Fastest to 300 Home Runs: Kiner v. Judge.

Ralph Kiner

Positions: Leftfielder and First Baseman

Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right

6-2, 195lb (188cm, 88kg)

Born: October 27, 1922 in Santa Rita, NM us

Died: February 6, 2014 (Aged 91-102d) in Rancho Mirage, CA

Updated August 14, 2024. Judge hit career home run 300 in career game 955 tonight. Season homer 43.

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I read that Aaron Judge will best Ralph Kiner as the fastest to 300 Home Runs (HR) measured by fewest games, which seems crude. Staring at totals is bad enough but why compare career totals by games played?

Here are their numbers: Kiner through the game in which he hit #300 and Judge through today's game.

		G	PA	AB	HR	AB/HR	BB	SO
Kiner	Mon, May 25, 1953	1,087	4,698	3,883	300	12.94	791	540
Judge	Wed, Aug 14, 2024	955	4,157	3,431	300	11.44	662	1,169

Monday, May 25, 1953

Attendance: 2,369

Venue: Forbes Field

Game Duration: 2:34

Day Game, on grass

New York Giants 6, Pirates 2

HR: Ralph Kiner (6, off Al Corwin, 5th inn, 2 on, 1 out to LF).

The Giants led 6-0 when Kiner homered.

Ralph Kiner hit only one more home run for Pittsburgh.

June 4, 1953: Traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates with Joe Garagiola, George Metkovich and Howie Pollet to the Chicago Cubs for Bob Addis, Toby Atwell, George Freese, Gene Hermanski, Bob Schultz, Preston Ward and $150,000.

Kiner hit 28 HR for the Cubs for a total of 35 in 1953. But his streak of leading the league in HR ended at 7, which included three ties:

1952 with Cub Hank Sauer 37
1948 with Giant Johnny Mize 40
1947 with Giant Johnny Mize 51

Kiner hit 50 a second time in 1949: 54.

But Kiner was through as a big time home run hitter after 1953. 1953 NL leaders:

Home Runs

1.	Mathews • MLN	47
2.	Snider • BRO	42
3.	Campanella • BRO	41
4.	Kluszewski • CIN	40
5.	Kiner • 2TM	35
6.	Hodges • BRO	31
7.	Bell • CIN	30
	Thomas • PIT	30
	Musial • STL	30
10.	Ennis • PHI	29

Active HR leaders through 8/5/2024:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/HR_active.shtml

Rank	Player (yrs, age)	Home Runs	PA	Bats	HR Log
1.	Giancarlo Stanton (15, 34)	420	6737	R	HR Log
2.	Mike Trout (14, 32)	378	6647	R	HR Log
3.	Paul Goldschmidt (14, 36)	357	8107	R	HR Log
4.	Joey Votto (17, 40)	356	8746	L	HR Log
5.	Freddie Freeman (15, 34)	337	8554	L	HR Log
6.	Nolan Arenado (12, 33)	336	6882	R	HR Log
7.	Bryce Harper (13, 31)	331	6878	L	HR Log
8.	Manny Machado (13, 31)	330	7311	R	HR Log
9.	J.D. Martinez (14, 36)	327	6713	R	HR Log
10.	Carlos Santana (15, 38)	315	8587	B	HR Log
11.	Andrew McCutchen (16, 37)	312	9050	R	HR Log
12.	Anthony Rizzo (14, 34)	303	7252	L	HR Log
13.	Aaron Judge (9, 32)	298	4116	R	HR Log

For combined seasons, up to 1953, Playing in the AL or NL, in the regular season, requiring Home Runs >= 275, sorted by descending Home Runs.

https://stathead.com/tiny/mng7H

Rk	Player	HR	AB	OPS+	From	To	Age	G	PA	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB
1	Babe Ruth	714	8399	206	1914	1935	19-40	2503	10628	2062	1330	.342	.474	.690	1.164	5793
2	Jimmie Foxx	534	8134	163	1925	1945	17-37	2317	9677	1452	1311	.325	.428	.609	1.038	4956
3	Mel Ott	511	9456	155	1926	1947	17-38	2730	11347	1708	896	.304	.414	.533	.947	5041
4	Lou Gehrig	493	8001	179	1923	1939	20-36	2164	9665	1508	790	.340	.447	.632	1.080	5060
5	Joe DiMaggio	361	6821	155	1936	1951	21-36	1736	7672	790	369	.325	.398	.579	.977	3948
6	Johnny Mize	359	6443	158	1936	1953	23-40	1884	7372	856	524	.312	.397	.562	.959	3621
7	Ted Williams	337	5187	191	1939	1953	20-34	1464	6561	1348	454	.348	.484	.638	1.122	3311
8	Hank Greenberg	331	5193	159	1930	1947	19-36	1394	6098	852	844	.313	.412	.605	1.017	3142
9	Ralph Kiner	329	4327	155	1946	1953	23-30	1212	5223	870	613	.281	.404	.563	.967	2436
10	Al Simmons	307	8759	133	1924	1944	22-42	2215	9520	615	737	.334	.380	.535	.915	4685
11	Rogers Hornsby	301	8173	175	1915	1937	19-41	2259	9481	1038	679	.358	.434	.577	1.010	4712
12	Chuck Klein	300	6486	137	1928	1944	23-39	1753	7172	601	521	.320	.379	.543	.922	3522
13	Bob Johnson	288	6920	139	1933	1945	27-39	1863	8051	1075	851	.296	.393	.506	.899	3501
14	Rudy York	277	5891	123	1934	1948	20-34	1603	6723	792	867	.275	.362	.483	.845	2847

Provided by Stathead.com: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
Generated 8/5/2024.

1955 was Kiner's final season. He finished with 369 HR.

https://stathead.com/tiny/xsh2g

Rk	Player	HR	AB	OPS+	From	To	Age	G	PA	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	TB
1	Babe Ruth	714	8399	206	1914	1935	19-40	2503	10628	2062	1330	.342	.474	.690	5793
2	Jimmie Foxx	534	8134	163	1925	1945	17-37	2317	9677	1452	1311	.325	.428	.609	4956
3	Mel Ott	511	9456	155	1926	1947	17-38	2730	11347	1708	896	.304	.414	.533	5041
4	Lou Gehrig	493	8001	179	1923	1939	20-36	2164	9665	1508	790	.340	.447	.632	5060
5	Ted Williams	394	5893	193	1939	1955	20-36	1679	7504	1575	510	.348	.487	.642	3781
6	Ralph Kiner	369	5205	149	1946	1955	23-32	1472	6256	1011	749	.279	.398	.548	2852
7	Joe DiMaggio	361	6821	155	1936	1951	21-36	1736	7672	790	369	.325	.398	.579	3948
8	Johnny Mize	359	6443	158	1936	1953	23-40	1884	7372	856	524	.312	.397	.562	3621
9	Hank Greenberg	331	5193	159	1930	1947	19-36	1394	6098	852	844	.313	.412	.605	3142
10	Stan Musial	325	7590	170	1941	1955	20-34	1988	8814	1134	414	.342	.430	.583	4423
11	Al Simmons	307	8759	133	1924	1944	22-42	2215	9520	615	737	.334	.380	.535	4685
12	Rogers Hornsby	301	8173	175	1915	1937	19-41	2259	9481	1038	679	.358	.434	.577	4712
13	Chuck Klein	300	6486	137	1928	1944	23-39	1753	7172	601	521	.320	.379	.543	3522

Provided by Stathead.com: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
Generated 8/5/2024.

The 40 Kiner hit in his final two seasons moved him past DiMaggio, rival Mize and former Pittsburgh teammate Greenberg.