Chris Davis hits 51st home run to break Orioles franchise record
By Brad Rowland
Remember Baltimore Orioles outfield Brady Anderson?
To refresh your memory (if you don’t), he was the long-time Oriole who is famous for hitting 50 home runs in a “breakout” season in 1996. That singular performance propelled him into the Baltimore Orioles record books as the franchise’s single-season home run leader, but on Tuesday, he was surpassed by the greatness of Chris Davis.
Davis blasted his 51st home run of the season (in just 149 games), surpassing Anderson in the record books during a historically dominant season. For the year, Davis is hitting .293/.376/.651 for an OPS of 1.027, and hilariously, that is a significant decline from his early-season numbers after he sustained a slump.
It’s been a renaissance for Davis that very few have predicted, but the power surge didn’t exactly come out of nowhere like that of Anderson before him. In 2012, Davis blasted 31 home runs in only 139 games, and his raw power in the minor leagues (he hit 36 home runs in a single Minor League campaign) was the stuff of legend. It appears that minor changes in pitch recognition are the cause for the breakout, but whatever the culprit is, the results have been fantastic.
Baltimore is enjoying a historical breakout, but for their sake, let’s all hope that next season’s regression isn’t in line with that of Brady Anderson.