Two-Home Run Games

Other than Ralph Kiner, Johnny Mize and Ted Williams, the 1947 baseball season wasn’t really known for the long ball. In fact, only five players in the league that year hit more than 30 home runs. Four were in the National League.

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ left fielder Kiner and the New York Giants’ first baseman Mize tied with 51 each; left fielder Willard Marshall, also of the Giants, hit 36; and Walker Cooper, the Giants’ veteran catcher, hit 35 homers.

Williams led the American League with his 32 clouts.

It’s a far cry from recent seasons when players hitting 50 home runs are almost common. By comparison, the steroid-soaked 1998 season featured 32 players with at least 30 home runs.

The 1947 season is much tamer. For those not initiated with APBA games, the company creates cards for players. Rather than pictures, the cards contain numbers that are statistically based upon their actual season’s performance. If a player has the proclivity to strike out, there will be more “13s” on the card, numbers signifying strike outs. Home run hitters are given “1s,” “power numbers,”   that indicate home runs.

Ralph Kiner,left, and Johnny Mize

But, there’s something that happened in that era that I’ve taken notice while replaying the first month of the 1947 season with the APBA game.  I’ve had three players in the replay have two-home run games so far. I’ve reached May 4, a day when most of the teams are playing Sunday doubleheaders, and have had three players each hit two homers in a game.

Not a lot when comparing my replay to the real 1947 season. By May 4 in the actual year played, eight players had two-home run games and Mize had a three-home run outing. Two players to do this – Jeff Heath and Wally Judnich – were with the less-than-powerhouse St. Louis Browns.

In my 1947 replay, Cardinals’ catcher Del Rice was the first to hit two home runs in a game against Cincinnati. Of course, Ted Williams had to have his own time, belting two against hapless Washington on the way to his league-leading eight home runs for the season so far. And, the icon of home runs that year, Mize, hit two for me against Brooklyn.

It’s still early to see if the trend continues. I’ve only played about 160 games of a 1,232-game season, or 13 percent. Joe DiMaggio has gotten off to a slow start in my replay and is due for a big game. Mize and Kiner, with their power cards, are always a potential for multi-dinger games. The other night, Ron Northey hit a home run for the Cardinals early in a game I was rolling. Northey had a two-home run game on May 4 for the real Cardinals and I was waiting to see if he’d do it in the replay. He didn’t.

The 1947 season is a balance of home runs, clutch hitting and decent pitching. I’ll keep watch to see if others in my replay have multi-home run games. It’s yet another reason to play this game.