50 Home Runs in a Season

The feat of hitting 50 home runs in a major league season has been accomplished 43 times by 27 different players. Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa have accomplished the feat the most times (4). Sosa and McGwire accomplished their four seasons consecutively.

Players

Player	Year	Homers
Barry Bonds	2001	73
Mark McGwire	1998	70
Sammy Sosa	1998	66
Mark McGwire	1999	65
Sammy Sosa	2001	64
Sammy Sosa	1999	63
Roger Maris	1961	61
Babe Ruth	1927	60
Babe Ruth	1921	59
Giancarlo Stanton	2017	59
Mark McGwire	1997	58
Ryan Howard	2006	58
Hank Greenberg	1938	58
Jimmie Foxx	1932	58
Alex Rodriguez	2002	57
Luis Gonzalez	2001	57
Hack Wilson	1930	56
Ken Griffey Jr.	1997	56
Ken Griffey Jr.	1998	56
Mickey Mantle	1961	54
Ralph Kiner	1949	54
Alex Rodriguez	2007	54
Babe Ruth	1920	54
Babe Ruth	1928	54
Jose Bautista	2010	54
David Ortiz	2006	54
Pete Alonso	2019	53
Chris Davis	2013	53
Aaron Judge	2017	52
Mark McGwire	1996	52
Willie Mays	1965	52
Mickey Mantle	1956	52
Alex Rodriguez	2001	52
Jim Thome	2002	52
George Foster	1977	52
Ralph Kiner	1947	51
Willie Mays	1955	51
Johnny Mize	1947	51
Andruw Jones	2005	51
Cecil Fielder	1990	51
Sammy Sosa	2000	50
Greg Vaughn	1998	50
Albert Belle	1995	50
Brady Anderson	1996	50
Jimmie Foxx	1938	50
Prince Fielder	2007	50

Just Missed the Cut

Harmon Killebrew

Throughout MLB history, there have been 19 seasons where a player fell just one short of 50 home runs - the 49 home run club.

Player	Year	Homers
Babe Ruth	1930	49
Lou Gehrig	1934	49
Lou Gehrig	1936	49
Ted Kluszewski	1954	49
Willie Mays	1962	49
Harmon Killebrew	1964	49
Frank Robinson	1966	49
Harmon Killebrew	1969	49
Mark McGwire	1987	49
Andre Dawson	1987	49
Ken Griffey Jr.	1996	49
Larry Walker	1997	49
Albert Belle	1998	49
Barry Bonds	2000	49
Todd Helton	2001	49
Jim Thome	2001	49
Shawn Green	2001	49
Sammy Sosa	2002	49
Albert Pujols	2006	49
Eugenio Suarez	2019	49

60 Home Runs in a Season

Roger Maris

When Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs in 1927, it was thought of as a once-in-a-lifetime accomplishment and it almost was. It took 34 years for anyone to match, let alone surpass Babe Ruth as the home run king. In 1961, Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees had a legendary battle to uncrown the Babe as home run champ. They combined to hit 115 home runs; the most of any teammates in major league history. Roger Maris ended up setting a new record with 61 home runs that season.

It would be another 37 years before anyone would approach 60 home runs again. In 1998, there was another great home run race. This time around, it was between Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals and Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs. They both surpassed Roger Maris's home run record and the race came down to the final week-end of the season. McGwire reigned as home run king by hitting 70 home runs that season, Sosa finished the year with 66 homers. Many believe that the excitement surrounding the home run race in 1998 was what saved baseball from lack of interest after the 1994 strike. In 1999, McGwire and Sosa once again reached the 60 home run mark but neither reached their totals from the previous year.

Contrary to conventional wisdom at the time, 70 did not last very long as the home run record. In 2001, Barry Bonds set a new home run record with 73 homers. There was much less fanfare over the home run chase than there was in previous years. Sosa hit 64 home runs that year, he is the only player to hit 60 home runs three times in his career. Many baseball fans and journalists have questioned the validity of the home run records post-1998 due to all three players being involved in the PEDs scandal of the 1990s.