As we figured out back at the All-Star home run derby in 2008, when Josh Hamilton gets his power stroke going, it's amazing to watch.
Hamilton had one of the greatest hitting nights in baseball history on Tuesday evening at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The Texas Rangers center fielder went 5 for 5 with four home runs and a double, becoming the 16th person in history to hit four homers in a game. Nobody has ever hit five. The last to hit four was Carlos Delgado in 2003.
"He makes it look easy," Rangers catcher Mike Napoli said to ESPN.com. "He's the type of freak, I guess, who can pull stuff off like that. He's got a gift."
All of his homers Tuesday against the Orioles (a 10-3 Rangers win) were two-run shots. His 18 total bases in the game is an American League record. He tied a big-league record for total bases set by Joe Adcock of the Milwaukee Braves in 1954.
Hamilton entered the game leading the league in two of the three Triple Crown categories. He left it comfortably leading in all three, hitting .406 with 14 homers and 36 RBI. And oh, by the way, it's a contract season for Hamilton. He's getting more expensive by the day.
Four home runs in a game is even more rare than a perfect game - there have been 21 perfect games and 16 four-homer games. It's the first time that there's been a perfect game and a four-homer game in the same season. And it's just May 9.
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