Single Season Leaders for Slugging Average

Take a combination of total bases and divide by the players at bats and you will be able to calculate a players slugging average. In 1920, Babe Ruth set the all time single season record when he hit fifty-four (54) home runs in four-hundred fifty-eight (458) at bats (plus his other extra base hits) giving him an unbelievable slugging average that year of .847. So unbelievable that when Barry Bonds crushed the record in 2001 he secured his place in baseball immortality.

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 (100) greatest single season slugging averages, and a bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the most recently completed Major League season.
"Baseball was mighty good to me, but I was born ten (10) years too soon (in regards to the salary differences being awarded to players during the 1950s)." - Hall of Fame First Baseman Jimmie Foxx (#12 Overall Single Season Leader for Slugging Average)
Slugging Average
Single Season Leaders

'Top 100'
Barry Bonds .863 (.86345) 2001 San Francisco Giants NL 1
Babe Ruth .847 (.84716) 1920 New York Yankees AL 2
Babe Ruth .846 (.84630) 1921 New York Yankees AL 3
Barry Bonds .812 (.81233) 2004 San Francisco Giants NL 4
Barry Bonds .799 (.79901) 2002 San Francisco Giants NL 5
Babe Ruth .772 (.77222) 1927 New York Yankees AL 6
Lou Gehrig .765 (.76541) 1927 New York Yankees AL 7
Babe Ruth .764 (.76437) 1923 New York Yankees AL 8
Rogers Hornsby .756 (.75595) 1925 St. Louis Cardinals NL 9
Mark McGwire .752 (.75246) 1998 St. Louis Cardinals NL 10
Jimmie Foxx .749 (.74872) 1932 Philadelphia Athletics AL 11
Barry Bonds .749 (.74872) 2003 San Francisco Giants NL  
Babe Ruth .739 (.73913) 1924 New York Yankees AL 13
Babe Ruth .737 (.73737) 1926 New York Yankees AL 14
Sammy Sosa .737 (.73657) 2001 Chicago Cubs NL 15
Ted Williams .735 (.73465) 1941 Boston Red Sox AL 16
Babe Ruth .732 (.73166) 1930 New York Yankees AL 17
Ted Williams .731 (.73095) 1957 Boston Red Sox AL 18
Mark McGwire .730 (.73050) 1996 Oakland Athletics AL 19
Frank Thomas .729 (.72932) 1994 Chicago White Sox AL 20
Hack Wilson .723 (.72308) 1930 Chicago Cubs NL 21
Rogers Hornsby .722 (.72231) 1922 St. Louis Cardinals NL 22
Lou Gehrig .721 (.72117) 1930 New York Yankees AL 23
Larry Walker .720 (.72007) 1997 Colorado Rockies NL 24
Tip O'Neill .718 (.71781) 1887 St. Louis Browns AA 25
Larry Walker .710 (.71005) 1999 Colorado Rockies NL 26
Babe Ruth .709 (.70896) 1928 New York Yankees AL 27
Al Simmons .708 (.70758) 1930 Philadelphia Athletics AL 28
Lou Gehrig .706 (.70639) 1934 New York Yankees AL 29
Mickey Mantle .705 (.70544) 1956 New York Yankees AL 30
Jimmie Foxx .704 (.70442) 1938 Boston Red Sox AL 31
Jimmie Foxx .703 (.70332) 1933 Philadelphia Athletics AL 32
Stan Musial .702 (.70213) 1948 St. Louis Cardinals NL 33
Babe Ruth .700 (.70037) 1931 New York Yankees AL 34
Todd Helton .698 (.69828) 2000 Colorado Rockies NL 35
Babe Ruth .697 (.69739) 1929 New York Yankees AL 36
Manny Ramirez .697 (.69704) 2000 Cleveland Indians AL 37
Mark McGwire .697 (.69674) 1999 St. Louis Cardinals NL 38
Lou Gehrig .696 (.69603) 1936 New York Yankees AL 39
Rogers Hornsby .696 (.69590) 1924 St. Louis Cardinals NL 40
Hugh Duffy .694 (.69388) 1894 Boston Beaneaters NL 41
Jimmie Foxx .694 (.69379) 1939 Boston Red Sox AL 42
Albert Belle .690 (.69048) 1995 Cleveland Indians AL 43
Luis Gonzalez .688 (.68801) 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks NL 44
Barry Bonds .688 (.68750) 2000 San Francisco Giants NL 45
Mickey Mantle .687 (.68677) 1961 New York Yankees AL 46
Chuck Klein .687 (.68673) 1930 Philadelphia Phillies NL 47
Sam Thompson .686 (.68650) 1894 Philadelphia Phillies NL 48
