26 HR by Mo Vaughn in 1994, to lead the team.
Of course, there’s a very good reason why that number seems
really low to lead the team. It was really low.
Because it was 1994.
The Sox only played in 115 games that year due to the
baseball strike that shortened the season. Project those 26 HR over 162 games,
and you get a more reasonable 36. (What a nice number.)
While the number may look odd, the name next to it certainly
wasn’t. Mo led the Sox in home runs six straight years. Best I can tell, that’s
the most years in a row any Red Sox player has led the team in HR. Jimmie Foxx
put together a five season run. I have to guess that the breaks in the streaks
from Ted Williams were caused by military duties. So, Mo was clearly a singular
dominating force of the Sox those years.
It’s also interesting that while Mo’s total was cut short by
the strike, there are other team leaders whose numbers weren’t much better. In
1992, Tom Brunansky led the team with 15. That was the year before Vaughn
started his string. Troy O’Leary led the 1999 team with 28. That team, you may
recall, made it to the ALCS and had Nomar as a member. Kevin Youkilis led the
2009 team with only 29. But, Mo’s 26 is still the lowest to lead the team since
then…until last year. Did you know Salty led the team last year with 25 home
runs? Neither did I. (I’m not sure which is sadder…that Salty led in home runs,
or that Adrian Gonzalez was the team leader in BA and RBI)
It looks like that while the total of 26 definitely shows
the effects of the strike; it also apparently shows the effects of Mo Vaughn. He
was able to do in a partial season what others couldn’t do in a full season.
Not too shabby.
26 is for Mo’s team leading 26 HR in 1994
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