Fun Facts About Inside-the-Park Home Runs

June 8, 2016 by · 17 Comments

One of the most exciting plays in baseball is the inside-the-park home run. The ITPHR is a rare event in today’s game due, primarily due to smaller field dimensions. It can involve a diving attempt at a fly ball that comes up just short, a collision between fielders, a ball that ricochets off the fence and takes a wild bounce, a fielder flipping over a fence along with variations on those themes. Prince Fielder logged an unusual inside-the-parker on a high fly ball that hit a speaker affixed to the roof of the Metrodome. According to Baseball Almanac, the All-time ITPHR record is held by Jesse Burkett (55), followed by Sam Crawford (51), Tommy Leach (48), Ty Cobb (46) and Honus Wagner (46). I have constrained my research to the 1950-2015 seasons using the event files from Retrosheet. Additional career, single-season and single-game ITPHR records can be viewed at the Baseball Almanac website. MethodologyI downloaded the 1950 through 2015 season-by-season event databases from Retrosheet and extracted all of the inside-the-park home run events (HR$ indicates an inside-the-park home run by giving a fielder as part of the code.) “Event files for most seasons prior to 1974 are each missing a few games. For a list of the games that are missing (although some of them are in the event files with some innings reconstructed based on a partial game account and box score) see the Most Wanted List … Note that some games in our files have “99” for missing plays that were outs.” Retrosheet Event Files Inside-The-Park Home Runs (1950-2015)Twelve of Willie Wilson’s 41 career home runs are of the inside-the-park variety. He legged out eight of the twelve in his home ballpark and all occurred during a five-year span (1979-1983). Wilson delivered a walk-off ITPHR against the Yankees in the 13 th inning on June 9, 1979. Fifteen years passed between Lou Brock’s first (1962) and last (1977) inside-the-parkers. Dick Allen drilled Bert Blyleven pitches in the first and fifth inning of a July 31, 1972 contest past Minnesota center fielder Bobby Darwin to achieve a multiple-ITPHR game. The “Wampum Walloper” and Greg Gagne (Minnesota, 1986) are the only batters to accomplish this feat in the last 83 seasons. Amos Otis (6) and George Brett (5) achieved all of their ITPHR at Kauffman Stadium.

Willie Wilson 12
Lou Brock 8
Roberto Clemente 8
Dick Allen 7
Willie Davis 7
Richie Ashburn 6
Hank Bauer 6
Willie Mays 6
Amos Otis 6
Robin Yount 6
George Brett 5
Mickey Mantle 5
Brian McRae 5
Bob Skinner 5
Billy Williams 5
Ken Caminiti 4
David DeJesus 4
Bake McBride 4
Wally Moon 4
Jimmy Rollins 4
Ruben Sierra 4
Bobby Thomson 4
Hank Thompson 4
Kurt Abbott 3
Bobby Abreu 3
Joe Adcock 3
Harry Anderson 3
Luis Aparicio 3
Paul Blair 3
Tim Bogar 3
Barry Bonds 3
Johnny Callison 3
Bert Campaneris 3
Jose Cardenal 3
Leo Cardenas 3
Dave Collins 3
Carl Crawford 3
Andre Dawson 3
Greg Gagne 3
Ron Gant 3
Curtis Granderson 3
Ken Griffey Jr. 3
Reggie Jackson 3
Sonny Jackson 3
Ruppert Jones 3
Ted Kazanski 3
Steve Kemp 3
Marty Keough 3
Don Kessinger 3
Lee Lacy 3
Roger Maris 3
Willie McGee 3
Manny Mota 3
Ben Oglivie 3
Tony Oliva 3
Jorge Orta 3
Angel Pagan 3
Doug Rader 3
Jim Rivera 3
Pete Rose 3
Deion Sanders 3
Harry Simpson 3
Tony Taylor 3
Chase Utley 3
John Wathan 3
Bill White 3
Lou Whitaker 3
Bump Wills 3
Randy Winn 3
Tony Womack 3
Gene Woodling 3
Carl Yastrzemski 3

Inside-The-Park Home Runs Allowed (1950-2015) Don Cardwell (7) allowed the most ITPHR in the past 65 campaigns including two by the “Say Hey Kid”. Of the six inside-the-parkers that Willie Mays laced in his illustrious career, he achieved the feat twice against Cardwell. He delivered the first jolt on May 30, 1957 in a contest between the Giants and Phillies then struck again six years later on July 16, 1963 vs. the Pirates. Hall of Fame hurlers Whitey Ford and Fergie Jenkins yielded 6 ITPHR in their careers. “Mandrake the Magician” aka Don Mueller tallied two ITPHR in his career, both served up by Murry Dickson .

