Single Season Home Runs: A Complete Guide

single-season-home-runs
By Keith Allison via Wikimedia Commons

This is the ultimate guide for single season home runs of all kinds in MLB.

If you’re looking to find:

  • The most home runs in a season
  • Each MLB team’s single-season home run record
  • Single-season home run leaderboards for each team
  • MLB home run leaders since 2013
  • Single-season HR record holders at each position
  • Every team’s Single-season HR record holders at each position
  • The 40/40 club
  • Most consecutive games with a home run
  • Every player to hit four homers in a game
  • Who has hit the longest home runs (now and in the past)
  • Unlikely players to hit an inside-the-park home run
  • Who has hit the most home runs before the All-Star break
  • All of Kyle Schwarber’s leadoff home runs
  • Details on the most powerful rookie seasons ever
  • Memorable home run moments
  • Most home runs in a season by a team
  • 2022 MLB home run leaders for each team

Then you’re in the right place. As we continue to add content to the site, the appropriate subjects will get highlighted below.

Single Season Home Runs: A Complete Guide

Most Home Runs in a Season

Which players have posted the most powerful seasons in MLB history? It’s an exclusive list with several sluggers appearing more than once. Here’s the top 10 (with plenty of ties):

How impressive of a feat is this? Well, just look at the above leaderboard. Even with the very top getting completely transformed, there are still performances from the 1920s and 1930s on there. This is a hard thing to do. Get more context around each of these performances (as well as videos) right here.

Each MLB Team’s Single-Season Home Run Record

As we talked about in our career home run leaders guide, solely talking about the league’s top home run hitters would leave out lots of memorable performances. And since our focus here is on single season home runs, it can bring even more random (read: wonderful) players into the spotlight. With that said, here’s each MLB team’s single-season home run king.

Get all the details you need for each of these season-long performances, along with videos that contain lots of dingers, right here.

Single-Season Home Run Leaderboards for Each MLB Team

Once again, as we mentioned in our career home run leaders guide, merely talking about each MLB team’s single-season home run leader leaves out other memorable performances deserving of recognition. That’s why we put together a single-season home run leaderboard for each team.

Click on the bolded team name for context and videos. Below, we call out the top-five most powerful seasons for each organization.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Atlanta Braves

Baltimore Orioles

Boston Red Sox

Chicago White Sox

Chicago Cubs

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 Yankees

New York Mets

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

MLB Home Run Leaders Since 2013

Did you know that crowns for home run kings are given out every year? Well, who knows if players actually get crowns (it’d be cool if they do, though). Here are the home run kings for the National League and American League in each season since 2013:

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

  • National League: Kyle Schwarber, 46
  • American League: Aaron Judge, 62

As you can see, several performances we’ve already highlighted in other articles will appear in this one. That’s not surprising at all, and it’ll likely keep happening. As new single-season home run leaders become available, we’ll update our article to reflect those efforts (and go back in time, too). Check out more details for each of these performances (as well as videos, duh) right here.

Single-Season HR Record at Each Position

Which seasons have been most powerful at each position across the diamond? Here’s a quick rundown:

Get more details about these performances, watch videos, and see who else is currently in the top five right here.

Every Team’s Single-Season HR Record at Each Position

We’re starting a new project here. In the coming weeks, we’ll be outlining the single-season HR leaders at each position for every MLB team. As each article publishes, it will be updated below.

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

  • Catcher: J.T. Realmuto, 2018: 21
  • Pitcher: Three-Way Tie at 3
  • First Base: Carlos Delgado, 2005: 33
  • Second Base: Dan Uggla, 2010: 33
  • Shortstop: Hanley Ramirez, 2008: 33
  • Third Base: Miguel Cabrera, 2007: 34
  • Left Field: Marcell Ozuna, 2017: 37
  • Center Field: Preston Wilson, 2000: 31
  • Right Field: Giancarlo Stanton, 2017: 59
  • Designated Hitter: Jesus Aguilar, 2022: 8

All 40/40 Seasons in Baseball History

What’s the most impressive combination of talents for a single baseball player on offense? That’d be an equal amount of speed and power. And when they can do them frequently at the same time, magic happens. There have only been four players to amass at least 40 homers and 40 stolen bases in one season. It hasn’t been done since 2006, although there have been some close calls along the way. Here’s the full list of this exclusive club’s members:

As we can see above, A-Rod is the only primary infielder to accomplish this feat. Who will be the next one? While we wait for that to happen, view all the details here, including videos of each player racking up the statistic that cemented their seat in this group.

Most Consecutive Games With a Home Run

Hitting a home run in the big leagues is hard. Doing it in consecutive games is also hard, but some players make it look easy. Three dudes have slugged a dinger in eight straight games. Here’s what the rest of the top 10 looks like:

There have been a total of 35 different instances of a player hitting a home run in at least six straight games. Check out the full list (and some videos for the top-10) right here.

Every Player to Hit Four Homers in a Game

When it comes to hitting home runs, the greatest single-game accomplishment for a player is hitting four in one contest. It’s another exclusive list in MLB history, but it’s happened more often than the 40/40 club. Here are some of the details for sluggers who have etched their respective names in baseball’s record books:

American League

National League

Get all the details you need, along with as many videos as we could find, in our article right here.

Who Has Hit The Longest Home Runs?

In addition to asking who has hit the most home runs in a single game, season, or career, another popular question among baseball fans is who has hit the longest home runs. We have a couple of different answers for that so far. This area of the site will continue to get some additions along the way.

