Hitting 50 Homers Is Hard But A Half-Dozen Sluggers Might Do It

If he reaches 50 home runs again this season, Aaron Judge would become the first man to do it three years in a row as well as the first to do it five times. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) Getty Images With the 2026 season set to open Wednesday, some half-dozen sluggers are poised at the starting gate like baseball thoroughbreds. All could produce 50-homer seasons – not only tilting the course of the pennant races but carving a niche in the game’s history books.

Never in baseball history have more than four players blasted 50 home runs in the same season. With a myriad of pitchers throwing at maximum velocity and ballpark dimensions getting smaller, that fact seems about to change. Influence of Lockout An added factor this year is the likelihood of a lockout in December, the deadline for owners and players to hammer out a new Basic Agreement.

Sluggers who want to monetize their skills prior to the probable work stoppage will also be swinging for the fences this season. Baseball has enjoyed 50-homer quartets in only three previous seasons: 1998, 2001, and 2025. Roger Maris (left) and Mickey Mantle combined for 115 home runs in 1961.

No tandem of teammates ever hit more. (Photo by Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images) Getty Images In fact, no teammates hit 50 simultaneously since Roger Maris (61) and Mickey Mantle (54) combined for 115 with the 1961 New York Yankees. None of the game’s most prolific slugging duos did it.