Sunday, January 12, 2014

500 HR Club's Average BA

The 500 Home Run Club's average batting average gradually decreased ever since Jimmie Foxx joined Babe Ruth as the second member of the club. As 15 new members joined the club the average steadily declined from 342 in 1935 to 292 in 2001. Since then the average has remained relatively constant, despite the addition of nine new club members. 

Frank Thomas will enter the Hall of Fame with the 8th highest batting average for a 500 Home Run Club member. His 301 career average is the highest for a club member since Hank Aaron retired in 1976.

club
avg HR avg YR
342 714 342 22 Babe Ruth 1935
334 534 325 20 Jimmie Foxx 1945
324 511 304 22 Mel Ott 1947
329 521 344 19 Ted Williams 1960
323 536 298 18 Mickey Mantle 1968

314 512 271 17 Eddie Mathews 1968
308 512 274 19 Ernie Banks 1971
308 660 302 22 Willie Mays 1973
302 573 256 22 Harmon Killebrew 1975
302 755 305 23 Hank Aaron 1976

301 586 294 21 Frank Robinson 1976
300 521 270 22 Willie McCovey 1980
297 563 262 21 Reggie Jackson 1987
295 548 267 18 Mike Schmidt 1989
294 504 287 21 Eddie Murray 1997

292 583 263 16 Mark McGwire 2001
292 569 288 20 Rafael Palmeiro 2005
292 762 298 22 Barry Bonds 2007
291 609 273 18 Sammy Sosa 2007

292 521 301 19 Frank Thomas 2008
292 509 292 22 Gary Sheffield 2009
291 630 284 22 Ken Griffey 2010
292 555 312 19 Manny Ramirez 2011
292 621 276 22 Jim Thome 2012

292 654 299 20 Alex Rodriquez - active

The Club batting average is simply an average of all the member averages, and not weighted based on at bats.

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