bio. He played Negro Leagues before that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Thurman
So here you have a Negro League star who didn't make his MLB debut until 1955. Man we missed out on a lot of good players even 6 or 7 years after jackie Robinson. What a bunch of dopes back then...
May 20th, 2011 at 10:37 am
@12/ Doug B Says: "How about that game by Cobb! 6 for 6 with 3 home runs in a game in 1925!""
Even better, he told reporters before that game that for the first time in his life, he would be deliberately trying to hit home runs. I guess he was trying to show that he could "out-Babe" the Babe if he felt like it.
May 20th, 2011 at 5:17 pm
Frankly, I'm disappointed in that game by the 38-year-old Cobb. If he had stretched one of his singles into a triple, he could have been the only player ever to hit for the cycle with 3 HRs!
In fact, I'll bet that he should have had a triple, but thought he had hit a 4th HR, got caught admiring the blast, then jogged sheepishly to 1st base....
May 21st, 2011 at 2:52 am
Williams doing it twice in 5 weeks - that is impressive.
And, both were road games, one in Cleveland Stadium !