by Steven Mars

Created on: August 15, 2007   Last Updated: August 05, 2008

Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants beat Hank Aaron's major league baseball's home run record Tuesday night August 7, 2007. It was number 756 to beat Hank Aaron's 755 lifetime home runs total. The legendary Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees held the title for many years with 714 home runs. The old movies showing Babe Ruth's homers are a must. Babe Ruth is third on the list with 714 lifetime home runs. Willie Mays is fourth on the list with 660. And Sammy Sosa is fifth with 609.

In the American League, Babe Ruth held the home run title ten times in 1919, 1920, 1921, 1923,
1924, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, and 1930. He also tied two times, once with Lou Gehrig in 1931
and once with Tilly Walker in 1918. Lou Gehrig also hit the most home runs in the American League in 1934 and 1936. Joe Dimaggio held the home run record in 1937 and 1948. Hank Greenberg held the record in 1938, 1940, and 1946. He also tied with Jimmie Foxx in 1935.
Jimmie Foxx and Hank Greenberg both hit 58 home runs in 1932 and 1938 respectively.Jimmie
Foxx held the record in 1932, 1933, and 1939. Ted Williams held the record in 1941, 1942, 1947, and 1949. Mickey Mantle held the record in 1955, 1956, 1958, and 1960. Roger Maris held the record only in 1961, but he beat Babe Ruths all time record that year. Harmon Killebrew held the record in 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1969. He tied in 1967 with Carl Yastrzemski. Frank Howard of the Washington Senators held the record in 1968 and 1970.
Reggie Jackson tied with George Scott in 1975. Ben Oglivie in 1980, and with Gorman Thomas in 1982. Mark McGwire held the record in 1987 and 1996. Ken Griffey Jr. held the title in
1994, 1997, 1998, and 1999. Alex Rodriguez held the title in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2007.

In the National League, we don't have so many big time hitters, especially in the early times.
Rogers Hornsby of the St. Louis Cardinals held the home run title in 1922 and 1925. Cy Williams held the title in 1920 and 1923. He tied with Hack Wilson in 1927. Hack Wilson,
Mel Ott, and Chuck Klein tied with other, etc. in the 1930s. Ralph Kiner held the record in the late 1940s and early 1950s, with several ties. Willie Mays held the record in 1955, 1962, 1964,
and 1965. Hank Aaron held the title in 1966, 1967, and tied with Willie McCovey in 1963.
Mike Schmidt held the title in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, and 1986. He tied in
1984 with Dale Murphy. Barry Bonds held the title in 1993 and 2001. Mark McGwire held the
title in 1998 and 1999. He broke Roger Maris' record in 1998. Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs held the title in 2000 and 2002.

Barry Bonds was at his home park in San Francisco, California. It was the fifth inning and the pitcher was the Washington Nationals' Mike Bacsik. Willie Mays of the old San Francisco Giants was there. Barry Bonds also holds the record for the most home runs in one season. He hit 73 home runs in 2001, beating Mark Mcgwire of the St. Louis Cardinals record. Mark Mcgwire hit 70 home runs in 1998 to beat Roger Maris of the New York Yankees 61 home runs in 1961. Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs hit 66 home runs also in 1998. In 1961, Roger Maris
of the New York Yankees hit 61 home runs to beat Babe Ruth's major league home run record of 60 that he set in 1927. Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees hit 52 homers in 1956. Ken Griffey Jr. of the Seattle Mariners hit 56 home runs in both 1997 and 1998.

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