In 1938, while producing more multi-home run games in a season (11) than anyone before, Hank Greenberg walloped 58 home runs. In all the years since, no one has surpassed those 11; in all the seasons since, no Tiger has matched those 58. As the game has evolved and four-base hits have fattened in prominence – both numerically and narratively – most of the single-season franchise leaders in home runs have done their historic work in the 21st century. As it stands, there are only 11 holdovers.
Greenberg and Jimmie Foxx (58 home runs for the 1932 Athletics) are the most enduring relics, followed by Ralph Kiner (54 for the 1949 Pirates), Harmon Killebrew (49 for the 1964 and 1969 Twins) and George Foster (52 for the 1977 Reds). And then there are those whose franchise-defining work came as the 20th century was casting its final beats: Larry Walker in 1997 for the Rockies and then Albert Belle (White Sox), Greg Vaughn (Padres), Sammy Sosa (Cubs) and Mark McGwire (Cardinals) – all in 1998.
The 11th teeters precariously, Seattle’s Ken Griffey, Jr. and his work in 1997-1998 trying to stem an overthrow by another 21st century stormer of the castle, Cal Raleigh.
Cal Raleigh homered twice for his 55th and 56th home runs of the season (he also doubled to raise his extra-base hit tally to 78). Taking stock …
~Raleigh’s 56 on the year tie him with Hack Wilson (1930) and Ken Griffey, Jr. (1997, 1998) for the 19th most in history. By matching Griffey, Raleigh also put himself into a tie for the most in any season by a Mariner.
~Raleigh’s night gave him 10 multi-homer lines for the season, one of a dozen players ever to have at least 10.
Most Multi-HR Games in a Season
11 Hank Greenberg (1938), Sammy Sosa (1998), Aaron Judge (2022)
10 Jimmie Foxx (1938), Ralph Kiner (1947), Mark McGwire (1998), Sammy Sosa (2001), Barry Bonds (2001), Álex Rodríguez (2002), Albert Pujols (2009), Giancarlo Stanton (2017), Cal Raleigh (2025)
~Raleigh’s 56 are the most for any switch-hitter in a season, eclipsing Mickey Mantle’s 54 from 1961.
~Propelled by all those home runs, Raleigh’s slugging percentage currently sits at .590, his OPS+ stands at 169 and his oWAR is up to 7.2. Among all players in history with at least 100 games behind the plate, those three marks currently have the following ranks:
→The .590 slugging percentage rests in a tie for eighth with Roy Campanella’s mark from 1951. Javy López’s .687 in 2003 is the highest mark.
→The 169 OPS+ is tied for fifth, matched with Javy López’s 169 in 2003. Mike Piazza’s 185 in 1997 is the highest mark.
→The 7.2 oWAR comes in fifth, behind the 9.0 from Mike Piazza in 1997, the 7.7 from Joe Mauer in 2009 and the 7.3 from Carlton Fisk in 1972 and Buster Posey in 2012.
~Raleigh’s 78 extra-base hits are the second most ever for a player with at least 100 games behind the dish, trailing just Johnny Bench’s 84 in 1970.
Not to be outdone by his teammate, Seattle’s Dominic Canzone homered three times and added a pair of singles in a perfect night.
~Canzone produced the 14th three-homer (or four-homer) game in Mariners history and the second to feature at least five hits. In 1987, Mickey Brantley went 5-for-6 in his three-home run effort. In the Modern Era, 45 players have posted a line in the box score featuring at least five hits with at least three of them going for four bases. And distilling even more, Canzone’s is one of 24 within those 45 to not show an out made. Three of those 24 have occurred this season, with Canzone following the Marlins’ Kyle Stowers and the Athletics’ Nick Kurtz.
~With Canzone outhomering Cal Raleigh 3-to-2, the Mariners got to enjoy the 23rd example of teammates posting multi-homer efforts in a contest. Inside this near two dozen – one game featuring a trio (July 31, 1996, courtesy of Jay Buhner, Ken Griffey, Jr. and Álex Rodríguez).
With their 12-5 win, the Mariners extended their winning streak to 10, tied for the third longest in franchise history. The 2001 club won 15 in a row, a 14-game run highlighted the 2022 campaign, and the 1996 and 2002 teams also won 10 in a row.
In a Cubs win, Michael Busch led off the first with a home run and later added two doubles. The first baseman is one of six players* on the roster who’ve played at least 100 games and own an OPS+ of at least 120. A Cubs club has had so many with this distinction once before, in 1884.
