On August 31, 1950, In front of 14,226 fans at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn Dodger’s first baseman Gil Hodges became the fourth major league in the century to hit four home runs in a game. Lou Gehrig was the last player to accomplish this in 1932.
Hodges, who also singles, breaks the modern major league record for total bases in a game with 17. Bobby Lowe set the mark in 1894 with 17 total bases in a game, tied by Ed Delhauntny, who also hit 4 home runs and a single.
The big first baseman knocks in a team-record nine runs in the Dodgers’ 19-3 rout of the Boston Braves. Only 14,226 are on hand at Ebbets Field to witness Hodges’ heroics.
The homers come off four pitchers – future Hall of Famer Warren Spahn in the second inning, rookie Normie Roy in the third, Bob Hall in the sixth and Johnny Antonelli in the eighth. “I knew the minute that the last one left my bat it was going all the way,” Hodges says about his drive to the upper deck in left. In an oddity, Carl Furillo is on base for each homer.
Dodgers manager Burt Shotten expresses his confidence in Hodges by saying, “I was expecting it. That boy is always liable to do something like that.”
Only Dodger teammate Pee Wee Reese seems nonplussed by the feat. “All he did was prolong the game,” he jokes.
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