List of Top 20 home-run hitters – MLB Featured – Part 3
11. Harmon Killebrew
Harmon Killebrew had the ability to up his game play in pressure situations. From 1961 to 1975, he displayed some top quality hitting skills to help the Minnesota Twins win several important encounters. In 1969, he posted his best Major League Baseball season,
hitting a decent .276 average with 29 home-runs and 140 RBI’s.
Killebrew helped the Twins dominate the American League in the early 1970’s as well. By the time he retired in 1975, he had hit 573 home-runs with 1584 RBI’s.
10. Mark McGwire
With 583 home-runs and 1414 RBI’s, Mark McGwire is placed 10th on our list of to 20 home-run hitters in history of the game. McGwire had exceptional hitting abilities against both right and left handed pitching.
In addition to being a match winning hitter, he was a very good defensive player as well. McGwire won the Gold Glove Award in 1990. He also claimed three Silver Slugger Awards (1992, 1996 and 1998).
9. Frank Robinson
Frank Robinson is currently an MLB Manager. As a player, he made his MLB debut for the Cincinnati Reds in 1956. In his rookie season in 1956, he showed the baseball world the stuff he was capable of. Smacking 38 home-runs with 83 RBI’s, he was named Rookie
of the Year at the end of that season.
Robinson played ten seasons for the Reds before moving to Baltimore Orioles in 1966. However, he was destined for bigger things. In his very first year in Baltimore, Robinson won the Most Valuable Player Award. He finally called it a career in 1976 after
hitting 586 home-runs with 1812 RBI’s.
8. Sammy Sosa
The designated hitter hit 609 home-runs with 1667 RBI’s before retiring from professional baseball in 2007. Sosa was one of those players who would take time to settle before unleashing. He played 13 consecutive big league seasons for the Chicago Cubs to
carve a Hall of Fame career for himself.
Between 1998 and 2003, Sosa was an unstoppable force. None of the pitchers in the National League could find a way to get Sosa out cheaply as he piled up records.
Hitting 66 home-runs with 158 RBI’s, the 1998 regular season was the most successful season of his career. For his heroic performances during that season, he was given the Most Valuable Player Award.
7. Jim Thome
Jim Thome is placed seventh on the list. With 612 home-runs and 1747 RBI’s, he is one of the most talented hitters of the modern era.
"The only thing the kid ever wanted to do was play baseball. He used to have a hard time getting kids to spend as much time on the field as he wanted to. Rain or shine, he'd take a bucket of rubber baseballs and hit them for hours," Jim’s father Chuck Thome
said in an interview.
“He’s an emotional player who likes to play for something. Every team has a guy who refuses to lose, a big-time player who pushes and pulls the rest of the team,” Former teamimate Richie Sexson said.
It will not be a surprise if he moves up a couple of places on this list before taking retirement.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Continued in Part 4
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