Career Home Run Leaders: The Ultimate Guide

career-home-run-leaders

This is the ultimate guide for MLB’s career home run leaders of all kinds.

If you’re looking to find:

  • The most home runs all-time
  • The 300 Home Run Club
  • Each MLB team’s career home run leader
  • Team-specific career home run leaderboards
  • The most home runs all-time at each position
  • Milestone home runs for various baseball legends
  • Home runs through the years for various active players

Then you’ll love this guide through our website. We’ll provide the straight facts below. There will also be links to articles all over our site that provide context to these historic performances, as well as videos of said performances.

As we add more articles to the blog, this page will continue to be updated to keep it as the ultimate written and visual guide for career home run leaders.

Editor’s Note: We’re proud to partner with Baseballism so you can get 15% off your next order! Use this link or DINGERS15 at checkout to get your discount!

Career Home Run Leaders: The Ultimate Guide

Most Career Home Runs in MLB History

The career home run leader list is baseball royalty. When you think of some of the league’s most powerful hitters in history, a few names probably immediately come to mind. Do you know the top-20, though? Look below and then you will.

  1. Barry Bonds: 762
  2. Hank Aaron: 755
  3. Babe Ruth: 714
  4. Albert Pujols: 703
  5. Alex Rodriguez: 696
  6. Willie Mays: 660
  7. Ken Griffey Jr.: 630
  8. Jim Thome: 612
  9. Sammy Sosa: 609
  10. Frank Robinson: 586
  11. Mark McGwire: 583
  12. Harmon Killebrew: 573
  13. Rafael Palmeiro: 569
  14. Reggie Jackson: 563
  15. Manny Ramirez: 555
  16. Mike Schmidt: 548
  17. David Ortiz: 541
  18. Mickey Mantle: 536
  19. Jimmie Foxx: 534
  20. Willie McCovey, Frank Thomas, Ted Williams: 521

If you want to get more information on these players while watching videos of them mashing a bunch of dingers, check out our post about the most home runs all-time in MLB history.

Everything You Need to Know About the 300 Home Run Club

Entering the 2024 season, there are 159 player who have slugged at least 300 home runs during their career. Six of those players joined the club in 2023. There will be more to join momentarily, too. Get a rundown of the entire 300 Home Run Club members, along with the teams they played for and the number of homers they slugged at each stop. You can check it out here.

The Career Home Run King at Each Position

If you thought career home run leaders were just on one list, then you’re in for a big surprise. We’ve already sliced and diced these leaderboards in a few different ways. And we’re not close to being done. One of the interesting lists we’ve put together includes players with the most home runs at each position.

Here’s what the list looks like:

  • Catcher: Mike Piazza, 396
  • Pitcher: Wes Ferrell, 37
  • First Base: Mark McGwire, 566
  • Second Base: Jeff Kent, 351
  • Shortstop: Cal Ripken Jr., 345
  • Third Base: Mike Schmidt, 509
  • Left Field: Barry Bonds, 725
  • Center Field: Willie Mays, 635
  • Right Field: Sammy Sosa, 538
  • Designated Hitter: David Ortiz, 485
  • Pinch-Hitter: Matt Stairs, 23

As usual, we provide context and videos for nearly each of these players. The only one we couldn’t find anything good on was Wes Ferrell. That’s because it’s hard to find footage on any old-time player, especially pitchers hitting! Ferrell’s career spanned from 1927 to 1941. Other than him, we’ve found fun videos of all the other sluggers to enjoy. You can check out the article here. 

Each MLB Team’s All-Time Home Run King

Barry Bonds is MLB’s all-time (and single-season) home run king, but it’s not like he’s the only dude with a crown. If we only look at MLB’s career home run leaders, it’d leave out lots of players that had powerful tenures in the big leagues.

So, that’s why we wanted to give love to each MLB team’s all-time home run king:

