The Most Home Runs in a MLB Single-Season

• Record Year: 2001

• Team: San Francisco Giants (NL)

• Years Active in MLB: 1986-2007

Barry Bonds is undoubtedly one of the most decorated baseball players in Major League history. His slugging records include most career home runs, highest on-base percentage in a single season, highest slugging percentage in a single season, and of course, most home runs in a single season. He was a phenomenal left fielder who had many Gold Glove and All Star seasons.

By all accounts, Bonds should be a shoe-in for the Baseball Hall-of-Fame. In 2003, however, Bonds became involved in MLB’s serious crackdown on performance enhancing drugs, which has since resulted in an asterisk next to his name when listing these records, and has played a role in his bid for Hall-of-Fame induction. Nonetheless, Bonds was a lot of fun to watch, and no matter how you view the legitimacy, he still holds the record for most home runs in a single season.

Mark McGwire’s success at the plate was a staple of his career. He led the league in runs batted in for one season, on-base percentage for two seasons, and slugging percentage four times. The first baseman won two World Series, once with the Oakland A’s, and once with the St. Louis Cardinals. He also led MLB in home runs for 5 seasons, the first time in 1987, and then for four years straight from 1996-1999. McGwire and Sammy Sosa had a particularly close chase toward breaking the single-season record for home runs in 1998, which McGwire ultimately won with 70 home runs.

McGwire is among those who were suspected of using performance enhancing drugs during his career, which many would argue somewhat tarnishes his record. He's one of the only players from this era who has since admitted to his use of PEDs, which he claims to have used for the purpose of recovering from injury, and which he has apologized for.

• Record Year: 1998

• Team: Chicago Cubs (NL)

• Years Active in MLB: 1989-2007

Sammy Sosa and power-hitting are two things that go hand-in-hand. Sosa was a right-fielder who played most of his career with the Chicago Cubs. He was a seven-time All Star and six-time Silver Slugger who led the NL in home runs and RBIs two times each. He ranks on the top-ten list of home runs in a single season for three separate seasons.

Sosa, however, joins McGwire and Bonds on the list of players to have had their record breaking seasons during years when they have been suspected of using performance enhancing drugs.

• Record Year: 1999

• Team: St. Louis Cardinals

• Years Active in MLB: 1986-2001

McGwire’s second entry on this list comes from his 1999 season, which was also a record breaking year for home runs hit in a season by the entire league. McGwire had a whopping 147 RBIs, and played in 153 games.

• Record Year: 2001

• Team: Chicago Cubs

• Years Active in MLB: 1989-2007

Sosa’s 2001 season was marked with great success at the plate. He had 160 RBIs and ended the season with a .328 batting average in 160 games.

• Record Year: 1999

• Team: Chicago Cubs

• Years Active in MLB: 1989-2007

1999 was yet another record year for Sosa, who played in all 162 games, ending the season with a .367 on-base percentage.

• Record Year: 2022

• Team: New York Yankees

• Years Active in MLB: 2016-Present

Aaron Judge’s historic 62 home run season in 2022 was quite a thrill to watch. His record, while seventh on the technical list, is the reigning American League record for home runs in a season. It is also the record for home runs in a season by a player who has never been suspected of using performance enhancing drugs. Following his record year, Judge was awarded MLB MVP. Judge went on to be named captain of the Yankees following the season, an honor that has not been awarded since Derek Jeter retired.

• Record Year: 1961
• Team: New York Yankees
• Years Active in MLB: 1957-1968

Roger Maris was a three-time World Series Champion and seven-time All Star who broke many records during his career. His single season home run record of 61 stood until 1998, when Sosa and McGwire both broke it. Maris’ record still stood as the American League record until 2022.

Maris broke Babe Ruth’s previous record of 60 home runs. Some say that this record is controversial, because Maris had his record season in 1961, right after the league extended the regular season by 8 games. He hit his last home run of the season in the final regular season game. 

• Record Year: 1927
• Team: New York Yankees
• Years Active in MLB: 1914-1935

You’d be hard pressed to find an athlete more synonymous with their sport than Babe Ruth is with baseball. Ruth was a seven time World Series Champion. His number is retired by the New York Yankees, the team with which most of his career was spent. He is also in the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame, MLB All-Century Team, and was one of the first five inaugural players into the Major League Hall-of-Fame. The pitcher-turned-outfielder was one of the best sluggers of all time, and he held the record for most home runs in a season until Maris broke it in 1961. 

• Year: 1921

• Team: New York Yankees

• Years Active in MLB: 1914-1935

Ruth dominated as a hitter in the 1921 season, leading the league in RBIs, runs scored, walks, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, total bases, extra base hits, as well as home runs. He seemed to never go through any sort of slump during the season, and made the games incredibly fun for fans to watch.

• Year: 2017

• Team: Miami Marlins (NL)

• Years Active in MLB: 2010-Present

Giancarlo Stanton is best known for how hard he hits the ball. In fact, Stanton holds three of the top four hardest hit balls ever recorded. He was the NL MVP in 2017 while on the Miami Marlins, which was the same season that he tied Babe Ruth for 10th most home runs in a single season. Stanton is a five-time All Star who still plays for the New York Yankees.