Jay Buhner

Jay Campbell Buhner (August 13, 1964-) was the first player in nearly thirty years to hit 40 home runs in three consecutive seasons accomplishing the feat from 1995-1997. Frank Howard topped the 40 HR mark from 1968-1970. The Atlanta Braves originally took Buhner in the ninth round of the 1983 MLB June Amateur Draft (he chose not to sign), and then the Pittsburgh Pirates selected Jay in the second round of the 1984 MLB January Secondary Amateur Draft and traded him to the New York Yankees that same year. Buhner played parts of two seasons with the Yankees (1987-1988) before finishing his 15-year career with the Seattle Mariners (1988-2001) where he played among a heavy hitting lineup that included Ken Griffey, Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Tino and Edgar Martinez. Jay had a penchant for swinging for the fences and often was among the league leaders in strikeouts – actually leading twice – but was also often among the league leaders in home runs. Jay helped the high-powered Mariners team reach the ALCS in 1995, 2000 and 2001, but never reached the World Series. Jay Buhner finished his career with a .254 career batting average, had 1,273 hits including 233 doubles and 319 home runs, scored 798 runs and drove in 965 runs, but struck out 1,406 times. In the field, he posted a .988 fielding percentage with 2,528 putouts, 100 assists, 27 double plays and 33 errors in 2,661 chances.