LAD single season home run leaders

Phil Gurnee ♦ August 6, 2017 ♦ 1 Comment

A few weeks ago I displayed the table showing every single LAD team home run leader from 1958 to 2017. This table is a little different. It is going to show you the history of the most home runs hit in a season since 1958.

Charlie Neal and Gil Hodges held the record for only one year as they both hit 22 home runs in 1958.

Gil Hodges hit 25 home runs in 1959 to claim the most.

Frank Howard hit 31 home runs 1962 to lay his claim to the greatest LAD home run hitter.

That record stood for twelve years before Jimmy Wynn eclipsed it with 32 home runs in 1974.

Steve Garvey only let the Toy Cannon hold the mantle for three years before hitting 33 home runs in 1977.

Pedro Guerrero couldn’t beat Garvey but he did tie him with 33 home runs in 1985.

Eight years later in 1993, a rookie catcher named Mike Piazza hit 35 home runs to break the tie between Garvey/Guerrero. Piazza would keep adding to that single season total by hitting 36 home runs in 1996, and finally 40 in 1997. It took almost 40 years before a Dodger hit 40 home runs in a single season.

Is it ironic that the player the Dodgers traded Piazza for would break Piazza’s record by hitting 43 home runs in 2000?

Shawn Green didn’t let Gary Sheffield hold the record for very long when he blasted 49 home runs in 2001.

That record has now stood for 16 years, the longest stretch between changes.