Adam Dunn Home Run Chase

Problems

2007-07-15T16:00:00.000-05:00

Between computer problems, the All-Star break (and can anyone explain how it is that the main threat to Hank Aaron's home run record, Adam Dunn, is never even remotely considered for the home run derby, let alone the All-Star game) and only a pair of homers in July, I haven't been posting.

Dunn homered today, though, a solo shot of Oliver Perez. Dunn had homered twice off Perez when he was with the Pirates (#76 in April, 2004 and #155 in September 2005). The homer ended a long drought for Dunn at Shea Stadium. The last homer Dunn had hit on the road against the Mets was #92 in June of 2004 off Matt Ginter.

Homer #220 came after Dunn had homered the day before against young Kyle Kendrick. Dunn went deep off the other end of the age spectrum, taking a Jose Mesa pitch out of the park. Mesa is the oldest pitcher to surrender a home run to Adam Dunn. David Wells (#83 in 2004) had been the oldest.

Dunn made it three straight games with a homer when he homered off the Phillies Adam Eaton.

Micah Owings allowed Dunn's first home run in July, giving Dunn an even two dozen before the All-Star break.

Since the last posting, Dunn has passed Joe Pepitone, Al Oliver, "Sunny" Jim Bottomley, Tony Batista (219), Tony Oliva (220), Don Mattingly and Derrek Lee (222).

Bizarro Reds

2007-06-27T17:56:00.000-05:00

Adam Dunn hit his twentieth home run of the season last night but the Reds lost again making them 7-10 this season. Before this season, the Reds were 114-69 when Dunn homered. It also marked Homer Bailey's first major league loss. Bailey was not in the game when Dunn homered.

Youngster Kyle Kendrick of the Phillies gave up the homer. He came close to being the youngest American born pitcher to surrender a home run to Dunn. Another Kyle, Davies of the Braves, holds that distinction.

Dunn passes another misunderstood slugger, Bob Horner (218).

Five for you, none for Dunn

2007-06-23T08:51:00.001-05:00

The Reds hit five home runs against the Seattle Mariners last night. Typically when the Reds hit that many home runs, Dunn has at least one of them. Last night was the eleventh time during Dunn's career that the Reds have hit at least five home runs in a game. In those games, Dunn is 12 for 36 with eight home runs. Last night he managed a single and a double but no homers.

Seattle is a new venue for Dunn. Before last night he had not had much success against the Mariners in Cincinnati, going 3 for 12 with seven strikeouts in three games.

Nothing to write

2007-06-20T21:31:00.000-05:00

Adam Dunn homered, which is a good thing. It was a solo shot in a losing cause and was his twentieth of the season. It was off Dan Haren, one of the toughest pitchers in the majors this season. As a matter of fact, Josh Hamilton also homered off Haren which was the first time this season that Haren had given up two homers in one game.

I really wish the Reds would get Dunn out of the fifth spot in the order. If I were running the Reds, Dunn would be batting second. He started the season there and hit .350 in seven games. I guess that wasn't good enough.

All for now. Benito Santiago is passed by Dunn on the career list.

I was wrong

2007-06-17T15:19:00.000-05:00

I got ahead of myself as I said in the below post. I made the assumption that Dunn would homer off of Kevin Millwood and I was wrong. Dunn did so TWICE.

This is the second time Dunn has hit four homers in three days, the previous time being a five homer, four day run from August 4-7, 2004.

The two home runs are Dunn's second multi-homer game against an American League team. Dunn also hit two against the Rangers on June 11, 2002. Today's homers give Dunn seven for his career against the Rangers, the most he has hit against an American League team.

Besides the marks Millwood set that are outlined below, Millwood joins Zambrano and Rusch as pitchers who have given up a half dozen homers to Dunn.

The Reds now play three games against the Athletics in Oakland. Dunn has one homer against the A's, a 2-run blast off Justin Duchscherer on June 9, 2004 (career #90).

Dunn has never faced any of the three young pitchers that the A's will be using. The pitching matchup in the second game may be two of my favorite pitchers in the majors right now (Homer Bailey vs. Chad Gaudin) which probably says more about my tastes than their talent. The A's will bookend Gaudin with Joe Blanton and early Cy Young favorite Dan Haren. Only one pitcher has ever won a Cy Young award in the same season that he surrendered a home run to Dunn (Toronto's Roy Halladay in 2003). It is probably safe to say that Haren's ability to win the Cy Young hangs in the balance of Wednesday's game.

Cliff Floyd (216), Ron Fairly, Pedro Guerrero and Chet Lemon (215) bid Dunn a fond and civil adieu.

Things are Wright in the world

2007-06-17T06:58:00.001-05:00

Adam Dunn homers in consecutive games. He hits a home run in a game pitched by Aaron Harang that Harang wins. The homer comes off of Jamey Wright, long-time victim, first time Ranger victim (Dunn hit career #16 as a rookie off Wright when Wright was a Brewer back in 2001). These are the things we come to expect from Adam Dunn. Not droughts that last weeks.

Wright is the third pitcher whom has given up a home run to Dunn in a National League game as well as an interleague game. Kevin Millwood has allowed home runs while pitching for the Braves and Phillies in the NL, the Indians in the AL. Doug Davis have up homers as a Brewer (NL) and a Blue Jay (AL). Wright is the tenth pitcher to give up a homer to Dunn while pitching on multiple teams.

As an aside, I think Wright is the only active pitcher of whom I have an autographed baseball. I had him sign it when he pitched for Asheville in the South Atlantic League back in 1994. We're both old men.

For those who don't feel like going back through the blog to see the Aaron Harang connection (May 10th was the last time Dunn homered in a game Harang pitched), the Reds are now 21-4 in games Dunn homers in while Harang is on the mound.

Dunn's homer was a back-to-back home run, following Ken Griffey Jr.'s blast the at bat before. This was the fourth time Dunn followed a Griffey homer, three of which occured when Harang was pitching (that's some nice run support). The other was in support of Paul Wilson.

Are you feeling excited? I am. You know who takes the hill for Texas this afternoon? None other than Kevin Millwood. Millwood is going to become the first pitcher to give up home runs to Adam Dunn as a pitcher for four different teams! He will also join legendary Dunn victims Carlos Zambrano, Glendon Rusch and Woody Williams as pitchers who have allowed homers to Dunn in four different seasons. But I get ahead of myself.

Sinking the flotilla

2007-06-15T21:34:00.001-05:00

Adam Dunn had chances to homer off the Padilla Flotilla years ago when Vicente pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies. It took in interleague game against the Texas Rangers, however, for Padilla to join the long list of Dunn's victims. It might bode well for more home runs for Dunn. After hitting homer after homer against Hispanic pitchers earlier in the season, Dunn had gone a long time without victimizing a foreign-born player.

Despite the worst home run output yet in his career for the month of June, Dunn is tied for second in the National League in home runs.

The home run against Padilla was Dunn's seventeenth career interleague home run. It gives him 214 home runs for his career where he is all alone on the list, having left Andy Pafko behind at 213.

Shame on me

2007-06-09T07:20:00.000-05:00

I've sort of slacked off the past week as other things have taken up my time and besides, I have no idea who reads this thing anyway. It's not like I was inundated with e-mails and comments saying "Hey, what's Dunn up to?". He did hit a home run the other day, a solo shot off Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals. The homer was Dunn's 15th of the season. The date of his 15th of each season:

2001: September 21
2002: June 26
2003: May 16
2004: June 4
2005: June 8
2006: May 20

Outside of Dunn's traditional fall falloff, there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to when his home runs come. The dream of 100 home runs this season has certainly dissipated but who knows? It may still happen.

Hopefully he hits some more soon to put some distance between himself and Carlos Beltran who, along with Nomar Garciaparra, Dunn just passed on the career list at 212.

The Name Game

2007-05-27T16:02:00.000-05:00

Adam Dunn hit two homers today. The first was off of Zach Duke. While Dunn has never homered off of any other pitcher with a title for a last name (no Kings, Queens, Bishops, etc.), Duke is the third Zach Dunn has hit a homer against (the others being Day and Jackson). Dunn hit his first home run immediately after Edwin Encarnacion had gone yard himself, the eighth time Dunn has followed a teammate who had hit a home run with one of his own and the second time Encarnacion and Dunn had gone 1-2.

The second home run of the day came off Jonah Bayliss and was hit in support of Brad Salmon. Somewhere there is a biblical reference in there.

This was Dunn's eighteenth career two home run game and only the fourth where the Reds lost. The last time Dunn hit a pair of home runs in a losing effort was also against the Pirates on June 27, 2004.

Sunday is Dunn's preferred day for hitting multiple home runs. Five of the eighteen games have been Sunday games. Monday and Tuesday are second with three apiece. Sundays are not good days for the Reds. When Dunn hits two home runs on a Sunday, the Reds are 2-3. Any other day they are 12-1.

