What about Joe Bauman?

Maris, schmaris: What about Joe Bauman?

Everybody´s talking about Mark McGwire of the Cardinals and/or Sammy Sosa of the Cubs breaking Roger Maris of the Yankees´ 37-year-old major league homerun record of 61 in a season.

But neither of them hold a candle to Joe Bauman who hit 72 - that´s right, Seventy-Two - in 1954 while playing for second-place Roswell, N.M. Rockets in the Longhorn League.

It´s still the all-time record for professional baseball.

Now 76 and still living in Roswell where he operated a Texaco station for many years, Bauman was a 6-5, 235-pound lefthanded-hitting first baseman - a little smaller than the righthanded McGwire and playing the same position - when he sent those 72 homers out of the park.

Answering the inevitable questions of “how´d you do that?,” Bauman said the key was the same for McGwire and Sosa, who also bats righthanded, to break the record they´re shooting for: “Everything has to fall in place.

“I think it´s inevitable” that the record will fall but he figured lefthand-swinging Ken Griffey Jr. of Seattle would have the best shot at the homerun record because there are more righthanded pitchers in the majors and he plays home games in a more inviting park.

Lefties Ruth and Maris both benefited from Yankee Stadium´s short rightfield porch.

Bauman said the pitching he saw was “good to average”; the ballparks regulation with decent lighting, except for a smallish Big Spring field (“I couldn´t hit much in that park - I hated it”) and the ball probably less “jazzed” than it is now.

Roswell had 140 games scheduled that year but played only 138. Bauman - never sidelined by injury or fatigue - played in all of them (almost always night games with few doubleheaders).

His best game was four homers at home against Sweetwater. However, he remembers having few multi-homerun games.

While Maris´ benchmark was Babe Ruth´s 60 homers in 1927 - thus, his record has stood longer than Ruth´s did - Bauman was shooting for the 69 belted by Joe Hauser of the Minneapolis Millers in 1933 and matched by Bob Crues of Amarillo (where Bauman played for two seasons) in 1948.

He got to Ruth´s mark of 60 with about 20 games left and hit three on the last day of the season in a doubleheader to break and pad the all-time record.

“I probably picked up $700 or $800 (money was stuck in the fence behind home plate as the tradition of the time dictated for a homerun) that day,” Bauman recalls.

“I liked the low pitches,” he says, recalling that he was frequently walked.

He also batted an even .400 in 1954. Told that former Plainview Ponies star Frosty Kennedy, who died earlier this summer, said he (Kennedy) was the greatest player ever because he hit 60 homeruns AND batted over .400 in his career - feats accomplished individually by Ruth and Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams - Bauman chuckled, “Frosty was pretty confident.”

But he didn´t comment on whether, by Kennedy´s yardstick, he would be the best player of all time, especially since he did both in the same season.

Bauman says he has no idea what his longest homerun was but believes the balls are livelier now because “even middle-sized guys get fooled on pitches and hit them out of the park with one hand.”

Bauman, whose exploits are recorded on a plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. (which he has never visited), played for Capitol Hill High School in his hometown of Oklahoma City, then signed with independent Little Rock.

Although his contract was eventually purchased by the National League´s Boston Braves, he never played a day in the majors, ending an off-and-on 15-year career when he refused to have surgery on his ankle after the 1956 season.

“There were just 16 major league teams then (and about 400 minor league teams after the war, so too much talent) and you could make as much or more money in a decent job in the business world,” he said.

Bauman also says he lost four prime years to military service in World War II.

He agrees players are more physically developed now due to better training and nutrition methods. “The evolution of mankind kind of takes care of some of that,” he surmised. “When I was playing, the clubs wrote you letters forbidding you to swim because they didn´t want you to get muscle bound.”

Bauman figures his record probably will never be broken - at least at the minor league level: “If somebody was hitting a lot of homeruns, they wouldn´t leave them down in the minors long.”

Even if it does fall, he can be proud of having held it for more than 40 years and he´ll be in some mighty fine company.

(Danny Andrews is editor of The Herald.)

MLB IS NOT A TRUE INDICATOR

MLB IS NOT A TRUE INDICATOR OF A PLAYERS GREATNESS.

