Aaron Judge broke the American League (AL) season home run record in 2022 when he hit 62. Roger Maris held the AL record since 1961 with 61. Maris also held the MLB record through 1997. In 1998 Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa both broke the Maris record hitting 70 and 66 respectively. Both played in the National League (NL).
In 2001 Barry Bonds set the current MLB record with 73 home runs.
If Judge hits 74 home runs in 2023, he will not only break the season home record but Judge will also set a new record for home runs in two consecutive seasons.
I've admonished simply staring at home run totals. Below there will be some context but this post is mostly fun ... and staring at totals.
Stop staring at Batting Average and Home Runs. Look at their percentage above the league. Sunday, January 30, 2022
Aaron Judge #4 in 60 Home Runs seasons ranked by (AB/HR) percent difference from top HR that season. Final stats. Monday, October 3, 2022
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Babe Ruth broke the season home record for the first of four times in 1919, his last season with the Boston Red Sox, who finished 6th of 8 AL teams: 66-71 (131 games). The season shorter than 154 games because of World War I and pandemic. Ruth hit 29 home runs in 1919, then was dealt to the New York Yankees, who played their home games in the Polo Grounds, owned by the NL New York Giants. Ruth broke his record in each of his first two seasons with the Yankees:
1920: 54
1921: 59.
So Babe Ruth was the first to hit at least 50 home runs in two consecutive seasons. Ruth broke his unnoticed record with Yankee Stadium as his home ballpark:
1927: 60
1928: 54. That's 114 home runs.
Ruth also had the record for two non consecutive seasons: 59+60=119.
Only Ken Griffey, Jr. got close until Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa changed the landscape right after Griffey.
1. McGwire and Sosa dominate the numbers below for both two consecutive seasons, which are so high that they are the record also for two non consecutive seasons.
2. Sosa's five year run 1998-2002 is so extraordinary that he could be listed in a list multiple times but only his initial two seasons are shown.
3. Only the 60 homer seasons have the percent difference stuff.
Only one other player hit 50 home runs in consecutive seasons:
Ruth had the record until McGwire, Sosa and Bonds smashed it. Here are the 30 players with at least 50 home runs sorted by the first year they did it:
| First | Last | Count | YearFirst | YearLast | HRmin | HRmax |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Babe | Ruth | 4 | 1920 | 1928 | 54 | 60 |
| Hack | Wilson | 1 | 1930 | 1930 | 56 | 56 |
| Jimmie | Foxx | 2 | 1932 | 1938 | 50 | 58 |
| Hank | Greenberg | 1 | 1938 | 1938 | 58 | 58 |
| Ralph | Kiner | 2 | 1947 | 1949 | 51 | 54 |
| Johnny | Mize | 1 | 1947 | 1947 | 51 | 51 |
| Willie | Mays | 2 | 1955 | 1965 | 51 | 52 |
| Mickey | Mantle | 2 | 1956 | 1961 | 52 | 54 |
| Roger | Maris | 1 | 1961 | 1961 | 61 | 61 |
| George | Foster | 1 | 1977 | 1977 | 52 | 52 |
| Cecil | Fielder | 1 | 1990 | 1990 | 51 | 51 |
| Albert | Belle | 1 | 1995 | 1995 | 50 | 50 |
| Mark | McGwire | 3 | 1996 | 1999 | 52 | 70 |
| Brady | Anderson | 1 | 1996 | 1996 | 50 | 50 |
| Ken | Griffey | 2 | 1997 | 1998 | 56 | 56 |
| Sammy | Sosa | 4 | 1998 | 2001 | 50 | 66 |
| Greg | Vaughn | 1 | 1998 | 1998 | 50 | 50 |
| Alex | Rodriguez | 3 | 2001 | 2007 | 52 | 57 |
| Barry | Bonds | 1 | 2001 | 2001 | 73 | 73 |
| Luis | Gonzalez | 1 | 2001 | 2001 | 57 | 57 |
| Jim | Thome | 1 | 2002 | 2002 | 52 | 52 |
| Andruw | Jones | 1 | 2005 | 2005 | 51 | 51 |
| Ryan | Howard | 1 | 2006 | 2006 | 58 | 58 |
| David | Ortiz | 1 | 2006 | 2006 | 54 | 54 |
| Prince | Fielder | 1 | 2007 | 2007 | 50 | 50 |
| Jose | Bautista | 1 | 2010 | 2010 | 54 | 54 |
| Chris | Davis | 1 | 2013 | 2013 | 53 | 53 |
| Giancarlo | Stanton | 1 | 2017 | 2017 | 59 | 59 |
| Aaron | Judge | 2 | 2017 | 2022 | 52 | 62 |
| Pete | Alonso | 1 | 2019 | 2019 | 53 | 53 |
Future posts:
Home Runs in two NON consecutive years. McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, Ruth, ... Tuesday, May 23, 2023
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