News Item: Sammy Sosa becomes the first National Leaguer to hit 40 home runs in six consecutive seasons. Sosa had been tied with Ralph Kiner (1947-1951) and Duke Snider (1953-1957) for the N.L. record with five straight years of at least 40 homers.

NATIONAL LEAGUE, MODERN (1900-)
NUMBER OF CONSECUTIVE SEASONS HR >= 40

1    Sammy Sosa               1998-03    6
T2   Ralph Kiner              1947-51    5   
T2   Duke Snider              1953-57    5   
T4   Ernie Banks              1957-60    4   
T4   Barry Bonds              2000-03    4 
T5   Ted Kluszewski           1953-55    3   
T5   Eddie Mathews            1953-55    3   
T5   Vinny Castilla           1996-98    3   
T5   Andres Galarraga         1996-98    3   
T10  Chuck Klein              1929-30    2   
T10  Johnny Mize              1947-48    2   
T10  Willie Mays              1954-55    2   
T10  Willie Mays              1961-62    2   
T10  Hank Aaron               1962-63    2   
T10  Willie Mays              1964-65    2   
T10  George Foster            1977-78    2   
T10  Mike Schmidt             1979-80    2   
T10  Barry Bonds              1996-97    2   
T10  Greg Vaughn              1998-99    2   
T10  Mark McGwire             1998-99    2   
T10  Vladimir Guerrero        1999-00    2   
T10  Jeff Bagwell             1999-00    2   
T10  Todd Helton              2000-01    2   
T10  Shawn Green              2001-02    2

Babe Ruth (1926-1932) holds the major league with seven years in a row. Alex Rodriguez also has a current streak of six straight seasons with 40.

MAJOR LEAGUE, MODERN (1900-)
NUMBER OF CONSECUTIVE SEASONS HR >= 40

1    Babe Ruth                1926-32    7   
T2   Alex Rodriguez           1998-03    6
T2   Sammy Sosa               1998-03    6
T4   Ralph Kiner              1947-51    5   
T4   Duke Snider              1953-57    5   
T4   Ken Griffey Jr.          1996-00    5   
T7   Ernie Banks              1957-60    4   
T7   Harmon Killebrew         1961-64    4   
T7   Mark McGwire             1996-99    4   
T7   Barry Bonds              2000-03    4

Slammin' Sammy and Barry Bonds are tied for second place in the N.L. circuit for the most 40 home run seasons with seven, one behind Hank Aaron.

NATIONAL LEAGUE, MODERN (1900-)
NUMBER OF SEASONS HR >= 40

1    Hank Aaron                8
T2   Sammy Sosa                7
T2   Barry Bonds               7
4    Willie Mays               6
T5   Ralph Kiner               5
T5   Duke Snider               5
T5   Ernie Banks               5
8    Eddie Mathews             4
T9   Andres Galarraga          3
T9   Johnny Mize               3
T9   Mike Schmidt              3
T9   Vinny Castilla            3
T9   Jeff Bagwell              3
T9   Ted Kluszewski            3

Sosa and Bonds are tied with Ken Griffey Jr. with the most 40-HR seasons in major league history, trailing just Harmon Killebrew, Aaron, and Ruth.

MAJOR LEAGUE, MODERN (1900-)
NUMBER OF SEASONS HR >= 40

1    Babe Ruth                11   
T2   Hank Aaron                8   
T2   Harmon Killebrew          8   
T4   Ken Griffey Jr.           7   
T4   Barry Bonds               7   
T4   Sammy Sosa                7
T7   Willie Mays               6   
T7   Mark McGwire              6   
T7   Alex Rodriguez            6
T10  Ralph Kiner               5   
T10  Juan Gonzalez             5   
T10  Lou Gehrig                5   
T10  Jimmie Foxx               5   
T10  Duke Snider               5   
T10  Ernie Banks               5   
T10  Frank Thomas              5
T10  Rafael Palmeiro           5

The Chicago Cub great also reached the century mark in RBI in 2003, becoming the first National Leaguer in history to drive in 100 runs nine consecutive seasons.

NATIONAL LEAGUE, MODERN (1900-)
NUMBER OF CONSECUTIVE SEASONS RBI >= 100

1    Sammy Sosa               1995-03    9
T2   Mel Ott                  1929-36    8   
T2   Willie Mays              1959-66    8   
T2   Chipper Jones            1996-03    8
5    Gil Hodges               1949-55    7   
T6   Jim Bottomley            1924-29    6   
T6   Bill Terry               1927-32    6   
T6   Joe Medwick              1934-39    6   
T6   Johnny Mize              1937-42    6   
T6   Jeff Bagwell             1996-01    6   
T6   Jeff Kent                1997-02    6

Sosa tied Albert Belle and Rafael Palmeiro for fourth place on the all-time major league list.

MAJOR LEAGUE, MODERN (1900-)
NUMBER OF CONSECUTIVE SEASONS RBI >= 100

T1   Lou Gehrig               1926-38   13   
T1   Jimmie Foxx              1929-41   13   
3    Al Simmons               1924-34   11   
T4   Albert Belle             1992-00    9   
T4   Sammy Sosa               1995-03    9   
T4   Rafael Palmeiro          1995-03    9
T5   Babe Ruth                1926-33    8   
T5   Mel Ott                  1929-36    8   
T5   Willie Mays              1959-66    8   
T5   Frank Thomas             1991-98    8   
T5   Chipper Jones            1996-03    8

In addition to the above milestones, Sosa passed Mickey Mantle for tenth place on the all-time HR list.

CAREER
MODERN (1900-)

HOME RUNS                         HR
1    Hank Aaron                  755
2    Babe Ruth                   714
3    Willie Mays                 660
4    Barry Bonds                 658
5    Frank Robinson              586
6    Mark McGwire                583
7    Harmon Killebrew            573
8    Reggie Jackson              563
9    Mike Schmidt                548
10   Sammy Sosa                  539

Sammy appears to be a good bet to pass Mike Schmidt, Reggie Jackson, and Killebrew in 2004 and Mark McGwire and Frank Robinson in 2005.

According to 756watch.com, Sosa has a 26.2% probability of hitting 756 HR. Only A-Rod (37.5%) and Bonds (28.0%) have a better shot at surpassing Aaron.

Finally, Sosa's most significant achievement of all may have been passing the Bambino and setting the major league record for HR over a 10 year span with 469. The top ten rankings are the exclusive domain of Sosa, Ruth, and Bonds.

MAJOR LEAGUE, MODERN (1900-)
MOST HR OVER TEN-YEAR PERIOD

1    Sammy Sosa               1994-03   469
2    Babe Ruth                1920-29   467
T3   Babe Ruth                1921-30   462
T3   Sammy Sosa               1993-02   462
5    Babe Ruth                1923-32   455
6    Babe Ruth                1919-28   450
7    Babe Ruth                1922-31   449
8    Babe Ruth                1924-33   448
9    Barry Bonds              1993-02   437
10   Barry Bonds              1994-03   436

Courtesy of Lee Sinins, Sabermetric Baseball Encyclopedia.

Given the fact that Sosa hit only 25 HR in 1994, he stands an excellent chance of setting the record again next year. Another 40 HR campaign would give Sammy 484 over the 1995-2004 period, an average of more than 48 per season for ten consecutive years. I don't think there is anything corky, I mean quirky, about that.

Postseason special: Check back during the week for a couple of Rich's Weekday Baseball BEAT articles.

Until then,

Richard Lederer
Rich's Weekend Baseball BEAT
www.baseballbeat.blogspot.com