On June 9, 1990, Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Eddie Murray hit a home run from both sides of the plate for the 10th time in his career, which tied Mickey Mantle’s record for most in MLB history.
Murray hit his first home run of the game batting right-handed against Bruce Hurst in the second inning to put the Dodgers up 1-0. His second home run of the game, batting left-handed against Eric Show, was the eventual winning run in the Dodgers’ 5-4 victory over the San Diego Padres in 11 innings at Jack Murphy Stadium.
Murray also did it earlier in the season on April 18, when the Dodgers defeated the Houston Astros 7-3. Those were the only two times the switch-hitter accomplished the rare feat while in a Dodgers’ uniform.
In 1990, Murray had arguably the best season of his career as he batted .330/.414/.520 with a .407 wOBA, 156 wRC+, 26 home runs, 96 runs, 95 RBI and eight stolen bases. Murray finished fifth in National League MVP voting, which was won by Barry Bonds, and he also won a Silver Slugger award.
Murray finished his career with 11 games hitting a home run from both side of the plate, which is tied for fourth all-time with Chili Davis. Of his 11 games achieving the feat, eight of them came while he was with the Baltimore Orioles, and his final one came with the Cleveland Indians.
Murray’s record has since been broken by multiple players, including Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher, who each had 14 games with a homer from both sides of the plate, and Carlos Beltran, who did it 12 times.
Dodgers who hit home runs from both sides of the plate in one game
The last Dodgers batter to hit a home run from each side of the plate in a single game was Yasmani Grandal, who pulled it off on July 24, 2018.
Grandal also did it in 2016 and 2017. Prior to Grandal, Orlando Hudson accomplished it in 2009. The first Dodgers hitter to do it was Maury Wills on May 30, 1962.
Jim Lefebvre, Wes Parker, Milton Bradley (twice), Jose Cruz Jr. are the other Dodgers to accomplish it. It has only been done 12 times in Dodgers’ history.
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