Joe DiMaggio: active career home run leader: 1948-1951. And other comments on the list.

I was cruising through the list and noticed that Joe DiMaggio became the active career leader in home runs (HR) after the 1947 retirement of Mel Ott, who hit 511.  Fittingly DiMaggio had led the American League in home runs for the second and final time in 1948; he hit 39 for a career total of 303.  Through DiMaggio's retirement following the 1951 season he had 361 HR and was succeeded as active career HR leader by teammate Johnny Mize, who hit only four HR in each of his final two seasons for a total of 359 through 1953.  See:

Progressive Leaders & Records for Home Runs

Joe DiMaggio 1950 World Series at Shibe Park
by Warner Pathe News via Wikimedia Commons

Following Mize it was Ted Williams through his retirement in 1960: 366 to 521.  Then Stan Musial through his retirement in 1963: 444 to 475.  Then for one season: Mickey Mantle 454 in 1964.  Willie Mays hit 52 in 1965 and, with many more career at bats (AB), passed Mantle; 1965-1971: 505 to 646.  Hank Aaron took over through his retirement in 1976: 673-755.  After that it passed among these players:

Willie McCovey, Willie Stargell (3 of 4 named Willie), Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt, Dwight Evans/Eddie Murray, Dave Winfield, Eddie Murray again, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey, Alex Rodriguez, who though was listed during his banned 2014 season as active elsewhere on the baseball-reference.com site, is not shown as active on this list even after his recent re-instatement and therefore Albert Pujols is shown as the active leader for 2014.  Maybe it's an error.

Like DiMaggio several of them are not remembered as big time home run hitters.  When he retired in 1951 DiMaggio was number five on the all time home run list even though he had only 6,821 at bats (AB):

Rk	Player	HR	From	To	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos	Tm
1	Babe Ruth	714	1914	1935	19-40	2504	10622	8399	2174	2873	506	136	2214	2062		1330	43	113		2	123	117	.342	.474	.690	1.164	971/8H3	BOS-NYY-BSN
2	Jimmie Foxx	534	1925	1945	17-37	2317	9676	8134	1751	2646	458	125	1922	1452		1311	13	71		69	87	73	.325	.428	.609	1.038	*35H2/7916	PHA-BOS-CHC-PHI
3	Mel Ott	511	1926	1947	17-38	2730	11348	9456	1859	2876	488	72	1860	1708		896	64	109		82	89		.304	.414	.533	.947	*95H8/74	NYG
4	Lou Gehrig	493	1923	1939	20-36	2164	9663	8001	1888	2721	534	163	1995	1508		790	45	106		2	102	100	.340	.447	.632	1.080	*3/H976	NYY
5	Joe DiMaggio	361	1936	1951	21-36	1736	7673	6821	1390	2214	389	131	1537	790		369	46	14		130	30	9	.325	.398	.579	.977	*8/79H3	NYY
6	Johnny Mize	351	1936	1951	23-38	1724	7102	6202	1103	1949	355	83	1281	833		492	48	20		92	28	1	.314	.400	.568	.968	*3/H9	STL-NYG-NYY

Like DiMaggio, Mark McGwire was also number five in career HR when he retired in 2001 with only 6,187 AB, far fewer than even DiMaggio:

Rk	Player	HR	From	To	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos	Tm
1	Hank Aaron	755	1954	1976	20-42	3298	13941	12364	2174	3771	624	98	2297	1402	293	1383	32	21	121	328	240	73	.305	.374	.555	.928	*9783DH/45	MLN-ATL-MIL
2	Babe Ruth	714	1914	1935	19-40	2504	10622	8399	2174	2873	506	136	2214	2062		1330	43	113		2	123	117	.342	.474	.690	1.164	971/8H3	BOS-NYY-BSN
3	Willie Mays	660	1951	1973	20-42	2992	12496	10881	2062	3283	523	140	1903	1464	192	1526	44	13	91	251	338	103	.302	.384	.557	.941	*8H/39675	NYG-SFG-NYM
4	Frank Robinson	586	1956	1976	20-40	2808	11742	10006	1829	2943	528	72	1812	1420	218	1532	198	17	102	270	204	77	.294	.389	.537	.926	97D3H8/5	CIN-BAL-LAD-CAL-CLE
5	Mark McGwire	583	1986	2001	22-37	1874	7660	6187	1167	1626	252	6	1414	1317	150	1596	75	3	78	147	12	8	.263	.394	.588	.982	*3/HD59	OAK-STL
6	Harmon Killebrew	573	1954	1975	18-39	2435	9833	8147	1283	2086	290	24	1584	1559	160	1699	48	0	77	243	19	18	.256	.376	.509	.884	357DH/49	WSH-MIN-KCR
7	Barry Bonds	567	1986	2001	21-36	2296	9805	7932	1713	2313	483	71	1542	1724	355	1282	65	4	80	127	484	138	.292	.419	.585	1.003	*78/HD9	PIT-SFG
8	Reggie Jackson	563	1967	1987	21-41	2820	11418	9864	1551	2584	463	49	1702	1375	164	2597	96	13	68	183	228	115	.262	.356	.490	.846	*9D8H/7	KCA-OAK-BAL-NYY-CAL

And following that one season when Mantle led in active career home runs, 1964, here's the all time list:

