Most career leadoff home runs in MLB history

The major job of a leadoff hitter is to get on base so his teammates can drive him in. Of course, the batter atop a lineup additionally merely can begin issues off by driving himself in, too.

After all, there’s no higher means for an offense to open a sport than with a leadoff dwelling run.

Such a feat has grow to be slightly extra widespread lately as homers have surged throughout the game, however leadoff lengthy balls nonetheless stay uncommon total. To wit, the primary season in historical past with triple digit leadoff four-baggers was 1999 — when precisely 100 have been hit throughout each leagues — and the 5 highest totals all have come from 2016-21, with a report 193 in ’19.

With that league-wide context in place, right here’s the pure subsequent query: Which particular person gamers have led off a sport by going yard most frequently of their profession within the common season?

The reply, with totals offered by the Elias Sports Bureau, reveals a listing of enjoyable, well-known names, together with loads of All-Stars in addition to some present and future Hall of Famers.

Most lists involving leadoff feats are inclined to, nicely, lead off with Henderson, so it’s no shock that the Hall of Famer, stolen base king and best leadoff hitter in historical past may be present in his normal No. 1 spot in relation to most profession leadoff dwelling runs.

Henderson’s single-season excessive on this class got here when he hit 9 with the Yankees in 1986, which additionally was the yr he totaled a career-high 28 homers, a quantity he matched with the A’s in 1990.

What’s most unbelievable about Henderson’s 81 game-starting dingers is what number of extra he has than anybody else. That’s partly as a result of Henderson performed perpetually — his 3,081 video games rank fourth highest all time — and in addition as a result of not like various the others under, he stayed within the leadoff spot his whole profession. Henderson racked up 13,122 plate appearances atop the order and didn’t attain even 100 plate appearances in some other lineup place.

One different technique to categorical how spectacular Henderson’s profession complete is? The famously nomadic celebrity performed for 9 completely different groups in his 25-year profession (he hit leadoff homers for all of them, in fact), and whereas he hit a minimum of one leadoff blast in each season — together with at age 44 in 2003 — the 43 leadoff dingers he smashed over elements of 14 seasons with simply the A’s (a membership report) would rank ninth on this listing.

If Soriano, whose 412 dwelling runs are probably the most of anybody on this Top 10 rundown, had stayed within the high spot within the order for an extended portion of his profession, he might need had an opportunity at getting inside sniffing distance of Henderson.

After making a reputation for himself as a slugging spark plug leadoff batter early on, nonetheless, Soriano spent giant chunks of his enjoying days within the coronary heart of the order, the place his aggressive method was a extra acceptable match.

Nevertheless, Soriano owns MLB’s single-season report with 13 leadoff homers for the 2003 Yankees. He additionally hammered one other dozen with the 2007 Cubs (as a part of his franchise-best 22 with Chicago) and 9 extra with the Nationals a season earlier than that.

While enjoying for Houston, Springer established the Astros’ single-season mark by going off for 12 leadoff blasts in ’19. Since becoming a member of the Blue Jays, he is added 15 extra, tying him for third place all-time. Springer now additionally holds Toronto’s single-season report, hitting 9 in 2022.

While he’s one in all simply three energetic gamers to make this listing (examine under), Springer may climb shortly so long as he continues to get alternatives to bat out of the highest spot — and thus enhance his leadoff homer complete — within the second half of his profession.

A Hall of Famer who spent all 20 years of his profession with the Astros, Biggio took his leadoff duties to coronary heart by famously placing his physique in hurt’s means and getting hit by 285 pitches — a modern-day mark that trails solely Hughie Jennings’ 287 HBPs in baseball historical past.

Biggio additionally produced loads of pop with 291 profession taters, together with 53 of the leadoff selection. His single-season excessive of eight leadoff homers in 2001 stood because the franchise mark for 16 years till it was damaged by Springer in ’19. Biggio, nonetheless, nonetheless owns the membership’s profession report. The closing dwelling run of his profession was, fittingly, a leadoff blast in opposition to the Nationals on Aug. 21, 2007.