Dunn has caught or passed some active players on the home run list today. Nomar Garciaparra and Alfonso Soriano both have 212 career home runs as of this writing. Carlos Beltran has 211.

Name Age AB
Dunn 27 3008
Garciaparra 33 5016
Beltran 30 4743
Soriano 31 4074

Garciaparra isn't really regarded as a power hitter but Beltran and Soriano both are. Dunn is three years younger than Beltran and has 1000 fewer AB than Soriano, further evidence that Dunn is in a class by himself.

Some other guys Dunn has passed today: Roberto Alomar, Jeff Conine, Brady Anderson, Rico Petrocelli and Wally Post (210). Kevin McReynolds, Moose Skowron and Leon Wagner (211).

Two whole weeks

2007-05-24T21:25:00.001-05:00

Finally Adam Dunn hit another home run after two whole weeks of nothing. The thing is, the pattern is very similar to Dunn's 2004 season when he hit 46 home runs. In 2004, Dunn hit 11 homers through May 11th (Dunn hit his 11th on May 10th this year). He then proceeded to go 18 days without another one and ended May with just a dozen homers.

Three multi-homer games in June helped move Dunn end that month in 2004 with 23 homers. So even with the dry spell, the season is far from lost.

Dunn's homerun tonight was yet another leadoff shot, giving him 51 for his career.

The Bucs come to town for four starting tomorrow. Maholm, Chacon, Duke and Snell will start for Pittsburgh. Chacon gave up homer #204 to Dunn a month ago. The other three are still looking for the opportunity to surrender a home run to Dunn.

Now no one has 209 home runs as Dunn moves into a multi-way tie for 248th all-time. The 210 is a figure Dunn has reached in just his seventh season. Only 16 players have hit more in their first seven seasons and Dunn still has plenty of games left before his seventh is complete. If he were to hit 28 more to give him 40 for the season and 238 for his career, only Kiner, Pujols, Mathews and Frank Robinson would have more home runs in their first seven seasons.

I don't know about you but sometimes in these slumps I need a little reminder of just how incredible Dunn is.

Awful yet good

2007-05-20T16:53:00.000-05:00

Despite not hitting a home run in the last ten days, Dunn is still fourth in the National League in home runs. He is also twelfth in the league in stolen bases. Eighth in runs, thirteenth in walks and triples. Seventh in slugging and twelfth in OPS. He's having a nice season.

Ten days is a long time to go without homering, though. It is unclear whether this next series will end the drought or not. The Reds have four games against the Washington Nationals. Since the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, D.C. before the 2005 season, Dunn has hit only a single home run against the Nationals.

The Nationals this season are staffed with a bunch of unknown quantities. The first game of the series has rookie Levale Speigner (i before e except after Levale Sp) making his second major league start. He has not allowed a home run in almost nineteen innings pitched in the majors.

Another rookie, Matt Chico, starts the second game. Chico has been a starter since the beginning of the season, in name if not in performance. A 5.44 ERA and seven homers in less than 45 innings bodes well for Dunn and the Reds.

Jason Simontacchi is a long-time veteran by Nationals standards. Back in 2003, Simontacchi gave up home runs in consecutive starts to Dunn (home runs #55 and 58) while pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals. Simontacchi started for two more months, switched to relief and then has struggled to get a role in the majors since. He makes his fourth start as a National.

Mike Bacsik wraps up the series. Back in 2002 Dunn homered off him (#37). Bacsik has followed the Simontacchi career path since Dunn hit his homer. Both pitchers are probably emotional wrecks. I'm predicting ten home runs in this series.

A home run named Ferris

2007-05-17T17:31:00.000-05:00

Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

Where art thou, home run? Time went by and I missed the whole San Diego series. And now that whole abomination called interleague play begins. The Reds travel to Jacobs Field to face the Indians. Dunn's last home run against an AL opponent was against Cleveland (#184 off of Bob Wickman) and his last one at an AL ballpark was at Jacobs Field (#182 off Jeremy Sowers). Cleveland has surrendered the most home runs to Dunn of any American League team (5)

Sowers goes Saturday for the Tribe. Cliff Lee and Paul Byrd bookend that game. Dunn has never homered off either pitcher.

Elf

2007-05-10T20:43:00.000-05:00

A co-worker of mine made the suggestion that if a movie is made about Adam Dunn, Will Ferrell should get the title role. Definitely an apropos choice.

But the title of this post is not in reference to a Will Ferrell movie. Got you there, didn't I? It is the German word for the number eleven which is the number of home runs Dunn has this season. Verstehen Sie?

The home run today came off Matt Albers who is not the earliest pitcher in alphabetical order that Dunn has homered off. Terry Adams holds that distinction. Albers is second. If you guessed that favorite victim Carlos Zambrano is last on that list, you would guess right.

This home run makes five straight against the Astros. Even still, the Astros are only fifth in home runs surrendered to Dunn, last among NL Central teams.

The Reds travel to the stadium that is home of Dunn's longest National League home run drought, Dodger Stadium. The last time Dunn hit a home run there was May 2, 2002. 184 home runs have flown off of Dunn's bat at other stadia since then.

Lefty Randy Wolf starts game one of the series. Dunn hit home run #67 off him.

Brad Penny, author of home run #85 pitches the middle game and the series concludes with gigantic southpaw Mark Hendrickson wrapping it up. Dunn is 3 for 5 with a trio of singles lifetime against Hendrickson.

The 6'9" Hendrickson will become the tallest person to surrender a home run to Dunn, surpassing Daniel Cabrera and Ben Ford. Shane Nance is the shortest pitcher to be victimized by Dunn.

Dunn is all alone at 209 home runs right now. He passed Phil Nevin, Devon White and a favorite player of my childhood, Jason Thompson (208).

Adam Dunn, master of cloning

2007-05-09T20:50:00.000-05:00

Adam Dunn hit a homer against the Astros today. He did the same thing two days before and five days before that and the day before that. This marks the second time in Dunn's career that he has hit four consecutive home runs against a team. On April 18th, 2005 Dunn hit a pair off of Kerry Wood. A week later he went deep off Chad Fox before wrapping up the run the following day against Carlos Zambrano (another kind of home run Dunn is fond of cloning).

Unfortunately, there is another streak going on. The Reds have lost the game the last three times Dunn has homered. This has not happened since a run of four losses in Dunn homer games from June 9-13 last year.

Back on May 2nd, I pointed out that Dunn had never homered with a runner on third with one out. Cross that off the "to do" list. Dunn's homer came after a Brandon Phillips triple and a Ken Griffey, Jr. line out.

Kirby Puckett and Richie Zisk (I miss Richie Zisk. Let's clone him) fall further down the career home run list (207)

No waiting

2007-05-08T17:38:00.000-05:00

After going the longest span between home runs against a pitcher, Dunn homered off Roy Oswalt at his next opportunity. Dunn hit a two out home run in the second inning of the Reds 5-4 loss to the Astros, just five days after he had homered off Oswalt in another losing effort. This was only the second time in his career that Dunn hit consecutive home runs off a pitcher that were not in the same game. Dunn hit home runs 125 and 126 off of the Cardinals' Carmen Cali, May 2nd and 4th of 2005.

Alex Gonzalez followed Dunn's homer with one of his own marking the first time Dunn had been part of back-to-back home runs since August 13th of last season.

Gus Bell, Pete Incaviglia, Bobby Abreu and Felipe Alou are passed. Dunn is three home runs away from entering the top 250 of all-time.

Running behind

2007-05-06T20:21:00.000-05:00

Didn't update after homer #206 was hit on May 2nd, Dunn's third consecutive game with a home run.

The home run came off Roy Oswalt. Dunn homered off of Oswalt all the way back on August 30, 2001 (#13), a span of 2071 days between home runs. The previous longest span between homers off of a pitcher that Dunn had was 1454 days. Dunn hit his second home run ever against Brian Lawrence and then hit a pair (#'s 147 and 148) almost four years later.

This was also the ninth time in Dunn's career where he hit home runs in three consecutive games or better.

After going 0 for the Rockies, it is once again the Astros facing the Reds.

Oswalt gets the call for the first game followed by Wandy Rodriguez, Woody Williams and Matt Albers. We covered all but Williams just last series. Williams has been a favorite target of Dunn's. Four of his home runs have been of Williams' pitches.

Williams is Dunn's favorite double initial pitcher (W.W.). The others: Carmen Cali (2), Chad Cordero, Chris Capuano, Chris Carpenter, Clay Condrey, Doug Davis (2), Jason Jennings, Mark Mulder (3), Matt Morris, Mike Maroth and Scott Sauerbeck.

Dunn passes Ducky Joe Medwick at 205.

Who likes the little little duckies in the pond? I do, I do, I do, kachicka quack quack.

