THE 60 HOMERS CLUB
1 BARRY BONDS 73
2 JOE BAUMAN 72
Bauman was a minor league slugger who batted .337 and collected 337 home runs and 1057 RBI in 1019 games. First signed by the Braves, he lost four years to WWII, and held out from 1949-51. He won four HR titles in the nine years he played, but only once played above Class A. After hitting 103 HR for Artesia in 1952-53, he won the Longhorn League (Class C) triple crown by batting .400 with 72 HR and 224 RBI for the Roswell Rockets in 1954. The 72 HR and .916 slugging average he achieved that season are all-time pro records.
3 MARK MCGWIRE 70
Since he retired, McGwire has kept a low profile. His admission that he used the supplement androstenedione has led to speculation that he also took steroids. Although McGwire had repeatedly denied using illegal performance-enhancing drugs, he refused to do so under oath when he appeared before the House Government Reform Committee on March 17, 2005. As McGwire said in his opening statement, "Asking me or any other player to answer questions about who took steroids in front of television cameras will not solve the problem. If a player answers 'No,' he simply will not be believed; if he answers 'Yes,' he risks public scorn and endless government investigations." When asked if he was asserting his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself, McGwire said: "I'm not here to talk about the past. I'm here to be positive about this subject."
4 JOE HAUSER 69
He made a name for himself in the minor leagues, where he became the first player ever to hit 60 or more home runs twice in a professional career: 63 in 1930, and 69 in 1933.
5 BOB CRUES 69
In 1948, Crues went on a rampage through the dusty and windswept ballparks of the Southwest, driving in 254 runs in just 140 games, dwarfing the major league record of 191 RBI set by Hack Wilson with the Cubs in 1930. Playing for the Amarillo Gold Sox of the class C West Texas-New Mexico League, Crues drove in almost two runs per game that summer. Two! The closest anyone ever came to his total was former teammate Joe Bauman who drove in 224 one season. Tony Lazzeri, who set the old record with 222, had to play in 197 games in 1925 to reach that mark at Salt Lake City in the Pacific Coast League. As the 21st century dawned, it seemed possible that Crues' RBI record will be one of the rare ones never to be broken. Bob tied Hauser's record of 69 with two games left in the season. His try for the 70th drew a record crowd of 4,851 for a season-ending Labor Day doubleheader with Lubbock. Ironically, Secory, the umpire who might have cost him a home run in Abilene, was working behind the plate
6 SAMMY SOSA 66
7 DICK STUART 66
MARK MCGWIRE 65
SAMMY SOSA 64
8 BOB LENNON 64
Bob Lennon hit 64 home runs for the Southern Association Nashville Vols in 1954, but his most memorable homer came on April 30, 1957, when he was playing for the Chicago Cubs. "It was what I had dreamed about," he recalled in a 1993 interview. He hit it in Ebbets Field, where he had rooted for the Dodgers as a boy. It was his only major league home run.
SAMMY SOSA 63
JOE HAUSER 63
9 MOOSE CLABAUGH 62
10 KEN GUETTLER 62
Guettler, who died in 1977, played only briefly above the Texas League and never made it to the majors. He hit 330 homers in 15 seasons, but never more than five in a season after his run with the Shreveport Sports in '56.
11 ROGER MARIS 61
Career Statistics
- Set Baseball's Single Season Home Run Record (61 in 1961)
- 275 Career Home Runs
- Two-time Most Valuable Player in American League (1960 & 1961)
- Led American League in RBI's (1960 & 1961)
- Gold Glove Award Winner (1960)
- Seven World Series (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1968)
- Six World Series Home Runs
12 FROSTY KENNEDY 60
Kennedy hit 60 home runs for Plainview (Texas) of the Class B Southwestern League in 1956, accomplishing this feat in only 144 games. He hit .327 that year, with 184 RBIs and 151 runs scored.
He is also one of the few men in baseball history to hit over .400 twice. He hit .411 for Riverside of the class C sunset League in 1949, and .410 for Plainview when that city fielded a team in the West Texas-New Mexico League in 1953.
Kennedy had a 40-game hitting streak for Plainview in 1953, part of a remarkable stretch which saw him hit safely in 95 of his final 100 games that season.
13 TONY LAZZERI 60
Lazzeri was a prominent member of the 1927 Yankees' "Murderers' Row" lineup and the second baseman on five World Championship Yankee clubs. He had seven 100-RBI seasons and four times hit as many as 18 home runs. His excellent glove, driving leadership, and superior baseball instincts made him the hero of Italian-Americans, as their first superstar . He was known as "the quiet man of the Yankees." Though an epileptic, he never had an on-the-field seizure in his 12 Yankee seasons.
14 BABE RUTH 60
Born: 6 February 1895
Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland
Died: 16 August 1948 (cancer)
Best Known As: New York Yankee hero and "Sultan of Swat"
Name at birth: George Herman Ruth, Jr.
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