Fifty, count 'em, fifty!

Last	First	HR	Year	Fin	Team	L	Games	AB	Runs	Hits	2B	3B	RBI	BB	SO	BA
Maris	Roger	61	1961	1	NY	A	161	590	132	159	16	4	142	94	67	.269
Ruth	Babe	60	1927	1	NY	A	151	540	158	192	29	8	164	138	89	.356
Ruth	Babe	59	1921	1	NY	A	152	540	177	204	44	16	171	144	81	.378
Foxx	Jimmie	58	1932	2	Phi	A	154	585	151	213	33	9	169	116	96	.364
Greenberg	Hank	58	1938	4	Det	A	155	556	144	175	23	4	146	119	92	.315
Wilson	Hack	56	1930	2	Chi	N	155	585	146	208	35	6	190	105	84	.356
Ruth	Babe	54	1920	3	NY	A	142	458	158	172	36	9	137	148	80	.376
Ruth	Babe	54	1928	1	NY	A	154	536	163	173	29	8	142	135	87	.323
Kiner	Ralph	54	1949	6	Pit	N	152	549	116	170	19	5	127	117	61	.310
Mantle	Mickey	54	1961	1	NY	A	153	514	132	163	16	6	128	126	112	.317
Mantle	Mickey	52	1956	1	NY	A	150	533	132	188	22	5	130	112	99	.353
Mays	Willie	52	1965	2	SF	N	157	558	118	177	21	3	112	76	71	.317
Foster	George	52	1977	2	Cin	N	158	615	124	197	31	2	149	61	107	.320
McGwire	Mark	52	1996	3	Oak	A	130	423	104	132	21	0	113	116	112	.312
Kiner	Ralph	51	1947	8	Pit	N	152	565	118	177	23	4	127	98	81	.313
Mize	Johnny	51	1947	4	NY	N	154	586	137	177	26	2	138	74	42	.302
Mays	Willie	51	1955	3	NY	N	152	580	123	185	18	13	127	79	60	.319
Fielder	Cecil	51	1990	3	Det	A	159	573	104	159	25	1	132	90	182	.277
Foxx	Jimmie	50	1938	2	Bos	A	149	565	139	197	33	9	175	119	76	.349
Belle	Albert	50	1995	1	Cle	A	143	546	121	173	52	1	126	73	80	.317
Anderson	Brady	50	1996	2	Bal	A	149	579	117	172	37	5	110	76	106	.297

In 1919, playing for the Boston Red Sox, Babe Ruth set the new home run record of 29. He was traded to the Yankees in the off season and immediately became the first player to hit 30 homers. Then the first to fit 40. Then the first to hit 50. All in that same 1920 season. He set new home run records four times in three different ball parks: Fenway Park Boston in 1919, the Polo Grounds in New York in 1920 and 1921 and in Yankee Stadium in 1927. Ruth held the record from 1919 until 1961, 42 years. Roger Maris has held it since then, 36 years. Ruth's final record of 60 stood for 34 years.

The Babe set the standard in many ways. He hit 50 the most times - four. He is the only player to hit 50 in consecutive seasons and he did that twice. In 1920 he hit 50 in less than 500 at bats. Mark McGwire in 1996 became the only other player to do it. George Foster took a whopping 615 at bats.

This fifty club is a rich collection of special sluggers. Of the retired players, all are in the Hall of Fame except Maris and Foster. Brady Anderson joins Jimmie Foxx and Mickey Mantle as the only players to hit fifty and not win the home run crown. The 54 hit by Mickey in 1961 and matched by Ralph Kiner in 1949 mark the second highest total since Hank Greenberg's 58 in 1938.

It looks as if the Yankees really like hitting 50. Not only have they done it the most times but the Yanks have won the pennant each and every time. Albert Belle's Indians are the only other team to even win a division title. Ralph Kiner's Pirates of the late 1940s were clearly the worst club with the '47 team being the only last place team to boast of the accomplishment.

Ruth had the most runs - 177. Foxx the most hits - 213. Belle the most doubles - 52; he's the only player in history to reach 50 in both homers and doubles in the same season. The Babe had the most triples - 16, while McGwire is the only shutout. Wilson's 190 RBI is the record but look at the totals for Foxx and Ruth. Anderson had the fewest RBI but he batted leadoff most of the time. McGwire comes next but he had the lowest number of at bats. Mays, who never lead the league in RBI, has a shockingly low total for 558 at bats in 1965.

