With the MLB all-star break upon us, the excitement is building for the annual home run derby set to take place tomorrow night. After the drama in the last couple competitions, we thought it would be interesting to break down the best long-ball hitters of all time and see how today’s stars stack up against the best from yesteryear. Using a minimum of 2000 plate appearances and taking into account total home runs, games played and at-bats we devised a list of the best of the best. Because there is no simple definitive way to determine guilt, performance-enhancing drugs were not taken into account. Besides, we think if almost everyone did them in a particular era then the best hitters will still stand out. Here’s how we see it:
20. Mel Ott
At only 5′ 9″ and 170 lbs., Mel Ott was not the most intimidating hitter for a pitcher to face but he quickly made many hurlers understand that size is not everything. Over the course of 22 years Ott hit 511 home runs for the NY Giants on his way to enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. He never had a season with massive home run totals and he only hit over 40 once, but he sure was consistent. “Master Melvin” passed away in an auto accident in 1947 at the all too young age of 49, but his legacy will last forever.
19. Eddie Mathews
Eddie Mathews, the powerful Braves slugger, hit over 450 homers in just his 14th season averaging over 30 long-balls a year over that time span. He and Hank Aaron created quite the power hitting duo in Milwaukee and Atlanta, belting over 1,200 homers between them. Mathews hit 40 homers four times in his career but did most of the damage early as he trailed off as his career began to enter its twilight.
18. Carlos Delgado
Carlos Delgado has quietly put together a potential Hall of Fame career and few even realize it. He should pass the 500 career mark this year or next and he has done it consistently hitting at least 30 home runs in eleven of his sixteen seasons in the bigs. The hard hitting Puerto Rican has played for three teams and in both leagues without missing a step but the most telling mark of his excellence could be that he averages one homer in every 4.3 games.
17. Mike Schmidt
Arguably the best hitting third baseman ever, Michael Jack Schmidt’s eighteen season Hall of Fame career included some astounding stats. Schmidt hit at least thirty homers in thirteen seasons while leading NL in the category in eight of them. Playing in Philly his whole career, he was not known as a great “fan” guy, but one thing was for sure: he could hit the ball a mile. You would never have guessed his lack of popularity with the media and fans during his playing days: he had one of the highest HOF voting percentages ever, showing that no matter what he did off the field he was well respected on it.
16. Harmon Killebrew
The man they called “Killer” was an exceptional long ball hitter that brought excitement to the twin cities during the ’60s and ’70s. Hitting 40 or more homers eight times in his career, Killebrew averaged a home run in every four games. One of the most telling stats for Killebrew was how few times he struck out: averaging only fractionally higher in strike outs per at-bat than homers, Killebrew was a pitcher’s nightmare.
15. Sadaharu Oh
We know he didn’t face the best pitching in the world, but Sadaharu Oh’s numbers are on a whole different plane that transcends leagues. In 22 seasons, Oh racked up 868 career home runs for the Yomiuri Giants and averaged an unthinkable home run in every ten at-bats. They called him the Japanese Babe Ruth and he sure lived up to the moniker.
There was some controversy regarding his single season home run record, which was threatened several times by foreign-born players who were always intentionally walked to keep them from the record, but that says nothing about what he did over the span of his entire career. Oh should be considered more than just a legend in Japanese baseball, but acknowledged as one of the greatest power hitters ever.
14. Willie Mays
This may be a controversial choice because it could be conceived as being too far down the list, but we stick by it. While Mays is by far one of the best players ever when you think about all around game, his legacy is slightly diminished when you think about how many more seasons he played than he should have. There is no doubt that when looking at the period between 1954-66 Willie Mays was simply dominant. What troubles us is the period before and after when he was just average; in fact, a poor player at the very end. Mays’s average of 16.4 homers for every at bat ranks only above Mathews and Ott on our list, so we felt he fit in somewhere around the middle of the long ball pack.
13. Jimmy Foxx
In 1932 Jimmy Foxx put together one of the greatest hitting seasons in the history of baseball. He led the American League in slugging, OBS, total bases, home runs and RBIs, not to mention a host of other minor statistics including missing out on the triple crown by only .003 in batting average. Rarely did you see a player with such raw power and ability. No one except Ruth may have matched his power and he would be higher on this list had he the longevity of some other players.
12. Sammy Sosa
We know he is the first person on this list to be primarily from the steroid era and that at times he looks awfully guilty, but you can hardly deny Sosa’s ability to hit the ball out of the park. He is the only player to hit sixty in a season three times and no one could forget (although some may want to) the home run race between he and McGwire in 1998 that some say saved the game of baseball. His smile and salute to the fans made him a favorite throughout the league and he would be a sure fire Hall of Famer if not for the allegations surrounding him.
11. Manny Ramirez
Some call Manny Ramirez the greatest right handed hitter of all time. Some say that no one matched his power and ability to hit for average. But few can argue that where Manny went controversy was sure to follow, including maybe even a spot on our list. When he hits the news, we have all heard the popular phrase in baseball “it’s just Manny being Manny”, but we at The Pulp List like to think that the phrase is equally justified in being used when talking about home runs. He hit thirty or more homers in nine straight seasons and was not struck out nearly as much as a lot of long ballers. He may have his critics but it will be hard to keep this man out of the Hall of Fame.