Don Cardwell 7
Whitey Ford 6
Fergie Jenkins 6
Murry Dickson 5
Wayne Twitchell 5
Bert Blyleven 4
Larry Dierker 4
Bob Friend 4
Chris Hammond 4
Bill Henry 4
Pat Hentgen 4
Randy Jones 4
Mickey Lolich 4
Claude Osteen 4
Dan Petry 4
Robin Roberts 4
Don Sutton 4
Floyd Bannister 3
John Boozer 3
Jim Bouton 3
Hal Brown 3
Steve Busby 3
Paul Byrd 3
Greg Cadaret 3
Ken Clay 3
Chris Codiroli 3
David Cone 3
Al Downing 3
Dick Ellsworth 3
Jack Fisher 3
Gene Garber 3
Ruben Gomez 3
Jeremy Guthrie 3
Mark Guthrie 3
Harvey Haddix 3
Jim Hearn 3
Billy Hoeft 3
Alex Kellner 3
Russ Kemmerer 3
Johnny Klippstein 3
Mike Krukow 3
Bill Lee 3
Doug Linton 3
Walt Masterson 3
Bill Monbouquette 3
Joe Nuxhall 3
Jim Owens 3
Fritz Peterson 3
Billy Pierce 3
Ted Power 3
Bryn Smith 3
Paul Splittorff 3
Dave Stewart 3
Tom Sturdivant 3
Brett Tomko 3
Fernando Valenzuela 3
Barry Zito 3

Inside-The-Park Home Runs by Team (1950-2015)Six MLB franchises have amassed at least 50 inside-the-park home runs since 1950. Four of those organizations (Royals, Phillies, Pirates and Twins) played in stadiums with artificial turf installed for at least 20 seasons while the deep center field dimensions at Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds have influenced the Yankees and Giants totals to some extent. The Royals top the leader boards with 86, followed by the Phillies (64), Pirates (56), Yankees (55), Giants (52) and Senators I / Twins (51). The St. Louis Browns / Baltimore Orioles own the lowest ITPHR totals for the “Turn of the Century” teams with 25, paced by three fleet four-baggers from Paul “Motormouth” Blair . The San Diego Padres rank last among the expansion franchises (1961-1977) with 17 ITPHR. The Tony Gwynn father-son combo tops the Friars with two inside-the-parkers apiece.

Los Angeles Angels ANA 24
Arizona Diamondbacks ARI 10
Braves (Total) ATL 27
Boston Braves BSN 2
Milwaukee Braves MLN 9
Atlanta Braves ATL 16
Orioles (Total) BAL 25
St. Louis Browns SLA 3
Baltimore Orioles BAL 22
Boston Red Sox BOS 30
Chicago White Sox CHA 34
Chicago Cubs CHN 40
Cincinnati Reds CIN 41
Cleveland Indians CLE 38
Colorado Rockies COL 15
Detroit Tigers DET 39
Houston Astros HOU 28
Kansas City Royals KCA 86
Dodgers (Total) LAN 43
Brooklyn Dodgers BRO 8
Los Angeles Dodgers LAN 35
Miami Marlins FLA 16
Brewers (Total) MIL 26
Seattle Pilots SE1 0
Milwaukee Brewers MIL 26
Twins (Total) MIN 51
Washington Senators I WS1 10
Minnesota Twins MIN 41
New York Yankees NYA 55
New York Mets NYN 24
Athletics (Total) OAK 35
Philadelphia Athletics PHA 4
Kansas City Athletics KC1 12
Oakland Athletics OAK 19
Philadelphia Phillies PHI 64
Pittsburgh Pirates PIT 56
San Diego Padres SDN 17
Seattle Mariners SEA 21
Giants (Total) SFN 52
New York Giants NY1 22
San Francisco Giants SFN 30
St. Louis Cardinals SLN 45
Tampa Bay Rays TBA 14
Rangers (Total) TEX 36
Washington Senators II WS2 7
Texas Rangers TEX 29
Toronto Blue Jays TOR 25
Nationals (Total) WSN 26
Montreal Expos MON 24
Washington Nationals WSN 2

