Last night Mike Cameron hit four home runs in four consecutive at-bats. Two of those dingers came in the first inning, when teammate Bret Boone, batting directly ahead of Cameron in the lineup, had just cleared the bases with long balls.

Boone and Cameron combining to hit back-to-back home runs twice in the first inning is even more unique than Cameron's four blasts. Cameron was the thirteenth player to hit four in a game, whereas no other pair of players have ever even hit two homers apiece in the same inning, let alone back-to-back in the first.

Unfortunately, we didn't turn on the television until after the first inning of the game, but we saw both Cameron's third and fourth homers live. In both cases, they were showing the replays of his prior at-bats, and then he hit another homer over the fence and it just seemed like another replay.

No one has ever hit five homers in a single game and Cameron certainly appeared to have a legitimate chance at accomplishing the feat after reaching four in only five innings. However, he was hit by a pitch during his at-bat in the 7th inning and flied out to rightfielder Jeff Liefer in the 9th.

I can't say I'm at all surprised that Mike Porzio plunked Cameron. The circumstances might be somewhat different given the historical possibilities of the situation, but it's hardly unusual for a guy to get nailed after hitting just one dinger. In any case, Porzio doesn't exactly have pinpoint control with a 7:10 K:BB in 10.2 IP, so the wayward pitch could have been simply an accident caused by the pressure of pitching to someone on such a roll, even if Cameron is Porzio's only hit batsman this season.

I was troubled when I read that Cameron took the 3-0 pitch in his last at-bat, despite realizing it was a strike that he felt he could have taken out of the park. Perhaps the claim was exaggerated, but if not I fail to agree that he was respecting the game by taking the pitch. Baseball is certainly a team sport, but exceptional individual performances normally contribute to the success of the team. Additionally, hitting a home run is unquestionably the most valuable possible result of an at-bat. Therefore, if you can hit the long ball, there is nothing selfish in swinging for the fences.

I also reject the unwritten rule of restricting efforts to score additional runs when your team has a large lead. Few leads in baseball can truly be called safe, and I find it disrespectful for players to ever purposefully limit their play.

Presuming he would have been able to go yard on that pitch, Cameron robbed baseball of an outstanding achievement and that should not be excused merely because he reached lesser excellence. I was quite disappointed after reading his remarks and couldn't help feeling cheated as a spectator waiting in anticipation of the potential record breaking ball, logically assuming that he was exerting maximum effort.

Aside from Cameron and Boone's home runs, teammate Jeff Cirillo also had a solo shot to lead off the ninth and Chicago's Carlos Lee and Royce Clayton both hit dingers. Players on the Mariners have a lot of history with the White Sox even aside from Seattle's sweep in 2000's Division Series. James Baldwin, the Seattle starter, was drafted by the Sox in the fourth round in 1990 and only left Chicago last season through a trade with the Dodgers for RHP Gary Majewski, LHP Onan Masaoka, and OF Jeff Barry. Ruben Sierra spent a year with the White Sox in 1998.

Chicago selected Cameron in the 18th round of the 1991 draft. However, he was then traded to Cincinnati in 1998 for Paul Konerko. Cameron went to Seattle with SS Antonio Perez, RHP Brett Tomko, and RHP Jake Meyer for OF Ken Griffey, Jr. The fact that his historical performance occurred in front of his old team must have been particularly sweet considering his displeasure when he was traded away from his first organization. Although the way Konerko has been playing, Cameron would be hard-pressed to make the Sox regret that trade.

The only other batters to hit 2 home runs yesterday were Corey Koskie and Sammy Sosa. Sosa also combined with Moises Alou for the only other back-to-back home runs of the night. Long balls were hit by 18 other players last night including: David Segui, Tony Batista, Jeff Conine, Tim Salmon, Eric Hinske, Jason Giambi, Bernie Williams, Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, Paul Lo Duca, Adam Dunn, Danny Bautista, Rafael Furcal, Richie Sexson, Henry Blanco, Cliff Floyd, Ramon Castro, and Alex S. Gonzalez.

The only game in which a home run was not allowed last night was played in Coors Field.

Hopefully, I'll be able to spend an article in the near future on my theories as to the drop in runs scored at Coors this season. Today's question of coincidence or conspiracy: shortly after reports were released announcing that home runs were down 18% in April and attendance was down 4.9% from last season, baseballs started leaving the parks again at a steady pace.

Many blamed the cold April for the decrease in offense, but that wouldn't explain the sudden increase, as at least in Chicago the weather has yet to warm up. The idea that the "new strike zone" is causing the reduction is even more ridiculous. Umpires actually seem to have virtually abandoned the 2001 goals, and these numbers are a decrease from last season when the new zone was first enforced and having the most impact.

Obviously, the decrease in attendance is likely due more to the off-season turnoff of contraction talk and the weather than the drop off in dingers. However, the past few years have proved that long balls put bodies in the seats. Perhaps with Mark McGwire out of the picture and Barry Bonds nursing a sore hamstring, baseball felt it was time to break out the juice packs again.