In baseball, a home run (HR) is typically a fair hit that passes over an outfield fence or into the stands at a distance from home plate of 250 feet or more, which entitles the batter to legally touch all bases and score without liability.[1] [2] Atypically, a batter who hits a fair ball and touches each base in succession from 1st to home, without an error being charged to a defensive player, is credited with an inside-the-park home run.[3] [4] If, during a play, defensive or fan interference is called, and the awarded bases allow the batter to cross home plate, the batter is credited with a home run.[3] [5]
Wes Ferrell once held the all-time Major League Baseball record for home runs hit while playing the position of pitcher. He hit 37 as a pitcher.[6] Baseball Hall of Famers Bob Lemon and Warren Spahn are tied for second with 35 career home runs apiece.[7] Red Ruffing, Earl Wilson, and Don Drysdale are the only other pitchers to hit at least 25 home runs. Jack Stivetts hit a total of 35 home runs in his playing career, 21 as a pitcher. Ferrell and Ruffing also rank among the top pitchers in batting average, hitting .280 and .269, respectively.[8]
As of the 2023 season, Shohei Ohtani, holds the lead among all active pitchers. Madison Bumgarner, with 19 home runs, holds the lead among all active pitchers that exclusively do so.[9] Bumgarner also has hit the second most home runs by a pitcher since the American League adopted the designated hitter rule in 1973 (behind Carlos Zambrano). Bumgarner has played most of his career thus far for the San Francisco Giants of the National League, and is currently playing for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Starting with the 2022 season, the National League also adopted the designated hitter rule, so most pitchers will no longer bat, except two-way players, such as Shohei Ohtani.
Ferrell, who had a career slash line of .280/.351/.446, had his best offensive year in 1931, when he set the single-season record for home runs by a pitcher with nine.[6] [10] The record had previously been held by Stivetts, who had hit seven in 1890. Since 1931, six different pitchers have hit seven home runs in a season: Ferrell, Lemon, Don Newcombe, Don Drysdale (twice), Wilson, and Mike Hampton.
Babe Ruth started his major league career as a pitcher before moving to the outfield. Only 14 of his 714 career home runs were hit as a pitcher, however.[11]
The first pitcher to officially hit a home run was Jack Manning, who accomplished the feat on August 3, 1876.[12] The most home runs by a pitcher in a single game is three, achieved by Jim Tobin on May 13, 1942.
| Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame. | ||
| Bold | Denotes active player.[13] |
|---|
| Home runs | Career total | Notes | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | 38 | Hit one home run as a pinch hitter. | [14] | ||
| 35 | 37 | Hit two home runs as a pinch hitter. | [15] | ||
| 35 | 35 | [16] | |||
| 34 | 36 | Hit two home runs as a pinch hitter. | [17] | ||
| 33 | 35 | Hit two home runs as a pinch hitter. | [18] | ||
| 29 | 29 | [19] | |||
| 24 | 24 | [20] | |||
| 24 | 24 | [21] | |||
| 24 | 24 | [22] | |||
| 23 | 24 | Hit one home run as a pinch hitter. | [23] | ||
| 21 | 35 | Hit 11 home runs while playing various other positions and three as a pinch hitter. | [24] | ||
| 20 | 20 | [25] | |||
| 20 | 20 | [26] | |||
| 19 | 21 | Hit two home runs as a first baseman. | [27] | ||
| 19 | 19 | [28] | |||
| 18 | 18 | [29] | |||
| 16 | 18 | Hit two home runs as a pinch hitter. | [30] | ||
| 16 | 17 | Hit one home run as a pinch hitter. | [31] | ||
| 16 | 16 | [32] | |||
| 16 | 16 | [33] | |||
| 15 | 15 | [34] | |||
| 15 | 15 | [35] | |||
| 15 | 15 | [36] | |||
| 15 | 15 | [37] | |||
| 15 | 15 | [38] | |||
| 15 | 17 | Hit two home runs as a pinch hitter. | [39] | ||
| 15 | 15 | [40] | |||
| 15 | 15 | [41] | |||
| 15 | 15 | [42] | |||
| 15 | 15 | [43] | |||
| 15 | 15 | [44] | |||
| 15 | 19 | Hit four home runs as a pinch hitter | [45] |
| Home runs | Career total | Notes | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | 19 | Only pitcher to hit two home runs on Opening Day.[46] | [47] | ||
| 9 | 198 | Has 198 career home runs, but 187 of them are as a designated hitter, and 2 are as a pinch hitter. | [48] | ||
| 9 | 9 | Hit two home runs in consecutive at-bats against the San Diego Padres on April 2, 2019—a three-run homer off of Eric Lauer in the fourth, and a solo shot off Adam Warren in the sixth. This happened exactly two years after Bumgarner's two-home run opening day game, a game in which he hit one of his home runs off of Greinke. | [49] | ||
| 6 | 6 | First pitcher to hit a home run in a 1-0 complete game shutout since Bob Welch in 1983.[50] | [51] | ||
| 4 | 7 | Has hit 7 career home runs, but only 4 while playing in the pitcher position. While Lorenzen sometimes plays outfield, his other 3 home runs were as a pinch hitter. Lorenzen hit home runs on back-to-back nights against the Milwaukee Brewers in 2018—a solo home run as pitcher on June 29, and a grand slam as a pinch hitter on June 30. | [52] |
| Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame. | ||
| Bold | Denotes active player. |
|---|
| Home runs | Season total | Year | Team | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 9 | 1931 | Cleveland Indians | |||
| 7 | 7 | 1890 | St. Louis Browns | |||
| 7 | 7 | 1933 | Cleveland Indians | |||
| 7 | 7 | 1949 | Cleveland Indians | |||
| 7 | 7 | 1955 | Brooklyn Dodgers | |||
| 7 | 7 | 1958 | Los Angeles Dodgers | |||
| 7 | 7 | 1965 | Los Angeles Dodgers | |||
| 7 | 7 | 1968 | Detroit Tigers | |||
| 7 | 7 | 2001 | Colorado Rockies | |||
| 6 | 6 | 1887 | Chicago White Stockings | |||
| 6 | 6 | 1894 | Chicago Colts | [54] | ||
| 6 | 6 | 1934 | New York Giants | |||
| 6 | 7 | 1935 | Boston Red Sox | |||
| 6 | 6 | 1956 | Chicago White Sox | |||
| 6 | 6 | 1958 | Baltimore Orioles | |||
| 6 | 6 | 1965 | Boston Red Sox | |||
| 6 | 7 | 1966 | Boston Red Sox/Detroit Tigers | |||
| 6 | 6 | 1971 | Chicago Cubs | [55] | ||
| 6 | 6 | 1971 | Boston Red Sox | [56] | ||
| 6 | 6 | 1971 | Philadelphia Phillies | |||
| 6 | 6 | 2006 | Chicago Cubs |
| Home runs | Year | Team | Notes | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1876 | Boston Red Caps | Tied by Jim Devlin (1877),[57] Terry Larkin (1877),[58] and John Montgomery Ward (1878).[59] | |||
| 2 | 1879 | Providence Grays | ||||
| 4 | 1882 | Boston Red Caps | Tied by John Clarkson (1885). | [60] | ||
| 6 | 1887 | Chicago White Stockings | ||||
| 7 | 1890 | St. Louis Browns | ||||
| 9 | 1931 | Cleveland Indians |
| Team | Home Runs | Date | Opposing team | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Braves | 3 | May 13, 1942 | Chicago Cubs |