Entering the night tonight, Craig Counsell was 41 and had 41 career home runs. That kind of symmetry is just too good to be true, though, so tonight he hit #42, his first of 2011.
Despite having been with the team all season, this was Counsell's first extra base hit since June 10 and only his fourth of the season. He's also the oldest player to homer in a major league game in 2011:
Player | Date | Age |
Craig Counsell | Tonight | 41 years, 13 days |
Jim Thome | August 27 | 41 years, 0 days |
Jason Giambi | August 16 | 40 years, 220 days |
Jorge Posada | August 26 | 40 years, 9 days |
Henry Blanco | August 22 | 39 years, 358 days |
There is, of course, a strong chance this will be Counsell's last major league homer: He's averaged one every 130 plate appearances over the course of his career, and it's unlikely he'll get 130 more in September.
And, of course, now that George Kottaras has hit for the cycle this looks like a really pointless side note.