The Main Event

  • June 27, 2018 – Rhys Hoskins hits a three-run home run, accounting for all of the offense in a 3-0 win over the Yankees. Was the 30th home run of his career and came in his 119th game — setting a new team mark for fastest to that milestone.

When Rhys Hoskins arrived at the Lehigh Valley IronPigs’ spring camp in 2017, he was considered a promising but somewhat overlooked prospect — a fifth-round pick out of Sacramento State who had shown tremendous raw power but drew questions about his ceiling. By the time that summer ended, he had rewritten record books at two different levels of professional baseball.

In 115 games with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in 2017, Hoskins posted numbers that were almost unprecedented for a Triple-A first baseman. He slashed .284/.385/.581 with 29 home runs and 91 RBI, leading the International League (IL) in RBI, OPS, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage while ranking second in runs scored. He also set the IronPigs’ single-season home run record. His performance was so dominant that the IL named him both its Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year, a rare double distinction. It was the first time any Lehigh Valley player had won either award since the franchise’s founding. For good measure, he had also been named the Eastern League Rookie of the Year the previous season at Double-A Reading, where he clubbed 38 home runs, and had received the Phillies’ organization-wide Minor League Player of the Year honor.

A Historic Big League Debut

With outfielder Aaron Altherr injured, the Phillies called Hoskins up on August 10, 2017, converting him to left field to get his bat into the lineup. His debut was unremarkable — 0-for-2 with a walk in a blowout loss to the New York Mets — and it took him until his fourth game to collect his first hit. Then the fireworks started. On August 14, he slugged his first two major league home runs in the same game against the San Diego Padres, becoming the first Phillies player to accomplish that feat since Scott Rolen in 1996. That was the spark that ignited one of the most explosive rookie power displays in baseball history.

By August 26, just 17 games into his career, Hoskins became the fastest player in recorded MLB history to reach 10 career home runs, besting the previous record of 21 games that had been shared by George Scott of the 1966 Boston Red Sox and Trevor Story of the 2016 Colorado Rockies. He didn’t stop there. He reached 11 home runs in fewer at-bats than any player in history, surpassing marks set by Shane Spencer and Gary Sanchez. By September 13, his 33rd career game, he had clubbed his 17th homer, making him the fastest player ever to reach that milestone — the old record of 42 games had been held by Wally Berger of the 1930 Boston Braves. In August alone, Hoskins hit 11 home runs, tying the Phillies’ franchise rookie record for homers in a calendar month set by Ryan Howard in September 2005. The National League named him its Rookie of the Month, the first player in Phillies history to win the award in his very first month in the majors. He finished the 2017 season with 18 home runs in just 50 games.

Carrying the Momentum Into 2018

Hoskins carried his breakout momentum into his first full major league season in 2018, quickly establishing himself as the most dangerous power hitter the Phillies had developed in years. He was an on-base machine who hit with authority, and by late June he was well ahead of the franchise record pace for career home runs.

On June 27, 2018, with the New York Yankees visiting Citizens Bank Park, Hoskins delivered one of his most memorable moments as a Phillie. In the bottom of the first inning, with two runners on base and two outs, he stepped in against right-hander Luis Cessa and crushed an 86-mph slider over the right-center field wall for a three-run home run. That blast proved to be all the offense the Phillies would need, as they rolled to a 3-0 shutout victory.

The home run was Hoskins’ 12th of the 2018 season and, more significantly, the 30th of his young career — and he had done it in just 119 games.

Breaking the Records of Klein and Howard

The milestone shattered a franchise record that had stood for nearly nine decades. Chuck Klein, the Hall of Fame outfielder who remains one of the greatest hitters in Phillies history, had previously held the mark for the fastest player in franchise history to reach 30 career home runs, doing so in 132 games. Behind Klein on the all-time list was Ryan Howard, the 2006 National League MVP and one of the most prolific power hitters in club history, who had needed 134 games to reach the same milestone. Hoskins beat Klein’s mark by 13 games and Howard’s by 15, a stunning margin that underscored just how quickly his power had translated at the major league level. It was a remarkable company to be surpassing — Klein won four home run titles during his career and finished with a .320 lifetime batting average, while Howard was a World Series champion who led the NL in home runs and RBI multiple times. For Hoskins to leapfrog both of them on this particular list spoke volumes about the sheer pace of his production.

