Episode 61: The MLB Home Run Explosion of 1987.

Welcome to GenX Classic Sports, the podcast where we revisit the unforgettable athletes, teams, and moments that shaped our sports memories growing up. 

Baseball fans remember the steroid era. They remember the home run chase. But do you remember 1987? ⚾💥 One strange, unforgettable season when baseballs flew out of parks like never before — before the headlines, before the controversies. 

From George Bell’s MVP power surge to Mark McGwire and Andre Dawson flirting with 50, the 1987 home run explosion shocked fans and rewrote expectations — then vanished just as fast. On GenX Classic Sports, we revisit the forgotten power surge that didn’t belong… and still doesn’t make sense. 🎙️🔥

Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more nostalgia-packed content covering GenX retro sports, and the athletes who defined a generation. 

Production Credits:

Intro and outro music: Mason Enis

Narrator: Haylee Wolf

Copyright @ PineStreetProductions 2025. Any illegal reproduction of this content will result in immediate legal action.

Transcript

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Welcome sports fans to Gen X Classic Sports, where we bring the nostalgia of our sports field view into the present day. Grab your favorite retro jersey, crack open a cold one, and let's stroll down memory lane together.

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Welcome back, everyone, to Gen X Classic Sports. I'm your host, Sean Enus, and you know, we're moving out of college and high school basketball season. Um, as I speak, the NCAA uh tournament is cranking up, and so we're gonna we're gonna kind of somewhat close the door on basketball probably for the year. The NBA finals, of course, will be over in June, and we may jump back into some NBA finals talk. I'm not really sure, but for now, hey, they're in full swing in baseball at training camp, spring training, and the world baseball classic will end tonight as I record this. So let's talk some baseball, okay? So if you grew up like I did in the 70s and 80s, you remember Major League Baseball being more of a game of balance, meaning speed on the bases and defense and pitching. Okay, that's that was just my impression as time has gone on that I lived in the 70s and 80s through an era where pitching was so much more dominant, okay. And but I do remember that there was this weird season, and I didn't know when. I just wanted to talk about it and research it some. I knew there was a weird season, an outlier in the 80s, in the late 80s, I thought, when I was in high school, when we kind of had a home run explosion. And from what it looks like, that happened in 1987. Okay. Suddenly in 1987, baseballs were flying out of the parks at a rate nobody had seen before. And players who were supposed to be single slap hitters, by the way, I do not mean slap hitter in a derogatory way whatsoever, but slap hitters were hitting over 20 home runs, and power hitters were certainly flirting with 50, as we'll talk about later. Now, what you need to remember, and I realize I say that phrase in every episode, but that's what this is. It's history. What you need to remember when I was growing up in the 80s, 30 home runs was a lot of home runs. There were a lot of great baseball players that hit in the 20s every year. And when you saw a guy hitting 30, you thought, now that is a special baseball player because 30 home runs was so many for a season. So that was a lot of home runs. But we'll see in 87 what happened with some guys. Okay, we'll talk about it later. And so fans were asking the question back then, what happened? And so today we're gonna dive into the most overlooked offensive anomaly in baseball history, the 1987 Major League Baseball Home Run Explosion. And we're gonna look at it a little bit through the eyes of one particular player that I bet a lot of you have forgotten about, unless you're really into trivia and digging around in baseball cards. Um, but because I kind of forgot about him, but I I certainly remember him being a big name at the time. But George Bell is a little bit, he's kind of the face of how this all came to be in the American League. Uh well, he played in the American League. He's kind of the face of how this became to be and why this season really laid some groundwork for a lot of things that followed, okay? And as I always say, to understand what we're talking about today, we kind of have to look back at how things were uh when this event happened. And so in the early and mid-80s, but Major League Baseball wasn't dominated by power hitters. Uh the pitchers still ruled, ballparks played a lot bigger, and speed and defense still mattered. And man, when I say that, I I really thought that if I looked it up, the 80s would be known as the decade with the most stolen bases. And newsflash, that turned out to not be the case, and we'll we'll cover that probably later in the season. But safe to say, in the 80s, especially the mid-80s, we thought pitching and defense still ruled and probably some base running and things like that. I would imagine a lot of people now think the term small ball, but whatever. So in '86, the average Major League Baseball team hit just under one home run per game statistically. A 30 home run season, like I said earlier, was very impressive. I marveled at guys who could muster 30 home runs, and some really great ball players did that. A 40 home run season seemed almost out of reach. And then overnight, everything changed. 