Launch pad: Three-homer playoff game a rare feat

Chris Taylor of the Dodgers recorded just the 12th threehomer game in MLB postseason history in Thursday’s win over the Braves. The list includes some of the game’s greats:

THE PIONEER

Try to guess who was the first player to hit three homers in a post-season game. Did you guess Babe Ruth? You’re right. Guess who did it second. Yes, Ruth again. The first time came with the New York Yankees in Game 4 of the 1926 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. One of the blasts reached the centre-field bleachers of Sportsman’s Park, which only two hitters had previously reached. Two years later, again in a World Series Game 4 in St. Louis, he once more hit three, despite recording only three at-bats (plus two walks).

THE SEVENTIES

No one matched Ruth until the 1970s, when the unheralded Bob Robertson hit three for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1971 NLCS. He is the only person to add another extra base hit in the same game, a double. Robertson’s story was heightened because he had missed an entire season for kidney surgery; he was trumpeted as a “medical marvel.”

» The most famous threehomer game was Reggie Jackson’s in the 1977 World Series. That clinching Game 6 went a long way toward establishing Jackson as Mr. October and gave him a record five homers in the Series. After a year of criticism from demanding New York fans, Jackson said after the victory, “Perhaps for one night, I reached back and achieved that level of the overrated superstar.”

» Another Hall of Famer, George Brett, completed the fertile decade with three solo homers in the 1978 ALCS for the Kansas City Royals. Brett is the only leadoff man to do it.

THE HOME-RUN ERA

Adam Kennedy of the Anaheim Angels hit the next one in the 2002 ALCS (batting ninth). Nine years later, a golden age began:

» Adrian Beltre hit three solo shots for the Texas Rangers in the 2011 AL Division Series.

» Just 18 days later, Albert Pujols hit three for the Cardinals in the World Series, becoming the only player to collect five hits in his threehomer game.

» The next year, Pablo Sandoval hit three in the World Series for the Giants against the Detroit Tigers.

» Jose Altuve launched three in a game for the Houston Astros in the 2017 ALDS.

» Two weeks later, a versatile utility player, Kiké Hernández, did it for the Dodgers in the NLCS, collecting seven RBIs. The game sent the Dodgers to the World Series.