Exactly 100 Career HR
Posted by Steve Lombardi on August 18, 2011
How many players have exactly 100 career major league homeruns?
Not many:
| Rk | HR | From | To | Age | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | RBI | BB | IBB | SO | HBP | SH | SF | GDP | SB | CS | Pos | Tm | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Randy Velarde | 100 | 1987 | 2002 | 24-39 | 1273 | 4813 | 4244 | 633 | 1171 | 214 | 23 | 445 | 463 | 6 | 853 | 49 | 38 | 19 | 118 | 78 | 37 | .276 | .352 | .408 | .760 | 456/7D398 | NYY-CAL-ANA-TOT-OAK | |
| 2 | Duke Sims | 100 | 1964 | 1974 | 23-33 | 843 | 2810 | 2422 | 263 | 580 | 80 | 6 | 310 | 338 | 34 | 483 | 35 | 6 | 9 | 45 | 6 | 16 | .239 | .340 | .401 | .741 | *2/379D | CLE-LAD-TOT | |
| 3 | Placido Polanco | 100 | 1998 | 2011 | 22-35 | 1686 | 7002 | 6410 | 937 | 1931 | 317 | 32 | 671 | 376 | 11 | 468 | 88 | 79 | 49 | 177 | 79 | 30 | .301 | .346 | .407 | .753 | *456/7D3 | STL-TOT-PHI-DET | |
| 4 | John Kruk | 100 | 1986 | 1995 | 25-34 | 1200 | 4603 | 3897 | 582 | 1170 | 199 | 34 | 592 | 649 | 83 | 701 | 2 | 12 | 43 | 92 | 58 | 31 | .300 | .397 | .446 | .842 | *379/D8 | SDP-TOT-PHI-CHW | |
| 5 | Mike Jacobs | 100 | 2005 | 2010 | 24-29 | 556 | 2117 | 1930 | 244 | 489 | 115 | 6 | 310 | 166 | 17 | 486 | 7 | 1 | 13 | 49 | 5 | 2 | .253 | .313 | .475 | .787 | *3D | NYM-FLA-KCR | |
| 6 | Augie Galan | 100 | 1934 | 1949 | 22-37 | 1742 | 7003 | 5937 | 1004 | 1706 | 336 | 74 | 830 | 979 | 0 | 393 | 25 | 62 | 0 | 72 | 123 | 0 | .287 | .390 | .419 | .810 | *78/35496 | CHC-TOT-BRO-CIN | |
| 7 | Bruce Bochte | 100 | 1974 | 1986 | 23-35 | 1538 | 5994 | 5233 | 643 | 1478 | 250 | 21 | 658 | 653 | 65 | 662 | 13 | 44 | 51 | 156 | 43 | 41 | .282 | .360 | .396 | .756 | *37/D89 | CAL-TOT-SEA-OAK |
.
Plácido Polanco hopes to get off list someday.
August 18th, 2011 at 2:34 pm
How did Auggie Galan have zero caught stealing? Or did they not keep the stat in those days?
August 18th, 2011 at 2:44 pm
On the flip side ... 9 pitchers have allowed exactly 100 HRs, at the modern distance, including Trevor Hoffman and Johnny Vander Meer.
August 18th, 2011 at 2:47 pm
@1
I did some random searching of player home pages and it looks like the NL did not keep track of CS until 1951.
August 18th, 2011 at 2:47 pm
"Plácido Polanco hopes to get off list someday."
But, it looks like Mike Jacobs probably won't.
August 18th, 2011 at 3:00 pm
Is Jacob's recent suspension the reason for this post?
August 18th, 2011 at 3:07 pm
I love Bruce Bochte - he was great with the Mariners.
His 1979 season was one of those (somewhat rare occasions in live ball era) with 100 RBI and less than 20 HR.
August 18th, 2011 at 3:11 pm
John Kruk is really underrated.Why was his career so short?
