1961 Yankees held team Home Run record longest: 35 years!

Data is for American League (AL) and National League (NL) teams 1903-2023, not including the 60 game 2020 season. This post deals with teams that led AL and NL (Major League Baseball: MLB) in a season. Click this link to view the complete list.

A recent related post should be of interest:

235 times MLB teams hit at least 200 Home Runs in a season. 307 is the record. Saturday, May 4, 2024

Click the following link to view all 235:

https://stathead.com/tiny/ugxL9

In 2023 13 of 30 teams hit at least 200 Home Runs...

2023 Atlanta tied the record of 307 by 2019 Minnesota...

Best record: 1998 Yankees: 114-48  .704

Worst record (44 of 235 (19%) under .500): 2019 Baltimore: 54-108  .333; pitchers allowed 305 HR the most ever by far. Next most: 270 by Colorado pitchers, also in 2019.

152 pitching staffs allowed at least 200 HR

______________________________

Modern expansion from 154 games to 162, a 5% increase:

1961: AL 8 to 10 teams: Angels and new Senators added.

1962: NL 8 to 10 teams: Mets and current Astros added.

Talent is diluted when new teams are added.

theGamesPerYear

lgID	yearID	AvgOfG	Count
NL	1969	162	12
AL	1969	162	12

theGamesPerYear

lgID	yearID	AvgOfG	Count
AL	1977	162	14

theGamesPerYear

lgID	yearID	AvgOfG	Count
NL	1993	162	14

theGamesPerYear

lgID	yearID	AvgOfG	Count
NL	1998	162	16

That's the current 30 teams, which have been rearranged into multiple divisions with non equal schedules.

Ties for MLB team Home Run lead:

qryTeamHRmaxTies

yearID	Count	FirstTeam	LastTeam	MLB
1904	2	PHA  AL	NY1  NL	Yes
1954	2	BRO  NL	NY1  NL	Yes
1967	2	BOS  AL	ATL  NL	Yes
1990	2	DET  AL	NYN  NL	Yes
2004	2	CHA  AL	NYA  AL	Yes

Highs and lows of all 133 teams.

The leading home run hitter for the team is included with his percent of team Home Runs (%tHR).

WS (World Series) and L (League: pennant) indicate if the team won those seasons.

Progression of the team HR record:

year	L	team	HR	tAB/HR	R/G	nameFirst	nameLast	pHR	pAB/HR	%tHR	G	W	L	T	WinA	WS	L	year	team
1903	AL	BOS	48	102.48	5.02	Buck	Freeman	13	43.62	27.08%	141	91	47	3	.659	Y	Y	1903	BOS
1911	NL	PHI	60	84.07	4.30	Fred	Luderus	16	34.44	26.67%	153	79	73	1	.520	N	N	1911	PHI
1913	NL	PHI	73	73.97	4.36	Gavvy	Cravath	19	27.63	26.03%	159	88	63	8	.583	N	N	1913	PHI
1920	AL	NYA	115	45.01	5.44	Babe	Ruth	54	8.46	46.96%	154	95	59	0	.617	N	N	1920	NYA
1921	AL	NYA	134	39.17	6.20	Babe	Ruth	59	9.15	44.03%	153	98	55	0	.641	N	Y	1921	NYA
1927	AL	NYA	158	33.84	6.29	Babe	Ruth	60	9.00	37.97%	155	110	44	1	.714	Y	Y	1927	NYA
1930	NL	CHN	171	32.64	6.40	Hack	Wilson	56	10.45	32.75%	156	90	64	2	.584	N	N	1930	CHN
1932	AL	PHA	172	32.19	6.37	Jimmie	Foxx	58	10.09	33.72%	154	94	60	0	.610	N	N	1932	PHA
1936	AL	NYA	182	30.72	6.87	Lou	Gehrig	49	11.82	26.92%	155	102	51	2	.667	Y	Y	1936	NYA
1947	NL	NY1	221	24.18	5.35	Johnny	Mize	51	11.49	23.08%	155	81	73	1	.526	N	N	1947	NY1
1956	NL	CIN	221	23.94	5.00	Frank	Robinson	38	15.05	17.19%	155	91	63	1	.591	N	N	1956	CIN
1961	AL	NYA	240	23.16	5.07	Roger	Maris	61	9.67	25.42%	163	109	53	1	.673	Y	Y	1961	NYA
1996	AL	BAL	257	22.14	5.82	Brady	Anderson	50	11.58	19.46%	163	88	74	1	.543	N	N	1996	BAL
1997	AL	SEA	264	21.27	5.71	Ken	Griffey	56	10.86	21.21%	162	90	72	0	.556	N	N	1997	SEA
2018	AL	NYA	267	20.66	5.25	Giancarlo	Stanton	38	16.24	14.23%	162	100	62	0	.617	N	N	2018	NYA
2019	AL	MIN	307	18.67	5.80	Nelson	Cruz	41	11.07	13.36%	162	101	61	0	.623	N	N	2019	MIN
2023	NL	ATL	307	18.23	5.85	Matt	Olson	54	11.26	17.59%	162	104	58	0	.642	N	N	2023	ATL
year	L	team	HR	tAB/HR	R/G	nameFirst	nameLast	pHR	pAB/HR	%tHR	G	W	L	T	WinA	WS	L	year	team

