Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla: Middle Infielders with Historic Power?
Prompted by a comment by Charlie Tackos on this post, I did a little research on the home run power of 2B-SS combinations. When it comes to middle infielder teammates, Hanley Ramirez (29 HR) and Dan Uggla (26 HR) of the Marlins are close to establishing a Major League first. They’ve already become just the third 2B-SS combination to each hit 25 or more homers in a season, and are just a couple of round-trippers away from becoming the first pair to hit 30 each.
Previously, the 25-homer middle infielder teammate club consisted of Jimmy Rollins (25) and Chase Utley (32), who accomplished the feat for the Phillies in 2006, and Bobby Doerr (27) and Vern Stephens (30), for Boston in 1948 and 1950. No two middle infielder teammates have ever hit 30 out in the same season. Alfonso Soriano and Alex Rodriguez just missed each other in Texas, while A-Rod left Seattle just before Bret Boone’s career year in 2001. Jay Bell and Tony Batista could have accomplished the feat in 1999 for Arizona, but Batista was traded to Toronto after hitting only five home runs for the Diamondbacks.
Here’s the complete list, by year, of every 2B and SS to hit 25 or more home runs in a season. I’ve highlighted the teammate combinations in boldface.
