Career home run leaders, 1914 to 2022
Barry Bonds holds the career home run record at 762, set across 1986 to 2007. Hank Aaron hit 755 from 1954 to 1976, and Babe Ruth 714 from 1914 to 1935. The active-era names behind them: Albert Pujols at 703 and Alex Rodriguez at 696.
How it is measured
Each line accumulates a player's season home run totals from the batting tables of the SABR Lahman Baseball Database (licensed CC BY-SA 3.0), debut to final season. The chart carries the ten highest career totals in the database. A line ends where the career does, so the heights of the finished curves read as the all-time list.
What the curve shows
Three record eras stack on one axis. Ruth's curve towers over the 1920s, with his 60-homer 1927 season the steepest single step of the era. Aaron's line passes Ruth's 714 in 1974 on 23 seasons of steady power, never one above 47. Bonds entered 2007 at 734, passed Aaron that summer, and finished at 762. Willie Mays (660), Ken Griffey (630), Jim Thome (612), Sammy Sosa (609), and Frank Robinson (586) fill out the ten.
Who holds the MLB career home run record?
When did Bonds pass Aaron?
Are Negro League players included in this list?
How did Aaron pass Ruth?
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