# 500 home run club

In Major League Baseball (MLB), the 500 home run club is a group of batters who have hit 500 or more regular-season home runs in their careers. There are twenty-eight players who are members of the 500 home run club. Seven 500 home run club members—Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Eddie Murray, Rafael Palmeiro, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez and Miguel Cabrera—are also members of the 3,000 hit club.
In the past, membership in the 500 home run club was a guarantee of eventual entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame, although some believe the milestone has become less meaningful in recent years and many members have not been enshrined in Cooperstown.
All 15 players who became members of the 500 home run club between 1929 and 1996 are members of the Hall of Fame. Of the 11 players who made the 500 homer club between 1999 and 2015 who are Hall of Fame eligible, only four have been enshrined in Cooperstown. Seven eligible club members—Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire, Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez, Gary Sheffield and Sammy Sosa—have not been elected to the Hall. Bonds is one of only four members in the 700 home run club and Rodriguez and Sosa are members of the 600 homer club, all of whose other members are Hall of Famers except for the recently retired Albert Pujols, who hit 703 career home runs and is not eligible until 2027.
Bonds and Sosa made their first appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot in 2013; Bonds received only 36.2% and Sosa 12.5% of the total votes, with 75% required for induction. Eligibility requires that a player has "been retired five seasons" or be deceased for at least six months. Some believe the milestone has become less important with the large number of new members; 10 players joined the club from 1999 to 2009. Additionally, several of these recent members - including all seven aforementioned eligible members - have had ties to performance-enhancing drugs. Some believe that by not electing McGwire to the Hall the voters were establishing a "referendum" on how they would treat players from the "Steroid Era". On January 8, 2014, Palmeiro became the first member of the club to be removed from the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot after failing to appear on at least 5.0% of ballots.
On August 11, 1929, Babe Ruth became the first member of the club. Ruth surpassed Roger Connor's record of 138 career homers during the 1921 season, and was the first player to hit 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 career home runs. Ruth ended his career with 714 home runs, a record which stood from 1935 until Hank Aaron surpassed it in 1974. Aaron's ultimate career total, 755, remained the record until Barry Bonds set the current mark of 762 during the 2007 season. The most recent player to reach 500 home runs is Miguel Cabrera, who hit his 500th home run on August 22, 2021; As of the end of the 2024 season, there are no active members of the club.

## Key

| Player | Name of the player |
| HR | Career home runs |
| Date | Date of the player's 500th home run |
| Team | The batter's team at the time of his 500th home run |
| Seasons | The seasons this player played in the major leagues |
| * | Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame |
| ‡ | Denotes player who is still active |

## Members

* Stats updated as of the end of the 2024 season.
| Player | HR | Date | Team | Seasons played | Opposing pitcher |
| Barry Bonds | 762 | April 17, 2001 | San Francisco Giants | 1986–2007 | Terry Adams |
| Hank Aaron* | 755 | July 14, 1968 | Atlanta Braves | 1954–1976 | Mike McCormick |
| Babe Ruth* | 714 | August 11, 1929 | New York Yankees | 1914–1935 | Willis Hudlin |
| Albert Pujols | 703 | April 22, 2014 | Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | 2001–2022 | Taylor Jordan |
| Alex Rodriguez | 696 | August 4, 2007 | New York Yankees | 1994–2013, 2015–2016 | Kyle Davies |
| Willie Mays* | 660 | September 13, 1965 | San Francisco Giants | 1951–1952, 1954–1973 | Don Nottebart |
| Ken Griffey Jr.* | 630 | June 20, 2004 | Cincinnati Reds | 1989–2010 | Matt Morris |
| Jim Thome* | 612 | September 16, 2007 | Chicago White Sox | 1991–2012 | Dustin Moseley |
| Sammy Sosa | 609 | April 4, 2003 | Chicago Cubs | 1989–2005, 2007 | Scott Sullivan |
| Frank Robinson* | 586 | September 13, 1971 | Baltimore Orioles | 1956–1976 | Fred Scherman |
| Mark McGwire | 583 | August 5, 1999 | St. Louis Cardinals | 1986–2001 | Andy Ashby |
| Harmon Killebrew* | 573 | August 10, 1971 | Minnesota Twins | 1954–1975 | Mike Cuellar |
| Rafael Palmeiro | 569 | May 11, 2003 | Texas Rangers | 1986–2005 | Dave Elder |
| Reggie Jackson* | 563 | September 17, 1984 | California Angels | 1967–1987 | Bud Black |
| Manny Ramirez | 555 | May 31, 2008 | Boston Red Sox | 1993–2011 | Chad Bradford |
| Mike Schmidt* | 548 | April 18, 1987 | Philadelphia Phillies | 1972–1989 | Don Robinson |
| David Ortiz* | 541 | September 12, 2015 | Boston Red Sox | 1997–2016 | Matt Moore |
| Mickey Mantle* | 536 | May 14, 1967 | New York Yankees | 1951–1968 | Stu Miller |
| Jimmie Foxx* | 534 | September 24, 1940 | Boston Red Sox | 1925–1942, 1944–1945 | George Caster |
| Willie McCovey* | 521 | June 30, 1978 | San Francisco Giants | 1959–1980 | Jamie Easterly |
| Frank Thomas* | 521 | June 28, 2007 | Toronto Blue Jays | 1990–2008 | Carlos Silva |
| Ted Williams* | 521 | June 17, 1960 | Boston Red Sox | 1939–1942, 1946–1960 | Wynn Hawkins |
| Ernie Banks* | 512 | May 12, 1970 | Chicago Cubs | 1953–1971 | Pat Jarvis |
| Eddie Mathews* | 512 | July 14, 1967 | Houston Astros | 1952–1968 | Juan Marichal |
| Mel Ott* | 511 | August 1, 1945 | New York Giants | 1926–1947 | Johnny Hutchings |
| Miguel Cabrera | 511 | August 22, 2021 | Detroit Tigers | 2003–2023 | Steven Matz |
| Gary Sheffield | 509 | April 17, 2009 | New York Mets | 1988–2009 | Mitch Stetter |
| Eddie Murray* | 504 | September 6, 1996 | Baltimore Orioles | 1977–1997 | Felipe Lira |