In walks it's Ruth, Ruth, Ruth, Ruth. Amazingly, of the 21 occurrences of 50 homers, only 12 resulted 100 walks. Mays was in the seventies both times that he hit 50. Foster had 61 walks! With his high of 615 at bats, George must have been hacking.

Perhaps the most shocking stat is strike outs. Only five times did a 50 homer guy strike out 100 times! And that includes our hacking friend Mr. Foster. However, when Cecil Fielder did it, he really went all out. His 182 strike outs exceeded the second highest total by 70! Big Daddy! Ruth's totals were all in the 80s and Mays had the second lowest - 60. Maris struck out only 67 times the year he hit 61 homers. But our award goes to Johnny Mize. The Big Cat is the only player to have less strike outs than his 50 homers and by a lot: 51 homers and 42 strike outs! Wow!

Finally, let's look at their batting averages in those seasons. Only three times was the BA below .300 and Anderson just missed at .297. That's really something. Six times players were over .350 with Ruth in the .370s twice.

Jimmy Foxx (1932) and Mickey Mantle (1956) are the only ones to win the triple crown. They actually had quads by also leading in runs. More on that later.

Roger Maris's accomplishment of breaking the immortal Babe Ruth's record should not be underestimated. The pressure that Roger faced from both the fans and the media was enormous which is why I do not think that the record will be broken. Many players have faded in September. Of the sixteen players to hit 30 homers by the All-Star break, only Maris and Anderson went on to hit 50. The only mitigating circumstances for Maris are expansion, Yankee Stadium and Roger's teammate, Mickey Mantle.

1961 was the first year of expansion with the American League going from eight teams to ten. The National League followed in 1962. Five of the top six AL leaders in home runs, all except Killebrew who hit 46, set personal home run highs in 1961: Maris (61), Mantle (54), Gentile (46), Colavito (45) and Cash (41). However, "The 1991 Elias Baseball Analyst" had a special section on the 1961 Yankees and concluded "overwhelmingly that Maris did not exploit lesser pitchers".

The short right field porch in Yankee Stadium was supposed to be an advantage to left-hand hitters like Maris and Ruth. Maris hit 31 homers on the road in 1961 as did Brady Anderson in 1996.

However, The Mick was a huge help to Roger. They are the only teammates to hit 50 and combined for the most homers by two teammates. Elias reluctantly concludes "it's doubtful Maris could have achieved such season-long success (without Mantle hitting behind him)". Although Roger had a career high in walks, none were intentional. But when it came to crunch time, Mantle was out of the lineup with injuries and Roger hit his final homers without the benefit of having Mickey on deck. In 1960 Maris batted behind Mantle most of the season. In his first 355 at bats, Roger hit 35 home runs and was leading the league by eight. He had a shot at 60 in 1960 but suffered a rib injury and missed several weeks.

Roger Maris is the only player to hit his 50^th home run in August - in 1961. Roger entered September with 51. In 1960 and 1961 he hit 100 home runs. Only Ruth, four times, Foxx and Kiner ever did that in consecutive seasons. By the way Albert Belle just came close, hitting 98 in 1995 and 1996. Of the 45 times that it occurred, Maris and Mantle, the M & M boys, are the only fifty club members to homer in all parks in their league - ten.

Of the twenty-one 50 homer seasons 14 were by American leaguers. Seven times by Yankees, three by Giants, two by As, Tigers and Pirates, one each by a Cub, Red Sox, Red, Indian, and Oriole. Twice by a switch hitter: Mickey Mantle both times. Seven times by left-handers: Maris, Ruth (4), Mize and Anderson. Twelve times by right-handers: Foxx (2), Greenberg, Wilson, Kiner (2), Mays (2), McGwire, Foster, Fielder and Belle.

Of the multiple achievers, Ruth is the only one to do it in consecutive years. Belle just missed: 50 in 1995 and 48 in 1996. Kiner did it two out of three years. Mays had the biggest spread. Say hey, ten years! Multiple occurrences in a league: American League - 1938, 1961 and 1996; National League: 1947. Never was it done in both leagues in the same year. There were no 50 homer seasons between 1938 and 1947.

Other than Ruth's two individual achievements, the only other times that 50 were hit in consecutive years were: Mays (1955) and Mantle (1956); Belle (1995) and McGwire and Anderson (both in 1996). This was the first time for each of these five players.

