Trivia time
Posted by Andy on February 25, 2009
Which player who played his entire career for only one franchise hit the most career homers? Answer is after the jump.
Cnt Player **HR** Tms From To Ages G PA AB R H 2B 3B RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions Teams +----+-----------------+-------+----+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+----+----+---+----+---+---+---+---+----+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+-----------+ 1 Mike Schmidt 548 1 1972 1989 22-39 2404 10062 8352 1506 2234 408 59 1595 1507 201 1883 79 16 108 156 174 92 .267 .380 .527 .907 *53/64 PHI 2 Mickey Mantle 536 1 1951 1968 19-36 2401 9909 8102 1677 2415 344 72 1509 1733 126 1710 13 14 47 113 153 38 .298 .421 .557 .978 *8397/645 NYY 3 Ted Williams 521 1 1939 1960 20-41 2292 9791 7706 1798 2654 525 71 1839 2021 86 709 39 5 20 197 24 17 .344 .482 .634 1.116 *79/1 BOS 4 Ernie Banks 512 1 1953 1971 22-40 2528 10395 9421 1305 2583 407 90 1636 763 198 1236 70 45 96 229 50 53 .274 .330 .500 .830 36/57 CHC 5 Mel Ott 511 1 1926 1947 17-38 2730 11337 9456 1859 2876 488 72 1860 1708 0 896 64 109 0 82 89 0 .304 .414 .533 .947 *958/74 NYG 6 Lou Gehrig 493 1 1923 1939 20-36 2164 9660 8001 1888 2721 534 163 1995 1508 0 790 45 106 0 2 102 101 .340 .447 .632 1.079 *3/976 NYY 7 Willie Stargell 475 1 1962 1982 22-42 2360 9026 7927 1195 2232 423 55 1540 937 227 1936 78 9 75 143 17 16 .282 .360 .529 .889 *73/98 PIT 8 Stan Musial 475 1 1941 1963 20-42 3026 12712 10972 1949 3630 725 177 1951 1599 127 696 53 35 53 243 78 31 .331 .417 .559 .976 3798/1 STL 9 Carl Yastrzemski 452 1 1961 1983 21-43 3308 13991 11988 1816 3419 646 59 1844 1845 190 1393 40 13 105 323 168 116 .285 .379 .462 .841 *73D8/59 BOS 10 Jeff Bagwell 449 1 1991 2005 23-37 2150 9431 7797 1517 2314 488 32 1529 1401 155 1558 128 3 102 221 202 78 .297 .408 .540 .948 *3/D9 HOU 11 Cal Ripken 431 1 1981 2001 20-40 3001 12883 11551 1647 3184 603 44 1695 1129 107 1305 66 10 127 350 36 39 .276 .340 .447 .787 *65/D BAL 12 Chipper Jones 408 1 1993 2008 21-36 2023 8677 7337 1378 2277 449 35 1374 1242 137 1142 16 3 79 204 138 43 .310 .408 .548 .956 *57/6D9 ATL 13 Al Kaline 399 1 1953 1974 18-39 2834 11597 10116 1622 3007 498 75 1583 1277 131 1020 55 45 104 271 137 65 .297 .376 .480 .856 *98D3/75 DET 14 Johnny Bench 389 1 1967 1983 19-35 2157 8669 7658 1091 2048 381 24 1376 891 135 1278 19 11 90 201 68 43 .267 .342 .476 .818 *253/798 CIN 15 Jim Rice 382 1 1974 1989 21-36 2089 9058 8225 1249 2452 373 79 1451 670 77 1423 64 5 94 315 58 34 .298 .352 .502 .854 *7D/98 BOS 16 Joe DiMaggio 361 1 1936 1951 21-36 1736 7671 6821 1390 2214 389 131 1537 790 0 369 46 14 0 130 30 9 .325 .398 .579 .977 *8/793 NYY 17 Albert Pujols 319 1 2001 2008 21-28 1239 5382 4578 947 1531 342 13 977 696 154 506 60 1 47 157 45 26 .334 .425 .624 1.049 *37/59D64 STL 18 George Brett 317 1 1973 1993 20-40 2707 11624 10349 1583 3154 665 137 1595 1096 229 908 33 26 120 235 201 97 .305 .369 .487 .856 *5D3/796 KCR 19 Todd Helton 310 1 1997 2008 23-34 1661 7116 5962 1143 1957 471 31 1116 1041 170 810 49 3 61 145 36 26 .328 .428 .574 1.002 *3/79D COL 20 Edgar Martinez 309 1 1987 2004 24-41 2055 8672 7213 1219 2247 514 15 1261 1283 113 1202 89 10 77 190 49 30 .312 .418 .515 .933 *D5/3 SEA
I guess it's obvious once you see it, remembering that Schmidt was very high on the career HR list when he retired.
