Rougned Odor made history by drawing five walks and hitting a home run in a game
When you think of players whose offense revolves around walks and home runs, an image of a hulking slugger -- like Adam Dunn -- likely pops to mind. You probably didn't see
Odor stepped to the plate six times Thursday during the Rangers' 17-8 win over the Orioles. He hit a home run in the sixth inning and walked in his five other trips to the plate. His fourth walk of the game came with the bases loaded in the fourth inning, netting him an RBI.
As his 4.6 percent career walk rate suggests, Odor did not enter Thursday's action renowned for his plate discipline. But, he now finds himself on a list along with power hitters renowned for their patience at the plate:
Rougned Odor is the FOURTH PLAYER IN MLB HISTORY to walk 5 times and hit a HR in the same game.
— Jared Sandler (@JaredSandler) August 3, 2018
Hank Aaron
Mark McGwire
Edgar Martinez
ROUGNED ODOR
That's an impressive crew, but Odor's performance Thursday outdid even those three all-time greats. You see, Aaron, McGwire and Martinez all needed extra innings to tally their fifth walks. Moreover, all three also required intentional walks to get to five in those games. All of Odor's were unintentional and came in a nine-inning game.
.@RougnedOdor is the 1st player in @MLB history to walk 5 times (none intentional) and HR in one game. pic.twitter.com/wCND5hZTdZ
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) August 3, 2018
As you might imagine, a player like Odor putting up a stat line like that is ... pretty unlikely. According to MLB.com's Do-Hyoung Park, the odds that someone with Odor's career walk rate would draw exactly five walks over a span of six plate appearances is 1 in 892,693. The odds that he would draw five walks and hit a homer? 1 in 21,579,480 -- for comparison, the probability of the average person becoming a saint recognized by the Catholic Church is 1 in 20 million.
Congratulations to Odor for making history and outperforming Aaron, McGwire and Martinez in this achievement of power and patience. And for his upcoming canonization, apparently.
