Fewest games played to 100 career home runs

Reaching 100 career home runs is an achievement on its own, but doing so early in a career is even more impressive.

There have been 14 players in American League/National League history to reach the 100-homer mark in fewer than 400 career games, with the most recent addition to that club being the Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr., who did so in his 362nd career game on Aug. 2, 2023.

Here’s a look at the fewest games by a player to hit 100 career home runs.

Ryan Howard: 325 games
Howard set the standard and then some, demolishing the previous record for fewest games to 100 career home runs. He hit No. 100 on June 27, 2007, his 325th game in the Majors. It was his fourth season in the bigs, after a 19-game cup of coffee in '04 and an 88-game Rookie of the Year-winning campaign in '05. He went on to hit 47 home runs in that '07 season, 11 fewer than he’d had while winning NL MVP the year before. Howard finished his career with 382 home runs.

Pete Alonso: 347 games
Polar Bear Pete popped his 100th home run on Sept. 7, 2021, launching a two-run shot -- a Statcast-projected 425-foot blast -- off Marlins right-hander Edward Cabrera at loanDepot park in Miami. It was Alonso's 31st long ball of the season, making him just the eighth player in MLB history to reach 100 homers in his first three seasons. He added No. 32 later in the game, a solo shot in the ninth inning. Alonso became the ninth Mets player to record multiple seasons of 30 or more home runs and the first to do so within his first three seasons. He hit an AL/NL rookie record 53 homers in 2019.

Gary Sanchez: 355 games
Sanchez joined the 100 home run club with a solo homer off the Dodgers' Hyun-Jin Ryu at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 23, 2019. In reaching the milestone in his 355th career game, he set a new American League record, getting there in 22 fewer games than Joey Gallo. Sanchez burst onto the Major League scene in 2016, when he launched 20 home runs in just 53 games and finished second in AL Rookie of the Year voting. His career high of 33 homers came in '17, and with his 100th career homer being his 29th of 2019, he was well on his way to setting a new career best.

Fernando Tatis Jr.: 362 games
While it may have taken him longer than he hoped it would in terms of time -- he missed the entire 2022 season due to injury/suspension -- Tatis became the fourth-fastest player in AL/NL history to reach 100 career homers in terms of games played on Aug. 2, 2023. Home run No. 100 came against the Rockies at Coors Field, with Tatis crushing a 1-1 pitch from Daniel Bard in the ninth inning over the left-field wall. The three-run shot traveled a projected 444 feet.

Aaron Judge: 371 games
Judge's quest for 100 was delayed by an injury early in the 2019 season but he landed on the century mark on Aug. 27 in Seattle. He connected for a two-run shot in the first inning against Mariners left-hander Yusei Kikuchi. Judge hit four homers in an abbreviated stay in the Majors in 2016 before announcing himself with full force a year later, launching an American League-best 52 dingers. He added 27 in 2018, another season hindered by injury in which he was limited him to 112 games.

Yordan Alvarez: 372 games
From the moment of his debut, Alvarez was one of the best hitters in baseball. In 2019, he was named AL Rookie of the Year despite having played just 87 games -- because he happened to hit 27 home runs (.655 SLG) over that extremely brief season. Despite missing almost the entire 2020 season with a knee injury and dealing with inflammation in his right hand in 2022, he hit 33 homers in 2021 and another 37 in '22. His not-long-awaited 100th homer came at the perfect time for the Astros, as the three-run blast against Tigers right-hander José Cisnero was a game-tying shot.

Ralph Kiner: 376 games
Kiner got off to a fast start and didn’t look back, totaling 23 home runs in his first season in 1946 before promptly hitting 51 in '47. By '48, he was making his way toward 100 for his career, a milestone he reached on July 18 in the second game of a doubleheader. Kiner held at least a share of the National League lead in home runs each season from 1946-52, peaking with 54 in '49. He finished his career with 369 home runs.

Joey Gallo: 377 games
Gallo’s 100th home run was perhaps most notable because it made him the first player in Major League history to reach 100 career home runs before hitting 100 career singles. After hitting seven home runs combined in 53 Major League games across the 2015 and '16 seasons, Gallo hit 41 in '17 and another 40 in '18, to help him get closer to that 100 for his career. He’s already reached 110 career home runs and still is just 25 years old.

Ronald Acu?a Jr.: 378 games
At 23 years and 184 days old, Acu?a became the ninth-youngest player to reach 100 homers. His 403-foot shot to left-center was the only run the Braves needed in a 1-0 victory over the Cardinals. It followed a nine-game homerless drought for Acu?a. Up until that point, he had experienced only six longer stretches without a home run in his career.

Chuck Klein: 390 games
Klein hit a modest 11 home runs in his first season in the Majors in 1928, in 64 games, but really kicked it into gear after that. He hit 43 in 1929 and 40 in '30, heading into his fourth Major League season in '31. He knocked his 100th career homer on May 11 in his 390th career game, and went on to finish second in MVP voting that year, the first time the BBWAA voted on the award. He finished his career with 300 home runs.

Bob Horner: 390 games
Horner managed more than 20 homers in each of his first three seasons to get close to 100. He hit No. 100 on Sept. 9, 1981, in his 390th career game, off none other than Nolan Ryan. Displaying a knack for hitting homers off great pitchers, Horner had six in his career off Fernando Valenzuela, his most against any pitcher. He finished his career with 218 home runs.

Mark McGwire: 393 games
McGwire’s first full season in 1987 yielded 49 home runs. Couple that with the three he hit in 18 games in '86, and he was already more than halfway to 100 after a mere 169 games. He hit No. 100 on July 5, 1989, in his 393rd career game. He finished with 583 home runs, which ranks 11th all-time.

Joe DiMaggio: 395 games
DiMaggio was an All-Star in every year of his career in which he played at least one game, which tells you how fast of a start he got off to. He hit 29 homers in his first season, then hit 46 in his second year, 1937. As the '38 season wound down, he hit No. 100 on Aug. 25 off the Indians’ Denny Galehouse in the second game of his doubleheader, the 395th game of his career. He finished his career with 361 home runs.

Eddie Mathews: 397 games
Mathews began his career with a 25-homer season in 1952. Then he hit 47 in '53, finishing second in NL MVP voting to Roy Campanella. He hit his 100th career home run in his third season and 397th career game, going yard on Aug. 1, 1954, against the Dodgers at Brooklyn, facing Clem Labine. He finished with 512 homers.