50 home run club
Encyclopedia : 5 : 50 : 50H : 50 home run club
In Major League Baseball, the 50 Home Run Club is an informal term applied to the group of players who have hit 50 or more home runs in a single season. The 50 Home Run Club was "founded" by Babe Ruth in 1920. At the time, he became the first player to hit not only 50 homeruns in a season, but 40 and 30 as well, breaking his own single season record of 29 from the 1919 season.
Mentioned less frequently are the 60 Home Run Club and the 70 Home Run Club, which have 5 and 2 members respectively. These "clubs" have become more populated since the 1998 season, which saw membership in the 60 Home Run Club double. That year, Mark McGwire became the first member of the 70 Home Run Club when he set a new single-season record. He has since been surpassed by Barry Bonds, the other member of the 70 Home Run Club.
The club
At the start of the 2006 season, there were 22 members of the 50 Home Run Club who have hit 50-or-more homeruns in a single season 37 times:† indicates a still active player.
Trivia
- Before 1990, only 11 players had hit 50-or-more homeruns in a season, a total of 18 times in 70 years; only two of them -- Ruth and Maris -- had hit 60-or-more. In the 10 years since 1995, 11 more players have joined the Club by hitting 50-or-more homeruns 19 times; three players -- Sosa, McGwire and Bonds -- have hit 60-or-more homeruns six times, two of whom have broken the 70+ homerun plateau.
- 13 of the 22 Club members have hit 50+ homeruns only once.
- Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Babe Ruth share the record for most 50+ homerun seasons, with four each.
- McGwire also holds the record for most homeruns in two consecutive seasons with 135 (70 in 1998, 65 in 1999).
- Ruth was the first player to hit 50-or-more homeruns in two consecutive seasons (1920 and 1921).
- McGwire was the first player to hit 50-or-more homeruns in three consecutive seasons (1996, 1997 and 1998), as well as the first player to hit 50-or-more homeruns in four consecutive seasons (1996-1999).
- McGwire and Sammy Sosa were the first players to hit 60-or-more homeruns in two consecutive season (1998 and 1999).
- Sosa was the first player to hit 60-or-more homeruns three times (1998, 1999 and 2001).
- Barry Bonds's record-breaking 2001 season was the only year in which Bonds hit 50-or-more homeruns; similarly, Roger Maris's record-breaking 1961 season was the only year in which Maris hit 50-or-more homeruns.
- 1938 was the first season in which two players each hit 50-or-more homeruns (Foxx and Greenberg).
- 1998 was the first season in which two players each hit 60-or-more homeruns (McGwire and Sosa).
- 1998 and 2001 share the record for the most players in a single season to hit 50-or-more homeruns, with four batters.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.