Washington Nationals/Senators/Montreal Expos: 3-HR Games, Some History.

(ed. note - "I made two mistakes while writing a post yesterday about the players in Nats' franchise history who were able to hit 3 HR's in one game. The first mistake, not including the names from DC Baseball history who have managed to go yard three times in a single game, and instead focusing on the "franchise" history which was limited to the Nationals' history and the years in Montreal as the Expos, which is guaranteed to anger a certain segment of the nation's capital's hardball fans, which was not my intention. The second mistake was trusting the television, or at least the graphic I saw on a baseball highlight show which listed the last 4 members of the Montreal/DC franchise to hit 3 HR's in a game as opposed to the complete list of players who had done so. So, in addition to the last four players to hit three out in one game, Adam Dunn, this past Wednesday, Alfonso Soriano, in 2006, Expos' third baseman Tim Wallach, in 1987 and Hall of Fame Expos' outfielder Andre Dawson, in 1985, here is a list of the other players I was able to locate who were able to send three HR's out of the yard in one game....")

In yesterday's post, which collected the names of the last four players in Nats' franchise history to hit 3 HR's in one game, we looked at the games in which current Nationals' first baseman Adam Dunn, '06 Nats' outfielder Alfonso Soriano, former Montreal Expos' third baseman Tim Wallach and Expos' outfielder Andre Dawson were able to collect 3 four-baggers...but the list doesn't end there...

There were two other Montreal Expos who were able to hit three in one. Larry Parrish, an infielder with the Expos from 1974 through 1981 when he was traded to the Texas Rangers, hit 3 HR's in one game on three separate occasions. On April 25, 1980, the 6'3'', 190lb right-handed infielder hit three out in a game against the Atlanta Braves, taking ATL right-hander Tommy Boggs deep twice in the first and fourth innings for three and two-run HR's, respectively, and going yard again against Braves' reliever Gene Garber in the ninth to force the game, which the Expos would eventually lose, into extra innings. Two seasons earlier, on July 30, 1978, Parrish had hit 3 HR's in one game against the Atlanta Braves (again?), taking Tommy Boggs deep (again?) and hitting two HR's off Braves' left-hander Craig Shok in a 19-0 Expos' win. May 29, 1977 was the first time Parrish accomplished the feat, this time against St. Louis, with the then-23-year-old infielder hitting solo shots in the 1st, 7th and 9th innings of a 14-4 Expos' win over the Cards. Three 3-HR games...unreal.

Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter hit 3 HR's in one game in the same season Parrish did it for the first time. On April 20, 1977, the Kid took Pittsburgh Pirates' left-hander Jim Rooker deep three times for solo shots in the 2nd and 5th and a two-run blast in the 7th inning of an 8-6 loss to the Bucs. 

Senators' history? May 16th, 1969, 26-year-old Senators' first baseman Mike Epstein took Chicago White Sox' right-hander Sammy Elllis deep twice for solo HR's in the 1st and 6th, then hit a two-run HR off Sox' reliever Wilbur Wood to tie the game a half-inning before the Senators gave up the winning run in a 7-6 loss on the road in White Sox Park. Five years earlier, Senators' outfielder Jim King, on June 8th 1964, hit 3 HR's in one game against the Kansas City Athletics at home in D.C. Stadium. King, an Expansion pick, taken from the Cleveland Indians with the 43rd pick of the draft used to stock the 2nd Senators' roster, hit two solo shots off of A's right-hander Moe Drabowsky, and one solo blast off A's reliever John Wyatt in a 5-4 loss to the Athletics. A year before Mr. King, Senators' catcher Don Leppert did it, hitting 3 HR's in an 8-0 win over the Boston Red Sox on April 11, 1963 with one HR off Sox' right-hander Ike Delock and two off Red Sox' reliever Chet Nichols, with the HR off Delock in the 4th a solo blast and the first of two of Nichols a 3-run blast in the sixth and the 2nd off Nichols a two-run HR in the sixth.  

Before that you have to go back to August 31, 1956, when Senators' RF Jim Lemon hit 3 HR's, a solo shot in the second, two-run HR in the 4th and another solo HR in 6th all off NY Yankees' left-hander Whitey Ford in a 6-4 loss to NY. Thirty-one years earlier, on June 19, 1925, Senators' Hall of Famer Goose Goslin hit three HR's in a 7-5 Senators win over the Cleveland Indians, taking right-handed starter Ben Karr deep once and hitting two off reliever Joe "Lefty" Shaute. Before that?....

On August 20, 1894. Bill Joyce (aka Scrappy Bill) hit four HR's in one game...that's all the info I could find on Mr. Joyce and as far as I could tell, the last of the multiple HR's hitters....

• LINKS: 

• List of Major League Baseball hitters with three home runs in one game - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Players who have hit three or more homers in a game | Baseball Digest | Find Articles at BNET