World Series grand slams: How many have there been?

Playing for your hometown MLB team is very cool. Hitting a grand slam is also very cool. Hitting a grand slam in the World Series is extremely cool. Hitting a grand slam in the World Series while playing for your hometown MLB team is one of the coolest things you can possibly do.

New York Yankees shortstop — and New York native — Anthony Volpe did just that on October 29th, adding his name to the list of players who have hit grand slams in the World Series with a go-ahead blast in the bottom of the third inning of Game 4 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Volpe essentially saved the season for the Yankees, who were down 3-0 in the series heading into Game 4. New York ended up blowing the game open and winning 11-4, setting up Game 5 in New York.

A big reason why New York was down 3-0 going into Game 4 was because of another grand slam a few games earlier. Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman blasted a walk-off grand slam in Game 1, sending a ball to the right field bleachers in the bottom of the 10th inning. Freeman's shot was the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history.

Volpe and Freeman's homer runs are now on a short list of World Series grand slams.

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How many grand slams have been hit in World Series history?

Volpe's season-saving grand slam was the 23rd grand slam in World Series history.

The first World Series grand slam was cranked by Elmer Smith of the Cleveland Indians in Game 5 of the 1920 World Series. It took 15 years for another grand slam to be hit in the World Series, when Tony Lazzeri of the Yankees hit one in 1936 at Polo Grounds in Manhattan. Here is every grand slam hit in World Series history:

Anthony Volpe became the first Yankees player to hit a grand slam since Tino Martinez hit one in Game 1 of the 1998 series, which the Yankees would go on to sweep. He is the ninth Yankee to hit a Grand Slam in the World Series, by far the most by any team.

Freddie Freeman, meanwhile, hit the first grand slam in Dodgers history, which is pretty stunning considering the Dodgers (as the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers) have been to the World Series 21 times in team history.

What is the record for most grand slams in a World Series?

There have never been more than two grand slams hit in a single World Series, although World Series grand slams do appear to come in pairs. Two were hit in 1956, two in 1964, two in 1987, and now two have been hit in 2024.

This year is the first time since 1964 that a grand slam has been hit in both ballparks in a World Series matchup. One of those ballparks in 1964 was also Yankee Stadium, although it was the old Yankee Stadium and not the new one, which opened in 2009.

Still, that's a tiny percentage of all the World Series in MLB history — 2024 becomes the fourth World Series ever (out of 119) to feature multiple bases loaded blasts. And we still have at least one game remaining, so another grand slam in this series would be a historical event.