First time

2007-05-02T17:35:00.000-05:00

You wouldn't think someone with 205 homers to his credit could do something really unique with a home run but Adam Dunn did last night. With two outs and runners on second and third, Dunn homered to right off of Trever Miller. Amazingly, this was the first time Dunn homered with runners on second and third and two outs in his career.

OK, maybe not so amazing. Dunn has also not homered with runners at the corners and no outs, with a runner on third and one out, runners at second and third with one out or bases loaded with no out.

In other ways, this homer was repetitive. For instance, every home run Dunn has hit off a Miller has been against the Astros (#35 was against Wade).

Rico Carty and Wally Joyner are passed (204).

Dynamic Duo

2007-04-29T19:01:00.000-05:00

If the Reds could throw Aaron Harang every day and have Adam Dunn hit a homer, we'd be talking about them in the same breath as the 1927 Yankees and the 1906 Cubs. When Dunn homers in a game with Harang on the mound, the Reds are 18-4. The only other Reds pitcher to benefit from Dunn's homeruns ten or more times is Paul Wilson. When Wilson was on the mound and Dunn homered, the Reds were 10-5. Quite a difference.

The home run today was off of Shawn Chacon who is a native of Alaska so Dunn is showing a little equal opportunity now.

I'm going to be pessimistic about upcoming series now. When I was optimistic throughout April, Dunn was left homerless. I expressed doubts about this Pirates series and he belted two homers.

The Reds travel to Houston now where the ballpark resembles the Astrodome in ease of hitting home runs. Dunn will face the modern day equivalents of J.R. Richard, Mike Scott and Nolan Ryan; Matt Albers, perennial Cy Young candidate Roy Oswalt and Wandy Rodriguez.

Dunn last homered in Houston July 27 of last year off Taylor Buchholz.

Albers has a whole 27 major league innings under his belt. He faced Dunn last season, though. Walked him twice, struck him out twice, got him out one other time.

Oswalt gave up career home run number thirteen to Dunn all the way back in 2001. If memory serves, the park was still called Enron Field back then. Wow.

Wandy Rodriguez has faced Dunn in a game before. Dunn went 0 for 2 with a pair of walks. Dunn has homered off of Felix Rodriguez and would love to add another Rodriguez to the list of pitching victims.

Richie Hebner (203) is passed by Dunn.

Adam Dunn, racist

2007-04-28T09:59:00.000-05:00

Dunn hit his fifth home run of the season last night and should be cited for mistreatment of Latin Americans. All five home runs he has hit this season have come off of Latin American born players. Carlos Zambrano and Tony Armas are Venezuelan born. Edgar Gonzalez is Mexican and last night's victim, Salomon Torres, hails from the Dominican Republic.

Forty of Dunn's career home runs have been off of Latin American pitchers:
Dominican Republic 16
Venezuela 14
Mexico 6
Cuba 2
Nicaragua 1
Puerto Rico 1

The home run tied Dunn with Eric Davis for sixth all-time on the Cincinnati Reds. George Foster is next at 244. Definitely passable this season.

Victor Santos was on the mound for the Reds when Dunn hit his homer. Santos is the third pitcher whom Dunn has hit a home run in support of after victimizing them earlier in his career (David Weathers and Kent Mercker are the others). Santos is Dominican so maybe this whole racist thing is being blown out of proportion by the blogosphere.

Dunn's home run led off the ninth inning, the 49th time he has led off an inning with a home run. The second inning (or secondo among those pitchers Dunn chooses to rough up) is Dunn's favorite for leadoff home runs. He has led off the second inning with a home run a dozen times.

Dunn passes Jose Cruz (who is the first player in a long time to catch Dunn after Dunn had passed them previously), Carl Everett, Bill Dickey, Sid Gordon, Todd Hundley, and Bill White (202).

Another series

2007-04-26T17:49:00.000-05:00

Still no home runs. Has it really been sixteen days since Dunn last homered?

It's home against the Pirates where and whom Dunn has hit two of his last five home runs. Forty percent of his recent success comes via this combination. That has to be good, right?

Native Delawarean Ian Snell goes for the Pirates in the first game. Snell is a tough right-hander who has never surrendered a hit to Dunn in nine plate appearances.

Tom Gorzelanny makes his debut against the Reds. He has been a dandy southpaw for the Pirates this season, winning three games already with an ERA of just 2.05.

Lefty Paul Maholm takes the hill to conclude the series. Dunn is just 2 for 17 against the lefty for his career.

I'm not feeling too good about this series.

All or nothing

2007-04-23T20:33:00.000-05:00

It wasn't that long ago when Adam Dunn was leading the Reds in virtually every offensive category, he looked like he might hit 100 home runs this season, and everything was just hunky dorey.

Lately, though, it's just been blah.

First 9 games:
12 of 34, 4 HR, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts, .353 BA, .436 OBP, .735 SLG
Last 9 games:
8 for 36, 0 HR, 4 walks, 19 strikeouts, .222 BA, .300 OBP, .278 SLG

Thems some ugly numbers.

Onto the next series, hoping for some positive change in Dunn's output.

A trio in St. Louis. Kip Wells, Braden Looper and Randy Keisler take the hill for the Redbirds.

Three years ago Kip Wells gave up two home runs to Dunn, numbers 75 and 80, while a member of the Pirates. Braden Looper also has given up a pair to Dunn, numbers 96 and 120, while pitching for the New York Metropolitans. Keisler was a teammate of Dunn's two years ago and made everyone he faced look like Adam Dunn. Keisler allowed ten home runs in just 56 innings. For his career he has been touched for THIRTY home runs in just 144 innings. Keisler is like a left-handed Bert Blyleven without the talent.

I have to think there is a home run or three for Dunn in this series.

Dunn's last homer in St. Louis was August of last year against Jorge Sosa, who is now a AAA pitcher in the Mets organization.

I'm beginning to think Eric Davis has an Adam Dunn voodoo doll. Dunn's next homer ties Davis for 6th all-time among Reds players. C'mon, Eric. Let him hit it.

Phooey

2007-04-20T17:34:00.000-05:00

No homers against the Astros but now we're back to normal three game series. Jon Lieber takes the mound for the Phightin' Phils then Cole Hamels and Phreddie Garcia. Hamels is a tough young lefty. Dunn was 0 for 1 with a walk and a steal against him last year.

Garcia will make only his second start of the season as he has been on the disabled list with bicep tendinitis. Garcia has owned Dunn in his career, holding him to an 0 for 6 with phour strikeouts.

Jon Lieber, though....just one oph eight pitchers to give up a pair oph home runs to Dunn in a single game. Back on May 12, 2005, Lieber gave up home runs #127 and 128 to Dunn.

You have to go all the way back to September 24, 2005 to phind the last time Dunn homered at home against the Phillies. That one came ophph legendary pitcher Eude Brito. Brito is trying to come back phrom an automobile accident this past winter. Somewhere in that piece oph inphormation is a liphe lesson for pitchers.

Is this a better Dunn?

2007-04-18T16:55:00.000-05:00

Dunn got his fourth stolen base of the season last night but exhibited some of his old strikeout form by striking out three times, the first time he has done so this season. It was the 54th time in his career Dunn has struck out that many times. I say old form but to suggest he has a new form, when he has struck out 16 times in thirteen games, is a little fallacious.

Things have been quiet on the home run front. The walk front, too, which is unusual. Just five so far.

Now it is another two game stand (damn schedulers). The Astros come into Cincy throwing Chris Sampson and Woody Williams. Williams has given up four homers to Dunn in his career. Sampson faced Dunn for the first time last season and held him to an 0 for 2 game with a walk.

Quiet

2007-04-15T16:35:00.000-05:00

Dunn did get a rest against a lefty although it was against Lilly and not Hill. No home runs in the two games in which he did play. No home runs by any Reds player since a Josh Hamilton blast in the eighth inning of the game Wednesday. Perhaps even more strange is that the only home run hit by either team this series was by Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano. Zambrano led all pitchers with six home runs last season.

The Reds come home for a pair against the Milwaukee Brewers. Chris Capuano, who surrendered home run #157 two years ago to Dunn, gets the start on the first game, Dave Bush starts the second game for the Brewers.

Last June, Dunn homered against the Brewers in all three games of a series at home against the Brewers. Perhaps not coincidentally, none of the three pitchers Dunn homered off of in that series (Doug Davis, Zach Jackson and Dan Kolb) are on the Brewers roster right now. Davis was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks and Kolb and Jackson are in the minors; Kolb in the Pirates organization, Jackson with Milwaukee.

For the heck of it, Dunn's home runs broken down by runners on base:

Solo homers: 115
One man on: 61
Two men on: 20
Grand slams: 6

Return to the arctic

2007-04-12T09:41:00.000-05:00

After a road trip to Arizona, the Reds begin a three game series against the Cubs in the recently wintry city of Chicago. I don't have to reiterate just how delicious Dunn finds Cub pitching. There's just something about that Cub jersey that turns any pitcher into a batting practice pitcher for Dunn.

