BOBBY LOWE FOUR HOME RUNS IN A GAME

The First Player With Four Home Runs in a Major League Baseball Game

Bobby Lowe, on May 30, 1894, hit four home runs in a game — a standard that has never been beaten through today! Lowe was the first Major League Baseball player to ever connect on four long balls during a single game and he had two of them during the third inning. Research by Baseball Almanac.

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"About the only thing that made him (Bid McPhee) colorful was the fact that he was the best defensive second baseman in the nineteenth century and for fourteen seasons he did it barehanded." - Bob Carroll

4 Home Runs in 1 Game | by Bobby Lowe

Bobby Lowe Photograph

May 30, 1894 | Congress Street Grounds | Boston, MA

Cincinnati Reds
Name Pos AB R H RBI
Dummy Hoy cf 6 1 1 0
Jack McCarthy 1b 5 2 2 0
Arlie Latham 3b 4 3 2 1
Bug Holliday lf 4 3 2 5
Bid McPhee 2b 5 0 2 0
Farmer Vaughn c 5 1 2 4
Jim Canavan rf 5 1 1 1
Germany Smith ss 5 0 1 0
Elton Chamberlain p 5 0 1 0
TOTALS 44 11 14 11
         
Boston Beaneaters
Name Pos AB R H RBI
Bobby Lowe 2b 6 4 5 6
Herman Long ss 3 5 2 1
Hugh Duffy cf 5 0 1 1
Tommy McCarthy lf 6 2 3 2
Billy Nash 3b 4 3 3 1
Tommy Tucker 1b 2 1 0 0
Jimmy Bannon rf 4 2 2 2
Jack Ryan c 5 2 2 2
Kid Nichols p 5 1 1 4
TOTALS 40 20 19 19
           
Doubles: Latham 2, Smith, Chamberlain, Long, McCarthy.
Home Runs: Holliday 2, Vaughn, Canavan, Lowe 4, Long.
Left on Base: Cincinnati 7, Boston 10.
Stolen Bases: Nash 2, Long, Duffy, Hoy, Latham.
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Cincinnati 2 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 5 11 14 4
Boston 2 0 9 0 1 5 2 1 x 20 19 3
Cincinnati Reds
Name IP H R ER BB SO
Elton Chamberlain 8.0 19 20 12 8 3
             
Boston Beaneaters
Name IP H R ER BB SO
Kid Nichols 9.0 14 11 8 2 3
             
Hit-by-pitch: Long, Tucker (by Chamberlain).
Losing Pitcher: Chamberlain.
Wild Pitches: Chamberlain, Nichols.
Winning Pitcher: Nichols.
Attendance: 8,000.
Length of Game: 2:15.
Umpire: HP: Ed Swartwood.
Research by Baseball Almanac
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Did you know that this was the first time in Major League history where one player hit four home runs in one game? A newspaper clipping from 1894:

Bobby Lowe Hits 4 Home Runs in a Game

Thousands upon thousands of games have been played featuring historic sluggers — have any of your favorites ever hit four round-trippers in one game?

Bobby Lowe became the first National League player to hit four home runs in one game, accomplishing this fabulous feat during the second game of a doubleheader on May 30, 1894. On June 3, 1932, Lou Gehrig became the first American League player to hit four home runs in one game.