Home Run Percentage All Time Leaders by Baseball Almanac

Career Leaders for Home Run Percentage

Have you ever wondered how often Mark McGwire hits a home runs? How about his numbers compared to Roger Maris? Sammy Sosa? Barry Bonds? Here is a chart that breaks down the percentage of at-bats [(home runs divided by at-bats) times 100] which result in a home run over the course of a career.

Note: 1,000 career games played are needed to make this list and raw percentages are presented to further clarify the one-hundred (100) greatest home run percentage hitters. Note: A bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the previous Major League season.

"Babe Ruth, what can you say? You are almost speechless when people put your name alongside his name." - Future Hall of Famer Mark McGwire (1st Overall Career Home Run Percentage Leader)

Home Run Percentage All Time Leaders 'Top 100'
Name	Percent (Raw)	Rank
Mark McGwire	9.42 (9.4230)
Babe Ruth	8.50 (8.5010)	2
Barry Bonds	7.74 (7.7384)	3
Jim Thome	7.41 (7.4112)	4
Ralph Kiner	7.09 (7.0893)	5
Alex Rodriguez	7.05 (7.0476)	6
Harmon Killebrew	7.03 (7.0333)	7
Albert Pujols	6.96 (6.9561)	8
Manny Ramirez	6.94 (6.9425)	9
Sammy Sosa	6.91 (6.9102)	10
Ted Williams	6.76 (6.7610)	11
Ken Griffey, Jr.	6.72 (6.7188)	12
Juan Gonzalez	6.62 (6.6199)	13
Dave Kingman	6.62 (6.6197)	14
Mickey Mantle	6.62 (6.6157)	15
Jimmie Foxx	6.57 (6.5650)	16
Mike Schmidt	6.56 (6.5613)	17
Jose Canseco	6.55 (6.5467)	18
Carlos Delgado	6.54 (6.5392)	19
Albert Belle	6.51 (6.5095)	20
Frank Thomas	6.45 (6.4504)	21
Hank Greenberg	6.37 (6.3740)	22
Willie McCovey	6.36 (6.3560)	23
Richie Sexson	6.33 (6.3253)	24
David Ortiz	6.31 (6.3108)	25
Troy Glaus	6.26 (6.2599)	26
Jason Giambi	6.20 (6.1968)	27
Cecil Fielder	6.19 (6.1858)	28
Jay Buhner	6.18 (6.1839)	29
Darryl Strawberry	6.18 (6.1831)	30
Mike Piazza	6.18 (6.1786)	31
Lou Gehrig	6.16 (6.1617)	32
Hank Aaron	6.11 (6.1064)	33
Lance Berkman	6.10 (6.0970)	34
Willie Mays	6.07 (6.0656)	35
Vladimir Guerrero	6.01 (6.0072)	36
Hank Sauer	6.00 (6.0050)	37
Eddie Mathews	6.00 (5.9974)	38
Willie Stargell	5.99 (5.9922)	39
Mo Vaughn	5.93 (5.9291)	40
Rob Deer	5.93 (5.9263)	41
Frank Howard	5.89 (5.8878)	42
Frank Robinson	5.86 (5.8565)	43
Greg Vaughn	5.82 (5.8168)	44
Bob Horner	5.77 (5.7718)	45
Jim Edmonds	5.77 (5.7717)	46
Jeff Bagwell	5.76 (5.7586)	47
Roy Campanella	5.76 (5.7551)	48
Rocky Colavito	5.75 (5.7512)	49
Andruw Jones	5.74 (5.7428)	50
Gus Zernial	5.74 (5.7371)	51
Gorman Thomas	5.73 (5.7302)	52
Reggie Jackson	5.71 (5.7076)	53
Dick Stuart	5.70 (5.7043)	54
Duke Snider	5.68 (5.6836)	55
Kevin Mitchell	5.66 (5.6604)	56
Tony Clark	5.65 (5.6547)	57
Fred McGriff	5.63 (5.6298)	58
Gary Sheffield	5.63 (5.6265)	59
Norm Cash	5.62 (5.6227)	60
Dean Palmer	5.61 (5.6100)	61
Chipper Jones	5.60 (5.5958)	62
Johnny Mize	5.57 (5.5719)	63
Larry Walker	5.55 (5.5451)	64
Dick Allen	5.54 (5.5433)	65
Jeromy Burnitz	5.52 (5.5166)	66
Pat Burrell	5.45 (5.4514)	67
Ernie Banks	5.43 (5.4347)	68
Rafael Palmeiro	5.43 (5.4335)	69
David Justice	5.42 (5.4222)	70
Mel Ott	5.40 (5.4040)	71
Paul Konerko	5.40 (5.4012)	72
Matt Williams	5.40 (5.4000)	73
Roger Maris	5.39 (5.3911)	74
Alfonso Soriano	5.38 (5.3783)	75
Todd Hundley	5.36 (5.3595)	76
Todd Helton	5.35 (5.3505)	77
Eric Davis	5.30 (5.2998)	78
Joe DiMaggio	5.29 (5.2925)	79
Gil Hodges	5.26 (5.2632)	80
Wally Post	5.24 (5.2408)	81
Matt Stairs	5.24 (5.2391)	82
Danny Tartabull	5.23 (5.2285)	83
Mickey Tettleton	5.21 (5.2150)	84
Al Rosen	5.15 (5.1544)	85
Hack Wilson	5.13 (5.1261)	86
Glenn Davis	5.11 (5.1089)	87
Bob Allison	5.09 (5.0874)	88
Joe Adcock	5.09 (5.0863)	89
Johnny Bench	5.08 (5.0797)	90
Boog Powell	5.07 (5.0741)	91
Jesse Barfield	5.06 (5.0641)	92
Nate Colbert	5.06 (5.0555)	93
Aramis Ramirez	5.04 (5.0420)	94
Tim Salmon	5.04 (5.0388)	95
Glenallen Hill	5.01 (5.0067)	96
Dale Murphy	5.00 (5.0000)	97
Charlie Keller	4.99 (4.9868)	98
Eric Chavez	4.99 (4.9857)	99
Roy Sievers	4.98 (4.9789)	100
Name	Percent (Raw)	Rank
Current Through 2007 Season

Mark McGwire and Babe Ruth, number one (1) and two (2) respectively, truly do belong in a class all by themselves. Those joining the Top 100 class (by reaching at least one-thousand games played) in 2004 were Vladimir Guerrero & Todd Helton (no new names in 2005).

Barry Bonds, Carlos Delgado, Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez, Ken Griffey Jr., Juan Gonzalez and Jim Thome are all active (appeared in at least one game during the 2005 regular season) players and all appear in the top fifteen (15) career home run percentage leaders.

Did you know that Mark McGwire and Babe Ruth also dominate the single season home run records? Did you know that in 2003 catcher Javy Lopez made it onto the top one-hundred (100) home run percentage hitters? Why mention the latter? Count the catchers to see.

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