Cal Raleigh joins Mickey Mantle in historic switch-hitter MLB club

The post Cal Raleigh joins Mickey Mantle in historic switch-hitter MLB club appeared first on ClutchPoints.

Cal Raleigh is coming for all the records. One day after he broke Salvador Perez’s record for home runs by a catcher, the Seattle Mariners’ All-Star made history with his 50th homer of the season in Monday’s series opener against the San Diego Padres. Raleigh became the first catcher ever to hit 50 home runs in a season.

The 419-foot bomb stayed just inside the left field foul pole, landing in the upper deck of T-Mobile Park. With the majestic blast, Raleigh also joined Mickey Mantle as the only switch-hitters in baseball history with 50+ home runs in a season, per Mariners PR on X. Mantle accomplished the feat twice – in 1956 and 1961.

In Sunday’s two-homer performance, Raleigh broke Mantle’s record for the most multi-homer games in a season by a switch-hitter. Mantle’s mark of eight multi-homer games, set in 1961, stood for 64 years. But Raleigh now holds the record with nine such games.

Cal Raleigh powers Mariners past Padres

Big Dumper is within striking distance of the all-time single season multi-home run mark. An eclectic trio from different eras currently holds the record. Hank Greenberg (1938), Sammy Sosa (1998) and Aaron Judge (2022) each have 11 multi-homer games.

Raleigh’s two-dong outing on Sunday helped power the Mariners past the Athletics in the series finale, 11-4. On Monday, the Gold Glove-winning backstop was back at it again, giving Seattle an early 1-0 lead over San Diego with home run No. 50.

The ball was flying out of the stadium as six different players went deep in the Mariners’ clash with the Padres. Fernando Tatis Jr. snapped the longest homer drought of his career with a 416-foot shot to center. San Diego’s right fielder had gone 128 plate appearances without a home run before Monday’s dinger.

Jorge Polanco helped the Mariners’ cause with a 3-4 day at the plate. The veteran second baseman had a double and a homer, driving in four runs and scoring twice as Seattle won 9-6.

After going 2-7 during a miserable road trip, the Mariners have won three of four games since returning to the West Coast. Seattle had dropped three games behind the Houston Astros in the AL West with the cold streak. But the team is just 1.5-games back after Monday’s win over the Padres.

Related: Mariners’ Cal Raleigh makes MLB history with 50th home run

Related: Mariners’ Josh Naylor, one of MLB’s slowest players, makes stolen base history