Jerry Crasnick, for my money one of the best baseball journalists around, wrote an interesting piece on ESPN.com about players with the most seasons having at least 30 HR and no more than 70 strikeouts. I used the PI to reproduce his list (a simple batting season finder sorted by players with most seasons):

                   From  To   Ages Seasons Link to Individual Seasons
+-----------------+----+----+-----+-------+------------------------------+
 Hank Aaron        1957 1973 23-39      10 Ind. Seasons                   
 Lou Gehrig        1929 1937 26-34       9 Ind. Seasons                   
 Ted Williams      1939 1957 20-38       8 Ind. Seasons                   
 Mel Ott           1929 1942 20-33       8 Ind. Seasons                   
 Joe DiMaggio      1937 1950 22-35       7 Ind. Seasons                   
 Albert Pujols     2002 2007 22-27       6 Ind. Seasons                   
 Barry Bonds       1992 2004 27-39       6 Ind. Seasons                   
 Stan Musial       1948 1955 27-34       6 Ind. Seasons                   
 Gary Sheffield    1992 2003 23-34       5 Ind. Seasons                   
 Willie Mays       1954 1959 23-28       5 Ind. Seasons                   
 Vladimir Guerrero 1999 2006 23-30       4 Ind. Seasons                   
 Frank Thomas      1993 1997 25-29       4 Ind. Seasons                   
 Frank Robinson    1960 1969 24-33       4 Ind. Seasons                   
 Ted Kluszewski    1953 1956 28-31       4 Ind. Seasons                   
 Roy Campanella    1950 1955 28-33       4 Ind. Seasons                   
 Babe Ruth         1929 1932 34-37       4 Ind. Seasons                   
 Chuck Klein       1929 1932 24-27       4 Ind. Seasons                   
 Aramis Ramirez    2004 2006 26-28       3 Ind. Seasons                   
 Magglio Ordonez   1999 2001 25-27       3 Ind. Seasons                   
 Don Mattingly     1985 1987 24-26       3 Ind. Seasons                   
 Billy Williams    1968 1972 30-34       3 Ind. Seasons                   
 Hank Sauer        1949 1954 32-37       3 Ind. Seasons                   
 Ralph Kiner       1948 1951 25-28       3 Ind. Seasons                   
 Johnny Mize       1940 1948 27-35       3 Ind. Seasons                   
 Hal Trosky        1934 1937 21-24       3 Ind. Seasons                   
 Earl Averill      1931 1934 29-32       3 Ind. Seasons                   
 Rogers Hornsby    1922 1929 26-33       3 Ind. Seasons                  

This is his list, extended out for players with at least 3 such seasons. It's amazing to me that the only players on here who played from the 1980s in are Pujols, Bonds, Sheffield, Guerrero, Thomas, Ramirez, Ordonez, and Mattingly. I would have thought that with so many more players hitting 30 HR these days, there would be more opportunities for some players to make it under the 70-K barrier.

After all, here are the total number of player seasons with 30+ HR by decade:

2000-2007: 241
1990-1999: 235
1980-1989: 117
1970-1979:  100
1960-1969: 118
1950-1959: 95
1940-1949: 38
1930-1939: 62
1920-1929:29 (9 by Babe Ruth alone, he missed only in 1925 when he played just 98 games)

As we know, Babe Ruth set the new season record of HR at 29 in 1919, so clearly no players hit 30 prior to 1920.

Isn't it amazing how 2000-2007 already has the most 30+ HR seasons, even with 2 full seasons to go? Not to mention the 35 players who at the moment have 22 to 29 HR and could hit 30 in 2007?

This data just serves to bring home Crasnick's point stronger. As 30 HR seasons have gotten more common, so have strikeouts, making Pujol's feat more impressive, not less impressive.

asdas

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