Kyle Schwarber’s home run on Monday evening was a lot like the 279 that preceded it.
The Philadelphia Phillies star blasted a 447-foot long ball to deep right center field that was a no doubter the instant it left his bat.
But home run number 280 carried special significance in IU circles.
With his Monday evening bomb, Schwarber now has more Major League Baseball home runs than any former Indiana University baseball player. He passed Ted Kluszewski, whose previous mark of 279 home runs stood for 63 years. Kluszewski hit his last MLB homer on Sept. 26, 1961.
The home run also tied Schwarber for seventh in MLB history, with Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx, for the most homers (127) through the first three seasons with any club.
Schwarber now has 34 home runs on the season and he has hit more than 30 for four straight seasons.
Kluszewski played one war time baseball season at IU in 1945 and hit .443. He also started for the 1945 IU football team that went undefeated and won the Big Ten. He led the MLB in home runs in 1954 with 49.
Schwarber hit home run 280 in 3,875 career at bats, while Kluszewski had 5,929 for his career. At .298, Kluszewski had a much better career batting average than Schwarber’s .230.
It will be a long time before anyone from IU catches Schwarber.
Alex Dickerson has the third-most home runs among former Hoosiers with 40. And he’s no longer in the MLB. In fact, there are no other former IU batters in the league.
