Print This List    Email to a Friend  

Progression of the MLB single-season HR record  
IN THE PAST 

Tags: MLB, home, run, homerun, HR, timeline, progression, years, seasons, over time, baseball, players, breaking, records

A timeline of the home run record and how it has been broken over the years:

	5, by George Hall, Philadelphia Athletics (NL), 1876 (70 game schedule)
	9, by Charley Jones, Boston Red Stockings (NL), 1879 (84 game schedule)
	14, by Harry Stovey, Philadelphia Athletics (AA), 1883 (98 game schedule)
	27, by Ned Williamson, Chicago White Stockings (NL), 1884 (112 game schedule) - Williamson benefitted from a very short outfield fence in his home ballpark, Lakeshore Park. During the park's previous years, balls hit over the fence in that park were ground-rule doubles, but in 1884 (its final year) they were credited as home runs. Williamson led the pace, but several of his Chicago teammates also topped the 20 HR mark that season. Of Williamson's total, 25 were hit at home, and only 2 on the road. Noticing the fluke involved, fans of the early 20th Century were more impressed with Buck Freeman's total of 25 home runs in 1899 or Gavvy Cravath's 1915 total of 24.
	29, by Babe Ruth, Boston Red Sox (AL), 1919 (140 game schedule) - Even with that relatively small quantity, and still pitching part-time, Ruth outslugged 10 of the other 15 major league clubs. The second-highest individual total was 12, by Gavvy Cravath of the Philadelphia Phillies. Ruth homered in every park in the league, the first time anyone had achieved that goal. Ruth was a pitcher by trade, and the ultimate exception to the axiom that "pitcher's can't hit". Ruth had led the league with 11 in 1918, despite playing only 95 games, and still in the "dead-ball" era. By 1919, after the War, the materials for baseballs began to improve and became naturally "livelier".
	54, Babe Ruth, New York Yankees (AL), 1920 (154 game schedule) - Ruth hit just a few more home runs on the road (26) than he had the previous year (20), but he hit far more (29) in the Polo Grounds in New York (where the Yankees played at the time) than he had in Fenway Park (9) in Boston the year before, as he took full advantage of the nearby right field wall, although he also hit many long drives at the Polo Grounds. Of the other 15 major league clubs, only the Philadelphia Phillies exceeded Ruth's single-handed total, hitting 64 in their bandbox ballpark Baker Bowl. The second-highest individual total was the St. Louis Browns' George Sisler's 19. Ruth's major-league record slugging percentage (total bases / at bats) of .847 stood for the next 80 years.
	59, by Ruth, New York (AL), 1921 (154 game schedule) - Ruth's slugging percentage was just .001 less than his record-setting average the previous year.
	60, by Ruth, New York (AL), 1927 (154 game schedule) - Ruth hit more home runs in 1927 than any of the other seven American League teams. His closest rival was his teammate Lou Gehrig, who hit 47 homers that year.
	61, by Roger Maris, New York (AL), 1961 (162 game schedule) - Pushing Maris that year was teammate Mickey Mantle; slowed by an injury late in the season, Mantle finished with 54. With the season being 8 games longer than in previous years, and official recordkeepers placing an apocryphal "asterisk" next to the record, many observers derided this situation as a major public relations gaffe by major league baseball.
	70, by Mark McGwire, St. Louis Cardinals (NL), 1998 (162 game schedule) - After an epic battle between McGwire and Ken Griffey, Jr., who both got into the 50s in 1997, many expected the two to take on Maris in 1998. However, the player that competed for the record with McGwire in 1998 was Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs, who propelled himself into the race with a record-setting 20 home runs that June. He would finish with 66 that season and actually led McGwire for approximately 45 minutes after hitting his 66th, until McGwire hit his own 66th, and four more in his final three games of the season. By then, the old records had been broken by McGwire (in 144 games - fewer than even the old 154 game season), removing any issue of season length.
	73, by Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants (NL), 2001 (162 game schedule) - In part due to 9/11 terrorist attacks, the then-recently set record of only three years by McGwire, and Bonds' poor relationship with the media and some fans, Bonds' record setting was not as publicized as the previous chases. Bonds' phenomenal slugging percentage of .863 broke the major league record set by Ruth in 1920. Bonds was initially chased closely by Sammy Sosa of the Cubs and Luis Gonzalez of the Arizona Diamondbacks, but Gonzalez faded late and finished with 57, while Sosa finished closer with 64 to become the first player to exceed 60 home runs in three separate seasons. McGwire was not a factor, in his final major season, with the injuries that had plagued him for much of his career finally taking their toll, although he still hit at a pace that would have put him near 50 if he had played a full season.

Lister: ListAfterList Wiki Contributors

Other lists of interest:

Progression of the MLB career HR record IN THE PAST  (0)

MLB Single-season HR record holders by Average HRs per game JUST THE FACTS  (0)

MLB Single Season Homerun Records BESTS  (0)

Most Home Runs by a Pitcher TOP #  (0)

MLB's 600 HR Club COOL  (0)

Rate it:
Give your rating for this list. One is the lowest score, five is the highest.

1.  2.  3.  4.  5. 

Add a Comment: Add your comments about the list. Enter your comment in the box below.