The first of a few for Richie Ashburn

Richie Ashburn leads off the Philadelphia Phillies' game at the Polo Grounds 76 years ago today with the first home run of his Hall of Fame career.

The singles-hitting Ashburn totals only 29 homers during his 15 seasons in the major leagues.

This homer one comes off the New York Giants’ Thornton Lee and accounts for the only run in the Phillies’ 7-1 loss in a Saturday afternoon game before a crowd of 18,843 at the Polo Grounds.

The drive also is one of seven inside-the-park homers Ashburn hits in a career that ends in 1962 with the New York Mets.

Seven of Ashburn’s 29 homers come in that last season with the expansion Mets with five of his final six being poked down the ridiculously short, 258-foot right-field line at New York’s Polo Grounds.