The following is a chronology of the top ten leaders in lifetime

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. This includes any home runs hit by a player during official regular season games (i.e., excluding playoffs or exhibition games) in the National Association (1871–1875),

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

(since 1876), the American Association (1882–1891), the Union Association (1884), the Players' League (1890), the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

(since 1901), and the

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

(1914–1915). The list helps contextualize the evolution of one of the most prized achievements in United States sports. In the early 1930s,

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

had almost 400 more home runs than the next player, his longtime teammate

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...

; when

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...

retired in 1951, he was fifth on the all-time list.

Career home run leaders by year

:Statistics updated through season.

Leadership dates

Starting with

Harry Stovey Harry Duffield Stovey ('' né'' Stowe; December 20, 1856 – September 20, 1937) was a 19th-century Major League Baseball player and the first player in major league history to hit 100 home runs. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Stovey played f ...

passing

Charley Jones Charles Wesley Jones (born Benjamin Wesley Rippay on April 30, 1852 – June 6, 1911) was an American left fielder in the National Association and Major League Baseball who hit 56 home runs and batted .298 during his twelve-year career. He wa ...

in August 1885, there have been seven changes of the career home run leader. Stovey held the title twice, having lost it to

Dan Brouthers Dennis Joseph "Dan" Brouthers (; May 8, 1858 – August 2, 1932) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball whose career spanned the period from to , with a brief return in . Nicknamed "Big Dan" for his size, he was and weighed , wh ...

in June 1887 and then regaining it from Brouthers in August 1889. In the modern era—since the formation of the

in 1901—there have only been four players who have held the title. Harry Stovey Athletics

: indicates the player hit additional home runs after being passed. : source material is unclear of Stovey's home run count when passing Brouthers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Home runs, progressive career, Major League Baseball Major League Baseball records Major League Baseball lists Baseball record progressions

Career home run leaders by year

Leadership dates

See also

Further reading

References