MLB breaks single-season HR record with 5,694th blast
More home runs have been hit in 2017 than in any other season in baseball history.
Major League Baseball's 5,694th homer of the season was hit by Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon Tuesday night at Toronto's Rogers Centre, eclipsing the previous mark set in the year 2000.
The record-setting blast, Gordon's eighth of 2017, was hit off Blue Jays reliever Ryan Tepera in the eighth inning.
A new single season home run record! ⚾💪🚀 #MLBTonight pic.twitter.com/RkMJ4ceebS
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) September 20, 2017
''A pretty cool thing to be a part of,'' Gordon said postgame, according to The Associated Press. ''I didn't hit many this year, but I guess I made one count.''
Alex Gordon has the lowest wRC+ (57) for a qualified hitter this year, so of course he's the one to break the all-time HR record.
— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) September 20, 2017
Baseball!
The record-breaking home-run ball was immediately authenticated and will be sent to the Hall of Fame.
The ball headed to the Hall. Alex Gordon's home run at 9:13:55 EDT was the MLB single season record breaking 5,694th of 2017. pic.twitter.com/yOhiNyYMyM
— Mike Swanson (@Swanee54) September 20, 2017
Entering play Tuesday, hitters across baseball had slugged a cumulative total of 5,677 homers, for an average of 1.26 per team per game, according to Baseball-Reference. That number is sure to rise, as Gordon's record homer was the 17th hit in baseball Tuesday night, and there is still another 12 days remaining in the regular season.
Last season, baseball averaged just 1.16 homers a contest; as recently as 2014 the sport averaged less than a homer per team per game (0.86).
During the former record-breaking home-run season of 2000 - a year played in the height of baseball's "steroid era" - homers flew out of big-league ballparks at an average of 1.17 per game. That record is also likely to fall by season's end.