1987, we saw a big jump in home run totals. We saw the highest home run rate in league history at the time, remember at the time, and power numbers that year felt completely out of character based on the history of that era. And it really didn't feel gradual, it felt like it happened overnight. So let's talk about the numbers that shocked baseball in 1987. Okay. League wide home runs jumped by hundreds as a total across all teams from 86 to 87. Major League Baseball averaged over one home run per game, which was a record at that time. And they jumped from 0.91 home runs in 86 to 1.06 home runs in 1987. And that's across all the teams across 162 games. 28 players hit 30 or more home runs that season, which was unheard of in the 80s. In 1986, the American League hit 2,290 home runs, and the National League hit 1,523 home runs, which seems out of whack, but remember pitchers were batting in the National League. So between the two leagues in 1986, there were 3,813 home runs. Now, the year we're talking about 1987. The American League hit 2,634 home runs, which was almost 400 more, and the National League hate hit 1,824 home runs, 1,824, which was 300 more than before. So the total was 4,458 home runs for the 1987 season, which was 645 home runs more than the season before. And that's why it was a statistical jump. So for us Gen Xers fans back then, this wasn't a slow burn kind of situation. This was flipping a switch. And some suspected the baseballs were livelier, some suspected the bats were being corked or otherwise enhanced. And some blamed bad pitching. So you never know, right? You can't prove any of this. But even more telling is that the power spike vanished just as fast as it happened because those numbers did not stay up there in 1988. They fell off again. So that's why historians still view 1987 as the statistical outlier, a one-year explosion that just really did not make sense. So I mentioned him earlier. Let's take a look at all of this through the eyes of George Bell, a guy I think you guys my age might have uh forgotten about a little bit, honestly. George Bell was born in 1959 in the Dominican Republic as Jorge Antonio Bell Matheny, maybe? I can't remember. Uh, or I can't read my own writing. He played left field and designated hitter for the Toronto Blue Jays. That's probably who you remember him with. And he had a 12-season career with the Blue Jays, the Cubs, I think he had one season with the Cubs and uh also with the White Sox. And George Bell played listed for his career at 6'1, 190 pounds. So he's not even a 200-pound guy. And so if the the National League had some sluggers, well, the American League kind of had George Bell, who sort of exemplified this whole statistical thing I'm talking about. And playing for the Blue Jays that year in Toronto, Bell put together a season that really kind of shows you the chaos that was going on. All right. So for the season, and I'll tell you why this matters, for the season, he had 47 home runs. He had 134 RBI. He had 111 runs scored. And all of that added up for George Bell to be named the American League MVP that season. And this wasn't just a career year for George. This was a seismic jump in numbers, okay? He had always been a power hitter, but 47 home runs was up there, okay? And here's the key thing about it. He didn't lead the he did not even lead Major League Baseball in home runs that year, okay? But he still won the MVP because it's about the total picture, right? And so that tells you how voters viewed his season in the context, okay, of what was going on around him. He didn't, not only did he not lead the major leagues in home runs, he didn't even lead the American League in home runs, okay? So I think that's actually kind of funny. Um so he was the embodiment of this 1987 power surge, power, production, and disbelief from all of us who were reading the box scores and the headlines in the papers the next morning. His home run numbers didn't look like this before or after 1987, and that's why he's kind of the poster boy for the home run explosion. Okay, his numbers didn't reflect this across his whole career. Before 1987, George Bell's most home runs were in 1986. He had 31, but he jumped by 16 in a season. After he hit 47 home runs, the most he ever hit again was 25. And those were back-to-back seasons in 1990 and 1991 with the Blue Jays and the Cubs. Okay. So 