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This story was originally published on June 25. We're sharing it again now after Cal Raleigh became the first catcher to win the MLB Home Run Derby.
Long before Cal Raleigh was a national sensation, when he was still making his way through the minor leagues, various scouting reports described him as “burly,” a “bigger-bodied guy,” or even a “certified Big Boy.” But this year, as the 28-year-old’s star has formed, risen, and exploded thanks to his historic home-run-hitting pace, he’s gained a new nickname that’s stuck: Big Dumper.
Mariner fans have been referring to Raleigh by this cheeky moniker—a nod to his, ahem, rather large posterior—for years now. Former Mariner outfielder Jarred Kelenic first coined the name in 2020, when both players were prospects practicing with the big club after the minor-league season was cancelled due to COVID. But with Raleigh now in the midst of perhaps the greatest season by a catcher in MLB history, the general public is finally catching on. “Anything that’s posted or printed about me most of the time has something to do with the Big Dumper,” Raleigh told me, laughing, over a recent Zoom call. “Then after that it says Cal Raleigh.” (His mother, for the record, thinks the nickname stinks.)
This is all good fun for Raleigh, who leads the league in home runs—yes, more than Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani—and runs batted in, and still has over half the season left to continue obliterating the record book. His 32 long balls are the most ever by a switch hitter before the All-Star break. When his 30th homer cleared the fence on June 21, he joined Seattle deity Ken Griffey Jr. as the only Mariners to reach that milestone this early in the year.
What has Raleigh been doing differently to become such a lethal force in the batter’s box? The key, he said, has been staying consistent and not changing any part of his gameday preparation. But when you’re outpacing household names like Judge and Ohtani, it begs the question: Did even the Big Dumper himself think he was capable of all this? “Maybe not to this extent,” he admitted. “I knew I was strong and could hit a few balls out of the park, but maybe not to this level.” That level includes six multi-homer games already, including one at Wrigley Field, where his second smash of the day left the stadium entirely.
When asked to pick a favorite tater from this year’s batch, Raleigh shouted out two. The first was one he golfed over the right-field wall in Texas with the bases loaded—“Grand slams are always good,” he shrugged—and the other was a no doubter off future Hall of Fame closer Kenley Jansen. By the way, the single-season record for home runs by a catcher belongs to Salvador Perez, who mashed 48 of them in 2021. If he continues at this pace, Raleigh will finish the season with 67, which would not only shatter Perez’s mark, it’d be the most in American League history. Move over, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Alex Rodriguez. A man with a bootylicious nickname is doing things you could only dream of.
Raleigh, currently playing his fifth season with the Mariners, hails from North Carolina. He played his collegiate ball at Florida State University, which meant that up until getting drafted by the Mariners, he had spent his entire life south of the Mason-Dixon line. When he got called up to the majors in 2021 and experienced life up north for the first time, he said the hardest adjustment was getting used to the Pacific Northwest’s lack of air conditioning. Now, as one of the faces—and, sorry, the rears—of the Mariner franchise, Raleigh has gotten used to seeing his jersey in the seats. Not in a traditional sense, though.
“In the stadium, you see more Big Dumper jerseys than you do Raleigh jerseys,” he said. “I think they were getting a lot of requests, so they just sell them on the rack now. Apparently they sold out. Someone brought a jersey for me to sign the other day and they said all the adult sizes were out.” (Mere hours after speaking with Raleigh, I learned my cousin is the proud owner of a Big Dumper jersey.)
One would imagine that the demand for Big Dumper threads will only continue to grow, both because Raleigh seemingly demolishes a new baseball every single night, and because he signed a long-term extension with the Mariners before the season. After ditching mega-agent Scott Boras, Raleigh signed with Excel Sports Management, who helped negotiate the six-year, $105 million deal that will keep him in Seattle through the end of the decade. As a younger Dumper, he lived with Mariner pitcher Logan Gilbert and then-teammate Taylor Trammell in a shared apartment. “We enjoyed it, living that roommate lifestyle,” Raleigh recalled. “None of us were married. Just hanging out, being boys.”
Since then, he’s upgraded to renting a place by himself, and now that he’s got some security about his future, he’s looking to buy. If you end up being neighbors with Cal Raleigh, just know that he’s had every rump-related bit thrown at him already. “Whenever someone wants me to sign a bobblehead, they want me to do it on the butt,” he said with a smile. “People will bring a Tonka dump truck. They want me to sign the dump truck.”
The Mariners gave away a Big Dumper seat cushion as a promotional item last season, and he also filmed an ad championing the fictional Big Dumper Trucking company. The business’ slogan? We’ve got junk in the trunk. With the out-of-nowhere home run onslaught—Raleigh has always been a power hitter, but he could surpass his entire home run total from last season by the end of the week—comes All-Star and MVP buzz, but also a slew of sponsorships. Raleigh has partnered with some big-money brands like T-Mobile and Nintendo, but he also has a beer named after him—the Everett, Washington-based Scuttlebutt Brewing will release the Big Dumper Beer in August—as well as the Call Me CAL-iente wrap at Evergreens, a local salad chain.
As both his celebrity and net worth have increased, Raleigh has also become more fashion conscious. “I think it comes with the territory,” he explained. “You get ragged on if you’re dressing sloppy. You gotta play the part: look professional, be professional. I try to wear a collar every day for the most part. I’ve definitely upgraded and gotten some nice clothes.” Of course, buying clothes to fit the Big Dumper is no easy task. “As long as it stretches, I’m a big fan.”
With the MLB season nearing its halfway point, Raleigh is trying not to think too much about the All-Star Game, where he is a lock to be the American League’s starting catcher. But this year’s festivities are being hosted by the Atlanta Braves—the de facto hometown team for all of the American South—and Raleigh has acknowledged the kismet of potentially playing his first Midsummer Classic just a short drive away from family and friends. “Fingers crossed, we still gotta get there,” he began. “But it is kind of funny in a way. I spent so much time in the Atlanta area playing baseball. Everything came back around.”
If and when Raleigh is behind the plate as an All-Star, he’ll be ready for whatever little comments the National League hitters make about his derrière. Because at this point in his ascendant career, the name’s Dumper…Big Dumper. Or at least, some variation of that.
“It’s Dumper, Dumpy, Big Dumps,” he said. “Everyone’s got their own little version. It’s what I am now.”