Not Josh-ing about a four-homer night

Thanks to Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox and Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers, the 2012 season has become the first in major league history to feature both a perfect game and a four-homer game. To think, in his first five plate appearances Monday night, Hamilton went 0-for-3 with two walks. But since the ninth inning of that game, he is 6-for-6 with a double, five homers and 10 RBIs. That is beyond ridiculous. The Orioles fans at Camden Yards were very classy to give Hamilton a huge ovation after he hit his fourth homer last night. He, in turn, made some classy comments about the Baltimore fans after the game. Here are some other topics worth noting and debating from last night: * The Orioles really couldn't or shouldn't have possibly walked Hamilton until maybe his last at-bat. There is nothing to discuss about his first three trips to the plate, which did not call for walks at all. His fourth time up came with a 5-1 score and one out in the seventh with a man on first. They were not going to walk him there to put a runner in scoring position in a game they still were very much in at that point. Hamilton also came up with a man on first and one out in the eighth in an 8-1 game and they pitched to him there and he hit homer No. 4. * A fan said to me on Twitter last night that an Oriole pitcher should plant one in Hamilton's back tonight. Why? Because he kicked their butt? He did his job and there is absolutely no reason to throw at Hamilton tonight. * So what should O's pitchers do with Hamilton the rest of this series? Well, quite possibly pitch around him when they can, but when they can't, they simply have to try and make the perfect pitch on the corner to the guy at this point. Leave anything in the middle of the plate at your own risk. * When you think about it, the Orioles have been involved in two remarkable games in the last three days. You just never know what you might see in baseball. One day, you could see a 17-inning game where a position player pitches and gets the win. Two days later, you could see a four-homer game. Remarkable. * It is also remarkable to me that Rocky Colavito's name has come up now twice in three days in connection with the Orioles. The last American League position player, before Chris Davis, to get the win in a game was Colavito on Aug. 25, 1968 for the Yankees against Detroit. Before last night, the only other player to ever hit four homers in one game against the Orioles was Colavito on June 10, 1959 for Cleveland against the Orioles at Memorial Stadium. * According to the media guide, the Orioles, who have never had a player hit four homers in one game, have had players hit three in a game 18 times. The last to do it was Nick Markakis against Minnesota on Aug. 22, 2006. Don Baylor is listed as the only Oriole to ever hit homers in four consecutive at-bats and he did that over two games on July 1-2, 1975, hitting one at Boston and three the next day at Detroit. That tied the major league record. By the way, this article from the Baltimore Sun of June 11, 1995, states that Jeff Manto once homered in four consecutive at-bats for the Orioles. Not even Hamilton has done that. After hitting one in the ninth Monday, he homered in the first and third last night for three homers in a row, but then a double followed before he hit two more. Hamilton is now batting .406 on the year with 14 homers and 36 RBIs. He has hit 12 homers over his last 19 games. There are some nights in sports where we just witness an athlete doing something so special and remarkable that we will likely remember it forever. Tuesday was one of those nights in Baltimore.