By decade: 1920s - 4 (all Ruth); 1930s - 4; 1940s - 3; 1950s - 2; 1960s - 3; 1970s - 1; 1980s - 0; 1990s - 4. Before getting too excited about the 1990s remember my earlier admonition about inflation. To merely equal the record of the 20s and 30s, the 90's would need three more 50 homer seasons in the final three years of the decade. Hey, maybe Arizona can provide the extra boost.

Let's look at near misses.

Last	First	HR	Year	Fin	Team	L	Games	AB	Runs	Hits	2B	3B	RBI	BB	SO	BA
Ruth	Babe	49	1930	3	NY	A	145	518	150	186	28	9	153	136	61	.359
Gehrig	Lou	49	1934	2	NY	A	154	579	128	210	40	6	165	109	31	.363
Gehrig	Lou	49	1936	1	NY	A	155	579	167	205	37	7	152	130	46	.354
Kluszewski	Ted	49	1954	5	Cin	N	149	573	104	187	28	3	141	78	35	.326
Mays	Willie	49	1962	1	SF	N	162	621	130	189	36	5	141	78	85	.304
Killebrew	Harmon	49	1964	7	Min	A	158	577	95	156	11	1	111	93	135	.270
Robinson	Frank	49	1966	1	Bal	A	155	576	122	182	34	2	122	87	90	.316
Killebrew	Harmon	49	1969	1	Min	A	162	555	106	153	20	2	140	145	84	.276
Dawson	Andre	49	1987	6	Chi	N	153	621	90	178	24	2	137	32	103	.287
McGwire	Mark	49	1987	3	Oak	A	151	557	97	161	28	4	118	71	131	.289
Griffey	Ken	49	1996	2	Sea	A	140	545	125	165	26	2	140	78	104	.303

Quite a distinguished group. In fact, it contains three members of the fifty club: Ruth, Mays and McGwire. Mays nearly pushed himself ahead of the other two timers right behind the Babe who himself nearly added another. Gehrig and Killebrew hit 49 twice each. How frustrating that must have been. It shows what a great accomplishment hitting 50 really is.

Kluszewski (1954) nearly gave us the only time we had three years in a row: Mays (1955), Mantle (1956). Griffey nearly gave us the only time we had three in the same year. Frank Robinson nearly joined Foxx and Mantle as the only 50 homer triple crown winners. In 1987 Dawson and McGwire nearly gave us the only occurrence of a player in each league hitting 50 in the same year.

Gehrig, both times, and Kluszewski join Mize in having less strike outs than homers. Again, strike out totals are pretty low, but at bats are pretty high.

Let's look at the 500 home run club.

Last	First	HR	Games	AB	Runs	Hits	2B	3B	RBI	BB	SO	BA
Aaron	Hank	755	3,298	12,364	2,174	3,771	624	98	2,297	1,402	1,383	.305
Ruth	Babe	714	2,503	8,399	2,174	2,873	506	136	2,213	2,056	1,330	.342
Mays	Willie	660	2,992	10,881	2,062	3,283	523	140	1,903	1,464	1,526	.302
Robinson	Frank	586	2,808	10,006	1,829	2,943	528	72	1,812	1,420	1,532	.294
Killebrew	Harmon	573	2,435	8,147	1,283	2,086	290	24	1,584	1,559	1,699	.256
Jackson	Reggie	563	2,820	9,864	1,551	2,584	463	49	1,702	1,375	2,597	.262
Schmidt	Mike	548	2,404	8,352	1,506	2,234	408	59	1,595	1,507	1,883	.267
Mantle	Mickey	536	2,401	8,102	1,677	2,415	344	72	1,509	1,733	1,710	.298
Foxx	Jimmie	534	2,317	8,134	1,751	2,646	458	125	1,922	1,452	1,311	.325
Williams	Ted	521	2,292	7,706	1,798	2,654	525	71	1,839	2,019	709	.344
McCovey	Willie	521	2,588	8,197	1,229	2,211	353	46	1,555	1,345	1,550	.270
Mathews	Eddie	512	2,391	8,537	1,509	2,315	354	72	1,453	1,444	1,487	.271
Banks	Ernie	512	2,528	9,421	1,305	2,583	407	90	1,636	763	1,236	.274
Ott	Mel	511	2,730	9,456	1,859	2,876	488	72	1,860	1,708	896	.304
Murray	Eddie	501	2,971	11,169	1,614	3,218	553	35	1,899	1,318	1,490	.288

Except for Eddie Murray who is still active, all are in the Hall of Fame. However, several of them are not members of the fifty club. Here they are with their season highs: Aaron (47), Robinson (49), Killebrew (49), Jackson (47), Schmidt (48), McCovey (45), Williams (43), Banks (47), Mathews (47), Ott (42) and Murray (33). Murray's low number is a real shocker for the 500 club but those 11,169 at bats came in handy. Williams and Ott are surprisingly low. Williams had by far the lowest number of at bats.

