A Long Run at the Top

What made the Mets’ home run record notable, beyond Alonso’s status as a rookie, was how long such a modest record lasted. In the two decades-plus since Todd Hundley hit 41 home runs in 1996 — Carlos Beltran matched it in 2006 — 37 players on other teams either broke or tied their franchises’ single-season record. The record for the Nationals-Expos franchise alone was reset four times in that span.

While 23 of the league’s 29 other teams got a new record-holder in the years between Hundley and Alonso, Hundley did not even come close to a record for duration as team power champion. Jimmie Foxx has been the Athletics’ franchise leader since he clubbed 58 homers in 1932. Barring a 29-homer explosion from Matt Chapman in the season’s final 31 games, this will be the 87th consecutive year in which no Athletics hitter has topped Foxx’s mark.

For an idea of how outlandish the power-hitting exploits of players like Foxx, Babe Ruth and Hack Wilson were in the late 1920s and early 1930s, consider Arky Vaughan. Vaughan, a shortstop who once led the National League in stolen bases, established the Pittsburgh Pirates’ single-season home run record in 1935, when he hit 19. That was three seasons after Foxx hit 58 and eight after Ruth hit 60 for the Yankees.

The Pirates, who played at cavernous Forbes Field, did not have a 20-homer hitter until Johnny Rizzo hit 23 in 1938.