One Of Us: Minnesota Native Hits Three Home Runs on the Fourth of July for the Cubs

[Matt Johnson]

Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

CHICAGO - Inver Grove Heights native Michael Busch had a heckuva Fourth of July this year, hitting three home runs for the home team at Wrigley Field. The 2016 Simley graduate also had an RBI-single, going 4-for-4 with five RBI and three runs scored altogether in the 11-3 win over the Cardinals. His third home run was the Cubs' eighth of the game, establishing a new team record. (The Twins' record is also eight, occurring on August 29, 1963.)

 

Busch is the sixth Minnesota high school graduate to hit three home runs in a game. (Ike Davis—Ron's son—was born in Edina in 1987 but did not grow up in Minnesota.)

• Batting cleanup for the New York Giants, Clearbrook native Wes Westrum went 4-for-4 with a walk, three home runs, a triple, four RBI, and five runs scored on June 24, 1950.
• St. Paul native Walt Moryn hit three home runs for the Cubs on May 30, 1958, including a walk-off homer off Sandy Koufax, who entered the game in the ninth.
• St. Paul native Paul Molitor hit three home runs for the Brewers on May 12, 1982.
• Playing for the Angels, St. Paul native Dave Winfield went 5-for-6 with three home runs and a double in a 15-9 win versus the Twins at the Metrodome on April 13, 1991. 
• Blaine HS graduate Dan Johnson hit three home runs for the White Sox on the final day of the 2012 season. This one is noteworthy because they're the only home runs Johnson hit in 14 major league games that season. (Sidenote: Johnson has not one but two of the biggest home runs in Tampa Bay Rays history.)

Westrum and Winfield both hit for 15 total bases (not even counting Westrum's walk). The Twins record for total bases in a game is 14 by Kirby that one Sunday in Milwaukee. 

• Way back in 1889, Minnesota native Jack Crooks had the first four-home run game in professional baseball history, playing for the minor league Omaha Omahogs in his hometown of St. Paul

Busch also made history with the Cubs last April, tying a team record by homering in five-straight games. (The Twins' record for consecutive games with a home run is also five.) 

Busch has been clutch ever since he first made it to The Show, connecting for an RBI-single DH'ing for the Dodgers in his major league debut in 2023.

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[mikelink45]

Love this report - Home State Pride!  Now if only Wallner could join the group.  

I had to check on Roger Maris - he had 4 2HR games in his 61 season, but no 3 HRs.

Winfield, Hrbek, Maris and Molitor have the most HRs total for Minnesotans according to BR.  Did Hrbek ever have a 3 HR game?  I don't remember.  In fact that raises another question that would be a good follow up - have any Twins had 3 HR games?   Harmon Killebrew - 1963, Tony Oliva - 1973 and Nelson Cruz in 2019 are the only ones I could find. 

And traded trivia - David Ortiz never had a 3 HR game but Aaron Hicks did!

[1985Fan]

Great MN baseball history! It would be nice to have more details on these 3 HR games, like notable pitchers the HR were hit off of, what the score of the game was, etc.. Molitor’s 3HR game was in ‘82, which was the Brewers last trip to the WS, so should be interesting to see who it was against, what the score was. Thanks for the MN baseball info. There were and are some great MN natives that played the game. 

[Matt Johnson]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

Love this report - Home State Pride!  Now if only Wallner could join the group.  

I had to check on Roger Maris - he had 4 2HR games in his 61 season, but no 3 HRs.

Winfield, Hrbek, Maris and Molitor have the most HRs total for Minnesotans according to BR.  Did Hrbek ever have a 3 HR game?  I don't remember.  In fact that raises another question that would be a good follow up - have any Twins had 3 HR games?   Harmon Killebrew - 1963, Tony Oliva - 1973 and Nelson Cruz in 2019 are the only ones I could find. 

And traded trivia - David Ortiz never had a 3 HR game but Aaron Hicks did!

Busch is just the sixth player born and raised in Minnesota to hit three homers in a game. I'm 99.9% confident there wasn't one by the handful of players born elsewhere but who grew up in Minnesota. There was, however, a three-homer game by Ike Davis, who was born in Minnesota but didn't live here for long. (The Twins had actually already traded his dad away the year before he was born, but I guess it's not so easy to just up and move your family right away.) 

[Matt Johnson]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

Love this report - Home State Pride!  Now if only Wallner could join the group.  

I had to check on Roger Maris - he had 4 2HR games in his 61 season, but no 3 HRs.

Winfield, Hrbek, Maris and Molitor have the most HRs total for Minnesotans according to BR.  Did Hrbek ever have a 3 HR game?  I don't remember.  In fact that raises another question that would be a good follow up - have any Twins had 3 HR games?   Harmon Killebrew - 1963, Tony Oliva - 1973 and Nelson Cruz in 2019 are the only ones I could find. 

And traded trivia - David Ortiz never had a 3 HR game but Aaron Hicks did!

Here are all the three-HR games in Twins history via Baseball Reference: https://stathead.com/tiny/wtpsY

Interesting to note that in the Twins' first 55 seasons, there were just four 3-HR games, and then suddenly there were nine such performances in the six-year period from 2016 to 2021. 

[Matt Johnson]

48 minutes ago, 1985Fan said:

Great MN baseball history! It would be nice to have more details on these 3 HR games, like notable pitchers the HR were hit off of, what the score of the game was, etc.. Molitor’s 3HR game was in ‘82, which was the Brewers last trip to the WS, so should be interesting to see who it was against, what the score was. Thanks for the MN baseball info. There were and are some great MN natives that played the game. 

Yeah, I'll have to write that post. Just did a quickie on this Busch accomplishment last night, and honestly at first I could only think of Westrum and Winfield (because I knew they were 15-total base games). The Dan Johnson one is interesting in that they were his only home runs of the season.

Here's the list on Baseball Reference. (Of course Ike Davis wasn't raised here): https://stathead.com/tiny/g1aU7

[dxpavelka]

7 minutes ago, Matt Johnson said:

Busch is just the sixth player born and raised in Minnesota to hit three homers in a game. I'm 99.9% confident there wasn't one by the handful of players born elsewhere but who grew up in Minnesota. There was, however, a three-homer game by Ike Davis, who was born in Minnesota but didn't live here for long. (The Twins had actually already traded his dad away the year before he was born, but I guess it's not so easy to just up and move your family right away.) 

I must be getting old cuz I had to Google who Ike Davis' dad was.  Sorry I did that.

[Matt Johnson]

2 minutes ago, dxpavelka said:

I must be getting old cuz I had to Google who Ike Davis' dad was.  Sorry I did that.

That one is kind of sneaky. Ike was born in Edina in March 1987. Interesting to think of Ron Davis's family still living in Minnesota in 1987! 

[dxpavelka]

5 minutes ago, Matt Johnson said:

That one is kind of sneaky. Ike was born in Edina in March 1987. Interesting to think of Ron Davis's family still living in Minnesota in 1987! 

Obvious that not enough crosses had been burned in their yard by then.

[dxpavelka]

1 minute ago, Matt Johnson said:

That one is kind of sneaky. Ike was born in Edina in March 1987. Interesting to think of Ron Davis's family still living in Minnesota in 1987! 

Can you imagine if social media had existed in the RD era?

 

[Linus]

I would have bets lots that Hrbek had a three homer game. 

[Matt Johnson]

2 hours ago, Linus said:

I would have bets lots that Hrbek had a three homer game. 

He didn't have a three-home run game, but he did have a three-grand slam season, which was tied for the Twins record until Royce Lewis hit four.