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Back in April, Chicago White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami made MLB history with just about every home run he hit.
Murakami hit his 12th home run of the season on April 27 against the Los Angeles Angels. In doing so, he broke both the White Sox record and the MLB rookie record for home runs by a rookie before the start of May. So it's only fitting that as the next calendar month winds down, Murakami once again finds himself in the history books.
With a home run in each of the first three games of a four-game set against the Minnesota Twins, Murakami now has eight in the month of May and 20 on the season.
That's the most home runs by a rookie before the start of June since 1901.
Murakami also became the fourth player in MLB history to hit 20 home runs in his first 55 career games, the third player in White Sox history to hit 20 home runs within the first 55 games of a season, and the fastest Japanese-born player to reach 20 home runs in Major League Baseball, shattering the previous mark held by Shohei Ohtani, who needed 101 games to reach the milestone.
Reaching 20 home runs in 55 games is also the fastest a White Sox player has ever done it. His current pace of 59 home runs would comfortably break the franchise record of 49, set by Albert Belle in 1998.
At this rate, Murakami won't just be representing the White Sox at the All-Star Game in Philadelphia. He'll be doing it with 30-plus home runs as one of the most feared power hitters in baseball. Kyle Schwarber is currently the only player with more home runs, sitting at 21.
He's also the biggest reason the White Sox currently hold a playoff position in the American League. Often, the lineup goes as Murakami goes.
It was the bats coming alive that powered the White Sox to a series win over the Twins this week. Chicago put up a season-high 15 runs on Wednesday evening. The White Sox are currently tied for the seventh-most runs scored in baseball and rank third in team home runs, trailing only the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Even the most optimistic White Sox fans probably didn't see that coming before the season. But here they are, and as long as Murakami is anchoring the lineup and leading this offense, Chicago isn't going anywhere.
Continue reading...
Murakami hit his 12th home run of the season on April 27 against the Los Angeles Angels. In doing so, he broke both the White Sox record and the MLB rookie record for home runs by a rookie before the start of May. So it's only fitting that as the next calendar month winds down, Murakami once again finds himself in the history books.
With a home run in each of the first three games of a four-game set against the Minnesota Twins, Murakami now has eight in the month of May and 20 on the season.
That's the most home runs by a rookie before the start of June since 1901.
Murakami also became the fourth player in MLB history to hit 20 home runs in his first 55 career games, the third player in White Sox history to hit 20 home runs within the first 55 games of a season, and the fastest Japanese-born player to reach 20 home runs in Major League Baseball, shattering the previous mark held by Shohei Ohtani, who needed 101 games to reach the milestone.
Reaching 20 home runs in 55 games is also the fastest a White Sox player has ever done it. His current pace of 59 home runs would comfortably break the franchise record of 49, set by Albert Belle in 1998.
At this rate, Murakami won't just be representing the White Sox at the All-Star Game in Philadelphia. He'll be doing it with 30-plus home runs as one of the most feared power hitters in baseball. Kyle Schwarber is currently the only player with more home runs, sitting at 21.
He's also the biggest reason the White Sox currently hold a playoff position in the American League. Often, the lineup goes as Murakami goes.
It was the bats coming alive that powered the White Sox to a series win over the Twins this week. Chicago put up a season-high 15 runs on Wednesday evening. The White Sox are currently tied for the seventh-most runs scored in baseball and rank third in team home runs, trailing only the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Even the most optimistic White Sox fans probably didn't see that coming before the season. But here they are, and as long as Murakami is anchoring the lineup and leading this offense, Chicago isn't going anywhere.
Continue reading...