August 18th, 2011 at 3:13 pm
"Why was his career so short?"
Because MLB wouldn't agree to put a keg at each base...
August 18th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
This is why I love using the Bullpen feature. I always looked at the back of Bochte's card and wondered why there was a year when he didn't play (and seemingly wasn't on the DL, as Topps usually put something to that effect on the card). Now I know the truth: he retired after the '82 season but came back in 1984-86 with Oakland. The more you know!
August 18th, 2011 at 3:26 pm
@7
And John Kruk is 170 lbs.?! If he's 170, now or then, then I'm Twiggy!
August 18th, 2011 at 3:34 pm
@Hartvig - smiling at the joke, primarily because Krukie would probably laugh too... The actual reason probably has to do with having had testicular cancer in 1994, as well as his knees begining to bother him.
He got a single his final at-bat for the White Sox to reach an exact .300 batting average - and promptly retired while standing on first.
One thing I did NOT know about, which I found verifying the details of his illness - as a young ballplayer, Kruk had a house one off-season with two guys who, it turns out, made their living as armed robbers.
August 18th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
One of my all time faves, Craig Paquette, wound up stuck on 99 career homers....
August 18th, 2011 at 3:37 pm
any mention of john kruk is always good comedy material. excellent mid-afternoon posting.
August 18th, 2011 at 3:45 pm
@8 @10
Hartvig and Larry, love the levity.
@5
Adam, I assume that Steve is motivated by the last blog.
But when I posted, somewhat recklessly, in the last blog I didn't realize that Mike Jacobs SA was so good. If only he could make more contact.
Polanco's chances of getting off Steve's list are about 50:50 in my opinion.
August 18th, 2011 at 3:56 pm
Through yesterday's game, Chipper Jones has the same number of runs and RBI for his career, 1,545.
August 18th, 2011 at 4:09 pm
11 I'd forgotten about the cancer.
August 18th, 2011 at 4:15 pm
i knew kruk off hand remember he left during a game got in his pick up truck and drove straight home to wva with 100 hrs and a 300 ba.
August 18th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
@13 John Kruk is fine when talking about him as a comedic baseball player who was a fine hitter.
John Kruk is horrid as a baseball host/analyst/announcer.
August 18th, 2011 at 5:36 pm
Cool that, with his 100 HR Kruk has a .300 BA, has played 1200 games, hit 199 doubles, and struck out 701 times. While, we're at it, he had 3001 PA and a .400 OBP for Philadelphia 🙂 Wasn't there a thread some time ago about players with several round numbers?
August 18th, 2011 at 5:37 pm
@12 And Dave Concepción finished with 101. He shouldn't have hit that one in '87... 🙂
August 18th, 2011 at 5:44 pm
I didn't know that Kruck had exactly 100 HR and hit exactly .300 for his career. He did that in exactly 1200 games played. If he would have legged out one more double, he would have had exactly 200 of those, too. Aren't round numbers fun?
August 18th, 2011 at 6:15 pm
great line by Kruk
"I'm sure some people back home thought that I would rob a bank before him," Kruk said by phone on Monday
August 18th, 2011 at 6:35 pm
Johnny Grubb was another player who finished with 99 career home runs.
August 18th, 2011 at 7:00 pm
To this day, I still confuse Bruce Bochte and Bruce Bochy, even though one of them is an active major league manager. I'm guessing that the manager is the righthanded throwing catcher, not the lefthanded throwing first baseman, simply because a catcher would more likely become a manager.
I just clicked on the page of the Bruce Boch... in this list, and he's the lefthanded thrower (and noted as someone who also played the outfield). There's no link for a managerial record on his page, so I'm continuing to guess that Bruce the current Giants manager is indeed the ex-catcher.
August 18th, 2011 at 7:18 pm
@ 10
Wow! A Twiggy reference...I had to call my mother so she could explain who she is.
