WHO REALLY IS THE H.R. KING?

WHO REALLY IS THE SINGLE SEASON HOME RUN KING?

60 home runs in a single season has happened 18 times by 14 players. If all of them played 162 games the list might look like this.

PGA.....GP.....HR.....ADJ.....YEAR.....AGE.....BA.....PLAYER

.514.....140....72.....83.3.....1944.....32.....400....JOE BAUMAN
.504.....123....62.....81.7.....1926.....24.....376.....M. CLABOYGH

.492.....140....69.....79.6.....1948.....29.....404.....BOB CRUSE
.477.....153.....73....77.3.....2001.....36.....328.....BARRY BOND

.468.....141.....66....75.8.....1956.....23.....298.....DICK STUERT
.451....155.....70.....73.2.....1998.....34.....299.....M. MCGWIRE

.450....153.....69.....73.0.....1933.....34.....332.....JOE HAUSER
.442....140.....62.....71.9.....1956.....29.....293.....K. GUETTIER

.424....153.....65.....68.3.....1999.....35.....278.....M. MCGWIRE
.418....153.....64.....67.8.....1954.....25.....345.....B. LENNON

.416....144.....60.....67.5.....1956.....30.....327.....F. KENNEDY
.451....162.....66.....66.7.....1998.....29.....308.....SAMMY SOSA

.400....160.....64.....64.9.....2001.....32.....328.....SAMMY SOSA
.397....151.....60.....64.4.....1927.....30.....356.....BABE RUTH

.388....162.....60.....63.0.....1999.....30.....288.....SAMMY SOSA
.378....161.....61.....61.4.....1961.....26.....269.....ROGER MARI

.375....168.....63.....60.7.....1930.....31.....313.....JOE HAUSER
.304....197.....60.....49.2.....1925.....21.....355.....T. LAZZERI
ADJ. is the adjustment to a 162 game season.
PGA.(per game avg.)  X  162 = ADJ.

This chart shows the true comparisons of each of the 60 homers club members. The rankings are based on a 162 game season. I feel that the per game avg. is the better gage. You can see that LaZZeri played in a 205 game league, he hit 60 homers sure, but if he had stopped at 162 games he would only have had 49 or so home runs. Bonds may hold the record of 73 homers in a season but ranks third on the Per game list. Also notice that Sosa hit over 60 homers three times and that Kennedy’s Per Game Avg. was higher than all three of his seasons.

Organized Baseball only tracks leagues that play 140 games or more per season . Most minor leagues play about 144 games and the majors play 162.