J.D. Martinez Joins Exclusive Four-Homer Club

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J.D. Martinez after hitting homer No. 4 on Monday.

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Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

Babe Ruth didn’t do it, nor Hank Aaron, nor Barry Bonds. It’s rarer than a perfect game. Hitting four home runs in one game is one of the most difficult feats in baseball. And now it’s happened twice this season.

J.D. Martinez of the Diamondbacks hit four on Monday against the Dodgers to match Scooter Gennett of the Reds, who had four in a June game.

Martinez, 30, doesn’t fit the profile of Willie Mays and Mike Schmidt, the kind of players you might expect to bash four in a game. Although he is having a big season, first with the Tigers and then with Arizona after a trade, he is more of a garden variety slugger, with one All-Star appearance and only two 30-homer seasons.

While you would expect his 141 career homer total to go up before he is done, it’s more along the lines of four-homer hitters Mike Cameron (278 career homers) or Bob Horner (218) than Mays (660), Schmidt (548) or Lou Gehrig (493).

Gennett was an even less likely…

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