Mariners' Cal Raleigh breaks one last record with 65th HR of 2025
BY SEATTLESPORTS.COM STAFF
The Seattle Mariners' season, and the magical 2025 for Cal Raleigh, came to an end on Monday night. But not before he put his name in the MLB record books one more time.
In the fifth inning of Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, Raleigh blasted a solo shot to right field for his 65th homer of the year, counting both the regular season and postseason. That's a new AL record, surpassing the 64 total home runs New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hit in 2022.
Raleigh hit 60 homers in the regular season and added five homers in Seattle's 12 games in the playoffs – including four homers in the ALCS.
Judge hit an AL-record 62 homers in 2022, but followed that with just two homers in nine games that postseason.
Raleigh's 65 homers in 2025 is tied with Mark McGwire (1999) for fourth-most in a single year in MLB history. Barry Bonds' 73 in 2001 is the all-time record, followed by McGwire's 70 and Sammy Sosa's 66 both from 1998.
That means Raleigh hit the most home runs in a single calendar year by a player who has never been connected to the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
During the regular season, Raleigh became the fourth player in AL history to hit 60 home runs. Along the way, he smashed the records for most home runs in a season by a Mariners player, surpassing Ken Griffey Jr.'s mark of 56 homers in 1997 and 1998; the MLB single-season record for most homers by a switch-hitter, surpassing Mickey Mantle's 54 homers in 1961; and the MLB single-season record for most homers by a catcher, surpassing Salvador Perez's 48 homers in 2021.
Raleigh and Judge are the top two candidates this year for the AL MVP award, which Judge has won two of the last three seasons. The MVP award winners for both the AL and NL will be announced in November after the conclusion of the World Series.