The series opener will be pitched by Carlos Zambrano who will attempt to pass Glendon Rusch for sole possession of most home runs given up to Dunn over a career.

Game two will be pitched by Rich Hill, one of the few pitchers (even given that he is a Cub) who I feel is a legitimately difficult pitcher for Dunn to homer against. While young, Hill is a talented lefty and has restricted Dunn to a single in seven at bats when they hve faced. I wouldn't be surprised if Dunn even gets a day off against Hill, I think he's that tough.

Ted Lilly goes in the third game. Lilly has looked good in his first two games as a Cub and has yet to surrender a home run this season. Reality will strike in this game, I feel it.

I don't think many people read this blog

2007-04-11T06:25:00.000-05:00

At least members of the media do not. All this hype over whether or not Aaron will be on hand if Bonds passes 755 when they should be asking Aaron his feelings about Dunn. He's on pace for an 80 homer season which puts him just six seasons short of Aaron's total at that pace.

The media also made a bit of a deal over the fact that this was the first time Dunn homered in the same game that Josh Hamilton homered. Not sure why the hype over that.

The Reds lost in extra innings, the first time this season they lost in a game where Dunn homered and the first time since September 2 of last year.

While we're continuing on other people's communication mistakes, I'm not keen about Dunn being dropped back into the third spot in the lineup but no one from the Reds has contacted me about my opinion.

Buddy Bell and Gene Tenace (201) not on hand to watch Dunn pass them.

Warm weather

2007-04-08T21:41:00.000-05:00

The Reds have left cold Cincinnati for the warmth of Arizona. Dunn, who hails from Texas, will hopefully find the heat conducive to home run hitting. If not, the pitches of Doug Davis should prove tantalizing.

Davis, who joined the Diamondbacks in a trade, could join Kevin Millwood as the only pitchers to allow home runs to Dunn as a member of three different teams. Davis gave up #65 as a member of the Blue Jays in a 2003 interleague game and then gave up #180 playing for the Brewers.

Edgar Gonzalez and Micah Owings start the next two games for the Diamondbacks. Gonzalez surrendered home run #111 to Dunn in 2004.

Owings pitched a dandy game for his major league debut...or was it extended spring training? It was against the Nationals so you decide. Owings will face some higher competition in the NL Central contender Reds.

The home run Gonzalez gave up was the last time Dunn hit a home run in Arizona (August 29, 2004).

Power and speed

2007-04-08T09:26:00.000-05:00

After Dunn's game yesterday it was really tempting to start tracking his pursuit of Rickey Henderson. Not for career walks, which has always been a temptation, but stolen bases. Dunn stole two bases in a game for the first time in his career and gave him 50 for his career.

With the benefit of Xavier Nady's glove and the weather, Dunn also hit home run number 201. Dunn hit a fly to center that carried and was caught by Nady but the ball popped out of his glove and over the fence for the home run. This was the sixth game of Dunn's career where he had both a steal and a homer in the same game.

#201 puts Dunn past Oscar Gamble, Bill Freehan and Don Mincher on the career list.

2 HR on Opening Day + Series against the Cubs =

2007-04-05T14:40:00.000-05:00

Irrational exuberance.

I figured that by the end of today Dunn would have about seventeen home runs. Instead he has a pair which still puts him on pace for a hundred by season's end.

The Reds are at home versus Pittsburgh to face Paul Maholm, Zach Duke and Tony Armas, Jr. Dunn has never hit a home run off of any of the trio. Dunn's last home run against Pittsburgh was the last one of the season for him last year (September 8, 2006 off Brian Rogers). Good googly moogly, we don't want a reprise of that.

Dunn loves to face the Pirates at home. Dunn has bashed fourteen home runs against the Pirates in Cincinnati. Only the Brewers have surrendered more to Dunn on his home field. The Pirates have the greatest disparity in home runs surrendered to Dunn at home versus their own park. Dunn has only hit a pair of home runs in Pittsburgh.

Basking in 200

2007-04-03T16:04:00.000-05:00

Some notable notes about Dunn's home runs yesterday:

- They were the earliest home runs Dunn has ever hit in the major leagues. His first home run last season was previous earliest (April 3) and it also was off Carlos Zambrano.

- It was Dunn's 17th multi-home run game and fifth against the Cubs.

- This was the eighth time in his career Dunn has homered off a single pitcher twice in a game (Glendon Rusch, Kerry Wood, Brian Lawrence, Jon Lieber, Wayne Franklin, Mark Mulder and Brett Tomko are the others)

- Dunn has hit as many home runs this April as he did last September.

- Aaron Harang got the win for the Reds. The last time Harang lost in a game Dunn homered in was June 12, 2006.

- Monday is no longer Dunn's worst day for hitting homers. He had only hit 20 on Monday and Thursday before yesterday. Saturdays are his best day (36).

Ted Lilly makes his less than triumphant return to the National League tomorrow (he was an Expo in 1999) and will hopefully be like his Cub brethren and surrender home runs to Dunn.

Hello, new season!!!

2007-04-02T14:37:00.000-05:00

You know what I was saying about Dunn batting second? Based on a sample size of Opening Day, I'm thinking it's a good thing. Two homers in two at bats off of the Chicago Cubs' Carlos Zambrano. Granted it is the Cubs, the providers of exactly 15% of Dunn's 200 home runs. And with these two, Zambrano now is tied with Glendon Rusch for most home runs surrendered. So maybe it is a little early. Here are Dunn's career home run rates by batting order spot (HR/PA) to ponder:

1: 10.0%
2: 5.9%
3: 4.9%
4: 5.1%
5: 6.5%
6: 6.0%
7: 6.0%
8: 0.0%
9: 4.8%

Heck, maybe just have to move him up to the leadoff spot. Well, the game's not over yet but I had to write because I'm excited about #200!!!!.

Cesar Cedeno, Jackie Jensen, Jorge Posada (199), Jose Cruz, and Barry Larkin (198) are passed by Dunn.

Getting close

2007-03-26T13:18:00.000-05:00

A number of other projects took me away from doing anything with this during the offseason but I wanted to post today as I am currently watching Dunn bat in the Reds-Red Sox spring training game. Dunn is batting second in this game and I love the idea. With Ryan Freel leading off, a player like Dunn gives Freel a lot of steal opportunities and having the threat of Freel stealing should give Dunn a good bit of fastballs to feed upon. It is very breezy at this game and if the wind had been going out, the shot Dunn just hit would have been a home run. I'm hoping that come the regular season, Dunn is in the two hole more and that the wind blows out a lot when he is at the plate.

Memories

2006-11-09T15:53:00.000-05:00

It seems hard to believe that Dunn did not hit career home run #200 this season. He went into his usual September slump and, despite forty home runs, had a rather lackluster season. But to remember the good times, below is Dunn hitting the longest home run ever at Great American Ballpark. This was career number 107 and it was measured at 535 feet.

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Lordy, lordy

2006-09-10T09:01:00.000-05:00

Adam Dunn hit 40. Dunn hit one of four home runs by the Reds against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday as they won 9-1. Dunn's home run was in support of Kyle Lohse. The last time Dunn homered with someone else pitching for the Reds was August 20th.

The home run ties Dunn with Barry Larkin for seventh all-time among Cincinnati Reds players. He may still catch Eric Davis this season who sits a mere five away. Dunn joins Ted Kluszewski as the only Reds players to hit 40 home runs in three seasons. Kluszewski also hit his in three straight seasons, from 1953-1955.

Dunn is just the 21st player in major league history to hit 40 home runs in three consecutive seasons. Of the previous 20, seven are in the Hall of Fame. Of the remaining thirteen, ten were still active at least two seasons ago.

Of the 21, Dunn is the fourth youngest. Hall-of-Famer Eddie Mathews was 24 when he had his third straight season of 40 homers. Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez were 25. Dunn is 26 as were Ralph Kiner and Jimmie Foxx. When Dunn hit his 40th of the season, he was eight days younger than Kiner was on his third straight 40th and thirteen days younger than Foxx.

Which reminds me. I was irked several days ago when ESPN.com ran a poll asking what player had the best chance of besting Hank Aaron's career home run mark. The options were Dunn, Pujols, Rodriguez, Ryan Howard and Miguel Cabrera. Dunn received less than one percent of the vote. I can understand votes for Pujols and Rodriguez but Dunn is only ten days older than Howard who is in just his second year in the majors. Cabrera has not shown he is capable of the necessary 40+ home run seasons one needs to have in order to catch Aaron. Root for Dunn, you know you want to.

With his 198th career home run, Dunn has passed Dick McAuliffe and Dave Henderson (197).

Closing in

2006-09-03T20:34:00.000-05:00

Adam Dunn hit his 39th home run of the season last night, giving him 197 for his career. He is getting close to the milestones of 40 for a season and 200 for his career. Barring a traditional September collapse by Dunn, both marks should be passed.

