A Trifecta at Every Position

Hugh Atkins

Ruth, Mathews, Aaron…d’Arnaud, Braves sluggers all. This past Friday, Travis d’Arnaud became the 25th player in Braves franchise history to hit at least three homers in a game; Adam Duvall has done it twice, and Joe Adcock and Bob Horner each hit four homers in one game.

Bench, Carter…d’Arnaud, the only catchers in baseball history to hit three home runs in a game twice.

© 2024 The Topps Company, Inc.

d’Arnaud is seeing more playing time because regular catcher Sean Murphy has been on the injured list since Opening Day. Oddly enough, that in effect makes d’Arnaud the fourth backup catcher in Braves history to hit three home runs in the same game. 

On July 30, 1966, Gene Oliver, who was backup to Joe Torre, became the first Atlanta Brave to hit three home runs in a game. Three years to the day later on July 30, 1969, Bob Tillman, who was backup to Bob Didier, hit three homers. And on May 15, 1979, Dale Murphy, the Braves regular first baseman, hit three home runs while filling in for catchers Bruce Benedict and Joe Nolan.

The Braves are the only franchise in Major League Baseball with at least one player at each position to hit three home runs in a game. Pitcher Jim Tobin of the Boston Braves blasted three on May 13, 1942 and remains the only pitcher ever to do so. With the advent of the universal designated hitter, the Braves likely will remain the only team ever to accomplish this prodigious feat.

On July 31, 1954, Milwaukee Braves first baseman Joe Adcock had four home runs and a double. Orlando Cepeda was the first Atlanta Braves first baseman to hit three homers in a game; he did it on July 26, 1970. And Mark Teixeira hit three home runs on June 22, 2008.

Jeff Treadway is the only second baseman in Braves history to hit three homers in a game; he did it on May 26, 1990. Jeff Blauser hit three home runs on July 12, 1992 and is the only Braves shortstop to ever do it.

On July 6, 1986, Horner, a third baseman, hit four home runs in the same game. Les Bell and Ed Mathews hit three home runs in a game for the Boston Braves. Bell hit his on July 2, 1928, and Mathews did it as a rookie on September 27, 1952. Chipper Jones is the only third baseman in Atlanta Braves history to hit three home runs in a game; he did it on August 14, 2006.

Hal Lee was the first Braves left fielder to hit three home runs in a game; he did it for Boston on July 6, 1934. Four more Braves left fielders have hit three round-trippers in a game: Rico Carty on May 5, 1970, Ken Griffey on July 22, 1986, Matt Kemp on April 29, 2017, and Duvall on September 9, 2020.

Andruw Jones is the only Braves center fielder to hit three homers in a game. He did it on September 25, 2002.

© T.C.G.

Babe Ruth was the first Braves right fielder to hit three home runs in a game; he hit the final homers of his career for Boston on May 25, 1935. Jim Pendleton did it on August 30, 1953, as did Henry Aaron on June 21, 1959; both Pendleton and Aaron were with the Milwaukee Braves. On July 3, 1970, Mike Lum became the first right fielder for the Atlanta Braves to hit three homers in one game. Duvall was in right field on September 2, 2020 when he hit three home runs. When he did it as a left fielder a week later, he became the first, and still only, Braves player to hit three homers in a game more than once; d’Arnaud’s first three-homer game came when he was with the Tampa Bay Rays.

And Marcell Ozuna is the lone Braves designated hitter to hit three home runs in a game. His came on September 1, 2020.

Now maybe Chadwick Tromp will be the fifth backup catcher to hit three home runs in a game for the Braves. Stranger things have happened.

(Braves players with three home runs in a game are from the 2023 Atlanta Braves Media Guide; All game accounts are from Retrosheet.)