In the top of the fourth inning Tuesday night in Philadelphia, Braves first baseman Matt Olson hit a home run. Here it is:
If hearing that Olson hit a home run sounds like a familiar refrain, well, it is. That was the 227th home run in the career of the 29-year-old slugger, but, more importantly, it was the 51st homer of the season for Olson. He leads the majors in both home runs and RBI and now has a piece of the club record.
Yes, Olson has tied the record for the most home runs ever hit in a season by a Braves player. It’s a storied franchise that has been around a long time. It has featured some great sluggers over the years, such as Chipper Jones, Fred McGriff and Dale Murphy, not to mention 500-homer club member Eddie Mathews. It has also, of course, been home to one of the greatest sluggers in MLB history in Hank Aaron. And yet, atop the single-season leaderboard are Olson and Andruw Jones. Here’s the current top five:
t1. Matt Olson, 51, 2023
t1. Andruw Jones, 51, 2005
t3. Hank Aaron, 47, 1971
t3. Eddie Mathews, 47, 1953
5. Eddie Mathews, 46, 1959
It also merits mention that Tuesday night the Braves are playing their 145th game of the season, leaving 17 remaining on the schedule. Olson most certainly will break the record, but it’s also worth a discussion that he could get to 60. We discussed it here on CBS Sports in the middle of August and now he’s definitely within striking range.
One might recall that Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge hit 62 homers last season. Through 145 games, he had 57, so Olson is certainly behind his pace, but also has enough time to get hot enough to reach 60.
Here’s a list of the players to have reached 60 homers in a season in Major League Baseball.
1. Barry Bonds, 73, 2001
2. Mark McGwire, 70, 1998
3. Sammy Sosa, 66, 1998
4. Mark McGwire, 65, 1999
5. Sammy Sosa, 64, 2001
6. Sammy Sosa, 63, 1999
7. Aaron Judge, 62, 2022
8. Roger Maris, 61, 1961
9. Babe Ruth, 60, 1927