Only 4 of those 17 teams that set the MLB HR record won the WS. Only 5 won the pennant.

10 of the 17 team leaders hit at least 50 HR.

The 1961 Yankees held the record the longest 1961-1995 (35). Second most was by Seattle 1997-2017 (21).

Starting in 1920 the team record reached triple digits and never dropped below again.

All of these teams have good winning averages (mistakenly known as winning percentage).

In 1996 three teams exceeded the 240 Home Runs hit by the 1961 Yankees, all in the AL, which started the Designated Hitter (DH) in 1973. The 1961 Yankees record has been exceeded 34 times, 30 in this millennium (2000-2023):

For single seasons, in the regular season, requiring Home Runs >= 240, sorted by ascending Season:

https://stathead.com/tiny/naqq2

There was a big jump from the 1936 Yankees (182) to 1947 Giants (221). Then 200 HR 1948-1960:

year	L	team	HR	tAB/HR	R/G	nameFirst	nameLast	pHR	pAB/HR	%tHR	G	W	L	T	WinA	WS	L	year	team
1953	NL	BRO	208	25.83	6.16	Duke	Snider	42	14.05	20.19%	155	105	49	1	.682	N	Y	1953	BRO
1955	NL	BRO	201	25.84	5.56	Duke	Snider	42	12.81	20.90%	154	98	55	1	.641	Y	Y	1955	BRO
1956	NL	CIN	221	23.94	5.00	Frank	Robinson	38	15.05	17.19%	155	91	63	1	.591	N	N	1956	CIN

The 1961 Yankees were top heavy with the only two teammates ever to hit at least 50 HR in the same season. Here are the Yankees who hit Home Runs in 1961 sorted:

Rk	Pos	Name	Age	G	PA	AB	2B	3B	HR ▼	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP
1	RF	Roger Maris*	26	161	698	590	16	4	61	141	94	67	.269	.372	.620	.993	167	366	16
2	CF	Mickey Mantle#	29	153	646	514	16	6	54	128	126	112	.317	.448	.687	1.135	206	353	2
3	1B	Bill Skowron	30	150	608	561	23	4	28	89	35	108	.267	.318	.472	.790	113	265	21
4	LF	Yogi Berra*	36	119	437	395	11	0	22	61	35	28	.271	.330	.466	.795	115	184	7
5	C	Elston Howard	32	129	482	446	17	5	21	77	28	65	.348	.387	.549	.936	153	245	5
6	C	Johnny Blanchard*	28	93	275	243	10	1	21	54	27	28	.305	.382	.613	.995	168	149	6
7	3B	Clete Boyer	24	148	579	504	19	5	11	55	63	83	.224	.308	.347	.656	79	175	13
8	SS	Tony Kubek*	25	153	658	617	38	6	8	46	27	60	.276	.306	.395	.701	90	244	7
9	LF	Bob Cerv	36	57	131	118	5	1	6	20	12	17	.271	.344	.483	.827	124	57	6
10	2B	Bobby Richardson	25	162	706	662	17	5	3	49	30	23	.261	.295	.316	.610	67	209	15
11	LF	Héctor López	31	93	274	243	7	2	3	22	24	38	.222	.292	.305	.596	64	74	8
12	3B	Billy Gardner	33	41	109	99	5	0	1	2	6	18	.212	.278	.293	.571	57	29	4
13	1B	Bob Hale*	27	11	13	13	0	0	1	1	0	0	.154	.154	.385	.538	42	5	1

Maris, of course, broke the season record of 60 set by Yankee Babe Ruth in 1927.

