Hard-hitting Hens make a run at history

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Hard-hitting Hens make a run at history
06/06/2008 10:00 AM ET
By Tim Britton / Special to MLB.com

Long ball, dinger, goner, big fly, roundtripper, four-bagger. There are a lot of different names for a home run, and in 2008 the Toledo Mud Hens are exhausting the thesaurus.
Bonds and McGwire? They've got nothing on Toledo, a team on pace to, literally, smash its way into the record books. Through Thursday, the Mud Hens have hit 107 home runs in their first 62 games. That extrapolates to 249 homers over the course of a 144-game season, which would eclipse the 232 hit by the 1932 Baltimore Orioles -- the current record holder in the International League.
The second most powerful team in the International League right now is the Pawtucket Red Sox, who've hit 74 long balls. In fact, the closest team in the Minor Leagues isn't even within 25 of Toledo, as the Albuquerque Isotopes have slugged 81 homers in 58 games.
It's not that different in the Majors, as the league-leading Philadelphia Phillies have only 90 home runs through 62 games.
More historically impressive, however, is the Mud Hens' average of over 1.7 home runs per contest. That's better than the 1.6 homers per game put up by the 1997 Seattle Mariners, who set the record for most home runs in a Major League campaign with 264 round-trippers.
Holy Toledo, indeed.
"Nobody was really expecting it to start off," said third baseman Mike Hessman. "It's one of those things that kind of happened and has continued to happen throughout the season so far. We know we have some guys who have some pop; we didn't know that it was going to come off to such a strong start."
Hessman, the International League Player of the Year last season, is the lead executioner in the Mud Hens murderers' row of a lineup. Already Toledo's career leader in home runs, he recorded his 20th long ball this season faster than any player in International League history, reaching the mark May 28 in the Mud Hens' 54th game. Hessman's 22 total homers are more than five entire teams in Minor League Baseball -- and it's eight more than the complete roster of the Midwest League's Wisconsin Timber Rattlers has compiled in 56 games.
And Thursday night, Hessman's second long ball in as many nights pushed him past the Phillies' Chase Utley and gave him the most home runs in professional baseball.
It's a touch bittersweet for Hessman, who is in his fourth season in Toledo and seventh in Triple-A. He's been called up for cups of coffee in the big leagues by the Braves and Tigers, but has just 141 Major League at-bats.
"Mike's great. I just wonder why he's still at the Triple-A level," said outfielder Matt Joyce. "I can't figure out for the life of me, with how great of a hitter he is, how great an infielder is, an all-around player. He can play the game as well as anybody, especially at third. It makes you wonder, 'What's the deal?' He's great to have around, he's a great teammate, and he's been a big influence on the team this year."
Hessman's sweltering start has certainly rubbed off on his teammates, proving the adage that hitting is contagious. Joyce has eight homers for the Mud Hens, to go along with the five he hit in 13 games in Detroit earlier this season for the Tigers.
First baseman Jeff Larish had 16 home runs before being called up to the Majors this week. Second baseman and leadoff hitter Mike Hollimon, who didn't earn a regular spot in the lineup until late April, has 12 dingers in just 44 games. Hollimon's career high in homers is 15.
"It just happens," Hollimon said of homering from the leadoff spot. "I'm just looking for a fastball. I'm not looking to go big. I'm just looking for a pitch I can handle, and whatever happens, happens."
Outfielder Brent Clevlen has chipped in 13 four-baggers, while designated hitter Timo Perez and catcher Dane Sardinha have each swatted six. A lot of the credit for the offensive explosion goes to manager Larry Parrish and hitting coach Leon Durham, who have a little experience hitting the long ball themselves.
Parrish smacked 256 home runs in 15 seasons, while Durham hit 147 dingers in 10 years in the bigs. They each had their career highs in 1987, when Parrish hit 32 homers and Durham had 27 blasts.
The pair has been together in Toledo for six seasons now, preaching simplicity and a consistent approach at the plate. "It's like the golf swing really," Durham said. "You want to put more backspin on the baseball, hitting through the ball, finishing your swing with the extension, basically giving yourself a chance to keep the sweet part of the bat -- which is the head -- in the strike zone longer, working inside through the ball."
In fact, Hollimon said there are not too many home runs hit in batting practice, as the Mud Hens instead work on seeing the ball clearly and maintaining the proper approach. Or they're just saving the big flies for game time. Parrish and Durham do, however, favor players who can drive the ball.
"Anybody that's played for us in the past knows it is something we talk about with our guys. We like guys that can drive the ball because you're never out of the game when you do that," Parrish said. "You can hit a three-run homer and you're right back in it. So far, we've gone beyond what we could have expected."
Confidence despite a deficit has been one of biggest benefits of the home run boom. The Mud Hens hit four home runs to come from behind and beat the Charlotte Knights, 6-5, on May 12. Ten days later, Toledo overcame a 6-0 deficit to knock off the Louisville Bats, 7-6.
"It says a lot about the team, knowing that we have a 'Don't quit' attitude," Hollimon said. "It's great knowing no matter how many runs we get down in a game, we're never truly out of it. We can always come back."
That said, the Mud Hens still enjoy a good old-fashioned drubbing, like the seven-homer, 10-0 rout of Columbus on May 18 or the 17-3 win over Indianapolis on Monday night. Eight more home runs in three games at Louisville so far this week have helped silence the critics who say Toledo's home run total is inflated by the smaller dimensions of Fifth Third Field -- a claim Durham flatly denies.
"I'm sick and tired of a lot of these cities we play, we hear these TV guys and radio announcers talk about our ballpark as a bandbox ... and that's why we're leading the league in home runs and all of baseball in home runs," Durham said, quick to point out the intimate dimensions at Knights Stadium in Charlotte. "I'm not happy about that. These guys, they bust their behinds, and they do a heck of job as far as recognizing their pitch and when they get it, they're doing some damage with it.... There's always something when people have success."
How much longer that success will continue is a little more opaque. The call-ups of Larish and outfielder Clete Thomas -- who had five home runs in 33 games for the Mud Hens -- have left some holes in the team's lineup. But that may be offset by the rising mercury in the summer, helping the ball carry more at Fifth Third Field.
"We've played in cold weather so far up in Toledo, even on the last homestand," Parrish said. "I actually think we've got a chance to hit more homers at our ballpark because we haven't had any warm weather."
And if this offense is just warming up, watch out. The Mud Hens will lead an onslaught not only on the International League, but on the record books as well.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.