Inside-The-Park Home Runs by Ballpark (1950-2015)Adrian Beltre supplied the lone ITPHR in Safeco Field history on July 23, 2006, off Mike Timlin and the Boston Red Sox. Likewise, Edwin Encarnacion rounded the bases to complete the only inside-the-parker at Busch Stadium III against Anthony Reyes and the St. Louis Cardinals on August 31, 2007.

FranchID Ballpark Year(s) In Use ITPHR
ANA Wrigley Field 1961 0
ANA Dodger Stadium 1962-1965 3
ANA Angel Stadium of Anaheim 1966-2015 19
ARI Chase Field 1998-2015 9
ATL Braves Field 1950-1952 1
ATL County Stadium 1953-1965 7
ATL Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium 1966-1996 5
ATL Turner Field 1997-2015 3
BAL Sportsman’s Park III 1950-1953 1
BAL Memorial Stadium 1954-1991 11
BAL Oriole Park at Camden Yards 1992-2015 4
BOS Fenway Park 1950-2015 31
CHC Wrigley Field 1950-2015 33
CHW Comiskey Park I 1950-1990 33
CHW U.S. Cellular Field 1991-2015 3
CIN Crosley Field 1950-1970 8
CIN Riverfront Stadium 1970-2002 26
CIN Great American Ballpark 2003-2015 5
CLE Cleveland Stadium 1950-1993 13
CLE Progressive Field 1994-2015 8
COL Mile High Stadium 1993-1994 5
COL Coors Field 1995-2015 11
DET Tiger Stadium 1950-1999 32
DET Comerica Park 2000-2015 7
FLA Pro Player Stadium 1993-2011 16
FLA Marlins Park 2012-2015 2
HOU Colt Stadium 1962-1964 2
HOU Astrodome 1965-1999 28
HOU Minute Maid Park 2000-2015 7
KCR Municipal Stadium 1969-1972 1
KCR Kauffman Stadium 1973-2015 95
LAD Ebbets Field 1950-1957 10
LAD Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 1958-1961 5
LAD Dodger Stadium 1962-2015 21
MIL Sicks Stadium 1969 1
MIL Milwaukee County Stadium 1970-2000 7
MIL Miller Park 2001-2015 11
MIN Griffith Stadium 1950-1960 16
MIN Metropolitan Stadium 1961-1981 18
MIN Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 1982-2009 24
MIN Target Field 2010-2015 3
NYM Polo Grounds V 1962-1963 9
NYM Shea Stadium 1964-2008 10
NYM Citi Field 2009-2015 3
NYY Yankee Stadium I 1950-2008 80
NYY Shea Stadium 1974-1975 0
NYY Yankee Stadium II 2009-2015 4
OAK Shibe Park 1950-1954 9
OAK Municipal Stadium 1955-1967 12
OAK Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum 1968-2015 16
PHI Shibe Park 1950-1970 33
PHI Veterans Stadium 1971-2003 25
PHI Citizens Bank Park 2004-2015 4
PIT Forbes Field 1950-1970 37
PIT Three Rivers Stadium 1970-2000 22
PIT PNC Park 2001-2015 4
SDP Jack Murphy Stadium 1969-2003 16
SDP Petco Park 2004-2015 9
SEA Kingdome 1977-1999 23
SEA Safeco Field 1999-2015 1
SFG Polo Grounds 1950-1957 33
SFG Seals Stadium 1958-1959 0
SFG Candlestick Park 1960-1999 15
SFG AT&T Park 2000-2015 7
STL Sportsman’s Park III 1950-1966 8
STL Busch Stadium II 1966-2005 32
STL Busch Stadium III 2006-2015 1
TBA Tropicana Field 1998-2015 9
TEX Griffith Stadium 1961 1
TEX Robert F. Kennedy Stadium 1962-1971 3
TEX Arlington Stadium 1972-1993 5
TEX Globe Life Park 1994-2015 7
TOR Exhibition Stadium 1977-1989 12
TOR Rogers Centre 1989-2015 13
WSN Parc Jarry 1969-1976 6
WSN Stade Olympique 1977-2004 20
WSN Robert F. Kennedy Stadium 2005-2007 1
WSN Nationals Park 2008-2015 5

