More Home Runs than Strikeouts in a Single Season

[scotty21690]

Was on baseball reference this morning and saw an interesting blog post. It showed all of the players who had more home runs than strikeouts in a single season. (Min. 20 HRs.....no love for Joe Sewell )


MORE HRS THAN KS (LINK)


You guys will see a lot of big names on this list: Williams, Dimaggio, Gehrig, etc...as well as some that may surprise you (Kluszewski).

This feat has only been accomplished twice since 1956. So the question is:


Will it ever happen again?

Doesn't even have to be 20+ HRs, but a full season (300+ PA).

 

[braden]

Ryan Howard thinks this is a stupid post.

 

[muskiesfan]

Impressive list. I must admit, I am a big Reds fan so of course I am a fan of Big Klu, but I was surprised to see him on the list. He's on there 3 or 4 times.

I would say it will happen again. It may be awhile, but I am sure that it will happen again.

 

[scotty21690]

Ryan Howard thinks this is a stupid post.

Ha, as do many of the other power hitters in the league.

Surprisingly Albert Pujols came VERY close in 2006, 49 home runs to 50 strikeouts.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

No

 

[Dice-K Collector]

yep.

 

[mannyramirezcollec]

Bonds did it in 04

editidnt look at the list ,my bad ::facepalm::

 

[braden]

yep.

Since you put it that way, I agree.

 

[NYCrulesU]

It could happen again.

 

[scotty21690]

Impressive list. I must admit, I am a big Reds fan so of course I am a fan of Big Klu, but I was surprised to see him on the list. He's on there 3 or 4 times.

I would say it will happen again. It may be awhile, but I am sure that it will happen again.

Yeah I was actually surprised to see him on there because I always thought of him as a power hitter (obv). I just assumed that being a power hitter he must have struck out a decent amount of times. Boy was I wrong!


Being that the pitchers of today throw as hard as they do and can really fool batters, combined with the mentality of "chicks dig the longball" makes me think that I don't believe it will happen again. For it to happen, a batter must hit a lot (or a decent amt) of HRs and strike out very few times. That is a VERY rare combo. Then you look at hitters who have a high AB/K rate, and you see a Polanco/Pierre type hitter who does not hit many HRs at all.

Because Pujols(06') and Gwynn(98') were VERY close, I will say it's possible but unlikely.

 

[scotty21690]

For those of you who say "yes"...is there a current MLB player that you think could potentially accomplish this? Or you just think it will one day happen again? What type of player?

It has only happened twice in the past ~55 years, so it's definitely not easy to do. Pujols would be the guy to do it, but his Ks have gone up every season from that 50 K season, so I would count him out. Doubt he is going to hit 60+ HRs.

 

[Lifelongfan]

Very impressive list----Tommy Holmes stats are almost unbelievable.

 

[Lifelongfan]

List of possible players

Ichiro
Pierre
Polanco

 

[scotty21690]

Very impressive list----Tommy Holmes stats are almost unbelievable.

5th all time in career AB/SO. Impressive indeed. Only behind: Joe Sewell(obviously), Lloyd Waner(many believe that he should not be in the HOF), Joe Start(if you want to count pre WWI players), and Nellie Fox.

EDIT: I don't believe any of those 3 hit nearly enough HRs, even though they strike out very few times.

 

[mudflap02]

Mark Reynolds doesn't understand the question, and he struck out while he was trying to answer it.

 

[scotty21690]

Mark Reynolds doesn't understand the question, and he struck out while he was trying to answer it.

Thanked.

 

[smapdi]

I don't see why not. Someone could come along and have a 35/35-type season. Trouble is, you get a guy who hits 35 homers, he realizes every homer over 30 is worth about a half-million dollars a year in free agency, so he bangs away.

Anyway, I think it'd be a guy like Wade Boggs in 1987, someone who has a good eye and usually low Ks who has a breakout power season all of a sudden. It probably won't happen the other way, a power hitter suddenly not missing a lot. Although, even a guy like Vlad Guerrero has come sort of close with a career low of 48 Ks (2005) and a high of 44 HRs (2000), though there was a discrepancy in games played. Plus, it seems like it's OK for even leadoff hitters to have 150 Ks these days (like my boy).

Most surprising thing about that list is the presence of Ted Kluszewski not once but 4 times, and Yogi Berra 5 times. Except for Joe D (7 times), they did it most often.

 

[TomMurry]

Mark Reynolds doesn't understand the question, and he struck out while he was trying to answer it.

Its because he was using Adam Dunn's bat.

 

[George_Calfas]

Pujols cements his 30Mil/8yr deal with 55HRs and 50Ks.

 

[fkw]

Great Post, Ive been using the stat for many years as the Best example of a pure power/contact hitter.

Thats why I always put Yogi Berra as the top Catcher of All Time, very impressive doing this feat 5 times in your career (6 if you count ties), especially when youre 5'8" in high heels.
DiMaggio basically did it for his entire career, another reason I put Joe in the top 5 hitters of all time.

They should have put the entire list, some of the most impressive ones will be below the 20 HR mark, like Sewell's 11 HRs and only 3 strikeouts in 576 plate appearances.

Ive known and respected Klu for this feat since I was a kid, He actually did this feat 5 years in a row!
I always though he should have been a HOFer. 365 strikeouts in 15 seasons. If he only had more complete season near the end of his career to pad his good numbers.

Bonds really almost did it 2 times, Pujols has a very good chance to do it.