Home run
In baseball, a home run is a base hit in which the batter is able to circle all the bases, ending at home plate and scoring a run.
Home runs are among the most popular aspects of baseball, and the biggest stars are typically the players who hit many of them.
In almost all cases, a home run involves hitting the ball over the outfield fence. Very rarely, a batter can hit the ball in play and circle all the bases before the fielders can stop him; this is called an inside-the-park home run, and typically requires that the fielder misplay the ball in some way, or that the ball is made difficult to play by caroming in unexpected ways or by getting caught in something. If the misplay is labelled an error by the official scorer, however, the batter is not credited with a home run.
Prior to 1931, a ball that bounced over an outfield fence was considered a home run. The rule was changed to require the ball to clear the fence on the fly, and balls which reached the seats on a bounce became ground-rule doubles in most parks.
The all-time career record for home runs in the Major Leagues is 755, held by Hank Aaron. Only two other players have hit as many as 600, Babe Ruth (714), and Willie Mays (660). The single season record is 73, set by Barry Bonds in 2001.
Other home run heroes include Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Mickey Mantle, Reggie Jackson, Josh Gibson and Sadaharu Oh.
Progression of the Single-Season Home-Run Record
- 5, by George Hall in 1876 (70 games)
- 9, by Charley Jones in 1879
- 14, by Harry Stovey, 1883
- 27, by Ned Williamson, 1884
- Williamson benefitted by a short outfield fence in his home ballpark. The year before and the year afterward, balls hit over taht fence in that park were ground-rule doubles, but in 1884 they counted as home runs. Williamson led the pace, but several of his Chicago teammates also topped the 20 HR mark that season. Noticing the fluke involved, fans of the early 20th century were more impressed with Buck Freeman's total of 25 home runs in 1899 or Gavy Cravath's 1915 total of 24.
- 29, by Babe Ruth, 1919
- 54, by Ruth, 1920
- 59, by Ruth, 1921
- 60, by Ruth, 1927
- Ruth hit more home runs in 1927 than each of the other seven American League teams. His closest rival was his teammate, Lou Gehrig, who hit 47 homers that year.
- 61, by Roger Maris, 1961
- Pushing Maris that year was teammate Mickey Mantle; slowed by an injury late in the season, Mantle finished with 54.
- 70, by Mark McGwire, 1998
- Pushing McGwire that year was Sammy Sosa, who finished with 66.
- 73, by Barry Bonds, 2001
- It seems necessary for challengers to this record to appear in pairs, perhaps because the pressure that accompanies such a record is intense enough that having a competitor distracts a hitter from the media crush. In this case, the competitor was Sosa again, hitting 64 round-trippers.
Home run also refers to a cable configuration where cable runs from a central location to each device individually, i.e. a Star Topology as opposed to a Daisy Chain Topology.