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Angel Martinez had himself a special day at the ballpark on Wednesday.
When the Cleveland Guardians' versatile power-speed threat stepped to the plate for his final at bat, he was already 3-for-3. But at that moment, the bases were loaded. He had the chance at quite the afternoon.
And when he got a pitch over the plate, he didn't miss it.
Martinez slugged a grand slam to cap the best game of his career and to punctuate what turned out to be a 10-2 Cleveland win over the Kansas City Royals.
In the process, he made club history. He's the youngest Cleveland baseball player since Johnny Hodapp in 1928 to have a game with at least four hits, four RBI and a steal.
Angel Martínez (24 years, 71 days) is the youngest Cleveland player with 4+ hits, 4+ RBI and a SB in a game in almost 100 years: since Johnny Hodapp did so on July 29, 1928.
— nugget chef (@jayhaykid) April 9, 2026MORE: Yankees outfielder once battled ostrich in 11-plate spaghetti-eating contest
When you add in the fact that Martinez reached a portion of those marks by hitting a grand slam, it's likely an even rarer occurrence.
Hodapp was a guy who played second base, third base and left field in the major leagues while hitting .311 for his career over nine seasons. He played for Cleveland for parts of eight seasons, and also partial campaigns with the White Sox and Red Sox.
In 1930, Hodapp hit .354 with 51 doubles and 121 RBI, also leading the AL with 225 hits.
He didn't play long enough or accumulate enough stats to be well remembered, but Martinez brought his name out of the history books just for a moment on Wednesday with a spectacular afternoon of hitting.
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