Five players have an opportunity to reach 500 home runs this season.
It seems like everybody remembers a time when 500 home runs actually meant something. But now with smaller ball parks, newer balls and accusations of steroids, 500 home runs is so easy, a Kindergartner could reach that mark. (A Kindergartner on steroids, disturbing).
Twenty Major League players have reached the 500 home run mark. This mark has been reached by such players as Mantle, Ruth, Mays, Aaron, Griffey Jr., Jackson, Williams, McGwire and Bonds.
Due up for 500
Five players have an opportunity to reach the 500 home run plateau this season. Frank Thomas, who is the closest with 487 moon shots, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez and even Gary Sheffield have a chance to reach the mark.
Thomas doesn’t even need to have a 30 home run year to reach the mark, he needs only 13. Both Thome and Ramirez need at least 30 home runs, while A-Rod needs 36. If all three can stay healthy, which should be easy for A-Rod, they should reach the mark in no time. Sheffield needs 45 home runs to get to 500. Don’t expect him to reach that mark this season.
Once those five pass the 500 home run mark, that will mean that 25 players will be apart of the 500 home run club. Let’s take a look at the 20 though who have reached the mark at the moment.
The Steroid Question
Five of the players reached the 500 home run mark during the “Steroid Era” in the late 90s and the early part of this decade. Bonds, Sammy Sosa, McGwire and Palmeiro have all been accused of steroid use. Only Palmeiro tested positive.
After the steroid hearings in 2005, McGwire moved to a gated community in California and has not been heard from since then. Sosa has attempted to make a comeback with the Texas Rangers and Bonds looks to break Hank Aaron’s All-Time Home Run mark this season.
What about the 500 Home Run mark?
Nowadays it seems like more and more players are hitting more home runs. Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies and David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox hit a combined 112 home runs, last season.
With power hitters like Howard, Ortiz and Albert Pujols of the Cardinals, they should be able to shatter the 500 home run mark in no time.
Does this make reaching 500 home runs obsolete? In a way it does, maybe 600 can be what 500 was 15-20 years ago.
