| Batter | Team (B) | Inning | Pitcher | Team (P) | Situation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Abreu (2) | Yankees | 1st | Clay Buchholz (1) | Red Sox | 1 on, 1 out, 0-1 |
| Alex Rodriguez (4) | Yankees | 1st | Clay Buchholz (2) | Red Sox | 0 on, 1 out, 1-1 |
| Jim Thome (3) | White Sox | 1st | Adam Loewen (4) | Orioles | 2 on, 0 out, 0-0 |
| Miguel Cabrera (3) | Tigers | 2nd | C.C. Sabathia (4) | Indians | 1 on, 0 out, 0-1 |
| Edgar Renteria (1) | Tigers | 5th | C.C. Sabathia (5) | Indians | 3 on, 0 out, 5-1 |
| David Dellucci (1) | Indians | 1st | Armando Galarraga (1) | Tigers | 0 on, 1 out, 0-0 |
| Michael Bourn (2) | Astros | 5th | Kyle Kendrick (1) | Phillies | 0 on, 2 out, 1-1 |
| Jason Botts (1) | Rangers | 4th | Jesse Litsch (2) | Blue Jays | 0 on, 0 out, 1-1 |
| Frank Catalanotto (1) | Rangers | 8th | Jeremy Accardo (1) | Blue Jays | 0 on, 2 out, 4-2 |
| Yunel Escobar (3) | Braves | 5th | Mark Hendrickson (2) | Marlins | 1 on, 2 out, 1-4 |
| Mike Jacobs (6) | Marlins | 3rd | Tim Hudson (1) | Braves | 0 on, 2 out, 3-1 |
| Luis Gonzalez (2) | Marlins | 7th | Jeff Bennett (1) | Braves | 1 on, 0 out, 4-3 |
| Austin Kearns (1) | Nationals | 4th | John Maine (2) | Mets | 0 on, 1 out, 1-1 |
| Ryan Church (2) | Mets | 1st | Matt Chico (3) | Nationals | 0 on, 1 out, 0-1 |
| Jose Reyes (1) | Mets | 5th | Matt Chico (4) | Nationals | 0 on 0 out 1-2 |
| Carlos Beltran (1) | Mets | 5th | Matt Chico (5) | Nationals | 2 on, 0 out, 2-2 |
| Adam Dunn (2) | Reds | 8th | Kevin Hart (2) | Cubs | 0 on, 1 out, 2-11 |
| Derrek Lee (6) | Cubs | 3rd | Josh Fogg (4) | Reds | 0 on, 0 out, 4-1 |
| Carl Crawford (2) | Rays | 3rd | Livan Hernandez (1) | Twins | 0 on, 1 out, 0-0 |
| Eric Hinske (3) | Rays | 4th | Livan Hernandez (2) | Twins | 0 on, 1 out, 1-0 |
| Shawn Riggans (2) | Rays | 6th | Livan Hernandez (3) | Twins | 1 on, 2 out, 3-5 |
| Adam Wainwright (1) | Cardinals | 2nd | Carlos Villanueva (2) | Brewers | 0 on, 0 out, 2-0 |
| Skip Schumaker (1) | Cardinals | 5th | Carlos Villanueva (3) | Brewers | 0 on, 0 out, 3-1 |
| Rafael Furcal (2) | Dodgers | 2nd | Paul Maholm (3) | Pirates | 0 on, 0 out, 4-0 |
For the people who have not been introduced to the "Home Runs of the Day" yet, let me just clarify a couple of things:
- The "situation part" (the part that states the score) is the score after the home run is it.
- And, on a second note, the first part of the score is the score of the home run hitter's team. The second number represents the opponent's team.
Notes:
Derrek Lee (Chicago Cubs) and Mike Jacobs (Florida Marlins) just became the second and third players to hit their sixth home runs, tying Carlos Pena (Tampa Bay Rays) for the lead in home runs in the MLB. Mark Reynolds (Arizona Diamondbacks), Justin Upton (Arizona Diamondbacks), Raul Ibanez (Seattle Mariners), Bill Hall (Milwaukee Brewers), Pat Burrell (Philadelphia Phillies), and Chris Young (Arizona Diamondbacks) are all tied for second place with 5 homers.
