Surprising baseball facts

[Mungo Hungo]

Originally Posted by Spike

Three players hit a homer in their only PA for a franchise

* Les "Buster" Narum (BAL) May 3, 1963
* Jamie Quirk (CLE) Sept 27, 1984
* Gustavo Chacin (HOU) May 31, 2010

Narum and Chacin were taken out for pinch hitters at what would have been their next at bat.

Quirk was the only player to hit a walk off HR in his only PA for a franchise. He beat the Twins with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

That HR was enormously important for a team he had played for as recently as two years earlier and would play for again the following year (the Royals), as the Royals and Twins were in a tight AL West pennant race. His former and future teammates had asked him just a few days earlier to help them out if he got the chance.

[Lobo Aullando]

I had to look it up on Baseball Reference, not that I don't believe folks, it's just cool to see the line. But something else caught my eye.

He only had four PAs that year, and an average of .333... and an OBP of .250. A sac fly on 7/21 batted in the game-winning run for the White Sox (not the Indians, even). I suppose there's a good one for "lies, damned lies, and statistics."

Edited to add, it was a White Sox victory over the Indians, to boot.

Originally Posted by Mungo Hungo

Quirk was the only player to hit a walk off HR in his only PA for a franchise. He beat the Twins with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

That HR was enormously important for a team he had played for as recently as two years earlier and would play for again the following year (the Royals), as the Royals and Twins were in a tight AL West pennant race. His former and future teammates had asked him just a few days earlier to help them out if he got the chance.