A week from next Monday will mark the 20th anniversary of the greatest single game for any batter in the Modern Era, which dates all the way back to 1961.
The unlikely star was Shawn Green, who was mired in a terrible slump when his Dodgers arrived in Milwaukee on May 21, 2002. Green had enjoyed a banner year in 2001 — 49 home runs and a .297 batting average. But his numbers for the first 42 games of 2002 were miserable: just three homers and a BA of .231.
The first two games in Miller Park gave Green cause for hope. He swatted a pair of home runs on Tuesday and tripled on Wednesday. But what happened on Thursday, May 23, was of an entirely different dimension.
Green doubled in the first inning, homered in the second, launched another home run in the fourth, yet another in the fifth, singled in the eighth, and homered for a fourth time in the ninth. The final blast soared 450 feet. “It gave me chills,” said Los Angeles third-base coach Glenn Hoffman. “To see a ball go out like that, it’s history, man.”
Green had reached 19 bases, the largest one-game total in the Modern Era. “The ball had been looking like a ping-pong ball,” he said of his slump. “Today, it probably looked like a softball.”
Below is a list of the 10 greatest single-game performances by big-league batters since 1961. They’re ranked by this descending ladder of statistics:
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Most bases. The count of all bases that the batter reached through hits, walks, hit batsmen, and stolen bases, as well as those he attained for his team through sacrifice hits and sacrifice flies.
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Highest scoring (SC). The sum of runs scored and runs batted in, minus home runs. (Homers would be double-counted as both runs and RBIs if we didn’t make this subtraction.)
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Fewest plate appearances (PA).
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Most home runs (HR).
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Most hits (H).
If two players tied on the first step of the ladder — the number of bases reached — I dropped to the second step to break the tie. Or, if they were still deadlocked, I went to the third step, and so on.
Each entry in the following rundown includes the number of bases the batter reached, his other relevant stats, an inning-by-inning account of his performance, and a link to the box score on Baseball Reference.
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1. Shawn Green
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Date: May 23, 2002
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Team: Dodgers (vs. Brewers)
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Bases reached: 19
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Other stats: 9 SC, 6 PA, 4 HR, 6 H
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Results: Double in first inning, homer in second inning, homer in fourth inning, homer in fifth inning, single in eighth inning, homer in ninth inning.
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Box score: Click here
2. Josh Hamilton
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Date: May 8, 2012
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Team: Rangers (vs. Orioles)
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Bases reached: 18
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Other stats: 8 SC, 5 PA, 4 HR, 5 H
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Results: Homer in first inning, homer in third inning, double in fifth inning, homer in seventh inning, homer in eighth inning.
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Box score: Click here
3. Scooter Gennett
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Date: June 6, 2017
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Team: Reds (vs. Cardinals)
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Bases reached: 17
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Other stats: 10 SC, 5 PA, 4 HR, 5 H
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Results: Single in first inning, homer in third inning, homer in fourth inning, homer in sixth inning, homer in eighth inning.
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Box score: Click here
4. Mike Schmidt
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Date: April 17, 1976
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Team: Phillies (vs. Cubs)
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Bases reached: 17
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Other stats: 8 SC, 6 PA, 4 HR, 5 H
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Results: Flyout in second inning, single in fourth inning, homer in fifth inning, homer in seventh inning, homer in eighth inning, homer in tenth inning.
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Box score: Click here
5. Alex Dickerson
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Date: September 1, 2020
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Team: Giants (vs. Rockies)
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Bases reached: 17
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Other stats: 8 SC, 7 PA, 3 HR, 5 H
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Results: Homer in first inning, homer in second inning, double in fourth inning, strikeout in fifth inning, homer in sixth inning, walk in eighth inning, double in ninth inning,
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Box score: Click here
6. Mike Cameron
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Date: May 2, 2002
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Team: Mariners (vs. White Sox)
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Bases reached: 17
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Other stats: 4 SC, 6 PA, 4 HR, 4 H
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Results: Homer and homer in first inning, homer in third inning, homer in fifth inning, hit by pitch in seventh inning, lineout in ninth inning.
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Box score: Click here
7. Mark Whiten
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Date: September 7, 1993
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Team: Cardinals (vs. Reds)
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Bases reached: 16
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Other stats: 12 SC, 5 PA, 4 HR, 4 H
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Results: Homer in first inning, popout in fourth inning, homer in sixth inning, homer in seventh inning, homer in ninth inning.
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Box score: Click here
8. Anthony Rendon
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Date: April 30, 2017
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Team: Nationals (vs. Mets)
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Bases reached: 16
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Other stats: 12 SC, 6 PA, 3 HR, 6 H
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Results: Single in first inning, homer in third inning, homer in fourth inning, double in fifth inning, single in seventh inning, homer in eighth inning.
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Box score: Click here
9. Fred Lynn
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Date: June 18, 1975
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Team: Red Sox (vs. Tigers)
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Bases reached: 16
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Other stats: 11 SC, 6 PA, 3 HR, 5 H
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Results: Homer in first inning, homer in second inning, triple in third inning, lineout in fifth inning, single in eighth inning, homer in ninth inning.
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Box score: Click here
10. Yoenis Cespedes
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Date: August 21, 2015
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Team: Mets (vs. Rockies)
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Bases reached: 16
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Other stats: 9 SC, 6 PA, 3 HR, 5 H
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Results: Double in first inning, homer in second inning, homer in fourth inning, homer in sixth inning, single and stolen base in eighth inning, lineout in ninth inning.
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Box score: Click here
