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[DarkJediKnight]

As the MLB regular season comes to a close in a few days, it's cool to see Stanton trying to reach 60.

In my opinion, the record is still 61. If it were up to me (and I know it isn't), McGwire and Sosa's 60+ seasons would be removed. Loved what cycling did with Lance Armstrong's titles. He likely would have won at least 2 of them if not for juicing. But it doesn't matter, he cheated the sport of a clean winner. Anyways....

It took 13 years from 1977 to 1990 for someone to hit 50 homeruns, and then the juiceball era really began in 1995. Clearly, by then Mcgwire and Canseco have been using steroids for several years already.

The sheer number of 50 home run hitters in the past 20 years is staggering!!!!

And then it dies down again starting from 2008. Hmm.... What happened around then? Oh yea, the reports and testimony of known juicers.

Now, we've only had 3 50 home run hitters in the last 10 years, and Stanton is the first in 4 years. Hmm... complete co-incidence?

The ones that make me laugh are the Brady Anderson and Luis Gonzalez.

Members of the 50 home run club

Year Player Team HR Career HR Ref
1920 Babe Ruthdagger New York Yankees 54^ 714 [5]
1921 Babe Ruthdagger (2) New York Yankees 59^ 714 [5]
1927 Babe Ruthdagger (3) New York Yankees 60^ 714 [5]
1928 Babe Ruthdagger (4) New York Yankees 54 714 [5]
1930 Hack Wilsondagger Chicago Cubs 56 244 [28]
1932 Jimmie Foxxdagger Philadelphia Athletics 58 534 [29]
1938 Jimmie Foxxdagger (2) Boston Red Sox 50 534 [29]
1938 Hank Greenbergdagger Detroit Tigers 58 331 [30]
1947 Johnny Mizedagger New York Giants 51 359 [31]
1947 Ralph Kinerdagger Pittsburgh Pirates 51 369 [32]
1949 Ralph Kinerdagger (2) Pittsburgh Pirates 54 369 [32]
1955 Willie Maysdagger New York Giants 51 660 [33]
1956 Mickey Mantledagger New York Yankees 52 536 [34]
1961 Mickey Mantledagger (2) New York Yankees 54 536 [34]
1961 Roger Maris New York Yankees 61^ 275 [35]
1965 Willie Maysdagger (2) San Francisco Giants 52 660 [33]
1977 George Foster Cincinnati Reds 52 348 [36]
1990 Cecil Fielder Detroit Tigers 51 319 [37]
1995 Albert Belle Cleveland Indians 50 381 [38]
1996 Brady Anderson Baltimore Orioles 50 210 [39]
1996 Mark McGwire Oakland Athletics 52 583 [40]
1997 Ken Griffey, Jr.dagger Seattle Mariners 56 630 [41]
1997 Mark McGwire (2) Oakland Athletics
St. Louis Cardinals 58 583 [40]
1998 Greg Vaughn San Diego Padres 50 355 [42]
1998 Ken Griffey, Jr.dagger (2) Seattle Mariners 56 630 [41]
1998 Sammy Sosa Chicago Cubs 66 609 [43]
1998 Mark McGwire (3) St. Louis Cardinals 70^ 583 [40]
1999 Sammy Sosa (2) Chicago Cubs 63 609 [43]
1999 Mark McGwire (4) St. Louis Cardinals 65 583 [40]
2000 Sammy Sosa (3) Chicago Cubs 50 609 [43]
2001 Alex Rodriguez Texas Rangers 52 696 [44]
2001 Luis Gonzalez Arizona Diamondbacks 57 354 [45]
2001 Sammy Sosa (4) Chicago Cubs 64 609 [43]
2001 Barry Bonds San Francisco Giants 73^ 762 [46]
2002 Jim Thome Cleveland Indians 52 612 [47]
2002 Alex Rodriguez (2) Texas Rangers 57 696 [44]
2005 Andruw Jones Atlanta Braves 51 434 [48]
2006 Ryan Howarddouble-dagger Philadelphia Phillies 58 382 [7]
2006 David Ortiz Boston Red Sox 54 541 [49]
2007 Alex Rodriguez (3) New York Yankees 54 696 [44]
2007 Prince Fielder[A] Milwaukee Brewers 50 319 [51]
2010 José Bautistadouble-dagger Toronto Blue Jays 54 328 [52]
2013 Chris Davisdouble-dagger Baltimore Orioles 53 261 [53]
2017 Giancarlo Stantondouble-dagger Miami Marlins 56 263 [54]

________________________________

 

[genericsuperhero]

Babe Ruthdagger was always my favorite balls-man in the NY Yankee squadron.

