Aaron Hicks hit his second inside-the-park homer in two months after none in five years
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Aaron Hicks has really been earning his home runs in 2018. None of the 43 dingers he hit across five years prior to this season had been inside-the-parkers, but after Saturday night's game against the Royals, he now has two.
Back on April 13, Hicks homered twice off the Tigers' Mike Fiers, a performance that included the first inside-the-park homer of his career. Just a little over a month later, the switch-hitter struck again, this time from the other side of the plate and with Danny Duffy on the mound.
Hicks launched a fastball from Duffy deep down the right-field line at Kauffman Stadium. The ball landed just shy of the bleachers ...
... but still in play, bouncing off the top of the wall.
Jorge Soler fell to the ground on his leaping attempt as the ball caromed away, allowing Hicks to easily race around the bases for another inside-the-park homer.
Hicks' first inside-the-parker also featured a fortuitous bounce in right field, one that Leonys Martin could only watch fly off in a different direction:
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The similarities are even more apparent when the adventures around the bases are put next to each other:
Hicks made a little bit of Yankees history in the process, too. After becoming the first Yankee to hit an inside-the-parker in seven years back in April, he became their first player since Mickey Mantle in 1958 to hit more than one in a single season. Much like with Hicks, Mantle's inside-the-parkers came in an unusual flurry.
On May 9, the Mick hit an inside-the-park homer at Yankee Stadium off Pedro Ramos of the Washington Senators, his first since 1953. A mere 11 days later at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Mantle was at it again, as he circled the bases off Dick Donovan. To top it all off, Mantle got the hat trick on June 5 against Hall of Famer Early Wynn, when he victimized the White Sox once more back at home.
Hicks won't be able to notch three inside-the-parkers in a month like Mantle did during his improbable run, but if he gets even one more in 2018, he'll be the first player in 30 years to get three in one season:
Best of luck, Aaron.