Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
When Bernie Williams hit the walk-off home run yesterday to win the Yankees' 100 game and to clinch their seventh straight AL East division title, he also established a new Yankee single-season team record for home runs with 241.
The old record was set in 1961, of course, the year in which Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris vied to break Babe Ruth's single-season home run record. If you missed it, Maris won. That year the Yanks had six men with twenty or more home runs: Maris (61), Mantle (54), Bill Skowron (28), Yogi Berra (22), Elston Howard (21), and Johnny Blanchard (21).
This year they also have six: Gary Sheffield (36), Alex Rodriguez (36), Hideki Matsui (31), Derek Jeter (23), Bernie Williams (21), and Jorge Posada (21).
Should the unlikely event that either Ruben Sierra (currently at 17 homers) or Tony Clark (16) be able to reach twenty home runs, the Yankees would become just the third club in baseball history to have seven men hit 20 or more home runs in a season. Here are all the clubs to have at least six:
Tm | Yr | 20+ HR |
Baltimore Orioles | 1996 | 7 |
Toronto Blue Jays | 2000 | 7 |
New York Yankees | 1961 | 6 |
Minnesota Twins | 1964 | 6 |
Milwaukee Braves | 1965 | 6 |
Detroit Tigers | 1986 | 6 |
Seattle Mariners | 1997 | 6 |
Texas Rangers | 1999 | 6 |
Cleveland Indians | 2001 | 6 |
Atlanta Braves | 2003 | 6 |
Boston Red Sox | 2003 | 6 |
New York Yankees | 2004 | 6 |
Chicago White Sox | 2004 | 6 |
As far as team home run records, there are four that have fallen this year. Here are all the current teams' home run records through 2003 and the 2004 total:
Tm | Lg | HR Rec | Yr | 2004 | Proj | Record? |
Seattle Mariners | AL | 264 | 1997 | 136 | 139 | |
Baltimore Orioles | AL | 257 | 1996 | 165 | 168 | |
Houston Astros | NL | 249 | 2000 | 180 | 183 | |
Texas Rangers | AL | 246 | 2001 | 223 | 227 | |
Toronto Blue Jays | AL | 244 | 2000 | 144 | 147 | |
Oakland Athletics | AL | 243 | 1996 | 189 | 193 | |
New York Yankees | AL | 240 | 1961 | 241 | 246 | Yes |
Colorado Rockies | NL | 239 | 1997 | 200 | 204 | |
Boston Red Sox | AL | 238 | 2003 | 219 | 223 | |
Anaheim Angels | AL | 236 | 2000 | 159 | 162 | |
St. Louis Cardinals | NL | 235 | 2000 | 212 | 216 | |
Atlanta Braves | NL | 235 | 2003 | 171 | 174 | |
San Francisco Giants | NL | 235 | 2001 | 176 | 179 | |
Detroit Tigers | AL | 225 | 1987 | 197 | 201 | |
Minnesota Twins | AL | 225 | 1963 | 188 | 192 | |
Cincinnati Reds | NL | 221 | 1956 | 190 | 194 | |
Cleveland Indians | AL | 221 | 2000 | 180 | 183 | |
Chicago White Sox | AL | 220 | 2003 | 239 | 244 | Yes |
Milwaukee Brewers | AL | 216 | 1982 | |||
Arizona Diamondbacks | NL | 216 | 1999 | 131 | 133 | |
Chicago Cubs | NL | 212 | 1998 | 229 | 233 | Yes |
Los Angeles Dodgers | NL | 211 | 2000 | 200 | 204 | |
Milwaukee Brewers | NL | 209 | 2001 | 133 | 136 | |
New York Mets | NL | 198 | 2000 | 182 | 185 | |
Philadelphia Phillies | NL | 186 | 1977 | 209 | 213 | Yes |
Montreal Expos | NL | 178 | 2000 | 148 | 151 | |
San Diego Padres | NL | 172 | 1970 | 136 | 139 | |
Pittsburgh Pirates | NL | 171 | 1999 | 139 | 142 | |
Kansas City Royals | AL | 168 | 1987 | 147 | 150 | |
Florida Marlins | NL | 166 | 2001 | 144 | 147 | |
Tampa Bay Devil Rays | AL | 162 | 2000 | 144 | 147 |
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