Two teams had substantial streaks when there were only 8 teams in AL and 8 in the NL:

year	L	team	HR	tAB/HR	R/G	nameFirst	nameLast	pHR	pAB/HR	%tHR	G	W	L	T	WinA	WS	L	year	team
1936	AL	NYA	182	30.72	6.87	Lou	Gehrig	49	11.82	26.92%	155	102	51	2	.667	Y	Y	1936	NYA
1937	AL	NYA	174	31.53	6.24	Joe	DiMaggio	46	13.50	26.44%	157	102	52	3	.662	Y	Y	1937	NYA
1938	AL	NYA	174	31.09	6.15	Joe	DiMaggio	32	18.72	18.39%	157	99	53	5	.651	Y	Y	1938	NYA
1939	AL	NYA	166	31.93	6.36	Joe	DiMaggio	30	15.40	18.07%	152	106	45	1	.702	Y	Y	1939	NYA
1940	AL	NYA	155	34.10	5.27	Joe	DiMaggio	31	16.39	20.00%	155	88	66	1	.571	N	N	1940	NYA
1941	AL	NYA	151	36.05	5.32	Charlie	Keller	33	15.36	21.85%	156	101	53	2	.656	Y	Y	1941	NYA
year	L	team	HR	tAB/HR	R/G	nameFirst	nameLast	pHR	pAB/HR	%tHR	G	W	L	T	WinA	WS	L	year	team
1949	NL	BRO	152	35.53	5.63	Duke	Snider	23	24.00	15.13%	156	97	57	2	.630	N	Y	1949	BRO
1949	NL	BRO	152	35.53	5.63	Gil	Hodges	23	25.91	15.13%	156	97	57	2	.630	N	Y	1949	BRO
1950	NL	BRO	194	27.65	5.46	Gil	Hodges	32	17.53	16.49%	155	89	65	1	.578	N	N	1950	BRO
1951	NL	BRO	184	29.85	5.41	Gil	Hodges	40	14.55	21.74%	158	97	60	1	.618	N	N	1951	BRO
1952	NL	BRO	153	34.42	5.00	Gil	Hodges	32	15.88	20.92%	155	96	57	2	.627	N	Y	1952	BRO
1953	NL	BRO	208	25.83	6.16	Duke	Snider	42	14.05	20.19%	155	105	49	1	.682	N	Y	1953	BRO
1954	NL	BRO	186	28.23	5.05	Gil	Hodges	42	13.79	22.58%	154	92	62	0	.597	N	N	1954	BRO
1954	NL	NY1	186	28.20	4.75	Willie	Mays	41	13.78	22.04%	154	97	57	0	.630	Y	Y	1954	NY1
1955	NL	BRO	201	25.84	5.56	Duke	Snider	42	12.81	20.90%	154	98	55	1	.641	Y	Y	1955	BRO

In 1954 the Dodgers and Giants tied for most HR in MLB. In 1949 Dodgers Snider and Hodges tied for the team lead. 

5 of the 6 Yankee teams won the WS, including 4 consecutive.

4 of the 7 Brooklyn Dodger teams won the pennant but only one WS.

20 of the 30 teams led MLB multiple times:

qryTeamHR_MLBcount

Franch	#	FirstYear	LastYear	minHR	maxHR
NYY	28	1919	2022	45	267
SFG	15	1904	1972	23	221
LAD	10	1908	1974	28	208
BOS	9	1903	1979	43	213
DET	9	1962	1992	172	225
ATL	8	1957	2023	158	307
PHI	7	1911	1929	58	153
BAL	6	1983	2016	168	257
TEX	5	1993	2005	181	260
OAK	5	1904	1981	31	172
MIL	4	1978	2007	173	231
TOR	4	1988	2021	158	262
CLE	3	1975	1995	153	207
CHW	3	2004	2008	235	242
CHC	3	1916	1958	46	182
SEA	3	1997	1999	234	264
MIN	3	1963	2019	221	307
NYM	2	1989	1990	147	172
CIN	2	1956	1976	141	221
STL	2	1918	1944	27	100

Won WS multiple times when leading MLB in HR:

qryTeamHR_MLBcount

Franch	#	FirstYear	LastYear	minHR	maxHR
NYY	10	1927	2009	100	244
SFG	3	1905	1954	39	186
DET	2	1968	1984	185	187

Won pennant multiple times when leading MLB in HR:

qryTeamHR_MLBcount

Franch	#	FirstYear	LastYear	minHR	maxHR
NYY	13	1921	2009	100	244
SFG	6	1904	1954	31	186
LAD	6	1949	1974	139	208
DET	2	1968	1984	185	187
BOS	2	1903	1967	48	158

Sorting 132 on WinA (Winning Average):

1927 and 1939 Yankees over .700.

