We love Mark Canha around here for Mark Canha Summer and for wearing our Pride Month shirt, but now it’s Wrath Month, and Canha went deep last night to help give the Mets consecutive wins for the first time since June 14 and 16, and on consecutive days for the first time since May 30, 31, and June 1. We haven’t gotten to check out his home run chain yet, so here we go!
Mark Canha hit his first home run off Taijuan Walker, 4/10/05
Taijuan Walker gave up his first home run to George Springer, 6/30/14
George Springer hit his first home run off Drew Smyly, 5/8/14
Drew Smyly gave up his first home run to Carlos Peña, 4/12/12
Carlos Peña hit his first home run off Gil Heredia, 9/19/01
Gil Heredia gave up his first home run to Ray Lankford, 9/1/91
Ray Lankford hit his first home run off Mark Gardner, 9/6/90
Mark Gardner gave up his first home run to Pedro Guerrero, 9/19/89
Pedro Guerrero hit his first home run off Bob Owchinko, 9/22/79
Bob Owchinko gave up his first home run to Ellis Valentine, 5/21/77
Ellis Valentine hit his first home run off Jim Rooker, 9/5/75
Jim Rooker gave up his first home run to Carlos May, 5/1/69
Carlos May hit his first home run off Jim Nash, 4/9/69
Jim Nash gave up his first home run to Al Kaline, 7/3/66
Al Kaline hit his first home run off Dave Hoskins, 9/26/53
Dave Hoskins gave up his first home run to Vic Wertz, 5/28/53
Vic Wertz hit his first home run off Bob Muncrief, 8/13/47
Bob Muncrief gave up his first home run to Ray Hayworth, 9/30/37
Ray Hayworth hit his first home run off Bob Cooney, 5/30/32
Bob Cooney gave up his first home run to Bruce Campbell, 9/26/31
That was the first home run for Bruce Campbell, who is not that Bruce Campbell, obviously. This Bruce Campbell may or may not have been evil, but he’s been dead since 1995, having lived to the age of 85. In 1932, Campbell started the season with the White Sox, but was traded to the St. Louis Browns at the end of April, along with Bump Hadley, for Red Kress.
Campbell went on to lead the American League that year in both strikeouts and getting hit by pitches. After hitting a career-high 16 homers in 1933, Campbell remained a regular in American League outfields for the next decade, with Cleveland from 1935-39, Detroit in 1940-41, and Washington in 1942. He was 9-for-25 with a homer in the 1940 World Series for the Tigers, but it wasn’t enough to beat the Reds that year, with Paul Derringer tossing a complete game in Game 7 and Campbell going 0-for-3 with a walk.
We Can Pod It Out 146: Honey Pie