On May 2, 2002, Mike Cameron, Seattle Mariners' center fielder, hits four home runs in four at-bats, including two in the first inning, to lead his team to a 15-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park in Chicago. He becomes only the 13th player in Major League baseball history to homer four times in a single game, and the first since 1993.
A Record-tying Team
The 2002 Seattle Mariners, coming off a Major League record-tying 116 win regular season in 2001, also broke a record during the May 2nd game. Mariner second baseman Bret Boone contributed to the 10-run first inning offensive by planting back-to-back homers to match Cameron's two. This was the first time in baseball history that teammates have hit two home runs each in the same inning.
Slugging His Way into History
Cameron, who came to the Seattle Mariners as part of a trade with the Cincinnati Reds for Ken Griffey Jr. in 2000, won a Golden Glove in 2001, but had been in a slump at the plate for the two weeks preceding the historic four-homer game. After the game, Cameron was greeted in the clubhouse by his roaring, cheering teammates, who doused him with beer and presented him with four baseballs, each one marked in black ink:
1, 2, 3, 4.
