When, Where and How Of Our Newest Members’ Ascent To The Magical #500
Like the 70’s pop song “Anticipation,” the prospect of knocking out home run number 500 is music to the ears of Detroit Tigers outfielder Gary Sheffield.  After finished the 2008 MLB season with the tantalizing total of 499 career homers, The “Iron Shef” is looking forward to become the 25th member of The 500 Home Run Club® in the early days of the 2009 baseball season.

Generations of baseball fans, in Chicago and worldwide, have celebrated "Mr. Cub" Ernie Banks as one of the greatest players and living ambassadors ever to grace the world of professional sports.

As manager of the Chicago Cubs during the 2003 season, Dusty Baker had a front row seat for Sammy Sosa’s history making 500th home run on April 4, 2003. “It was like déjà vu,” said Baker, who watched Sosa’s historic long ball from the visitor’s dugout in Cincinnati.

Long before 500 Home Run Club® members thrilled crowds with titanic blasts into the upper decks or towering fly balls that splashed outside the stadium… batting star Ross Barnes is credited with hitting the first home run in the organized Major League while he played for the Chicago White Stockings, the ancestors of today's Chicago Cubs.

LIFE Magazine Covered 500 HRC Members... features Ted Williams, Honorary 500HRC members Jackie Robinson, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays

Looking back through the archives of LIFE Magazine covers offers an unmatched glimpse of Americana, but a surprisingly few faces from America’s Game. The majority of MLB baseball players featured on the cover of LIFE were chosen because they were both icons in U.S. history and the greatest hitters of all time…the members of the 500 Home Run Club.

Which pitch did 500 Home Run Club members prefer, and Why? 

Hammerin’ Hank Aaron

Henry Aaron (shown in this 1957 picture with Ted Williams below) said the best way to hit the curve ball was not to miss the fastball. "Guessing what the pitcher is going to throw is eighty percent of being a successful hitter. The other twenty percent is just execution."

MLB’s Ultimate Journeyman Slugger Stands at 499…With A Big Smile
 
Gary Sheffield's chase for 500 home runs will have to wait for the 2009 season, but that suits him just fine. For the Detroit fan favorite who ended 2008 with 499 career home runs, joining the prestigious 500 Home Run Club® is just another reason for him to look forward to next season.

For 13 years, Harmon Killebrew (affectionately nicknamed "Killer" in contradiction of his easy going nature) provided “gifts” to Minnesota Twins fans in the form of skyrocketing home runs and gift-wrapped double plays.

Anyone who has followed Ken Griffey Jr.’s storybook career, first with the Seattle Mariners, then with the Cincinnati Reds and most recently with the Chicago White Sox, knows that he has always been a big supporter of charities for young people.

The coming year promises to be as exciting as an extra inning playoff game for 500 Home Run Club® LLC members, enthusiasts, and baseball pundits around the globe.  
On the positive side, Gary Sheffield – who finished the 2008 season with the tantalizing total of 499 career home runs – looks to become the 25th member of The 500 Home Run Club…and he couldn’t be more excited about the prospects represented by the coming of the 2009 baseball season.

One of the most amazing feats in major league sports, the home run, happens so quickly that you might miss it entirely, if you’re not looking. A major league fastball covers the distance from the pitchers’ mound to home plate in less than half a second.  Then, after making contact on the sweet-spot of a bat (like those featured in our October content), it does an abrupt and thunderous “about face”…and spends the next 2 ½ to 4 seconds sailing high into the seats before it officially becomes a home run ball.

500 HR Club Members Tell Us What It’s Like To Be “In The Zone” At The Plate Experienced hitters, such as the members of The 500 Home Run Club®, are (were) experts at reading the pitcher’s tendencies in order to gain an advantage by anticipating the type of pitch that was traveling the 60 feet 6 inches from the mound to home plate.

Sluggers chose their bats carefully, personalized them for maximum effectiveness

Some of the most enduring and popular memorabilia that exists to remind us of the amazing batting feats accomplished by members of the 500, 600 and 700 Home Run Clubs are the customized, game-used bats that have found their way into baseball lore.

Along with being the players that generations of fans have looked up to, 500 Home Run Club® LLC members were [are], themselves, baseball enthusiasts - as in awe of their heroes [and their contemporaries] as other fans.

535th Home Run Leapfrogs “Double XX” Jimmie Foxx; Puts Him One Behind Mantle

Last September, “The Thomenator” Jim Thome joined The 500 Home Run Club, and he’s in the groove again this summer. The towering Chicago DH has hit four homers in his last 10 games, and is bruising the ball with a .525 slugging percentage.  In other words folks…The Thomenator is on a tear.

In addition to being the greatest power-hitters of their generation, the active members of The 500/600 Home Run Clubs are “Go-To-Guys” who can change the outcome of a tight game with one swing of a bat.

Dedication of Life-Sized Statue at Clark & Addison Is Much Anticipated By Fans and Much Appreciated By Ernie Banks

Prior to their home opener vs. the Milwaukee Brewers on March 31st 2008, The Chicago Cubs bestowed a unique (and greatly deserved) honor on “Mr. Cub” Ernie Banks by dedicating a beautiful new statue of Ernie in his heyday outside Wrigley Field.

 

Chicago baseball legend Ernie Banks is launching his own wine labels with other members of the exclusive 500 Home Run Club, Mike Schmidt and Eddie Murray. The players will not profit a single dime. Instead, 100% of their proceeds will support their favorite charity. Proceeds from Ernie Banks 512 Chardonnay will support his Live Above & Beyond Foundation.

On May 8, 2007, The Milwaukee Brewers honored former Milwaukee Braves players Eddie Mathews (512 career homers) and Warren Spahn with an induction into the Miller Park Walk of Fame.