50+ Single Season HR Club

MansGame · Oct 2, 2012

I was doing some reading on MLB records, etc. and came across the list of players who have hit 50+ HRs in a single season and I guess I never realized how big of an accomplishment it truely is consideing how few times it's been done. I also look down the list and PEDs seems to just JUMP out at me but this is what the record books show today...

42 - Number of times it's been done
26 - Number of different players to do it
9 - Number of players to do it more than one time, including:

2x - Jimmie Fox
2x - Ken Griffey Jr.
2x - Ralph Kiner
2x - Mickey Mantle
2x - Willie Mays
3x - Alex Rodriguez
4x - Mark McGwire
4x - Babe Ruth
4x - Sammy Sosa

Here is the complete list via baseball-reference.com:

Rank	Player (age that year)	Home Runs	Year	Bats	HR Log
1.	Barry Bonds (36)	73	2001	L	HR Log
2.	Mark McGwire (34)	70	1998	R	HR Log
3.	Sammy Sosa (29)	66	1998	R	HR Log
4.	Mark McGwire (35)	65	1999	R	HR Log
5.	Sammy Sosa (32)	64	2001	R	HR Log
6.	Sammy Sosa (30)	63	1999	R	HR Log
7.	Roger Maris (26)	61	1961	L	HR Log
8.	Babe Ruth+ (32)	60	1927	L	HR Log
9.	Babe Ruth+ (26)	59	1921	L	HR Log
10.	Jimmie Foxx+ (24)	58	1932	R	HR Log
	Hank Greenberg+ (27)	58	1938	R	HR Log
	Ryan Howard (26)	58	2006	L	HR Log
	Mark McGwire (33)	58	1997	R	HR Log
14.	Luis Gonzalez (33)	57	2001	L	HR Log
	Alex Rodriguez (26)	57	2002	R	HR Log
16.	Ken Griffey (27)	56	1997	L	HR Log
	Ken Griffey (28)	56	1998	L	HR Log
	Hack Wilson+ (30)	56	1930	R	HR Log
19.	Jose Bautista (29)	54	2010	R	HR Log
	Ralph Kiner+ (26)	54	1949	R	HR Log
	Mickey Mantle+ (29)	54	1961	B	HR Log
	David Ortiz (30)	54	2006	L	HR Log
	Alex Rodriguez (31)	54	2007	R	HR Log
	Babe Ruth+ (25)	54	1920	L	HR Log
	Babe Ruth+ (33)	54	1928	L	HR Log
26.	George Foster (28)	52	1977	R	HR Log
	Mickey Mantle+ (24)	52	1956	B	HR Log
	Willie Mays+ (34)	52	1965	R	HR Log
	Mark McGwire (32)	52	1996	R	HR Log
	Alex Rodriguez (25)	52	2001	R	HR Log
	Jim Thome (31)	52	2002	L	HR Log
32.	Cecil Fielder (26)	51	1990	R	HR Log
	Andruw Jones (28)	51	2005	R	HR Log
	Ralph Kiner+ (24)	51	1947	R	HR Log
	Willie Mays+ (24)	51	1955	R	HR Log
	Johnny Mize+ (34)	51	1947	L	HR Log
37.	Brady Anderson (32)	50	1996	L	HR Log
	Albert Belle (28)	50	1995	R	HR Log
	Prince Fielder (23)	50	2007	L	HR Log
	Jimmie Foxx+ (30)	50	1938	R	HR Log
	Sammy Sosa (31)	50	2000	R	HR Log
	Greg Vaughn (32)	50	1998	R	HR Log

Austin · Oct 2, 2012

What always amazed me is that Hank Aaron hit 755 home runs, but never hit 50 in a season.

MansGame · Oct 2, 2012

Austin said:
What always amazed me is that Hank Aaron hit 755 home runs, but never hit 50 in a season.

Wow, that is amazing... I didn't notice that!

TBTwinsFan · Oct 2, 2012

Greg Vaughn and Brady Anderson?

I haven't heard those names in a while.

uniquebaseballcards · Oct 2, 2012

The age information is fascinating. Nobody hit more than 50 homers after the age of 34 except for Bonds and McGwire... and they hit an unbelievable 73 and 65 respectively then.

cbrandtw · Oct 2, 2012

I remember when Cecil hit his 50th. It was HUGE news (No pun intended). It was only the second time it happened in the previous 25 years. Consider the next 22 years when it occurred 24 times. Pretty impressive feat by the big guy.

uniquebaseballcards · Oct 2, 2012

cbrandtw said:
I remember when Cecil hit his 50th. It was HUGE news (No pun intended). It was only the second time it happened in the previous 25 years. Consider the next 22 years when it occurred 24 times. Pretty impressive feat by the big guy.

+1 Also, like father like son.

MansGame · Oct 2, 2012

uniquebaseballcards said:
The age information is fascinating. Nobody hit more than 50 homers after the age of 34 except for Bonds and McGwire... and they hit an unbelievable 73 and 65 respectively then.

I too was looking at the age information... beyond what you pointed out, nearly 50% happened while guys were in their 20s vs 30s

cbrandtw said:
I remember when Cecil hit his 50th. It was HUGE news (No pun intended). It was only the second time it happened in the previous 25 years. Consider the next 22 years when it occurred 24 times. Pretty impressive feat by the big guy.

Wow, this is true... I would also point out how huge it was when Belle hit his 50th HR... then again, it was the first time any player went for 50/50, so that's impressive in itself

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