Today’s Sportstat: August 22, 2019
Ryan Braun looking for his 10th 20-HR season
Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun is the franchise leader with 340 career home runs. This season, through games of August 21, Braun has hit 18 home runs.
Braun needs two more HRs this season for his 10th 20-HR season in his career. If he reaches 20 homers this season, he will become the 98th player in MLB history to have 10 seasons with 20 or more home runs. (For what it is worth, 37 of the 97 players in baseball history who have hit 20 or more home runs in 10 or more seasons are in the baseball Hall of Fame.)
Braun’s nine seasons with 20 or more HRs with the Brewers is the team record. Here is a look at the Brewers players with the most 20-HR seasons with the team.
9-Ryan Braun
7-Geoff Jenkins
6-Prince Fielder
5-Corey Hart, Jeromy Burnitz, Rob Deer, Gorman Thomas, Cecil Cooper
4-Greg Vaughn, Robin Yount
Hank Aaron holds the MLB record for most seasons with 20 or more home runs with 20. Following are the 17 players who have hit 20+ HRs in a season in 15 or more seasons.
20-Hank Aaron
19-Barry Bonds
17-Frank Robinson, Willie Mays
16-Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Jim Thome, Eddie Murray, Reggie Jackson, Ted Williams, Babe Ruth
15-David Ortiz, Ken Griffey, Jr., Fred McGriff, Dave Winfield, Willie Stargell, Mel Ott.
Albert Pujols is the active leader in this category with 16 seasons with 20+ HRs. He does, however, have 19 HRs this season through games of August 21 and should jump into the Top 5 in this category with one more homer this season.
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Today’s Sports Stat-July 27, 2017
Here’s a trivia question for today (the answer will appear at the end of this column)… Can you name the youngest and oldest players to hit a home run for the Brewers?
Last night top prospect Rafael Devers became the youngest Boston Red Sox player to hit a home run in more than 50 years at age 20 years and 275 days. In case you were wondering, the youngest player ever to hit an HR in a major league game was Tommy Brown on August 20, 1945. Brown was 17 years, 257 days old when he homered that day for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Since 2000, the youngest player to hit a home run in the majors was Jurickson Profar of Texas. He was 19 years and 195 days when he hit his long ball on September 2, 2012.
Now to answer the above trivia question… if you answered Robin Yount and Hank Aaron, you know your Brewers trivia. Yount was 18-209 when he hit his first homer for the Brewers. Aaron was 42-166 when he hit his last HR for the Brew Crew.
Here’s a look at the six youngest and six oldest Brewers to ever hit a home run for the team.
Youngest (Years-Days) Robin Yount 18-209 Darrell Porter 19-240 Gary Sheffield 19-296 Sixto Lezcano 20-296 Prince Fielder 21-047 Yovani Gallardo 21-174
Oldest (Years-Days) Hank Aaron 42-166 Rick Dempsey 41-342 Craig Counsell 41-013 Jim Edmonds 40-029 Jim Gantner 39-222 Dave Parker 39-093
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The majors 250+ HR Club: Which members hit home runs as Brewers?
Robin Yount (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published multiple times weekly focusing on stats that go beyond the numbers.
Most diehard Brewers fans know that Robin Yount has hit the most home runs in Brewers history with 251. With Prince Fielder moving to the Detroit Tigers, chances are that record will remain Yount’s for a couple more years. Fielder left Milwaukee second on the list with 230 HRs. Ryan Braun is the active player with the most home runs as a Brewer with 172.
Yount is also one of 204 MLB players who have hit 250 or more four-baggers in their career. Did you know that of the 204 on that list, 16 of those players hit one or more home runs with the Brewers in their career?
Before you read any further in this blog, take a pen and paper and see if you can write down the 16 members of the 250-HR club who hit home runs in a Milwaukee Brewers uniform. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
So… how many did you remember? Well, here’s the list (for active players, totals are through games of May 19).
Hank Aaron (755 career HRs; 22 with the Brewers): “Hammerin Hank” came up with the Milwaukee Braves and hit 400 home runs while the club was in Milwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1975 after nine years with the Braves in Atlanta. He was primarily the DH with the Brewers the last two years of his career.
Gary Sheffield (509 career HRs; 21 with the Brewers): The Brewers first-round pick in the 1986 draft, Sheffield made his big league debut as a 19-year-old in 1988. He played four less-than-stellar years with the Brewers playing in 294 games with a .259 batting average. He was traded by the club to San Diego before the start of the 1992 season.
Jim Edmonds (393 career HRs; 8 with the Brewers): Signed as a free agent with the Brewers in 2010. Played 73 games with the team batting .286 before he was traded in August to the Reds.
Greg Vaughn (355 career HRs; 169 with the Brewers): A 1988 draft choice of the Brewers. Made his debut with the club in 1989. Played 8 seasons with the Brewers. Was an all-star in 1993. Was traded by the Brewers to San Diego in July 1996.
Carlos Lee (352 career HRs; 60 with the Brewers): “El Caballo” was traded to the Brewers after the 2004 season. He was an all-star and received a Silver Slugger award while with the Brewers in 2005. He was traded to the Texas Rangers in July 2006.
