Possibly one of the most common misconceptions about the list of all-time home-run leaders is that they are all World Series winners. Surely if someone were to hit at least 500 home runs, they would have played on at least one championship team in their career, right? However, out of the twenty-five players that hit at least 500 home runs in their career, ten never won a World Series, including the controversial home-run king himself, Barry Bonds of the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants.
Bonds has numbers that are impressive (though sullied by allegations of steroid use during his time with the Giants) even without a championship ring to boost his stats. He played with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986-1992 and the San Francisco Giants from 1993-2007. He racked up 762 home runs, 2,935 hits, 1,996 RBI, 514 stolen bases and a .298 career batting average. No one has more home runs in a career or in a season (73), and Bonds is also the leader in career walks (2,558) and intentional walks (688). He has played for fourteen All-Star teams and won seven MVP awards, but being known for a sour attitude towards his fans and the aforementioned investigations of steroid use and perjury in a federal case, many believe that Bonds will never be seen in the Hall of Fame. It is also debated whether his career numbers should have an asterisk due to his alleged steroid use.
Next on the list is Ken Griffey, Jr., a member of the Mariners, Reds and White Sox between 1989 and 2010. The winner of the 1997 AL MVP while a member of the Mariners, Griffey's career included 630 home runs, 2,781 hits and 1,836 RBI. Griffey is seen as one of the greatest natural home run hitters of all time, relying on raw talent and athleticism to reach his numbers and avoiding the temptation of steroid use. The Pennsylvania native played for thirteen All-Star games as well as winning the Gold Glove every year between 1990 and 1999, all spent with the Mariners. Griffey waved goodbye on May 31 of the 2010 season, seen by many as a surefire first ballot Hall of Famer.
The number three spot is held by Sammy Sosa, whose career has also been marred by steroid use, a surly attitude towards the fans at the end of his time with the Cubs, and an infamous moment in 2003 where he was found to be using a corked bat. If moving past these controversies, one sees a career lasting from 1989 to 2007 and amassing 609 home runs, 2,408 hits and 1,667 RBI, though a not overly impressive .271 average. Sosa was the 1998 NL MVP while a member of the Cubs, and played for seven All-Star teams. Sosa's 1998 season grabbed the country by storm, as he and then-Cardinals player Mark McGwire chased Roger Maris' single-season home-run mark of 61. McGwire finished the season with 70 home runs, while Sosa notched 66.
Jim Thome is number four on the list, and is the only player still active. He has been in the league since 1991, debuting with the Cleveland Indians before playing with the Phillies, White Sox, Dodgers and Twins, with which he is currently signed. 589 home runs, 2,216 hits and 1,624 RBI have helped Thome to five All-Star teams, three seasons leading the AL in walks (1997, 1999 and 2002) and leading the NL in home runs (47) in 2003 as a member of the Phillies. He is also tied for first in career walk-off home runs (12) with Jimmie Foxx, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial and Frank Robinson. Thome was one of three players to reach 500 career home runs in the 2007 season, joining Frank Thomas and Alex Rodriguez. Impressively, Thome's 400th homerun had come only three seasons earlier, showing that Thome is not only a powerful hitter, but a consistent one as well.
The fifth-best ring-less home run hitter of all time is a far less contemporary player, Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew. Killebrew played from 1954 to 1975 with the Washington Senators, Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals. While his career batting average of .256 is nothing to put a man into the Hall of Fame, Killebrew played for thirteen All-Star teams, won the 1969 AL MVP award (while a member of the Minnesota Twins) and had his #3 jersey retired by the Twins after amassing 573 career home runs, 2,086 hits and 1,584 RBI. He averaged a home run every fourteen at-bats, and when making his debut on June 23, 1954, Killebrew was the youngest major leaguer at the time, at seventeen years old. The game was a mere six days before his eighteenth birthday. He was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984 with 83% of the vote.
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