Wednesday, January 15, 2014

25 homers home AND road: Babe Ruth is King.

There have been 23 occurrences of a player hitting at least 25 home runs (HR) both at home and on the road in the same season.  Obviously, each batter hit at least 50 HR.  Babe Ruth did it the most times: four.


PlayerYearTeamHRtotHRhomeHRroadHRh-rRate H-RRate % DifAB/HRhAB/HRrHR%hAgebatsFirstLast
Babe Ruth1920NYA5429254-3.2-0.46710.254%25LBabeRuth
Babe Ruth1921NYA5932275-2.5-0.31810.554%26LBabeRuth
Babe Ruth1927NYA602832-4009947%32LBabeRuth
Babe Ruth1928NYA5429254-2-0.2291154%33LBabeRuth
Jimmie Foxx1932PHA5831274-2.1-0.239.111.253%25RJimmieFoxx
Ralph Kiner1949PIT5429254-2.3-0.259.111.454%27RRalphKiner
Mickey Mantle1956NYA5227252-0.7-0.079.910.652%25BMickeyMantle
Roger Maris1961NYA613031-1-0.7-0.089.31049%27LRogerMaris
Cecil Fielder1990DET512526-1-0.8-0.0710.811.649%27RCecilFielder
Albert Belle1995CLE5025250-0.4-0.0410.711.150%29RAlbertBelle
Ken Griffey1997SEA562729-2-0.3-0.0310.71148%28LKenGriffey
Mark McGwire1997O-StL5830282-2.2-0.38.310.452%34RMarkMcGwire
Ken Griffey1998SEA5630264-1.7-0.1610.512.254%29LKenGriffey
Mark McGwire1998SLN7038326-0.8-0.126.97.754%35RMarkMcGwire
Sammy Sosa1998CHN6635314-1.8-0.28.910.753%30RSammySosa
Mark McGwire1999SLN6537289-2.3-0.3379.357%36RMarkMcGwire
Sammy Sosa1999CHN6333303-1.3-0.149.310.652%31RSammySosa
Barry Bonds2001SFN7337361-0.9-0.156.1751%37LBarryBonds
Luis Gonzalez2001ARI572631-51.70.1511.69.946%34LLuisGonzalez
Alex Rodriguez2001TEX5226260-0.3-0.031212.350%26RAlexRodriguez
Sammy Sosa2001CHN6434304-1.6-0.198.39.953%33RSammySosa
Ryan Howard2006PHI5829290-0.6-0.069.710.350%27LRyanHoward
Alex Rodriguez2007NYA542628-20.80.0711.210.448%32RAlexRodriguez
max73383691.70.151212.30.5737
min502525-5-3.206.170.4625

Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire did it three times.  Twice each for Ken Griffey and Alex Rodriguez.

Three players hit the same number home and road:
Albert Belle 1995: 25/25
Alex Rodriguez 2001: 26/26
Ryan Howard 2006: 29/29

In 2001 Barry Bonds hit the most HR: 73; also the most on the road: 36.  Mark McGwire in 1998 hit the most at home for this group: 38; the only player with more at home was Hank Greenberg: 39 in 1938 but only 19 on the road so Hank is not part of this group.

Runners up with 32 road HR:
Ruth 1927; 60
McGwire 1998; 70
David Ortiz 2006, but only 22 at home; 54.

Cecil Fielder (51) and Albert Belle (50) had the minimum 25 HR at home.

Minimum 25 HR on the road:
Babe Ruth 1920; 54
Babe Ruth 1928; 54
Ralph Kiner 1949; 54
Mickey Mantle 1956; 52
Albert Belle 1995; 50

Six times a batter in this group hit more HR on the road:
Babe Ruth 1927: 28/32; 60
Roger Maris 1961: 30/31; 61
Cecil Fielder 1990: 25/26; 51
Ken Griffey 1997: 27/29; 56
Luis Gonzalez 2001: 26/31; 57
Alex Rodriguez 2007: 26/28; 54

Three of the six played their home games in Yankee Stadium.

In this study group the only batter with a better HR rate (AB/HR, lower is better) on the road:

PlayerYearTeamHRtotHRhomeHRroadHRh-rRate H-RRate % DifAB/HRhAB/HRrHR%h
Luis Gonzalez2001ARI572631-51.70.1511.69.946%

In this group Gonzalez also had the biggest split (5 HR) and lowest percent of HR at home (46%).

Biggest home plus:
Mark McGwire 1999: 37-28=9; 65.  Also highest percent of HR at home (57%).

The two largest home minus road HR rate differences and also the closest:

PlayerYearTeamHRtotHRhomeHRroadHRh-rRate H-R
Babe Ruth1920NYA5429254-3.2
Babe Ruth1921NYA5932275-2.5
Babe Ruth1927NYA602832-40

The Babe played his home games in the Polo Grounds 1920-1922 before the Yankees moved to the House that Ruth Built: Yankee Stadium.  Ruth probably would have hit more HR had the Yankees continued to play their home games in the Polo Grounds but the Giants owned the park and resented the Yanks out drawing them when Ruth brought his HR act to New York from Boston in 1920.

Ironically, the best and worst HR rates for this group were both in 2001 and both home and road for the same players:
AB/HRh AB/HRr
6.1 7    Bonds 2001; 73
12 12.3    Rodriguez 2001; 52

Bonds, of course, has the best rates for any batter ever.

Finally, age was determined simply by subtracting birth year from batting year:
Mantle 25 in 1956, born October 20, 1931 so Mick was actually 24 and younger than Ruth
Ruth 25 in 1920, born February 6, 1895
Bonds 37 in 2001; born July 24, 1964

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