Sometimes, a player’s line doesn’t need the author’s flourishes – the adjectives, the superlatives, the flow-y and show-y. The numbers, with perhaps just a little context, are all that’s required to … sing. Here’s one such story – just the facts.
On June 25, 1987, the visiting Reds lost to the Giants despite Eric Davis going 3-for-4 with a double and a homer, a walk and three runs scored. Cincinnati had played 72 games at this point, with Davis in the starting lineup for 62 of them. In those 62, the outfielder owned a .319/.410/.699 line, had scored 63 runs, had hit 23 home runs, had driven in 63 and had stolen 29 bases in 32 attempts. Transformed into a 162-game average, his numbers at this point work out to:
165 runs
60 HR
165 RBI
76 SB in 84 Attempts (90.5% success rate)
102 XBH
418 Total Bases
This was Eric Davis through the first three or so months of 1987.
23-year-old Elly De La Cruz homered for the fourth consecutive game.
~He’s the youngest Red to post a four-game homer streak since Eric Davis authored a four-game run in 1984. Two other Reds in the modern era have been younger than 24 years old and homered in four straight (no one has gone longer): Frank Robinson in 1959 and Johnny Bench in 1970.
~De La Cruz has 16 homers and 20 steals on the year. Since 1901, 12 other players, including Pete Crow-Armstrong this season – have posted a power/speed combo as good as or better than De La Cruz through 72 team games. There are a lot of Reds on this list, with De La Cruz joining Reggie Sanders in 1995, Chris Sabo in 1990 and the one-and-only Eric Davis in 1987. No other franchise has more than one representative.
1901-2025: 16+ HR & 20+ SB Through 72 Team Games
| Player | Year | HR | SB |
| Ken Williams | 1922 | 19 | 22 |
| Bobby Bonds | 1973 | 18 | 22 |
| César Cedeño | 1974 | 16 | 32 |
| Davey Lopes | 1979 | 18 | 20 |
| Andre Dawson | 1981 | 17 | 21 |
| Eric Davis | 1987 | 23 | 29 |
| José Canseco | 1988 | 19 | 21 |
| Bo Jackson | 1989 | 17 | 20 |
| Chris Sabo | 1990 | 16 | 21 |
| Reggie Sanders | 1995 | 16 | 21 |
| Raúl Mondesi | 2000 | 16 | 20 |
| Pete Crow-Armstrong | 2025 | 18 | 23 |
| Elly De La Cruz | 2025 | 16 | 20 |
Shohei Ohtani (3-for-3, 2 runs, BB) closed his day with an NL-leading 189 OPS+. A belt in this category at the end of the year would give the Dodgers’ star his third straight title. Since 1901 in the NL/AL, there are 16 players who’ve led their league in OPS+ in three (or more) consecutive seasons.
9 Ty Cobb, 1907-1915
7 Rogers Hornsby, 1919-1925
6 Babe Ruth, 1926-1931
6 Babe Ruth, 1919-1924
5 Mike Trout, 2015-2019
5 Barry Bonds, 2000-2004
5 Mike Schmidt, 1980-1984
5 Mickey Mantle, 1958-1962
4 Barry Bonds, 1990-1993
4 Ted Williams, 1946-1949
3 Albert Pujols, 2008-2010
3 Willie McCovey, 1968-1970
3 Frank Robinson, 1960-1962
3 Rogers Hornsby, 1927-1929
3 Gavy Cravath, 1913-1915
3 Honus Wagner, 1907-1909
Ohtani has scored 73 runs – the first Dodger to have that many through 72 team games since Willie Keeler had 73 in 1901. Since 1901, Ohtani and Keeler are two of 27 players to have this many or more at this stage of a season; Ohtani is the first to get here since the Rockies’ Todd Helton in 2001.
Grant Holmes fanned 15 and still took the loss as the Braves’ right-hander allowed three runs in six-and-a-third innings and Atlanta fell to Colorado, 10-1.
~Holmes’ 15 K’s tie for the third most for any Braves hurler in the modern era, matched with Warren Spahn (1960) and John Smoltz (1992 and 2005). Spahn notched 18 K’s in an outing in 1952 and in 2022, Spencer Strider had 16.
