When four Boston hitters connected consecutively off Yankees rookie Chase Wright Sunday night, it was the fifth time in major league history that four hitters in a row have homered.

The first time was on June 8, 1961, when four Milwaukee Braves teed off on a pair of Cincinnati hurlers. Then it happened in consecutive seasons in 1963-64 and 2006-07. Only J.D. Drew has been a contributor to two of those historic games.

Milwaukee Braves, 6/8/61
Eddie Mathews
Hank Aaron
Joe Adcock
Frank Thomas

Cleveland Indians, 7/31/63
Woodie Held
Pedro Ramos
Tito Francona
Larry Brown

Minnesota Twins, 5/2/64
Tony Oliva
Bob Allison
Jimmie Hall
Harmon Killebrew

Los Angeles Dodgers, 9/18/06
Jeff Kent
J.D. Drew
Russell Martin
Marlon Anderson

Boston Red Sox, 4/22/07
Manny Ramirez
J.D. Drew
Mike Lowell
Jason Varitek

There’s a connection between one of the early games and Boston’s big night on Sunday. Tito Francona, who roamed the outfield for Cleveland in the early 1960s and homered in the 1963 contest, is the father of current Red Sox manager Terry Francona.

One of STATS’ baseball historians, Don Zminda, pointed out another connection, this one between the first four-homer surge and Boston’s 7-6 victory over the Yankees Sunday. After Mathews, Aaron, Adcock and Thomas homered in succession for the Braves in 1961, it was Yankees manager Joe Torre, then a catcher with Milwaukee, who grounded out to end the run of longballs.

It’s not likely that fans will recall Torre and the others who ended those historic home-run binges, so for no particular reason, they get a mention here:

1961: Joe Torre grounded out third to first. Despite the five-run outburst in the seventh inning, the Braves still trailed and lost 10-8 to the Reds. Mathews was 4-for-4 with two homers. Lefty Warren Spahn also homered, but took the loss.

1963: Willie Kirkland singled for Cleveland’s fifth straight hit. The sixth-inning homers came with two outs, then Kirkland and Jerry Kindall added singles in Cleveland’s 9-5 win over the Angels.

1964: Earl Battey struck out, but by then, the Twins had taken a 7-3 lead over the A's in the 11th inning. Oliva and Killebrew homered twice in the game, and the six dingers brought home all seven runs.

2006: Julio Lugo flew out to center after the four homers tied the game 9-9 in the bottom of the ninth. The Dodgers went on to beat the Padres, 11-10 in 10 innings, when Nomar Garciaparra hit a two-run walkoff bomb.

2007: Wily Mo Pena struck out, ending the Red Sox’s third, after Ramirez, Drew, Lowell and Varitek delivered with two outs. Boston went up 4-3 in the inning and held on for a 7-6 victory.

So, who is the one pitcher among the 19 home run hitters?

It’s Pedro Ramos, the flamboyant right-hander of the 1963 Indians. Known as the Cuban Cowboy for his love of Western clothing, Ramos collected two of his 15 career home runs on July 31, 1963. He kicked off the scoring for the Indians with a solo shot in the third before figuring in Cleveland’s historic sixth frame. If that wasn’t enough, Ramos had one of his best days on the mound, as well. He fanned 15 Angels over 8.1 innings. He might have gone the distance if he hadn’t put so much into his appearances at the plate.