{"id":94979,"date":"2025-08-25T15:44:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T15:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/94979\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T15:44:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T15:44:07","slug":"cal-raleighs-next-milestones-plus-remembering-mr-baseball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/94979\/","title":{"rendered":"Cal Raleigh\u2019s next milestones? Plus: Remembering Mr. Baseball"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Windup Newsletter \u26be | This is The Athletic\u2019s MLB<\/a> newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Windup directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

We have a new answer for the trivia question: Which major-league catcher has hit the most homers in a season?<\/p>\n

Plus: The Brewers celebrated the life of Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Uecker, Ken explains how the Padres make the three-closer thing work, and the Anthony Volpe saga took an interesting turn. I\u2019m\u00a0Stephen Nesbitt, pinch-hitting for Levi Weaver, here with\u00a0Ken Rosenthal: Welcome to The Windup!<\/p>\n

Big Flies: Raleigh homers twice to set catcher HR record<\/p>\n

If you lost track of Cal Raleigh after he\u00a0won the Home Run Derby<\/a>, well, you hadn\u2019t missed much until yesterday. After hitting 38 homers before the All-Star break, falling one shy of matching Barry Bonds\u2019 first-half record, Raleigh has been comparatively quiet since then.<\/p>\n

But he slugged his way back into the headlines yesterday with two moonshots off Athletics left-hander Jacob Lopez. Raleigh\u2019s 48th and 49th this season\u00a0broke Salvador Perez\u2019s record<\/a>\u00a0for homers in a single season by a catcher \u2014\u00a0or, to be terribly specific, for a player playing at least 75 percent of his games at catcher.<\/p>\n

Raleigh has hit 40\u00a0as a catcher, so he\u2019ll soon come up on another record: the 42 home runs Javy L\u00f3pez hit as the Braves\u2019 catcher in 2003.<\/p>\n

With Raleigh, 28,\u00a0on pace for 61 homers\u00a0this season, let\u2019s map out a few milestones he still has a realistic chance to hit over the final 31 games.<\/p>\n

50:\u00a033rd player in the 50-homer club
\n54:\u00a0Switch-hitter record: Mickey Mantle, 1961
\n56:\u00a0Mariners record: Ken Griffey Jr., 1997 and 1998
\n60:\u00a0Seventh player in the 60-homer club
\n62:\u00a0American League record: Aaron Judge, 2022<\/p>\n

So don\u2019t sleep on Big Dumper. He\u2019s got more history to make in the next month.<\/p>\n

Ken\u2019s Notebook: No saves, no problem in San Diego<\/p>\n

From\u00a0my latest notes column<\/a>, which is full of items about the Padres and Dodgers:<\/p>\n

After acquiring Mason Miller, the Padres asked him about the role he envisioned in their bullpen. Miller immediately responded, \u201cI\u2019m here to do anything to help the team.\u201d Great answer, but one that theoretically could hurt him this offseason in his first crack at salary arbitration.<\/p>\n

The saves statistic, while perhaps the game\u2019s least important, is still highly valued in arbitration.\u00a0Postseason performance, however, is also part of the criteria. Which is why Miller is not especially worried about how his salary might be affected now that he no longer pitches exclusively in the ninth inning.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is valuable to be part of a winning team,\u201d Miller said. \u201cHad I stayed with the A\u2019s, maybe I end up with another 10 saves. It\u2019s impossible to project it really. Holds don\u2019t quite the same as saves. But they count a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since joining the Padres, Miller is 1-for-2 in save opportunities with four holds. The A\u2019s have had five save opportunities \u2014 and are 5-for-5 using four different relievers while going 12-9 since trading Miller and left-hander JP Sears to San Diego on July 31.<\/p>\n

Miller said the Padres told him, \u201cDon\u2019t worry about roles going forward. Just worry about performing and helping us win games.\u201d Easy for a team to say, perhaps, particularly when saves are more lucrative for a reliever in arbitration than postseason performance. But since A.J. Preller took over as general manager in August 2014, the Padres have never taken a player to a hearing.<\/p>\n

Robert Suarez, a potential free agent, also told the Padres after the acquisition of Miller he would pitch in any role the team desired. He remains the closer, but Jason Adam, heading into his final year of arbitration, is another Padres reliever who has willingly accepted pitching earlier in games.<\/p>\n

First baseman\/DH Ryan O\u2019Hearn, a potential free agent, has taken the same team-first approach as the relievers, even though he is playing less against left-handers than he did before the Baltimore Orioles traded him to the Padres.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I go to the playoffs and World Series, I figure I\u2019ll be fine in free agency,\u201d O\u2019Hearn said. \u201cTeams want to see you perform in the postseason. This team is going to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

More here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Memoriam: Milwaukee says goodbye to Mr. Baseball<\/p>\n

The Brewers\u2019 celebration of life for Bob Uecker yesterday was pitch-perfect, and\u00a0Andrew Baggarly was there to chronicle<\/a>\u00a0every thoughtful detail from a 90-minute pregame tribute that did its best to cover all of the memorable moments Mr. Baseball delivered.<\/p>\n

Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Costas emceed from behind a desk \u2014 a recreation of \u201cThe Tonight Show\u201d set Uecker visited so many times \u2014\u00a0and was joined by a number of other Hall of Famers, from Bud Selig to Robin Yount, George Brett and Ted Simmons.<\/p>\n

The full ceremony<\/a>\u00a0is worth your time, if you\u2019ve got some to spare, but I\u2019ll leave you with this parting thought from Costas. (He visited Uecker last fall to say goodbye. It was two weeks after the Brewers lost the wild-card series in heartbreaking fashion, as the Mets\u2019\u00a0Pete Alonso took closer Devin Williams deep<\/a>\u00a0from a come-from-behind, three-run, series-flipping home run.)<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard the last broadcast when Alonso hit the home run off Devin Williams that broke everybody\u2019s heart. When you hear Ueck signing off, he didn\u2019t always wear his heart on his sleeve, but it was so poignant. He was disappointed for the team, because it was a heartbreaking loss, but he also knew that these were the last words he\u2019d ever speak as the voice of the Brewers.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis voice was not as strong, and he wasn\u2019t quite as sharp, but it was still Bob Uecker. And when you listen to that, even though he doesn\u2019t frame it this way, that\u2019s about as poignant a valedictory as any broadcaster has ever delivered.\u201d<\/p>\n

More:\u00a0Costas was also a central figure at\u00a0a memorial service for Ryne Sandberg<\/a>, the Hall of Fame second baseman, in Anaheim, Calif., on Friday. From Costas\u2019 eulogy: \u201c(He was) the kind of player any dad or youth coach could point to and say, \u2018That\u2019s the way you play the game.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Benched: Volpe sits as Yankees salvage series finale vs. Red Sox<\/p>\n

When asked about\u00a0sitting shortstop Anthony Volpe<\/a>\u00a0yesterday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone didn\u2019t commit to it being a one-day absence from the lineup. Maybe it will be. Maybe it won\u2019t. But things are, uh, not going great for Volpe in the Bronx, and it\u2019s worth trying something new.<\/p>\n

Boone attributed the benching to Volpe \u201cscuffling a little bit offensively here over the last week or 10 days.\u201d That\u2019s a conservative reading. There\u2019s the 1-for-28 spiral Volpe is currently in, and then there\u2019s his atrocious .121\/.171\/.242 slash line over the past 20 games. By wRC+, Volpe has been the 10th-worst qualified hitter in the majors this season.<\/p>\n

To make matters worse (and boos louder), Volpe has also been alarming defensively. His 17 errors are second-most in the majors, one behind Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz. Volpe botched a play Friday by trying to throw behind a runner, and he made a throwing error Saturday.<\/p>\n

Utility player Jos\u00e9 Caballero, batting .286\/382\/.536 since joining the Yankees at the trade deadline, started at shortstop yesterday. Volpe entered as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning.<\/p>\n

With series against the lowly Nationals and White Sox on tap, this might be a good time to give Volpe a few days down before the schedule gets much, much tougher in early September: Astros, Blue Jays, Tigers, Red Sox. The Yankees, 5.5 games behind Toronto, have to get Volpe right for the stretch run.<\/p>\n

Handshakes and High Fives<\/p>\n

After golfing with Roger Clemens, President Donald Trump\u00a0called for the former pitcher to be enshrined<\/a>\u00a0in the Baseball Hall of Fame \u201cNOW.\u201d Trump also claimed credit for persuading commissioner Rob Manfred to reinstate Pete Rose, but criticized Manfred for only doing so posthumously.<\/p>\n

Jayson Stark explains why the BBWAA\u2019s newest annual honor \u2014\u00a0the Relief Pitcher of the Year Award \u2014\u00a0is outrageously overdue<\/a>. Stark was making this case (correctly!) over a decade ago.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s big. He\u2019s slow. And he\u2019s suddenly stealing bases? It\u2019s time to\u00a0talk about Josh Naylor<\/a>. Stay tuned this weekend when he inevitably tries stealing on his little brother, Bo, in Cleveland.<\/p>\n

Chinese Taipei\u00a0won its first Little League World Series<\/a>\u00a0in 29 years, defeating Nevada yesterday. Chinese Taipei\u2019s 18 titles are the most of any country besides the United States.<\/p>\n

MLB\u2019s Field of Dreams game is coming back, and\u00a0it\u2019ll be the Phillies and Twins<\/a>\u00a0playing in Dyersville, Iowa, sometime next season, sources told Matt Gelb and Dan Hayes.<\/p>\n

The Astros are\u00a0sticking with rookie Cam Smith<\/a>\u00a0despite his .388 OPS since the All-Star break. \u201cHe\u2019s handled it better than anybody would handle it,\u201d Carlos Correa told Chandler Rome.<\/p>\n

Most-clicked in our last newsletter: Our newser on\u00a0fans lining up for hours<\/a>\u00a0for the Yankees\u2019 napping George Costanza bobblehead.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb Love The Windup? Check out\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(Photo: Stephen Brashear \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Windup Newsletter \u26be | This is The Athletic\u2019s MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":94980,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,5162,85],"class_list":["post-94979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-seattle-mariners","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}