More on John Buck’s 3-HR game
Posted by Andy on April 30, 2010
By now you know that John Buck hit 3 homers in a game last night. Here are a couple of things you might not have known.
Catchers don't do this all that often. For the years available with box scores, he's just the 27th guy playing at catcher to pull it off:
| Rk | Player | Date ▾ | Tm | Opp | Rslt | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | IBB | SO | WPA | RE24 | BOP | Pos. Summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | John Buck | 2010-04-29 | TOR | OAK | W 6-3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.448 | 4.094 | 1.005 | 8 | C |
| 3 | Victor Martinez | 2004-07-16 | CLE | SEA | W 18-6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.130 | 6.116 | .403 | 4 | C |
| 4 | Mike Lieberthal | 2002-08-10 | PHI | LAD | L 8-10 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.397 | 3.867 | .948 | 6 | C |
| 5 | Jason Varitek | 2001-05-20 | BOS | KCR | W 10-3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.291 | 5.444 | .660 | 8 | C |
| 6 | Darrin Fletcher | 2000-08-27 | TOR | TEX | W 6-4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.296 | 2.719 | .812 | 7 | C |
| 7 | Ivan Rodriguez | 1997-09-11 | TEX | MIN | W 7-0 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.267 | 4.176 | .702 | 2 | C |
| 8 | Bobby Estalella | 1997-09-04 | PHI | MON | W 6-4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.498 | 3.710 | .785 | 7 | C |
| 9 | Benito Santiago | 1996-09-15 | PHI | CHC | W 6-1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.383 | 5.213 | 1.030 | 4 | C |
| 10 | Mike Piazza | 1996-06-29 | LAD | COL | W 13-10 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.209 | 3.965 | .796 | 3 | C |
| 11 | Dan Wilson | 1996-04-11 | SEA | DET | W 9-1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.244 | 3.581 | .590 | 8 | C |
| 12 | Mike Stanley | 1995-08-10 (1) | NYY | CLE | L 9-10 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.505 | 4.997 | 1.628 | 7 | C |
| 13 | Ernie Whitt | 1987-09-14 | TOR | BAL | W 18-3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.099 | 4.202 | .240 | 5 | C |
| 14 | Gary Carter | 1985-09-03 | NYM | SDP | W 8-3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.341 | 4.788 | .530 | 4 | C |
| 15 | Johnny Bench | 1980-05-29 | CIN | SDP | W 5-3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.247 | 3.598 | .425 | 5 | C |
| 16 | Dale Murphy | 1979-05-18 | ATL | SFG | W 6-4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.313 | 4.739 | .660 | 4 | C |
| 17 | Gary Carter | 1977-04-20 | MON | PIT | L 6-8 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.129 | 3.312 | .737 | 7 | C |
| 18 | George Mitterwald | 1974-04-17 | CHC | PIT | W 18-9 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.387 | 7.604 | .698 | 7 | C |
| 19 | Johnny Bench | 1973-05-09 | CIN | PHI | W 9-7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.957 | 6.120 | 1.096 | 3 | C |
| 20 | Bill Freehan | 1971-08-09 | DET | BOS | L 11-12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.459 | 2.960 | 1.016 | 6 | C |
| 21 | Bob Tillman | 1969-07-30 (1) | ATL | PHI | W 6-3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.248 | 3.490 | .305 | 7 | C |
| 22 | Gene Oliver | 1966-07-30 (2) | ATL | SFG | W 15-2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.265 | 6.659 | .390 | 5 | C |
| 23 | Don Leppert | 1963-04-11 | WSA | BOS | W 8-0 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.234 | 5.031 | .670 | 6 | C |
| 24 | Ed Bailey | 1956-06-24 (1) | CIN | BRO | W 10-6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.303 | 3.789 | 1.118 | 6 | C |
| 25 | Smoky Burgess | 1955-07-29 | CIN | PIT | W 16-5 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.384 | 5.768 | .672 | 2 | C |
| 26 | Bill Dickey | 1939-07-26 | NYY | SLB | W 14-1 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 5 | C | ||
| 27 | Mickey Cochrane | 1925-05-21 | PHA | SLB | W 20-4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 8 | C | ||
| 28 | Butch Henline | 1922-09-15 | PHI | STL | W 10-9 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 5 | C |
(When I did the sort, the rank got messed up, hence numbering from 2 to 28...)
Johnny Bench and Gary Carter are the guys to do it multiple times. For comparison, first basemen have done it 100 times, led by Mark McGwire, Carlos Delgado, and Lou Gehrig with 4 apiece.
One weird thing is that Buck i snow hitting just .194, a remarkably low batting average for a guy to hit 3 HR. I went back more than 10 years and couldn't find anybody else with a 3-HR game and such a low BA after the game. Next closest was Steve Finley hitting .235 after his 3-HR game in 2004. Like Buck's game, Finley's came fairly early in the season. A little more digging found Dan Wilson next in this 1996 game, after which he was hitting .222. This was just the Mariners' 9th game of the season and Wilson finished the year at .285.
April 30th, 2010 at 8:41 am
Dale Murphy is an interesting one. It was his third to last game at catcher. He also would never have a 3 HR game as an outfielder or first baseman.
May 1st, 2010 at 8:16 am
Roy Campanella hit 3 for Brooklyn on 26 August 1950 - I assume he was catching that day. Wes Westrum did it for the Giants, 24 June 1950.