Back in 1961, the baseball world saw a pair of new york yankees players, Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle, wage a battle to see if either could reach the magical 60-HR season of Babe Ruth from 1927. In the end, Maris eclipsed Ruth's record with 61 and Mantle ended the campaign with 54.
It was also the first time (and only time) that teammates hit 50 or more home runs in the same Major League season. But with the trade of Giancarlo Stanton, last year's HR king with 59 homers, from the Miami Marlins to the New York Yankees, where he joins Aaron Judge (who hit 52 home runs in his rookie season with the Yankees last season), the obvious question becomes: Can Judge and Stanton challenge Maris and Mantle?
Teammates with 45 or more home runs in the same season
In the history of Major League Baseball, there have been 141 times when a player has hit 45 or more homers in a season; in five of those seasons, teammates hit 45 or more home runs in the same season. They are:
1927: Babe Ruth (60) and Lou Gehrig (47), New York Yankees
1931: Babe Ruth (46) and Lou Gehrig (46), New York Yankees
1961: Roger Maris (61) and Mickey Mantle (54), New York Yankees
2001: Rafael Palmeiro (47) and Alex Rodriguez (52), Texas Rangers
2005: Manny Ramirez (45) and David Ortiz (47), Boston Red Sox
Three teammates with 40 or more home runs in the same season
In addition to Judge hitting his 52 home runs for the Yankees last season, the team also had another player, Gary Sanchez, hit 33 long balls in 2017.
That brings up the possibility that with Judge, Stanton and Sanchez, the Yankees could challenge another home run milestone for teammates... three or more teammates with 40 or more home runs in a season.
A trio of teammates reaching 40 or more home runs in the same season has happened three times in MLB history. The Atlanta Braves did it for the first time in 1973 with Hank Aaron, Darrell Evans and Davey Johnson; the Colorado Rockies did it in back-to-back season in 1996 and 1997.
In '96, the Rockies trio with 40+ HRs included Ellis Burks, Vinny Castilla and Andres Galarraga; in '97 Castillo and Galarraga were joined by Larry Walker.
Can Judge and Stanton challenge Maris and Mantle?
Will Judge and Stanton make a run at Maris and Mantle? There are a handful of questions that will need to be answered. Can Judge avoid the Sophomore Jinx and hit 50 or more homers in his second season in the majors?
Can Stanton, who had never hit more than 37 home runs in a season until last year, reach 50 again?
One last stat to consider: Only eight players have hit 50 or more home runs in two or more seasons, and of those eight, only four did it in consecutive seasons. Alex Rodriguez and Babe Ruth each did it in consecutive years, Sammy Sosa did it three straight years, and Mark McGwire did it in four straight seasons.
