This archive report was first published on 29 August 2019.
On August 29, 2019, Pete Alonso's remarkable home run streak continued to make history. In the modern era, baseball's longest gap without a new franchise home run champion for even one team is five seasons, which happened from 1941 to 1945.
However, this season is notable for the potential of five new leaders, although it would still fall short of the record. To put this in perspective, in 1921, the second year of baseball's live ball era, Babe Ruth hit an impressive 59 home runs, breaking the previous record of 27.
That season, eight of baseball's 16 teams got a new home run leader, including the Orioles, Indians, Giants, Dodgers, Cardinals, Yankees, Tigers, and Athletics. This high level of turnover is a testament to the dynamic nature of the game.
More recently, in 1996, a year now viewed with skepticism due to the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs, not only did Mike Hundley break the Mets' record, but six other players also broke their team records.
However, franchise records are remarkably impermanent, and all seven batters who set a franchise record in 1996 have had their marks surpassed.
Alonso still has a shot at hitting 50 or more home runs this season, which would put him in striking distance of Aaron Judge's major league rookie record of 52. This would also remove the Mets from the list of franchises that have never had a 50-homer season, a list that includes the Kansas City Royals, Washington Nationals, Tampa Bay Rays, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies, and Minnesota Twins.
