Chris Gomez had a career total of 23 home runs as he began his fifth major league season on April 1, 1997. The 26-year-old shortstop was known much more for his glove than his bat.
But the home run Gomez hit to start the sixth inning on that opening day was not as unlikely as the one that followed — or the one after that.
The back-to-back-to-back shots from Gomez, Rickey Henderson and Quilvio Veras cut immediately into the New York Mets’ 4-0 lead and started an 11-run rally that propelled the Padres to a 12-5 win before 43,005 at Jack Murphy Stadium.