Many players of Organized Baseball never played a single game in the MLB but were better than most who did. Why? For most of the last century major league clubs were concentratred primarily in the Northeast and Middle West. Having no desire to leave the sunshine and home surrondings of California and the Southern States to play in the East. Expansion of the Majors to those areas did not come until 1957 in California and 1962 in Texas. Even today, much of the US is without a MLB team, say nothing of Canada, the Caribbean, and Mexico. When MLB did come west, where do you think the players that filled those rosters came from, the Minor Leagues.

This photo of the 11 players who have hit 60 homers or more in a single season hangs in the Babe Ruth wing of the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. It was there before McGuire join the 60 Homers Club.

Frosty Kennedy in 1949 (team photo) with the Riverside Dons.

Frome left to right: Frosty Kennedy, Danny Kennedy, Forrest Kennedy (me), Billy Kennedy and my mother Janice Kennedy (now Janice Briley)

In the early 1980's Frosty hosted a local T.V. show on the minitures field. He travel to many trade shows and was considerd an expert in his field.

In 1982 the first game of the first pro women's basketball league was formed. Frosty was a minority owner and it's first commissioner. It had four teams its first year and starred the top collage players at the time. It only lasted two years, it did not have the financial backing that later came with the WNBA.

FINIAL LONG BALL STANDINGS FOR 2009

A. Pujols just held on to win the 2009 HOME RUN title. No one made the 50 homers club, let alone the 60 Homers Club. The preseason favorit R. Howard was going the strongest in the last 30 days to finish 3rd with 45 homers.

With 35 each M. Jones and J. Gaston finished on top of the minors.

HR GP RBI AVG

47.....160...135...327.......Albert Pujols..........St. Louis Cardinals

46.....162...141...299.......Prince Fielder........Milwaukee Brewers

45.....160...141...279.......Ryan Howard........Philadelphia Phillies

44.....155...102...260......Mark Reynolds.....Arizona Diamondbacks

40.....160....99....277.......Adrian Gonzalez...San Diego Padres

35......108...103...297......Mitch Jones....Albuquerque Isotopes AAA PCL(40.8 PHR)**

35......139...100...278......Jonathan Gaston...Lancaster Jett-Hawks A California.(39.5 PHR)**

**PHR BASED ON A 162 GAME SEASON.

HOME RUN LEADER BOARD AS OF SEPT, 30 2009

HR......GL.......TM........PLAYER
47........4.........STL.......A. PUJOLS
44........4.........MIL......P. FEILDER
44........4.........ARI.......M. REYNOLDS
43........4.........PHI.......R. HOWARD
40........3.........NYY.....A. GONZALEZ

HOME RUN LEADER BOARD AS OF SEPT, 24, 2009

HERE ARE THE TOP FOUR LONG BALL HITTERS WITH THIER RBI AND AVG. RANKINGS.


HR..........RBI.............AVG.............PLAYER
47(1)......129(3).........330(5).........A. PUJOLS
43(2).....100(15).......266(105).....M. RYNOLDS
42(4).....131(1)..........297(47)........P. FIELDER
42(4).....130(2).........272(95)........R. HOWARD

MOST TEAMS HAVE ABOUT 11 GAMES LEFT TO PLAY

PHR STANDINGS AS OF SEPT. 20, 2009

A. PUJOLS LEADS ALL PLAYERS WITH 47 HOMERS AND A PHR OF 50.8
HIS HOME RUN OUT PUT AS STALLED AND NOW WILL BE ONE OF 5 OR
6 PLAYERS TO HIT 40 THIS YEAR. HE HAS 12 GAMES LEFT TO HIT 3 HOMERS
TO MAKE THE 50 HOMERS CLUB.

M. REYNOLDS HAS 12 GAMES LEFT. HE HAS 42 HOMERS AND A PHR OF 45.5

R. HOWARD WAS THE PRE SEASON FAVORITE. HIS LAST 60 DAYS HAVE
BEEN THE HOTTEST OF ALL PLAYERS. HE HAS 14 GAMES LEFT TO PLAY.
41 HOMERS AND A PHR OF 44.9

P. FIELDER HAS 13 GAMES LEFT. 40 HOMERS AND A PHR OF 43.5

PHR STANDINGS AS OF SEPT. 11, 2009

TOP FIVE LISTED:

PHR.....HR.....GP.....GL.....PGA.....PLAYER/TEAM

53.7......47......140.....20.....336......A. PUJOLS/STL(N)
47.0......41......135.....20.....304......M. REYNOLDS/ARI(N)
45.6......39......135.....22.....229.......C. PENA/TB(A)
44.3......38......138.....23.....275.......R. HOWARD/PHI(N)
43.5......38......140.....22.....271.......P. FIELDER/MIL(N)

WITH ABOUT TWO DOZEN GAMES LEFT TO PLAY IN THE MAJORS THERE ARE 19 PLAYERS IN ORGANIZED BASE BALL WHO HAVE HIT 31 OR MORE HOMERS AS OF MONDAY 09/07/09.