  • Arizona Diamondbacks: Luis Gonzalez – 224
  • Atlanta Braves: Hank Aaron – 733
  • Baltimore Orioles: Cal Ripken Jr. – 431
  • Boston Red Sox: Ted Williams – 521
  • Chicago White Sox: Frank Thomas – 448
  • Chicago Cubs: Sammy Sosa – 545
  • Cincinnati Reds: Johnny Bench – 389
  • Cleveland Guardians: Jim Thome – 337
  • Colorado Rockies: Todd Helton – 369
  • Detroit Tigers: Al Kaline – 399
  • Houston Astros: Jeff Bagwell – 449
  • Kansas City Royals: George Brett – 317
  • Los Angeles Angels: Mike Trout – 368 (and counting)
  • Los Angeles Dodgers: Duke Snider – 389
  • Miami Marlins: Giancarlo Stanton – 267
  • Milwaukee Brewers: Ryan Braun – 352
  • Minnesota Twins: Harmon Killebrew – 559
  • New York Yankees: Babe Ruth – 659
  • New York Mets: Darryl Strawberry – 252
  • Oakland Athletics: Mark McGwire – 363
  • Philadelphia Phillies: Mike Schmidt – 548
  • Pittsburgh Pirates: Willie Stargell – 475
  • San Diego Padres: Nate Colbert – 163
  • San Francisco Giants: Willie Mays – 646
  • Seattle Mariners: Ken Griffey Jr. – 417
  • Louis Cardinals: Stan Musial – 475
  • Tampa Bay Rays: Evan Longoria – 261
  • Texas Rangers: Juan Gonzalez – 372
  • Toronto Blue Jays: Carlos Delgado – 336
  • Washington Nationals: Ryan Zimmerman – 284

Get the full details (and videos) on how each of these sluggers got to this point by checking out our article on all-time home run leaders for each MLB team.

Team-Specific Career Home Run Leaderboards

Why stop at each MLB team’s all-time home run leader? If that happened, we’d once again be leaving out dozens of players who put together memorable performances. That’s why we’re spending time putting together team-specific career home run leaderboards. This project isn’t done yet, but as we keep publishing new leaderboards, we’ll add them.

We’ll highlight the top five of each leaderboard below. To view the context, statistics, and videos for each of these performances, click on the team’s name.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Atlanta Braves

Baltimore Orioles

Boston Red Sox

Chicago Cubs

Chicago White Sox

Cincinnati Reds

Cleveland Guardians

Colorado Rockies

Detroit Tigers

Houston Astros

Kansas City Royals

Los Angeles Angels

Los Angeles Dodgers

Miami Marlins

Milwaukee Brewers

Minnesota Twins

New York Mets

New York Yankees

Oakland Athletics

Philadelphia Phillies

Pittsburgh Pirates

San Diego Padres

San Francisco Giants

Seattle Mariners

St. Louis Cardinals

Tampa Bay Rays

Texas Rangers

Toronto Blue Jays

Washington Nationals

Milestone Home Runs from Legendary Players

Sometimes, it’s not enough to simply look at a legendary player’s overall performance. For a handful, it’s so good that taking a more detailed stroll down memory lane is necessary. This is another area of the site we’ll continue building out in due time. For now, though, we’ve detailed the milestone home runs for four different guys. Check them out below.

Milestone Albert Pujols Home Runs

  • April 6, 2001: Home Run #1 vs. Diamondbacks
  • July 20, 2003: Home Run #100 vs. Dodgers
  • September 30, 2005: Home Run #200 vs. Reds
  • July 4, 2008: Home Run #300 vs. Cubs
  • August 26, 2010: Home Run #400 vs. Nationals
  • April 22, 2014: Home Run #500 vs. Nationals
  • June 3, 2017: Home Run #600 vs. Twins
  • September 13, 2020: Home Run #660 vs. Rockies
  • September 18, 2020: Home Run #661 vs. Rangers
  • September 11, 2022: Home Run #697 vs. Pirates
  • September 23, 2022: Home Run #700 vs. Dodgers
  • October 3, 2022: Home Run #703 vs. Pirates
  • October 22, 2011: Three Home Runs in World Series
  • October 17, 2005: Taking Brad Lidge’s Soul in the NLCS

Do you want to watch each of these milestone home runs? Head to our article here.

Milestone Barry Bonds Home Runs

You know this section wouldn’t be complete without giving some attention to the all-time home run king. For some reason, Bonds’ first and 200th career home runs are nowhere to be found on YouTube. Besides those, here’s a quick rundown of his milestone home runs:

  • July 12, 1990: Home Run #100 vs. Padres
  • April 27, 1996: Home Run #300 vs. Marlins
  • August 23, 1998: Home Run #400 vs. Marlins
  • April 17, 2001: Home Run #500 vs. Dodgers
  • October 5, 2001: Home Run #565 vs. Dodgers
  • August 9, 2002: Home Run #600 vs. Pirates
  • April 12, 2004: Home Run #660 vs. Brewers
  • September 17, 2004: Home Run #700 vs. Padres
  • May 28, 2006: Home Run #715 vs. Rockies
  • August 7, 2007: Home Run #756 vs. Nationals
  • September 5, 2007: Home Run #762 vs. Rockies

Watch them all and get some more context around each of these blasts by checking out the article here.

