Baltimore Orioles Slugger Breaks Franchise Record That Stood for Over 40 Years

It's been an incredible season for one of the Baltimore Orioles sluggers, and he added to that by breaking a franchise record that stood for 45 years.

Aug 11, 2024; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Baltimore Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander (25) celebrates after he hit a home run during the fourth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field / Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles are trying to figure out how to get out of the current slump they're in.

Sitting with a 5-5 record over their last 10 games, they are now second place in the AL East standings entering Wednesday.

The offense has been sporadic and their pitchers continues to struggle, but there is still plenty of time left for them to find their form from when they were dominating opponents early in the season.

One player who has been on an absolute tear at the plate this year is Anthony Santander.

The star slugger set his career high in home runs when he blasted one 378 feet over the left center field wall in the eighth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays on August 7 which was his second of that game.

He added to his total on Tuesday when he hit his 36th homer of the year, but with that blast, he made Orioles franchise history.

+1000 aura pic.twitter.com/KRA3HtaDwE

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) August 13, 2024

Santander broke a record that was held by Ken Singleton since 1979.

What Baltimore is trying to accomplish this season is what Singleton's team did 45 years ago; go to the World Series.

Early on, it looked like the Orioles were one of the top contenders to be the American League representatives, but because of their rash of pitching injuries and inconsistent play, they are now fighting for the division lead.

"We're really inconsistent. We're giving up way too many runs. Tonight, I didn't think our at-bats were real good. We're not moving the line offensively enough. Our swings can get really big at times, and we need to improve on that," manager Brandon Hyde said after their 9-3 loss on Tuesday per Jake Rill of MLB.com.

But with Santander playing the way he is right now, if the rest of Baltimore's lineup can find their own swings at the plate, then they should return to being the offense that made them considered to be one of the favorites to win their fourth World Series title.