| Well, Ted Williams didn't largely because of two wars (234 with 3 missed seasons in the 40s, 220 in the 50s, but I'm not sure which were war seasons and which were injuries.) Banks and Mantle timed their best seasons wrong. Matt Williams on the other hand, timed his career beautifully, first good season in 1990, last one in 1999. Same thing with Adam Dunn, though he seems an odd target for steroid suspicion anyway. There is certainly precedent for someone like Dunn. Frank Howard had 278 through the 60s, and he spent time in a couple terrible hitter's parks. Harmon Killebrew in certainly in that mold. Could make a case for Ralph Kiner as well, King Kong Keller if he hadn't been hurt may have made a run, not sure if Kluz was injured or just started to suck, but he could have made a run. Big fat guys hitting home runs isn't exactly a new development. And that ignores possible effects of weight training, expansion, smaller ballparks, longer careers and perhaps teams being a bit more willing to trade a players poor defense for home runs. Andruw had to fluke his way into 51, and then needed 2 years as a crappy player to pad his number to make it there. I'm not saying saying steroids are a good thing, but your examples do anything but prove your point. |
MLB Home Run Leaders (1990s)
MLB HR Leaders (1980s)
MLB Most Consecutive Games with HR