 

[see5harp]

I like Giancarlo and all but he's not even pre 50 home run era Barry Bonds.

 

[BronsonLee]

Bonds hit 73?!

 

[DarkJediKnight]

I like Giancarlo and all but he's not even pre 50 home run era Barry Bonds.

I think Barry Bonds is the greatest player to ever play the game. When he was juicing, he may have been the most dominant player we've ever seen. His on base percentage was insane!!! Pitchers were literally walking him with runner on first.

I don't think his walks per season will ever be touched. He scared the crap out of pitchers because his juiced body could hit 100mph fastballs into the 5th deck.

He was a great example of what happens to a 40 year old body when it starts to act like a 30 year old, with the talent and experience of a 40 year old.

Dude would have made hall of fame had he remained how he was with the Pirates.

 

[Chris R]

Griffey, Jr.dagger was going to get there in 94 too before the strike.

 

[DarkJediKnight]

Griffey, Jr.dagger was going to get there in 94 too before the strike.

No he wasn't. It was Matt Williams, who was juicing for sure.

Griffey is the only 50 home run hitter of the 90s who I suspect was clean because his head didn't expand like it did in the Simpsons.

 

[Robdraggoo]

I havnt follwed baseball in years. Whats the dagger all about?

 

[TS-08]

Wonder what would happen if McGwire, Bonds and co. played with the kind of apparently juiced up balls that are being used right now.

 

[offtopic]

Are juiced baseballs really that much more pure than juiced players?

 

[DarkJediKnight]

I havnt follwed baseball in years. Whats the dagger all about?

Nothing. It's how the copy and paste from wiki didn't translate well. lol

BabeRuthDagger is an awesome name!!

 

[DarkJediKnight]

Are juiced baseballs really that much more pure than juiced players?

Interesting point. Baseballs are juiced now due to their material and pitcher complaining about blisters is too much of a COINKEY DINK

 

[NateDrake]

Gotta wonder what Mickey Mantle would have finished with in '61 had he not got injured.

 

[SephCast]

Are the daggers secret codes in the wiki to mark the ones who weren't juicers?

This is the greatest ever.

 

[CountAntonius]

Title confused me.

Juice Weasel.

 

[Robdraggoo]

I remember when Maguire had that 70 run year in 1998. It was a fun time. With him and sosa racing through the season

It was a fun time to be a baseball fan.

To bad it was all bullshit

 

[GodofWine]

I think Barry Bonds is the greatest player to ever play the game. When he was juicing, he may have been the most dominant player we've ever seen. His on base percentage was insane!!! Pitchers were literally walking him with runner on first. .

They actually walked him at least once with the bases loaded, forcing in a run, because they wanted to avoid him hitting a grand slam.

Sports on roids are awesome...morality aside.

 

[-tetsuo-]

Griffey ; ;

 

[TS-08]

No he wasn't. It was Matt Williams, who was juicing for sure.

Griffey is the only 50 home run hitter of the 90s who I suspect was clean because his head didn't expand like it did in the Simpsons.

And once his body started breaking down, it pretty much steadily declined. He never had any seasons where he miraculously recovered and posted better or even similar numbers that he put up during his first decade of play.

 

[charsace]

No they shouldn't be removed. And what cycling did was bullshit.

 

[Chris R]

No he wasn't. It was Matt Williams, who was juicing for sure.

Griffey is the only 50 home run hitter of the 90s who I suspect was clean because his head didn't expand like it did in the Simpsons.

I was saying he would have had another 50 HR season if the strike didn't happen, not that he was juicing...

 

[jwhit28]

I rather see the juiced records stay and go down the natural way. Baseball is in this weird phase right now where it's not worth it to hit ground balls into the shift so you just swing for the fences. It's sort of like the 3 pointer in the NBA compared to a mid-range jumpshot.