Pinch-Hit Inside-The-Park Home Runs (1950-2015) Dustan Mohr is the only player with multiple pinch-hit ITPHR. He pulled off this accomplishment in back-to-back seasons (2004-05) for different ball clubs (Giants, Rockies).

GAME_ID BATTER YEAR_ID BAT_TEAM_ID PIT_TEAM_ID
BOS195608280
Gene Stephens 1956 BOS DET
BOS197007050
John Kennedy 1970 BOS CLE
MIN197210040
Eric Soderholm 1972 MIN CHA
CHA197509070
Steve Brye 1975 MIN CHA
DET197606020
Ben Oglivie 1976 DET MIL
CIN197706122
Champ Summers 1977 CIN MON
HOU197705100
Wilbur Howard 1977 HOU CHN
SFN197808030
Lee Lacy 1978 LAN SFN
MIN198607030
Ron Washington 1986 MIN BAL
PIT199709160
Brad Fullmer 1997 MON PIT
PIT199807250
Turner Ward 1998 PIT ATL
SFN200408040
Dustan Mohr 2004 SFN CIN
COL200507100
Dustan Mohr 2005 COL SDN
NYN200506110
Marlon Anderson 2005 NYN ANA
COL200807180
Seth Smith 2008 COL PIT
COL201406050
Brandon Barnes 2014 COL ARI

Inside-The-Park Grand Slams (1950-2015) Aaron Altherr ended a streak of fifteen consecutive MLB seasons without an inside-the-park grand slam when he drilled a sinking line drive under the outstretched glove of Nationals’ center fielder Michael A. Taylor.

GAME_ID BATTER YEAR_ID BAT_TEAM_ID PIT_TEAM_ID
NY1195008021
Wes Westrum 1950 NY1 CHN
PIT195106190
Willie Jones 1951 PHI PIT
BOS195204191
Don Lenhardt 1952 BOS PHA
PHA195208270
Al Rosen 1952 CLE PHA
CHA195406160
Ferris Fain 1954 CHA PHA
PIT195505012
George Freese 1955 PIT SLN
NYA195505152
Irv Noren 1955 NYA KC1
NY1195608080
Ted Kazanski 1956 PHI NY1
PHI195806012
Johnny Temple 1958 CIN PHI
LAN196006040
Wally Moon 1960 LAN CHN
CIN196007060
Bob Skinner 1960 PIT CIN
SFN196008250
Willie Mays 1960 SFN CIN
BOS196108080
Gary Geiger 1961 BOS MIN
NYN196306092
Tim McCarver 1963 SLN NYN
NYA196507200
Mel Stottlemyre 1965 NYA BOS
KC1196706250
Rick Reichardt 1967 CAL KC1
MIL197005300
Roberto Pena 1970 MIL DET
MON197009020
Gene Alley 1970 PIT MON
HOU197109020
Cesar Cedeno 1971 HOU LAN
CHA197109180
Carlos May 1971 CHA CAL
BAL197308260
Paul Blair 1973 BAL KCA
KCA197606220
Kevin Bell 1976 CHA KCA
MON197606260
Bombo Rivera 1976 MON PIT
CIN197708052
Frank Taveras 1977 PIT CIN
OAK197906100
Jim Essian 1979 OAK TOR
OAK198009260
Ben Oglivie 1980 MIL OAK
MIN198207190
Tom Brunansky 1982 MIN MIL
NYN198506092
Terry Pendleton 1985 SLN NYN
OAK198706212
Bob Brower 1987 TEX OAK
BOS198906020
Junior Felix 1989 TOR BOS
CAL199008140
Luis Polonia 1990 CAL NYA
MIN199008300
Ron Karkovice 1990 CHA MIN
BOS199009010
Mike Greenwell 1990 BOS NYA
SFN199108280
Chico Walker 1991 CHN SFN
LAN199706260
Tony Gwynn 1997 SDN LAN
SEA199805030
Dan Wilson 1998 SEA DET
HOU199907210
Tony Womack 1999 ARI HOU
TBA199910030
Randy Winn 1999 TBA NYA
WAS201509250
Aaron Altherr 2015 PHI WAS

