500 home run club Facts for Kids

Barry Bonds joined the 500 home run club in 2001 and set a new career home run record of 762 in 2007.

In Major League Baseball (MLB), the 500 home run club is a term given to the group of batters who have hit 500 or more regular-season home runs in their careers. On August 11, 1929, Babe Ruth became the first member of the club. Ruth ended his career with 714 home runs. This record stood from 1935 until Hank Aaron broke it in 1974. Aaron's ending career total, 755, stayed the record until Barry Bonds set the current mark of 762 during the 2007 season. Albert Pujols is the most recent to reach 500 home runs; he hit his 500th home run on April 22, 2014. Twenty-six players are members of the 500 home run club.

Of these 26 players, 14 were right-handed batters, 10 were left-handed, and 2 were switch hitters (meaning they could bat from either side of the plate). The San Francisco Giants are the only franchise to have four players reach 500 home runs while on their roster: Mel Ott while the team was in New York, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and most recently Bonds. Four 500 home run club members—Aaron, Mays, Eddie Murray, and Rafael Palmeiro—are also members of the 3,000 hit club. Sheffield's 500th home run was his first career home run with the New York Mets, the first time that a player's 500th home run was also his first with his franchise. Alex Rodriguez, at 32 years and 8 days, was the youngest player to hit 500. Ted Williams, at 41 years and 291 days, was the oldest.

Being a member of the 500 home run club is sometimes described as a guarantee of entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Some believe the milestone has become less meaningful in recent years. Four club members who are now eligible for election to the Hall of Fame—Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Palmeiro—have not been elected. Eligibility requires that a player has "been retired five seasons" or be dead for at least six months. Some believe the milestone has become less important with the large number of new members; 10 players joined the club from 1999 to 2009. Also, several of these recent members have had ties to performance-enhancing drugs. Some believe that by not electing McGwire to the Hall, the voters were starting a "guideline" on how they would treat players from the "Steroid Era". Since then, Bonds and Sosa have also failed to earn election. Most recently, Palmeiro became the first club member to be dropped from the Hall of Fame ballot, failing to earn enough votes (5% of votes cast) in the 2014 election to stay on the ballot.

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Members
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Key

Player	Name of the player
HR	Career home runs
Date	Date of the player's 500th home run
Team	The batter's team for his 500th home run
Seasons	The seasons this player played in the major leagues
†	Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
style="background:#cfecec;"	Denotes player who is still active

Members

Statistics up to date as of June 8, 2014

Babe Ruth was the first player to reach 500 home runs and set a career home run mark of 714 that stood until 1974.

Albert Pujols is the most recent player to hit 500 home runs, one of 11 to reach the milestone from 1999 to 2014.

Player	HR	Date	Team	Seasons
Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds	762	April 17, 2001	San Francisco Giants	1986–2007
Aaron, HankHank Aaron^†	755	July 14, 1968	Atlanta Braves	1954–1976
Ruth, BabeBabe Ruth^†	714	August 11, 1929	New York Yankees	1914–1935
Mays, WillieWillie Mays^†	660	September 13, 1965	San Francisco Giants	1951–1973
Griffey, Jr., KenKen Griffey, Jr.	630	June 20, 2004	Cincinnati Reds	1989–2010
Rodriguez, AlexAlex Rodriguez*	618	August 4, 2007	New York Yankees	1994–
Thome, JimJim Thome	612	September 16, 2007	Chicago White Sox	1991–2012
Sosa, SammySammy Sosa	609	April 4, 2003	Chicago Cubs	1989–2005, 2007
Robinson, FrankFrank Robinson^†	586	September 13, 1971	Baltimore Orioles	1956–1976
McGwire, MarkMark McGwire	583	August 5, 1999	St. Louis Cardinals	1986–2001
Killebrew, HarmonHarmon Killebrew^†	573	August 10, 1971	Minnesota Twins	1954–1975
Palmeiro, RafaelRafael Palmeiro	569	May 11, 2003	Texas Rangers	1986–2005
Jackson, ReggieReggie Jackson^†	563	September 17, 1984	California Angels	1967–1987
Ramirez, MannyManny Ramirez	555	May 31, 2008	Boston Red Sox	1993–2011
Schmidt, MikeMike Schmidt^†	548	April 18, 1987	Philadelphia Phillies	1972–1989
Mantle, MickeyMickey Mantle^†	536	May 14, 1967	New York Yankees	1951–1968
Foxx, JimmieJimmie Foxx^†	534	September 24, 1940	Boston Red Sox	1925–1942, 1944–1945
Williams, TedTed Williams^†	521	June 17, 1960	Boston Red Sox	1939–1942, 1946–1960
McCovey, WillieWillie McCovey^†	521	June 30, 1978	San Francisco Giants	1959–1980
Thomas, FrankFrank Thomas^†	521	June 28, 2007	Toronto Blue Jays	1990–2008
Banks, ErnieErnie Banks^†	512	May 12, 1970	Chicago Cubs	1953–1971
Mathews, EddieEddie Mathews^†	512	July 14, 1967	Houston Astros	1952–1968
Ott, MelMel Ott^†	511	August 1, 1945	New York Giants	1926–1947
Sheffield, GaryGary Sheffield	509	April 17, 2009	New York Mets	1988–2009
Pujols, AlbertAlbert Pujols*	507	April 22, 2014	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	2001–
Murray, EddieEddie Murray^†	504	September 6, 1996	Baltimore Orioles	1977–1997

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David Ortiz is one of 12 to reach the milestone from 1999 to 2015.

500 home run club facts for kids

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