When I was at the park on Monday, looking over the Game Notes, my eye fell upon the item pointing out that the next home run Frank Thomas hits will be the 493rd of his career. He will move, temporarily into a three way tie for 21st on the All-Time list, along with a couple of other pretty good first basemen: Lou Gehrig and Fred McGriff.
A quick scan of the leaderboard confirmed my suspicion - Fred McGriff hit more home runs in his career than any other player who has ever worn the Blue Jays uniform. He only hit 125 of that total during his four years as a Blue Jay (although it was enough to leave him, even now, eighth on the franchise leader board.)
Anyway, for some reason I decided to waste some time figuring who had the most career homers and the most career hits of everyone who ever played for each of the thirty teams. (I don't know why I do these things, really!)
Obviously, Hank Aaron hit more home runs than anyone. He only played for two teams, the Braves and the Brewers. The number two man, Bonds, leads the way for the Pirates and the Giants. The number three man, Ruth, carries the banner for the Red Sox and the Yankees - but not the Braves. And, strangest of all, Willie Mays represents the Mets and Willie McCovey represents the Padres. Someone else leads the Giants.
So here's my silly list:
Baltimore - Sosa (596)
Boston - Ruth (714)
New York - Ruth (714)
Tampa Bay - McGriff (493)
Toronto - McGriff (493)
Chicago - Sosa (596)
Cleveland - F.Robinson (586)
Detroit - Mathews (512)
Kansas City - Killebrew (573)
Minnesota - Killebrew (573)
LA Angels - F.Robinson (586)
Oakland - McGwire (583)
Seattle - Griffey (570)
Texas - Sosa (596)
Atlanta - Aaron (755)
Florida - Sheffield (461)
NY Mets - Mays (660)
Philadelphia - Schmidt (548)
Washington - Dawson (438)
Chicago - Sosa (596)
Cincinnati - F.Robinson (586)
Houston - Mathews (512)
Milwaukee - Aaron (755)
Pittsburgh - Bonds (745)
St.Louis - McGwire (583)
Arizona - M.Williams (378)
Colorado - Galarraga (399)
LA Dodgers - F.Robinson (586)
San Diego - McCovey (521)
San Francisco - Bonds (745)
Also odd - Eddie Mathews, the great Braves third baseman, stands here on behalf of two teams he played briefly with at the end of his career, the Tigers and the Astros.
Sammy Sosa and Frank Robinson are the greatest home run hitters to ever play for no fewer than four different franchises - although Ken Griffey should become the Cincinnati rep later this summer.
And one man, and one man alone on this list, hit every single one of his homers for the same team - Mike Schmidt of the Phillies. Although that doesn't make him the single team homer champion - Henry Aaron did hit 733 homers for the Braves (398 for Milwaukee and 335 for Atlanta.) Babe Ruth hit 659 homers for the Yankees and Willie Mays hit 646 homers for the Giants.
I did the same thing for each franchise for career hits. So Ty Cobb is our man for the Tigers and the A's, Pete Rose for the Reds, Phillies, and Expos/Nationals, and so on.
While Mike Schmidt was the only man on the home run list who actually
hit every one of his homers for the team he represents, it's a little
different when it comes to the guys with the most hits. At least four
men make the hit column, and I'm not including Cap Anson and Honus
Wagner (Cubs and Pirates). They would be Stan Musial, George Brett,
Tony Gwynn, and Craig Biggio.
Paul Molitor had more career hits than any one who ever played for the Blue Jays. But two other men who also played for the Blue Jays at one time had more hits in the majors than any other player who played for... should I give it away? Seattle and Arizona.
Finally, a puzzle! Of all the men who have played for the New York Yankees... who had the most hits in his career?
I never would have guessed this one myself.