Sunday, May 19, 2013
Sunday, May 19, 2013

Mike Schmidt's 500th Home Run

A look at the career home run leaders 25 years ago.

5 comments

Mike Schmidt's 500th Home Run

POSTED: Wednesday, April 18, 2012, 12:57 AM
Bob Vetrone Jr.
( John Sleezer / Inquirer )

It's hard to believe that it has been 25 years since Mike Schmidt reached the 500-home run milestone in a Phillies' 8-6 victory at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium. (Schmidt is shown at left rounding the bases following his game-winning blast that day.)

Below are the top 15 career home run hitters after that historic day and currently (through Tuesday's games):

THRU APRIL 18, 1987        THRU APRIL 17, 2012
 Player   HR       Player HR
 Hank Aaron  755    Barry Bonds 762
 Babe Ruth  714    Hank Aaron 755
 Willie Mays  660    Babe Ruth 714
 Frank Robinson  586    Willie Mays 660
 Harmon Killebrew   573    Ken Griffey Jr. 630
 Reggie Jackson  549    Alex Rodriguez 630
 Mickey Mantle  536    Sammy Sosa 609
 Jimmie Foxx  534    Jim Thome 604
 Ted Williams  521    Frank Robinson 586
 Willie McCovey  521    Mark McGwire 583
 Eddie Mathews  512    Harmon Killebrew  573
 Ernie Banks  512    Rafel Palmeiro 569
 Mel Ott  511    Reggie Jackson 563
 Mike Schmidt  500    Manny Ramirez 555
 Lou Gehrig  493    Mike Schmidt 548
5 comments
Previous Story: Flyers' Sweep ... Dreams
Next Story: Coming Up Short Against the Shorthanded
Comments  (5)
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:01 AM, 04/18/2012
    Take a look at those two lists and you see that now about 40% of these guys were juicing as compared to no one back in 1987. So, you wonder what statistics mean when your kids look at them and will not be able to tell who was cheating mother nature and who wasn't. Kind of a sad story imo.
    — alwaysphil1
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:59 PM, 04/18/2012
    agree with alwaysphil. that's why hank aaron, the babe, and willie mays are still true champs.
    — randomm82
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:09 PM, 04/18/2012
    Hank Aaron is the HR king, not fathead/cheater/scumbag/liar Bonds. It almost make me physically sick to see not just him but Sosa, McGwire, ARod, Palmiero, Ramirez - ALL ahead of REAL baseball players like Killebrew, Griffey, Schmidty. WHAT IS WRONG WITH US?!?!?! THEY CHEATED! HELLO!!!
    — dwp66
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:50 PM, 04/18/2012
    under-reported stat: most hr's titles -- which adjusts for different eras and indicates who were best when compared to their peers: Ruth 13 hr titles, Schmidt next with 8
    — warbiscuit
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:27 PM, 04/18/2012
    Steroid users: Ramirez, Palmeiro, McGwire, Sosa, Rodriguez, Bonds
    — p-diddy


Popular Posts
 
Howard's two big 0-fers
 
Ibanez burns the Bronx
 
One and done in Boston
 
Phils' ugly linescore vs. Indians
 
100 Years of Presidential Election Results
 
Mound on the Farm (May 12)
 
Mound on the Farm (May 14)
 
Mound on the Farm (May 15)
 
One last time: RG3's perfect day
 
Hamels: One odd guy
About this blog

Boop – who goes by Bob Vetrone Jr. when he is undercover or paying bills – has been at the Daily News since 1982, after working for five years at the Philadelphia Bulletin up to its closing. Along with helping to build the sports scoreboards most nights, he has had great input into the papers’ special sports pullouts – March Madness, Broad Street Run, Record Breakers, Greatest Moments – as well as its day-to-day, award-winning event coverage.

A 1980 graduate of North Catholic, he took some evening college courses. Those lasted right up until the first conflict with a Big 5 doubleheader.

His favorite books growing up were the NBA Guide and the Baseball Encyclopedia, which was, for all intents and purposes, the Internet before there was an Internet.

He has been immersed in sports statistics since the early 70s, when his father (long-time sports writer, broadcaster and the Daily News’ Buck The Bartender), would take him into the Bulletin newsroom overnight in the summer and let him update the Phillies statistics in a little, black spiral notebook. But things have changed tremendously in the decades since … He now uses a big, black spiral notebook. Email him at boopstats@phillynews.com.


Reach Bob at vetronb@phillynews.com.

Bob Vetrone Jr.
Philly.com Sports Videos
Search this blog:
Blog archives:
May
April
March
February
January
Past Archives: