Baseball (And This Cardinals Team) Is Weird

Not like the creepy weird – the weird that makes you uncomfortable. But the fun weird – the ‘didn’t expect that’ weird.

On April 8th, the Cardinals had 3 players rip pinch-hit home runs in a single game, marking the first occurrence of this particular feat in MLB history.

We thought it might be a one-game anomaly. A fluke.

But then on Wednesday the Cardinals tied the franchise record for pinch-hit home runs in a season (10) with a Brandon Moss dinger off of Jeremy Jeffress.

They’ve accomplished this in 54 games. Fifty four!

The #Cardinals have 10 pinch-hit home runs this season. 11 teams don't have any. #MostRidiculousFranchise

— Kels Dayton (@KelsDayton) June 2, 2016

Has it helped to propel the Cardinals to a sterling record? Nah. Have a few of these HRs been, shall we say, less than impactful on the game? Yeah, probably.

There’s not much to glean from this torrid pinch-hit home run pace other than the Cardinals are on a torrid pinch-hit home run pace. I guess if they pull themselves into playoff contention, having some pop off the bench will be nice…

While we’re here, though, some other marks to keep your eye on:

• Most pinch-hit HRs in a season (player): Dave Hansen, Craig Wilson (7)
• Most pinch-hit HRs in a season (team): Giants, Diamondbacks (14)

Here’s a fun fact from Baseball-Reference:

Did you know that in 2001 Cardinals rookie pitcher Gene Stechschulte homered in his first major league at bat, on the first pitch he saw. He was in the game as a pinch hitter that day (for reliever Mike James), and did not pitch. The feat made him one of only 19 players ever to hit a pinch-hit HR in their 1st MLB at-bat.

Here’s another fun fact from Baseball Almanac:

Did you know that three teams have used a record leading nine pinch-hitters during a nine-inning game and all three were National League teams? Those teams were the Los Angeles Dodgers (versus the St. Louis Cardinals on September 22, 1959), the Montreal Expos (versus the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 5, 1975), and the Atlanta Braves (versus the Montreal Expos on September 21, 1993).

Photo: MLB