16 >= .650 Top 12:

Query10

yearID	Lg	Franch	Team	HR	R/G	W	L	T	WinA	LgWin	WSWin	nameLast	pHR	name
1927	AL	NYY	NYA	158	6.29	110	44	1	0.7142857	Y	Y	Ruth	60	New York Yankees
1939	AL	NYY	NYA	166	6.36	106	45	1	0.7019867	Y	Y	DiMaggio	30	New York Yankees
1995	AL	CLE	CLE	207	5.83	100	44	0	0.6944444	Y	N	Belle	50	Cleveland Indians
1904	NL	SFG	NY1	31	4.74	106	47	4	0.6928105	Y		McGann	6	New York Giants
1905	NL	SFG	NY1	39	5.03	105	48	2	0.6862745	Y	Y	Donlin	7	New York Giants
1905	NL	SFG	NY1	39	5.03	105	48	2	0.6862745	Y	Y	Dahlen	7	New York Giants
1912	NL	SFG	NY1	47	5.34	103	48	3	0.6821192	Y	N	Merkle	11	New York Giants
1944	NL	STL	SLN	100	4.92	105	49	3	0.6818182	Y	Y	Kurowski	20	St. Louis Cardinals
1953	NL	LAD	BRO	208	6.16	105	49	1	0.6818182	Y	N	Snider	42	Brooklyn Dodgers
1961	AL	NYY	NYA	240	5.07	109	53	1	0.6728395	Y	Y	Maris	61	New York Yankees
1936	AL	NYY	NYA	182	6.87	102	51	2	0.6666667	Y	Y	Gehrig	49	New York Yankees
1937	AL	NYY	NYA	174	6.24	102	52	3	0.6623377	Y	Y	DiMaggio	46	New York Yankees

5 of the 12 are Yankees, including the 1961 Yankees. 1905 Giants had two players tie for team lead, so there are two entries.

47 >- .600

80 >= .550

109 >= .500

9 < .450:

Query10

yearID	Lg	Franch	Team	HR	R/G	W	L	T	WinA	LgWin	WSWin	nameLast	pHR	name
1972	NL	SFG	SFN	150	4.27	69	86	0	0.4451613	N	N	Kingman	29	San Francisco Giants
2002	AL	TEX	TEX	230	5.20	72	90	0	0.4444444	N	N	Rodriguez	57	Texas Rangers
2000	NL	HOU	HOU	249	5.79	72	90	0	0.4444444	N	N	Bagwell	47	Houston Astros
2003	AL	TEX	TEX	239	5.10	71	91	0	0.4382716	N	N	Rodriguez	47	Texas Rangers
1916	NL	CHC	CHN	46	3.33	67	86	3	0.4379085	N	N	Williams	12	Chicago Cubs
1918	NL	STL	SLN	27	3.47	51	78	2	0.3953488	N	N	Cruise	6	St. Louis Cardinals
1922	NL	PHI	PHI	116	4.79	57	96	1	0.372549	N	N	Williams	26	Philadelphia Phillies
1908	NL	LAD	BRO	28	2.44	53	101	0	0.3441558	N	N	Jordan	12	Brooklyn Superbas
1923	NL	PHI	PHI	112	4.83	50	104	1	0.3246753	N	N	Williams	41	Philadelphia Phillies

13 teams (9 Yankees) averaged at least 6 runs per game (R/G), including ties:

In 1931 Ruth and Gehrig tied for the AL HR lead, so that team has two lines below.