Coincidentally, Kinsler is one in all three gamers to retire after 2019 who crack this Top 10 listing. He hung ’em up at age 37 after an harm plagued yr with the Padres during which he did not hit a leadoff homer for the primary time since 2007, the second of his 14-year profession.

Kinsler’s excessive of eight such lengthy balls in 2016 is the Tigers’ single-season report, and he additionally hit seven apiece in ’09, ’11 and ’12 with the Rangers, giving him a share of one other membership’s mark within the class (Shin-Soo Choo, 2019) and placing him atop Texas’ profession complete with 29.

Granderson joined Kinsler in saying goodbye after 2019, however not earlier than he began 47 video games by saying hi there with a homer.

Granderson seemingly would have positioned larger on this rating, however he didn’t hit a single leadoff shot throughout his stint with the Yankees from 2010-13 — regardless of topping 40 taters in each ’11 and ’12 — as a result of New York utilized Derek Jeter and Brett Gardner within the No. 1 spot within the lineup.

While he by no means notched greater than seven leadoff homers in any season, he hit that mark 4 completely different occasions, in 2007 and ’09 with the Tigers (as a part of his franchise-best 24 with Detroit) and once more in back-to-back years with the Mets in ’15 and ’16, which is the membership’s single-season report.

A switch-hitter, Rollins registered a excessive of 9 leadoff homers in 2007 on his technique to profitable NL MVP honors with Philadelphia. That determine is the best single-season complete in Phillies historical past, and Rollins’ 46 profession leadoff homers with Philly is also the membership report (32 extra than second-place Juan Samuel, actually).

It’s becoming, too, that Rollins follows Granderson right here, since each gamers joined the extraordinarily unique 20-20-20-20 membership by reaching that mark in doubles, triples, homers and steals in ’07.

Anderson made his MLB debut in 1988 with the Red Sox — he could be traded that yr, together with Curt Schilling, to the O’s for righty Mike Boddicker — however didn’t hit his first leadoff lengthy ball till 1992.

Four years later, he broke out with a surprising ’96 profession marketing campaign during which he bashed a whopping 50 complete dingers, together with a personal- and franchise-best 12 leadoff homers. He additionally set a report by crushing a leadoff homer in 4 straight video games that April.

While Anderson by no means once more approached that determine by way of total homers, he did go on to tally seven leadoff jacks in consecutive years in 1999 and 2000, resulting in a Baltimore franchise report of 44.

Joining Springer as the one different energetic participant to crack the highest 10 on this listing is Blackmon, who has performed his complete profession in Colorado.

His single-season excessive of 10 leadoff homers got here in 2016, setting the Rockies’ report, and he additionally smacked six apiece in ’15, ’17 and ’19. Add all of it up and his 38 (and counting) go away Eric Young Sr.’s eight within the mud in relation to the membership’s profession tally.

Like Kinsler and Granderson, Ichiro additionally formally retired in 2019 after enjoying the primary two video games of the season with the Mariners in his native Japan.

Known way more for his prowess as a contact hitter with an uncanny skill to slash singles everywhere in the area, the long run Hall of Famer by no means topped 5 leadoff homers in any of his 19 seasons in MLB. He did hit that mark twice, although, with Seattle in 2002 and ’05 — a quantity that continues to be the membership’s single-season report. As for the franchise’s profession mark? Ichiro’s 37 leadoff photographs are far and away probably the most; no different Mariners participant has hit greater than six.

Betts is bound to proceed to maneuver up this listing as one in all three energetic gamers within the high 10. He’s actually picked up the tempo by way of leadoff homers in latest seasons — he had seven homers to open a sport in each 2021 and ’22, and with a leadoff shot over the left-center-field wall at Oracle Park on April 10, 2023, he tied Ichiro Suzuki for tenth all time.