Cal Raleigh History Watch

Last edited Thu Sep 25, 2025, 12:19 AM - Edit history (1)

On September 24, 2025, there are only five baseball games left in the MLB Regular Season. And on September 24, Cal Raleigh, switch-hitting catcher of the Seattle Mariners, leads MLB with 58 home runs.

That is more than...

Any Seattle Mariner ever. The former king, Ken Griffey Jr., hit 56 in 1997 and again in 1998.
Any catcher ever. Javy Lopez of the Atlanta Braves hit 43 in 2003.
Any switch-hitter ever. Mickey Mantle hit 54 in 1961.
Shohei Ohtani. The Japanese two-way phenom hit 54 in 2024.

So...what happens if he keeps hitting home runs?

If he hits ONE MORE RUN...He ties Babe Ruth's 1921 record and Giancarlo Stanton's 2017 record of 59. (The Babe was only the home run champion four times...in 1920 and 1928 he hit 54, and Raleigh is already way past that.)

If he hits TWO MORE...He ties Babe Ruth's 1927 record of 60.

THREE MORE? He ties Roger Maris' 1961 mark of 61.

FOUR MORE? He ties Aaron Judge's 2022 record of 62.

FIVE MORE? He becomes the Unjuiced All-Time Recordholder with 63. The three players above Judge in the single-season list - Barry Bonds (73 in 2001), Mark McGwire (70 in 1998, 65 in 1999) and Sammy Sosa (66 in 1998, 64 in 2001 and 63 in 1999) were involved in steroid scandals.

My prediction: He will hit 60 and could hit 61. Hitting a homer a day is too much to ask. His only drawback right now is the last five games of the season are all in Seattle - the most HR-hostile park in the bigs.

Edit 1: On Wednesday, September 24, Raleigh had a two-homer game to put himself at 60 on the season. With four games left, he very well MIGHT be able to hit three home runs.