Clinch It Sooner or Later: On Beyond Zimmerman - The Quest for Long Ball Greatness

Monday, September 26, 2022

On Beyond Zimmerman - The Quest for Long Ball Greatness

I like certain sports statistics a lot. It may have started in the 1970s, perhaps in some ways, but measuring the milestones and records of athletics took hold on me strongly sometime in the 1980s. Back in the early 80s, the year Tim Raines broke onto the scene in the strike-shortened 1981, I was fascinated by speed and the subsequent stolen base. That was the coolest thing to me. On local baseball three teams were featured the most on my 11 or 12 channels on our T.V. were in this order: the Chicago Cubs, the Atlanta Braves, and the Cincinnati Reds. All three had some all-time great home run hitters. Dave Kingman, Dale Murphy, George Foster, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Ken Griffey Senior (foreshadowing things to come).

So, despite my love of the stolen base and speed, it is the speed of the bat and the consequent long-driven baseballs across the country and time and space that ended up capturing my attention always, and like the rest of fans of baseball, our imagination. Babe Ruth is the real-world Paul Bunyan, or Hercules. The myth turned real. Pretty cool. Mammoth shots they hurl away; we think of Micky Mantle, Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, Jose Canseco, Frank Thomas, and other epic giants across our lifetimes and before. Eddie Murray, Rafael Palmeiro, and modern sluggers like Jim Thome. Giants of the park and television screen. Bigger than life.

All the talk and lore of the greatest home run hitters: Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Hank Greenberg, Joe Dimaggio, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson, and Harmon Killebrew. Reggie Jackson. Mike Schimdt. Carl Yastrzemski. There are others. I have not mentioned Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez. Their numbers are forever tainted. Incredible, but in doubt due to performance enhancers, i.e. drugs that are elements of cheating.

Since 1981, Tim Raines, and his home run slugger companion Andre the Hawk Dawson of Montreal, I have been a Montreal Expo and then Washington Nationals fans for over 40 years. The king and all-time great lifer of the Nats in D.C has been Ryan "The Natural" Zimmerman. My nickname, for him, since I started watching him regularly in 2009. Or 2006. Or both. Anyway, he played his whole career in D.C., and became the franchise's all-time leading home run leader at the modest career number of 284. Ranked and tied at 179 all-time. Currently tied with active player Bryce Harper and a couple others, Will Clark and Eric Karros. Guys that I watched play their entire careers. Bryce is a current player who has years ahead of him, age 29, who is or will be "Beyond Zimmerman."

We know that the two greats, Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera, are retiring this season, after 700 or more, and 506 or more, respectively. The pretty fabulous Joy Votto might be done after this year, too, achieving 342 (with a week to go) at age 38.

Who else will be beyond Zimmerman going into 2023, who already have more home runs than him?

Here they are with anyone tied with them from all-time history:

171.	Garret Anderson (17)	287	9177	L	HR Log
	Bobby Bonilla (16)	287	8257	B	HR Log
	Brian Giles (15)	287	7836	L	HR Log
	Matt Kemp (15)	287	6983	R	HR Log
	Andrew McCutchen (14, 35)	287	8137	R	HR Log
	Bernie Williams (16)	287	9053	B	HR Log

164.	Craig Biggio+ (20)	291	12504	R	HR Log
	Freddie Freeman (13, 32)	291	7325	L	HR Log
	Jim Wynn (15)	291	8011	R	HR Log

155.	Nolan Arenado (10, 31)	298	5806	R	HR Log
	Mark Reynolds (13)	298	6243	R	HR Log

136.	Jeromy Burnitz (14)	315	6580	L	HR Log
	Paul Goldschmidt (12, 34)	315	6922	R	HR Log

119.	Jermaine Dye (14)	325	7214	R	HR Log
	Willie Horton (18)	325	8052	R	HR Log
	Justin Upton (16, 34)	325	7649	R	HR Log

116.	Evan Longoria (15, 36)	329	7954	R	HR Log

116.

Evan Longoria (15, 36)

329

7954

HR Log

110.	Robinson Canó (17, 39)	335	9550	L	HR Log
	Darryl Strawberry (17)	335	6326	L	HR Log

I am not aware of Cano announcing his retirement or not. It could happen. I think that both Pujols and Cabrera are good enough to come back next year despite their intentions to leave the game.