Rk	Player	HR	From	To	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos	Tm
1	Babe Ruth	714	1914	1935	19-40	2504	10622	8399	2174	2873	506	136	2214	2062		1330	43	113		2	123	117	.342	.474	.690	1.164	971/8H3	BOS-NYY-BSN
2	Jimmie Foxx	534	1925	1945	17-37	2317	9676	8134	1751	2646	458	125	1922	1452		1311	13	71		69	87	73	.325	.428	.609	1.038	*35H2/7916	PHA-BOS-CHC-PHI
3	Ted Williams	521	1939	1960	20-41	2292	9788	7706	1798	2654	525	71	1839	2021	86	709	39	5	20	197	24	17	.344	.482	.634	1.116	*79H/1	BOS
4	Mel Ott	511	1926	1947	17-38	2730	11348	9456	1859	2876	488	72	1860	1708		896	64	109		82	89		.304	.414	.533	.947	*95H8/74	NYG
5	Lou Gehrig	493	1923	1939	20-36	2164	9663	8001	1888	2721	534	163	1995	1508		790	45	106		2	102	100	.340	.447	.632	1.080	*3/H976	NYY
6	Stan Musial	475	1941	1963	20-42	3026	12717	10972	1949	3630	725	177	1951	1599	127	696	53	35	53	243	78	31	.331	.417	.559	.976	3798H/1	STL
7	Mickey Mantle	454	1951	1964	19-32	1883	7979	6533	1472	2016	289	69	1298	1390	100	1348	11	13	34	75	141	33	.309	.429	.582	1.011	*89/H7645	NYY
8	Willie Mays	453	1951	1964	20-33	1848	8002	7036	1379	2204	354	115	1290	873	124	822	27	2	61	163	267	82	.313	.388	.589	.978	*8/H635	NYG-SFG
9	Eddie Mathews	445	1952	1964	20-32	1933	8389	7051	1303	1951	294	66	1240	1240	81	1195	20	31	48	100	64	34	.277	.384	.526	.911	*5/7H3	BSN-MLN
10	Duke Snider	407	1947	1964	20-37	2143	8237	7161	1259	2116	358	85	1333	971	104	1237	21	52	32	166	99	50	.295	.380	.540	.919	*89H/7	BRO-LAD-NYM-SFG

Mantle led Mays by one home run but notice the big difference in AB: 7,036 to 6,533, advantage Mays.  The often forgotten Eddie Mathews is right there and with only 15 more AB than Mays.  Following his retirement in 1968 Mantle was third on the all time list:

Rk	Player	HR	From	To	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos	Tm
1	Babe Ruth	714	1914	1935	19-40	2504	10622	8399	2174	2873	506	136	2214	2062		1330	43	113		2	123	117	.342	.474	.690	1.164	971/8H3	BOS-NYY-BSN
2	Willie Mays	587	1951	1968	20-37	2446	10386	9130	1763	2812	446	129	1654	1137	165	1147	33	7	76	212	299	93	.308	.384	.578	.962	*8/H96375	NYG-SFG
3	Mickey Mantle	536	1951	1968	19-36	2401	9907	8102	1676	2415	344	72	1509	1733	126	1710	13	14	47	113	153	38	.298	.421	.557	.977	*8397H/645	NYY
4	Jimmie Foxx	534	1925	1945	17-37	2317	9676	8134	1751	2646	458	125	1922	1452		1311	13	71		69	87	73	.325	.428	.609	1.038	*35H2/7916	PHA-BOS-CHC-PHI
5	Ted Williams	521	1939	1960	20-41	2292	9788	7706	1798	2654	525	71	1839	2021	86	709	39	5	20	197	24	17	.344	.482	.634	1.116	*79H/1	BOS
6	Eddie Mathews	512	1952	1968	20-36	2391	10100	8537	1509	2315	354	72	1453	1444	107	1487	26	36	58	123	68	39	.271	.376	.509	.885	*53/H7	BSN-MLN-ATL-HOU-DET
7	Mel Ott	511	1926	1947	17-38	2730	11348	9456	1859	2876	488	72	1860	1708		896	64	109		82	89		.304	.414	.533	.947	*95H8/74	NYG
8	Hank Aaron	510	1954	1968	20-34	2279	9888	8889	1603	2792	484	88	1627	866	200	991	23	19	91	239	215	59	.314	.373	.560	.933	*987/4H35	MLN-ATL
9	Lou Gehrig	493	1923	1939	20-36	2164	9663	8001	1888	2721	534	163	1995	1508		790	45	106		2	102	100	.340	.447	.632	1.080	*3/H976	NYY
10	Stan Musial	475	1941	1963	20-42	3026	12717	10972	1949	3630	725	177	1951	1599	127	696	53	35	53	243	78	31	.331	.417	.559	.976	3798H/1	STL
11	Ernie Banks	474	1953	1968	22-37	2262	9426	8551	1216	2368	380	86	1480	695	187	1088	62	33	86	208	50	53	.277	.333	.508	.840	63/5H7	CHC
12	Frank Robinson	418	1956	1968	20-32	1916	8159	7003	1317	2117	402	60	1277	929	158	1047	147	13	68	185	182	67	.302	.392	.556	.948	9738/H5	CIN-BAL
13	Duke Snider	407	1947	1964	20-37	2143	8237	7161	1259	2116	358	85	1333	971	104	1237	21	52	32	166	99	50	.295	.380	.540	.919	*89H/7	BRO-LAD-NYM-SFG

Among those 13 batters the only ones with fewer AB than Mantle: Gehrig, Williams, Snider, Robinson.  Mays had the third most, Aaron fourth most.  Still 204 HR behind Ruth, Aaron already had 490 more AB than the Babe.