Let's mention some players in descending order of lifetime homers whom we might expect to have had a shot at 50 but who have not been mentioned so far. Musial (39), Stargell (48), Winfield (37), Yastrzemski (44), Kingman (48), Billy Williams (42), Snider (43), Kaline (29), Dale Murphy (44), Bench (45), Frank Howard (48), Rice (46), Cepeda (46), Colavito (45), Hodges (42), DiMaggio (46), Dick Allen (40).

Back to the fifty club. The following table shows the top five rank order in the four leading hitting categories plus MVP. The modern MVP started in 1931 and so neither Ruth nor Wilson were eligible in their 50 homer seasons. If a player did not finish in the top five, no number is shown. The column "Lead" shows the difference in homers between the individual and the next closest player.

Last	First	Year	L	HR	RBI	Runs	BA	MVP	Lead
Ruth	Babe	1920	A	1	1	1	4		35
Ruth	Babe	1921	A	1	1	1	3		35
Ruth	Babe	1927	A	1	2	1			13
Ruth	Babe	1928	A	1	1	1			27
Wilson	Hack	1930	N	1	1	4			16
Foxx	Jimmie	1932	A	1	1	1	1	1	17
Greenberg	Hank	1938	A	1	2	1		3	8
Foxx	Jimmie	1938	A	2	1	2	1	1	-8
Kiner	Ralph	1947	N	1	2	3	5
Mize	Johnny	1947	N	1	1	1		3
Kiner	Ralph	1949	N	1	1	4	5	4	18
Mays	Willie	1955	N	1	2	2	2	4	4
Mantle	Mickey	1956	A	1	1	1	1	1	20
Maris	Roger	1961	A	1	1	1		1	7
Mantle	Mickey	1961	A	2	5	1	5	2	-7
Mays	Willie	1965	N	1	3	2	3	1	13
Foster	George	1977	N	1	1	1	3	1	11
Fielder	Cecil	1990	A	1	1	2		2	12
Belle	Albert	1995	A	1	1	1		2	10
McGwire	Mark	1996	A	1					2
Anderson	Brady	1996	A	2					-2

Jimmy Foxx (1932) and Mickey Mantle (1956) are the only only members of the fifty club to win the triple crown (HR, RBI, BA). They have clean sweeps. Of the 16 players eligible for the MVP, only 6 have won it. Foxx did both times he hit 50. McGwire and Anderson in 1996 and Kiner in 1947 are the only ones to finish out the running for MVP.

The Lead category is another example of Ruth's dominance. On his first two occasions the Babe lead by THIRTY-FIVE! In 1927, when Ruth hit 60, his teammate Lou Gehrig closed the gap to 13. In the 1928 the Babe showed that he wasn't slipping by doubling Gehrig's second place total and leading by 27. Mickey Mantle, in his 1956 triple crown season, is the only other player to lead by as much as 20.

The final table shows some unusual data.

Last	Age	Year	L	HR	AB	Ratio	L_HR	L_AB	L_Ratio	Dif_Ratio	Prev_High	Sub_High	Prev_Dif	Sub_Dif
Ruth	25	1920	A	54	458	8.48	369	41,979	113.76	105.28	29	60	25	6
Ruth	32	1927	A	60	540	9.00	439	42,117	95.94	86.94	59	54	1	-6
Ruth	26	1921	A	59	540	9.15	477	42,829	89.79	80.64	54	60	5	1
Ruth	33	1928	A	54	536	9.93	483	42,117	87.20	77.27	60	49	-6	-5
Foxx	24	1932	A	58	585	10.09	707	43,430	61.43	51.34	37	50	21	-8
Greenberg	27	1938	A	58	556	9.59	864	42,500	49.19	39.60	40	44	18	-14
Wilson	30	1930	N	56	585	10.45	892	43,693	48.98	38.54	39	23	17	-33
Foxx	30	1938	A	50	565	11.30	864	42,500	49.19	37.89	58	36	-8	-14
Kiner	24	1947	N	51	565	11.08	886	42,434	47.89	36.82	23	54	28	3
Mize	34	1947	N	51	586	11.49	886	42,434	47.89	36.40	43	40	8	-11
Kiner	26	1949	N	54	549	10.17	935	42,711	45.68	35.51	51	47	3	-7
Fielder	27	1990	A	51	573	11.24	1,796	76,800	42.76	31.53	14	44	37	-7
Mays	34	1965	N	52	558	10.73	1,318	55,377	42.02	31.29	51	37	1	-15
Foster	28	1977	N	52	615	11.83	1,631	66,700	40.90	29.07	29	40	23	-12
Mantle	24	1956	A	52	533	10.25	1,075	42,007	39.08	28.83	37	54	15	2
Mantle	29	1961	A	54	514	9.52	1,534	54,904	35.79	26.27	52	35	2	-19
Maris	27	1961	A	61	590	9.67	1,534	54,904	35.79	26.12	39	33	22	-28
Mays	24	1955	N	51	580	11.37	1,263	41,773	33.07	21.70	41	52	10	1
Belle	29	1995	A	50	546	10.92	2,164	69,522	32.13	21.21	38	48	12	-2
McGwire	33	1996	A	52	423	8.13	2,742	79,085	28.84	20.71	49		3
Anderson	32	1996	A	50	579	11.58	2,742	79,085	28.84	17.26	21		29

