In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle all the bases ending at home plate, scoring himself and each runner who was already on base, with no errors by the defensive team on the play. The feat is typically achieved by hitting the ball over the outfield fence in fair territory without it first touching the ground, which results in an automatic home run. There is also the rarer inside-the-park home run, where the hitter circles the bases while the baseball is in play on the field. In Major League Baseball (MLB), a player in each league wins the home run title each season by hitting the most home runs that year. Only home runs hit as a member of a particular league count towards that league's seasonal lead.
Over the course of his 22-season career, Babe Ruth led the American League in home runs 12 times. Mike Schmidt and Ralph Kiner have the second and third most home run titles respectively, Schmidt with eight and Kiner with seven, all won in the National League. Kiner's seven consecutive titles from 1946 to 1952 are also the most consecutive home run titles by any player. The most recent Brewers leader was Prince Fielder in 2009, hitting 46 home runs, just one shy of the league lead 47 hit by Albert Pujols in the National League. In the American League, the league champions were Carlos Peña and Mark Teixeira, sharing the title in the AL with 39 home runs each.
Season leaders[]
Home run leaders by season
Season
Brewer Leader
HRs
American League Leader
HRs
National League Leader
HRs
1979
Gorman Thomas
45
Gorman Thomas (MIL)
45
Dave Kingman (CHC)
48
1980
Ben Oglivie
41
Ben Oglivie (MIL) Reggie Jackson (NYY)
41
Mike Schmidt (PHI)
48
1981
Gorman Thomas
21
Bobby Grich (BAL) Eddie Murray (BOS) Dwight Evans (CAL) Tony Armas (OAK)