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A legendary MLB franchise record fell on Saturday night.
Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh hit his 57th home run of the season against the Houston Astros to break Ken Griffey Jr.’s single-season tally, which dates back to 1997.
The Mariners led 2-0 in the third inning when Raleigh smacked a 95.5 mph sinker from lefty Framber Valdez into the bullpen in right-center field to make it 3-0 and pass the 56 mark Griffey reached in both 1997 and 1998.
Raleigh lifted his right arm in celebration as he rounded second base and raised the trident the Mariners use for their home run celebration skyward after J.P. Crawford handed it to him just before he entered the dugout.
Raleigh, who leads the majors in home runs, has already surpassed Mickey Mantle’s Major League record for home runs by a switch-hitter of 54 that had stood since 1961. He’s also set the MLB record for homers by a catcher this season, eclipsing the 48 Salvador Perez hit in 2021.
Raleigh is in a race with New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge for AL MVP. While Raleigh has the edge over Judge in homers and RBI, Judge leads seemingly every other key offensive category, including OPS by around 180 points at the time of publication.
Judge is also gaining ground on Raleigh in home runs, after hitting his 49th of the season on Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles. Judge has hit five home runs in 10 games after shaking hands with President Donald Trump in the Yankees’ clubhouse on Sept. 11, and even passed Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio on the franchise’s career home-run list the day after meeting Trump.
Some fans jokingly credited Trump’s handshake for Judge’s recent power surge.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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