The 2019 season was, undoubtedly, the Year of the Home Run. We saw so many records regarding the long ball this season, so now that the season has wrapped up, let's attempt to take a comprehensive look.
- The following 15 teams set franchise home run records: Twins, Yankees, Astros, Dodgers, Athletics, Cubs, Braves, Brewers, Red Sox, Mets, Reds, Nationals, Diamondbacks, Padres and Indians. That's half the league.
- Jorge Soler (Royals) and Pete Alonso (Mets) set franchise records for home runs in a season. Alonso set the rookie record for homers in a season with his majors-leading 53.
- The previous record for home runs in a season by a team was 267. The Twins, Yankees, Astros and Dodgers went over that this year. Minnesota had the most long balls in baseball with 307, beating the Yankees for the No. 1 spot by one homer.
- The previous record for home runs in a season by the league as a whole was 6,105. This season, there were 6,776 home runs.
- The record for the number of players in double digits in home runs was 242 before this season. We saw 273 players get there this time around.
- The record for the number of players with 15-plus home runs was 165 before this season. We saw 187 players get there this time around.
- The record for the number of players with 20-plus home runs was 117 before this season. We saw 129 players get there this time around.
- The record for the number of players with 30-plus home runs was 47 before this season. We saw 58 players get there this time around.
- Before this season, the 2018 Yankees held the record with 12 players having 10-plus home runs. The Yankees (14) and Blue Jays (13) this season broke that mark. Before this season, there had only been six teams with 11 such players. This year, the Yankees, Blue Jays, Cubs, Dodgers, Twins and Cardinals had at least 11.
- Prior to this season, only seven teams in history had seen seven of their players reach 20 homers in a season. This year the Twins had eight while the Astros, Yankees and A's had seven.
- Heading into this season, the record number of players on a team to hit 30 homers was four and it was done 12 times. The Astros had four this year while the Twins set the new record with five.
With so many being hit, surely we saw records for home runs allowed, too? Yep.
- Before this season, the record for the number of pitchers who allowed at least 20 homers was 101. This year, 111 coughed up that many. Five teams have at least five such pitchers, though the record is six.
- Before this season, the record number of home runs allowed by a team was 258 (2016 Reds). The Orioles have set the new standard at a ridiculous 305. The Rockies (270), Angels (267) and Mariners (260) also surpassed the old record.
I think we can stop now. As the Year of the Home Run has taught us, at some point, less is more. Let's hope they get the baseballs in order before 2020.