Game-Ending Inside-The-Park Home Runs (1950-2015) June 23, 1950 – In a contest which featured a record-breaking 11 circuit clouts, Detroit left fielder Hoot Evers inflicted the decisive stroke in the home half of the ninth frame to cap a 10-9 comeback victory over the Yankees. June 11, 1965 – Johnny Callison crushed a deep drive to center field and circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the tenth inning off Jim Owens. August 1, 1966 – It must have felt like Déjà vu for Astros relief pitcher Jim Owens as he was hung with an extra-inning loss for the second straight year at the hands of the Phillies. This time around, Dick Allen blasted a long shot to center, a play marred by a broken elbow and wrist sustained by Jim Wynn when he collided with the fence chasing Allen’s fly ball. August 2, 1966 – Angels’ third baseman Paul Schaal plastered a Hal Reniff offering over center fielder Mickey Mantle to secure a 6-5 victory over the Yankees in eleven innings. August 22, 1971 – In game two of a double-dip between the Red Sox and Athletics, Reggie Jackson belted a deep fly ball to center field off Sonny Siebert with two outs in the ninth inning of a 1-1 duel. Jackson scrambled around the bases as the Athletics swept the doubleheader. August 7, 1972 – Tug McGraw had not allowed a hit in four innings of relief work during a 2-2 stalemate when Ted Sizemore stepped to the dish to lead off the bottom of the 13 th inning. Left fielder Cleon Jones whiffed on an attempted shoestring catch of a liner by Sizemore, resulting in a 3-2 victory by the Redbirds. September 3, 1973 – Another game-ending ITPHR leading off the bottom of the thirteenth inning, except the Cardinals are on the losing end of this one. Richie “Gravedigger” Hebner came to the plate against Eddie Fisher and delivered a game-winning smash to right field to seize a 5-4 win for the Pirates. April 11, 1977 – The Texas Rangers defeated the Cleveland Indians in ten innings on a one-out inside-the-park home run to left field by third baseman Toby Harrah . Tribe left fielder Buddy Bell was dealt to the Rangers in exchange for Harrah in December, 1978. May 12, 1978 – The Yankees held a 3-2 lead with two outs in the ninth inning when Ed Figueroa walked Darrell Porter. New York skipper Billy Martin summoned Rich “Goose” Gossage from the bullpen. Amos Otis promptly lofted a fly ball towards right-center field. Paul Blair camped underneath the ball but disaster struck when Reggie Jackson crashed into Blair. The collision jarred the ball from Blair’s glove as Porter and Otis scored to cap a 4-3 comeback victory for the Royals. June 9, 1979 [highlight video] – Kansas City victimized New York again with the lead role assumed by Willie Wilson. Leading off the bottom of the 13 th inning, Wilson served a fly ball to left-center off Ken Clay. Roy White and Mickey Rivers converged but the ball eluded both fielders and rolled to the wall as the Royals defeated the Yankees by a tally of 9-8. June 12, 1986 – The Blue Jays were leading the Tigers 6-0 when Kelly Gruber stepped to the dish in the bottom of the seventh inning. Facing Bill Scherrer with runners on second and third, Gruber