RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. (KTXL) – In the entire history of the Sacramento State baseball program, only two men have hit 20 home runs in one season: JP Smith (2024) and Harvey Hargrove (1997).
“I specifically remember that because it’s the year I wanted to get drafted,” smiled Hargrove. “I wasn’t thinking about a home run record, to be honest. I was thinking about trying to get a doubles record that year because I was more of a gap-to-gap hitter.”
In 1997, Harvey Hargrove was a hitter with power.
He was a third team all-American that season: a .361 average, 26 home runs and 62 RBI. And he did get drafted, by the Seattle Mariners in the sixth round.
“Now, I’m at a point where I’m able to give back to the game,” said Hargrove. “I played it at a high level. I have struggled, you know. I have had the ups and downs that baseball brings.”
And he took some time off from baseball.
Harvey Hargrove played professionally for six years, then he stepped away from the game for about ten years. He worked in the corporate world for Coca-Cola and for Sleep Train.
“2017, actually a fellow Hall of Famer at Sac State, Aurelio Jackson, kind of like tugged on my coattail a little bit, brought me out to help some Little League dads in Folsom,” said Hargrove. “And from there, I started coaching in 2017.”
He is still coaching.
He coaches at CRC, and at BPA (Baseball Performance Academy) in Rancho Cordova. The latter is not too far from where Harvey Hargrove went to high school.
“I could have left, I could have gone to Santa Clara,” he said. “Ending up staying here in Sacramento so it’s almost like a homegrown kid. And now seeing JP (Smith), I know he is from West Sac, he played at Granite Bay.”
JP Smith is now a sophomore at Sacramento State. And he is two home runs away from becoming the Hornets’ all-time leader in career home runs.
“Man, I have been out to see him probably three or four times now at Sac State,” said Hargrove. “Where I really took notice was when I saw he had eight home runs through 12 games this year.
“The career mark, I am surprised it hasn’t been taken down yet, to be honest. But it still means a lot because my name is still there in the record books.”
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