- 8 players now have 5+ home runs: 7 are from the National League, and 1 from the American League.
Jeff Francis (Colorado Rockies) and Scott Baker (Minnesota Twins) are tied for first place for the player with the most home runs surrendered (6). C.C. Sabathia (Cleveland Indians), who has had a horrific April so far, tiedBronson Arroyo (Cincinnati Reds), Brett Myers (Philadelphia Phillies, Roy Oswalt (Houston Astros) Jason Bergmann (Washington Nationals), Todd Wellemeyer (St. Louis Cardinals) Andy Sonnanstine (Tampa Bay Rays), and Jason Jennings (Texas Rangers) for second place (or third place, depending on how you look at it) in this category with 5.
- 10 pitchers have surrendered 5 or more homers: 4 are from the American League and 6 are from the National League.
Remember, you can always have the privilage to cast a vote for the "Homer of the Day" in the comments section down below. Feel free to discuss who should win today or who should've won yesterday.
Homer of the Day (April 15, 2008)
And the Homer of the Day of April 15, 2008, goes to...
Jason Varitek! (2 votes, 6 tiebreaker votes)
With Tim Wakefield pitching for the Boston Red Sox on April 15th against the Cleveland Indians, Jason Varitek was supposed to have the day off. However, hours before the game started, Terry Francona wondered whether it's smart to use the catcher as a pinch hitter that he doesn't start. He believes that it's not really a day off, since the catcher is involved in every play, and the more the catcher is on the field backstopping for the pitcher, the more it takes its toll on him. His exact words after the games were, ""I worry about him, but in a game like that, that one swing obviously changed the game," Francona said. "I don't think people quite realize we can't have him catch 162. I do struggle with that, but it doesn't look like 'Tek is. I might be, he's not." Since Varitek catches for four out of the five pitchers in the starting rotation, he only gets to catch for 80% of the games anyway. So Francona decided to substitute him for Kevin Cash, who caught for Wakefield that day, in the 9th inning.
The game was tied (3-3), with 1 out, Jason Varitek nailed a 1-1 sinker off of Jensen Lewis and sent it over the left field wall for a solo jack of the season. After two pitches (both of them strikes) on the outer part of the plate, Varitek knew what was coming next: a strike on the outer part of the plate. He took it the opposite way, and trotted the bases for his third home run of the season so far. With an additional run thanks to a Kevin Youkilis single (scoring Coco Crisp), and Hideki Okajima's "light-out" pitching, the Red Sox were able to hold on to a 5-3 victory over the Indians.
Putting all of this Jason Varitek stuff aside, you have to give credit to Jed Lowrie. 3 RBI's in his first game. Without him, regardless of Jason Varitek's homer, they probably would've lost the game. Too bad he didn't hit a home run that day.
What is interesting is that Varitek warmed up for his big at-bat not by swinging his bat, but by warming up pitchers in the bullpen. He said "I kind of like to catch so that I'm in the flow. If my body is loose to catch, my body is loose to do other things." That is actually a pretty smart move on V-Tek's part, as it not only warms him up, but it warms up the relief pitchers as well. Varitek probably had a little talk with Okajima before he pitched telling him where the Cleveland batters due for the ninth inning like and don't like the ball. If it hadn't been for Jacoby Ellsbury's wonderful catch near the right field stands in foul territory, Okajima would've probably stuck out the side on 13 pitches.
The others who received votes were:
Ken Griffey Jr. of the Cincinnati Reds (2 votes, 2 tiebreaker votes)
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On Another Matter:
Also, what do you guys think if I put the players in alphabetical order? What about inning by inning? Or do you guys like it just the way it is? I'd appreciate it if you guys could give me feedback on what I should do.
Sorry guys, for the late article. Thanks for your patience. I'll be sure to catch up. It's my weekend, and I'm free, so... you'll be sure that I'll be working for the next couple of days.