~Holmes is the 24th pitcher since 1901 to fan at least 15, allow three-or-more runs and take the loss. It’s happened four previous times this century, with Holmes joining Randy Johnson (2001), Cliff Lee (2011), Francisco Liriano (2012) and Lance Lynn (2023).
~In back-to-back games, Braves pitchers fanned 19 and then 16. In the modern era, there are 20 instances of a club piling up as many as 35 strikeouts in a two-game span, with this Braves example offering one of two where the team did it without needing more than nine innings in either game. In late April in 1986, the Red Sox fanned 36 over 18 innings – the first game being the one when Roger Clemens struck out 20.
In what turned out to be his final game with the Red Sox, Rafael Devers homered as part of Boston’s 2-0 win over New York. Devers has 31 homers against the Yankees; for all Red Sox in the rivalry, that tally rings up as the seventh highest.
Boston: Most HR against Yankees
62 Ted Williams
52 Carl Yastrzemski
52 David Ortiz
36 Jim Rice
36 Manny Ramírez
32 Dwight Evans
31 Rafel Devers
Playing in his eighth career game, Phillies first baseman Otto Kemp was 4-for-5. It’s the second big effort for the 25-year-old, who had a three-hit outing in his third career contest. Kemp is the first player for the Phillies to have multiple three-hit (or more hit) efforts so early into a career since Keith Moreland in 1979.
Junior Caminero hit his 17th homer of the year.
~Caminero’s 17 through 71 games are the most for the Rays since Logan Morrison had 19 in 2017. José Canseco had 27 in 1999, the most at this point for the franchise. That year, Canseco finished with 34 in 113 games.
~Caminero can pair his 17 longballs with exactly 17 walks. Unfortunately for the numerical harmony of this note, there aren’t exactly 17 (or 71) players who’ve had 17+ homers and no more than 17 walks through 71 games. There are, now, (sigh) 72. Starting from the beginning, Al Simmons was the first to do it, with 19 homers and 16 walks through 71 Athletics games in 1929. Joe DiMaggio (22 and 15 in 1937) was the next to do this. Caminero has a companion in 2025, with Pete Crow-Armstrong having 18 longballs and 13 free passes.
Miguel Vargas hit his 10th homer in a 2-1 White Sox loss. The infielder leads Chicago in both homers and doubles (18). This century, there have been nine players to pace the Pale Hose in both categories at the end of the season:
Frank Thomas in 2000
Magglio Ordóñez in 2002
Paul Konerko in 2009
Paul Konerko in 2010
José Abreu in 2014
José Abreu in 2017
José Abreu in 2019
José Abreu in 2020
Luis Robert, Jr. in 2023
By virtue of three walks and a hit by pitch, Seattle’s Randy Arozarena finished his day with the “don’t see that every day” line of two runs scored and two steals despite not having any official at-bats. In fact, a starter has scored multiple runs and stolen multiple bases with zero at-bats six times since the AL joined the NL in 1901.
1902 Elmer Flick has 4 R & 2 SB
1915 Wally Schang has 2 R & 2 SB
1917 Mike Menosky has 2 R & 2 SB
1989 Rickey Henderson has 4 R & 5 SB
2000 Rickey Henderson has 2 R & 2 SB
2025 Randy Arozarena has 2 R & 2 SB
In San Diego’s 8-2 win, leadoff hitter Fernando Tatis, Jr. had four hits (two doubles), drove in a run and scored three times. For the year, the two-time All-Star owns an .829 OPS batting first (he’s approaching 300 plate appearances in the slot). For San Diego and all of its history, Gene Richards claims the best mark for any leadoff hitter with at least 400 plate appearances there; in 1978, the second-year player posted an .824.
Thanks to Baseball Reference and its extraordinary research database, Stathead, for help in assembling this piece.
Roger Schlueter
As Sr. Editorial Director for Major League Baseball Productions from 2004-2015, Roger served as a hub for hundreds of hours of films, series, documentaries and features: as researcher, fact-checker, script doctor, and developer of ideas. The years at MLB Production gave him the ideal platform to pursue what galvanized him the most – the idea that so much of what takes place on the field during the MLB regular and postseason (and is forever beautifully condensed into a box score) has connections to what has come before. Unearthing and celebrating these webs allows baseball to thrive, for the present can come alive and also reignite the past.