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JOE BAUMAN PROFILE
While Mark McGwire broke the major league record with 70 homeruns in 1998,
he failed to break the all-time professional baseball record. That was 72,
hit by Joe Bauman in 1954 (Barry Bonds hit 73 homeruns in 2001 while playing
for the SF Giants).
During that 1954 season, while playing for Class C Roswell of the Longhorn League, Bauman hit 72 homeruns, had 224 rbi's and hit .400. He also amassed 456 total bases, 150 walks and 99 strikeouts. His .916 slugging percentage was 69 points higher than Babe Ruth's record of .847. All this was done in just 138 games.
He never played above Class A ball and signed his first professional contract with Little Rock in 1941. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1942-45 before playing three more seasons of professional ball. He quit after the 1948 season and spent the next three years running a Texaco gas station in Oklahoma.
Returning to play ball in 1952, he hit .375 with 50 home runs and 157 RBIs. In 1953, he hit .371 with 141 RBIs and a then league-record 53 homers.
However, after the 1953 season, Bauman bought his own release and moved to Roswell, where he bought a gas station and renamed it Joe Bauman's Texaco Service. He signed a contract to play with the Roswell Rockets for $1,000 per month.
In 1955 he hit .336 and had 46 homers and 132 RBIs. In 1956, he played in only 56 games for Roswell before retiring when a X-ray revealed a chipped bone in his left ankle.
After retiring from baseball, Bauman stayed in Roswell, running his gas station and working for a beer distributorship. He retired in 1984 but still lives in Roswell.
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YEAR
|
AVG
|
HR'S |
RBI'S
|
|
1952
|
.375
|
50
|
175
|
|
1953
|
.371
|
53
|
141
|
|
1954
|
.400
|
72
|
224
|
|
1955
|
.336
|
46
|
132
|
Update 7/24/04: Joe Bauman, the greatest home run hitter in Minor League Baseball history, will be honored this year and in the future with his name on the trophy that goes to the top power hitter each season, it was announced today. The Joe Bauman Trophy will be presented at the Baseball Winter Meetings each December to the winner of the Minor League Baseball Round-Tripper Contest, who will also receive a check for $200 for each home run that he hits.
Update 9/20/05: We regret to inform everyone that Joe Bauman passed away on the afternoon of Sept 20, 2005. We were notified by his niece Vickie O'Neal. Our condolences to the entire Bauman family.
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Roswell Rocket Jersey