The home run was off Jake Peavy and was one of only two hits Peavy surrendered. The Reds, once leading contenders for the National League Wild Card, have fallen off as of late, losing seven of nine on the road to NL West teams, and no longer look seriously competitive for a playoff spot.

Dunn passed Ken Williams of the St. Louis Browns and Cliff Johnson (196).

If you can't say something nice

2006-08-31T14:51:00.000-05:00

It's been eight days since I last posted which is just too darn long. Start hitting some homers, Adam!!!

August is ending and so I decided to post the best months by Dunn for hitting home runs. First, his best monthly totals in a year:

April: 9 (2003 and 2006)
May: 9 (2003)
June: 11 (2004)
July: 11 (2005)
August: 12 (2001)
September: 5 (2004)
October: 2 (2001)

Doesn't bode well for my posting the rest of the year, does it? Five homers in his best month after August 31st?!?! Yikes!

Monthly totals:
April: 37
May: 35
June: 35
July: 33
August: 38
September: 14
October: 4

Even uglier. 18 homers in the final month plus of the season. His September doubles totals are his second highest for any month coming into this season. Perhaps the length of the season starts to wear on Dunn. His monthly homer totals are surprisingly symmetric except for the end of the season. Here's hoping he can hit twenty this September and make thing all nice and pretty.

Supporting actor

2006-08-23T08:35:00.000-05:00

The Reds played the Astros last night and a Bengals-Texans game broke out. The Astros could have used either Reggie Bush or Mario Williams as they could neither score not stop the scoring of the Big Red Machine. The Reds finally triumphed by a score of 14-0.

Kyle "I may have had a 7 ERA in the American League, but now that I'm pitching in the AAAA NL Central, I look like Cy Young" Lohse blanked the Astros and Adam Dunn hit a three run homer in the third inning for number 38 on the season.

Lohse is the 13th pitcher to be on the mound for the Reds when Dunn hits a home run this year. Considering that the Reds have used 23 relief pitchers alone, I thought this number was a little low. Here's who has been pitching when Dunn hit his suppporting blasts.

Bronson Arroyo 9
Aaron Harang 7
Elizardo Ramirez 4
Eric Milton and Dave Williams 3
Todd Coffey, Kent Mercker, Chris Hammond and Brandon Claussen 2
Rick White, Mike Burns, Matt Belisle and Kyle Lohse 1

In retrospect, the number probably isn't low as relievers pitch fewer innings.

Lifetime, Aaron Harang has benefitted the most from Adam Dunn's home run hitting. Nineteen of Dunn's home runs have come while Harang was on the Hill. Paul Wilson (15), Jimmy Haynes (10), Bronson Arroyo and Danny Graves (9) round out the top five.

The list of 46 Reds pitchers who have been supported by Dunn's home runs reads like a Who's Who The Heck Is That list. The five pitchers with the most wins in their careers are:

Jose Rijo 116
Eric Milton 87
Cory Lidle 80
Ramon Ortiz 77
Joey Hamilton 74

Now that's a rotation! Adam Dunn is going to need to play for a team with some pitching if he wants a World Series before his career is over.

Toby Harrah and Jay Bell strewn along the wayside (195)

Evil clones

2006-08-21T09:02:00.000-05:00

Against the Pittsburgh Pirates last night, Adam Dunn homered off of Victor Santos. Santos becomes the 9th pitcher whom Dunn has homered off of more than once while the pitcher was on different teams. The list (with career home run numbers):

Doug Davis: Blue Jays (65) and Brewers (180)
Shawn Estes: Cubs (46) and Rockies (105)
Josh Fogg: Pirates (74, 93 and 132) and Rockies (169)
Kent Mercker: Rockies (43) and Cubs (79)
Kevin Millwood: Braves (28), Phillies (50 and 66) and Indians (130)
Tomo Ohka: Expos (88) and Brewers (144 and 154)
Glendon Rusch: Brewers (27, 36 and 61) and Cubs (117, 161 and 162)
Victor Santos: Brewers (114) and Pirates (195)
Woody Williams: Cardinals (6, 99 and 109) and Padres (149)

Four of the above fellow are lefthanded pitchers (Davis, Estes, Mercker and Rusch). All this goes to show that it doesn't matter where you go, how much time has passed or what arm you throw with, Adam Dunn will hit a home run off of you.

And with this most recent homer, Dunn passes Jeff Heath (194)

Dunn's winning ways

2006-08-17T09:44:00.000-05:00

Seven of Dunn's last eight home runs and 11 of his last fourteen have been in games that the Reds have won. Overall, the Reds are 23-12 in games in which Dunn has homered this season compared to 39-44 in games where Dunn has not homered.

Considering that most (22) of Dunn's home runs this season have been solo shots, it seems a bit odd that the Reds win so much when Dunn does homer.

Reds record when Dunn hits a solo homer: 13-8 (one two homer game, both with no men on)
Reds record when Dunn homers with men on: 10-4

For his career, the Reds are 111-67 in games in which Dunn has homered. They are 13-3 when he hits two home runs in a game.

Amos Otis is left behind by Mr. Dunn (193).

Back to back to back

2006-08-14T09:16:00.000-05:00

A couple of solo shots have been hit by Adam Dunn since my last posting. The first was off of Chris Carpenter of the Cardinals a few days ago. The second was yesterday against the Phillies and Brett Myers. Yesterday's was notable in that it was the second time in Dunn's career that his was the middle part of back to back to back home runs.

In the sixth inning yesterday, Dunn's home run was sandwiched by shots by Edwin Encarnacion and Rich Aurilia. Back on October 2, 2005 against the Cardinals, his two teammates that were recently dealt to the Washington Nationals hit the homers that surrounded Dunn's. Felipe Lopez preceded Dunn's blast and then Austin Kearns followed Dunn with a homer.

Dunn passed Hal McRae (191), Carl Furillo and Al Rosen (192).

A mighty wind

2006-08-06T09:54:00.000-05:00

Adam Dunn homered last night. Between that homer, in the first inning off Jason Shiell of the Atlanta Braves, and his homer against the Dodgers a few days previously, Dunn had been 0 for 9 with eight strikeouts. He was also intentionally walked which was his first walk since July 29. Dunn tends to be an all or nothing swinger but it is unusual for him not to get some walks interspersed with those strikeouts.

The homer moved him past Rondell White and Hal McRae (190).

Quarter of the way there

2006-08-02T08:02:00.000-05:00

Dunn has hit 1/4 as many home runs as Hank Aaron has (he did so with #189). So where does he stand among the greats? Let's find out, shall we?

When Hank Aaron hit his 190th home run he was 26 years, 119 days old
Babe Ruth was 27 years, 173 days old
Barry Bonds was 28 years, 310 days old
Willie Mays was 27 years, 4 days old

Adam Dunn is 26 years, 235 days old.

Aaron took 3638 at bats
Ruth took approximately 2311 at bats
Bonds took 3754 at bats
Mays took 2989 at bats

Dunn took 2648 at bats

For the early portion of Dunn's career, he has fared quite well and is on his way to being one of the greatest home run hitters ever.

Saying goodbye to Bob Bailey, Charlie "King Kong" Keller and J.T. Snow (189)

Adam Dunn, stolen base king

2006-07-28T12:11:00.000-05:00

Dunn homered last night off of Taylor Buchholz. This was Dunn's 31st homer of the season, his second off Buchholz this year. It was Dunn's first home run in Houston since 2002, ending the second longest drought Dunn had at any stadium. Dodger Stadium is the only non-Washington D.C. National League stadium that Dunn has not homered in during the last three years.

Two nights before that, though, Dunn swiped a base off of Roger Clemens. Only twenty men in major league history have been 6'6" or taller and stolen a base. Dunn now has 45 of them. This puts him 5th all-time behind Dave Winfield, Darryl Strawberry, Dave Kingman and Deacon Nicholson. I'm pretty certain Dunn is the leader in steals for anyone who weighs as much as he does. The problem is that weight fluctuates. Dunn is listed as 275 this season but the official listing for him is 240 which is likely his rookie weight. Regardless, his ability to steal bases given his size is as impressive as his home run power.

In the rearview mirror: Surhoff and Porter. I was in error last time. Dunn's previous homer put him ahead of Bobby Higginson and Mike Stanley.

Thirtieth of the year

2006-07-17T06:31:00.000-05:00

And number 188 of the career, passing B.J. Surhoff and Darrell Porter on the all-time list.

This is the third straight season that Dunn has hit at least thirty home runs. The dates of his thirtieth home run in the previous two seasons:

2004: August 4 off Brett Tomko
2005: July 29 off Brian Lawrence

Dunn's home run yesterday was off of Tom Martin, the first ever he has hit off of Martin. The last eight home runs Dunn has hit have been the first home runs he has hit off that particular pitcher.

