Gunnar Henderson hit his 35th home run of the season on Wednesday, surpassing Baltimore Orioles home run royalty.
With his first-inning home run, Henderson moved past Cal Ripken Jr. and Miguel Tejada for the most home runs in a season by a shortstop in Orioles history. The three entered Wednesday’s game tied for the all-time lead with 34 each.
The home run came with the Orioles trailing 1-0 to the Chicago White Sox in the bottom of the inning. With the count at 3-1, White Sox starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon threw a 90 mph chip ball over the plate. Henderson threw it into the right-field bleachers for a solo home run.
Unfortunately for the Orioles, that was their only run of the day. The White Sox came back to win 8-1. The loss dropped Baltimore to first place in the American League East, tied with the New York Yankees.
Henderson, however, continues to leave his mark on the franchise record books in his second full MLB season. Henderson was named the 2023 AL Rookie of the Year with a .255/.325/.489 batting average with 28 home runs, 82 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. He surpassed all of those numbers in a sophomore effort that produced a .280/.367/.536 line with 35 home runs, 84 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. He has now passed Ripken and Tejada in the record books with 21 games remaining in the season.
“It’s definitely something that will be very dear to me,” Henderson said after the game“To pass those guys in any event, in any type of Orioles history, it’s pretty special.”
The next goal is to help the Orioles make the playoffs, where Henderson can leave his mark on the playoff record books.
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