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Howard You Like A New Homer Champ?
2006-08-30 19:54
by Mike Carminati

Ryan Howard had an off night tonight, just a double and two runs batted in in four at-bats. Not even one home run. Dang!

That leaves him at 13 for the month and 48 for the season. As I'm sure you've already heard, that ties him with Mike Schmidt for the franchise record of home runs in a season. Schmidt hit 48 taters to lead the league in his MVP season of 1980, and yes, that's the only year the Phils even won a World Series ring.

Though they are now tied, I still give the nod to Schmidt, who had two more dingers in the World Series, for which he won the Series MVP. However, given that Howard now projects to 59 for the season, I don't expect the tie to last much longer.

Schmidt held the team home run crown for 27 seasons—he broke it '79 with 45 and then again in 1980—, and he is still 489 career homers ahead of Howard. Oh yeah, and he's also the best player the franchise ever had, the best third baseman in baseball history, and a first-ballot Hall of Famer. So his resume won't take that big a hit.

Schmidt held the record for quite some time, but he doesn't even compare to his predecessor in terms of longevity. Chuck Klein hit 43 home runs in 1929 to set a new club record. He broke Cy Williams 1923 record of 41. Klein owned that record for 50 years until Schmidt broke it in successive seasons.

Prior to Williams (and a brief stint by Gavvy Cravath, who hit 24 HRs in 1915), the club home run record holder was Hall-of-Famer Big Sam Thompson, who was the first Phil to hit twenty home runs—he had exactly 20 in 1889. He held the record for 26 seasons.

Here is the progression of Phils' single-season home run leaders:

LeaderHRYr HitYrs Held
Emil Gross/Bill McClellan/Blondie Purcell118831
Jack Manning518841
Joe Mulvey618852
George Wood1418872
Sam Thompson20188926
Gavvy Cravath2419157
Cy Williams4119237
Chuck Klein43192950
Mike Schmidt48198027
Mike Schmidt/Ryan Howard4819801

Also, here are the most home runs hit in a single season by a Phillie:

NameHRYr
Mike Schmidt481980
Ryan Howard482006
Jim Thome472003
Mike Schmidt451979
Chuck Klein431929
Jim Thome422004
Cy Williams411923
Chuck Klein401930
Dick Allen401966
Mike Schmidt401983
Greg Luzinski391977
Chuck Klein381932
Mike Schmidt381975
Mike Schmidt381976
Mike Schmidt381977
Mike Schmidt371986
Pat Burrell372002
Mike Schmidt361974
Mike Schmidt361984
Greg Luzinski351978
Mike Schmidt351987
Mike Schmidt351982

Now, Schmidt's 27-year-old record made me wonder, what with home run records dropping like flies in the last decade, how many club records remain from before the home run boom. Here are the single-season record-holders per club. As you can see, Schmidt's was the eighth oldest:

FranchiseHRYrPlayer
Oakland Athletics581932Jimmie Foxx
Detroit Tigers581938Hank Greenberg
Boston Red Sox501938Jimmie Foxx
Pittsburgh Pirates541949Ralph Kiner
New York Yankees611961Roger Maris
Minnesota Twins491964Harmon Killebrew
Minnesota Twins491969Harmon Killebrew
Cincinnati Reds521977George Foster
Milwaukee Brewers451979Gorman Thomas
Philadelphia Phillies481980Mike Schmidt
Kansas City Royals361985Steve Balboni
Toronto Blue Jays471987George Bell
New York Mets411996Todd Hundley
Florida Marlins421996Gary Sheffield
Baltimore Orioles501996Brady Anderson
Seattle Mariners561997Ken Griffey
Colorado Rockies491997Larry Walker
Chicago Cubs661998Sammy Sosa
Seattle Mariners561998Ken Griffey
St. Louis Cardinals701998Mark McGwire
Chicago White Sox491998Albert Belle
San Diego Padres501998Greg Vaughn
Tampa Bay Devil Rays341999Jose Canseco
Washington Nationals442000Vladimir Guerrero
Houston Astros472000Jeff Bagwell
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim472000Troy Glaus
San Francisco Giants732001Barry Bonds
Arizona Diamondbacks572001Luis Gonzalez
Los Angeles Dodgers492001Shawn Green
Colorado Rockies492001Todd Helton
Milwaukee Brewers452001Richie Sexson
Texas Rangers572002Alex Rodriguez
Cleveland Indians522002Jim Thome
Milwaukee Brewers452003Richie Sexson
Tampa Bay Devil Rays342003Aubrey Huff
Atlanta Braves512005Andruw Jones