Milestone Miguel Cabrera Home Runs

Like Pujols, Miguel Cabrera is still active as of the 2022 season. Miggy still has a couple of seasons left on his contract, though, so we’ll see how far he’ll make it before hanging up his spikes. Here’s a rundown of his milestone home runs thus far:

  • June 20, 2003: Home Run #1 vs. Rays
  • August 23, 2006: Home Run #100 vs. Nationals
  • August 23, 2009: Home Run #200 vs. Athletics
  • July 22, 2012: Home Run #300 vs. White Sox
  • May 16, 2015: Home Run #400 vs. Cardinals
  • August 22, 2021: Home Run #500 vs. Blue Jays
  • September 27, 2023: Home Run #511 vs. Royals

Watch all of Cabrera’s milestone home runs right here.

Milestone Ken Griffey Jr. Home Runs

If you grew up as a baseball fan in the 1990s, there’s zero chance you didn’t spend time in your bedroom mimicking Ken Griffey Jr.’s home run swing. He gave us plenty of opportunities to observe it, too. Here are the milestone home runs from Griffey’s Hall of Fame career:

  • April 10, 1989: Home Run #1 vs. White Sox
  • June 15, 1993: Home Run #100 vs. Royals
  • May 21, 1996: Home Run #200 vs. Red Sox
  • April 13, 1998: Home Run #300 vs. Guardians
  • April 10, 2000: Home Run #400 vs. Rockies
  • June 20, 2004: Home Run #500 vs. Cardinals
  • June 9, 2008: Home Run #600 vs. Marlins
  • October 3, 2009: Home Run #630 vs. Rangers

Drool over his picture-perfect swing and swag by checking out our article here.

Home Runs Through the Years for Active Players

Going through milestone home runs for legendary players is fun, but what about going through a player’s overall home runs each year? We’ve started doing that, too. Pete Alonso and Shohei Ohtani were the first ones to get this treatment, but they won’t be the last.

Pete Alonso Home Runs Through the Years

Alonso’s rookie year was a banner one in many respects. He won NL Rookie of the Year honors by breaking the Mets’ rookie and overall single-season home run record. He also set a new MLB rookie home run record in the process. Here’s what he’s done to this point in his career:

  • 2019 season: 53 home runs
  • 2020 season: 16 home runs
  • 2021 season: 37 home runs
  • 2022 season: 40 home runs
  • 2023 season: 46 home runs

We’ll update this article with his 2022 performance once it’s final. For now, though, you can watch every single one of these homers right here.

Shohei Ohtani Home Runs Through the Years

What Ohtani has done in his MLB career was already remarkable prior to his MVP campaign in 2021. That specific performance just made it that much more impressive. Here are his home totals since debuting in 2018:

  • 2018 season: 22 home runs
  • 2019 season: 18 home runs
  • 2020 season: 7 home runs
  • 2021 season: 46 home runs
  • 2022 seasons: 34 home runs
  • 2023 season: 44 home runs

As with Alonso, we’ll add to this article once the 2022 regular season is officially in the books. Head over to our article to watch Ohtani punish each one of these baseballs.

Aaron Judge Home Runs Through the Years

Aaron Judge is going to become a very rich man once 2022 is in the books, and he’s slugged plenty of home runs since his MLB debut. Here’s what his yearly progression has looked like since 2016:

  • 2016 season: 4 home runs
  • 2017 season: 52 home runs
  • 2018 season: 27 home runs
  • 2019 season: 27 home runs
  • 2020 season: 9 home runs
  • 2021 season: 39 home runs
  • 2022 season: 62 home runs
  • 2023 season: 37 home runs

Get all the details and videos you need to take this stroll down memory lane right here.

Mike Trout Home Runs Through the Years

You know we couldn’t have a section like this without talking about the one and only Mike Trout, right? It’d be a sin to not talk about one of the game’s greatest players. Here’s what his yearly home run progression looks like since debuting in 2011:

  • 2011: 5 home runs
  • 2012: 30 home runs
  • 2013: 27 home runs
  • 2014: 36 home runs
  • 2015: 41 home runs
  • 2016: 29 home runs
  • 2017: 33 home runs
  • 2018: 39 home runs
  • 2019: 45 home runs
  • 2020: 17 home runs
  • 2021: 8 home runs
  • 2022: 40 home runs
  • 2023: 18 home runs

Get all the details (and lots of videos) by checking out the full article here.

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