Lead off home run record

The primary job of a leadoff hitter is to get on base so his teammates can drive him in.

This article was written by Herm Krabbenhoft. This article was published in Baseball Research Journal. So, which players have performed the best in terms of hitting leadoff homers throughout the history of major league baseball? In this article the chronology of the best leadoff home run hitters is provided. To ascertain the best leadoff home run hitters, a two-part evaluation process is used. In Part 1, the focus is on single-season leadoff home run performance. Part 2 focuses on career leadoff home run accomplishments.

Lead off home run record

In baseball , a home run abbreviated HR is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is usually achieved by hitting the ball over the outfield fence between the foul poles or hitting either foul pole without the ball touching the field. Inside-the-park home runs where the batter reaches home safely while the baseball is in play on the field are infrequent. In very rare cases, a fielder attempting to catch a ball in flight may misplay it and knock it over the outfield fence, resulting in a home run. An official scorer will credit the batter with a hit , a run scored, and a run batted in RBI , as well as an RBI for each runner on base. The pitcher is recorded as having given up a hit and a run, with additional runs charged for each base-runner that scores. Home runs are among the most popular aspects of baseball and, as a result, prolific home run hitters are usually the most popular among fans and consequently the highest paid by teams—hence the old saying, "Home run hitters drive Cadillacs , and singles hitters drive Fords " coined, circa , by veteran pitcher Fritz Ostermueller , by way of mentoring his young teammate, Ralph Kiner. A home run is most often scored when the ball is hit over the outfield wall between the foul poles in fair territory before it touches the ground in flight , and without being caught or deflected back onto the field by a fielder. A batted ball is also a home run if it touches either a foul pole or its attached screen before touching the ground, as the foul poles are by definition in fair territory. Additionally, many major-league ballparks have ground rules stating that a batted ball in flight that strikes a specified location or fixed object is a home run; this usually applies to objects that are beyond the outfield wall but are located such that it may be difficult for the umpire to judge.

Support SABR today! Archived from the original on March 5, Ichiro Suzuki of the American League team hit a fly ball that caromed off the right-center field wall in the opposite direction from where National League right fielder Ken Griffey Jr.

Kinsler hit 8 leadoff homers for the Tigers in and 7 three times for the Rangers , ' George Springer cranks the 50th leadoff home run of his career to left field, cutting the Blue Jays' deficit to in the bottom of the 1st. A lifetime Astro, Biggio hit home runs in his Hall of Fame career. Soriano holds the single-season record with 13 leadoff homers for the Yankees, and his total are the most of anyone on this list. Far and away the all-time leader, Henderson hit 43 of them for the A's, but his most in a season came for the Yankees with 9 in This browser does not support the video element.

Baseball Almanac is pleased to present a record book full of baseball milestones for home runs hit during a single season — including most, most by positions, most at home and most on the road. This is because the home run MUST be hit while the player is at that position. Example: Mark McGwire finished the season with seventy home runs. However, one of his home runs was hit while he was pinch-hitting so his single season record for home runs by a first baseman is sixty-nine. Out of class C ball, hits 'em both ways—five-hundred feet both ways! You've got to see him. Castro, Tony. Chapter 7. Page Babe Ruth hit a home run in every possible ballpark during eleven different seasons, for the Major League record.

Lead off home run record

This is a list of some of the records relating to home runs hit in baseball games played in the Major Leagues. Some Major League records are sufficiently notable to have their own page, for example the single-season home run record , the progression of the lifetime home run record , and the members of the home run club. A few other records are kept on separate pages, they are listed below. In the tables below, players and teams denoted in boldface are still actively contributing to the record noted, while r denotes a player's rookie season. Players and the columns that correspond are denoted in boldface if they are still actively contributing to the record noted. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version.

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Postwar followers of the Philadelphia Athletics will happily remember their agile and colorful shortstop, Eddie Joost, who also enjoyed a knack of batting leadoff homers. If Soriano, whose home runs are the most of anyone in this Top 10 rundown, had stayed in the top spot in the order for a longer portion of his career, he might have had a chance at getting within sniffing distance of Henderson. He delivered just one more pitch, which Lou Gehrig drilled out of the park for a back-to-back shot, after which Root was removed from the game. Main article: Walk-off home run. Main article: Inside-the-park home run. Support SABR today! It is significant to point out that 19th-century leadoff home run star Jimmy Ryan currently occupies the 17th position in the all-time list—more than years after his final leadoff home run. The book had Gibson hitting home runs in the "official" Negro league games they were able to account for in his year career, about one home run every 3. Archived from the original on May 20, If any defensive play on an inside-the-park home run is labeled an error by the official scorer, a home run is not scored. Raines' home run tied the game. The most recent occurrence was on July 2, , when the St. Such a feat has become a little more common in recent years as homers have surged across the sport, but leadoff long balls still remain rare overall.

Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson born December 25, is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 25 seasons in Major League Baseball MLB for nine teams from to , including four separate tenures with his original team, the Oakland Athletics. Nicknamed " the Man of Steal ", he is widely regarded as baseball's greatest leadoff hitter and baserunner. At the time of his last major league game in , the ten-time American League AL All-Star ranked among the sport's top all-time home run hitters and was its all-time leader in walks.

Retrieved July 16, Since joining the Blue Jays in '21, he's added 18 more, including Toronto's single-season record with nine in Nomar Garciaparra holds the record for consecutive home runs in the shortest time in terms of innings: three home runs in two innings, on July 23, , for the Boston Red Sox. Main article: Inside-the-park home run. The final home run of his career was, fittingly, a leadoff blast against the Nationals on Aug. Categories : Baseball rules Batting statistics Baseball terminology. Ryan, familiarly known to the fans of his day as Jimmy. See also: Instant replay. Interestingly, it was also his first major league homer and the only leadoff home run in his big league career. Normally if the home team is tied or behind in the ninth or extra innings, the game ends as soon as the home team scores enough run to achieve a lead. A notable back-to-back home run of that type in World Series play involved " Babe Ruth's called shot " in , which was accompanied by various Ruthian theatrics, yet the pitcher, Charlie Root , was allowed to stay in the game. May 5, Then the real pros entered the act. Archived from the original on October 30, Hitters were discouraged from trying to hit home runs, with the conventional wisdom being that if they tried to do so they would simply fly out.