Players Who Could Wallop A Baseball & Rarely Struck Out

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Sluggers With Discriminating Eyes

Players With 25 or More Home Runs In A Season & Fewer Strikeouts Than Home Runs

Johnny Mize hit the most home runs in a season, having more homers (51) than strikeouts (42)

As baseball commentators rave about all the power hitters with their prodigious home run numbers, few broadcasters and writers will allude to the obscene strikeout totals put up by these same power hitters.

Not that most players are capable of hitting a lot of home runs and avoiding striking out, but the great players of the past could.

This list from baseball-reference.com shows the top 37 players with more home runs than strikeouts in a season.

Rank Player HR SO Year Tm G AB H RBI BB BA
1 Johnny Mize 51 42 1947 NYG 154 586 177 138 74 .302
2 Ted Kluszewski 49 35 1954 CIN 149 573 187 141 78 .326
3 Lou Gehrig 49 46 1936 NYY 155 579 205 152 130 .354
4 Lou Gehrig 49 31 1934 NYY 154 579 210 165 109 .363
5 Ted Kluszewski 47 40 1955 CIN 153 612 192 113 66 .314
6 Joe DiMaggio 46 37 1937 NYY 151 621 215 167 64 .346
7 Barry Bonds 45 41 2004 SFG 147 373 135 101 232 .362
8 Mel Ott 42 38 1929 NYG 150 545 179 151 113 .328
9 Ted Kluszewski 40 34 1953 CIN 149 570 180 108 55 .316
10 Johnny Mize 40 37 1948 NYG 152 560 162 125 94 .289
11 Joe DiMaggio 39 30 1948 NYY 153 594 190 155 67 .320
12 Stan Musial 39 34 1948 STL 155 611 230 131 79 .376
13 Ken Williams 39 31 1922 SLB 153 585 194 155 74 .332
14 Ted Williams 37 27 1941 BOS 143 456 185 120 147 .406
15 Andy Pafko 36 32 1950 CHC 146 514 156 92 69 .304
16 Willard Marshall 36 30 1947 NYG 155 587 171 107 67 .291
17 Al Simmons 36 34 1930 PHA 138 554 211 165 39 .381
18 Ted Kluszewski 35 31 1956 CIN 138 517 156 102 49 .302
19 Joe DiMaggio 32 21 1938 NYY 145 599 194 140 59 .324
20 Lefty O’Doul 32 19 1929 PHI 154 638 254 122 76 .398
21 Joe DiMaggio 31 30 1940 NYY 132 508 179 133 61 .352
22 Yogi Berra 30 29 1956 NYY 140 521 155 105 65 .298
23 Yogi Berra 30 24 1952 NYY 142 534 146 98 66 .273
24 Joe DiMaggio 30 13 1941 NYY 139 541 193 125 76 .357
25 Joe DiMaggio 30 20 1939 NYY 120 462 176 126 52 .381
26 Bill Dickey 29 22 1937 NYY 140 530 176 133 73 .332
27 Ted Williams 28 24 1955 BOS 98 320 114 83 91 .356
28 Yogi Berra 28 12 1950 NYY 151 597 192 124 55 .322
29 Ted Williams 28 21 1950 BOS 89 334 106 97 82 .317
30 Tommy Holmes 28 9 1945 BSN 154 636 224 117 70 .352
31 Bill Terry 28 23 1932 NYG 154 643 225 117 32 .350
32 Yogi Berra 27 20 1955 NYY 147 541 147 108 60 .272
33 Yogi Berra 27 20 1951 NYY 141 547 161 88 44 .294
34 Bill Dickey 27 22 1938 NYY 132 454 142 115 75 .313
35 Johnny Mize 25 24 1950 NYY 90 274 76 72 29 .277
36 Joe DiMaggio 25 24 1946 NYY 132 503 146 95 59 .290
37 Ken Williams 25 14 1925 SLB 102 411 136 105 37 .331

It’s a rarity today to find players with a great batting eye and good power like, Joey Votto. Now if you’re a .270 hitter or better and you are striking out over 150 times while hitting 25 or more home runs that is considered somewhat commendable and will get raves.

On the other hand it’s practically criminal that in 2017 Joey Gallo (pun intended) struck out 196 times while hitting 41 home runs and batting a near Mendoza-line .209. Along with players like the non-brother combo of Chris and Khris Davis, who each struck out 195 times, and career .237 whiffer Mark Reynolds who added 175 more K’s to his stunning lifetime total of 1806; you have to question whether any of them would have made any major league roster prior to 1970.

Today’s managers, executives and fans have come to tolerate and seemingly embrace one-dimensional strikeout sluggers.

Looking over this list of exceptionally effective power hitting, here are some things to note:

Big Klu, Ted Kluszewski is in the top ten three times. For most baseball fans under the age of 60 who never saw, the Cincinnati Reds slugger play, they missed quite a sight.

Kluszewski is rarely mentioned as being one of the all-time greats because his most productive seasons came in a short four year burst from 1953-1956. He hit 171 of his career 279 home runs during that time, batting .316, .326, .314 and .302 successively. Had back problems not shortened his productive years, Kluszewski might have put up Hall-of-Fame numbers. Over his 15 year career playing in 1718 games, Big Klu still had excellent numbers batting .298 and striking out just 365 times while drawing 492 walks.

Joe DiMaggio makes this list seven times, Yogi Berra five times, Ted Williams and Johnny Mize  three times.

DiMaggio has the best career home run to strike out ratio with a ridiculously low 369 career strikeouts while hitting 361 home runs.

Berra posts the lowest batting average in this list  in 1955 when he hit “just” .272 and stroking 27 home runs and striking out all of 20 times.

Tommy Holmes was never considered a slugger. In 1945 when Holmes safely hit in 37 straight games breaking the National League record, he also smacked 28 home runs and struck out just 9 times! That is the best differential in home runs to strike outs ever in a season.

Now there’s a record that will never be broken.

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