Game Notes – 08/28/2025

When Dave Kingman closed his career in 1986, the 37-year-old had produced 442 home runs – at the time, the 19th most in baseball history.  Those 442 also represented an unprecedented 28.1% of his entire collection of hits – a greater percentage than any ballplayer with at least 5,000 plate appearances had ever amassed.  This, in a way, was Kingman’s calling card – go yard or don’t go at all.   Here in 2025, Kingman still owns one the heaviest percentages when weighed on this particular scale, with the current leader a guy who was sharing a dugout with Kingman all those decades ago in ‘86:  Mark McGwire.  McGwire – who hit more home runs than all but 10 players in history – had a hefty 35.9% of his knocks organized under the “big fly” category – a seemingly untouchable influence.

But perhaps not, if the latest four-homer-in-a-game basher keeps apportioning things the way he’s worked them in 2025.

Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber tied a Major League record with four home runs – his historic night also saw the DH drive in nine.  

~Schwarber is the 21st player in history to homer four times in a game and continues a long and voluminous tradition of Phillies players contributing to the lineage.  He’s the fourth to do it for the franchise, the most for any club.  Here’s the entire list, broken down by franchise.

Phillies (4):  Ed Delahanty (1896), Chuck Klein (1936), Mike Schmidt (1976), Kyle Schwarber (2025)

Braves (3):  Bobby Lowe (1894), Joe Adcock (1954), Bob Horner (1986)

Dodgers (2):  Gil Hodges (1950), Shawn Green (2002)

D’Backs (2):  J.D. Martinez (2017), Eugenio Suárez (2025)

Yankees (1):  Lou Gehrig (1932)

White Sox (1):  Pat Seerey (1948)

Guardians (1):  Rocky Colavito (1959)

Giants (1):  Willie Mays (1961)

Cardinals (1):  Mark Whiten (1993)

Mariners (1):  Mike Cameron (2002)

Blue Jays (1):  Carlos Delgado (2003)

Rangers (1):  Josh Hamilton (2012)

Reds (1):  Scooter Gennett (2017)

Athletics (1):  Nick Kurtz (2025)

~Among the 21 members of the four-homer club, Schwarber’s nine RBI rank in a tie for the third most, matched with Gil Hodges and behind Mark Whiten’s 12 and Scooter Gennett’s 10.  His nine also established a new record for the Phillies franchise, eclipsing the eight from Kitty Bransfield (1910), Gavy Cravath (1915), Willie Jones (1958), Mike Schmidt (1976 – his four-homer game) and Jayson Werth (2008).

~The epic evening lifted Schwarber’s longball tally for the year to an NL-best 49.  The total, now second best in team history (behind Ryan Howard’s 58 in 2006), is also tied for the 14th most for any player through 134 games.

Most HRs Through 134 Team Games

57   Sammy Sosa (1999)

56   Barry Bonds (2001)

54   Babe Ruth (1921), Mark McGwire (1998)

53   Aaron Judge (2022)

52   Sammy Sosa (1998), Mark McGwire (1999), Sammy Sosa (2001)

51   Roger Maris (1961), Luis Gonzalez (2001), Giancarlo Stanton (2017), Aaron Judge (2024)

50   Cal Raleigh (2025)

49   Babe Ruth (1927), Jimmie Foxx (1932), Hank Greenberg (1938), Ryan Howard (2006), Kyle Schwarber           (2025)

~Schwarber’s masterpiece on Thursday marked his fourth game with at least three home runs – fewer players in history have had at least that many (there are 18 of them) than have produced a four-homer game.  

Most Games With at Least 3 HR

6    Johnny Mize, Sammy Sosa, Mookie Betts

5    Dave Kingman, Joe Carter, Mark McGwire, Carlos Delgado, Álex Rodríguez

4    Lou Gehrig, Ralph Kiner, Ernie Banks, Willie Stargell, Larry Parrish, Barry Bonds, Steve Finley, Albert              Pujols, Aramis Ramírez, Kyle Schwarber

~With his 4-for-6 night, Schwarber has seen 39.5% of his hits this season go for four bases.  In his career, he’s at 32.4%.  

