Who has the record for most home runs at a single stadium? I thought I would be able to find the answer to this this one pretty easily, but so far, I’m stumped. There are a couple of twists to the question: the champ is going to be a player who not only hit a bunch of homers, but did his best home run hitting with one team that didn’t change stadiums during his peak.
So far the leader is Sammy Sosa, who belted 293 at Wrigley. He did change teams twice early in his career, but he hit far more home runs with the Cubs than with the Rangers or White Sox, and the Cubs never changed stadiums.
Babe Ruth hit 259 homers at Yankee Stadium, so the time he spent at the Polo Grounds and Fenway didn’t hurt him much.
I see Willie Mays hit 203 in Candlestick. If the Giants had moved sooner or stayed in New York he might have had this record, since he hit 98 homers in the Polo Grounds.
Hank Aaron hit 195 at Fulton County Stadium. His Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta during his career.
Griffey Jr. hit 198 at the Kingdome, but I knew it wasn’t going to be him because the Mariners changed stadiums during his tenure there, and then he went to Cincinnati.
Barry Bonds started his career with the Pirates, although for some reason he wasn’t as much of a home run hitter with them. The bigger issue for him is that the Giants moved from Candlestick Park to AT&T/SBC/everything else while he was there. He hit 180 dingers at AT&T Park.
So does anyone know if Sosa holds this record? I’ve been going to Baseball Reference and checking the HR Logs of the likely candidates just because I can’t find a faster method.
Only one I could think of who you didn’t list was Ted Williams; I googled “ted williams home road splits” and came up with this site (no idea how credible they are), which lists him with 248 home runs at home, which would have been Fenway, since he spent his entire career with the Red Sox. The site lists Frank Thomas with 312 home HRs, which doesn’t put him above Ott and probably not Sosa, but would put him remarkably high; the Sox moved to New Comiskey/US Cell for his first full season (he had 7 total homers before the move) and he only had 75 homers as a non-Sox player (some of which might have come at US Cell).
We have a new leader, then! I found two other guys who come close: Mickey Mantle hit 266 homers at Yankee Stadium and Mike Schmidt hit 265 at Veterans Stadium. But Ott’s in front.
Here’s how the top 10 overall home run hitters stack up:
Sosa (609): 293 at Wrigley Field
Ruth (714): 259 at original Yankee Stadium
Killebrew (573): 246 at Metropolitan Stadium
Mays (660): 203 at Candlestick Park
Griffey Jr. (630): 198 at the Kingdome
Aaron (755): 195 at Fulton County Stadium
Thome (586): 185 at Jacobs Field
Bonds (762): 180 at AT&T Park
Robinson (586): 176 at Crosley Field
McGwire (583): 166 at Network Associates Park
Rodriguez (605): 124 at old Yankee Stadium
I see Ernie Banks hit 290 at Wrigley, so he’s way up there. Baseball Reference gives Ted Williams 248 homers at Fenway. I see 263 home runs at the Cell for Frank Thomas, although you’re right that his could include some that were hit in his years with Oakland and Toronto.
Ellis Dee, the cite says Mantle hit 363 total home runs after 1957, and 188 of those were at Yankee Stadium.
He is. I messed up the names: he hit 195 homers in County Stadium in Milwaukee and 190 in Atlanta Fulton County Stadium. So the chart at this point should look a little like this.
Ott: 323 at the Polo Grounds (511 total)
Sosa: 293 at Wrigley Field (609)
Banks: 290 at Wrigley Field (512)
Mantle: 266 at original Yankee Stadium (536)
Schmidt: 265 at Veterans Stadium (548)
Thomas: 263 at US Cellular Field (521)
Ruth: 259 at Yankee Stadium (714)
Williams: 248 at Fenway Park (521)
Killebrew: 246 at Metropolitan Stadium (573)
McCovey: 236 at Candlestick Park (512)
Mays: 203 at Candlestick Park (660)
Griffey Jr.: 198 at the Kingdome (630)
Aaron: 195 at County Stadium (755)
Aaron: 190 at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium (755)
Thome: 185 at Jacobs Field (586)
Bonds: 180 at AT&T Park (762)
Robinson: 176 at Crosley Field (586)
McGwire: 166 at Network Associates Park (583)
Jackson: 146 at Network Associates Park (563)
Bonds: 140 at Candlestick Park (762)
Palmeiro: 130 at Rangers Ballpark (569)
Rodriguez: 124 at old Yankee Stadium (605)
Palmeiro: 124 at Camden Yards (569)
Stan Musial and Lou Gehrig – neither had exceptionally high HR totals, but both played their entire careers with a single team in a single home ball park.
The best numbers I came up with show Musial with 252 home runs at Sportsmen’s Park/old Busch Stadium, and Gehrig with 251 at Yankee Stadium.
Eddie Murray hit 160 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore (including 2 as a visitor after he left the Orioles).
Carl Yastrzemski hit 237 in Fenway.
Jimmie Foxx hit 181 in Shibe Park in Philly.
Norm Cash hit 212 in Tiger Stadium.
Dale Murphy hit 205 in Fulton County Stadium.