Hitting home runs from both sides of the plate during a game has happened 232 times in major league history.
The total is less when counting three long balls in a contest with that occuring 19 times.
Mickey Mantle (1955) and Tom Tresh (1965), who were teammates with New York Yankees, were the first two in the American League to accomplish the feat.
As a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, Reggie Smith was the first to do it in the National League in Philadelphia on May 22, 1976.
After going hitless in his first two trips to the plate in Veterans Stadium, Smith finally touched up Phillies starter Jim Kaat with a three-run bomb from the right side in the fifth. The bomb put the Cardinals on top 4-2.
The Phillies countered with four runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-4 lead.
St. Louis got a run in the sixth to get closer against Ron Reed before it was Smith’s turn to bat again.
In the seventh, Smith hit a solo shot from the left side off Reed to tie the affair at 6-6. The long ball marked the sixth time in his career that he went deep from both batter’s boxes.
Tug McGraw took over on the mound for the Phillies in the top of the ninth. He gave up a single to Vic Harris, but Ted Simmons hit into a double play with Smith on deck.
Back on the right side, Smith hit what turned into the game-winning homer off McGraw as the Cardinals would take the contest 7-6.
Smith’s other games where hit homers from both sides happened with the Boston Red Sox in 1967, 1968, 1972 and 1973 and the Cardinals in 1975.
Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher hold the all-time major record having done it 14 times.
Boston Rookie
After just six games in 1966, Smith was the starting centerfielder for the Boston Red Sox that won the AL pennant the following season, but fell to the Cardinals in the World Series.
He hit 15 homers and knocked in 61 runs to finish second to Minnesota’s Rod Carew in the AL Rookie of the Year balloting.
In 1968, he led the AL with a career-high 37 doubles, while also earning the only Gold Glove of his career.
All-Star
In his 17 seasons in the majors, Smith was a seven-time all-star representing the Boston Red Sox (1969, 1972), Cardinals (1974, 1975) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (1977, 1978, 1980).
Smith homered in the 1974 contest off Oakland’s Catfish Hunter helping the NL to a 7-2 victory in Pittsburgh. He added singles in the 1975 and 1977 contests.
At Dodger Stadium in 1980, Smith made his only start as an all-star in right field in a 4-2 NL win.
Best Season?
It’s pretty hard to determine, Smith’s best season.
With Boston in 1971, he had 30 homers with 96 RBI as he topped the league again in doubles with 33.
After being traded to St. Louis, he drove in a career-high 100 runs as he hit 23 homers in 1974.
For the pennant-winning Los Angeles Dodgers in 1977, he smacked 32 homers with 87 RBI and a .307 batting average as he led the NL in in on-base percentage at .427.
Smith also hit three homers in the World Series as the Dodgers fell to the New York Yankees.
In his fourth and final appearance in the Fall Classic, Smith helped the Dodgers win the title in 1981.
His big league career ended in 1982 with the San Francisco Giants. He finished his major league career with 314 homers and 1,092 RBI. His final two professional seasons were with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan.
Smith was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2000.