Barry Bonds (pictured here in 2006) joined the 500 home run club in 2001 and set a new career home run record of 762 in 2007.

In Major League Baseball (MLB), the 500 home run club is a group of batters who have hit 500 or more regular-season home runs in their careers. On August 11, 1929, Babe Ruth became the first member of the club. Ruth ended his career with 714 home runs, a record which stood from 1935 until Hank Aaron surpassed it in 1974.^[1] Aaron's ultimate career total, 755, remained the record until Barry Bonds set the current mark of 762 during the 2007 season.^[1] Twenty-seven players are members of the 500 home run club. Ted Williams (.344) holds the highest batting average among the club members while Harmon Killebrew (.256) holds the lowest.

Of these 27 players, 14 were right-handed batters, 11 were left-handed, and 2 were switch hitters. The San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox are the only franchises to see four players reach the milestone while on their roster: for the Giants, Mel Ott while the team was in New York, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and most recently Bonds, and, for the Red Sox, Jimmie Foxx, Williams, and more recently Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz. Six 500 home run club members--Aaron, Mays, Eddie Murray, Rafael Palmeiro, Albert Pujols, and Alex Rodriguez--are also members of the 3,000 hit club. Gary Sheffield's 500th home run was his first career home run with the New York Mets, the first time that a player's 500th home run was also his first with his franchise.^[2] Rodriguez, at 32 years and 8 days, was the youngest player to reach the milestone while Williams, at 41 years and 291 days, was the oldest.^[2][3] The most recent player to reach 500 home runs is Ortiz, who hit his 500th home run on September 12, 2015.^[4] As of the end of the 2019 season, Albert Pujols is the only active member of the 500 home run club.^[5]

Membership in the 500 home run club is sometimes described as a guarantee of eventual entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame, although some believe the milestone has become less meaningful in recent years.^[6][7][8][9] Five eligible club members--Bonds, Mark McGwire, Palmeiro, Sheffield and Sammy Sosa--have not been elected to the Hall. Bonds and Sosa made their first appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot in 2013; Bonds received only 36.2% and Sosa 12.5% of the total votes, with 75% required for induction.^[10] Eligibility requires that a player has "been retired five seasons" or be deceased for at least six months. Some believe the milestone has become less important with the large number of new members; 10 players joined the club from 1999 to 2009.^[6] Additionally, several of these recent members have had ties to performance-enhancing drugs.^[6][9][11] Some believe that by not electing McGwire to the Hall the voters were establishing a "referendum" on how they would treat players from the "Steroid Era".^[12][13] On January 8, 2014, Palmeiro became the first member of the club to be removed from the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot. As the BBWAA announced the selections for the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2014, Palmeiro appeared on just 4.4% of the ballots. Players must be named on at least of 5.0% of ballots to remain on future ballots.^[14]

Key

Player	Name of the player
HR	Career home runs
Date	Date of the player's 500th home run
Team	The batter's team at the time of his 500th home run
Seasons	The seasons this player played in the major leagues
	Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
	Denotes player who is still active

Members

• Stats updated as of the 2020 season.

Babe Ruth was the first player to reach 500 home runs and set a career home run mark of 714 that stood until 1974.

David Ortiz is the most recent player to hit 500 home runs, one of 12 to reach the milestone from 1999 to 2015.

Player	HR	Date	Team	Seasons played	Ref(s)
Barry Bonds	762	April 17, 2001	San Francisco Giants	1986-2007	[15]
Hank Aaron	755	July 14, 1968	Atlanta Braves	1954-1976	[16]
Babe Ruth	714	August 11, 1929	New York Yankees	1914-1935	[17]
Alex Rodriguez	696	August 4, 2007	New York Yankees	1994-2013, 2015-2016	[3][18]
Albert Pujols	662	April 22, 2014	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	2001-present	[19]
Willie Mays	660	September 13, 1965	San Francisco Giants	1951-1952, 1954-1973	[20]
Ken Griffey Jr.	630	June 20, 2004	Cincinnati Reds	1989-2010	[21]
Jim Thome	612	September 16, 2007	Chicago White Sox	1991-2012	[7][22]
Sammy Sosa	609	April 4, 2003	Chicago Cubs	1989-2005, 2007	[23]
Frank Robinson	586	September 13, 1971	Baltimore Orioles	1956-1976	[24]
Mark McGwire	583	August 5, 1999	St. Louis Cardinals	1986-2001	[25]
Harmon Killebrew	573	August 10, 1971	Minnesota Twins	1954-1975	[26]
Rafael Palmeiro	569	May 11, 2003	Texas Rangers	1986-2005	[27]
Reggie Jackson	563	September 17, 1984	California Angels	1967-1987	[28]
Manny Ramirez	555	May 31, 2008	Boston Red Sox	1993-2011	[29][30]
Mike Schmidt	548	April 18, 1987	Philadelphia Phillies	1972-1989	[31]
David Ortiz	541	September 12, 2015	Boston Red Sox	1997-2016	[32]
Mickey Mantle	536	May 14, 1967	New York Yankees	1951-1968	[33]
Jimmie Foxx	534	September 24, 1940	Boston Red Sox	1925-1942, 1944-1945	[34]
Willie McCovey	521	June 30, 1978	San Francisco Giants	1959-1980	[35]
Frank Thomas	521	June 28, 2007	Toronto Blue Jays	1990-2008	[36][37]
Ted Williams	521	June 17, 1960	Boston Red Sox	1939-1942, 1946-1960	[38]
Ernie Banks	512	May 12, 1970	Chicago Cubs	1953-1971	[39]
Eddie Mathews	512	July 14, 1967	Houston Astros	1952-1968	[40]
Mel Ott	511	August 1, 1945	New York Giants	1926-1947	[41]
Gary Sheffield	509	April 17, 2009	New York Mets	1988-2009	[2][42]
Eddie Murray	504	September 6, 1996	Baltimore Orioles	1977-1997	[43]

See also

• Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame, includes a "500 Homerun Club" exhibit
• List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
• 3,000 hit club

References

General

• "Career Leaders & Records for Home Runs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2010.
• "500 Home Run Club - Milestones". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved 2010.

Specific