Bryce Harper Moving Up the Home Run Charts during the Pandemic
280. Bryce Harper (9, 27) 232 L HR Log
281. Jimmy Rollins (17) 231 B HR Log
282. Rob Deer (11) 230 R HR Log
283. Nomar Garciaparra (14) 229 R HR Log
Anthony Rizzo (10, 30) 229 L HR Log
Jayson Werth (15) 229 R HR Log
286. Howard Johnson (14) 228 B HR Log
Dick Stuart (10) 228 R HR Log
Hal Trosky (11) 228 R HR Log
Bryce barely passed up Jimmy Rollins this fall of 2020, with whom he overlapped playing in the majors 5 seasons in the NL East before this athletic short stop retired at age 37 in 2017. Rollins had a pretty good career, with many stolen bases; apparently the most hits for a Philly ever, which is special. He did not have a crazy good lifetime batting average or on-base percentage (.264 and .324, respectively) , but Rollins did win an MVP at his career height, which is no small feat, and helped Philadelphia win a lot, including the 2008 World Series. He was only 5'7", 175 pounds. He was a fast and durable short stop, so hitting 231 homers was pretty good for what he was: defensively important, dependable, and very fast over a longer than normal 17 year tenure as a major leaguer.
I remember Rob Deer when he was in the American League with the Milwaukee Brewers, the last years of the 1980s. He did not have an outstanding career; he had a pretty low batting average, .220, but for only 11 seasons he had pretty good power to arrive at 230 career long balls. He was done by age 32, which is still better than most of us mere fans and mortals.
Nomar Garciaparra was a great hitter and one of the elite of his generation, standing as the hope for the woebegone Boston Red Sox of the late 1990s, then briefly with the also cursed Chicago Cubs, and finally sadly petering out with the wistful Los Angeles Dodgers in 2009. A very notable career and a great hitter at his prime, Nomar was a cultural phenomenon for a while; he ended up not living up to the hyperbole of his promise, individually or for his teams. Unremarkably, he finished his vaunted career in Oakland, like my favorite former Hall of Famer guys Tim Raines and Frank Thomas. He was still hitting decently at age 35 when he called it quits. The guy could hit, always, in his 14 year career. Seems as though his health severely curtailed his numbers and games played. He definitely could have made it to 300 homers, which as of 2020 is a club of only 151 players all time. That is a select club, that Bryce should get in maybe a couple years....
Anthony Rizzo is 30 years old now in 2020, still going, and is a very good player who helped the Cubbies get off the schnide in 2016. Immortalized. He is older than Harper and may not have quite the career, but he may have an outside shot at the 400 club, which is only: oh, 57 sluggers all time. Good luck, Anthony. You seem like a good guy.
Jayson Werth, tied at 229 forever with Nomah (mocked New England accentuated as shared by Saturday Night Live), is a huge persona for both the Phillies and the Nationals. He was a winner for the powerful Phillies, then signed a contract with the up and coming Nats, helping the newcomers Bryce and Steven Strasburg find their chops. I am sure both of these future Hall of Famers have a lot to be grateful for the presence of this professional journeyman. He wasn't a superstar, but he was clearly a winner.
Last three at 228: HoJo, Stuart, and Trosky.
Howard Johnson, whose named coincided with a popular restaurant that catered to travelers, was a mainstay with some really good Mets teams of the 1980s. He helped the Metropolitans win the crazy '86 series, forever recalled with reverence for that. HoJo! cried the New Yorkers. They were a thing, and made it hard on my Expos of Montreal to succeed. They acquired the Hall of Famer Gary Carter and always seemed to be one step ahead of my beloved Expos, the perennial underdog with a lot of talent. Johnson was done at age 33 with the newly founded Rockies of Colorado.
Dick Stuart only played 10 years starting in 1958, breaking in with the Pirates, then moving in bit parts to the Red Sox, Phils, Mets, Dodgers, and lastly the Angels, who used to be the California kind . Done at age 33 after a two year hiatus of 1967 and 1968. Curious. There must be a story there... the yips? A health crisis?
Hal Trosky, finally to round out the list of recently surpassed by Bryce, played in the Golden years of baseball, some consider halcyon, when there were the original 16 teams, none south of the Mason-Dixon Line and no one West of St. Louis. He played mostly with the Cleveland Indians from 1933 to 1941, taking a break during World War II and came back with the Chicago White Sox in 1944, skipping the next year (service to military?), and retiring after 88 games played in 1946. He had a career high 162 RBIs in 1936, hitting .343, and hit for a career .302 in a total of 11 years, age 33. Not bad. Pretty good hitter and would have had more dingers had it not been for the War.
There is a bit of Americana and context for us all.
Thanks for your sacrifices and service and your generation, Mr. Trosky. Back then homers were less prevalent, so you were certainly one of the best.
Next to pass up in 2021 for Harper?
| R | HR Log | |||
| Gus Zernial (11) | 237 | R | HR Log | |
| 269. | Gabby Hartnett+ (20) | 236 | R | HR Log |
| 270. | Nolan Arenado (8, 29) | 235 | R | HR Log |
| Johnny Damon (18) | 235 | L | HR Log | |
| Bill Nicholson (16) | 235 | L | HR Log | |
| Ben Oglivie (16) | 235 | L | HR Log | |
| Dan Uggla (10) | 235 | R | HR Log | |
| 275. | Carlos Gonzalez (12, 34) | 234 | L | HR Log |
| Gary Matthews (16) | 234 | R | HR Log | |
| Kevin Mitchell (13) | 234 | R | HR Log | |
| Paul Molitor+ (21) | 234 | R | HR Log | |
| 279. | Cliff Floyd (17) | 233 | L | HR Log |
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