Rangers History Today: Hamilton's Four-Homer Game
On this date in Texas Rangers history, Josh Hamilton became the first player wearing a Rangers uniform to hit four home runs in a single game.
That moment came on May 8, 2012, at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland, against the Baltimore Orioles.
All four of Hamilton’s home runs were of the two-run variety. He started the run with a pair of 2-run shots off starter Jake Arietta in the first and third innings. After that, Hamilton hit another off of reliever Zach Phillips in the seventh inning. Then, in the eighth inning, Hamilton set the Rangers record for most home runs in a game with a two-run shot off Darren O’Day.
O’Day, of course, is a pitcher familiar to Rangers fans, as he was a reliever for the Rangers from 2009-11 before moving on to the Orioles.
The Rangers ended up winning the game, 10-3. Before that night, Hamilton had never hit more than two home runs in a game.
It was the 16th four-home run game in Major League history and the sixth in American League history.
For the 2012 season, Hamilton ended up hitting .285 with 43 home runs, 103 runs scored, and 128 RBI. Hamilton made the A.L. All-Star team for the fifth time and was fifth in A.L. MVP voting.
The Rangers made the postseason, but after back-to-back World Series appearances, Texas failed to even get out of the newly introduced one-game wildcard round. Hamilton left the Rangers after the season via free agency, signing a five-year, $125 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Hamilton did return to the Rangers after just two seasons with the Angels, but retired in 2016 after a knee injury ended his career. Though he was inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame in 2019, Hamilton's standing in franchise history took a major hit when he was indicted on one count of injury to a child with intentional bodily injury, a third-degree felony charge, in April 2020.
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