60 HOMERS CLUB, 2007 SEASON

Craig Brazell

ALEX and PRINCE have been in a slump. Rodriguez needs 2 homers and Fielder needs 3 before the ALL STAR break to stay on track for a chance at 60 homers this year.
CRAIG BRAZELL who plays for the OMAHA ROYALS of the Pacific Coast Leauge AAA (parent club: Kansas City)is the only other player in the minors or majors to have a PHR of over 50, but with two teams.

ALEX RODRIGUEZ has 28 home runs in 77 games for a PHR of 58.
Prince Fielder has 27 home runs in 79 games for a PHR of 55.
Craig Brazell has 29 home runs in 79 games for a PHR of 51(140 game season)

My odds of someone hitting 60 home runs this year is now 30%

60 HOMERS CLUB MEMBERS

INSIDE BASEBALL

The Little Show: One for the X-Files

In a season of inalienable glory, Roswell's Joe Bauman hit 72 homers

by Keith Olbermann

Posted: Wed August 26, 1998


Forrest (Frosty) Kennedy died three months ago, without so much as a moment of silence at any ballpark in the country. That was a shame, because on Sept. 6, 1956, Kennedy, then a 30-year-old first baseman for the Plainview (Texas) Ponies of the Class B Southwestern League, blasted his 60th home run of the season, against the San Angelo Colts. Kennedy was the last of three sluggers to hit 60 in '56. Dick Stuart of the Lincoln Chiefs of the Class A Western League, who would later destroy major league pitching—both as a batter and as Dr. Strangeglove at first base—and Ken Guettler of the Shreveport (La.) Sports of the Double A Texas League had both reached 60 in August. Guettler would finish with 62 homers and Stuart with 66, including 23 during a 28-game binge at midseason.


Bauman sent many objects flying out of Park Field. (Courtesy of Joe Bauman)

All of this underscores the fact that the monster homer season once wasn't such a rarity, at least not in the minors. In 1930 Joe Hauser socked 63 homers for the Double A Baltimore Orioles, then of the International League, and three years later he hit 69 for the Double A Minneapolis Millers of the American Association. Between his 31st and 35th birthdays Hauser averaged 53 homers a season.

The fascinating thing about these forgotten sluggers is that the American professional record for home runs in a season has virtually always been held by a minor leaguer. When Babe Ruth hit 54 for the 1920 Yankees, he surpassed Perry Werden's mark of 45 for the Minneapolis Miners of the Western League in 1895. Ruth extended the record to 59 in 1921, but a future teammate, second baseman Tony Lazzeri, answered with 60 for the Double A Salt Lake City Bees of the Pacific Coast League in '25. Before Ruth matched Lazzeri in '27, Moose Clabaugh of the Tyler Trojans of the Class D East Texas League hit 62 in '26.

Hauser and others would eventually surpass Clabaugh and Ruth. Bob Crues hit 69 for the Amarillo Gold Sox of the Class C West Texas-New Mexico League in 1948 (driving in 254 runs—take that Juan Gonzalez!), and Bob Lennon belted 64 for the Nashville Vols of the Double A Southern Association in 1954. But the king of home run hitters remains an obscure man named Joe Bauman who played for the Roswell (N.Mex.) Rockets. In '54 Bauman became the only one of the hundreds of thousands of men who have played professional baseball in the U.S to hit as many as 70 homers in one season. All the standard disclaimers apply: It was "just the minors," the Roswell Rockets' Park Field stood 3,573 feet above sea level, and most of the stadiums in the Class C (a step above Class D, then the lowest classification in the minors) Longhorn League were laid out to give hitters the advantage of the Southwest's fairly constant 15- to 20-mph winds. On the other hand, by '54 most minor league games were being played at night under feeble lights that favored the pitchers. The lefthanded-batting Bauman also had to contend with a 329-foot rightfield corner in Roswell. Most convincingly, the 6'5", 235-pound Bauman hit his 72 homers in 138 games, a rate that would have produced 85 of them in a 162-game schedule.

Bauman, who like Crues, Guettler and Kennedy never spent a day in the majors, didn't dwell on his achievements. The ball that he hit for his 72nd tater was on display at a Roswell museum, and when asked about it later in life, he'd explain, "I've never been over there, and I haven't seen it."

Wait a minute. The museum is in Roswell, N.Mex.? Near the site of the alleged UFO crash in 1947? You don't suppose....

Issue date: August 31, 1998

60 HOMERS CLUB, 2007 SEASON

This season has become a 2 man race between Alex Rodriquez and Prince Fielder.
Alex will most probily hit 30 homers by the All Stare break and stay on pace for 60 homers. In most cases HR leading hitters slow down thier pace in the second half of the season, so I now put Rodriguez odds of hitting 60 at 40%.

Alex Rodriguez has 28 homers in 74 games for a PHR of 61. Prince Fielder has 27 homers in 77 games for a PHR of 56. No other player has a PHR over 50 in the Majors and only 2 players have PHR's of 50.