Highest Percentage of Hits Going for Home Runs, Career – Minimum 5,000 Plate Appearances

35.9%    Mark McGwire

32.4%    Kyle Schwarber

28.3%    Adam Dunn

28.1%    Dave Kingman

In a 3-2 Red Sox win, Roman Anthony singled twice and drew a walk to lift his slash line to .291/.401/.464/.865, currently working out to a 140 OPS+.  The 21-year-old won’t amass enough plate appearances to appear on any rate-stat leaderboards, but it’s nevertheless interesting to use his line and propel backward.  Entering 2025, Boston had four players in an age-21 or younger season amass at least 300 plate appearances and finish their campaigns with an OPS+ of at least 135.  Those four, along with Roman Anthony’s current details:

1909:  In his third year, Tris Speaker (age-21 campaign) posts a 150 in 609 plate appearances

1939:  In his debut season, Ted Williams (20) posts a 160 in 677 PA

1940:  In his second year, Ted Williams (21) posts a 162 in 661 PA

1964:  In his debut season, Tony Conigliaro (19) posts a 138 in 444 PA

2025:  In his debut season, Roman Anthony (21) owns a 140 in 282 PA

Willy Adames homered twice for the Giants in a 4-3 win – his fourth multi-home run game of the year.  The four may not, at first, seem like many, but for the Giants during the era of their current ballpark (which opened in 2000), it’s a notable level.  

At least 4 Multi-HR Games in a Season – Giants Since 2000

2025   Willy Adames with 4

2004   Barry Bonds with 4

2002   Barry Bonds with 5

2002   Reggie Sanders with 4

2001   Barry Bonds with 10

2000   Barry Bonds with 4

~All four of Adames’ multi-longball efforts have come with the 29-year-old playing shortstop.  Positionally, he’s got one bit of company in Giants Modern Era annals, with Travis Jackson also having four in 1929.  No other Giant since 1901 has more than two multi-homer games in a season while manning shortstop.

Pete Alonso connected on his 30th home run of the year for his fourth season with at least 30 longballs and 100 RBI.  The four are the most in Mets history, with Alonso now one ahead of Darryl Strawberry.  

Miami’s Jakob Marsee singled twice in the club’s win.  The 24-year-old made his big league debut on August 1 and has been one of the more prolific compilers since then, amassing 34 hits (17 for extra bases) with 62 total bases, 24 RBI and a .358/.421/.653 line in 107 plate appearances.  Let’s look at his standing among his peers in 2025 for the month and then stretch the glimpse a bit.

August, 2025:  Marsee and the MLB leaders

34 Hits         Marsee is tied for fourth in the Majors, with Francisco Lindor and Trea Turner tied for the most, at                      38

17 XBH        Marsee is tied for second in the Majors, with Shea Langeliers’ 19 the most

62 TB           Marsee is eighth in the Majors, with Shea Langeliers’ 72 the most

24 RBI          Marsee is sixth in the Majors, with Kyle Schwarber’s 33 the most

1.073 OPS   Marsee is fourth (min. 100 PA), with Brice Turang’s 1.120 the highest

~Among all first-year players since 1901, Marsee’s 1.073 OPS ranks in a tie for the 37th highest in any monthly split (minimum 100 plate appearances), matched with Dick Cox, who posted that figure for Brooklyn in August of 1925.  The top-five figures are:

1.433    Nick Kurtz in July of 2025

1.356    Ted Williams in September of 1939

1.280    Mandy Brooks in June of 1925

1.214    Buzz Arlett in May of 1931

1.195    Sam Chapman in June of 1938

Yankees center fielder Trent Grisham hit his 27th home run of the year.  Three more would make his season the 23rd in franchise history to see a center fielder (at least half of a player’s games in center) reach the 30-homer milestone.  He  would join Mickey Mantle (9 seasons), Joe DiMaggio (7), Curtis Granderson (2), Aaron Judge (2), Bobby Murcer (1) and Bernie Williams (1) in this family tree. 

~Those 22 for the Yankees are the most claimed by any franchise, with the Braves holding the second most, 20.  Their 20 come from Andruw Jones (7), Dale Murphy (5), Wally Berger (2), Henry Aaron (2), Ron Gant (2), Mack Jones (1) and Ronald Acuña, Jr. (1).

In their 10-4 win, the Yankees produced three home runs and three doubles and as a team, own the Majors’ highest slugging percentage, at .458.  The figure currently ties for the 11th best for the franchise, with the 2019 team’s .490 the highest, followed by a .488 from the 1927 and 1930 clubs.  The 2023 Braves get the crown for the highest mark in NL/AL history, with their .501.

Thanks to Baseball Reference and its extraordinary research database, Stathead, for help in assembling this piece.