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Twins' Josh Donaldson Scores 2 Millionth Run in MLB History
May 29, 2021
Minnesota Twins star Josh Donaldson crossed home plate for the 685th time in his career Saturday against the Kansas City Royals, scoring the two millionth run in Major League Baseball history.
Nelson Cruz drove Donaldson in from second on a ground-rule double in the first inning of the American League Central matchup 145 years after Boston Red Stockings catcher Tim McGinley became the first player to score in the first game of the 1876 season.
Dustin Morse @morsecodeConfirmed by @MLB - Josh Donaldson scored the 2,000,000th run in baseball history. <br><br>The first run scored came April 22, 1876. According to @thorn_john the run was plated by Tim McGinley (Boston Red Stockings). <br><br>He scored in the top of the 2nd in the 1st game of the 1st season.
The spike in offense in baseball's history is easy to spot just by looking at runs scored. Houston Astros outfielder Bob Watson was credited with scoring the one millionth run in 1975—though that stat remains contested—99 years after MLB's first season. It took just 46 years for MLB's next million runs to be scored.
It's the second major milestone in league history in the last two weeks.
Seattle Mariners catcher Jose Godoy became the 20,000th player to appear in an MLB game on May 21.
Céspedes Family BBQ @CespedesBBQ20,000th player in MLB history: José Godoy<br><br>- signed w/ STL in July '11 out of VZ; $200K signing bonus<br>- spent 9 years w/ STL; reached Triple-A in '19; at alt site in '20<br>- elected FA, signed w/ SEA in Nov. '20<br>- OF COURSE THE 20,000TH PLAYER IN MLB HISTORY IS A BACKUP CATCHER!!! pic.twitter.com/YC8TlMuttL
"What does it mean, two million runs?" John Thorn, MLB's official historian told David Waldstein of the New York Times. "Absolutely nothing. But that's what makes it fun."
For a sport that encourages statheads to dig through decades of box scores, Donaldson and Cruz join McGinley and Watson among baseball's best trivia answers.