31 was his absolute peak, and then he hit up until 86, then he hits 47. He falls off in 88 and 89 to where his best numbers after his MVP season were 25 back-to-back years with home runs or 25 home runs in back-to-back years. So his RBI totals, same story. Before 1987, the most RBI Bell ever had in a season was that season in 86. He had 108. And after this season, the most he ever had was 112, and he had that in 1992 with the White Sox. So he went from 108 to 134, and then the most after that was 112. I think those kinds of numbers are what we're talking about. These mirror what was going on in the whole league, okay? Or the whole Major League Baseball. And while we're talking about George, because he's not the only guy we're here to talk about, but he's kind of the poster child, while we're talking about him, he was an exceptional baseball player. George Bell hit 278 in his career, and he had 265 home runs across his 12 seasons, and he had a thousand and two RBI in his career. He was a three-time All-Star in 87, 90, and 91. He was the American League MVP, as I said, in 1987. He was a three-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and he led the American League League and RBI in one season. So this is the kind of career that anyone as a kid would dream of having. This was no flash in the pan career by any stretch. It was just kind of a flash in the pan season, at least offensively. So George Bell was one heck of a baseball player, and his numbers jumped this season like a lot of guys did, really. So he wasn't alone in these home run totals, not even close. So let's talk about some other names across baseball, because here's how the power numbers exploded. There's a guy named Mark McGuire. Ever heard of him? Yeah, he crushed 49 home runs that year, which I remember being a big deal. Andre Dawson, who for me became famous as the right fielder for the Cubs, he hit 49 that year also. George Bell hit his 47. Dale Murphy, my grandfather's favorite baseball player ever, was Dale Murphy. And Dale Murphy hit 44 that year. And that was out of character for Dale Murphy. Because remember when I said guys hitting 25, 30 home runs were awesome back then? That was Dale Murphy. He probably had several seasons in the 20s, and 44 was a pretty big jump from him, from what I remember. Daryl Strawberry hit 39 home runs that year. So that's five guys who had big seasons. Players known for batting average numbers, not power. They suddenly posted career highs and home runs that year. And, you know, it just kind of brought to question by the fans what's going on? How widespread is this, etc. And really the surge in home runs didn't just stop with individual stats. Teams themselves, the entire team started uh breaking their own power thresholds that once seemed, you know, unreachable for club records and stuff. Multiple teams hit more than 200 home runs that year, which was very rare at the time. Ballparks that used to suppress uh these long balls suddenly played a lot smaller. And pitchers talked openly back then about the ball seemed like it carried farther. And yet there were no rule changes, there was no official explanation, and you know, all they really had was just more cracks of the bat, more home runs, and more power hitting in general. So, you know, um data doesn't lie typically, and so it's a statistical thing to ponder how this happened, right? And we'll actually we'll probably never know, but let's talk about some of the whys maybe. Why this season deserved so much of its own chapter in baseball history, 1987. This happened before the steroid era headlines. I did not say this happened before steroid usage, I said this happened before steroid era headlines. Make of that what you will. Um, obviously, steroids were not specifically banned or tested for. So, as usual in baseball, there's always going to be that discussion, right? So this was before we did a lot of talking about the effects steroids might be having on the power numbers. This happened before expansion diluted the pitching more, and that's a good that's a good topic because you know, if you expand by two and eventually four teams or whatever, that's that's going to spread out the pitching a little bit. And maybe, you know, the fourth starters across the league aren't as good as they might have been this this season before with fewer teams. This 1987 power explosion also happened without a permanent change in you know philosophies of coaching or anything else. Like it didn't change the game as far as we can tell. But it did show some important things. And the first is that baseball fans loved power. Now, I want to stop here for a second and compare baseball to two other sports, basketball and football. I do believe that baseball fans, well, let me say this. I believe people in general are too microwave-brained anymore to enjoy baseball the way it was played 40 and 50 years ago. I truly believe that. You have to be a real baseball