Top 500 home run hitters of all time
From Freepedia
In the sport of baseball, a home run is the act of hitting the ball in such a manner, whether out of the park or in (see inside the park home run), that allows the batter to safely reach home and score.
In Major League Baseball, Hank Aaron holds the record with 755 and Babe Ruth is second with 714. The active leader, Barry Bonds, has 708 homers, but only hit 5 in 2005 after missing almost all of the season due to injury. Along with the three of them, Willie Mays (660 HRs) is the only other to have hit more than 600. In 2004, Ken Griffey, Jr. became the 20th to have hit 500 (see 500 home run club), and Jim Thome and Gary Sheffield became the 37th and 38th to hit 400. Tino Martinez and Edgar Martinez (not related) became the 99th and 100th to pass 300, also in 2004. Five other players reached 300 homers later in 2004.
In 2005, Manny Ramírez and Alex Rodriguez have joined the 400 home run club, while Luis Gonzalez, Jason Giambi, Shawn Green, Vladimir Guerrero, and Andruw Jones hit their 300th homers. Also, six players entered the top 500 (listed in order of entry):
- Trot Nixon will enter the top 500 with his next home run.
To make the top 200 (including ties) on the all-time list, a player would need 235 or more home runs, while 185 homers are needed to enter the top 300. To be the 400th best of all-time, you would need 151. The 500th most prolific career home run hitter, however, only has 25 less, at 126.
See also: 500 home run club
The list
Listed are all Major League Baseball players with 126 or more home runs, the current cutoff for the top 500. Players in bold face are currently active.
The players' home run totals are accurate through the end of the 2005 season.
1-- There have been two players named Frank Thomas. The active player has played since 1990 with the White Sox. The earlier player with 286 HRs played from 1951 to 1966 with the Pirates, Reds, Cubs, Braves, Mets, Phillies and Colt .45s (now Astros).
