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

[rats60]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

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)

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.