Longer streaks of unique pitcher home runs by Dunn:
Homers 1-25 (#26 served by Ruben Quevedo, server of #15)
Homers 27-35 (#36 by Glendon Rusch who allowed #27)
Homers 37-49 (#50 and #28 by Kevin Millwood)
Homers 67-76 (#77 and #51 courtesy of Kerry Wood)

The last home run Dunn hit off a pitcher whom he had hit a home run off of previously was Doug Davis on June 13, 2006. Dunn has homered off of 141 unique pitchers. 26 pitchers have surrendered two or more home runs to him.

Moving on up

2006-07-16T10:50:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I posted about Dunn's place in the Cincinnati dinger echelons, a place in which he should continue to progress up unless the Reds decide they need more mediocre relief pitching. I did not mention that with Dunn's home run on Friday he moved into the top 300 home run hitters of all-time.

For the fun of it, I'm going to continue to add on to the list of who he has passed on the all-time list as he does it.

Newest folks passed: Glenallen Hill, Minnie Minoso, Jorge Posada (186)

Get ahead of Dunn and he's done

2006-07-15T07:32:00.000-05:00

From the Elias Sports Bureau:

"Adam Dunn hit a home run on an 0-2 pitch Friday, the first time he has done that since hitting an 0-2 homer off Pete Munro on Aug. 30, 2004. Between then and Friday Dunn went 6-for-81 with 63 strikeouts on at-bats with a 0-2 count."

This was Dunn's 187th career homer as a Red, moving him past Vada Pinson into sole posession of 8th place all-time among Reds players. Those ahead of him and the number of games it took for each player to reach 187 homers with the Reds:

Name	Reds Homers	G to 187
Johnny Bench	389	811
Frank Robinson	324	816
Tony Perez	287	1,173
Ted Kluszewski	251	1,046
George Foster	244	1,001
Eric Davis	203	889
Barry Larkin	198	1,944
Adam Dunn	187	751

Keeping current

2006-07-11T16:04:00.000-05:00

I try to be as up to date on Adam Dunn's home run ranking of most home runs hit in history. As such, I need to keep track of who is hitting home runs throughout the season. Here are the players near Dunn who have played in the majors this season:

J.T. Snow 189
Alfonso Soriano 189
Carlos Beltran 187
Rondell White 187
Dunn 186
Jorge Posada 186
Brian Jordan 184
Mike Sweeney 184
Geoff Jenkins 182

And a list of who Adam Dunn has passed so far this season, active and retired, on the career home run list:

Steve Balboni, Hank Bauer, Adrian Beltre, Clete Boyer, Bill Buckner, Pat Burrell, Mike Cameron, Chris Chambliss, Sam Chapman, Donn Clendennen, Harland Clift, Nate Colbert, Tony Conigliaro, Walker Cooper, Del Crandall, Joe Cronin, Jose Cruz, Alvin Davis, Willie Davis, Don Demeter, Bob Elliott, Julio Franco, Charlie Gehringer, Jim Gentile, Mark Grace, Chick Hafey, Jim Ray Hart, Harry Heilmann, Woodie Held, Tommy Henrich, Babe Herman, Jose Hernandez, Keith Hernandez, Jim Hickman, Richard Hidalgo, Larry Hisle, Elston Howard, Geoff Jenkins, Derek Jeter, Charles Johnson, Brian Jordan, Ken Keltner, Ron Kittle, Tony Lazzeri, Jim Lemon, Bill Madlock, Bill Melton, Don Money, Lloyd Moseby, Dwayne Murphy, Pete O'Brien, Tony Phillips, Tim Raines, Aramis Ramirez, Bill Robinson, Eddie Robinson, Henry Rodriguez, Pete Rose, Joe Rudi, Juan Samuel, Andy Seminick, Enos Slaughter, Roy Smalley, Al Smith, Paul Sorrento, Terry Steinbach, Mike Sweeney, Alan Trammell, Gus Triandos, Andy Van Slyke, Mickey Vernon, Claudell Washington, Bob Watson, Frank White and Preston Wilson.

75 players total.

How long has it been

2006-07-10T07:57:00.000-05:00

Adam Dunn's most recent home run at each NL road ballpark:

Turner Field: July 9, 2006 off Oscar Villarreal
Miller Field: July 5, 2006 off Derrick Turnbow
Busch Stadium: June 6, 2006 off Josh Hancock
Wrigley Field: May 29, 2006 off Scott Eyre
Chase Field: May 7, 2006 off Orlando Hernandez
Coors Field: May 5, 2006 off Josh Fogg
PNC Park: August 26, 2005 off Mark Redman
Petco Park: July 31, 2005 off Woody Williams
AT&T Park: July 5, 2005 off Noah Lowry (called SBC Park at the time)
Citizens Bank Park: May 14, 2005 off Ryan Madson
Shea Stadium: June 22, 2004 off Matt Ginter
Dolphins Stadium: June 1, 2004 off Nate Bump (called Pro Player Stadium at the time)
Minute Maid Park: August 24, 2002 off Tom Gordon
Dodger Stadium: May 2, 2002 off Odalis Perez
RFK Stadium: None (homered at Stade Olympique on May 29, 2004 off Zach Day)

Dunn has hit seventy home runs on the road, fifteen of them at Wrigley Field, since the last time he homered at Dodger Stadium. Since that time two ballparks in which he had hit home runs changed their name, one team switched countries, and Dunn hit homers in four American League ballparks. Dunn will have three chances at most this year, from August 28th to August 30th, to make his most recent Dodger Stadium home run more current.

Making like a turtle

2006-07-09T15:25:00.000-05:00

After a slow start in June, Dunn has begun July slowly as well, taking until today, July 9th to hit his second home run of the month. He homered on the 5th of July in the tenth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers for his first of the month.

Even though he has begun two months slowly, Dunn still enters the All-Star break with more home runs than he has had at the All-Star break any of his other seasons. Dunn's 28th homer of the year places him tied for second in the National League with Ryan Howard of the Philadlephia Phillies and behind Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Dunn's homer today was his first at Turner Field in Atlanta since May 26, 2003. Tomorrow I will post when Dunn hit his last home run at each of the National League ballparks.

Bobbing for homers

2006-07-01T09:34:00.000-05:00

Adam Dunn hit home runs off of a pair of Bobs the past two games. On Thursday, against the Kansas City Royals, Dunn followed Felipe Lopez's home run to leadoff the third inning with a titantic blast to right that was as high as it was far. Bobby Keppel was the victimized pitcher as the Reds went on to win 6-5.

Yesterday, the Reds bats were silent through the first eight innings against Paul Bryd and the Cleveland Indians. Down 7-0, the Reds scored four in the eighth. The Indians added one in the top of the ninth. Closer Bob Wickman came in despite it not being a save situation. He turned it into one by giving up two singles and a pair of walks which brought Dunn up with bases loaded, two outs and the score 8-5.

Dunn lined the second pitch into right for the game-winning home run. This was his sixth grand slam, his first since July of last year and his first that was a walkoff. The Reds have won every game that Dunn has hit a grand slam in.

The series continues today against the Indians. Cliff Lee and C.C. Sabathia take the mound for the Indians in the next two games. Dunn has never hit a home run off a pitcher who goes by his initials.

So that's what a Adam Dunn home run is

2006-06-25T19:15:00.000-05:00

After a span of eleven days, Dunn finally hit another home run. It came in the fourth inning off of Cleveland's Jeremy Sowers. Sowers was making his major league debut but Ken Griffey Jr. was the first player to hit a home run off him, beating Dunn by a few pitches.

Dunn last hit a home run at Jacobs Field on June 29, 2003.

The Reds are home against the worst team in the majors right now, the Kansas City Royals.

Dunnreal

2006-06-14T15:56:00.000-05:00

Adam Dunn closed a personal home run-fest of a series with the Brewers this afternoon by hitting an eleventh inning walkoff home run off of Danny Kolb. The homer provided all the runs in the 3-0 victory.

This was Dunn's fourth career walkoff homer. His last also came against the Brewers when he lead off the ninth inning on July 24, 2005 against Julio Santana with a home run. Chad Cordero and Brad Lidge served up Dunn's other game-ending shots.

Speaking of Cordero, the home run Dunn hit to win the game against him came on June 5, 2004. This was the last time Dunn had hit a home run in extra innings before today. Dunn has three tenth inning home runs and three eleventh inning home runs to his credit.

Yesterday, Doug Davis gave up a home run to Dunn that immediately followed Rich Aurilia going long against Davis. It marked the sixth time Dunn has hit a home run immediately following a teammate having done so. Dunn has followed a Ken Griffey, Jr. home run three times and Aurilia, Felipe Lopez and Austin Kearns once each.

Dunn's homer on the eleventh was not notable for anything other than being his first off a pitcher named Jackson (Zach). No Johnsons or Smiths have given up a homer to Dunn yet.

The Reds take on the World Champion Chicago White Sox next. Dunn has now homered in four consecutive games which ties his career best. He has no home runs against the White Sox.

