Single Season Leaders for Home Run Percentage in the American League

Have you ever wondered how often Mark McGwire hit a long ball in 1998? How about his numbers compared to Roger Maris in 1961? Babe Ruth in 1927? Here is a chart that breaks down over the course of a single American League season a hitters percentage of at-bats [(home runs divided by at-bats) times 100] which result in a home run.

Note: Three point one plate (3.1) appearances per scheduled game are needed to make this list, raw averages are presented to further clarify the one-hundred greatest American League single season home run percentage leaders, and a bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the previous Major League season.
"I touched Roger's (Maris) bat and held it to my heart. My bat will lie next to his. I'm damn proud of that." - Mark McGwire
Home Run Percentage
Single Season American League Leaders

'Top 100'
Mark McGwire 12.29 (12.2931) 1996 Oakland Athletics AL 1
Babe Ruth 11.79 (11.7904) 1920 New York Yankees AL 2
Babe Ruth 11.11 (11.1111) 1927 New York Yankees AL 3
Babe Ruth 10.93 (10.9259) 1921 New York Yankees AL 4
Jim Thome 10.83 (10.8333) 2002 Cleveland Indians AL 5
Mickey Mantle 10.51 (10.5058) 1961 New York Yankees AL 6
Hank Greenberg 10.43 (10.4317) 1938 Detroit Tigers AL 7
Roger Maris 10.34 (10.3390) 1961 New York Yankees AL 8
Babe Ruth 10.07 (10.0746) 1928 New York Yankees AL 9
Jimmie Foxx 9.91 (9.9145) 1932 Philadelphia Athletics AL 10
Mickey Mantle 9.76 (9.7561) 1956 New York Yankees AL 11
David Ortiz 9.68 (9.6774) 2006 Boston Red Sox AL 12
Frank Thomas 9.52 (9.5238) 1994 Chicago White Sox AL 13
Babe Ruth 9.49 (9.4949) 1926 New York Yankees AL 14
Jim Gentile 9.46 (9.4650) 1961 Baltimore Orioles AL 15
Babe Ruth 9.46 (9.4595) 1930 New York Yankees AL 16
Carlos Pena 9.39 (9.3878) 2007 Tampa Bay Devil Rays AL 17
Jim Thome 9.32 (9.3156) 2001 Cleveland Indians AL 18
Alex Rodriguez 9.26 (9.2624) 2007 New York Yankees AL 19
Travis Hafner 9.25 (9.2511) 2006 Cleveland Indians AL 20
Ken Griffey, Jr. 9.24 (9.2379) 1994 Seattle Mariners AL 21
Babe Ruth 9.22 (9.2184) 1929 New York Yankees AL 22
Ken Griffey, Jr. 9.21 (9.2105) 1997 Seattle Mariners AL 23
Boog Powell 9.20 (9.1981) 1964 Baltimore Orioles AL 24
Albert Belle 9.16 (9.1575) 1995 Cleveland Indians AL 25
Alex Rodriguez 9.13 (9.1346) 2002 Texas Rangers AL 26
Ted Williams 9.05 (9.0476) 1957 Boston Red Sox AL 27
Mark McGwire 8.99 (8.9936) 1992 Oakland Athletics AL 28
Ken Griffey, Jr. 8.99 (8.9908) 1996 Seattle Mariners AL 29
Babe Ruth 8.97 (8.9716) 1932 New York Yankees AL 30
Cecil Fielder 8.90 (8.9005) 1990 Detroit Tigers AL 31
Jimmie Foxx 8.85 (8.8496) 1938 Boston Red Sox AL 32
Ken Griffey, Jr. 8.85 (8.8468) 1998 Seattle Mariners AL 33
Harmon Killebrew 8.83 (8.8288) 1969 Minnesota Twins AL 34
Mark McGwire 8.80 (8.7971) 1987 Oakland Athletics AL 35
Albert Belle 8.74 (8.7379) 1994 Cleveland Indians AL 36
Harmon Killebrew 8.74 (8.7379) 1963 Minnesota Twins AL  
Harmon Killebrew 8.70 (8.6957) 1962 Minnesota Twins AL 38
Babe Ruth 8.70 (8.6957) 1924 New York Yankees AL  
Juan Gonzalez 8.69 (8.6876) 1996 Texas Rangers AL 40
Manny Ramirez 8.66 (8.6560) 2000 Cleveland Indians AL 41
Brady Anderson 8.64 (8.6356) 1996 Baltimore Orioles AL 42
Babe Ruth 8.62 (8.6207) 1922 New York Yankees AL 43
Babe Ruth 8.61 (8.6142) 1931 New York Yankees AL 44
Juan Gonzalez 8.58 (8.5821) 1993 Texas Rangers AL 45
Jim Thome 8.57 (8.5714) 2006 Chicago White Sox AL 46
Reggie Jackson 8.56 (8.5610) 1969 Oakland Athletics AL 47
Jay Buhner 8.51 (8.5106) 1995 Seattle Mariners AL 48
Frank Robinson 8.51 (8.5069) 1966 Baltimore Orioles AL 49
Harmon Killebrew 8.50 (8.5028) 1961 Minnesota Twins AL 50
Harmon Killebrew 8.49 (8.4922) 1964 Minnesota Twins AL 51
Lou Gehrig 8.46 (8.4629) 1934 New York Yankees AL 52
Lou Gehrig 8.46 (8.4629) 1936 New York Yankees AL  
Jason Giambi 8.43 (8.4314) 2000 Oakland Athletics AL 54
Manny Ramirez 8.43 (8.4291) 1999 Cleveland Indians AL 55
Hank Greenberg 8.41 (8.4130) 1946 Detroit Tigers AL 56
Rocky Colavito 8.38 (8.3845) 1958 Cleveland Indians AL 57
Jimmie Foxx 8.38 (8.3770) 1933 Philadelphia Athletics AL 58
Frank Thomas 8.37 (8.3691) 2006 Oakland Athletics AL 59
Alex Rodriguez 8.37 (8.3665) 1999 Seattle Mariners AL 60
Troy Glaus 8.35 (8.3481) 2000 Anaheim Angels AL 61
Rafael Palmeiro 8.32 (8.3186) 1999 Texas Rangers AL 62
Jason Giambi 8.30 (8.2960) 2006 New York Yankees AL 63
Alex Rodriguez 8.23 (8.2278) 2001 Texas Rangers AL 64
Jermaine Dye 8.16 (8.1633) 2006 Chicago White Sox AL 65
Jimmie Foxx 8.16 (8.1633) 1934 Philadelphia Athletics AL  
Manny Ramirez 8.12 (8.1227) 2005 Boston Red Sox AL 67
Ted Williams 8.11 (8.1140) 1941 Boston Red Sox AL 68
Frank Thomas 8.11 (8.1136) 1995 Chicago White Sox AL 69
Frank Howard 8.11 (8.1081) 1969 Washington Senators AL 70
Jim Thome 8.10 (8.1019) 2007 Chicago White Sox AL 71
Mickey Mantle 8.09 (8.0925) 1958 New York Yankees AL 72
Gorman Thomas 8.08 (8.0790) 1979 Milwaukee Brewers AL 73
Jim Thome 8.06 (8.0645) 1997 Cleveland Indians AL 74
Lou Gehrig 8.05 (8.0479) 1927 New York Yankees AL 75
Albert Belle 8.05 (8.0460) 1998 Chicago White Sox AL 76
Harmon Killebrew 8.04 (8.0439) 1967 Minnesota Twins AL 77
Reggie Jackson 7.98 (7.9767) 1980 New York Yankees AL 78
Albert Belle 7.97 (7.9734) 1996 Cleveland Indians AL 79
Mickey Mantle 7.96 (7.9576) 1962 New York Yankees AL 80
Alex Rodriguez 7.93 (7.9339) 2005 New York Yankees AL 81
Darrell Evans 7.92 (7.9208) 1985 Detroit Tigers AL 82
Ken Griffey, Jr. 7.92 (7.9208) 1999 Seattle Mariners AL  
Jose Canseco 7.91 (7.9070) 1999 Tampa Bay Devil Rays AL 84
Jose Canseco 7.89 (7.8902) 1998 Toronto Blue Jays AL 85
Manny Ramirez 7.88 (7.8809) 1998 Cleveland Indians AL 86
Juan Gonzalez 7.88 (7.8799) 1997 Texas Rangers AL 87
Rafael Palmeiro 7.88 (7.8755) 2002 Texas Rangers AL 88
Babe Ruth 7.85 (7.8544) 1923 New York Yankees AL 89
Rafael Palmeiro 7.83 (7.8333) 2001 Texas Rangers AL 90
David Justice 7.82 (7.8244) 2000 Cleveland Indians AL 91
New York Yankees AL
David Ortiz 7.82 (7.8203) 2005 Boston Red Sox AL 92
Roger Maris 7.82 (7.8156) 1960 New York Yankees AL 93
Jay Buhner 7.80 (7.8014) 1996 Seattle Mariners AL 94
Manny Ramirez 7.80 (7.7951) 2006 Boston Red Sox AL 95
Harmon Killebrew 7.78 (7.7799) 1970 Minnesota Twins AL 96
Frank Howard 7.77 (7.7739) 1970 Washington Senators AL 97
Manny Ramirez 7.75 (7.7505) 2001 Boston Red Sox AL 98
Alex Rodriguez 7.74 (7.7430) 2003 Texas Rangers AL 99
Ken Griffey, Jr. 7.73 (7.7320) 1993 Seattle Mariners AL 100
Current Through End of 2007 Regular Season


