Cal Raleigh strikes 47th homer, closing in on Salvador Perez’s
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP)– Cal Raleigh autographed a toilet seat for one fan, along with ball games of baseballs and other paraphernalia “The Big Dumper” signed for shrieking Little Leaguers.Raleigh gave the kids a real reward hours later.Advertisement The Seattle Mariners slugger socked his
47th homer of the season to improve his big league lead and put him within striking range of the season homer record for catchers set by Kansas City’s Salvador Perez.”He continues to swing a truly hot bat,”Mariners supervisor Dan Wilson said.” I do not think
I’ll ever get tired of that.” Raleigh’s two-run shot in the seventh inning sent hundreds of Little Leaguers from around the
globe cheering in delight to see one of the brightest stars in Sunday’s MLB Little League Classic go deep.It didn’t help the Mariners much in defeat. The New York Mets beat the Mariners 7-3 and won the last 2 games of the three-game set.Advertisement The Mariners are still in the thick of the AL wild-card race and want to pick up speed when they head Monday to Philadelphia for the start of a three-game series.Raleigh might make capturing
history in Philly. Perez struck 48 homers for the Royals in 2021.”I believe it’s been an amazing season for him, “Wilson stated.”But I think we understood what remains in there. He’s done a great job of bringing it out.”Raleigh put more than his prodigious power on screen in the home of youth baseball’s most significant weeks of the summer season. Raleigh’s chest protector featured a baseball card design of Mariners players and coaches from when they were kids. He breezed through the pregame clubhouse in a”Little Dumper”T-shirt talented by a few of the Little Leaguers.Advertisement” You mature wanting to come here as a kid. Get to do it as an adult now,”Raleigh informed MLB Network before the game. “It’s really fun. Thrilled to fulfill the kids and hang out.” Raleigh power was constantly evident.
He struck 27 homers
in 2022, 30 in 2023 and 34 last season. Now he’s on speed to easily leading 50 homers and perhaps more. There are only five other players in major league history who have hit at least 40 homers while mostly playing catcher: Perez, Johnny Bench (twice ), Roy Campanella, Todd Hundley and Mike Piazza (two times). Bench, Campanella and Piazza are Hall of Famers.” He’s a guy that we understood the whole time coming up in the minor leagues that he had a pretty high ceiling, “Wilson stated. “What he does behind the plate and what he does now at the plate has boggled the mind. He’s carried the weight of both of those things and has done it effectively.”A newbie All-Star at age 28, Raleigh burst through on the nationwide scene when he won the All-Star Crowning achievement Derby. He became the first switch-hitter and very first catcher to win the title. He’s the second Mariners player to take the title after three-time winner
Ken Griffey Jr.Advertisement Raleigh’s homer Sunday also provided him 102 RBIs this season. He’s the first catcher to record back-to-back 100 RBI seasons since Piazza and the first American League catcher to reach that task because Thurman Munson.Even more milestones wait for. Perhaps even a playoff berth.”He’s simply end up being a better hitter
,”Wilson said.
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