Buzz_Arlett

Buzz Arlett slugs four homers in one game for the second time in the season

Buzz Arlett
Buzz Arlett

On July 4, 1932, minor leaguer Buzz Arlett slugs four homers in one game for the second time in the season. Playing for Baltimore, Arlett hits his four homers and drives in nine runs against Reading in the first game of a doubleheader. Earlier, on June 1, he had hit four homers, also against Reading. His final tally for the ’32 season was 54 home runs, and Arlett belted as many as 30 in a season eight times in the minors. Arlett’s only major league experience came in 1931, when he batted .313 with 18 homers for the Phillies.

“Buzz Arlett could hit. He hit .341 with 432 homers in the highest levels of the minor league baseball between 1918-1937. He could pitch too, winning more than 100 games in his minor league career. Unfortunately, Arlett wasn’t much of an outfielder, just how bad he was defensively is a matter of some debate, but he certainly wasn’t good. ‘He would lose more games with the glove’ declared one Cardinals scout, ‘than he would make up with the bat’.” – Author Michael Robbins in Ninety Feet from Fame: Close Calls with Baseball Immortality (Carroll & Graf Publishing, 02/17/2004, Buzz Arlett, Page 62)