20th of the season

2006-06-12T09:47:00.000-05:00

I didn't post after the St. Louis series, a series which the Reds swept to put them in a tie for first in the National League Central Division. Dunn did not play much of a part in the victories, only getting hits in one game. Those hits did include a home run off of Josh Hancock.

The Reds then had a four game set against the Cubs which was my main motivation for not posting. The series before was against the Cubs as well. Yahoo! Sports highlighted Dunn in their matchups to watch section for the first game of the series. As readers of this space know, Dunn loves to face Glendon Rusch, the game one starter. Dunn entered the game with a career .500 average against Rusch with six homers. Rusch was pounded, leacing in the fourth inning, but Dunn did get a hit off of him. The rest of the Reds did, extending their winning streak to eight games.

A three-game losing streak commenced but Dunn did finagle a pair of homers during the trio. Greg Maddux gave up his fourth career home run to Dunn and Scott Eyre was touched by Dunn for the second time in two weeks. The home run off Eyre was the 20th of the season for Dunn and is the second earliest point in the season that Dunn has reached 20.

In 2003, Dunn hit his 20th homer on June 7th. He only hit seven more before missing the rest of the season with an injury.

Of Dunn's 20 homers this season, seven have come against the Cubs, four against the Cardinals, a pair versus the Tigers and one each coming off pitchers from the Pirates, Brewers, Nationals, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Marlins and Astros.

If everyone else can do it....

2006-06-05T15:04:00.000-05:00

...why not Dunn? The Reds had seven home runs against the Astros in sweeping the three-game series from the Astros. Dunn had none of them, however.

The Reds are three games behind the Cardinals, whom they play next. The starters for St. Louis are Jeff Suppan, Cris Carpenter and Sidney Ponson. Dunn has hit two of his seventeen home runs this season off of Ponson. Suppan is a milestone pitcher for Dunn, having served up Dunn's 100th career home run on July 28, 2004.

Dunn seems to have trouble getting his first home run out of the way each June. Here are the dates of the first homer he has hit in June of each year of his career:

June 11, 2002 at TEX. Two home runs, one off Kenny Rogers, the other Randy Flores
June 6, 2003 vs TOR. Off Roy Halladay
June 1, 2004 at FLA. Two home runs, one off Brad Penny, the other Nate Bump
June 8, 2005 vs TB. Off Lee Gardner

Club a Cub

2006-06-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

The Cubbies got the best of the Reds but Dunn did manage four extra base hits, including a homer off of Scott Eyre, in 12 at bats during the series.

The Reds travel to Houston now for a three game set. Wandy Rodriguez, Fernando Nieve and Roy Oswalt will start for the Astros.

Dunn has not had tremendous success at Minute Maid Park, despite it being a bit of a hitter's paradise. Dunn has hit 94 homers since the last one he hit at Minute Maid. Of the pitchers above, Oswalt is the only one who has given up a homer to Dunn, his thirteenth career homer back in 2001.

Nieve is Spanish for snow. Dunn has four home runs in his career off of Josh Fogg. Perhaps Dunn will fare well against another water-based last name. He also has four off of Woody Williams, so there could be a positive first name connection going on with Senor Rodriguez (Dunn has one homer off of Felix Rodriguez).

Shutdown

2006-05-28T18:42:00.000-05:00

The Reds managed to rally in the final game of the series against the Diamondbacks today but had been shutout the two previous games. Dunn went 3 for 4 in the first game of the series and then was hitless the final two games.

The Reds travel now to Chicago to play the Cubs. Greg Maddux, Kerry Wood and Carlos Zambrano will start the three games for the Cubs. Dunn has twelve home runs in his career against those three. Wrigley Field is also Dunn's favorite place away from home to hit home runs.

Another homer

2006-05-25T18:59:00.000-05:00

Adam Dunn hit career homer #174 off of Chris Demaria of the Milwaukee Brewers Monday. It was a three-run homer in the sixth inning amidst an eventual 15-5 shellacking of the Brew Crew. Dunn went hitless Tuesday and sat out the Wednesday game.

The Reds have a three game series beginning tomorrow against the Diamondbacks. The series begins against Brandon Webb who Dunn hit homer #141 off of. Juan Cruz and Claudio Vargas round out the series. Cruz has an ERA of 12.34 over his last three starts but has only surrendered one home run in those starts. Vargas has served up four home runs in four career starts versus the Reds. All in all, it looks like Dunn has some nice opportunities to add to his home run total

Rolling again

2006-05-21T08:55:00.000-05:00

Adam Dunn hit home runs the past two days against the Detroit Tigers, giving him 15 on the season and 173 for his career.

His home run Friday came off Roman Colon who was pitching in relief of Jeremy Bonderman.

Saturday's home run was Dunn's seventeenth career home run leading off an inning as he topped the seventh with a shot off Mike Maroth.

Dunn has now hit home runs against seven of the American League teams (three each against the Rangers and Indians, a pair against the Tigers and Blue Jays and a single homer against the Athletics, Devil Rays and Orioles. Comerica Park is the 28th stadium Dunn has hit a home run in.

Aaaarrgghhh

2006-05-19T11:39:00.000-05:00

The Pirates held Dunn to a single and a double in ten at bats over the three game series. The Reds travel to Detroit now for interleague play. Dunn has never homered against the Detroit Tigers so he has an opportunity to add another field and team to his prodigious home run list.

Shutout

2006-05-15T20:03:00.000-05:00

The Reds high-powered offense struggled mightily against the Philadelphia Phillies the last few days, which made me think that updating the blog by series might be the way to go when nothing is happening.

Nothing was happening in Cincinnati where the Reds scored a mere five runs in three games against the Phillies. Dunn was 1 for 11 in the series, his only hit a single breaking up Jon Lieber's perfect game in the seventh inning of the second game of the series.

The Reds travel to Pittsburgh after the Hall of Fame exhibition game against the Pirates was rained out today in Cooperstown. Dunn has one career home run at PNC Stadium in Pittsburgh, career #153 last August. The scheduled starters are Paul Maholm, Oliver Perez and Victor Santos. Dunn has two career homers off of Perez and one off of Santos.

Phenom

2006-05-12T13:00:00.000-05:00

Dunn went 0 for 4 last night, dropping his average to a Rob Deer-like .233. Dunn's ability to draw walks, though, has helped enable him be second in the league in runs scored to the Cardinals Albert Pujols.

Today the Phillies travel to Cincinnati and minor league sensation Cole Hamels will take the mound for Philadelphia. Dunn has never homered off of any pitcher making his major league debut. The closest he came suspended a career. The Giants Merkin Valdez made his debut as a relief pitcher on August 1, 2004. The first batter he faced was the above mentioned Albert Pujols who doubled off him. Valdez then got Scott Rolen out and was removed from the game.

Four days later, Valdez entered in the middle of an already ugly inning against the Reds. After four hits, an error, a hit by pitch and a force out, Valdez came in as the third pitcher of the eighth inning. Valdez struck out Ken Griffey, Jr. for the second out. A pair of walks and a single brought up Dunn for the second time in the inning. Dunn homered and then Valdez retired Wily Mo Pena to end the inning.

Valdez was optioned to the minors the following day. He is still regarded as a pitching prospect but after six seasons as a starter, he is struggling with becoming a closer this season. Let this be an object lesson for Cole Hamels.

Update

2006-05-11T10:53:00.000-05:00

The marathon that is the baseball season already took its toll on this blog. It's sort of hard to want to worry about following the day to day activities of Adam Dunn when the ultimate objective, Hank Aaron's career total, is quite a long way away. Also, what the heck do I write about in the offseason? What sort of content is interesting on a daily basis? Plus, since I do no publicizing of this thing, I don't know if anyone is reading, making the expenditure of energy questionable, at least beyond the level where I gain personal enjoyment. So that's why I haven't posted in a while. That and not feeling like writing a blog.

Since the last update, Dunn has slugged five home runs. The first was a two-run blow off Houston's Taylor Buchholz on April 30th. Two days later, the Cardinals Sidney Ponson served up a solo shot.

On May 4th, Dunn hit his third straight home run in the sixth inning as he led the inning off with a solo homer off of Colorado's Josh Fogg.

May 7th, Dunn homered at Chase Ballpark in Arizona, his first there since the renaming of the field. He also added a three-run double in the Reds victory. Orlando Hernandez gave up all five runs to Dunn.

Dunn made sure no Hernandez was safe last night, hitting a two-run home run off of the Nationals' Livan Hernandez. This was Dunn's first home run against the Nationals. It was also the fourth Hernandez Dunn has hit a home run off of in his career. Carlos served up career #12, Roberto #63, Orlando #170 and Livan #171.

Tonight Dunn faces Zach Day, a Cincinnati native. Day recently joined the Nationals after a horrible stint in Colorado. In 2004, Day pitched for the Nationals' previous incarnation, the Montreal Expos. Dunn homered in consecutive starts off him, hitting home run #87 at home and number 84 at Stade Olympique.