Todd Helton .685 (.68484) 2001 Colorado Rockies NL 49
Hank Greenberg .683 (.68345) 1938 Detroit Tigers AL 50
Rogers Hornsby .679 (.67940) 1929 Chicago Cubs NL 51
Babe Herman .678 (.67752) 1930 Brooklyn Robins NL 52
Barry Bonds .677 (.67718) 1993 San Francisco Giants NL 53
Jim Thome .677 (.67708) 2002 Cleveland Indians AL 54
Joe DiMaggio .673 (.67311) 1937 New York Yankees AL 55
Babe Ruth .672 (.67241) 1922 New York Yankees AL 56
Albert Pujols .671 (.67103) 2006 St. Louis Cardinals NL 57
Joe DiMaggio .671 (.67100) 1939 New York Yankees AL 58
Hank Greenberg .670 (.67016) 1940 Detroit Tigers AL 59
Hank Aaron .669 (.66869) 1971 Atlanta Braves NL 60
Hank Greenberg .668 (.66835) 1937 Detroit Tigers AL 61
Ted Williams .667 (.66732) 1946 Boston Red Sox AL 62
Willie Mays .667 (.66726) 1954 New York Giants NL 63
Albert Pujols .667 (.66667) 2003 St. Louis Cardinals NL 64
Mickey Mantle .665 (.66456) 1957 New York Yankees AL 65
Carlos Delgado .664 (.66432) 2000 Toronto Blue Jays AL 66
Vladimir Guerrero .664 (.66375) 2000 Montreal Expos NL 67
George Brett .664 (.66370) 1980 Kansas City Royals AL 68
Manny Ramirez .663 (.66284) 1999 Cleveland Indians AL 69
Lou Gehrig .662 (.66236) 1931 New York Yankees AL 70
Larry Walker .662 (.66197) 2001 Colorado Rockies NL 71
Norm Cash .662 (.66168) 1961 Detroit Tigers AL 72
Derrek Lee .662 (.66162) 2005 Chicago Cubs NL 73
Babe Ruth .661 (.66083) 1932 New York Yankees AL 74
Jason Giambi .660 (.65962) 2001 Oakland Athletics AL 75
Ryan Howard .659 (.65921) 2006 Philadelphia Phillies NL 76
Willie Mays .659 (.65862) 1955 New York Giants NL 77
Travis Hafner .659 (.65859) 2006 Cleveland Indians AL 78
Ralph Kiner .658 (.65756) 1949 Pittsburgh Pirates NL 79
Chuck Klein .657 (.65747) 1929 Philadelphia Phillies NL 80
Babe Ruth .657 (.65741) 1919 Boston Red Sox AL 81
Albert Pujols .657 (.65709) 2004 St. Louis Cardinals NL 82
Willie McCovey .656 (.65580) 1969 San Francisco Giants NL 83
Albert Belle .655 (.65517) 1998 Chicago White Sox AL 84
Sam Thompson .654 (.65428) 1895 Philadelphia Phillies NL 85
Jimmie Foxx .653 (.65306) 1934 Philadelphia Athletics AL 86
Chick Hafey .652 (.65247) 1930 St. Louis Cardinals NL 87
Ted Williams .650 (.65018) 1949 Boston Red Sox AL 88
Bill Joyce .648 (.64789) 1894 Washington Senators NL 89
Lou Gehrig .648 (.64769) 1928 New York Yankees AL 90
Ted Williams .648 (.64751) 1942 Boston Red Sox AL 91
Duke Snider .647 (.64726) 1954 Brooklyn Dodgers NL 92
Jason Giambi .647 (.64706) 2000 Oakland Athletics AL 93
Sammy Sosa .647 (.64697) 1998 Chicago Cubs NL 94
Manny Ramirez .647 (.64679) 2002 Boston Red Sox AL 95
Ken Griffey, Jr. .646 (.64638) 1997 Seattle Mariners AL 96
Mark McGwire .646 (.64630) 1997 Oakland Athletics AL 97
St. Louis Cardinals NL
Chuck Klein .646 (.64615) 1932 Philadelphia Phillies NL 98
Jim Gentile .646 (.64609) 1961 Baltimore Orioles AL 99
Willie Stargell .646 (.64559) 1973 Pittsburgh Pirates NL 100
Current Through End of 2007 Regular Season


Mark McGwire versus Babe Ruth in slugging average comparisons? How about Barry Bonds versus Ted Williams? You decide who you think is best then share your opinion on our message board.

After the 2002 season Joe DiMaggio (.6432 in 1941), Juan Gonzalez (.6432 in 1996) and Lou Gehig (.6432 in 1937) lost their positions. Changes have taken place every year since and in 2005 we welcomed to the Top 100 Derrek Lee.

Babe Ruth led the American League in slugging average more times than any other player — thirteen (13) different seasons. Do you know who leads the National League? Take a guess then check the slugging average records section to see if you were right.
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