Big Dumper breaks Mickey Mantle home run record, ties Ken Griffey Jr.

Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh had a night to remember in his team’s 12-5 rout of the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday, Sept. 16.

Raleigh put himself in the Major League Baseball history books, passing an all-time legend and tying a Mariners franchise icon.

Raleigh, known affectionately as ‘The Big Dumper,’ hit his 55th and 56th home runs of the 2025 season on Tuesday night. Home run No. 55 broke Mickey Mantle’s record for most home runs in a season by a switch-hitter. Home run No. 56 tied Raleigh with Ken Griffey Jr. for the most in a season by a Mariners player. Raleigh already owns the single-season home run record for a catcher.

‘I feel like my name shouldn’t even be in the same sentence with those guys, Mickey Mantle and Ken Griffey, Jr.,’ Raleigh told MLB Network after the game. ‘I don’t really have words for it. … I’m sure one day it will set in.’

Mantle long held the single-season switch-hitting home run standard after hitting 54 home runs during the 1961 season; the same year his New York Yankees teammate Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record. Griffey, meanwhile, posted identical 56-home run totals in back-to-back seasons in 1997-98.

Raleigh’s 55th home run was a blast to right field off Royals pitcher Michael Wacha in the third inning. In his next at-bat an inning later, Raleigh took Daniel Lynch IV deep. Appropriately, Raleigh’s two home runs on Tuesday came from each side of the plate.

Raleigh tied Mantle’s record on Sunday, Sept. 14 when he hit a 409-foot, two-run homer to left center field off Los Angeles Angels starter Kyle Hendricks in the first inning of the Mariners’ 11-2 win at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. Raleigh is the MLB leader in home runs this season, leading the Philadelphia Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber by three.

Cal Raleigh home run highlights: Mariners catcher hits HRs Nos. 55 and 56

Cal Raleigh home runs huge for Mariners’ playoff hopes

Raleigh’s 2025 power surge has kept the Mariners in the playoff race. With Tuesday night’s win, the Mariners have won 10 consecutive games, a run that has vaulted Seattle atop the AL West standings. The Mariners (83-68) lead the Houston Astros (83-69) by the narrowest of margins — a half game — having played one fewer game than the Astros.

The Mariners and Astros play a three-game series in Houston starting on Friday, Sept. 19.