Query10

yearID	Lg	Franch	Team	HR	R/G	W	L	T	WinA	LgWin	WSWin	nameLast	pHR	name
1931	AL	NYY	NYA	155	6.88	94	59	2	0.6143791	N	N	Gehrig	46	New York Yankees
1931	AL	NYY	NYA	155	6.88	94	59	2	0.6143791	N	N	Ruth	46	New York Yankees
1936	AL	NYY	NYA	182	6.87	102	51	2	0.6666667	Y	Y	Gehrig	49	New York Yankees
1930	NL	CHC	CHN	171	6.40	90	64	2	0.5844156	N	N	Wilson	56	Chicago Cubs
1932	AL	OAK	PHA	172	6.37	94	60	0	0.6103896	N	N	Foxx	58	Philadelphia Athletics
1939	AL	NYY	NYA	166	6.36	106	45	1	0.7019867	Y	Y	DiMaggio	30	New York Yankees
1927	AL	NYY	NYA	158	6.29	110	44	1	0.7142857	Y	Y	Ruth	60	New York Yankees
1937	AL	NYY	NYA	174	6.24	102	52	3	0.6623377	Y	Y	DiMaggio	46	New York Yankees
1921	AL	NYY	NYA	134	6.20	98	55	0	0.6405229	Y	N	Ruth	59	New York Yankees
1953	NL	LAD	BRO	208	6.16	105	49	1	0.6818182	Y	N	Snider	42	Brooklyn Dodgers
1938	AL	NYY	NYA	174	6.15	99	53	5	0.6513158	Y	Y	DiMaggio	32	New York Yankees
1933	AL	NYY	NYA	144	6.10	91	59	2	0.6066667	N	N	Ruth	34	New York Yankees
1994	AL	CLE	CLE	167	6.01	66	47	0	0.5840708			Belle	36	Cleveland Indians

These teams averaged fewer than 4 runs per game despite 

Query10

yearID	Lg	Franch	Team	HR	R/G	W	L	T	WinA	LgWin	WSWin	nameLast	pHR	name
1909	NL	SFG	NY1	26	3.95	92	61	5	0.6013072	N	N	Murray	7	New York Giants
1967	NL	ATL	ATL	158	3.90	77	85	0	0.4753087	N	N	Aaron	39	Atlanta Braves
1915	NL	PHI	PHI	58	3.85	90	62	1	0.5921053	Y	N	Cravath	24	Philadelphia Phillies
1906	AL	OAK	PHA	32	3.77	78	67	4	0.537931	N	N	Davis	12	Philadelphia Athletics
1907	NL	SFG	NY1	23	3.70	82	71	2	0.5359477	N	N	Browne	5	New York Giants
1904	AL	OAK	PHA	31	3.59	81	70	4	0.5364239	N		Davis	10	Philadelphia Athletics
1918	NL	STL	SLN	27	3.47	51	78	2	0.3953488	N	N	Cruise	6	St. Louis Cardinals
1916	NL	CHC	CHN	46	3.33	67	86	3	0.4379085	N	N	Williams	12	Chicago Cubs
1908	NL	LAD	BRO	28	2.44	53	101	0	0.3441558	N	N	Jordan	12	Brooklyn Superbas

Since all but one were in the dead ball era before 1920, let's try that for 1920-2023, excluding 2020:

Query10

yearID	Lg	Franch	Team	HR	R/G	W	L	T	WinA	LgWin	WSWin	nameLast	pHR	name
2014	AL	BAL	BAL	211	4.35	96	66	0	0.5925926	N	N	Cruz	40	Baltimore Orioles
1945	NL	SFG	NY1	114	4.34	78	74	2	0.5131579	N	N	Ott	21	New York Giants
1971	AL	DET	DET	179	4.33	91	71	0	0.5617284	N	N	Cash	32	Detroit Tigers
1975	AL	CLE	CLE	153	4.33	79	80	0	0.4968553	N	N	Powell	27	Cleveland Indians
1943	AL	NYY	NYA	100	4.32	98	56	1	0.6363636	Y	Y	Keller	31	New York Yankees
1972	NL	SFG	SFN	150	4.27	69	86	0	0.4451613	N	N	Kingman	29	San Francisco Giants
1989	NL	NYM	NYN	147	4.22	87	75	0	0.537037	N	N	Johnson	36	New York Mets
1981	AL	OAK	OAK	104	4.20	64	45	0	0.5871559	N	N	Armas	22	Oakland Athletics
1968	AL	DET	DET	185	4.09	103	59	2	0.6358024	Y	Y	Horton	36	Detroit Tigers
1967	NL	ATL	ATL	158	3.90	77	85	0	0.4753087	N	N	Aaron	39	Atlanta Braves

As you can see that 1967 Atlanta Braves team was the only team in this group since 1920 to average fewer than 4 runs per game, despite Hank Aaron hitting 39 HR (OPS+ 168).

***   The End   ***