Daily Red Sox Links: J.D. Martinez and the Red Sox’s 40 Home Run Club

In the 117 years of the Boston Red Sox there have been a total of 18 40 home run seasons. The guys who have done it are mostly whom you’d expect. J.D. Martinez could very well become the next player to do so. After hitting 45 home runs with the Detroit Tigers and Arizona Diamondbacks last season, Martinez already has 20 in 59 games for the Red Sox. He is well on pace to hit 40, and maybe even 50. If he does get there, here’s the fraternity he will join.

David Ortiz

Ortiz launched at least 40 home runs in three-straight seasons from 2004-2006, including a career-high of 54 in 2006 when he set the single season record for dingers by a Red Sox. He hit 483 home runs in total for the Red Sox during his storied career.

Manny Ramirez

Ramirez is another Red Sox to have three 40-home run seasons. While he had a pair of 40-home run years with Cleveland before coming to Boston, he did it three times with the Sox (2001. 2004, 2005). He finished with 274 home runs in his eight seasons with the team.

Carl Yastrzemski

The only other member of the three-time-40-home-run-in-a-Red Sox-uniform club (we’re still work shopping the name), Yaz hit 44 home runs in his MVP season of 1967 when he won the Triple Crown. He also hit exactly 40 home runs in 1969 and 1970. Across 23 years in Boston, Yaz belted 452 dingers.

Mo Vaughn

Vaughn was an incredible hitter and his power was mammoth. He lifted 44 home runs in 1996 and tallied 40 in 1998. Adding to those impressive numbers was the fact that he batted .326 and .337 in those two years, respectively. His eight years in Boston came with 230 home runs total.

Jimmie Foxx

Before Ortiz, Foxx was the only Red Sox to ever hit 50 home runs with the team. He did so in his third season in Boston (1938), earning MVP honors along the way. He knocked 41 out of the park with the Red Sox in 1936 as well. Foxx also surpassed 40 home runs in 1932, 1933 and 1934 with the Philadelphia Athletics. He had 222 home runs as a Red Sox in seven years.

Ted Williams

Considered by many to be the greatest hitter of all time, Williams *only* hit 40 home runs once, in 1949 when he had 43. However, he is the franchise’s all-time home run leader with 521.

Jim Rice

Rice hit 46 home runs in 1978 in his age-25 season. He led the league in the category that season and also was tops in hits (213), triples (15) and total bases (406). He won the MVP award and went on to finish with 382 home runs during a 16-year career in Boston.

Rico Petrocelli

Petrocelli and Yaz were hitting 40 home runs in the same season before Ortiz and Ramirez made it cool, as both had exactly 40 in 1969. Petrocelli came in seventh in MVP voting that year and made his second and final All-Star game. It was the only time he ever hit more than 30 home runs, finishing with 210 during a 13-year run.

Tony Armas

Armas swatted a career-high 43 home runs with the 1984 Red Sox, earning his second All-Star bid and also leading the league in RBI (123), total bases (339) and, unfortunately, strikeouts (156). He won a Silver Slugger award for his efforts. His 43 dingers that season accounted for 38.1 percent of his career home run output with Boston (113).

Dick Stuart

Stuart began his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, playing with Roberto Clemente and helping with the 1960 World Series win. He came to Boston in 1963 via trade and promptly hit 42 home runs. He would hit 33 against the next year and be traded to the Philadelphia Phillies the following winter.

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