OF COURSE, we are--but we're counting something different. It may seem to you this triples-loving establishment is selling out to those who've crammed "the big fly" down our throats since 2017, but bear with us--we're going to take a different tack with looking at home runs.
(After all, doing something different is what this place is all about...but we'll try not be as dementedly "different" as Slim Pickens, who was fifty years ahead of the "launch angle lotharios" in loving "the bomb" a bit too enthusiastically..,
First, how many hitters have hit 700 or more homers in their career?
Then...how many have hit six hundred but less than 700? And 500-to-599? 400 to 499? 300 to 399? 200 to 299? And finally, how many have hit 100 or more homers but less than 200?
All of that summary data is available for view in the table at right, along with the number of hitters in each category who've been elected to the Hall of Fame. The frequency of occurrence multiplies dramatically when we get past the 400-HR threshold: there are 58 hitters who've now hit 400+ HRs in their careers, and 940 who've hit at least 100 HRs but no more than 399.
As for election to the HOF, we have the steroid boys to contend with at the top of the list: there are 28 hitters who've hit 500+ HRs, but at this moment only 19 of them have been inducted at Cooperstown. That's just a little bit over two-thirds: we have folks like Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro here, looking at doors with "Keep Out!" signs (and they'll likely be joined by Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez on the outside looking in).
Still the percentages for induction at 400-499 HRs (50%) is not too bad, given how common HRs have gotten to be in the last seven seasons. For players who hit fewer than 300 HRs in a career, their current chance of being inducted in the HOF is in single digits (it rounds up to just eight percent. With 300 or more HRs in a career, the induction more than quadruple, to 35%.
But those numbers are a bit too abstract to stand alone (and by now all of you should know that you need a mess of help to stand alone...) so what we'll do to close out this first toe-dip into the world of "the living, loving bomb" is to show you all of the hitters both in and out of the HOF who've hit at least 300 HRs in their major league career.
The folks in red are the active playera on the list; the folks in green are players who didn't play firsr base or the outfield. That last subtype is carried over to this list by underlining the active players who aren't outfielders or first sackers.
With the retirement of Miguel Cabrera, the active HR leader going into the 2024 season is Giancarlo Stanton (402). He is joined by nine others who have 300-399 HRs and who are expected to play in 2024. (Note: the "Carter" on the "not in HOF" list is Joe Carter, and is wrongly identified as being a catcher; HOFer Gary Carter is wrongly shown as an outfielder/first baseman, when of course he was primarily a catcher...we always have at least one goof-up like this.)
THAT will get you started on our "big fly road to ruin." There is much more in this vein, and we'll be strip-mining it in subsequent installments. Let's conclude by noting that the next hitters to crack 100 HRs in their career will bring the grand total of such players to an even one thousand--an occurrence that is certain to take place within a few days of the start of the 2024 season.
We'll leave you with a question to ponder: who are the next hitters to follow in the footsteps of Carlos Santana, who just slipped into the 300+ HR club last season (now with 301 lifetime)? See if you can figure it out without cheating the way we did (by looking it up). Stay tuned...
