There's a new MLB walk-off home run record

If it feels like this season has seen more than its share of wild finishes and late heroics, that's because it has -- to a record-breaking extent.
When Houston's Tyler White hit a walk-off homer in the ninth inning of the rubber game between the Astros and A's on Wednesday, he not only added another twist in a wild American League West divisional race, but he also wrote another chapter in Major League Baseball's record books, as his blast was the 81st walk-off homer in baseball this year, setting a new single-season record.
The previous record of 80 walk-off homers was set in 2004, which was equaled late Tuesday night when the Yankees' Neil Walker capped a five-run comeback against the White Sox with a ninth-inning homer off Dylan Covey.

And there's still more than a month to play in the 2018 season.
There were 5,451 total homers hit in the Major Leagues in 2004, and entering play Wednesday, Major Leaguers had hit 4,566 in 2018. The league is currently on pace to top the '04 total by around 150 long balls. But while relievers allowed a homer roughly every 37.6 plate appearances in '04, they're yielding a dinger approximately every 35.5 plate appearances this year.