“Any time you get mentioned with names like that, it’s pretty humbling,” Hoskins said after the game. “It’s cool. Hopefully there’s a lot more to come, but we’ll see.”

It was a fitting quote from a player who had spent the better part of two years methodically rewriting the Phillies’ record book — first in Lehigh Valley, then in Citizens Bank Park. By the midpoint of his first full season, Rhys Hoskins had already cemented himself as one of the most accomplished young sluggers in franchise history.

Philadelphia Baseball Events for June 27

  • June 27, 1904 – Signed amateur free agent Sherry Magee who would go on to play 11 seasons with the Phillies and lead the league in RBI in three separate seasons.
  • June 27, 1952 – Manager Eddie Sawyer is fired and replaced the next day by Steve O’Neill, who had managed three other major-league clubs. Sawyer was invited to remain with the club as a scout.
  • June 27, 1963 – Johnny Callison hits for the cycle as the Phils beat Pittsburgh 13-4. In the same game, center fielder Tony Gonzalez made an error in the seventh inning, ending a major league record streak of 205 errorless games by an outfielder.
  • June 27, 1980 – Steve Carlton fans the Mets’ Elliott Maddox in the fifth inning, his 1,872nd strike out as a Phillie, establishing a new team record.
  • June 27, 1986 – The Phils pulled out a 2-1 victory over the Cards in a 17 inning game in St. Louis. Milt Thompson drove in the winning run.
  • June 27, 2003 – Brandon Duckworth was hit by a batted ball in the first inning and left the game, but the bullpen held Baltimore scoreless for 15 innings. A three-run homer by Jason Michaels in the 17th gave the Phils the win. It was the Phillies’ longest interleague game to date.
  • June 27, 2007 – Ryan Howard hit a 505-foot home run, setting records for the longest blast at Citizens Bank Park and the fastest player to 100 home runs (it took him 325 games). The Phillies lost to the Reds 9-6.
  • June 27, 2010 – Jamie Moyer was the victor as the Phillies beat Toronto 11-2. Toronto’s runs came on a home run by Vernon Wells, the 506th career round-tripper given up by Moyer, making him the all-time leader in that category. The record was previously held by Robin Roberts. He also reached 4,000 career innings pitched, only the 40th pitcher to do so.
  • June 27, 2014 – Phillies broadcasters Tom McCarthy and Matt Stairs call the night’s game from the center field stands at Citizens Bank Park. in the first inning, Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman hit a three-run home run to that section — McCarthy caught the ball with his glove while on the air.

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Phillies Baseball Birthdays for June 27

  • Jeff Conine (born 1966) – Right-handed hitting outfielder acquired from Baltimore in August of 2006, Conine played 28 games with the Phillies as a corner outfielder, batting .280.
  • Ricardo Jordan (born 1970) – A lefty reliever who made 28 relief appearances with the 1996 Phillies and posted a 1.80 ERA.
  • Johnny Estrada (born 1976) – Drafted by the Phillies in the 17th round of the 1997 Draft, Estrada was a catcher for the 2001 and 2002 Phillies. He hit .222 in 99 games.
  • Yacksel Rios (born 1993) – A right-handed reliever who came up with the Phillies and pitched in 53 games with a 6.38 ERA between 2017 and 2019 when he was placed on waivers and signed by Pittsburgh.
  • Mitch Neunborn (born 1997) – Born in South Africa, Neunborn was signed as an international free agent in June of 2023. He is currently with Lehigh Valley and has a 2.08 ERA in four relief outings after being promoted from Reading.

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