Next topic: Mary Tyler Moore's butt on the 'The Dick Van Dyke Show"
August 18th, 2011 at 7:32 pm
Kruk just got inducted into the Phillies' Hall/Wall of Fame this weekend. However, the induction of someone associated with one of the Big 5 college basketball teams in Philadelphia into the Basketball Hall of Fame the same day rated bigger coverage in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
August 18th, 2011 at 8:10 pm
John Kruk was sitting at .299 with the Chisox, saw that he was in the starting lineup, called his dad and told him "I'm gonna get a hit in my first atbat and then retire."
As # 17 pointed out, he just called walked off the field and drove home.
He was one of the best opposite field lefties I ever saw. He says he played with friends at a ball park that had real short fences, so the rule was you couldn't pull the ball. So he learned to go the other way.
August 18th, 2011 at 9:47 pm
Kruk might indeed have weighed in the 170s -- if he was only 4'9" or so.
August 18th, 2011 at 10:58 pm
@25, DMDM -- Easy there! Some of us are trying to concentrate!
("Oh, Rob!!!")
August 18th, 2011 at 11:37 pm
If you look at guys who had exactly 100 HRs for a particular franchise, you add a few different but perhaps familiar names, especially to fans of those particular franchises. Juan Samuel had 100 HRs for the Phillies, Steve Yeager for the Dodgers, Keith Moreland for the Cubs, Larry Parrish for the Expos, Jack Howell for the Angels. HOFer Joe Gordon had 100 for the Indians after he was traded by the Yankees and All-Star Sid Gordon had 100 homers for the Giants before they traded him to the Braves. Dave Kingman had exactly 100 homers for the A's, for whom he played his final three years in the majors -- his HR totals those final three seasons were 35, 30 and 35.
August 18th, 2011 at 11:40 pm
Yeah, the John Kruk .300 and 100 homers in 1200 games is humourous.
August 19th, 2011 at 12:12 am
Kruk was already at .300 before his last game. Not quite exactly .300, meaning 3 out of 10 evenly, but at .300. Though had he made an out in his final at-bat, he would have fell just under .300, though it would have been rounded up.
August 19th, 2011 at 12:22 am
I checked that earlier to see if Kruk's final ".300" was actually .300, and he did finish at .3002 (I think). If he was at .2999 or whatever beforehand, yes it gets rounded to .300, but if it was so important to him to be a .300 hitter, .2999 is *not* .300.
August 19th, 2011 at 2:36 am
Could you imagine if one season a guy hits between .3995 and .3999, so it gets rounded up to .400? Imagine the debate...
August 19th, 2011 at 3:10 am
Almost 100 points between Kruk's BA and OBP (Higher career OBP than Gwynn, I guy he came up with)- you would think he would average more than 10 jacks a year though, hit twenty twice.
August 19th, 2011 at 7:19 am
@ 11...I may be wrong..happens on occassion...LOL..but I believe Kruk's final hit was a double not a single. Baseball needs more Kruk;s!
August 19th, 2011 at 10:14 am
@36
His game log and the box score indicate that Kruk's last hit was a single. He closed his career with 1170 hits in 3897 AB for an average of .30023. Prior to his last AB he was 1169/3896 for .30005.
August 19th, 2011 at 11:24 am
@25
Hardy-har-har. I bet Frank Clingenpeel knows who Twiggy is!
August 19th, 2011 at 11:32 am
@34
It did happen! Ted Williams, 1941. Legend has it his manager offered to let him sit out of a season-ending twin bill against the A's. He was sitting at .39955. Ted would have none of it. He played both games, going 4-for-5 in game 1 and 2-for-3 in the nightcap to end at .406. The Splendid Splinter indeed!
I never heard the Dukeofflatbush story at #27 but, if true, lessens my respect for the Krukker.
August 19th, 2011 at 11:57 am
@34, @39/ ken Says: "Could you imagine if one season a guy hits between .3995 and .3999, so it gets rounded up to .400? Imagine the debate..."