lofted a fly ball towards center fielder Pat Sheridan. The flight path of the ball was obscured by fog, and the ball landed behind Sheridan as Gruber circled the bases. The game was called due to the weather shortly thereafter, with the Jays claiming the 9-0 victory. May 15, 1989 [highlight video] – A scoreless affair headed into the twelfth inning when Steve Bedrosian served up back-to-back jacks to Will Clark and Kevin Mitchell. Craig Lefferts tried to close out the contest but yielded successive singles to Dickie Thon and Steve Lake. Steve Jeltz was retired on a pop-fly to second baseman Robby Thompson for the second out. Bob Dernier laced a line drive down the left field line. Mitchell made a futile attempt to corral the ball as Thon, Lake and Dernier crossed home plate to procure the comeback victory for the Fightin’ Phillies. August 1, 1994 [highlight video] Marquis Grissom cranked a deep fly ball to center field off St. Louis reliever Rich Rodriguez to begin the tenth frame in a 2-2 ballgame. Gerald Young tracked down the ball but it glanced off his glove and bounded away onto the warning track. Young failed to recover the ball cleanly and Grissom sped around the base paths to capture the 3-2 win for the Expos. August 27, 2000 [highlight video] Bobby Abreu launched a long shot to deep center field off Giants’ reliever Aaron Fultz to start the bottom of the tenth inning in a 1-1 affair. Calvin Murray made a valiant effort but the ball ticked off his glove and bounced on the warning track towards right-center. Murray retrieved the ball as Abreu scampered around the bases to register the triumphant tally. August 20, 2001 [highlight video] Ken Griffey, Jr. took a mighty cut and sent an Andy Benes’ offering towards the center field fence in a 4-4 game between the Cardinals and the Reds. Jim Edmonds sprinted back, leaped and slammed into the fence. Left fielder Kerry Robinson doubled-back towards left field to recover the ball while Griffey motored around the bases to lock down a 5-4 victory for Cincinnati. June 11, 2004 [highlight video] – In the tenth inning of an interleague contest against Colorado with the score knotted at seven apiece, Tampa Bay second-sacker Rey Sanchez sliced a sinking liner to right field. Jeromy Burnitz attempted a shoestring catch but the ball scooted under his glove and headed towards the right field corner. Burnitz fell down while retrieving the ball and the relay throw was off the mark as Sanchez scooted home for the solo round-tripper. May 25, 2013 [highlight video] – The Rockies and Giants battled to a 4-4 tie in regulation. Troy Tulowitzki led off the top of the tenth inning with a solo shot off Sergio Romo to give Colorado a 5-4 advantage. Brandon Crawford walked and Guillermo Quiroz sacrificed him over to second base to begin the bottom of the 10 th . Angel Pagan crushed the 0-1 delivery from Rafael Betancourt towards the brick wall in right-center field at AT&T Park. The ball caromed off the fence and bounded away from RF Michael Cuddyer. CF Dexter Fowler corralled the baseball and relayed towards home plate, but Pagan’s head-first slide beat the throw and the Giants prevailed, 6-5.