First, let's define the terms. Ratio is AB divided by HR. For instance, in 1927 it took Ruth, on average, exactly nine at bats to hit a homer. The lower the Ratio the better. L_AB and L_HR are the league totals in those years. L_Ratio is L_AB divided by L_HR. The higher the L_Ratio the better because it means that the player accomplished his feat by going against the trend that year. Dif_Ratio is L_Ratio minus Ratio, i.e., the difference between the individual's ratio and the league's. The higher the Dif_Ratio the better.

The table is sorted in descending order by Dif_Ratio. Ruth's numbers continue to astonish. He takes the top four spots while our newest members are at the bottom. Ruth hit his homers when there were not a lot of homers being hit. In his first 50 homer season, the entire American League hit only 369 homers. Last season the Baltimore Orioles set the new team record for a season with 257. Two other AL teams also broke the old record. Even allowing for eight more games and the DH, that's still an amazing contrast.

This approach seems to make more sense than simply going gaga over an individual's ratio without putting it into context. While we were all impressed by Mark McGwire's 1996 Ratio, we need to see how much he was going against the tide. Compare the achievements of McGwire in 1996 to Ruth in 1920. Which is more impressive? I think Ruth's. Cecil Fielder is the only player since Ralph Kiner in 1949 to buck the trend and climb as high as 12^th.

Prev_High is that player's previous high in homers prior to the season in which he hit 50. Sub_High is his high in subsequent seasons. Prev_Dif is the difference between HR and Prev_High. Sub_Dif is the difference between HR and Sub_High. This is more of a point of interest and I'm not sure that any merit should be attached to it.

Prev_High ranges from 60 for Ruth to 14 for Fielder. Fielder hit those 14 in 175 at bats in1987 and spent 1989 playing full time in Japan. Not surprisingly, Cecil has the greatest Prev_Dif. Anderson, on the other hand, had been a regular for several seasons and was 32 years old when he finally became a slugging lead-off hitter. For a first timer, McGwire had the smallest Prev_Dif: only three.

Sub_High suggests that the 30 year old Hack Wilson had pretty much run out of gas; he never again managed more than 23. The star crossed record holder Maris did it all in his first three seasons with the Yankees: 39, 61, 33. That's 133 home runs. Prior to joining the Yanks, Roger's high was only 19. Following those first three Yankee seasons, his high was 26 in 513 at bats. Fourteen times members of the fifty club went on to hit at least 40 homers. Wilson and Maris had the greatest Sub_Dif. They each hold their league's season record for homers.

Four players were only 24 when they did it. Mays was the youngest, being the only one whose birthday was before the season's end - May 6. He and the other three, Foxx, Kiner and Mantle, all did it again. The Babe was next youngest at 25. They are the only players to hit fifty more than once. Kiner was finished hitting 50 at 26. It looks as if you've got to start young to reach immortality.

Four first timers (Mize, McGwire, Anderson and Wilson) were over 30. None did it again. 34 year old Johnny Mize was the oldest. Mays was four months younger when he did it the second time after his ten year hiatus. Next came Ruth and McGwire.

Can Belle, McGwire and Anderson do it again? What about other current sluggers like Griffey, Gonzales, Thomas, Bonds, Williams? The fifty club is very distinguished. It takes something special to make it. To earn the right to exclaim: "Fifty, count 'em, fifty!"

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