Stanton joins elite group with 59th HR: 'It's crazy to be in that company'
Giancarlo Stanton's 2017 campaign will now guarantee him one of the 10 best seasons in home-run history.
After unleashing a terrifying pair of long balls Thursday against the Atlanta Braves to give him 59 on the year, Stanton leapfrogged Jimmie Foxx (1932), Hank Greenberg (1938), Mark McGwire (1997), and Ryan Howard (2006), who had all hit 58 in one season. Now, he sits tied with Babe Ruth's 1921 tally - one away from the Great Bambino's 60 in 1927 - while joining other names such as Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Roger Maris in the top 10 of baseball's all-time single-season home run leaderboard.
"Those are all the guys I looked up to," Stanton said postgame, per FOX Sports Florida. "Modeled my - some are lefties - but I modeled my swings, my home run trots, just the way the ball flies ... It's crazy to be in that company.
"It doesn't sink in yet, doesn't make sense really yet, but it's really cool. It's everything I've worked for. It's something really cool."
Most HRs in 1 season:
| Player | Team | HRs | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barry Bonds | Giants | 73 | 2001 |
| Mark McGwire | Cardinals | 70 | 1998 |
| Sammy Sosa | Cubs | 66 | 1998 |
| Mark McGwire | Cardinals | 65 | 1999 |
| Sammy Sosa | Cubs | 64 | 2001 |
| Sammy Sosa | Cubs | 63 | 1999 |
| Roger Maris | Yankees | 61 | 1961 |
| Babe Ruth | Yankees | 60 | 1927 |
| Babe Ruth | Yankees | 59 | 1921 |
| Giancarlo Stanton | Marlins | 59 | 2017 |
With only three games left in the season, it's difficult to predict where Stanton will finish, though the round mark of 60 is a moderately safe assumption.
Stanton, though, isn't planning to do anything differently to reach the milestone.
"It's impossible not to think about, but the more you think about it the harder it's going to be, in my perspective," he said. "Take the rest of the at-bats to simplify it; if it happens, it happens. If not, it's not a failure, so I think I'll survive."