GAME_ID BATTER YEAR_ID BAT_TEAM_ID PIT_TEAM_ID
DET195006230
Hoot Evers 1950 DET NYA
PHI196506110
Johnny Callison 1965 PHI HOU
PHI196608010
Dick Allen 1966 PHI HOU
CAL196608020
Paul Schaal 1966 CAL NYA
OAK197108222
Reggie Jackson 1971 OAK BOS
SLN197208070
Ted Sizemore 1972 SLN NYN
PIT197309031
Richie Hebner 1973 PIT SLN
TEX197704110
Toby Harrah 1977 TEX CLE
KCA197805120
Amos Otis 1978 KCA NYA
KCA197906090
Willie Wilson 1979 KCA NYA
Tim Teufel 1984 MIN CHW
Kelly Gruber 1986 TOR DET
PHI198905150
Bob Dernier 1989 PHI SFN
MON199408010
Marquis Grissom 1994 MON SLN
PHI200008270
Bobby Abreu 2000 PHI SFN
CIN200108200
Ken Griffey 2001 CIN SLN
TBA200406110
Rey Sanchez 2004 TBA COL
Angel Pagan 2013 SFN COL

Two or more ITPHR in the same game (1950-2015)

* by different batters *
NY1195006252
Johnny Pramesa off Sal Maglie
NY1195006252
Hank Thompson off Willie Ramsdell
NY1195008172
Pee Wee Reese off Dave Koslo
NY1195008172
Sam Calderone off Erv Palica
LAN197206110
Manny Mota off Bruce Kison
LAN197206110
Willie Davis off Bruce Kison
SLN197606180
Hector Cruz off Randy Jones
SLN197606180
Lou Brock off Randy Jones
Toby Harrah off Ken Clay
NYA197708270
Bump Wills off Ken Clay
NYA198005140
Willie Wilson off Ron Guidry
NYA198005140
Bucky Dent off Dennis Leonard
TOR198305250
Kirk Gibson off Jim Gott
TOR198305250
Jorge Orta off Dan Petry
PIT199705260
Sammy Sosa off Francisco Cordova
PIT199705260
Tony Womack off Kevin Foster
KCA201507080
Jarrod Dyson off Chris Archer
KCA201507080
Logan Forsythe off Jeremy Guthrie
* same batter, different pitchers *
NY1195008160
Hank Thompson off Dan Bankhead
NY1195008160
Hank Thompson off Carl Erskine
KCA198708250
Ruben Sierra off Buddy Black
KCA198708250
Ruben Sierra off Jerry Don Gleaton
* same batter, same pitcher *
MIN197207310
Dick Allen (2) off Bert Blyleven
MIN198610040
Greg Gagne (2) off Floyd Bannister

References and Resources

Albert, Jim and Max Marchi. Analyzing Baseball Data with R. Boca Raton, FL.: CRC Press, 2014. Print. Baseball Almanac – Inside The Park Home Run Records Baseball-Reference Paper of Record – Sporting News –  Box Scores and Game Accounts Retrosheet Event Files The information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet. Interested parties may contact Retrosheet at “www.retrosheet.org”. SABR Baseball Biography Project

About the Author

I am a New Jersey native with a passion for baseball, statistics, computers and video games who enjoys spending quality time with his family.

“Hardball Retrospective”is available in paperback and digital ( Kindle ) format at Amazon.com. Supplemental Statistics, Charts and Graphs along with a discussion forum are offered at TuataraSoftware.com .

Don Daglow (Intellivision World Series Major League Baseball, Earl Weaver Baseball, Tony LaRussa Baseball) contributed the foreword for Hardball Retrospective. The foreword and preview of my book are accessible  here .

“Hardball Retrospective – Addendum 2014 to 2016”supplements my research for Hardball Retrospective, providing retroactive standings based on Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and Win Shares (WS) for each “original” team over the past three seasons (2014-2016). Team totals from 2010 – 2013 are included for reference purposes. “Addendum” is available in paperback and digital ( Kindle ) format at Amazon.com.

Hardball Retroactive”,published in June 2018, is available in paperback and digital ( Kindle ) format at Amazon.com. A cross-section of essays that I penned for Seamheads.com along with my Baseball Analytics blog spanning nearly a decade touching on subjects including “Taking the Extra Base”, “General Manager Scorecard”, “Worst Trades”, “BABIP By Location” and “Baseball Birthplaces and the Retro World Baseball Classic”. Rediscover your favorite hardball arcade and simulations in “Play Retro Baseball Video Games In Your Browser” or take a deep dive into every franchise’s minor league successes and failures in relation to their major league operations in “Minors vs. Majors”.

“Hardball Architects”examines the trades, free agent acquisitions, draft picks and other transactions for the 30 Major League Baseball franchises, divided into a 2-volume set (American League and National League). All key moves are scrutinized for every team and Sabermetric principles are applied to the roster construction throughout the lifetime of the organization to encapsulate the hits and misses by front office executives. “Volume 1 – American League Teams” is available in paperback and digital ( Kindle ) format at Amazon.com. “Volume 2 – National League Teams” is tentatively scheduled for publication in the spring of 2022.