Now I would like to show you the 1956/57 Class B SouthWestern Leauge. League President in 1956 was W.J. Green. The last two years of the S.W.L. were 1956 and 1957. It was in this Leauge that Frosty Kennedy hit 60 homers at his last at bat in 1956. The Plainview Ponies played 144 games that year.

Here are the citis represented, the team name, year(s) played and where they moved from:

* Ballinger, TX: Ballinger Westerners 1956-1957
*Carlsbad, NM: Carlsbad Potashers 1956-1957, Moved from Longhorn League
*Clovis, NM: Clovis Pioneers 1956, moved from West Texas-New Mexico League 1938- 1955; Clovis Redlegs 1957
*El Paso, TX: El Paso Texans 1956-1957, moved from W.T.N.M. League 1955
*Hobbs, NM: Hobbs Sports 1956-1957, moved from Longhorn League 1955
*Lamesa, TX: Lamesa Indians 1957
*Midland, TX: Midland Indians 1956-1957, moved from Longhorn League 1947-1955
*Pampa, TX: Pampa Oilers 1956-1957, moved from W.T.N.M. League 1939-1955
*Plainview, TX: Plainview Ponies 1956-1957, moved from W.T.N.M. League 1953-1955
*Roswell, NM: Roswell Rockets 1956, moved from Longhorn League 1949-1955
*San Angelo, TX: San Angelo Colts 1956, moved from Longhorn League 1948-1955, San Angelo Colts 1957

1956 finial team standings:

TEAM NAME-------------W----L----PCT----GB----MANAGERS--------HOME ATTEND.
Hobbs Sports---------90---52----.634----0---Pat Stasey--------44,206
El Paso Texans-------85---59----.590----6---Art Lilly---------51,386
Pampa Oilers---------80---60----.571....9...G. Seitz/A. Cross-42,150
San Angelo Colts-----78---65----.545---12---Art Bowland-------47,296
Plainview Ponies-----76---68----.528---15---J.Beeler/F.Tornay-43,892
Ballinger Westerners-73---69----.514---17---Tony York---------24,614
Carlsbad Potashers---70---74----.486---21---Thurman Tucker----51,165
Midland Indians------63---81----.438---28---Robinson/Briner---77,601
Rockwell Rockets-----53---90----.371---37---T.Jordan/H.Simpson18,367
kClovis Pioneers-----45---95----.321---44---Benites/Roy Parker41,125

BEST OF 7 PLAY OFFS: San Angelo 4 games vs. Hobbs 3 games
El Paso 4 games vs. Pampa 0 games

Finals: El Paso 4 games vs. San Angelo 1

Leauge leading stats:

Batting Avg. Len Tucker, Pampa-- .404
Runs: Len Tucker, Pampa-- 181
Hits: Chico Fernandez, Roswell-- 231
Home Runs: Frosty Kennedy, Plainview-- 60
Wins: Bill Bagwell, San Angelo-- 23
S.O.: Jodie Phipps, San Angelo-- 242
ERA: James Grimm, Hobbs-- 3.11
RBI: Frosty Kennedy, Plainview-- 184

Beside hitting 60 homers in 1956 he also lead the leauge in RBI's.

60 HOMERS CLUB MEMBER

Joe Bauman

Born: April 16, 1922 in Welch, Okla.
Died: Sept. 20. 2005 in Roswell, N.M.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joe Bauman never played a game in major league baseball, but, in 1954, he hit 72 home runs in a minor league season. That stood as a professional baseball record until it was broken by Barry Bonds with 73 in 2001.

Bauman died Sept. 20, 2005 in Roswell, N.M. from pneumonia. He was 83.

His spectacular season came in 1954. Bauman was playing in the Class C Longhorn League when he hit 72 home runs for the Roswell Rockets. Bauman was 32 at the time and he hit .400 in 138 games that season.

The following season, in 1955, he hit 46 home runs and he retired as a player following the 1956 season. He hit 337 home runs in nine seasons in the minor leagues.

In 1948, while in the Boston Braves organization, he played for Milwaukee of the American Association. The following year, according to his obituary, Bauman decided to play semipro baseball and to run a service station in Elk City, Okla.

He returned to minor league baseball in 1952.

Bauman served in the Navy for four years during World War II.

Following his career in baseball, he ran a service station and worked for a beer distributor until his retirement in 1984.

60 HOMERS CLUB, 2007 SEASON

July 10, 2007
All-Star Game at AT&T Park (San Francisco)

July 31, 2007

Val Pascocci still leads the minor leauges with 20 homers in 69 games for a PHR of 41 (140 game season). Any player with 30 homers by the the All-Star game will be on track to hit 60 homers this year.
Here are the top 5 PHR for this season:

PLAYER----------------GAMES--HR--PHR
A. RODRIGUEZ-----------70----27---62
P. FIELDER-------------72----26---58
J. MORNEAU-------------70----20---46
A. DUNN----------------71----20---45
K. GRIFFEY-------------67----19---44

I put the odds of someone hitting 60 homers this year at 45%.