In 1922 Ty Cobb got credited for a hit on a close play at first that was called a hit by the official scorer, but also listed as an error in several box scores. Since he hit .401 that year, if this hit was officially an error, his average would've dropped to .399 {.3992}.
Would this change anyone's perception of him, since he and Hornsby are the only 20th-century players to hit .400 three times (plus Hornsby hit .397 in 1921), and he would "only" be in the class of George Sisler? I doubt it.
August 19th, 2011 at 11:58 am
Before his last plate appearance in 1995, Kruk had a career batting average of .300051. His single lifted his career average to .300231 — just past old-timer Wally Berger (.300213) and Pedro Guerrero (.300074), who had retired in 1992. Maybe Kruk, who had gone 12 for 59 since July 5 to drop his career average from .301538, either a) wanted to beat out Guerrero, or b) knew he didn't have many hits left and wanted to quit before that tenths digit read "2."
Pure speculation, of course.
August 19th, 2011 at 12:58 pm
Kruk's opposite must be Carl Furillo who entered 1960 with 1908 hits in 6368 at bats for .29962 rounding up to .300. He went 2 for 10 in 1960 before the Dodgers released him. His final average: 29946. That must have hurt. Is anybody closer to .300 without actually making it?
August 19th, 2011 at 1:28 pm
I think Kruk wanted his last gm/hit to be in front of local family and friends. the game was played at Camden Yards - which also made it possible for him to drive home immediately following the game.
and...
@26 minor clarification Herb Magee is not associated with a Big 5 school, but Rather Philadelphia University (nee Phila Textile) which is not a D1 pgm. Magee is the all-time Victory leader among NCAA Men's basketball coaches at all levels. Magee occaisionally comes into a bar I frequent and appears to be a pretty avid baseball fan - He was closely following one of the Strasburg starts last year.
August 19th, 2011 at 1:41 pm
@11: Read several of the articles associated with your link. Wow. Guess that Krukker wasn't one of those guys who was unprepared to play in Philly.
@39LarryR: re:Kruk: why?
One of my favorite players of all time. I'll never forget the interview he did with David Letterman, I think that it was immediately after the '93 season, where he talks about being a runner on first, and two, three, four pitches are fouled off on a full count. Each time he has to run on the pitch, and he's like," I'm exhausted!! What the hell? I'm a baseball player, not an athelete." or something like that 😀 (Guarantee that he came by his .300 honest, without PED enhancement.)
I also think that I remember a couple of years before that, the Phils wanted him to lose weight during the offseason, and he did- and his numbers for that season promptly dropped. They never asked him to lose weight again, and the rest is history!!
August 19th, 2011 at 2:31 pm
@42
It's not the answer to your question, but during Barry Bonds big run from 2001-2004 his career BA was steadily rising, from about .293 when it started to .299 after the 2004 season. I expected he was going to pull over .300
After that, the PED testing started, his knee finally wore down, and he put up a couple of more years (he was still a very good hitter of course) to break Aaron's record but his average dropped to .298 career and for a guy as hated as Bonds, with a career featuring such monstrous numbers, his haters can enjoy that his average finished shy of .300, just as his hits finished just shy (2935) of 3000, and his RBI's (1996) just shy of 2000, and his total bases (5976) just shy of 6000. A bunch of round numbers he would've cleared easily if anyone signed him to play in 2008.
Never think of Bonds as being a doubles hitter, but 601 ranks pretty high up the all time list.
August 19th, 2011 at 3:49 pm
@44
If true, Kruk would be pulling a Zambrano on his teammates to reach a personal goal. What if he hadn't gotten the hit in his first AB? Would he keep playing? What if he then got 2 hits his next 2 times up? Quit on them then? It's selfish, that's all. I like Kruk but this type of thing bugs me.
August 19th, 2011 at 6:38 pm
Carl Furillo . . . His final average: 29946. That must have hurt. Is anybody closer to .300 without actually making it?
