Seattle. – Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners became the first player for the club to reach 50 home runs in a season since Ken Griffey Jr., who achieved it in 1998.
He arrived in the 9-6 victory over the San Diego Padres, when Raleigh hit his 50th home run in the first inning against left-hander JP Sears, sending the ball 419 feet into T-Mobile Park.
“It doesn’t seem real”, Raleigh declared after the meeting. “Fifty home runs is an incredible number to imagine. I remember when I hit five in high school, I already felt like I had all the power in the world. This is crazy”.
With this feat, Raleigh extends his lead as the catcher with the most home runs in a season in the history of Major League Baseball, surpassing Salvador Pérez’s mark (48 in 2021).
In addition, he joined Griffey as the only players in Seattle history with a 50-home run season, finishing six short of the franchise’s all-time record and four short of tying Mickey Mantle’s record (1961) as the switch-hitter with the most home runs in a season.
The Mariners’ catcher’s power also keeps him as the home run leader in 2025, with five more than Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Schwarber. If he continues at this pace, Raleigh could finish with 61 home runs, which would put him just one away from the American League record, set by Aaron Judge in 2022.
Beyond the individual feat, Seattle’s offense responded after an adverse start and completed a key comeback to secure the victory and keep the Vedder Cup, a symbolic trophy contested by the Mariners and the Padres, inspired by Pearl Jam’s leader, Eddie Vedder.
He arrived in the 9-6 victory over the San Diego Padres, when Raleigh hit his 50th home run in the first inning against left-hander JP Sears, sending the ball 419 feet into T-Mobile Park.
“It doesn’t seem real”, Raleigh declared after the meeting. “Fifty home runs is an incredible number to imagine. I remember when I hit five in high school, I already felt like I had all the power in the world. This is crazy”.
