FIVE HOME RUNS — DOABLE — SEPARATE RALEIGH FROM THE GREATEST OF RECORDS
He faces Colorado pitching in three games — whack, whack, whack — and won’t deal with Dodgers’ starters next weekend, meaning Cal Raleigh has an opportunity to break Aaron Judge’s non-steroids mark
He needs five home runs in his final six games. This is a doable dare not only because he has four in his last six, but because his name is Cal Raleigh. It’s an identity that provides oxygen treatment for baseball in late September, when football dominates us, but allows someone called The Big Dumper to let us follow him on our own Big Dumpers.
To that point: Are we watching the greatest single-season home-run crusher of all time? Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were juicers, but we have no knowledge that Raleigh consumes steroids and assume Aaron Judge wasn’t on them, either, when he broke the American League record with 62. Every time we acknowledge him as a full-time catcher and think he’ll wear down after six intense months, he bangs two shots on Tuesday night, another on Saturday night and another on Sunday night. He is relentlessly attacking Judge to the point writers must acknowledge him as the league MVP, though he’s with a team in Seattle with numerous grunge-era cheerleaders but never has been to a World Series.
And in history, he ultimately might own what always will be regarded as sport’s glittering standard, regardless of touchdown passes and goals and points. If he totals five and passes Judge at 63, after signing a $105 million contract, you are looking at the biggest bargain in humankind. In recent days, he broke Salvador Perez’s record for homers by a catcher, then broke Mickey Mantle’s record for homers by a switch-hitter, then broke Ken Griffey Jr.’s record atop the Mariners’ homer list. He has five more than Shohei Ohtani, five more than Kyle Schwarber and nine more than Judge, who leads the majors in batting average, on-base and slugging percentages.
Another wonderful season, yes, but he’s secondary to Raleigh. He also helps formulate a pitching staff that has won 14 of its last 15 games. He also speaks to national media on a suffocating basis. He also holds a trident as a dugout prop. He also dances with infielders after victories. He also won the Home Run Derby with his father pitching and his brother catching. He also might win a championship.
“Uh, I can’t wrap my head around it. It’s a crazy concept,” Raleigh said after a sweep of the Astros. “To be mentioned with some of the very best players of all time, I’m honored and humbled. It doesn’t seem real. The whole year has been a crazy roller.”
His general manager, Justin Hollander, thinks the Hall of Fame should have a Raleigh floor. “We’re not just talking about Hall of Famers. This is, like, the top floor of the Hall of Fame,” he told ESPN. “This isn’t the basement. This isn’t something where these guys did something cool for a week. We’re talking about the best players, literally ever. And that’s the comparison we’re making on the type of year he’s having.”
The season has been startling in that we knew the name, Cal Raleigh, but didn’t know much about him. Who knew he would enjoy a wicked nickname and bring a toilet seat to Williamsport, where Little Leaguers watched him weeks ago? He is exactly what Major League Baseball needs in the year before a collective bargaining agreement expires — a superstar from rural North Carolina in manufactured gear.
“It’s a weird thing to think about,” he said.
Weirder was hearing from Griffey. “He’s reached out a few times. He’s awesome,” he said. A super good guy, always fun to be around in the clubhouse.”
But even weirder was knowing another chase is in his sights. Before the game, he thought 57 was a wrap. “I’m glad it’s over,” he said. “I’m very grateful and it’s an awesome thing, but I’m glad that we can just get back to baseball.”
Uh, no.
He is off tonight. The following three nights, he is at home in T-Mobile Park against the Colorado Rockies, who are 43-113 and have allowed 239 homers with a 6.02 earned-run average. Do not be shocked if he hits a homer each night.
Then he remains home against the Dodgers, who won’t be using Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Shohei Ohtani as they prepare for the postseason. On an insanely busy weekend, the Ryder Cup joins huge college football games and NFL games.
Watch Cal Raleigh. Whoever he is, wherever he came from, your mind should be squarely on his dumper.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.