Comments

17 Responses to “Fun Facts About Inside-the-Park Home Runs”
  1. John Lease says:

    The Pirates hit more inside the park homers at Forbes Field than at 3RS. The dimensions in left center allowed it if you got the ball past the outfielders.

  2. Andy Narain says:

    What about Roberto Clemente’s ITPGS in 1956?

  3. Derek Bain says:

    @AndyNarain – You are correct. Unfortunately the Retrosheet Event Files are missing a number of games prior to 1974 (see Most Wanted Games – http://www.retrosheet.org/wanted/index.html ). The game that you describe occurred on July 25, 1956 and it is among the games that are missing from the Retrosheet files that I utilized to generate the data for this article.

    Here’s an article that references the Roberto Clemente walk-off ITPGS: http://lithub.com/the-greatest-forgotten-home-run-of-all-time/

  4. Ed Davis says:

    Who hit the first ITPHR at Chase Field/Bank One Ballpark?

  5. Ed Davis says:

    What Diamondback player hit the first ITPHR at Bank One Ballpark/Chase Field?

  6. Mike Lynch says:

    Wendell McGee was the first. Hit it against Curt Schilling on June 14, 2002.

  7. Rick Gurtowski says:

    Sonny Jackson’s 1973 O-Pee-Chee baseball card states “Sonny hit 4 Inside-the-park Homers at the Houston Astrodome” Three are listed above.

  8. Derek Bain says:

    @RickGurtowski – Please see the Methodology section above. Specifically, “Event files for most seasons prior to 1974 are each missing a few games.” So it is quite possible that Sonny Jackson hit another ITPHR which was omitted from my study because the event file is not available in the Retrosheet database.

  9. Vincent P Cotter Sr says:

    Hello great article! It’s Friday the 13th April 2018. Tonight Aaron Hicks of NYY hit an inside the park homer and a conventional homer my question how many other times has this happened? Thank you great work

  10. Mickey says:

    Joe Ad**** was a hell of a player.

  11. Steven Block says:

    With all of this info on inside the park home runs why hasn’t anyone come up with a list of mlb players who have hit both a home run over the wall and an itphr in the SAME game?????!!!!!!!

  12. Steven Block says:

    I came up with the following list to answer my own question.

    The following 8 players have hit multiple HR games, which included an inside-the-parker in the SAME game:

    Ed Delahanty 7/13/1896 4 hr (2 were inside the parkers) Phil.
    Hank Bauer 1956 NYY
    Gary Carter 5/31/80 Mtl
    Derrick Lee 4/12/03 Fl
    Hanley Ramirez 9/27/06 Fl.
    JT Realmuto 9/8/15 Fl.
    Aaron Hicks 4/2018 NYY
    Brandon Nimmo 7/2018 NYM

  13. Mike Lynch says:

    Fantastic research! Thanks, Steven!

  14. Santiago says:

    How many players have hit itphr and out of the park in the same game?

  15. Mike Lynch says:

    From Steven Block:

    The following 8 players have hit multiple HR games, which included an inside-the-parker in the SAME game:

    Ed Delahanty 7/13/1896 4 hr (2 were inside the parkers) Phil.
    Hank Bauer 1956 NYY
    Gary Carter 5/31/80 Mtl
    Derrick Lee 4/12/03 Fl
    Hanley Ramirez 9/27/06 Fl.
    JT Realmuto 9/8/15 Fl.
    Aaron Hicks 4/2018 NYY
    Brandon Nimmo 7/2018 NYM

  16. Russell Murray says:

    Tim Teufel of the Minnesota Twins hit a walk-off inside-the-park home run on 6/24/84 against the Chicago White Sox in the HHH Metrodome in Minneapolis. I was in attendance at the game and watched the whole thing unfold.

  17. Derek Bain says:

    Russell, thanks! I added Tim Teufel’s walk-off ITPHR to the list. According to Retrosheet, Richard Dotson was shutting out the Twins 2-0 in the ninth. He allowed singles to Dave Engle and Tom Brunansky and then “Teufel hit an inside the park homer to center [Engle scored, Brunansky scored]; the homer was a bloop hit which bounced over Harold Baines and was retrieve be center fielder Rudy Law.”

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