Three homers for openers, quite the rare occurrence
It's not often the name Tuffy Rhodes comes up in conversation. But when it does, you can bet it's the first day of baseball season.
That's because on April 4, 1994, Rhodes, a lifetime .224 hitter with 13 career home runs, took Doc Gooden yard three times in the Chicago Cubs' 12-8 Opening Day loss to the New York Mets at Wrigley Field.
Rhodes' feat is memorable if only for its randomness. During his big-league career, Rhodes played in 225 games and made 675 plate appearances. Opening Day 1994 notwithstanding, Rhodes hit a homer every 58.6 at bats (although, interestingly enough, he also had a two-homer game three weeks after his three-homer game, and hit seven of his eight home runs that season by May 14 that same year).
The sheer absurdity of Rhodes — a far more impressive slugger in the Japanese league — hitting three homers in any major league game is the reason you can set your watch by the inevitable mention of his accomplishment. But it also tends to overshadow the exploits of others who have had monster days at the plate on Opening Day.
Generally speaking, at least one player is good for a pair of home runs in his team's first game of the year. Hanley Ramirez and Dustin Pedroia both did it for the Red Sox in last season's opener against the Phillies, Alejandro De Aza did it for the White Sox in 2014, Bryce Harper in 2013, and the list goes on. (In fact, 2012 and 1996 are the only two Opening Days in the last quarter-century without at least one two-homer game by a player.)
The three-homer Opening Day, however, is far more elusive. And while many may believe Rhodes' to be the only one, there are two others who have celebrated the same achievement in baseball history.
The first came six years to the day before Rhodes, when Toronto Blue Jays slugger George Bell hit three round-trippers in a 5-3 road win over the Kansas City Royals. At the time, Bell was in the prime of his career, having won the AL MVP award in 1987 on the strength of 47 homers. All three Opening Day 1988 homers came off Bret Saberhagen, who won the Cy Young in both 1985 and 1989.
At the time, however, Bell was embroiled in a bit of a squabble with Jays manager Jimy Williams, who had moved Bell from the outfield to designated hitter during spring training. Bell had previously been fined $1,000 for refusing to DH during a spring game. And though he and Williams had seemingly reached an accord — the three dingers did come from the DH position — Bell didn't seem as excited as he should have been about the performance.
"I've got too many things on my mind to be happy," said Bell, who went on to hit 24 home runs in 1988 and ultimately won the stalemate with Williams, playing 149 of 156 games that season as a left fielder. "A lot of people have been hounding me, but it doesn't bother me because I just have to go out and play my game."
There has also been one three-home-run game on Opening Day since Rhodes became a household name, courtesy of the Detroit Tigers' Dmitri Young on April 4, 2005. Like Bell, Young's big day came both as a designated hitter and against the Royals, the first two shots at Detroit's Comerica Park coming off Jose Lima, with the third off reliever Mike MacDougal.
Detroit went on to win the game 11-2 (Rhodes' Cubs are the only team to lose on Opening Day despite getting three home runs from one player). Afterward Young, who last played for the Washington Nationals in 2008, was ecstatic about the only three-homer game of his career.
"I've had a curtain call, but nothing like that," said Young, who finished the 2005 season with 21 home runs. "That was incredible."
The big question now, of course, is who's next.
Historically, April 4 has been a big day for big hitters. In addition to Bell, Rhodes and Young, Carlos Delgado also once hit three home runs on April 4, although his came in the second game of the Blue Jays' season.
So by the end of the day Monday, we may very well know.
You can follow Sam Gardner on Twitter or email him at samgardnerfox@gmail.com.
