Unbelievable Home Run Records That Changed Baseball Forever—Can Anyone Break Them?

The post The Most Home Runs in a Season and Career appeared first on Opta Analyst.
To say the Twins’ 307 homers were unexpected is an understatement after they only hit 166 a season earlier. But in 2019, five Twins slugged at least 30 – Nelson Cruz with 41, then Max Kepler (36), Miguel Sano (34), Eddie Rosario (32) and Mitch Garver (31). Meanwhile, the Yankees had an MLB-record 14 players reach double figures in home runs hit, led by Gleyber Torres (36) and Gary Sanchez (34).

The place to be in the 2019 season was the seating beyond the outfield fences. The 30 Major League Baseball teams combined to belt the most home runs in history – 6,776, or 10% more than the next-highest season of 6,105 in 2017.

While Maris hit his 61st homer on the final day of a 154-game schedule in 1961, Judge tied the fellow New York Yankee in the 155th game of the 162-game 2022 season and reached 62 in the 161st game. The different length in seasons is not an issue to Roger Maris Jr., who was in attendance when McGwire first passed his father and later Judge, and he says Judge’s 62 – not Bonds’ 73 – should be considered the major league record.

McGwire was the first to surpass Roger Maris’ previous single-season record of 61 home runs in 1961, hitting his 62nd of the 1998 season on Sept. 8. The St. Louis Cardinal homered off Chicago Cubs right-hander Steve Trachsel with a low, searing line drive down Busch Stadium’s left field line.

Albert Pujols is the fourth and only other member of MLB’s 700-homer club, as he finished his career with 703. There are nine players with at least 600 and 28 with at least 500.

Single-Season Home Run Record: 73 – Barry Bonds (2001)

Way back in 1884, the origins of the Cubs – the Colts, then the White Stockings – began a run of eight straight seasons in which they led the league in home runs.

It happened previously when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were swinging for the National League and major-league records in 1998 and three year later when Barry Bonds surpassed Big Mac for the all-time mark.

McGwire wound up with a record 70 home runs that season, only to be surpassed by Bonds three years later. The San Francisco Giant slugged No. 71 to right-center of then-Pacific Bell Stadium off Los Angeles Dodgers righty Chan Ho Park on Oct. 5, 2001. He added two more in the Giants’ final regular-season series for 73.

Bonds’ 762? Not so much (seriously, just ask somebody to name Bonds’ career total).

Later, the Yankees did the same for six consecutive seasons (1936-41) in the American League.

Most Home Runs in a Career in MLB History: 762 – Barry Bonds

What about at the team level?

The list of leaders is not as embraced as it should be because the top six spots were secured by Barry Bonds, McGwire and Sosa over a four-year span (1998 to 2001) that was at the height of a steroids-filled era in Major League Baseball. Since then, the validity of those home run totals have often been called into question.

Research support provided by Josiah Sukumaran of Stats Perform. Enjoy this? Subscribe to our mailing list to receive exclusive weekly content.

The Twins had one fewer homer than the Yankees to begin the final day of 2019 regular season, but in a 5-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals, C.J. Cron, Jake Cave and Jason Castro (the team’s 307th overall) combined for three compared to Aaron Judge’s solo home run in the Yankees’ 6-1 loss to the Texas Rangers.

Four of the top five in the rankings also occurred that year: the Minnesota Twins slugging a single-season home run record of 307 to edge the Yankees (306), with the Houston Astros (288) third and the Los Angeles Dodgers (279) fourth. Each team surpassed the Yanks’ 267 homers in 2018.

But in 2023, the Atlanta Braves set an NL record and tied the Twins’ mark with 307 home runs. Marcell Ozuna reached 40 homers on the record-tying bomb. And the Braves had three hitters in its lineup with as many long balls: Matt Olson (54) and Ronald Acuna Jr. (41) being the others.

The total being hit has soared over time, appropriately like a long ball traveling toward an outfield fence, and keeping the home run as one of the more celebrated statistics in sports history.

Although Barry Bonds never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs or ever admitted to using them, consider the effect of his stained era on the three-highest home run totals in history:

Whose hitters have gone yard most often?

From Hank Aaron to Jim Thome and from Mickey Mantle to Ken Griffey Jr., which hitters have been going yard most often? We dive into the record books to explore the top MLB home run leaders in baseball history.

Most Team Home Runs in a Season: 307 – Two Teams Tied

As Aaron Judge struggled for nearly a week in 2022 to hit his 62nd home run, the most home runs of all time in the American League, baseball fans stayed glued to one at-bat after another in hopes of seeing the historic moment.

It turns out, everybody digs the long ball. It’s also no surprise the highest paid players are all big-hitters who consistently hit home runs and RBIs and get fans to their feet.

It is unlikely these numbers will be matched any time soon. The most by an active player entering the 2023 season is Miguel Cabrera with 507, followed by Nelson Cruz (459), Giancarlo Stanton (378) and Mike Trout (350).

What is it about the crack of a bat sending a baseball soaring that keeps millions of us hooked, breathless, and glued to every pitch? Take Aaron Judge in 2022: he labored through nearly a week to notch his 62nd home run—the American League record—turning every at-bat into a nail-biting spectacle. Remember Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa’s chase in ’98 or Barry Bonds’ puzzling yet unforgettable ascent to 73 homers in 2001? Sure, the “steroids era” clouds some of those numbers with suspicion, but the thrill? Oh, it’s still authentic. Everyone—whether a diehard or casual fan—adores the long ball, and it’s no coincidence that the roster of the highest-paid players doubles as a lineup of home run kings. The obsession with power hitting is as ingrained in baseball as peanuts and Cracker Jacks. But which legends—Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Ken Griffey Jr.—have truly etched their names atop the home run hierarchies? And when will we next witness such thunderous power, considering the ripple effects of juiced balls, shifting strike zones, and ballparks designed for dingers? Let’s unpack the story behind the stats, unearth the history, and dig into the raw numbers that map baseball’s grand quest for the most home runs in a season and career. Ready to swing for the fences with me? LEARN MORE.

Hank Aaron’s 755 and Babe Ruth 714 home runs are well-known numbers, ranking second and third, respectively.

Today, it feels as though every team is banging home runs at a staggering level. Smaller parks, perhaps a smaller strike zone, juiced ball – juiced players, at one point – there could be many reasons the overall totals have elevated like a hanging Jamie Moyer cutter getting squared up. (Sorry Jamie, but you did surrender the most home runs in MLB history: 522)
Of course, that streak must have irked their old rivals so much that the Brooklyn Dodgers went on to post seven seasons in a row (1949-55) as the NL leader in round-trippers.