Harvey Pulliam hit eight ML home runs, two came in one game

Harvey Pulliam hit a total of eight home runs in his major league career, two of them in one game.

Of the two, hit on Aug. 27, 1991, one was the standard variety. The other was the inside-the-park variety. Pulliam preferred the standard variety.

"They're less strenuous. You don't have to run as hard," Pulliam told reporters after the game. "This was my first inside-the-parker. The ball kept rolling and I kept running."

Pulliam kept running, though not in the standard way, for parts of six major league seasons. He got into a total of 123 major league games, 59 of them coming in his final season, with the Rockies. In all those games, though, Pulliam only successfully ran for a stolen base once.

Pulliam started running, selected by the Royals in the third round of the 1986 draft, out of McAteer High in San Francisco. He played that first year in the rookie Gulf Coast League. He knocked in the game-winning run in an August game with a single. In early August, he extended a lead with a two-run home run.

He made AA with Memphis in 1989, getting a seven-game taste of AAA Omaha that year. Between them, he hit .285 with 10 home runs.

Pulliam returned to Omaha in 1990, hitting .268, with 16 home runs. He also helped Omaha to the AAA title that year. He also knocked home the first run in Omaha's clincher.

Starting 1991 back at Omaha, Pulliam made Kansas City by early August. He hit his first major league home run Aug. 13, giving the Royals a 1-0 lead against the Yankees.

Pulliam ended up playing in a total of 18 games for the Royals that year, hitting three home runs and batting .273.

He got just four games with Kansas City in 1992, then 27 more games in 1993. Going into 1993, Pulliam hit a two-run home run in spring training. He hit one in the regular season.

Moving to the Padres for 1994, Pulliam played the year at AAA Las Vegas. He returned to the majors with the Rockies in 1995, for five games. He got 10 more games with Colorado in 1996, then finally 59 in 1997.

He picked up a four-hit game in July. He then hit another two-run home run in a September 1997 game, helping the Rockies to a 4-1 win.

By 1998, Pulliam's time in the majors was done. He signed with the Diamondbacks, but soon was sold to Japan, playing with the Orix Blue Wave. With Orix, Pulliam hit a two-run home run in late March in a 7-2 win over Seibu.

Pulliam returned to the United States by 2000, playing with the Braves at AAA Richmond. He finished out his career in Mexico in 2001.

Originally published May 14, 2011

• Junction City Daily Union, wire service, Aug. 28. 1991: Royals score win over White Sox

More: The 1990 Omaha Royals