Believe it or not, one player is closer to .300 than Furillo: 1930s Cubs and Giants outfielder Frank Demaree. Demaree ended his career with a batting average of .299469; Furillo's is .299467. In the last three games of his final season, Demaree got one hit in nine at-bats, with two walks. He went 0 for 3 in his last game on June 13, 1944, for the Browns against a pretty tough pitcher, the White Sox' Eddie Lopat. He was released the next day.
To put it another way, the decimal difference between Demaree's career average and .2995 is one divided by 32,375. He'd have made it if he'd gotten two hits in his next six at-bats. Furillo fell short by a margin of one divided by 30,227. He'd have needed to go two for five to pass the threshold.
August 19th, 2011 at 7:47 pm
@47
Kahuna and others, it's interesting to reflect on why some "multiple-of-ten" statistics have entrenched themselves so deeply in baseball fans' psyches. I'm thinking of a 0.300 BA, 20 wins, 500 HR, although the HR may be a sliding scale.
Hmmmm ..... I wonder how those numbers have perserved across all baseball eras? Or have they?
August 19th, 2011 at 8:01 pm
The player who hit the most career home runs, half in the NL and half in the AL: Candy Maldonado — 73 in each league.
À propos of nothing at all, the Dodgers and Giants have traded with each other only once since the 12/11/85 trade of Maldonado from the Dodgers to the Giants for Alex Treviño.
August 20th, 2011 at 12:13 am
John Kruk most definitely weighed 170 lbs while playing baseball.
This would have been sometime since he turned five and when he started in the Majors.
August 20th, 2011 at 10:20 am
Jim Piersall, in the twilight of his career, said he would celebrate his 100th homer by running the bases backwards. And he did.
I guess he hit a few more after that though.
August 20th, 2011 at 10:28 am
@51
That has been mentioned before in BR, Nesnhab, but thanks. Nowadays, would Piersall be accused up showing up the pitcher and get plunked the next time at bat?
August 20th, 2011 at 11:17 am
51 He did it with the Mets and they cut him after he did it.
August 20th, 2011 at 11:31 am
@47: Nice find on Demaree. So if I've calculated correctly, based on their respective batting averages, if Demaree and Furillo each played for about 1,000 full baseball seasons, Demaree would end up with one more career hit than Furillo.
August 21st, 2011 at 1:51 am
Birtelcom, however many seasons it works out to be, the decimal difference between Demaree's and Furillo's career batting averages is .00000219444 — a number so small I had to change the cell format to get Excel to display it as a decimal rather than a negative exponent. The decimal difference between the two averages is one divided by 455,697.
You can then use 455,697 as the number of at-bats, given their respective career batting averages, that each player would have to have in order for the difference in their respective hit totals to equal one full hit (136,467.1759 hits for Demaree, 136,466.1759 for Furillo). How many at-bats you'd want to assign to a theoretical full season is something we could debate, but you might want to proportionally reduce the 162-game season shown under each player's B-Ref hitting stats to a 154-game season. Using this calculation, Demaree gets 552.3086 AB in a 154-game season, Furillo 543.7531. Demaree needs just over 825 player seasons to amass 455,697 at-bats, Furillo just over 838.
That's if you want the difference between them to climb to exactly one full hit. If you're okay with rounding, the numbers go down. (-;þ So yeah, "about 1,000 full baseball seasons" sounds right.
August 21st, 2011 at 8:33 am
@53 in 40 games with the mets, Piersall he hit .194. He was released a month after hitting the home run. Interesting career
August 21st, 2011 at 8:35 am
lol also Jim Piersall had nine children with his first wife and the divorced her! that is rough
August 22nd, 2011 at 1:31 pm
Piersall had issues. See "Fear Strikes Out", with Anthony Perkins as Jimmy.
Hmm...Perkins plays Piersall and Norman Bates. Perhaps Perkins had issues too.