Cubs become latest team to break franchise home run record
It's no secret that there's something different about the baseball this season. It's why home run numbers are soaring and records are being broken almost daily.
But it’s still pretty significant when a franchise like the Chicago Cubs, which has been around well over a century, sets a home run record.
On Saturday, the Cubs became the latest franchise to set its single-season home run record during a 14-1 blowout of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Rookie Nico Hoerner, who’s played like a superstar since his surprise call up last week, was responsible for the record-breaking 236th home run hit by Chicago in 2019.
Hoerner hits franchise record 236th home run 13-1 Cubs
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) September 14, 2019
The three-run blast was the third of four homers hit by Chicago. It comes one day after Hoerner launched his first career home run in his first-ever plate appearance at Wrigley Field.
It’s amazing to think that this Cubs team has more home runs than the Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Ron Santo teams from the 1960s, or the Sammy Sosa-led teams from the late 90s and early 2000s. Not that the 2019 Cubs aren’t loaded with Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and Kyle Schwarber.
The Cubs are now the fourth team to set a franchise home run record this season. The Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees have both already surpassed the single-season major league record for a team. The only question is which of those teams will be the first to reach 300 home runs in a season.
The Los Angeles Dodgers recently broke the National League home run record for a single season.
On Wednesday, Major League Baseball set a league-wide home run record when Jonathan Schoop of the Baltimore Orioles hit No. 6,106 of the MLB season.
For better or worse, the home run barrage is certain to continue through the remainder of the regular season and into the postseason. The question is whether the league will bother addressing it. And if so, how?
More from Yahoo Sports:
