Franchise First Home Runs by Baseball Almanac

Franchise First Home Runs

The franchise has been built. The stadium is in place. Which player's name will go down in the books as the first to ever hit a home run? The chart below shows famous first franchise home runs.

"(Wade) Boggs made a splash by socking the first home run in Devil Rays history, and in the relatively low-key environment of his hometown — he was an all-state kicker on the football team for Tampa's Plant High School — Boggs seemed virtually assured of reaching the 3,000-hit plateau." - James G. Robinson on BaseballLibrary.com

Franchise First Home Runs In Alphabetical Order
Franchise	Name	Date / Box	Inning	Notes
Angels	Ted Kluszewski	04-11-1961	1^st	Los Angeles
Angels	Jim Edmonds	04-02-1997	1^st	Anaheim
Astros	Jimmy Wynn	04-15-1965	9^th	Houston (after the Colt .45s)
Athletics	Reggie Jackson	04-10-1968	8^th	Oakland (not Philadelphia or KC)
Blue Jays	Doug Ault	04-07-1977	1^st
Braves	Joe Torre	04-12-1966	5^th	Atlanta (not Milwaukee or Boston)
Brewers	Danny Walton	04-11-1970	6^th
Cardinals	Cliff Carroll	04-12-1892	7^th	N.L. time (not A.A. time)
Colt .45's	Roman Mejias	04-10-1962	3^rd	Houston (before the Astros)
Cubs	Ross Barnes	05-02-1876	5^th
Devil Rays	Wade Boggs	03-31-1998	6^th
Diamondbacks	Travis Lee	03-31-1998	6^th
Dodgers	Dick Gray	04-16-1958	2^nd	Los Angeles (not Brooklyn Dodgers)
Expos	Dan McGinn	04-08-1969	4^th
Giants	Daryl Spencer	04-15-1958	4^th	San Francisco (not New York Giants)
Indians	Erve Beck	04-25-1901	2^nd
Mariners	Juan Bernhardt	04-10-1977	5^th
Marlins	Benito Santiago	04-12-1993	6^th
Nationals	Termel Sledge	04-04-2005	6^th	Washington (from Montreal)
Mets	Gil Hodges	04-11-1962	4^th
Orioles	Clint Courtney	04-15-1954	3^rd	Baltimore (not St. Louis Browns)
Padres	Ed Spiezio	04-08-1969	5^th
Phillies	Bill McClellan	06-20-1883	1^st
Pilots	Mike Hegan	04-08-1969	1^st
Pirates	Fred Carroll	05-02-1887	7^th	N.L. time (not A.A. time)
Rangers	Frank Howard	04-21-1972	1^st	Texas (not Washington Senators)
Red Sox	Buck Freeman	04-30-1901	9^th
Reds	Bug Holliday	04-19-1890	1^st	N.L. time (not A.A. time)
Rockies	Dante Bichette	04-07-1993	7^th
Royals	Mike Fiore	04-13-1969	2^nd
Tigers	Pop Dillon	04-29-1901	6^th
Twins	Bob Allison	04-11-1961	7^th	Minnesota (not Washington Senators)
White Sox	Frank Shugart	04-29-1901	8^th
Yankees	John Ganzel	05-11-1903	5^th	New York (not Baltimore Orioles)
Franchise	Name	Date / Box	Inning	Notes
Franchise First Home Runs

The next batter afterTed Kluszewski, who hit the first Angels home run in franchise history (on April 11, 1961), was Bob Cerv who also hit a home run — the first American League back-to-back franchise first home runs since 1901.

Did you know that the first franchise to ever have back-to-back franchise home runs was the Detroit Tigers? After Pop Dillon went deep on April 29, 1901, Kid Elberfeld homered also.

Do you know some of the earlier or later home runs? Share your research with us and we'll update the page to include defunct franchise or former team names.

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