How Many Baseball Players Have Hit 500 Home Runs?

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A. Coatess

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Sean Hunter

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how many baseball players have hit 500 home runs

Baseball is an integral part of a lot of countries’ sports landscapes. This sport has established itself over the years and professional players of baseball have already decorated their names.

One of baseball’s most popular features is home runs. A baseball player’s recorded home runs are detrimental to his career — including his net worth and popularity.

You’d ask, “how many baseball players have hit 500 home runs?” There are 28 of them.

Who are they? You’re about to find out!

How Many Baseball Players Have Hit 500 Home Runs?

What is a home run in baseball?

For context, home runs happen in baseball when a batter hits the ball convincingly enough with such power that he is able to run around the bases of the field safely, and then arrives at the home plate without interruptions. It is in this manner that when players are able to score many home runs in their career, they will go down as one of the most famous and dignified names in the sport.

500 home run hitters

Since Babe Ruth’s era, one of baseball’s most stellar achievements has been hitting 500 home runs. Over the years, only 28 baseball players have had 500 home runs out of almost 20,000 major league players.

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With this feat, they can claim membership in the Major League Baseball (MLB) 500 Home Run Club, which requires both tremendous annual productivity and strength across varied offensive climates as eras come and go.

Take a peak at the prestigious 500 home run club in chronological order, arranged according to the date of hitting the 500th home run:

Player Date of their 500th home run (mm/dd/yyyy) Number of home runs Teams Seasons
Babe Ruth 8/11/1929 714 New York (AL), Boston (American and National Leagues) From 1914 to 1935
Jimmie Foxx 9/24/1940 534 Philadelphia (PL), Boston (AL), Chicago (NL), Philadelphia (NL) From 1925 to 1945
Mel Ott 8/1/1945 511 New York (NL) From 1926 to 1947
Ted Williams 6/17/1960 521 Boston (AL) From 1939 to 1960
Willie Mays 9/13/1965 660 San Francisco and New York City (NL) From 1951 to 1973
Mickey Mantle 5/14/1967 536 New York (AL) From 1951 to 1968
Eddie Matthews 7/14/1967 512 Boston/Atlanta/Milwaukee, Houston, Detroit From 1952 to 1968
Hank Aaron 7/4/1968 755 Milwaukee/Atlanta, Milwaukee (AL) From 1954 to 1976
Ernie Banks 5/12/1970 512 Chicago (NL) From 1953 to 1971
Harmon Killebrew 8/8/1971 573 Kansas City, Minnesota, and Washington From 1954 to 1975
Frank Robinson 9/13/1971 586 Los Angeles (NL), Cincinnati, Cleveland, California, Baltimore From 1956 to 1976
Willie McCovey 6/30/1978 521 San Diego, San Francisco, Oakland From 1959 to 1980
Reggie Jackson 9/17/1984 563 California, Oakland, Baltimore, and New York in the American League From 1967 to 1987
Mike Schmidt 4/18/1987 548 Philadelphia From 1972 to 1989
Eddie Murray 9/6/1996 504 Los Angeles (NL), Cleveland, New York (NL), Baltimore, Anaheim From 1977 to 1997
Mark McGwire 8/5/1999 583 Oakland St. Louis From 1987 to 2001
Barry Bonds 4/17/2001 762 Pittsburg, San Francisco From 1986 to 2007
Sammy Sosa 4/4/2003 609 Texas, Chicago (National and American Leagues), Baltimore From 1989 to 2007
Rafael Palmeiro 5/11/2003 569 Texas, Chicago (NL), Baltimore From 1986 to 2005
Ken Griffey, Jr. 6/20/2004 630 Cicinatti, Seattle, Chicago (AL) From 1989 to 2010
Frank Thomas 6/28/2007 521 Chicago (AL), Oakland, Toronto From 1990 to 2001
Alex Rodriguez 8/8/2007 696 Texas, Seattle, New York (AL) From 1994 to 2016
Jim Thome 9/16/2007 612 Philadelphia, Cleveland, Los Angeles (NL), Chicago (AL), Minnesota From 1991 to 2012
Manny Ramirez 5/31/2008 555 Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles (NL), Tampa Bay From 1993 to 2011
Gary Sheffield 4/17/2009 509 San Diego, Milwaukee, Los Angeles (National League), New York (AL and NL), Atlanta, Detroit From 1988 to 2009
Albert Pujols 4/22/2014 703 St. Louis, Los Angeles (AL), Los Angeles (NL) From 2001 to present
David Ortiz 9/12/2015 541 Boston, Minnesota (AL) From 1997 to 2016
Miguel Cabrera 8/22/2021 507 Detroit, Florida From 2003 to present

Miguel Cabrera, who hit his 500th home run on August 22, 2021, is the most recent member to join the list of MLB players with 500 home runs. Among this list, only he is still active as Albert Pujols recently announced his retirement in 2022.

Youngest player to hit 500 home runs

baseball-players-have-500-home-runs

Out of all the players who hit 500 home runs, the youngest player who has reached this feat is Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees. He smashed his legendary home run at the age of 32 years with the historic match held at Yankee Stadium.

Fastest to 500 home runs

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Mark McGwire became the first player in Major League history to hit over 500 home runs the quickest; he did so in just 1,639 games and 5,487 at-bats.

500 home runs and 3,000 hits

mlb-players-have-500-home-runs

Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers records his 3,000th hit against the Colorado Rockies. Joining Aaron, Rodriguez, Pujols, Murray, Mays, and Palmeiro as some of the players in MLB history with at least 500 home runs and 3,000 hits, Cabrera is one of seven players with these feats.

How Many Players Hit 600 Home Runs?

The all-time home run leader in Major League Baseball is Barry Bonds. Between 1986 and 2007, while he played for the San Francisco Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates, he blasted a record-breaking 762 home runs.

In the elusive list of MLB players who have 500 home runs, four out of 28 have reached 700 home runs, while five players managed to hit 600 home runs. Topping this list is the aforementioned Barry Bonds.

players-who-hit-500-home-runs

He is then followed by Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Willie Mays, Ken Giffrey Jr., Jim Thome, and Sammy Sosa.

Does a Home Run Win a Game?

A winning home run must be hit in the bottom of the last inning and produce more points than the opposing team. A home run that concludes the game is termed a “walk-off” home run.

Conclusion

All the names mentioned in this article have contributed greatly to the development of baseball. In fact, these are only a few of the names that have made an impact. There are so many more people in the sport who deserve recognition.

If you’re here by chance or by choice, I hope you’ve learned a thing or two about “how many baseball players have hit 500 home runs”. But more than that, I hope you enjoyed this read.

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