50 home run club

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A man with a blue helmet and white baseball uniform with the number 21 on the back swings at a pitch.
Mark McGwire (left) and Sammy Sosa (right) are the only players to join the 50 home run club in four consecutive seasons.

In Major League Baseball (MLB), the 50 home run club is the group of batters who have hit 50 or more home runs in a single season.[1][2][3] Babe Ruth was the first to achieve this, doing so in 1920. By reaching the milestone, he also became the first player to hit 30 and then 40 home runs in a single-season, breaking his own record of 29 from the 1919 season.[4] Ruth subsequently became the first player to reach the 50 home run club on four occasions, repeating the achievement in 1921, 1927 and 1928.[5][6] He remained the only player to accomplish this until Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa matched his feat in 1999 and 2001, respectively, thus becoming the only players to achieve four consecutive 50 home run seasons.[6] Barry Bonds hit the most home runs to join the club, collecting 73 in 2001.[6] The most recent player to reach the milestone is Chris Davis, achieving the feat during the 2013 season.[7]

In total, 27 players have reached the 50 home run club in MLB history[8] and nine have done so more than once.[6] Of these, fifteen were right-handed batters, eleven were left-handed, and one was a switch hitter, meaning he could bat from either side of the plate. Two of these players (including one active member of the 50 home run club)[9] have played for only one major league team. The New York Yankees are the only franchise to have four different players reach the milestone while on their roster: Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Alex Rodriguez. Ten players are also members of the 500 home run club[10] and two of them (Willie Mays and Rodriguez) are also a members of the 3,000 hit club.[11] Ten players won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in the same year as their 50 home run season.[12] Mantle is the only player to have earned the Major League Triple Crown alongside achieving 50 home runs, leading both leagues in batting average, home runs and runs batted in (RBI).[13][14][15] Mantle and Maris—collectively known as the M&M Boys—are the only teammates to reach the 50 home run club in the same season, hitting a combined 115 home runs in 1961 and breaking the single-season record for home runs by a pair of teammates.[16][17] Albert Belle is the only player to amass 50 or more doubles in addition to attaining 50 home runs.[18][19] Prince Fielder, at 23 years and 139 days, was the youngest player to reach the milestone while Bonds, at age 37, was the oldest.[20][21]

Due to the infrequent addition of members into the 50 home run club, Baseball Digest called it "a restrictive fraternity comprising slugging elite"[22] in 1954, when there were only six members. Of the seventeen members eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame, eight have been elected and three were elected on the first ballot. Eligibility requires that a player has "been retired five seasons" or deceased for at least six months,[23] disqualifying eight active players and two players who have been retired for less than five seasons. Some believe the milestone has become less important with the large number of new members;[24][25] fifteen different players joined the club in a total of 24 occasions from 1995 to 2010.[6] Additionally, several of these recent members have had ties to performance-enhancing drugs.[26][27][28][29]

Members

A man in full baseball attire wears a pinstriped jersey and a baseball cap. Looking to the left of the camera, he is holding a baseball bat upward.
Babe Ruth was the first member of the 50 home run club and joined it in four different seasons, a record he shares with Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.
A man is pictured from his belt up looking to the left of the camera. His button-down baseball jersey says "RED SOX" across it and he is wearing a baseball cap.
Jimmie Foxx achieved the 50 home run club and won the MVP Award in 1932 and 1938.
Two men in pinstripe baseball uniform with an interlocking "NY" partially showing at the bottom.
Mickey Mantle (right) earned the Triple Crown in addition to achieving the 50 home run club in 1956. Five years later, he and Roger Maris (left) became the only teammates to reach the 50 home run club in the same season.
Key
Year The year the player's 50 home run season occurred
Player (X) Name of the player and number of 50 home run seasons they had accomplished at that point
Team The player's team for his 50 home run season
HR Number of home runs in that season
Career HR The number of home runs the player hit in his MLB career
^ Denotes single-season home run record progression
dagger Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
double-dagger Player is active
Members of the 50 home run club
Year Player Team HR Career HR Ref
1920 Babe Ruthdagger New York Yankees 54^ 714 [5]
1921 Babe Ruthdagger (2) New York Yankees 59^ 714 [5]
1927 Babe Ruthdagger (3) New York Yankees 60^ 714 [5]
1928 Babe Ruthdagger (4) New York Yankees 54 714 [5]
1930 Hack Wilsondagger Chicago Cubs 56 244 [30]
1932 Jimmie Foxxdagger Philadelphia Athletics 58 534 [31]
1938 Jimmie Foxxdagger (2) Boston Red Sox 50 534 [31]
1938 Hank Greenbergdagger Detroit Tigers 58 331 [32]
1947 Johnny Mizedagger New York Giants 51 359 [33]
1947 Ralph Kinerdagger Pittsburgh Pirates 51 369 [34]
1949 Ralph Kinerdagger (2) Pittsburgh Pirates 54 369 [34]
1955 Willie Maysdagger New York Giants 51 660 [35]
1956 Mickey Mantledagger New York Yankees 52 536 [36]
1961 Mickey Mantledagger (2) New York Yankees 54 536 [36]
1961 Roger Maris New York Yankees 61^ 275 [37]
1965 Willie Maysdagger (2) San Francisco Giants 52 660 [35]
1977 George Foster Cincinnati Reds 52 348 [38]
1990 Cecil Fielder Detroit Tigers 51 319 [39]
1995 Albert Belle Cleveland Indians 50 381 [40]
1996 Brady Anderson Baltimore Orioles 50 210 [41]
1996 Mark McGwire Oakland Athletics 52 583 [42]
1997 Ken Griffey, Jr.dagger Seattle Mariners 56 630 [43]
1997 Mark McGwire (2) Oakland Athletics
St. Louis Cardinals		 58 583 [42]
1998 Greg Vaughn San Diego Padres 50 355 [44]
1998 Ken Griffey, Jr.dagger (2) Seattle Mariners 56 630 [43]
1998 Sammy Sosa Chicago Cubs 66 609 [45]
1998 Mark McGwire (3) St. Louis Cardinals 70^ 583 [42]
1999 Sammy Sosa (2) Chicago Cubs 63 609 [45]
1999 Mark McGwire (4) St. Louis Cardinals 65 583 [42]
2000 Sammy Sosa (3) Chicago Cubs 50 609 [45]
2001 Alex Rodriguezdouble-dagger Texas Rangers 52 687 [46]
2001 Luis Gonzalez Arizona Diamondbacks 57 354 [47]
2001 Sammy Sosa (4) Chicago Cubs 64 609 [45]
2001 Barry Bonds San Francisco Giants 73^ 762 [48]
2002 Jim Thome Cleveland Indians 52 612 [49]
2002 Alex Rodriguezdouble-dagger (2) Texas Rangers 57 687 [46]
2005 Andruw Jones Atlanta Braves 51 434 [50]
2006 Ryan Howarddouble-dagger Philadelphia Phillies 58 357 [9]
2006 David Ortizdouble-dagger Boston Red Sox 54 510 [51]
2007 Alex Rodriguezdouble-dagger (3) New York Yankees 54 687 [46]
2007 Prince Fielderdouble-dagger Milwaukee Brewers 50 311 [52]
2010 José Bautistadouble-dagger Toronto Blue Jays 54 286 [53]
2013 Chris Davisdouble-dagger Baltimore Orioles 53 203 [54]

See also

References

General

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Specific

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  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 42.2 42.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 45.2 45.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 46.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  52. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  53. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  54. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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