The Greatest Home Run Hitters of All-Time

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The title “greatest home run hitters” is pretty ambiguous. Greatest is open to interpretation. Some believe that means the player(s) who accumulated the most. Some believe it to be those who produced consistently (think season average). Still, others may believe that means those who hit the longest homers. To clarify, I believe it is those players who hit homers in the highest percentage of plate appearances with one caveat. I took plate appearances and subtracted walks and hit by pitch. I did so because I only wanted to look at plate appearances where the hitter had the opportunity to swing (at strikes). To qualify players had to have 4,000 career plate appearances.


  1. Albert Belle

    2. Albert Belle
    # of Seasons Career HR Season High Avg Season PA/HR
    12 381 50 32 15.59

  2. Mike Schmidt

    3. Mike Schmidt
    # of Seasons Career HR Season High Avg Season PA/HR
    18 548 48 30 15.47

  3. Jose Canseco

    4. Jose Canseco
    # of Seasons Career HR Season High Avg Season PA/HR
    17 462 46 27 15.45

  4. Jimmie Foxx

    5. Jimmie Foxx
    # of Seasons Career HR Season High Avg Season PA/HR
    20 534 58 27 15.37

  5. Alex Rodriguez

    6. Alex Rodriguez
    # of Seasons Career HR Season High Avg Season PA/HR
    22 696 57 32 15.36

  6. Dave Kingman

    7. Dave Kingman
    # of Seasons Career HR Season High Avg Season PA/HR
    16 442 48 28 15.31

  7. Juan Gonzalez

    8. Juan Gonzalez
    # of Seasons Career HR Season High Avg Season PA/HR
    17 434 47 26 15.29

  8. Mickey Mantle

    9. Mickey Mantle
    # of Seasons Career HR Season High Avg Season PA/HR
    18 536 54 30 15.23

  9. Ryan Howard

    10. Ryan Howard
    # of Seasons Career HR Season High Avg Season PA/HR
    13 382 58 29 15.09

  10. Manny Ramirez

    11. Manny Ramirez
    # of Seasons Career HR Season High Avg Season PA/HR
    19 555 45 29 15.02

  11. Adam Dunn

    12. Adam Dunn
    # of Seasons Career HR Season High Avg Season PA/HR
    14 462 46 33 14.99

  12. Ted Williams

    13. Ted Williams
    # of Seasons Career HR Season High Avg Season PA/HR
    19 521 43 27 14.84

  13. Sammy Sosa

    14. Sammy Sosa
    # of Seasons Career HR Season High Avg Season PA/HR
    18 609 66 34 14.63

  14. Harmon Killebrew

    15. Harmon Killebrew
    # of Seasons Career HR Season High Avg Season PA/HR
    22 573 49 26 14.35

  15. Ralph Kiner

    16. Ralph Kiner
    # of Seasons Career HR Season High Avg Season PA/HR
    10 369 54 37 14.15

  16. Jim Thome

    17. Jim Thome
    # of Seasons Career HR Season High Avg Season PA/HR
    22 612 52 28 13.88

  17. Giancarlo Stanton

    18. Giancarlo Stanton
    # of Seasons Career HR Season High Avg Season PA/HR
    8 267 59 33 13.47

  18. Barry Bonds

    19. Barry Bonds
    # of Seasons Career HR Season High Avg Season PA/HR
    22 762 73 35 13.04

  19. Babe Ruth

    20. Babe Ruth
    # of Seasons Career HR Season High Avg Season PA/HR
    22 714 60 32 11.92

  20. Mark McGwire

    21. Mark McGwire
    # of Seasons Career HR Season High Avg Season PA/HR
    16 583 70 36 10.75

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3 Comments

  1. UMMMMM ……………….. WHERE IS HANK FRIGGIN AARON ON THIS ??!?
    THE TOP 20 ALL TIME AND YOU DONT THINK HE SLOTS IN THERE SOMEWHERE?!? Hello?!

    1. Author

      Rob, thanks for the comment. The paragraph preceding the list lays out the way the rankings were formed. This is essentially a list of the lowest home runs to plate appearances (really plate appearance minus walks minus hit by pitch) ratio. The only qualifying factor is the player needed to have more than 4,000 career plate appearances.

      Based on that Hank Aaron’s career home runs per plate appearances (minus walks minus hit by pitch) ratio is 16.56 which ranks 36th all-time, right behind Albert Pujols and a tick above Willie Mays. Keep in mind that Aaron played 23 seasons accumulating 13,941 career plate appearances, 3rd most all-time. Only 3 other players on this list are in the top 50 in career plate appearances (Barry Bonds 9th, Alex Rodriguez 16th, & Babe Ruth 49th). Aaron hit a lot of home runs but he also had significantly more opportunities than almost any other player to ever play the game.

      Could Aaron hit home runs, yes. At the height of his career was he among the best all-time, perhaps. But this list is meant to encompass a player’s entire career, not just his peak.

  2. missing Hammering Hank and the say hey kid Willie Mays What about junior Griffey Holy Moly list leaves a lot to be desired

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