NEWSLETTER
Although there may not be enough time for Giancarlo Stanton to topple Barry Bonds record-setting 73 home run season from 2001, he did crack into the top ten of all time with these two blasts against the Braves last night:
Yep, that’s homers #58 and #59 for Stanton, who became the first player to hit 59 long balls in a single season since Sammy Sosa (64 HRs) and Barry Bonds (73 HRs) did so in 2001.
But even more impressively, he’s cracked into the top ten among the single-season home run leaderboards, and has tied a fairly famous slugger:
- Barry Bonds (2001): 73 HRs
- Mark McGwire (1998): 70 HRs
- Sammy Sosa (1998): 66 HRs
- Mark McGwire (1999): 65 HRs
- Sammy Sosa (2001): Â 64 HRs
- Sammy Sosa (1999): 63 HRs
- Roger Maris (1961): 61 HRs
- Babe Ruth (1927): 60 HRs
- Babe Ruth (1921): 59 HRs
- Giancarlo Stanton (2017): 59 HRs
And with just two more home runs, Stanton can tie Roger Maris’s 61 long balls in 1961, which is notable because he has the most home runs in a single season without being tied to PEDs. I understand that many struggle to find the significance in that particular total (and don’t get me wrong, 73 is the record), but 61 is a benchmark, because it just is and probably always will be until someone beats it cleanly.
And hey, hitting more home runs in a season than Babe Ruth ever did is something, right?
In any case, Stanton has just three more games to pad his total, and they’re all at home against the Braves. Here’s a bit on the probably starters’ home run tendencies:
Luiz Gohara (LHP): 6.9% HR/FB Ratio, .539 SLG v. Righties
Lucas Sims (RHP): 11.9% HR/FB Ratio, .483 SLG v. Righties
Max Fried (LHP): 25.0% HR/FB Ratio, .550 SLG v. Righties
He might just be able to do it.