The Longest Verified Home Run Ever

Mickey Mantle technically holds the Guinness Book World Record for the longest home run ever at 643 feet. That’s not the longest verified home run, though. That honor belongs to Joey Meyer, who hit a 582-foot blast on June 3, 1987 in Triple-A. In addition to giving this moonshot some love, we put the spotlight on tanks that took place before and during the Statcast era. Here’s the summary:

Pre-Statcast Moonshots

Longest Home Runs During the Statcast Era

Admire the handiwork from every one of these sluggers right here.

The Longest Home Runs of 2021

Since the Statcast era dates to the 2015 season, we’ll go back that far to give some love to the longest home runs each season. And as each current season ends, we’ll honor the most impressive tanks, as well. For now, here were the 10 longest home runs of 2021:

Are you interested in watching the trajectory of each of these bombs? Well, you’re in luck because they’re all compiled here.

The Longest Home Runs of 2022

MLB’s 2022 season included a ton of absolute tanks. Coors Field was the host to many of them, but unlike previous years, there were a number of moonshots in Denver by left-handed hitters. It’s not like that hasn’t happened in the past, but these homers in particular traveled to places I don’t remember seeing.

Here’s a rundown of the longest homers in 2022:

If you want to watch all of these dingers (I mean, who doesn’t, right?) then you should head over here to check it all out.

Unlikely Players With an Inside-the-Park Home Run 

What’s more exciting than watching a player leg out a triple? Probably watching them motor around the bases for an inside-the-park home run. But what’s better: watching a speedy runner do it, or someone you would’ve never expected to accomplish such a feat?

You don’t have to answer that, but we’ve singled out a handful of unlikely players to hit an inside-the-parker here:

Watch these dudes lumber to complete a trip around the bases here.

Who Has Hit the Most Home Runs Before The All-Star Break?

There’s nothing quite like fitting a full season’s worth of dingers into the first half. The following players have all slugged at least 30 home runs prior to the midsummer classic:

Get more context (and lots of videos) on the top 16 occurrences in MLB history right here.

Chronicling Kyle Schwarber’s Leadoff Home Runs

When Kyle Schwarber debuted with the Chicago Cubs in 2015, did anyone expect him to become a prolific leadoff hitter? No, definitely not. That’s the beauty of baseball, though. He’s hit enough leadoff home runs that we had to create an article to start tracking them all:

  • May 24, 2019 vs. Cincinnati Reds
  • May 29, 2019 vs. Houston Astros
  • June 13, 2019 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
  • June 18, 2019 vs. Chicago White Sox
  • June 27, 2019 vs. Atlanta Braves
  • June 12, 2021 vs. San Francisco Giants
  • June 13, 2021 vs. San Francisco Giants
  • June 19, 2021 vs. New York Mets
  • June 20, 2021 vs. New York Mets
  • June 24, 2021 vs. Miami Marlins
  • June 28, 2021 vs. New York Mets
  • June 29, 2021 vs. Tampa Bay Rays
  • September 3, 2021 vs. Cleveland Guardians
  • October 10, 2021 vs. Tampa Bay Rays
  • April 8, 2022 vs. Oakland Athletics
  • June 3, 2022 vs. Los Angeles Angels
  • July 5, 2022 vs. Washington Nationals
  • July 22, 2022 vs. Chicago Cubs
  • September 25, 2022 vs. Atlanta Braves
  • October 1, 2022 vs. Washington Nationals
  • October 3, 2022 vs. Houston Astros

Watch each one of these leadoff Schwarbombs right here.

As we continue moving through the season and dive into the winter, there will be a mix of current and historical content added, so keep checking back for fresh articles. Or, you can sign up for our newsletter and find out what’s been added before everyone else does.

Most Home Runs Hit By a Rookie

There have been 32 different seasons where a rookie MLB hitter has slugged at least 30 home runs. Here’s what that list looks like:

To get details and videos for the top-10 performances listed above, head this way.

Memorable Home Run Moments

Robert Fick and the Last Game at Tiger Stadium

Tiger Stadium officially closed its doors on September 27, 1999, after being home to the Tigers for 87 years. Robert Fick made sure to send it off into the sunset with an incredibly memorable blast. Read more about it right here.

Derek Jeter’s 3000th Hit Was As Memorable As Possible

Entering the 3,000-hit club is a momentous occasion that’s only happened 33 times in MLB history. But not many have a flair for the dramatic like Derek Jeter. He punched his ticket into the club in the most memorable way possible. Read all about it right here. 

Most Home Runs in a Season by a Team

We’ve spent plenty of time discussing which players have hit the most homers in a single season for various scenarios. But what about the teams that have gone deep the most? If you’ve been wondering who has hit the most home runs in a season by a team, then we have the answers.

Here’s what the top 15 looks like on this leaderboard:

  • Minnesota Twins, 2019: 307
  • New York Yankees, 2019: 306
  • Houston Astros, 2019: 288
  • Los Angeles Dodgers, 2019: 279
  • New York Yankees, 2018: 267
  • Seattle Mariners, 1997: 264
  • Toronto Blue Jays, 2021: 262
  • Texas Rangers, 2005: 260
  • Oakland Athletics, 2019: 257
  • Toronto Blue Jays, 2010: 257
  • Baltimore Orioles, 1996: 257
  • Chicago Cubs, 2019: 256
  • New York Yankees, 2022: 254
  • Baltimore Orioles, 2016: 253
  • Milwaukee Brewers, 2019: 250

To check out videos for each of these 15 teams, as well as find out who makes up the remainder of the top 30, check out the article here.

2022 MLB Home Run Leaders

Which players lead their own team in home runs during the 2022 season? We have all the answers for you right here:

If you’re curious who rounds out the top five for each squad and you also want to watch a bunch of highlights, check out the article here.