The 500 Home Run Club
When Babe Ruth hit his 500th homerun in 1929, he essentially established the 500 Homerun Club, as no other player had ever hit 500 homeruns. In fact, he had twice as many homeruns as the next big homerun hitter of that era. Today, the 500 Homerun Club is considered to be the cutoff mark between a good homerun hitter and a great homerun hitter.
As of August 2021, there are 28 players in the 500 Homerun Club, with Barry Bonds and Hank Aaron ahead of the Babe.
| 500+ Home Run Club | |||||
| Rank | Player | Home Runs | Date of 500th | Seasons | Teams |
| 1 | Barry Bonds | 762 | 4/17/2001 | 1986-2007 | Pittsburgh, San Francisco |
| 2 | Hank Aaron | 755 | 7/14/1968 | 1954-76 | Milwaukee/Atlanta, Milwaukee (AL) |
| 3 | Babe Ruth | 714 | 8/11/1929 | 1914-35 | Boston (AL), NY (AL), Boston (NL) |
| 4 | Alex Rodriguez | 696 | 08/04/2007 | 1994-2016 | Seattle, Texas, NY |
| 5 | Albert Pujols | 677* | 4/22/2014 | 2001- | STL, LAA, LAD |
| 6 | Willie Mays | 660 | 9/13/1965 | 1951-73 | NY/San Francisco, NY (NL) |
| 7 | Ken Griffey, Jr. | 630 | 6/20/2004 | 1989-2010 | Seattle, Cincinatti |
| 8 | Jim Thome | 612 | 9/16/2007 | 1991-2012 | Cleve, Phila, CHW, LAD, MINN, Cleve, Phila, Balt |
| 9 | Sammy Sosa | 609 | 4/4/2003 | 1989-2007 | Texas, Chi (AL), Chi (NL), Baltimore |
| 10 | Frank Robinson | 586 | 9/13/1971 | 1956-76 | Cincinatti, Balto, LA, California, Cleveland |
| 11 | Mark McGwire | 583 | 8/5/1999 | 1986-2001 | Oakland, St. Louis |
| 12 | Harmon Killebrew | 573 | 8/10/1971 | 1954-75 | Washington/Minn Kansas City |
| 13 | Rafael Palmiero | 569 | 5/11/2003 | 1986-2006 | Chi (NL), Baltimore Texas |
| 14 | Reggie Jackson | 563 | 9/17/1984 | 1967-87 | KC/Oakland, Balto, NY (AL), California |
| 15 | Manny Ramirez | 555 | 5/31/2008 | 1993-2011 | Cleveland, Boston (AL), LA (NL) |
| 16 | Mike Schmidt | 548 | 4/18/1987 | 1972-89 | Philadelphia (NL) |
| 17 | David Ortiz | 541 | 9/12/2015 | 1997-2016 | MINN, Bos |
| 18 | Mickey Mantle | 536 | 5/14/1967 | 1951-1968 | NY (AL) |
| 19 | Jimmie Foxx | 534 | 9/24/1940 | 1925-42, 1944-45 | Philadelphia (AL), Boston (AL) |
| 20 | Willie McCovey | 521 | 6/30/1978 | 1959-80 | San Francisco, San Diego |
| 20 | Ted Williams | 521 | 6/17/1960 | 1939-42, 1946-60 | Boston (AL) |
| 20 | Frank Thomas | 521 | 6/28/2007 | 1990-2009 | Chicago (AL), Oakland, Toronto |
| 21 | Ernie Banks | 512 | 5/12/1970 | 1953-71 | Chi (NL) |
| 21 | Eddie Mathews | 512 | 07/14/1967 | 1952-1968 | Bos (NL)/MIL/ATL, HOU, DET |
| 22 | Mel Ott | 511 | 8/1/1945 | 1926-47 | NY (NL) |
| 23 | Gary Sheffield | 509 | 4/17/2009 | 1988-2009 | MIL, SD, FLA, LAD, ATL, NYY, DET, NYM |
| 24 | Eddie Murray | 504 | 9/6/1996 | 1977-97 | Balto, LA, NY (NL), Cleveland, California |
| 25 | Miguel Cabrera | 500* | 8/22/2021 | 2003- | FLA, DET |
*- As of 8/22/21