MLB Home Run Trivia — Records, History & Facts

Barry Bonds holds the career record with 762. Hank Aaron is second with 755 — he held the record from 1974 until Bonds broke it in 2007. Babe Ruth is third with 714. Ruth held the career record from 1921 until Aaron broke it with his 715th home run on April 8, 1974 — one of the most scrutinised moments in American sports, given the death threats Aaron received throughout the chase.

Barry Bonds's 73 in 2001 is the NL record and the overall MLB record. The previous NL record was Hack Wilson's 56, set in 1930 — a record that stood for 68 years until both McGwire (70) and Sosa (66) broke it in 1998. Wilson's 1930 season also included 191 RBI — the all-time RBI record that still stands.

Babe Ruth led the AL in home runs 12 times — more than any player in history. Mike Schmidt leads all NL players with 8 HR titles. Ralph Kiner holds the record for consecutive titles: 7 straight NL crowns from 1946 to 1952. No player has come close to matching either Ruth's total or Kiner's streak.

Ruth set the record four times: 29 in 1919, 54 in 1920, 59 in 1921, and 60 in 1927. Each time he broke the record, he broke his own — from 1920 onward, he was in a race with himself. His 60 in 1927 stood as the record for 34 years until Roger Maris hit 61 in 1961.

Ruth was an elite pitcher for the Boston Red Sox from 1914 to 1919, posting a 2.28 career ERA. His pitching was so valuable that using him as an everyday hitter was considered a luxury the Red Sox couldn't afford. The Yankees acquired him and converted him to outfield — one of the most consequential decisions in sports history. His abbreviated pitching career means his hitting window was effectively shorter than most career sluggers.

The 1927 Yankees — called "Murderers' Row" — had Ruth (60 HR) and Lou Gehrig (47 HR) as the top two hitters. Their combined 107 home runs was more than the total for every other AL team except one. Gehrig's 47, in any other season, would have led the AL by a wide margin. The '27 Yankees are frequently cited as one of the greatest teams in baseball history.

Mantle was on pace to break Ruth's record before injuries sidelined him. He finished with 54 — which would have been the record in almost any other season. The Maris-Mantle duel was the biggest story in baseball that summer, with both men sharing an apartment in Queens during the chase. Fans generally preferred Mantle to break the record; the New York press was often hostile to Maris.

37 years — from 1961 until 1998, when both Mark McGwire (70) and Sammy Sosa (66) surpassed it. Ruth's 60 had stood 34 years; Maris's 61 lasted three years longer. No one came particularly close in between — the closest was George Foster's 52 in 1977 and Cecil Fielder's 51 in 1990.

Four players hit 50+ home runs in 1998: McGwire (70), Sosa (66), Ken Griffey Jr. (56), and Greg Vaughn (50) — the first time four players had done so in the same season. Both McGwire and Sosa also surpassed Maris's record of 61. The 1998 season is the only time in history where the top two home run hitters both finished above the previous all-time record.

Sosa won the NL MVP despite McGwire hitting more home runs (70 vs 66). Voters credited Sosa's more complete contributions to a playoff team (the Cubs won the Wild Card) and his better batting average and RBI totals. It remains one of the more debated MVP decisions — McGwire's 70 is the most home runs ever hit by a player who did not win the MVP.

In 1999, McGwire hit 65 and Sosa hit 63 — meaning both players hit 60+ home runs in back-to-back seasons simultaneously, a feat that has never occurred before or since. Combined, McGwire hit 135 home runs and Sosa hit 129 across those two seasons. Every single one of those totals would have been a new all-time record in any prior era of baseball.

Bonds hit his 70th home run to tie McGwire's record on October 4, 2001, and his 71st and 73rd on the last day of the regular season, October 7. His final total of 73 came on the last day — an appropriately dramatic ending. 2001 was also one of only two seasons where four players hit 50+ home runs (alongside 1998).

In 2004, Bonds received 120 intentional walks — a record — out of 232 total walks. Teams calculated that giving him a free base was preferable to risking a home run in almost any situation. His intentional walk totals from 2001 to 2004 are the four highest single-season totals in MLB history, all held by Bonds. The strategy was rational: his slugging percentage exceeded .800 in that stretch.

Bonds won 7 NL MVP awards — a record. He won four consecutively from 2001 to 2004. His first three came in 1990, 1992, and 1993 with the Pittsburgh Pirates — before the period most associated with performance-enhancing substance allegations. His career trajectory from excellent to historically unprecedented after age 35 is central to the ongoing steroid-era debate.

Raleigh is a catcher — the most physically demanding defensive position in baseball. No catcher in MLB history had previously hit more than 45 home runs in a season. The demands of catching (crouching, blocking pitches, throwing) make it extraordinary for any catcher to maintain elite offensive production. Raleigh's 60 shattered positional expectations and matched Babe Ruth's 1927 total exactly.

Ohtani is the only player in MLB history to win 10+ games and hit 40+ home runs in the same season (2021 and 2023). In 2021 he hit 46 home runs while also going 9-2 as a pitcher — a combination that had not been seen since Babe Ruth's early career with the Red Sox. His 2024 season (54 HR, no pitching due to Tommy John surgery) showed his pure hitting ability without the two-way demands.

Judge's 62 in 2022 ranks 7th on the all-time single-season list — below the six totals from the steroid era (Bonds 73, McGwire 70, Sosa 66, McGwire 65, Sosa 64, Sosa 63). His 58 in 2024 is also in the top 20. Among players generally considered to have competed clean, Judge's 62 is the highest single-season total in baseball history.