Trivia: Final original franchise to have a player hit 30 HRs in a season
 

Babe Ruth was the first person to hit 30 HRs in a season when he dismantled all previous records by belting 54 HRs in 1920 for the Yankees.

Other Franchises soon followed--in 1922, Rogers Hornsby belted 42 HRs for the Cardinals, Ken Williams hit 39 HRs for the Browns, and Tilly Walker hit 37 for the Athletics.

Of the original 16 franchises that existed at the AL/NL merger, which took the longest to have a player hit 30 HRs in a single seasons, what year did it happen, and who was the player?

I'm going to guess the Browns but only based on my knowledge that Ruth outhit their entire roster several years in a row.

well since he named the Browns in his post as 1922 I'm going to bet against you lol.

I'd guess the White Sox. Can't think of any major power hitters until well into the 2nd half of the 20th century. Probably missing some one-off season though.

Whoops, didn't see Ken Williams up there.

I'll change my guess to the Tigers. I know Greenberg and York belted more than 30 homers but not till the mid-30s. Could also see it being the Reds, which would be ironic and maybe the clue.

You are correct about the White Sox!

Can you take a stab at what year/who finally hit 30 HRs for them?

I believe it was Bill Melton.

Correct! Beltin' Bill Melton clubbed 33 HRs in 1970, becoming the first White Sox player to hit 30 HRs in a single season, 69 years after the White Sox became a franchise.

Melton hit 33 HRs in 1971 as well. But his production declined the following year, and he missed much of the season after suffering two herniated discs resulting from trying to break his son's fall from their garage roof.


The order goes:
1) Yankees: 1920 (Babe Ruth)
2) Browns: 1922 August 7 (Ken Williams)
3) Athletics: 1922 August 23 (Tilly Walker)
4) Cardinals: 1922 August 25 (Rogers Horsnby)
5) Phillies: 1923 (Cy Williams)
6) Cubs: 1928 (Hack Wilson)
7) Giants: 1929 (Mel Ott)
8) Braves: 1930 (Wally Berger)
9) Indians: 1931 (Earl Averill)
10) Tigers: 1935 (Hank Greenberg)
11) Red Sox: 1936 (Jimmie Foxx)
12) Reds: 1938 (Ival Goodman)
13) Dodgers: 1941 (Dolph Camilli)
14) Pirates: 1947 (Ralph Kiner)
15) Senators: 1957 (Roy Sievers)
16) White Sox 1970 (Bill Melton)

Name the current franchises whose all time single season HR leader has the lowest number.

Mets

Brewers and Braun? I know they had Greg Vaughan but he had his big years after he left and Sheffy was too young.

Not Brewers or Mets. Prince Fielder 50, Pete Alonso 53.

Ah I forgot about Prince! He burned out bright. I'm not sure how many Yelich hit either. I just couldn't think of too many big boppers.

Recent expansion clubs like Tampa or Arizona?

I think Salvador Perez has the Royals record with 48?

Padres?

Rays?

I think Pena had mid 40's one year but it seems all the other teams have guys in the upper 40's or 50+.

So I'm guessing Rays

My guess would be the Diamondbacks.

Correct. Carlos Pena, 46. Tied for last with who?

Soriano had that 40-40 year on the Nats. He's my guess.

Correct. 46. Surprisingly, quite a few teams do not have a guy who got to 50.

I was thinking that also but remembered Luis Gonzalez had that monster year with 57

Good call. What's the Rockies number?

49

You can put an asterisk on this one. This was after the Pirates moved the fences in 30+ feet. The year before, Kiner hit 23 HRs and there no guarentee he hits 30 with the fences at their normal distance.

The first Pirate to hit 30 HRs with the fences at their normal distances was Frank Thomas with 35 in 1958. Only 2 other players hit 30+ HRs before they moved to 3 Rivers, Dick Stuart 35 HRs in 1961 and Willie Stargell 33 in 1966. Clemente in 1966 and Stargell in 1969 hit 29 HRs. Stargell's first full season in Three Rivers Stadium, he hit 48 which is the most for a Pirate excluding the seasons with the short leftfield fence.

Kiner did lead the league with those 23 homers though.

In 1947 he hit 28 at home and 23 on the road. Even with the home discount he probably would have hit 7 homers there.

The Pirates only moved the fences in to convince Hank Greenberg to play for them in 1947. Without Greenberg, there is a 0% chance Kiner hits 30 HRs in 1947. Kiner got off the a slow start and the Pirates were going to send him to the minors. Greenberg talked the Pirates into leaving him in the majors so Greenberg could work with Kiner. Kiner hit 1 HR in April and 2 HRs in May. Under Greenberg's mentorship, everything fell into place and Kiner hit 48 HRs the last 4 months of the season.