10. Ryan Howard
Ryan Howard has been an astounding player since he entered the league and achieved the rare status of being one of only twenty players in history to win both the MVP and ROY awards. In only 4 1/2 seasons, he is already at the 200 HR mark and if he keeps up this unreal pace of a homer in every 3.3 games, he will break the Barry Bonds career mark in only his 17th season in the bigs. He is a bit further down because of his relative inexperience, and we wonder why he was kept in the minors for so long, but make no mistake: he will climb this list in the coming years.
9. Ken Griffey Jr.
The sweetest swing ever in baseball. Junior has been lighting up pitchers from the moment he stepped onto the diamond. It is scary to think that he has 621 career homers while averaging only 123 games a year. Had Griffey stayed healthy his entire career we think he would be sitting at the top of this list. He may get to 700, but most likely won’t play long enough to ever top the leader.
8. Mickey Mantle
The “Mick” is another casualty of “what could’ve been” had injuries not taken their toll on him at such a young age. Mantle played in New York and is a boyhood idol to thousands of older fans. Many remember the Mantle’s 565 ft. home run in 1953 and it is alleged that in Detroit he once hit a ball over 600 ft., although speculation is more about where the ball would have landed as to where it actually did. Mantle’s power and speed were ahead of his time and it is unfortunate that fans never got to see just what the “Commerce Comet” could have achieved if he had reached his full potential.
7. Albert Pujols
Albert Pujols may be surpassed by only Ted Williams on our list when it came to a combination of raw power and hitting ability. Not only has he hit over 30 homers in all nine of his big league seasons, but he has also hit over .300 in each season as well. Another candidate for the top of our list by the time his playing days are over, Pujols is by far the best player in baseball in 2009. His ridiculous average of a home run for every 16.3 plate appearances is crazy enough with out looking at the fact that he rarely strikes out. We can only hope “The Machine” keeps doing his thing for many more years as he is so much fun to watch.
6. Alex Rodriguez
Closing in on 600 homers at only 33 years of age is not only remarkable, but quite possibly unfathomable. A-Rod was gifted from day one, from being one of the most anticipated prospects ever, to signing not one but two historic nine-figure contracts! Although he has some skeptics as to his heart and his apparent disability in the postseason, the man has performed statistically. Recently, he has been under some scrutiny for taking PEDs, but he will always remain one of the greatest power hitters of our generation (possibly ever).
5. Ted Williams
Had Ted Williams not decided to leave baseball in the prime of his career and go fight in two separate wars, it is scary to think what his numbers would have amounted to. Williams averaged just under 30 homers a season which, if accounting for those lost seasons, would have put him just under 700 homers for his career. This from a man who batted .344 for his career and that only wanted to be known as the greatest hitter of all time.
No one in the history of the game ever produced more power combined with gifted hitting ability as did “The Splendid Splinter”. For the current generation the circumstances of what took place after his death sometimes overshadows his achievements in life, but his stats do not lie and he should always be praised and admired within the game.
4. Mark McGwire
As a rookie he hit 49 homers smashing the previous record. This would be only a small sign of things to come for Mark McGwire. He made hitting 583 career homers look easy and had one of the most memorable seasons of all time when he and Sammy Sosa raced toward the all-time single-season mark. That season in 1998 McGwire hit an astounding 70 home runs and may have single handily save the game of baseball from very low point. His testimony in front of congress regarding steroids in baseball may have been slightly shady, but McGwire will always be in the conversation of the best power hitter of all time.
3. Hank Aaron
The man who broke Babe Ruth’s career home run record makes our top three. Aaron took over the record despite a racially-charged atmosphere that did not want to see a black man break the Babe’s record. But he endured and would go on to top out at 744 career blasts. Never having hit over 45 homers in a season, Aaron was the model of consistency as he hit over 30 blasts 15 times in a career that spanned 23 seasons. His record may have since been broken, but his legacy will never be forgotten.
2. Barry Bonds
Ahh, a tricky one. We know we may get some slack for putting Bonds on the list, let alone at #2, but we will stand by it. No one in history, with the possible exception of #1, put more fear into the hearts of opposing pitchers as did Bonds. Now we know all the allegations against him, but remember the man hit over 400 home runs before there was any suspicion at all. He led the NL twelve times in Bases on Balls and, as we all know, is the single-season and career leader in home runs. Bonds was a controversial figure on and off the field, but we may never again see someone who hit long balls with more ease. You may hate the guy and you may think he was a cheat, but one thing is certain — his power was astounding!
1. George Herman “Babe” Ruth
George Herman Ruth, more commonly known as “Babe”, was the most devastating power hitter the world has ever seen. He far exceeded the home run totals of his contemporaries and in some cases would hit more than entire teams. Ruth was larger than life off the field as well, with his notorious eating and partying. His home run record of 714 stood for over forty years before it was broken by Hank Aaron and he hit over 40 homers eleven times in his career.
He was suspended much throughout his career, possibly lowering his statistics, but more importantly creating a volatile love/hate relationship with fans and the media. Growing up as an orphan in Baltimore, no one could have predicted what he would accomplish in the annals of baseball lore. “The Sultan of Swat” is the largest (literally and figuratively) icon in the sport of baseball and his spot at the top of our list may be forever solidified.