Dave Parker (339 career HRs; 21 with the Brewers): A free agent who signed with the team in December, 1989, Parker played only one season with the Brewers. He was an all-star and received a Silver Slugger award that season after driving in 92 runs as the team’s primary DH.
Aramis Ramirez (318 career HRs; 3 with the Brewers): Ramirez was the big free agent signing for the club after the 2011 season. He hit 239 HRs with the Cubs in nine seasons.
Jeromy Burnitz (315 career HRs; 165 with the Brewers): Played six seasons with the Brewers after coming to the team in a trade in August 1996. He was an all-star in 1999. Was traded by the Brewers in January 2002 as part of a three-team trade.
Richie Sexson (306 career HRs; 133 with the Brewers): Came to the Brewers in a trade from the indians in 2000. Hit 45 home runs in a season twice with Milwaukee (45 in a season ranks third all-time with the Brewers) and was a two-time all-star with the club. Was traded by the Brewers to Arizona in 2003.
Mike Cameron (278 career HRs; 49 with the Brewers): Signed as a free agent with the Brewers in 2008. Spent two seasons with the team. Left the Brewers after the ’09 season signing with the Boston Red Sox.
Dante Bichette (274 career HRs; 20 with the Brewers): Came to the Brewers from the Angels in a March 1991 trade. Played two years with the team and was then traded to Colorado after the 1992 season.
George Scott (271 career HRs; 115 with the Brewers): “Boomer” came to Milwaukee from Boston in a 10-player trade after the 1971 season. He spent six seasons with the Brewers. He was a five-time Gold Glover with the team and an all-star in 1975 when he led the A.L. in home runs and RBIs. Was traded back to Boston after the 1976 season in exchange for Cecil Cooper.
Tom Brunansky (271 career HRs; 6 with the Brewers): Played 96 games with the Brewers in 1993-94. Signed as a free agent with the team in January 1993 and then was traded to Boston mid-season in 1994.
Gorman Thomas (286 career HRs; 208 with the Brewers): Fourth on the Brewers all-time home run list with his 208 HRs. Made his MLB debut with the Brewers in 1973. “Stormin Gorman” played 11 seasons with the team. Was traded to Cleveland in June 1983. Finished his career as a Brewer in 1986 playing in 44 games that season.
Matt Stairs (265 career HRs; 16 with the Brewers): Played one season with the Brewers in 2002. He played with 12 major league teams in his 19-year career.
Robin Yount (251 career HRs; 251 with the Brewers): “The Kid” spent his entire career with the Brewers. Holds the Brewers career records in games played, at-bats, runs scored, hits, doubles, triples, home runs and RBIs. Inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.
Did you know: Another member of the 250 HR Club played with the Brewers in 1977 but did not hit a home run during his time with the Brewers. Jimmy Wynn, who had 291 career HRs, played 36 games with the Brewers in ’77 but did not homer.
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Jim Thome: 600-HR Club member with only one HR crown
Jim Thome... Image via Wikipedia
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Jim Thome became the eighth member of the majors’ 600-HR Club with a pair of homers tonight (August 15). He also becomes the first member of that club who won only one HR crown in his career. Thome led the National League in home runs when he hit 47 for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2003. That was the only year he won an HR crown in his career. All other members of the 600-HR Club led their league in HRs in two or more seasons.
In looking at the 25 members of the 500-HR Club, we discover that three players hit 500 or more home runs in their career yet never led the league in home runs. The three: Rafael Palmeiro, Gary Sheffield and Frank Thomas.
Here’s a look at the 25 members of the 500-HR Club and the number of times they led the league in home runs in a season in their career.
League HR crowns, Player (career HRs)
0: Rafael Palmeiro (569), Gary Sheffield (509), Frank Thomas (521)
1: Eddie Murray (504), Manny Ramirez (555), Frank Robinson (586), Jim Thome (600)
2: Ernie Banks (512), Barry Bonds (762), Eddie Mathews (512), Sammy Sosa (609)
3: Willie McCovey (521)
4: Hank Aaron (755), Jimmie Foxx (534), Ken Griffey, Jr. (630), Reggie Jackson (563), Mickey Mantle (536), Willie Mays (660), Mark McGwire (583), Ted Williams (521)
5: Alex Rodriquez (626)
6: Harmon Killebrew (573), Mel Ott (511)
8: Mike Schmidt (548), Babe Ruth (714)
(WE INTERRUPT THIS BLOG FOR A TRIVIA QUESTION: Can you name the five members of the 500-HR club who hit all of their home runs with only one team? Answer below.)
Did you know? Hank Aaron wore uniform number 44 and hit 44 home runs in a season four times!
TRIVIA ANSWER: Mel Ott (NY Giants), Ernie Banks (Chicago Cubs), Ted Williams (Boston), Mickey Mantle (NY Yankees) and Mike Schmidt (Philadelphia)
Did you know? Gary Sheffield hit 509 career HRs yet did not hit more than 130 for one team. He hit 129 for the LA Dodgers, most with one team in his career.
Did you know? Alex Rodriquez is the only player to hit 150 or more HRs for three different teams. Rodriquez hit 156 for Texas, 189 for Seattle and has hit 281 for the Yankees.
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