44- A. PUJOLS (N)
41- M. REYNOLDS (N)
39- C. PENA (A)
38- R. HOWARD (N)

37- P. FIELDER (N)
36- A. GONZALEZ (N)
35- J. GASTON (CALIF. A ADV.)
35- M. JONES (PACIFIC COAST AAA)

35- A. DUNN (N)
33- TEIXEIRA (A)
32- R. RIVERA (MEXICAN AAA)
32- C. JOHNSON (CAROLINA A. ADV.)

31- C. PEGUERO (CALIF. A ADV.)
31- J. BAY (A)
31- R. BRANYAN (A)
31- N. CRUZ (A)

31- D. LEE (N)
31- A. HILL (A)
31- J. WERTH (N)

CHECK THE MARCH 2009 ARCHIVES TO SEE THE 09 PRESEASON ODDS

PHR STANDINGS AS OF AUG. 27, 2009

THESE ARE THE TOP FOUR LONG BALL HITTERS FROM THE MINORS







Shelley Duncan - Scranton - Wilkes Berre Yankees of the International AAA League.
HR: 27 / GP: 112 / GL: 30 / PGA: .241 / PHR: 34.2























Cody Johnson- Myrtle Beach Pelicans of the Carolina A League


HR: 30 / GP: 118 / GL: 24 / PGA: .254 / PHR: 36.1

Mitch Jones- Albuquerque Isotopes of the Pacific Coast League
HR: 31 / GP: 98 / GL: 44 / PGA: .316 / PHR: 44.9

Ruben Rivera- Piratas de Campeche of the Mexican AAA league
HR: 32 / GP: 107 / GL: 39 / PGA: .300/ PHR: 43.6

Minor leagues play a 144 game season.

TOP FIVE PHR LEADERS

PHR.....HR....GP...GL...PGA....PLAYER

48.6......38.....121...34....314.....M. REYNOLDS

48.5......40.....127...33....260.....A. PUJOLS

47.4......37......124..36.....298.....C. PENA

45.1......35......124..36.....282.....R. HOWARD

44.6......35......127..35.....276.....P. FIELDER

Don't look now, but R. Howard ( the pre season fav.)

is now tied for fourth and is less than 4 homers

behind in the PHR department. Sorry fans, but

no 50 home run hitter this year.

MLB PLAYS A 162 GAME SEASON

PHR STANDINGS AS OF AUG. 23, 2000

ONLY PLAYERS WITH 33 OR MORE HOMERS LISTED

PHR....HR....GP....GL....PGA.....PLAYER............TEAM LG
51.6.....40.....124....36....323.....PUJOLS...............STL.....N
49.3.....38.....121....37.....306.....M. RYENOLDS..ARI......N
45.0.....34.....121....39.....281.....C. PENA...............TB........A
43.4.....33.....123....39.....268.....P. FIELDER.........ML......N
43.2.....33.....123....38.....268.....A. DUNN..............WSH...N
42.2.....33.....125....36.....262.....A. GONZALEZ....SD.......N

TOP 10 HOME RUN LEADERS with PHR'S

WE HAVE A TWO MAN RACE FOR THE LONG BALL TITLE BETWEEN PUJOLS AND REYNOLDS. THESE WILL BE THE ONLY TWO WHO MAY HIT 50. THESE ARE THE LOWEST H.R. TOTALS IN YEARS. RANDOM TESTING MUST BE WORKING.