Altering to allow for guys who played with 1 or 2 franchises adds in 7 new players in the top 20:
Cnt Player **HR** Tms From To Ages G PA AB R H 2B 3B RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions Teams +----+-----------------+-------+----+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+----+----+---+----+---+---+---+---+----+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+-----------+ 1 Barry Bonds 762 2 1986 2007 21-42 2986 12606 9847 2227 2935 601 77 1996 2558 688 1539 106 4 91 165 514 141 .298 .444 .607 1.051 *78/D9 PIT-SFG 2 Hank Aaron 755 2 1954 1976 20-42 3293 13940 12364 2174 3771 624 98 2297 1402 293 1383 32 21 121 328 240 73 .305 .374 .555 .929 *9783D/45 MLN-ATL-MIL 3 Willie Mays 660 2 1951 1973 20-42 2992 12493 10881 2062 3283 523 140 1903 1464 192 1526 44 13 91 251 338 103 .302 .384 .557 .941 *8/39765 NYG-SFG-NYM 4 Mark McGwire 583 2 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/D54967 OAK-STL 5 Harmon Killebrew 573 2 1954 1975 18-39 2435 9831 8147 1283 2086 290 24 1584 1559 160 1699 48 0 77 243 19 18 .256 .376 .509 .885 357D/49 WSH-MIN-KCR 6 Mike Schmidt 548 1 1972 1989 22-39 2404 10062 8352 1506 2234 408 59 1595 1507 201 1883 79 16 108 156 174 92 .267 .380 .527 .907 *53/64 PHI 7 Mickey Mantle 536 1 1951 1968 19-36 2401 9909 8102 1677 2415 344 72 1509 1733 126 1710 13 14 47 113 153 38 .298 .421 .557 .978 *8397/645 NYY 8 Ted Williams 521 1 1939 1960 20-41 2292 9791 7706 1798 2654 525 71 1839 2021 86 709 39 5 20 197 24 17 .344 .482 .634 1.116 *79/1 BOS 9 Ernie Banks 512 1 1953 1971 22-40 2528 10395 9421 1305 2583 407 90 1636 763 198 1236 70 45 96 229 50 53 .274 .330 .500 .830 36/57 CHC 10 Mel Ott 511 1 1926 1947 17-38 2730 11337 9456 1859 2876 488 72 1860 1708 0 896 64 109 0 82 89 0 .304 .414 .533 .947 *958/74 NYG 11 Lou Gehrig 493 1 1923 1939 20-36 2164 9660 8001 1888 2721 534 163 1995 1508 0 790 45 106 0 2 102 101 .340 .447 .632 1.079 *3/976 NYY 12 Willie Stargell 475 1 1962 1982 22-42 2360 9026 7927 1195 2232 423 55 1540 937 227 1936 78 9 75 143 17 16 .282 .360 .529 .889 *73/98 PIT 13 Stan Musial 475 1 1941 1963 20-42 3026 12712 10972 1949 3630 725 177 1951 1599 127 696 53 35 53 243 78 31 .331 .417 .559 .976 3798/1 STL 14 Carl Yastrzemski 452 1 1961 1983 21-43 3308 13991 11988 1816 3419 646 59 1844 1845 190 1393 40 13 105 323 168 116 .285 .379 .462 .841 *73D8/59 BOS 15 Jeff Bagwell 449 1 1991 2005 23-37 2150 9431 7797 1517 2314 488 32 1529 1401 155 1558 128 3 102 221 202 78 .297 .408 .540 .948 *3/D9 HOU 16 Cal Ripken 431 1 1981 2001 20-40 3001 12883 11551 1647 3184 603 44 1695 1129 107 1305 66 10 127 350 36 39 .276 .340 .447 .787 *65/D BAL 17 Billy Williams 426 2 1959 1976 21-38 2488 10519 9350 1410 2711 434 88 1475 1045 182 1046 43 8 73 200 90 49 .290 .361 .492 .853 *79D/38 CHC-OAK 18 Chipper Jones 408 1 1993 2008 21-36 2023 8677 7337 1378 2277 449 35 1374 1242 137 1142 16 3 79 204 138 43 .310 .408 .548 .956 *57/6D9 ATL 19 Al Kaline 399 1 1953 1974 18-39 2834 11597 10116 1622 3007 498 75 1583 1277 131 1020 55 45 104 271 137 65 .297 .376 .480 .856 *98D3/75 DET 20 Jason Giambi 396 2 1995 2008 24-37 1850 7776 6332 1116 1812 362 9 1279 1205 87 1308 157 2 80 139 18 11 .286 .408 .534 .942 *3D7/59 OAK-NYY
If had Jason Giambi in your top 20 for that, you're pretty good.
