Chicago Cubs' Greatest Power Hitters: Top 31 All-Time Home Run Leaders
Our home run guru Matt Musico returns with a look at the North Siders' most potent sluggers
THE CHICAGO CUBS have had the pleasure of watching plenty of sluggers aim for the stands at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. The Cubs all time home run leaders include three players with at least 300 home runs, but none in the 400 range. Also, the top two finished with more than 500 each while playing on the North Side.
Sammy Sosa: 545 Home Runs
Honestly, what is left to say about Sammy Sosa on these interweb pages? He’s hit the ninth-most home runs all time. He’s all over the single-season home run leaderboard. And obviously, he’s Chicago’s all-time leader. I suppose we can try one more time.
The obvious highlight of his tenure with the Cubs happened between 1998 and 2001. That’s when he registered four straight 50-homer seasons, with three of them including at least 60 bombs. He spent 13 years with Chicago, yet nearly half of his total homers for the franchise came in four years.
While he lost out on winning his second MVP Award because of Barry Bonds’ ridiculous campaign, 2001 was Sosa’s best. His 9.9 fWAR and 186 wRC+ were both career-best marks. He added another 64 homers and a league-leading 160 RBI, which also included an inside-the-park home run.
Ernie Banks: 512 Home Runs
The only thing that would’ve made Ernie Banks’ Hall of Fame career better is if Mr. Cub had a chance to perform in the postseason. That unfortunately never happened for the longtime shortstop. He did make the most of his opportunities during the regular season, though.
His career lasted 19 years, all of which came in the National League with the Cubs. If we’re looking for Banks’ power peak, it came between 1957 and 1960. In his late 20s, he slugged at least 40 homers in four straight years and led the league in that category twice. He also led the league in RBI twice, won a Gold Glove, and took home two MVP Awards during this time. On top of all this, Banks’ 1958 season is still the best single-season home run performance by a shortstop in Cubs history.
That’d be a nice career for anyone else, but for Banks, it was just a nice stretch during what ended up being a spectacular career.
Billy Williams: 392 Home Runs
Another Hall of Famer, Billy Williams won Rookie of the Year honors in 1961, but he never took home an MVP or a home run title. He only enjoyed one season with more than 40 homers. That came in 1970 when he slugged 42 and drove in 129 runs while placing second in MVP voting to Johnny Bench. What he did do, though, was consistently hit dingers from his first full year to his last.
Williams debuted in 1959 but combined to appear in just 30 games over his first two big-league seasons. That’s why he didn’t exceed his rookie status until 1961. From that point until his final season in 1976 with the Oakland Athletics, he never finished a year with fewer than 11 homers. He had 14 years with at least 20 dingers, and 13 of those occasions came consecutively from 1961-73.
As a member of the Cubs, Williams posted eight seasons with at least 4.0 fWAR, but 1963-65 was the only time he did it in three straight years (5.9, 4.9, and 7.1).
Ron Santo: 337 Home Runs
Ron Santo was one of those dudes who could help you out on both sides of the ball. Not only did he post a career 126 wRC+ and .826 OPS with 342 home runs, but the Hall of Famer also won five Gold Gloves at third base. He was another consistent home run hitter after slugging nine over his first 95 games as a rookie in 1960.
From 1961 to 1973 (his second-to-last season), Santo hit fewer than 20 homers twice — 17 in both 1962 and 1972. During his nine-year streak with 20-plus homers included a four-year run with 30-plus from 1964-67. Santo won four of his Gold Gloves during this time while slashing .302/.395/.531 and averaging 31 homers, 27 doubles, 102 RBI, and 96 runs scored.
Ryne Sandberg: 282 Home Runs
Outside of 13 games and six plate appearances as a rookie, Ryne Sandberg spent the duration of his 16-year Hall of Fame career with the Cubs. He racked up quite a bit of hardware along the way while mostly manning second base, too. He’s the proud owner of an MVP Award, nine Gold Gloves, seven Silver Slugger Awards, 10 All-Star appearances, and a Home Run Derby title.
However, he posted just two seasons with at least 30 home runs, which just so happened to come in consecutive years. He hit 30 in 1989 before leading the league with 40 the following year. That 1990 season was notable because it was also the first time Sandberg collected 100 RBI in a season. He did that twice, also in consecutive seasons (in 1990 and 1991). The infielder hit the century mark exactly on both occasions.
Sandberg’s 1989 season began one more run of truly top-tier production for Chicago. It was his first of four straight 5.0 fWAR seasons, with the last three all being above 6.0. This stretch accounted for 25.8 of his career 60.9 fWAR.
Anthony Rizzo: 242 Home Runs
First baseman Anthony Rizzo debuted in 2011 with the San Diego Padres and appeared in 49 games. But thanks to what happened next, he’ll always be remembered as a Cub. He spent 10 years on the North Side and put together a very consistent run of production. He was named to three All-Star Games and won four Gold Gloves to go along with one Silver Slugger Award. Rizzo also had five top-20 finishes in NL MVP Award voting. His best finish came in consecutive years when he placed fourth in both 2015 and 2016. Oh, and then there’s that whole breaking a 108-year World Series drought in 2016 by helping Chicago win the Fall Classic.
I enjoy looking at Rizzo’s power production from 2014-18 to pinpoint just how consistent he was. He averaged 30 homers and 100 RBI per season during this stretch. The left-handed slugger posted 32 homers in ’14, ’16, and ’17, and just missed doing it four years in a row because he hit 31 in 2015. Heck, he even slugged 32 homers with 109 RBI in consecutive seasons from 2016-17. His OPS didn’t change a whole bunch during this time, either. It never dipped below .846 or finished higher than .928.
The Rest
Here’s what the remainder of the Cubs’ top-31 home run hitters in franchise history looks like. Now that Rizzo is no longer on the Cubs, there’s just one active player making his way up this portion of the leaderboard.
Aramis Ramirez: 239 home runs
Gabby Hartnett: 231
Bill Nicholson: 205
Hank Sauer: 198
Hack Wilson: 190
Alfonso Soriano: 181
Derrek Lee: 179
Andre Dawson: 174
Kris Bryant: 160
Ian Happ: 150 (… and counting)
Mark Grace: 148
Javier Baez: 140
Leon Durham: 138
Andy Pafko: 126
Jody Davis: 122
Kyle Schwarber: 121
Willson Contreras: 117
Shawon Dunston: 107
Rick Monday: 106
Keith Moreland: 100
Jimmy Ryan: 99
Cap Anson: 97
Jim Hickman: 97
Dave Kingman: 94
Phil Cavarretta: 92
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