Hitting a Grand Slam on Your Birthday

Cubs prospect Kyle Schwarber turned 22 on Thursday and celebrated by hitting a grand slam in his first plate appearance of spring training.




Let's take a look at the 20 players that have hit a grand slam on their birthday in real games since 1914:

Date	Batter	Team	Age	Pitcher	Team	Runners	Result	Notes
8/11/2010	Colby Rasmus	Cardinals	24	Bronson Arroyo	Reds	Jon Jay, Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday	W 6-1
6/12/2008	Hideki Matsui	Yankees	34	Joe Blanton	Athletics	Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, Alex Rodriguez	W 4-1
5/25/2008	Jason Kubel	Twins	26	Francisco Cruceta	Tigers	Carlos Gomez, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau	W 6-1	GW in T8
6/6/2006	Derrek Lee	Cubs	31	Matt Capps	Pirates	Angel Pagan, Juan Pierre, Ryan Theriot	W 7-2	GW in B8
6/3/2006	Travis Hafner	Indians	29	Brendan Donnelly	Angels	Grady Sizemore, Jason Michaels, Jhonny Peralta	W 14-2
6/25/2005	Aramis Ramirez	Cubs	27	Jose Contreras	White Sox	Corey Patterson, Neifi Perez, Jeromy Burnitz	W 6-2
7/22/2004	Mike Sweeney	Royals	31	Gary Knotts	Tigers	John Buck, David DeJesus, Angel Berroa	W 13-7
7/27/2002	Alex Rodriguez	Rangers	27	Billy Koch	Athletics	Gabe Kapler, Frank Catalanotto, Herbert Perry	W 10-6	Walk-Off in B10
7/23/2002	Nomar Garciaparra	Red Sox	29	Brandon Backe	Devil Rays	Doug Mirabelli, Johnny Damon, Lou Merloni	W 22-4
8/18/1998	Bobby Higginson	Tigers	28	Greg McCarthy	Mariners	Gabe Alvarez, Deivi Cruz, Brian Hunter	W 7-6
6/12/1996	Damon Buford	Rangers	26	Kevin Wickander	Brewers	Dave Valle, Warren Newson, Kevin Elster	W 13-6
9/22/1995	Vince Coleman	Mariners	34	Todd Van Poppel	Athletics	Mike Blowers, Luis Sojo, Dan Wilson	W 10-7
9/9/1993	Todd Zeile	Cardinals	28	Terry Bross	Giants	Rene Arocha, Geronimo Pena, Ozzie Smith	W 9-4
4/19/1986	R.J. Reynolds	Pirates	27	Scott Sanderson	Cubs	Bill Almon, Rafael Belliard, Rick Reuschel	W 14-8
7/4/1979	Wayne Nordhagen	White Sox	31	Rick Waits	Indians	Alan Bannister, Claudell Washington, Lamar Johnson	W 16-4
8/9/1974	Ted Simmons	Cardinals	25	Geoff Zahn	Dodgers	Lou Brock, Ted Sizemore, Joe Torre	W 5-3
9/5/1966	Bill Mazeroski	Pirates	30	Phil Niekro	Braves	Gene Alley, Roberto Clemente, Donn Clendenon	W 13-5
8/9/1961	Julian Javier	Cardinals	25	Joe Gibbon	Pirates	Curt Flood, Jimmie Schaffer, Don Taussig	W 4-0
6/11/1958	Frank Thomas	Pirates	29	Ray Crone	Giants	Bob Skinner, Dick Groat, R C Stevens	W 14-6
7/16/1920	Shoeless Joe Jackson	White Sox	33	Eric Erickson	Senators	Nemo Leibold, Eddie Collins, Buck Weaver	W 8-5	ITTP GW T9

I used the Baseball-Reference Play Index to find the 55 players that had a home run and at least four runs batted in on their birthday. Clicking the number in the plate appearances column shows a pop-up window with play-by-play data, quickly whittling down the list. For games without B-R or Retrosheet PBP, line scores without four runs in an inning eliminated a player, while newspapers helped knock out two other entries before confirming our final birthday slam.

The youngest player on the list is the most recent one, with Colby Rasmus doing it on his 24th birthday. There's a tie for the oldest, with Vince Coleman (a Dave Niehaus grand salami in Seattle) and Hideki Matsui, hitting ones on their 34th birthday.

Alex Rodriguez has the only walk-off, but despite it coming in the top of the inning, I think Shoeless Joe Jackson has him beat with a come-from-behind, inside-the-park game-winner. From the Chicago Tribune:

"...needing one run to tie, they got the bases filled and then Gen. Joe poled a tremendous drive to the flag pole in deep center for a home run, driving in three mates ahead of him and clinching victory by a score of 8 to 5."

The game story even detailed the start of the ninth-inning rally, allowing me to include Leibold, Collins and Weaver in the runners column. It also notes that in the first game of the doubleheader, Red Faber outdueled Walter Johnson and snapped Sam Rice's 29-game hitting streak. The Tribune's archive is awesome. I don't even know how far it goes back and has pretty much every day's paper. Great for anyone doing just about any kind of research.

It's been more than four seasons since anyone has joined this list, will anyone do it in 2015? It looks like our first chance is with Alexi Amarista (born April 6, 1989) on Opening Day! OK, so he's hit 15 career homers with exactly five each in the last three seasons. Maybe Adrian Beltre on April 7 is a better bet...