February 25th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Another list would be, who hit the most home runs for one team, regardless of whether he also played for other teams. In June 2004, when Bonds hit his 500th Giant homer, David Vincent posted a list of all the guys who had hit 500 for one team. At the time, the list was Aaron, 733, Braves; Ruth, 659, Yankees; Mays, 646, Giants; Killebrew, 559, Senators/Twins; Schmidt, 548, Phillies; Mantle, 536, Yankees; Williams, 521, Red Sox; Sosa, 520, Cubs; Banks, 512, Cubs; Ott, 511, Giants; Bonds, 500, Giants.
The list could use a little updating.
February 26th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
I wouldn't put money on Chipper, Pujols, Helton, or Giambi remaining on those lists - particularly the first one. Half the players on that list played all or a large part of their careers before the free agency era. Chipper and Helton have already poked a toe in the free agent market and/or been mentioned in trade rumors linked to their free agent status; and who knows how much longer the Cards can afford King Albert.
Also, many of the players added to the second list played the bulk of their careers for their first team, but played a final season or two for another team when they were no longer in the future plans of their first team. (Aaron, Mays, Killebrew, and Billy Williams; you could also make a case for Big Mac, who played the first ~70% of his career in Oakland, though his most memorable years were in St. Louis.) Of the guys added, only Bonds, Giambi, and McGwire played a significant amount of their careers for their second team, and only Bonds (so far - Giambi will likely join him if he stays on the list) played more than half their careers for the second team. This means that we'll have to wait until Jones, Pujols, Helton, and Giambi retire - or at least are near retirement - to see if they opt for one more chance with another team.
I live in the Philadelphia area, and I remember Schmidty's retirement coming as a big surprise to the Phillies and their fans. He was just two years removed from an MVP award, but was coming off of a disappointing season (by his standards) - only 12 HR in 108 games. If I remember right, he had a good spring training in 1989, but got off to a slow start average-wise. Still, he had 6 HR in the first two months, was among the league leaders in HR and RBI, and was on pace for 21 HR and 95 RBI - probably would have finished in the top 20 (possibly top 10) in each category that year. But Schmidt didn't want to play if he couldn't be his Hall-of-Fame self, and chose retirement over just hanging on to collect a paycheck and creep up the all-time leaderboards. Most people thought he could have surpassed Reggie, Killebrew, and Frank Robinson on the career HR leaderboard (he only needed 39 more HR to pass all three) and finish at that time fourth all-time behind the immortals - Aaron, Ruth, and Mays. Some optimists even thought he had a shot at 600. Still, he's currently 13th on the list - and I'd still take him over half the players ahead of him!
February 27th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Gerry, one easy way to continually check who has the most homers for one franchise regardless of who else he played with:
go to player season finder.
career seasons.
set HR minimum for 500 (or any other number).
search by team with players.
it'll show every player who hit that HR minimum for a team sorted by team.
it won't show the exact numbers but you can edit the minimum.
March 17th, 2009 at 10:41 am
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