Did you know that Mark McGwire, who is ranked number one (#1), number twenty-three (#23) and number thirty (#30) on this page, is also ranked ranked number two (#2) and number three (#3) on the National League single season leaders for home run percentage?

The code to write the single season home run percentage league splits was developed in 2005, launched during 2006 and made possible by your support — please continue helping us create these kinds of pages by supporting our site.

The National League single season record for home run percentage was set in 2001 by Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants. The American League single season record for home run percentage is on this page. Is either the Career Leader for Home Run Percentage?
Advertising | All-Star Game | Autographs | Awards | Ballparks | The Ballplayers | Baseball Cards | Baseball Families | Biographies | Book Shelf | College Baseball
Division Series | Downloads | Fabulous Feats | Famous Firsts | Feedback | Fun & Games | Grave Sites | Hall of Fame | Hitting Charts | Humor & Jokes | Interviews
Legendary Lists | Managers | Movie Time | News Feeds | Newsletter | Obituaries | Opening Day | Pitching Charts | Poetry & Song | Quotes | Record Books | Rules
Scoring | Search & Find | Statmaster | Stats 101 | Support | Team by Team | US Presidents | Umpires | World Series | Year by Year

Copyright © 2000-2008. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy. Design by Geisler Young. Hosted by Hosting 4 Less.
Part of the Baseball Almanac family: 755 Home Runs | Baseball Box Scores | Baseball Fever | Today in Baseball History.