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Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh continues to rewrite the franchise record books, and when he hit his 45th home run of the season on Sunday, he moved into exclusive territory. Only one player in Mariners history has hit more homers in a season than Raleigh, and the name is obvious.
It's Ken Griffey Jr., who did it four times and hit an even 45 another time.
Griffey holds the Mariners' single-season home run record, hitting 56 in both 1997 and 1998. The difference is Raleigh is on track to hit more than that. By a lot.
The Mariners have played 119 games, putting him on target for 61.26 homers — just shy of Aaron Judge's single-season American League record of 62.
“I’m trying to get in those good counts as often as I can,” Raleigh said on Sunday after Seattle's 6-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. “And I know when I’m getting in those good counts, I’m seeing the ball well and I’m trusting my hands. So was able to get to that (pitch). It was a big one to kind of start the game.”
Raleigh has also spoken before about what it means to appear on these all-time Seattle lists with Griffey.
“To be mentioned with that name, with somebody who's just iconic, is a legend, is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, I'm just blessed,” he said in July, per MLB.com. “I'm just trying to do the right thing and trying to keep it rolling. If I can try to be like that guy, it's a good guy to look up to.”
He also called Griffey the “face of the franchise” and said he would have “smashed” the all-time home run record if injuries had not gotten in the way of his Hall of Fame career.
The Mariners have now won seven straight games and nine out of their last 10 to pull to within a game of the first-place Houston Astros in the American League West. They begin a series in Baltimore against the Orioles on Tuesday.
