the impossible isn't as rare as it used to be

Saturday, June 19, 2004, at 09:55PM

By Eric Richardson

An article on ESPN.com about the Expos and White Sox talks about the two home runs hit by Expos outfielder Juan Rivera -- both in the 2nd inning. I saw that and thought "Wow, that must never happen." Well, I was wrong. Apparently it's not all the uncommon of a thing for a player to hit two home runs in the same inning. To quote the article:

Rivera became the first major league player to hit two homers in one inning since Pittsburgh's Reggie Sanders on Aug. 20.

It was the fifth time a Montreal player hit two homers in the same inning, and first since Mike Lansing did it in the sixth inning of a 19-3 win in San Francisco on May 7, 1997.

[Andre] Dawson accomplished the feat twice for the Expos. His record of six RBI in an innings was set Sept. 24, 1985, in the fifth inning at Wrigley Field against the Cubs.

Crazy. The pitcher who gave up all the runs was making his first major league start. After the game he was sent back down to the minors.