Baseball Library Vault of Lists: January 21, 2009
Mark Teixeira Tops Unusual Home Run List
Baseball Library Vault of Lists
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Mark Teixeira has hit 203 home runs while playing for three teams (the Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves and California Angels) during the first six years of his career. We were rummaging around the stat bin after he signed with the New York Yankees, wondering how many players in similar circumstances had hit more home runs than that. The answer: No player who has appeared on the major league roster of at least three different franchises in the first six seasons of his career has hit more home runs than Mark Teixeira. That unusual feat (we only just caught our breath after saying the previous sentence out loud) deserves a list. Here are the home run leaders among the “three-peaters:”
1 Mark Teixeira 203
2 Roger Maris 191
3 Jason Bay 141
4 Preston Wilson 140
5 Kevin Mitchell 135
6 Jason Thompson 130
7 Tony Batista 125
8 Dolph Camilli 122
9 Cory Snyder 118
10 Jimmie Hall 116
11 Leon Wagner 113
12 Zeke Bonura 112
13 Paul Konerko 111
14 Jermaine Dye 110
15 Wally Westlake 107
Jeff Kent 107
17 Shea Hillenbrand 104
18 Lee Thomas 103
Curt Blefary 103
20 Dale Long 101
21 Andre Thornton 100
Woodie Held 100
23 Sammy Sosa 95
Ken Harrelson 95
25 Brad Fullmer 94
Observation: Of the 25, 8 are or were full-time first basemen: Texeira, Jason Thompson, Dolph Camilli, Zeke Bounura, Paul Konerko, Dale Long, Andre Thornton and Brad Fullmer. 4 more players on this list spent considerable time at first base: Shea Hillenbrand, Lee Thomas, Curt Blefary and Ken Harrelson. It may be that general managers realized that power-hitting first basemen are easier to replace than sluggers at other positions.
