One of the most exciting scoring plays in baseball is without a doubt the grand slam. You step up to hit with the bases loaded, and you smack a pitch deep into the night for a homer where everyone scores. Four runs all at once could turn the entire game on its head depending on the situation. On it's own, hitting a grand slam is quite the accomplishment, but anything unique in addition to the grand slam is what makes for the highlights of some players career.
The original 2000 MLB Showdown set already covers one such player when it comes to noteworthy grand slam accomplishments: Fernando Tatis. The man stepped up to the plate against the Dodgers and slugged not one, but two grand slams in the same inning. Something that has never been done before or since.
Another unique accomplishment in the world of grand slams is hitting the most in a single season. The record is 6 in a season and the mark was first reached by Yankee great Don Mattingly.
1987 was part of an incredible stretch for Don Mattingly where he was among the top tier elite in baseball. He set a record that year for extra-base hit games in a row (10) and tied the consecutive game homer streak (8). Among those streaks, Mattingly was also setting a different record where he became the first person to hit 6 grand slams in a single season. They were the only grand slams Mattingly would hit in the big leagues.
As you can see by his card, Mattingly wasn't exactly an above average homer threat, but his 12 on-base means he'll have the advantage enough to get lucky. On top of that, he brings the +1 defense to 1st base, making Mattingly one of the easiest starts of his era.
Grand Slam victim number one was Mike Mason. On May 14 the Yankees thrashed the Rangers 9-1. Mattingly jumped all over Mason's sad 1 control. The very next day, Mason was traded to the Chicago Cubs for the eternally insulting return of "player to be named later"
Up next was John Cerutti. On June 29, the Yankees and Blue Jays had themselves a football game, ending with a 15-14 Yankee victory, the only 1 run game in Mattingly's grand slam tour. All 4 runs on the swing were very much needed, especially with Cerutti's slightly more respectable 3 control on the mound.
You'd be forgiven if you weren't intimately aware of who Joel McKeon was. He debuted in 1986 and he last pitched on July 10, 1987, in a 9-5 loss to the Yankees in which Mattingly hit a grand slam off him. Understandable as to why the White Sox demoted him to the minors and he was never seen again. His own chart that season allowed for homers, so perhaps Mattingly got a major lucky break as this homer not only helped him set the single season grand slam record, but it was also apart of his 8-straight game homer streak.
Speaking of Mattingly's homer streak, on July 16 he hit another grand slam to contribute. Slight uptick in difficulty from a nobody reliever to a respectable starter. The result was the same as Don took Charlie deep for a grand salami in a 12-3 Yankees rout. Texas became the only repeat victim of Mattingly's grand slams, one in Yankee Stadium and this one in Arlington.
Long before he was failing in the big moments as a Closer, Jose Mesa was a starter, also unable to stop destiny as Mattingly launched a grand slam against him on September 25 in a 8-4 Yankee triumph. The control was decent for Jose, his +4 the best among Mattingly's victims, but his chart was ugly, with yet another pitcher allowing for the long ball on his own chart. Ultimately moving into the bullpen was clearly the best move for Mesa.
Just like Roger Maris, Don Mattingly waited until it was very late in the season to set his record. And just like Maris, he got the job done in Yankee Stadium against the Red Sox. On September 29, Mattingly stepped up to face Bruce Hurst and sent grand slam #6 into the seats as part of a 6-0 Yankee shutout victory. Hurst's only all star season was '87, but that meant nothing to history.