The completist in me has to address the club career home run leaders, so here goes…

Here's the progression of Phillies career home run leaders:

YrCareer LeaderHRYrs Held
1883Emil Gross/Bill McClellan/Blondie Purcell11
1884Jack Manning51
1885Jack Manning/Joe Mulvey81
1886 Joe Mulvey 102
1887 George Wood 181
1888 George Wood 242
1889 George Wood 294
1891 Sam Thompson 311
1892 Sam Thompson 402
1893 Sam Thompson 513
1894 Sam Thompson 644
1895 Sam Thompson 825
1896 Sam Thompson 946
1897 Sam Thompson 947
1898 Sam Thompson 9526
1917 Gavvy Cravath 961
1918 Gavvy Cravath 1042
1919 Gavvy Cravath 1163
1920Gavvy Cravath1177
1924Cy Williams1391
1925Cy Williams1522
1926Cy Williams1703
1927Cy Williams2004
1928Cy Williams2125
1929Cy Williams21713
1937Chuck Klein2261
1938Chuck Klein2342
1939Chuck Klein2353
1940Chuck Klein2424
1941Chuck Klein24319
1956Del Ennis25924
1980Mike Schmidt2831
1981Mike Schmidt3142
1982Mike Schmidt3493
1983Mike Schmidt3894
1984Mike Schmidt4255
1985Mike Schmidt4586
1986Mike Schmidt4957
1987Mike Schmidt5308
1988Mike Schmidt5429
1989Mike Schmidt54827

Here are the leaders in career home runs for the franchise:

NameHRFirstLast#Yrs
Mike Schmidt5481972198918
Del Ennis2591946195611
Chuck Klein2431928194415
Greg Luzinski2231970198011
Cy Williams2171918193013
Dick Allen204196319769
Bobby Abreu195199820069
Johnny Callison1851960196910
Pat Burrell183200020067
Willie Jones1801947195913
Scott Rolen150199620027
Mike Lieberthal1471994200613
Darren Daulton1341983199714
Von Hayes124198319919
Andy Seminick1231943195712
Gavvy Cravath117191219209
Stan Lopata1161948195811
Don Hurst112192819347
Granny Hamner1031944195916
Juan Samuel100198319897
Jim Thome96200320053
Sam Thompson951889189810

Finally, here are the career leaders in home runs per season. Some interesting names—Santiago, Gene Freese, and 32-year-old rookie/one-year wonder Buzz Arlett—crop up. It might be excessive, but I can't resist any list with Don Demeter on it:

NameHRFirstLast#Yrs HR/Yr
Jim Thome96200320053 32.00
Mike Schmidt5481972198918 30.44
Benito Santiago30199619961 30.00
Dick Stuart28196519651 28.00
Lefty O'Doul54192919302 27.00
Pat Burrell183200020067 26.14
Ryan Howard72200420063 24.00
Don Demeter71196119633 23.67
Del Ennis2591946195611 23.55
Dolph Camilli92193419374 23.00
Gene Freese23195919591 23.00
Dick Allen204196319769 22.67
Bobby Abreu195199820069 21.67
Chase Utley65200320063 21.67
Scott Rolen150199620027 21.43
Greg Luzinski2231970198011 20.27
Todd Zeile20199619961 20.00
Johnny Callison1851960196910 18.50
Ron Gant37199920002 18.50
Buzz Arlett18193119311 18.00
Pete Incaviglia53199319963 17.67
Deron Johnson88196919735 17.60
Richie Hebner35197719782 17.50
Cy Williams2171918193013 16.69
Rip Repulski33195719582 16.50
Rico Brogna65199720004 16.25
Chuck Klein2431928194415 16.20
Lance Parrish32198719882 16.00
Don Hurst112192819347 16.00
Comments
2006-08-30 22:03:14
1.   Xeifrank
Very interesting, job well done on the research. The team HR records that have fallen in the past 10 years really puts the recent run on HRs in perspective. vr, Xei
2006-08-31 11:06:53
2.   das411
But even with all of the recent HRs, six of the oldest teams in baseball still have pre-90s records, hmm...

Btw Mike, do we know exactly how big Big Sam Thompson was?

2006-08-31 18:27:02
3.   Mike Carminati
6'2", 207 Lbs. Them was the days.
2006-08-31 18:33:19
4.   Bluebleeder87
i'm sure you all know by now that Howard just hit his 49th of the year, man that guy has pop i'm expecting 60/70 dingers in the near future fromt the guy.

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