ONLY PLAYERS WITH 30 OR MORE HOME RUNS LISTED

HR........PHR........GL........PLAYER..................LEAUGE
39.........52.8.........42.........A. PUJOLS.............N
38.........52.4..........38........M. REYNOLDS......N
32.........43.5.........43.........A. GONZALES.......N
32.........42.8.........36.........RUBEN RIVERA...MEX (AAA)
31.........42.4.........42.........A. DUNN.................N
31.........42.0.........42.........P. FIELDER...........N
31.........42.3.........42.........C. PENA..................N
30.........41.3.........43.........R. HOWARD..........N
30.........41.2.........43.........M. TEIXEIRA........A
30.........36.5.........24.........JONATHAN GASTON..CALIF (A)

PHR LEADERS AS OF AUG. 9, 2009

ONLY PLAYERS WITH 30 OR MORE HOMERS LISTED

PHR...HR....PGA....GP...GL...PLAYER..........LEAUGE
52.8....36.....330.....109...51....M. REYNOLDS....NATIONAL
48.2....36.....324.....111....50...A. PUJOLS...........NATIONAL
43.5....30.....270.....111....50...A. DUNN..............NATIONAL
42.4....32.....299.....107....35...R. RIVERA...........MEXICAN
37.7....30.....265.....114....29....J. GASTON..........CALIF.

REYNOLDS AND DUNN HAVE MADE A REAL RACE FOR THE 2009 HOME RUN TITLE. THE PACE AS NOW SLOWED TO THE POINT THAT NO ONE WILL HIT 50 LONG BALLS THIS YEAR.

PHR STANDINGS AS OF AUG. 4, 2009

IT LOOKS LIKE THE QUEST FOR 60 HOMERS IS OVER. PUJOLS WOULD HAVE TO HIT A HOMER MORE THAN ONE EVERY OTHER GAME THAT'S LEFT TO PLAY. HE IS ON PACE TO BE THE ONLY PLAYER TO HIT 50 HOMERS. THERE ARE THREE MINOR LG. PLAYERS IN THE TOP 10 PHR'S WITH R. RIVERA TIED WITH M. REYNOLDS AT 32 HOMERS. MLB PLAYS A 162 GAME SEASON. MILB PLAYS A 144 GAME SEASON.

ONLY PLAYERS WITH 28 OR MORE HOMERS LISTED:

PHR...HR...PGA...GP...GL...PLAYER...............LEAUGE

53.5...36....336.....107...52...A. PUJOLS............NATIONAL

48.0...32....308.....104..53...M. REYNOLDS.....NATIONAL

42.8...32....299.....107...36...R. RIVERA............MEXICAN

42.4...28....267.....105...54...J. MORNEAU.......AMERICAN

41.7....28....264....106...52...A. DUNN................NATIONAL

41.6....28....262....107...52...A. GONZALEZ......NATIONAL

40.5....29....287....101...40...J. GASTON...........CALIF.

38.0....28....269....104...37...S. SOTO................MEXICAN

PHR STANDINGS AS OF JULY .26, 2009

ONLY PLAYERS WITH 26 OR MORE HOME RUNS LISTED

PHR....HR...GP...GL.....PGA...PLAYER...........LEAUGE

55.3....34....97.....62......343...A. PUJOLS.......NATIONAL

47.8....26....74.....62.......351..... IBANEZ..........NATIONAL

42.6....26....98.....63......265....J. MORNEAO..AMERICAN

45.2....26....97.....62......268....M. REYNOLDS.NATIONAL

39.9....29...104....39.....279.....R. RIVERA........MEXICAN

39.1....28...101....40.....277......S. SOTO.............MEXICAN

37.4....27...101....39......267.....J. GASTON........CALIF.

PHR STANDINGS AS OF JULY 21, 2009

ONLY PLAYERS WITH 25 OR MORE HOMERS LISTED

PHR.....HR......GP......GL......PGA......PLAYER............LEAUGE

57.6....34.....95.....66....358....A. PUJOLS....... ..NATIONAL
49.3....25....69......67....362....R. IBANEZ...........NATIONAL
46.2....25....92......67....272.....M. REYNOLDS ..NATIONAL
42.8....25....94......67....266.....A. GONZALEZ ..NATIONAL
40.4....28...99.......44....283.....R. RIVERA.........MEXICAN AAA
39.4....27...96......44.....281......J. GASTON........CALIF. A
38.2....26...96......45.....271......S. SOTO..............MEXICAN AAA

BACK ON TRACK TO HIT 60 HOMERS. 7/17/09

ALPERT PUJOLS now has 34 homers in 91 games with 70 games to go. His per game Avg. is .374 and his PHR is 60.1. HE IS BACK ON TRACK TO HIT 60 HOMERS.

SAUL SOTO and RUBEN RIVERA of the Mexican League each have 26 homers to lead the rest of the field.