1884 club
185 King Kelly
177 Cap Anson
170 Ed Williamson
153 Fred Pfeffer
151 George Gore
151 Abner Dalrymple
2025 club
147 Kyle Tucker
139 Michael Busch
128 Carson Kelly
125 Seiya Suzuki
121 Ian Happ
120 Pete Crow-Armstrong
*On this 2025 team, Nico Hoerner owns a 119 OPS+ in 145 games.
~Overall, the 2025 Cubs own a team OPS+ of 116 (tied with the Yankees for the highest mark in the Majors). A Cubs club last produced at this level for an entire season in 1884 (133 OPS+).
Trent Grisham connected on his 31st home run of the year, his 20th while occupying the leadoff spot. He’s the 138th player to reach that tally while batting leadoff and one of nine Yankees on this list, joining Bobby Bonds (1975), Rickey Henderson (1985, 1986), Alfonso Soriano (2002, 2003), Johnny Damon (2006), Brett Gardner (2017) and DJ LeMahieu (2019).
~Grisham’s 31 home runs register in a tie for the 16th most by a Yankee with at least 100 games in center field. Right now, he’s tied with Joe DiMaggio (1940) and Mickey Mantle (1959). The 15 spots above are occupied by Mantle (seven of the slots), DiMaggio (four), Curtis Granderson (two), Bobby Murcer (one) and Aaron Judge (one).
Trevor Story stole his 29th and 30th bases of the year – without incident – to improve to 30-for-30 in attempts this season. In the Expansion Era, 1,030 players have stolen at least 30 bases in a season, with four of them ending their year with a SB% of at least 95.0:
100.0 Trea Turner (30-for-30) in 2023
96.9 Brady Anderson (31-for-32) in 1994
96.9 Carlos Beltrán (31-for-32) in 2001
95.7 Ichiro Suzuki (45-for-47) in 2006
~Story is the second player in Red Sox history to log at least 100 games at shortstop and reach at least 30 steals, joining Julio Lugo (33 SB) in 2007.
In an 8-3 Mets win, Francisco Lindor contributed his 27th home run of the year. If the shortstop can get to 30 this season, there will be some meaningful associations instantly in play.
~For one, he’ll give the team a pair of 30-HR, 30-steal players, with Juan Soto already in the club. There have been two teams to see teammates hit the bars in the same season: the 1987 Mets with Howard Johnson and Darryl Strawberry; and the 1996 Rockies with Dante Bichette and Ellis Burks.
~Secondly, a 30-homer season will give the Mets three players with at least 30, along with Juan Soto (40 right now) and Pete Alonso, who connected for his 35th on Tuesday. The franchise has never seen three of its players get to the milestone in the same season.
In the first game of a doubleheader, Washington’s Daylen Lile posted his 10th triple of the year, the first ever Expo/National to reach double-digits in the category in a debut season. Overall, he’s the first in the Majors to do this since 2015, when Delino DeShields had 10 for the Rangers and Eddie Rosario collected 15 for the Twins.
On his way to recording his 17th win of the season, Freddy Peralta fanned 10. The right-hander has 15 double-digit strikeout games in his Brewers career, tying Ben Sheets for the fifth most in franchise history, behind Corbin Burnes’ 23, Brandon Woodruff’s 20, Yovani Gallardo’s 18 and Teddy Higuera’s 16.
Shohei Ohtani homered to reach 50 longballs for the second straight season, the sixth different ballplayer to have at least 50 in successive seasons. The full list:
4 Mark McGwire (1996-1999)
4 Sammy Sosa (1998-2001)
2 Babe Ruth (1920-1921)
2 Babe Ruth (1927-1928)
2 Ken Griffey, Jr. (1997-1998)
2 Álex Rodríguez (2001-2002)
2 Shohei Ohtani (2024-2025)
~Ohtani scored his 136th run of the year – the most in any season for a Dodger since Babe Herman crossed the plate 143 times in 1930.
Thanks to Baseball Reference and its extraordinary research database, Stathead, for help in assembling this piece.
Roger Schlueter
As Sr. Editorial Director for Major League Baseball Productions from 2004-2015, Roger served as a hub for hundreds of hours of films, series, documentaries and features: as researcher, fact-checker, script doctor, and developer of ideas. The years at MLB Production gave him the ideal platform to pursue what galvanized him the most – the idea that so much of what takes place on the field during the MLB regular and postseason (and is forever beautifully condensed into a box score) has connections to what has come before. Unearthing and celebrating these webs allows baseball to thrive, for the present can come alive and also reignite the past.