Who Hit the Most Home Runs in Baseball History?

Who holds the record for the most home runs in baseball history? Many fans would be surprised to learn that it isn’t Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron.

Barry Bonds

With 762 home runs, Barry Bonds holds the record for the most home runs in baseball history. He played Major League Baseball for 22 seasons, spending the majority of his career with the San Francisco Giants. He also won a record seven MVP awards.

Home runs

Barry Bonds is widely considered to be one of the best baseball players of all time. He played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) and holds many records, including the most home runs in a career.

Bonds hit his first home run in 1986 and his last in 2007. He holds the record for most home runs in a season, with 73 in 2001. He also holds the record for most career home runs, with 762.

Bonds’shome run totals declined rapidly after he turned 40 years old. In his final five seasons, he averaged just 12 home runs per season. However, he still managed to hit 586 home runs during his career, which is the second-most in MLB history behind only Hank Aaron (755).

Batting average

Barry Bonds is widely considered to be one of the greatest baseball players of all time. He played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), spent 15 seasons with the San Francisco Giants, and is currently the MLB’s all-time leader in home runs (762) and walks (2,558). He also won a record seven MVP awards. But despite all of his accomplishments, there is one area in which Bonds falls short: batting average.

Bonds’ career batting average is .298, which ranks him 84th among active MLB players (as of 2018). In comparison, the player with the highest batting average in MLB history is Ty Cobb, who finished his career with a .366 average. So why is Bonds’ batting average so low?

There are a few theories. One is that Bonds was simply a better power hitter than average hitter. In other words, he was more focused on hitting home runs than getting base hits. This theory is supported by the fact that Bonds’ slugging percentage (.607) is much higher than his batting average.

Another theory is that pitchers were simply afraid to pitch to Bonds because they knew he could hit the ball out of the park at any time. As a result, he sees fewer pitches to hit and has less opportunity to get base hits. This theory is supported by the fact that Bonds’ on-base percentage (.444) is much higher than his batting average.

Whatever the reason for his low batting average, it’s clear that Barry Bonds is one of the greatest hitters in baseball history, regardless of his career average.

On-base percentage

In baseball, the batting average (BA) is defined by the number of hits divided by at bats. It is usually reported to three decimal places and read without the decimal: A player with a batting average of .300 is “batting three-hundred.” If necessary to break ties, batting averages could be taken beyond the .001 measurement. In this case, .0001 would be read as “one thousandth.” The official rule 8.08 reads:

The batting average for a player shall be determined by dividing the number of hits by the number of official times at bat not including base on balls, sacrifices, penalty hit by pitch, interference or obstruction.

Walks (BB), hit by pitch (HBP), sacrifice flies (SF), sacrifice hits (SH) are all excluded from BA calculations. Carsonecareer batting average leaders (min. 3000 PA) according to baseball-reference:

Barry Bonds-.444
Ty Cobb-.366
Hank Aaron-.305

Hank Aaron

Hank Aaron was a professional baseball player who played for the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves from 1954 to 1976. He is considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time. Hank Aaron is the all-time leader in home runs with 755. He is also the all-time leader in RBIs with 2,297.

Home runs

Hank Aaron is baseball’s all-time home run king. He hit 755 homers in his career, which spanned from 1954 to 1976. He played most of his career with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, and also spent time with the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago White Sox.

Batting average

Hank Aaron is widely considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time. He played from 1954 to 1976, and is best known for his record-breaking 755 home runs. He also holds the records for most career RBIs (2,297), extra base hits (1,477), and total bases (6,856).

Although Aaron was an outstanding hitter, his batting average was only .305 – which ranks him 21st on the all-time list. Batting average is a measure of a player’s success at hitting the ball and reaching base safely. It is calculated by dividing the number of hits by the number of at-bats.

So, why wasn’t Aaron’s batting average higher? One reason may be that he didn’t hit for a high average with runners in scoring position (.274) or with two outs (.248). Another reason may be that he played most of his career in an era when pitchers dominated hitters. In today’s game, hitters are more likely to see balls in the strike zone, and home run rates are at an all-time high.

Whatever the reason, Hank Aaron is still remembered as one of the greatest hitters in baseball history – not just for his home run totals, but for his all-around excellence at the plate.

On-base percentage

On-base percentage (OBP; sometimes referred to as on-base average/OBA, as it is mathematically similar to batting average) is a statistic conceived by sportswriter John Thackston of the Atlanta Journal- Constitution in the late 19th century, originally used for baseball. It became official in 1984.

OBPS = (H + BB + HBP) / (AB + BB + HBP + SF). It is typically seen written as a decimal rounded to three places (e.g. .300), but certain data sources use it rounded to two places (e.g. .30), or one place (e.g. .3).

Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth is considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time. He was a power hitter who hit 714 home runs in his career. Ruth also had a batting average of .342 and an on-base percentage of .474. He is considered one of the best players in baseball history.

Home runs

Babe Ruth holds the record for the most home runs in a career with 714. He hit his record-breaking home run off of pitcher Cliff Lackert of the Detroit Tigers on May 25, 1935. Ruth played for 22 seasons, including stints with the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and Brooklyn Dodgers. He retired from baseball in 1935 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.

