MIAMI (AP) — Barry Bonds. Sammy Sosa. Mark McGwire. Roger Maris. Babe Ruth.
And now Giancarlo Stanton.
The Miami slugger homered twice to become the sixth player to reach 59 in a season, and the Marlins opened the last series of Jeffrey Loria’s tenure as owner by beating the Atlanta Braves 7-1 on Thursday night.
“It’s crazy to be in that company,” Stanton said . “It doesn’t sink in yet. It doesn’t make sense, really, yet. But it’s really cool. It’s everything I’ve worked for and it’s something really cool.”
Stanton hit a solo home run in the fourth , then added a two-run drive in the eighth that would have gone 467 feet unimpeded, according to MLB’s Statcast.