HistoriCAL Again: Cal Raleigh First Catcher to 50 Home Runs in MLB History
SEATTLE, Wash. — Cal Raleigh is here to hit homers and chew bubblegum—and he’s all out of bubblegum.
On August 25, just a day after breaking the single season home run record by a catcher, the Mariners’ backstop set a high-water mark of his own, becoming the first catcher in MLB history to hit 50 or more home runs in a season.
Facing off against the San Diego Padres, the latest blast came in the bottom of the first inning on a 3-2 heater on the lower inside corner of the plate. As he has done so many times this season, Raleigh took a bad ball to hit and turned it into an upper-deck souvenir.
The half-century mark for homers is something that had only been achieved 50 times before Raleigh. The feat was inaugurated by none other than the Bambino, who swatted 54 of them in 1920 and then reached 50 three more times before anyone else got there. Depression-era sluggers Hack Wilson and Jimmie Foxx made the mark, as did postwar powerhouses like Ralph Kiner, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Roger Maris that one famous time.
From 1966 to 1989, though, just one hitter made it to 50: George Foster of the 1977 Cincinnati Reds. Cecil Fielder hit 51 in 1990 and Albert Belle blasted exactly 50 in 1995—and then, for obvious reasons, the floodgates broke. A full third of all 50-homer seasons in history occurred between 1996 and 2002.
Twice during that stretch, Ken Griffey Jr. had 56-home run campaigns, the only Mariner to get a half-century of homers. And among those who hit 50 homers between 1996 and 2002, Junior was one of the few who was never connected to steroids.
“Hopefully [Griffey’s] not too mad,” Raleigh joked after the game, “He’s awesome and I’m just going to try to keep going.”
A notable smattering of half-centuries since then means that, although the Steroid Era offensive explosion is over, the 50-homer season has not quite returned to rarity. But in all that time, it had never been done by a catcher.
That is, until 2025. Raleigh has kept a remarkably consistent home run pace throughout the season. 10 home runs before May, 12 home runs during May, 11 home runs in June, nine home runs in July, and now eight home runs in August. Plenty of sluggers have had 10-homer months before dramatically trailing off, but to hover around that total every single month of the season will make them add up and quickly.
Of course, the board Raleigh leads is of players whose primary position is catcher. When it comes to home runs hit while playing catcher in the same game, it’s a different story—but it might not be for long. Raleigh has hit 10 of his homers as a designated hitter, meaning that 40 have come while he’s behind the backstop on the other side of the inning. The most homers by any player in a season while playing catcher was Javy Lopez of the 2003 Braves, who hit 42.
But there’s another honor he reached with his 50th blast: it was his 20th home run from the right side of the plate. No switch hitter—not even Mickey Mantle—had ever hit 20 home runs from both sides of the plate during a single season. Yet another mountain only Raleigh has climbed in this historic storybook season.
Raleigh is currently pacing 61 homers. In baseball, you often bank on regression, but once the calendar flips to September, you sit back and watch destiny unfold. It’s likely he’ll beat Lopez’ tally, but as far as the other records, it’s all down to what happens in the stretch.
As for the game on Monday, the Mariners took the Vedder Cup by a 9-6 score, with a five-run fifth propelling the M’s to 71-61 on the season and just one and a half games back of the AL West lead.