Tony Cloninger(left) is the only pitcher to hit two grand slams in one game, while
Fernando Tatís(right) achieved the unprecedented feat of hitting two grand slams in the same inning in 1999.
In
baseball, a
grand slam is a
home run that is hit when the bases are loaded (i.e., there are runners occupying first, second, and third base simultaneously), thereby scoring four
runs—the most possible in one play.[1] Thirteen players have hit two grand slams in a single
Major League Baseball (MLB) game to date, the most recent being
Josh Willingham of the
Washington Nationals on July 27, 2009.[2] No player has accomplished the feat more than once in his career and no player has ever hit more than two in a game.
Tony Lazzeri was the first player to hit two grand slams in a single game, doing so for the
New York Yankees against the
Philadelphia Athletics on May 24, 1936.[3]
Every team which had a player hit two grand slams won their milestone games. These games have resulted in other single-game MLB records being set due to the prodigious offensive performance. Lazzeri, for example, proceeded to hit a third home run in the game and finished with a total of eleven
runs batted in, an
American League record.[3][4]Fernando Tatís became the only player to hit two grand slams in the same inning, when he attained the milestone, slugging two in the third inning for the
St. Louis Cardinals on April 23, 1999.[3][5] In achieving the feat, he also set a new major league record with eight runs batted in in a single inning.[6][7]
Of the nine players eligible for the
Baseball Hall of Fame who have hit two grand slams in a game, two
have been elected, one on the first ballot. Players are eligible for the Hall of Fame if they have played in at least 10 MLB seasons, and have either been retired for five seasons or deceased for at least six months.[12] These requirements leave ineligible one player—
Jim Tabor—who did not play in 10 seasons.[13]
Players
Key
Player
Name of the player
Date
Date of the two grand slam game
Team
The player's team at the time of the game
Opposing team
The team against whom the player hit two grand slams
Score
Final score of the game, with the player's team score listed first
Career GS
The number of grand slams the player hit in his MLB career
^Kurkjian, Tim (August 17, 2006).
"The grand slam … unusual, yet fun". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved August 30, 2012. Bill Mueller...became the only player to hit grand slams from both sides of the plate in the same game.
^Couch, Dick (June 25, 1968).
"Northrup Ties Record Belting 2 Grand Slams". The Telegraph. p. 12. Retrieved August 10, 2012. [Northrup] drilled Fisher's first offering over the right field fence, then unloaded another first-pitch grand slam off southpaw Hill Rohr in the sixth...