In the 2012 MLB season, 27 different players hit 30 or more home runs. Only one team, the Los Angeles Angels, had three players appear on that list: Mark Trumbo (32), Albert Pujols (30) and Mike Trout (30). It was the first time since 2000 that three Angels players topped the 30-HR mark in a season.
Seven of the 30 MLB franchises have never had three (or more) players hit 30 or more HRs in a season. The seven: Baltimore, Kansas City, New York Mets, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Tampa Bay and Washington. Of the remaining 23 teams, here’s a look at the last season in which each team had a trio of 30-HR hitters in the same season. The list begins with the team with the longest drought, the San Francisco Giants, who have not had three (or more) players hit 30-plus homers in a season since 1966.
Last year with three players with 30-plus HRs, Team(s)
1966: San Francisco
1977: Boston
1982: Milwaukee
1987: Minnesota
1992: Detroit
1997: Seattle
1999: Arizona, Cleveland, Los Angeles Dodgers
2000: Houston, Toronto
2001: Oakland
2003: Atlanta
2004: Chicago Cubs, Colorado, St. Louis
2005: New York Yankees
2007: Cincinnati
2008: Chicago White Sox, Miami
2009: Philadelphia
2011: Texas
2012: Los Angeles Angels
The St. Louis Cardinals’ last season upped their current streak of having at least one player with 30 HRs in a season to 17 consecutive years when Carlos Beltran hit 32 homers in 2012. That is the longest current streak in the majors. The Phils‘ Jimmy Rollins led Philly with 23 HRs last season, the first time since 2000 that the team didn’t have a player with 30-plus HRs.
Following is a look at the teams with the current longest streaks of having at least one player with 30-plus home runs.
17 years: St. Louis
13: New York Yankees
8: Milwaukee
6: Miami
5: Detroit, Texas
4: Arizona, Toronto, Washington
At the other end of the list are the Kansas City Royals. They have not had a player hit 30 HRs since 2000, the longest drought in the MLB. Following are the teams that have not had a 30-HR hitter since 2009 (and beyond): Kansas City (2000, Jermaine Dye); San Francisco (2004, Barry Bonds); Houston (2007, Carlos Lee); Cleveland (2008, Grady Sizemore); Seattle (2009, Russell Branyan).
Two teams last year just missed out on joining the Angels with three players with 30-plus HRs: The Brewers had two players (Ryan Braun, 41; Corey Hart, 30) reach those numbers, but fell short of three when Aramis Ramirez collected 27. The Pittsburgh Pirates had Andrew McCutchen, 31 and Pedro Alvarez, 30, but fell short as Garrett Jones had 27 homers.
If we drop the criteria down to 25 home runs last season, the Chicago White Sox had five players in that category, making them one of only 10 teams ever to achieve that mark in a season.
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