Monday, July 14, 2008

Most Home Runs with Zero Grand Slams

The 2008 Home Run Derby is going on while I put this post together, so it's only appropriate I write about hitters with power. Hitting a grand slam involves more than just a hitter with power. First his team has to load the bases in front of him. That in itself can limit the grand slam numbers of players on bad teams. Of course, it's pretty likely that a guy with 200 or more home runs will have at least one with the bases loaded. That said, I was curious about who had the most career home runs without a grand slam.

It's harder to find information on grand slams by hitters before 1956 (before Retrosheet's play-by-play recaps of almost every game). I used the lists of grand slam records at Baseball Almanac to try and find some information on earlier home run hitters and also tried Googling names of hitters I was unsure about. I narrowed down the list quite a bit but it got harder as I got to players with fewer career home runs. I've made one list of players I know never hit a grand slam (generally guys who played their entire career since 1956) and put the players I'm unsure about in another list. If anyone has information about grand slams hit by players on the second list, let me know.

Most Career Home Runs Hit Without a Grand Slam
(confirmed through Retrosheet data)
  1. Glenn Davis, 190
  2. Ron Kittle, 176
  3. Claudell Washington, 164
  4. Willie Kirkland, 148
  5. Alex Gonzalez, 137
  6. Norm Siebern, 132
  7. Sean Casey*, 130
  8. Bernard Gilkey, 118
  9. Ed Kranepool, 118
  10. Shannon Stewart*, 115
* - active player
Most Career Home Runs Hit Without a Grand Slam
(unconfirmed)
  1. Goose Goslin, 248
  2. Enos Slaughter, 169
  3. Pinky Higgins, 140
  4. Hector Lopez, 136
  5. Jack Fournier, 136
  6. George McQuinn, 135
  7. Ripper Collins, 135
  8. Dale Long, 132
  9. Joe Kuhel, 131
  10. Frank McCormick, 128
EDIT: An anonymous commenter says Goose Goslin hit a home run on June 21, 1932, off Red Ruffing. That leaves Glenn Davis atop the list for sure.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

It makes me wonder whose been the quickest players to hit a grand slam. I think I would've heard of someone doing it in their first ever MLB at-bat, so that's probably not happened... but... has anyone in their 2nd? 3rd? 4th? etc?

Theron Schultz said...

Actually three players in history have hit a grand slam in their first at-bat. On September 2, 2006, Kevin Kouzmanoff hit one off Edinson Volquez. On August 31, 2005, Jeremy Hermida hit a pinch-hit grand slam. Way back on April 21, 1898, Phillies pitcher Bill Duggleby was the first to hit a grand slam in his first at bat.

Anonymous said...

Good list, and interesting study. I have always wondered if someone got credit for a GS where the bases were legitimately cleared with a triple and the batter was awarded home on an error (like throwing the ball into the 3rd base dugout).

Did anyone get a GS on an inside-the-park HR?

Theron Schultz said...

I'm not sure about the triple and an error being a grand slam, but I did find this list of inside-the-park grand slams.

Anonymous said...

That's quite a list of inside-the-park grand slams (even though it was dated back in 2002). Of special interest is the player who did it twice in the same day! For the most part, though, these players in the list are relative no-names. This makes some sense, as you usually have to be a jack-rabbit type of player to attempt an inside-the-park grand slam. Unfortunately, you need 5 tools to stick around in the majors.

Anonymous said...

Goose Goslin hit a grand slam home run 21 June 1932 at home off Red Ruffing in the bottom of the 7th.

Theron Schultz said...

Cool, thanks! I figured he had to have one at some point but I just couldn't find out for sure.

jrk said...

There has only been one walkoff grand slam in the history of MLB.

Roberto Clemente was the only player to accomplish that feat.

Daniel Meyer said...

Players who had some of the longest streaks ever without hitting their FIRST grand slam include Jeff Bagwell at 217 before his first, and Sammy Sosa, with the record (to my knowledge) of 247 before his first.

pcolamiles said...

its a pretty amazing stat....does anyone know if any player ever had the opportunity to hit a 2nd grand slam in an inning before (or since) fernando tatis did it a few yrs back? i cant find this on internet anywhere....

pcolamiles said...

i always wondered if any player ever came up for the 2nd time in an inning, after already hitting a grand slam in that inning, with the bases loaded, before or since fernando tatis did it a few yrs ago? does anyone know? thanks...

Mike N. said...

pcolamiles...I have no doubt that this has happened a few times, but I turned the game on when this was happening…

On 8/4/08, Raul Ibañez—with Seattle at the time—hit a grand slam off the Twins’ Glen Perkins in the bottom of the seventh, bringing the M’s within a run. Later that inning, with two outs—and the same runners on base (Bloomquist 1/Suzuki 2/Betancourt 3)—Ibañez had a chance to match Tatis’ accomplishment. Instead he lined a hit to center, scoring two runs—Bloomquist was out trying to score, ending the inning. So Raul didn’t get the second slam, but he did drive in six in the inning. Pretty good output for any day.

Unknown said...

Not sure if anyone has updated this, but Goose Goslin hit three grand slams.

6/21/32 off Yankees Red Ruffing (HR #175 of Goslin's career)
5/28/36 off White Sox Vern Kennedy (HR # 224)
6/2/37 off Senator Ed Linke (HR # 243)

Goslin hit 248 HRs in his career.

Unknown said...

Tatis' two grand slams hit in the same inning were hit off of the same pitcher, Chan Ho Park

Unknown said...

Tatis' two grand slams hit in the same inning were hit off of the same pitcher, Chan Ho Park

"Fortunately" for Park, an error earlier in the inning resulted in all four runs of the second grand slam to be unearned