 

[steve9842016]

I was truly spoiled to be able to see most of Bonds' career living in the Bay Area. I grew up playing ball in the 90s and to watch his arc was unreal. '01-'04 was the most insane thing I've ever seen and I doubt we'll ever see someone break the game like that for a very long time.

I never was at any of his milestone HR games, but was at a few others, like him stealing his 500th bag.

But yeah, the home run pace in MLB this year is something else. I believe I read it's the highest its ever been, which is unreal. Lots of pitchers and teams complaining about the hardness of the ball and non-existent seams compared to before. But, people miss the long ball and boy it sure is back.

 

[krae_man]

No he wasn't. It was Matt Williams, who was juicing for sure.

Griffey is the only 50 home run hitter of the 90s who I suspect was clean because his head didn't expand like it did in the Simpsons.

That and the second half of his career is riddled with injuries, not the best numbers of his career.

 

[DarkJediKnight]

Congrats to Aaron Judge on getting to 50! He was a pleasure to watch all year. I can only imagine his number had he not slumped from mid-july to end of August. Could've had 60.

Really hoping they don't find steroids in his system. The new juiced ball led to the most homeruns in MLB history this season. Hard to believe!!

20 home runs 10 years ago meant you're a power hitter. Now leadoff guys are at 20. Can't fathom how a small guy like Altuve can hit 20+

 

[SoRuffShoNuff]

Love how people harp on the hitters being roided up but don't take into account they were facing roided up pitchers.

Stop picking and choosing you either have to accept that era for what it was, entirely, or throw all of it out.

 

[Shake Appeal]

The juiced ball is dumb.

 

[Couleurs]

Love how people harp on the hitters being roided up but don't take into account they were facing roided up pitchers.

Stop picking and choosing you either have to accept that era for what it was, entirely, or throw all of it out.

For real.

Baseball has never been clean and there is some sort of asterisk that can be hung on records set in any era. It’s annoying when people try to claim Aaron/Maris are still the home run king when players in the 50s-80s were fueled by amphetamines, so everyone was still on drugs, just a different kind. Players in the 40s and earlier had white only competition, so Ruth’s record probably shouldn’t count either.

Also, steroids aren’t magic dinger shots. Yeah they help players recover faster and players on steroids have advantages over clean players, but it still takes insane skill to hit homers on a regular basis, otherwise teams would be rushing to sign bodybuilders if strength is all it took to hit homers.

Not to make it sound like I support steroid use, but I just get tired of people saying guys like Bonds were only good because of steroids when he was already a HOF caliber player when he was skinny as hell.

 

[DarkJediKnight]

Love how people harp on the hitters being roided up but don't take into account they were facing roided up pitchers.

Stop picking and choosing you either have to accept that era for what it was, entirely, or throw all of it out.

I kind of agree with you. We don't really talk about the roided pitchers because with the exception of Clemens, none of them was standing out in their late 30s and early 40s.

Clemens throwing 95 at 40 and thinking no one would notice was something else.

 

[DarkJediKnight]

For real.

Baseball has never been clean and there is some sort of asterisk that can be hung on records set in any era. It’s annoying when people try to claim Hank Aaron is still the home run king when players in the 50s-80s were fueled by amphetamines, so guys like Aaron and Mays were on drugs. Players in the 40s and earlier had white only competition, so Ruth’s record probably shouldn’t count either.

Also, steroids aren’t magic dinger shots. Yeah they help players recover faster and players on steroids have advantages over clean players, but it still takes insane skill to hit homers on a regular basis, otherwise teams would be rushing to sign bodybuilders if strength is all it took to hit homers.

Not to make it sound like I support steroid use, but I just get tired of people saying guys like Bonds were only good because of steroids when he was already a HOF caliber player when he was skinny as hell.

Bonds was already a beast of a hitter. Take away his home runs and he's still a career 300 hitter. He was a lot like Tony Gwynn in his approach to hitting. He could size up any pitcher and adjust his swing slightly to hit the ball.

Now. Take a 40 year old with 15 years of MLB experience of a hall of fame caliber player, give him more muscle mass for power, and reflexes of a 25 year old and you have Super Barry Bonds - who was the scariest hitter baseball has ever seen.

Sorry, no one in baseball history dominated the game like he did. It didn't matter if you threw 105mph, he's taking you out of the yard.

Pitchers walked him with bases loaded. Bases fucking loaded!!!!