Yankees' Aaron Judge, Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, Mariners' Cal Raleigh combine to make MLB history

Billy Heyen

Yankees' Aaron Judge, Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, Mariners' Cal Raleigh combine to make MLB history image

This has been one of the most prodigious home-run hitting seasons in MLB history before the All-Star break, specifically when viewed through the lens of three large men.

The Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh, New York Yankees' Aaron Judge and Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani have combined to join a rare club in baseball history.

Together, that trio has each hit at least 30 home runs before the All-Star Game.

It's the fifth season in MLB history that at least three players have hit 30 bombs before the All-Star break.

According to MLB stats expert Sarah Langs, the other four:

  • 1969: Reggie Jackson, Willie McCovey, Frank Howard
  • 1994: Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Matt Williams
  • 1998: Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Kenny Griffey Jr., Greg Vaughn
  • 2019: Pete Alonso, Cody Bellinger, Christian Yelich

Here's rooting for a home run chase down the stretch of the season like we got in 1998.

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Raleigh is out in the lead right now, on pace to shatter pretty much every catcher power-hitting record ever set.

This is ho-hum for Judge, who already has seasons of 62 and 58 homers in his career.

Ohtani is finally back on the pitching mound, so he's doing all this while also back in his two-way roots.

It's a great time to be a fan of baseball.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle