Pinch Homers

[JohnGelnarFan]

Who holds the expansion (1961-71) record for pinch hit homeruns with 6?

[Yankwood]

:confused: Who holds the expansion (1961-71) record for pinch hit homeruns with 6?:confused: I have no idea. I'm stumped.

[JohnGelnarFan]

Brant Alyea hit 1 in 1965,2 in 1968 and 3 in 1969. Others to hit 3 pinch homers in one season were Rick Reichardt in 1970 and Tom McCraw in 1971. That was a tough one!

[Aa3rt]

That was a toughie-I'd almost completely forgotten Brant Alyea. 6 pinch hit home runs! Pretty good for a guy who only hit 19 home runs total during his 3 years with the Senators! He should have been used as a pinch-hitter more often! ;)

Brant Alyea's career record, courtesy Baseball-Almanac:

http://baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=alyeabr01

[JohnGelnarFan]

He never really got a chance to be a regular. He had the great year in 1970 after we traded him to Minnesota and then did nothing for the rest of his career. Remember a few years back when a son showed up from a relationship he had in the Winter leagues? Thanks for the stats Aa3rt. Did you see what he was making during his great year in Minnesota? $14,500!

[Yankwood]

He never really got a chance to be a regular. He had the great year in 1970 after we traded him to Minnesota and then did nothing for the rest of his career. Remember a few years back when a son showed up from a relationship he had in the Winter leagues? Thanks for the stats Aa3rt. Did you see what he was making during his great year in Minnesota? $14,500!So I guess even in the Winter Leagues he was a great pinch-hitter.:laugh

[JohnGelnarFan]

I guess he was! :crazy
I found some more info on the Alyeas. Brant Sr. Hit the first pitch he saw in the majors for a homerun. This was done as a pinch hitter in 1965.
After the Senators traded him to the Twins,Brant drove in 7 runs on 4 hits,including 2 homers,on opening day 1970. He had 21 RBI's in the first 12 games.
On Sept.7,1970,he had 2 homers and 7 RBI's in the first game of a doubleheader and 2 more RBI's in the nightcap.


Brant Sr.Played winter ball in Nicaragua(1972) when he met a local nurse that he dated during the season. When he came back the next season,other players told him that a son was born. He went to the mother,signed papers assuming responsibility as the father and gave her money. Nicaragua was in the middle of a revolution and he couldn't take them out of the country. He even had to leave his luggage behind. After that,Nicaragua was closed to American ballplayers for several years. He wrote letters that were intercepted,read by the government and went unanswered.
18 years later while working at the Tropicana in Atlantic City,he was told that the Blue Jays had a player named Brant Alyea Jr. in their low minor leagues. He contacted the Blue Jays and asked why they hadn't gotten ahold of him to let him know that they had gotten his son to the U.S. He never got an acceptable answer and was very upset. It seems that a scout paid off airport guards and smuggled him into Mexico before signing him. Brant found his son,who spoke no english,and resumed a relationship with him. His son was afraid that he would be sent back if he didn't play well. Fortunately,he was hitting in the .330's as an outfielder. The only other information that I could find was that Brant Jr. was MVP of the South Atlantic League in 1988 while playing for the Gastonia Rangers. He never made the major leagues.