Blanks

2006-04-26T13:58:00.000-05:00

Adam Dunn has not been hitting anything. He did help Doug Davis set a Milwaukee Brewers' team record for walks in a game. Dunn received four walks in a game where Davis gave out nine free passes.

Personally, I think Dunn has been thinking about his fielding too much. The Reds moved up the time on a few of their home games so instead of 1-2 innings with the sun in his eyes, Dunn now has 5-6.

He has three hits today as the game nears conclusion. Good to see the ball being hit. Dunn's walks are a tremendous asset, though, and a big factor why the Reds are doing so well right now. But it makes for an uneventful home run blog.

Drought

2006-04-22T08:28:00.000-05:00

On Thursday Brandon Phillips hit a pair of home runs and Edwin Encarnacion added another as the Reds beat the Brewers 12-8. The Reds took Friday's game 3-1. Our hero was a combined 1 for 7 with two walks and four strikeouts.

Today the Reds face former Blue Jays pitcher Dave Bush. Hopefully Dunn will mishear the announcement as "Glendon Rusch".

Homers Brewing

2006-04-20T06:18:00.000-05:00

Adam Dunn took his second straight 0 fer collar yesterday, being retired in three at bats but walking twice. The Reds travel to Milwaukee to begin a series with the Brewers today. Next to Wrigley Field, Dunn has hit the most road home runs (7) at Miller Park. He faces Tomo Ohka in the first game of the series. Dunn hit career #88 off of Ohka when Ohka was a member of the Montreal Expos. As a Brewer, Ohka served up career home runs #144 and #154. All three home runs came with no men on base.

Getting completely silly, Ohka is one of three pitchers whose last letter of his first name is the first letter of his last name that has surrendered home runs to Dunn (Brett Tomko and Al Leiter).

Home Run Kings

2006-04-19T11:13:00.000-05:00

I was looking at Chris Shelton earlier, he of the humongous homer total of the Tigers and was surprised at some similarities in age.

Adam Dunn - born November 9, 1979
Chris Shelton - born June 26, 1980
Albert Pujols - born January 16, 1980

All three of these sluggers were born within seven months of each other. ESPN.com ran an article by a guy at Baseball Prospectus over the last two days listing the top fifty players based on projected future value. Shelton is unlisted. Dunn is #19 and Pujols is #1. Personally, I think they flipped Dunn and Pujols around. The paragraph on Dunn is critical of his appearance on the basepaths and in the field, undeservingly so. Dunn is an exceptional athlete and only looks clumsier than his fellow players because he dwarves them in size. So there.

Dunn drew a pair of walks last night as the Marlins defeated the Reds. The teams meet again in about fifteen minutes and at game time it is warm with a light breeze coming in from left. The Marlins ace Dontrelle Willis, #42 on the ESPN list, gets the start. Dunn has never homered off of Willis.

Aaron Harang starts for the Reds. Only Paul Wilson (15) has been on the mound more often at the time Dunn has homered than Harang (13).

That's all of them

2006-04-17T21:04:00.000-05:00

Sure enough, Dunn homered off of Brian Moehler in the first inning. The game is still going on as of this writing but Dunn has been removed in a double switch. The Marlins were the only National League team that Dunn had not homered off of at home (treating the Nationals as the Expos). Dunn has now homered on three consecutive days. His personal best is four straight days, August 4-7, 2004.

The Reds take on the mighty Marlins again tomorrow. Jason Vargas is on the mound for the Fish. Not surprisingly, being as most of the Marlins have only played eleven games in the majors, Dunn has not had the opportunity to smack a dinger off of Vargas. The bad news for Vargas is that Dunn's favorite targets are named Jason (or Kevin or Glendon). He has hit six home runs apiece against guys with those first names. Lucky number seven should come tomorrow.

Back to back

2006-04-16T20:02:00.000-05:00

As predicted earlier, Dunn did homer off of Mark Mulder. Austin Kearns homered immediately after him. Albert Pujols of the Cardinals had three home runs and so the Reds ended up losing.

Dunn's homer was the thirteenth time he was involved in back to back home runs, the fourth time with Austin Kearns. This includes the only time in Dunn's career where back to back to back home runs occurred. At the last regular season game at old Busch, Felipe Lopez homered followed by Dunn and Kearns.

Tomorrow the Reds return home to take on the Florida Marlins. Dunn has never homered at Great American Ballpark against the Marlins. Brian Moehler takes the mound for Florida. Moehler is struggling so far this year so Dunn has a good chance to put an end to this streak.

Aruba, Venezuela, ooh I want to take ya (deep)

2006-04-16T20:00:00.000-05:00

It doesn't matter where you're pitching or where you're from. Adam Dunn will eventually homer off you. Someone should nickname him "Death and taxes" for the inevitable certainty of his slamming home runs. Ken Keltner, Bill Madlock, Roy Smalley and Don Demeter are the latest to have their home run totals surpassed.

Dunn's blow off Aruba's (ninth country) Sidney Ponson at the new incarnation of Busch Stadium (stadium #25) came in the first inning with two outs.

Today's victim will be Mark Mulder, whom Dunn knocked out a pair of home runs off last season in Cincinnati in back-to-back innings.

Dunn has two career home runs on Easter Sunday. On April 20, 2003, Dunn in a game against the ~~Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings~~ Montreal Expos at Hiram Bithorn stadium in Puerto Rico, homered against Luis Ayala. Versus the Pirates on April 11, 2004, Dunn put one in the Cincinnati bleachers off of Oliver Perez.

YucKKK

2006-04-15T06:48:00.000-05:00

A hat trick of strikeouts contributed to a big 0 for night against the Cardinals last night for Dunn. Aaron Harang bested Chris Carpenter, singling in the only run as he and the surprising Cincinnati bullpen (the new Nasty Boys?) pitched a shutout.

This afternoon the Reds play the Cards again, as offseason acquisition Sidney Ponson take the hill. Dunn has never faced Ponson. The Aruban born Ponson could be the first player from Aruba to surrender a home run to Dunn. Dunn's home runs by pitcher's country of birth: (and if anyone has an idea how I can get rid of the blank gap from here to the table, please let me know)

Country	Number
United States	134
Dominican Republic	11
Venzuela	10
Mexico	4
England	1
Nicaragua	1
Puerto Rico	1
South Korea	1

#163

2006-04-13T16:13:00.000-05:00

Dunn struck his 20th career first inning home run today against Carlos Zambrano. Dunn likes to smite homers early in the game. Of his 163 home runs, 66 (40.5%) have come in the first third of the game.

Tomorrow the Cubs travel to St. Louis for a night game against Chris Carpenter and the Cardinals. Dunn has never homered off of Carpenter but he has nailed (Kerry) Wood. More exciting is Dunn's opportunity to hit a home run in his 25th ballpark. It would be apropos as Dunn homered in the last game played at the previous edition of Busch Stadium (against Matt Morris).

Slow start

2006-04-13T12:00:00.000-05:00

I half-heartedly expected Dunn to hit a home run every day and so was disappointed when he faced Greg Maddux et al yesterday and failed to hit one out, resulting in no post yesterday evening.

But, despite my Dunnrealistic (thanks, Eric) expectation that he would hit homer after homer, I will continue to delude myself and think that there is an automatic readership that wants, nay NEEDS, to know more about Dunn and his home run accomplishments. So for you, dear readers, I will plod on.

Dunn faces Carlos Zambrano today and has three career home runs off him, all in April, including one this season, a solo shot on April 3rd. Last year's, on April 26th, was the only one Dunn has hit off of Zambrano at Wrigley. With an hour until game time there is currently a strong wind blowing out to right at Wrigley which should help to Dunn.

A Perfect Storm

2006-04-11T21:44:00.000-05:00

Today Adam Dunn played in Wrigley Field, where he had hit the most home runs of any ballpark not in Cincinnati (13). Glendon Rusch was on the mound to start the game for the Cubs. Only Kerry Wood has surrendered more home runs (5) to Dunn over the years. By the conclusion of the game, Dunn had made Rusch his favorite pitcher to hit home runs off of with an even half dozen.

Dunn led off the second inning with a home run. In the fourth, after Rich Aurilia struck out, Dunn touched Rusch again for his fourth home run of the season.

With this pair of home runs, Dunn passed Gus Bell to become tenth all-time among Cincinnati Reds players in home runs. Dunn is ten home runs away from Wally Post in the ninth position.

Tomorrow Dunn faces Greg Maddux. Dunn has three of his 162 career home runs against Maddux. Career #73 came off Maddux on April 7th, 2004, a solo shot at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. Eleven days later he hit #78 of Maddux, a three-run shot in the first at Wrigley. #116 was also in 2004, a two-run knock in the fifth at Wrigley, September 28.