MLB Daily Dingers

100 home run club

Here’s What You Need to Know About the 100 Home Run Club

•

Matt Musico

Last Updated on October 2, 2024 by Matt Musico

Joining the 100 Home Run Club isn’t the most exclusive group of MLB sluggers in today’s game. However, it still serves as the first major milestone in the power department for a player to achieve.

Below are answers to many frequently asked questions about the 100-homer club. Have a question that’s not here? Let me know and I’ll add it.

Related: The Ultimate Guide for Career Home Run Leaders

How Many Sluggers Have Hit at Least 100 Home Runs?

A lot of focus is on the top of MLB’s all-time home run list, and rightfully so. Only 22 sluggers have hit at least 521 home runs during a single career. That’s the elite of the elite when it comes to the game’s best power hitters.

The club isn’t nearly as exclusive for those with 100-plus homers, but it’s still a special milestone. As of the end of the 2024 regular season, the 100 Home Run Club has 1,009 members in it, per FanGraphs.

Who Has Joined the 100 Home Run Club in 2024?

Ten sluggers joined the 100 Home Run Club during the 2024 season. This group includes Adolis Garica, Bryan Reynolds, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Jeimer Candelario, Will Smith, Brandon Nimmo, Tyler O’Neill, Mike Yastrzemski, Rowdy Tellez, and Michael A. Taylor. You can see the 100th career home run for each of them below.

Adolis Garcia: April 1st, 2024

Bryan Reynolds: April 8th, 2024

Will Smith: May 29th, 2024

Lourdes Gurriel Jr.: June 3rd, 2024

Jeimer Candelario: June 14th, 2024

Brandon Nimmo: June 30th, 2024

Rowdy Tellez: July 9th, 2024

Tyler O’Neill: July 27th, 2024

Mike Yastrzemski: September 1st, 2024

 

Michael A. Taylor: September 8th, 2024

The First Players to Reach the 100-Homer Plateau

If we want to get technical — which, in all honesty, is what I like to do here — Harry Stovey was the first professional baseball player to reach the 100-homer plateau. He did it on September 3, 1890 with the Boston Reds of the Players League. He spent 14 years in the Players League, the National League, and the American Association.

When all was said and done, Stovey hit 122 homers with 912 RBI while slashing .288/.361/.462. He reached double-digit homers six times and led the league on five occasions. His career-high mark in the homer department was 19, which was accomplished in 1889 with the Philadelphia Athletics.

On May 6, 1893, Roger Connor became the first National League player to join the 100 Home Run Club. Connor was a two-time World Series champ and is enshrined in the Hall of Fame for his accomplishments across an 18-year career. He slashed .316/.397/.486 during that time, which included 138 homers and 1,323 RBI. He was the MLB leader in home runs before getting promptly passed by Babe Ruth.

Speaking of the Babe, he became the first American League player to hit 100 career homers when he did it on September 24, 1920. Ruth’s 22-year Hall of Fame career doesn’t need to be spelled out here to know exactly how impressive it was. His last appearance as an MLB player in a game happened in 1935. Despite it being nearly a full century since he last suited up, his 714 career homers still rank third all-time.

The numbers from Ruth’s 1920 season are insane, too. He slashed .376/.532/.847 in 617 plate appearances. It included leading the league in homers (54), RBI (135), and runs scored (158). This was the first of four (!!) times he surpassed the 50-homer plateau in a single season.

Which Player Is the Fastest to Hit 100 Home Runs?

This is another question that has multiple answers. Ryan Howard holds the MLB record for being the fastest to 100 career home runs. He did so in 325 games (1,141 at-bats). He reached the milestone during the 2007 season, and it’s easy to get to the century mark when you start a career like Howard did. After hitting two homers during a cup of coffee in 2004, he slugged 22 more in 88 games during the 2005 season before mashing 58 in 2006. That also helped him capture National League MVP Award honors.

That monster performance (which is among the most powerful in MLB history) was the start of four straight seasons in which Howard slugged 40-plus homers.

With a simple solo home run at Dodger Stadium on August 23, 2019, Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez set a new AL record for the fewest games needed to join the 100-homer club. It took him just 355 games to reach that milestone. Sanchez’s MLB career has taken many twists and turns since New York traded him away in 2022, but his first few years in the Bronx were special.

He finished second in the 2016 AL Rookie of the Year voting despite appearing in just 53 games. That’ll happen when that playing time produces 20 homers, 42 RBI, and a 1.032 OPS. From 2016-19, Sanchez slugged at least 20 homers three times, with two of those occurrences surpassing the 30-homer plateau. And in case you’re wondering, Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is the second-fastest AL player to 100 homers, doing it in 371 games.

Who Are the Youngest MLB Players to Hit 100 Home Runs?

There have been only three players to reach the 100 Home Run Club before their 23rd birthday. They are Mel Ott (22 years and 132 days old), Tony Conigliaro (22 years and 197 days old), and Eddie Mathews (22 years and 292 days old).

Ott set the AL/NL record on July 12, 1931. Hitting a career-high 42 homers in 1929 for the New York Giants certainly helped accelerate the process. He would go on to lead the league in homers six times during his Hall of Fame career, surpassing the 30-homer plateau a total of eight times. The left-handed slugger finished with 511 homers and 1,860 RBI, both of which rank within the top 25 in MLB history.

Conigliaro reached the magical century mark on July 23, 1967. It was part of a terrific four-year run to begin his MLB career. Despite debuting as a 19-year-old, he had slashed .276/.339/.510 with 104 homers and 294 RBI through his first 2,047 plate appearances. His ’67 campaign was cut short after getting hit in the face with a pitch that damaged his left eye. He missed all of the 1968 season and only played in 382 more games before hanging up his spikes for good.

His 1970 performance was amazing, especially considering the circumstances. Tony C slashed .266/.324/.498 with career-high marks in homers (36) and RBI (116).

Who Took the Longest to Join the 100 Home Run Club?

Sometimes, it takes even some of the most legendary players in the game a long time to reach a certain milestone. That’s the case here for Hall of Famer Ty Cobb, who needed 2,616 games and 9,982 at-bats to hit his 100th career home run. He slugged 117 dingers across a 24-year career and reached double digits in a season just twice (12 both times). But of course, the game was much different in the early 1900s and he was good at a few other things on the baseball diamond.

Cobb finished with 12 batting titles and a .366/.433/.512 career triple slash. That .366 batting average had been the best in baseball history before Josh Gibson’s .372 mark was added to MLB record books. Cobb’s 4,189 career hits are also second all-time.

Want to see some homers in person this season? Of course you do. Grab MLB tickets from our friends at Vivid Seats. And before you get to the stadium, make sure you’re decked out in the right gear. Get your favorite team’s official merch from the MLB Shop or a ‘Big Dinger Energy’ shirt from our apparel store.

, , , , , , , , ,

•

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

Join The MLBDD Newsletter

Get Dingers to Your Inbox 3x Per Week

Follow MLB Daily Dingers

Which Home Run Hitter Are You?

Take a six-question quiz and see which current slugger matches your personality!

Join my Substack and the quiz will get sent straight to your inbox.