Shawn Green Sets the Total Bases Record With Four Home Runs

On May 23, 2002, Shawn Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers went 6-for-6 with four home runs, a double, a single, six runs scored, seven RBIs, and 19 total bases in a 16-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. The 19 total bases broke the major league record of 18 set by the Braves' Joe Adcock in 1954. Green became only the 15th player in major league history to hit four home runs in a single game.

Green homered off starter Glendon Rusch in the second inning, then hit back-to-back home runs off reliever Brian Mallette in the fourth and fifth innings. He singled in the eighth and completed the historic night with his fourth homer off Jose Cabrera in the ninth. His double had come in the first inning. Every at-bat produced a hit. Every hit except the single went for extra bases.

The performance was made more striking by context. Green had arrived in Milwaukee mired in the worst slump of his eight-year career. His batting average had cratered. His swing felt off. Three weeks earlier, Seattle's Mike Cameron had hit four home runs against the White Sox, making 2002 the rare season where two players accomplished the feat.

Green's five extra-base hits in a single game tied a National League record. His six runs scored tied a Dodgers franchise record. He and Gil Hodges remain the only Dodgers to hit four home runs in a game. The statistical line he produced that night at Miller Park reads like a video game output, the kind of box score that would look implausible if it did not actually happen.

Green played 15 seasons in the majors, hitting 328 home runs with a career .283 average. He was a two-time All-Star and a Gold Glove outfielder. But May 23, 2002, stands alone. No player in the history of the game has accumulated more total bases in a single game.