Batting average

Ruth’s prowess as a hitter led to some remarkable achievements. In May 1925, Ruth hit three home runs in a single game. He did this again in July 1928 and August 1930. Ruth hit his 600th career home run on September 30, 1927, becoming the first player to reach this mark. In 1929, Ruth was the first major league baseball player to hit 30, 40, and 50 home runs in a single season. He became baseball’s career home run leader in 1935, when he hit his 714th homerun. Babe Ruth’s record stood for 39 years until Hank Aaron broke it on April 8, 1974.

On-base percentage

On-base percentage (OBP), also sometimes referred to as on-base average, is a statistic that measures how often a batter reaches base. It is calculated by dividing the number of hits plus bases on balls plus hit by pitches by the number of at bats plus bases on balls plus hit by pitches plus sacrifice flies,[1][2] and is typically expressed as a decimal rounded to three places (.300, for example).

In modern baseball analysis, on-base percentage (along with slugging percentage) is considered one of the two most important statistics, superior to batting average.[3][4][5] The ability to draw walks and get hits are two important offensive abilities which are highly valued, more so than batting average.[6]

A high OBP coupled with a low batting average indicates better plate discipline, while a high OBP coupled with a high batting average indicates great hitting ability. Either way, a hitter with a good OBP is considered hard to out.

Alex Rodriguez

Alex Rodriguez has hit the most home runs of any baseball player in history. He played his first game in 1994 and his last game in 2016. He played for the Seattle Mariners, the Texas Rangers, and the New York Yankees. He is a 3-time MVP and a 14-time All-Star.

Home runs

Alex Rodriguez holds the record for the most home runs in baseball history, with 696 home runs in his career. He played for 22 seasons in the major leagues, spending time with the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, and New York Yankees. He was a 14-time All-Star and 3-time MVP.

Batting average

In baseball, the batting average (BA) is defined by the number of hits divided by at bats. It is usually reported to three decimal places and read without the decimal: A player with a batting average of .300 is “batting three-hundred.” If necessary to break ties, batting averages could be taken beyond the .001 measurement. In this context, a .001 is considered a “point,” such that a .235 batter is 5 points higher than a .230 batter.

BA is generally considered to be the best single offensive statistic in baseball. It becomes a much more important statistic when evaluating pitchers, since they have direct control over what contact hitters do when they step into the batter’s box. Batting average does not measure base running or stolen bases; for those contributions, see slugging percentage and stolen base percentage.

It is also worth noting that Milburn’s career ended in 1884, well before baseball began using statistics such as OPS or wRC+.

On-base percentage

Alex Rodriguez is often cited as one of the best baseball players of all time. A large part of his success is due to his ability to get on base. On-base percentage (OBP) is a measure of how often a batter reaches base. It is calculated by dividing the number of hits plus walks by the number of plate appearances.

Rodriguez has a career OBP of .423, which is the highest of all time among players with at least 3,000 plate appearances. He is followed by Babe Ruth (.415), Ted Williams (.406), and Stan Musial (.374).

Albert Pujols

Albert Pujols is a professional baseball player who has hit the most home runs in baseball history. He has played for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Angels. As of 2019, Pujols has hit a total of 654 home runs.

Home runs

Albert Pujols is one of the most accomplished hitters in baseball history. As of the end of the 2019 season, he has hit 662 home runs, which ranks him 4th on the all-time list. He also ranks 5th in career RBIs (2,101), 7th in hits (3,253), and 9th in batting average (.321). Pujols is a sure-fire Hall of Famer and will go down as one of the greatest hitters of all time.

Batting average

Albert Pujols is a professional baseball player who played for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2001 to 2018. He is considered one of the greatest hitters of all time. As of 2019, he holds the career record for most home runs with 657. He also ranks third in batting average with a .328 career average.

On-base percentage

In baseball, on-base percentage (OBP; sometimes referred to as on-base average/OBA, as it is mathematically related to batting average) is a statistic generally measuring how frequently a batter reaches base.[1] Specifically, it records the ratio of the batter’s times-on-base (TOB) (the sum of hits, walks, and times hit by pitch) to their number of plate appearances.[2][3] It first became an official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic in 1984.

OBP does not credit the batter for reaching base on an error, fielder’s choice, dropped/uncaught third strike, or catcher’s interference.

On-base percentage can be determined by summing the following:
Hits (single, double, triple, home run): A batters hits are counted even if they do not advance a runner. If a batter hits into a double play or reaches first base on an infield hit that is overturned by instant replay, the hit will still be counted but not any other bases advanced.
Walks: A walk occurs when the umpire judges that the batter does not offer at a hittable pitch in the strike zone for whatever reason and awards first base to the hitter as a result. Intentional walks are not counted as part of OBP.
Hit By Pitch: If a batter is hit by a pitched ball and awarded first base as a result, it is counted as part of OBP. sacrifice bunts are excluded from consideration for OBP purposes. Reaching on an error does not count towards OBP; however reaching on a fielder’s choice does Count towards OBP since the batter reached base safely despite being put out at first.

On-base percentage = Total times on base ÷ total plate appearances