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Boston Red Sox top five home run hitters in franchise history

By Sean Penney

Boston Red Sox David Ortiz (R) is congratulated his solo homer by teammate Manny Ramirez in the top of the first innings against Japan's Hanshin Tigers in an exhibition game in the Tokyo Dome on March 22, 2008.The Boston Red Sox managed a narrow 6-5 victory against Tigers in an exhibition game here, days ahead of the official season opening games against the Oakland Athletics. AFP PHOTO / KAZUHIRO NOGI (Photo credit should read KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images)
Boston Red Sox David Ortiz (R) is congratulated his solo homer by teammate Manny Ramirez in the top of the first innings against Japan's Hanshin Tigers in an exhibition game in the Tokyo Dome on March 22, 2008.The Boston Red Sox managed a narrow 6-5 victory against Tigers in an exhibition game here, days ahead of the official season opening games against the Oakland Athletics. AFP PHOTO / KAZUHIRO NOGI (Photo credit should read KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

Carl Yastrzemski

Some may have assumed that Carl Yastrzemski would rank higher on this list considering his 452 career home runs are the third most in franchise history. Longevity plays a significant role in that ranking though considering he racked up that total over a 23-year career spent entirely with the Red Sox. He barely cracks the top-40 on MLB’s all-time home run list, well behind the other candidates in my rankings.

So, was Yaz an elite power hitter? Depends on the year. Yastrzemski didn’t hit more than 20 homers in any of his first six major league seasons before exploding for 44 in his Triple Crown campaign in 1967. He went on to reach 40 homers in two of the next three seasons (’69, ’70), then fell shy of 30 in every season for the rest of his career and only cracked 20 on three more occasions.

Yaz shined on the postseason stage but rarely made it to October. Early in his career, the top teams in each league at the end of the regular season would meet in the World Series. It was much harder to make the playoffs and there were no additional rounds for hitters to rack up more homers. When Yaz finally got to play in the Fall Classic though, he was brilliant. He hit three home runs in the 1967 World Series.

The Red Sox would make the playoffs again in 1975 after the postseason was expanded to include a Championship Series. Yaz belted a homer in the ALCS to help lead the Red Sox to another World Series berth.

We have to give Yaz his fair share of credit for the home runs he piled up in a career that lasted over two decades but the limited number of great individual seasons in terms of home runs prevents him from climbing any higher.

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