60 HOMERS CLUB MEMBERS

GOING BACK MORE THAN 100 YEARS, THOUSANDS
AND THOUSANDS HAVE PLAYED IN ORGANIZED
BASEBALL, BUT ONLY 14 PLAYERS HAVE HIT
60 OR MORE HOME RUNS IN A SINGLE SEASON.


THE 60 HOMERS CLUB
1 BARRY BONDS 73
2 JOE BAUMAN 72
3 MARK MCGWIRE 70
4 JOE HAUSER 69
5 BOB CRUES 69
6 SAMMY SOSA 66
7 DICK STUART 66
MARK MCGWIRE 65
SAMMY SOSA 64
8 BOB LENNON 64
SAMMY SOSA 63
JOE HAUSER 63
9 MOOSE CLABAUGH 62
10 KEN GUETTLER 62
11 ROGER MARIS 61
12 FROSTY KENNEDY 60
13 TONY LAZZERI 60
14 BABE RUTH 60

17 TIMES 60 OR MORE HOMERS HAVE BEEN HIT IN A SINGLE SEASON BY ONLY 14 PLAYERS.

60 HOMERS CLUB, 2007 SEASON

There are only nine players now on track to hit 40 or more home runs this season.
Alex Rodriguez-26/63--Prince Fielder-24/57--Justin Morneau-19/46-
-Ken Griffey-18/46--Gary Sheffield-17/42--Adam Dunn-17/41--**Val Pascocci-19/40-
-**Joe Mather-17/41--Albert Pujols-16/40

NOTES: HR'S/PHR **140 GAME SEASON.

TONY LAZZERI, 60 HOMERS CLUB MEMBER

Birth: Dec. 6, 1903
Death: Aug. 6, 1946

Professional Baseball Player. Hall of Fame member (Yankees). Though "Poosh 'Em Up" Tony Lazzeri, the power-hitting second sacker for the Murderers' Row Yankees, may have been overshadowed by his teammates, those in the game respected his leadership skills. A key member of six pennant-winners, he was a .300 hitter five times and drove in over 100 runs seven times. Lazzeri, who still holds the American League single-game record with 11 RBI on May 24, 1936, belted 60 home runs and drove in 222 runs in 1925 for Salt Lake City of the Pacific Coast League.

60 HOMERS CLUB, 2007 SEASON

A. Rodriguez has 24 HRs in 61 games for a PHR of 63
P. Fielder has 22 HRs in 62 games for a PHR of 57
Mitch Jones has 19 HRs in 52 games for PHR of 51
J. Morneau has 17 HRs in 61 games for a PHR of 45
G. Sheffield has 17 HRs in 60 games for a PHR of 45

As you can see Gary Sheffield has moved into the top 5
and Alex is getting hot again.

60 HOMERS CLUB, 2007 SEASON

Mitch Jones 8 | OFStatus: Active
2007 Season
STATS: Avg.: .303 HR: 19 RBI: 60 SB: 2
Player Full Name: Mitchell C. Jones
Born: 10/15/1977
Birthplace: Orem, UT
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 215
Bats: R


Mitch Jones plays for the Las Vages 51s in the AAA Pacific coast leauege. His PHR OF 51 is the highest in the minors. P. Fielder has tied A. Rodriguez with 21 home runs. A. Rodriguez has 29 games before the All Star break and is projected to hit 10 more by then. P. Fielder has 27 games before the break and is projected to hit 9 more by then. At this point I would put the odds of someone hitting 60 homers this year at 40%.

The top five PHR leaders are:

games home runs PHR.
A. RODRIGUEZ 57 21 59
P. FIELDER 60 21 57
M. JONES 52 19 51(140 GAME SEASON)
J. HARDY 58 16 45
J. MORNEAU 58 16 45

60 HOMERS CLUB, 2007 SEASON

The home run slump continues. Now after big PHR numbers being posted in the first few weeks of the season, as of today nobody is on a track to hit 60 homers this year. The top three are: A. Rodriguez 19 homers in 53 games, PHR is 58. P. Fielder 19 homers in 56 games, PHR is 54. J. Morneau 16 homers in 54 games, PHR is 48.

Frosty Kennedy- Mar. 21, 1926 - June 5, 1998

Forrest E. "Frosty" Kennedy
Birth: Mar. 21, 1926
Death: Jun. 5, 1998

Minor League Baseball Player. On September 6, 1956, while a 30-year-old first baseman for the Plainview (Texas) Ponies of the Class B Southwestern League, he blasted his 60th home run of the season against the San Angelo Colts. He was the last of three minor leagers to hit 60 in 1956.

Search Amazon for Forrest Kennedy

Burial:
Riverside National Cemetery
Riverside
Riverside County
California, USA
Plot: Section 48, Grave 2255
GPS (lat/lon): 33.53146, -117.16879

Record added: Jun 3 2000