The player few have ever heard of is leading the Majors in home runs.
There’s a good chance that many American sports fans don’t know the name Cal Raleigh. A Major League Baseball player, Raleigh doesn’t play in Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, or New York–the big markets where players loom large. He plays in Seattle.
But make no mistake about this: where he plays is less important than what he’s doing on the diamond. Monday night, the Mariners catcher hit his major-league-leading 32nd home run in the ninth inning of the Mariners’ 11-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins.
Raleigh has a four-game streak of hitting home runs going back to Friday, when he homered twice against the Chicago Cubs. The American League Player of the Week hit .417 last week with five home runs and 12 RBIs in six games. In his past 30 games, he’s hitting .331 with 17 home runs and 36 RBIs; and for the season, the numbers are .278/68 RBIs/1.048 OPS.
Did I mention? He’s a switch-hitter, too.
There’s more. On Friday, Raleigh broke Johnny Bench’s record for most home runs by a catcher before the All-Star break, hitting his 28th and 29th of the season. Now he’s four home runs away from breaking Ken Griffey Jr.’s Mariner record for the most home runs before the All-Star break.
After Raleigh hit a grand slam for his 27th home run and drove in six runs in the Mariners’ shutout win over the Boston Red Sox, Seattle pitcher Bryan Woo raved about his batterymate’s professionalism, noting his reliability and consistency of play.
Woo’s comments demand attention, not just because of Raleigh’s performance but also because he is doing it as a catcher. Not only does he have to call each game he plays, but he does it by being behind the plate for nine innings with all the wear and tear that brings.
I am intrigued with what Raleigh’s doing. He has a chance to hit 64 home runs this season, and he might lead the Mariners to a playoff berth. A grinder and student of the game, you can tell he has a passion for the game, and that makes him a player worth rooting for, whether or not you are a Mariners fan.
KJR’s Dave “Softy” Mahler said it beautifully last week about Raleigh, locally called “The Big Dumper, being “the face of Seattle sports.”
Raleigh leads the AL for most votes as a catcher, and you have to figure he will be an All-Star starter for the first time in his career.
He’s just getting started because odds are the best is yet to come.