purist to sit there and enjoy two to nothing or two to one games. I believe that. I think younger people since the 90s and beyond have wanted to see more offense, more home runs, that kind of thing. I I don't think I'm crazy in saying that at all. I think if we're all honest, we believe that. Um, same way with football. Football has changed to where people want to see the ball thrown and caught and run with and high scoring, high scoring, high scoring. Basketball, uh hey, let's let's let them play zone now. Let's uh let's not let them touch each other, let's let the scores go higher. It's happened in every sport, folks. But baseball fans proved that they love the power because all the positive feedback they gave that season. And home runs, you know, they filled up the highlight reels on ESPN and the local news. They just do. Attendance actually went up that year, and television really embraced the long ball. Um, because, you know, it just runs better on ESPN when you have home runs to show, better highlights. Um, and so yeah, it's just like the rise in three-pointers and dunks in the NBA and the rise in the NFL passing game. Um, better, more interesting highlights. That's what you know the leagues and television people for sure seem to want. So later on, of course, in the 90s, there was another big power surge, and I think by then fans were kind of expecting it, maybe, at least conditioned to be open-minded about it. So it didn't necessarily start the home run era at this point, but it sure proved that it could happen, which it did a few years later. So now, what might have cost us uh what might have had what might have caused this to happen? There's no single answer, but yes, there's will we ever know? I don't know, but the some of the theories included the baseball, like I said earlier, maybe some manufacturing changes in the baseball, maybe maybe the pitching depth, maybe environmental, who knows? But you can't prove any of it. So that's what makes 87 kind of um fascinating to people. There was no scandal, by the way. There was no steroid scandal or anything. Um there was no cheating scandal of, you know, uh, well, we know what's happened in the last few years. There was no there was no signal stealing scandal or steroid scandal or umpire scandal showing favoritism, none of that. No betting and gambling scandals. There was none of that. So it's always been a mystery in a way, and so for Gen X fans like myself, 1987 sits in kind of a strange spot in history. It doesn't get talked about like the great home run chase of the 90s or the steroid era era controversies, of course, and the Pete Rose and all those uh gambling and all those kinds of things. But if you're like me and you grew up watching what I would consider well, what most people would probably call small ball now. Um, if you grew up watching bass running and bunning people over, I I think it kind of boils down to this. It feels like now at all levels of baseball, and I'm probably I know I'm old, and I know I'm the guy on the front porch telling kids to get off his grass. I know that, okay? But I'm betting a lot of you listening to this are too. It just feels like baseball is played at almost maybe at every level now. Certainly some of the stuff that I see. It feels like now the strategy is let's hope somebody gets on base and then let's hope we hit a home run. That's what it feels like. I don't see and you're screaming at me because there's probably teams out there that you're saying do this. That's great. I hope they are doesn't seem like we're as inclined anymore to bunt guys over and sacrifice and squeeze home runs and squeeze not home runs, squeeze home additional runs and things like that. Base stealing for a lot of the games that I watch at every level seems to be uh uh an unknown concept anymore. Maybe the catchers and pitchers are that good but I don't know if base running is taught like it used to be either. So I guess you would call my mentality more small ball and if home runs happened that was bonus. But it feels like that's how all that that all of baseball has done a complete about face and now it's all about just hitting the ball out of the park. It just feels that way. And you know I think a lot of you agree with me. So the reason 87 felt kind of weird was because of a lot of things but you're right if you think it was an oddball season. And you know what was cool about it was this was a big year for George Bell. Somebody like George Bell who who had kind of hovered with some decent numbers made a jump and became an MVP. This was Mark McGuire before his prime and but it was um Andre Dawson probably right in the middle of his okay so let's let's look at some of the home run hitters from that era or from that season and let's talk about some of them. All right that season 28 players hit over 30 home runs and I'm not going to list all of them for you but as men tend to do we sit around and just a name from the bygone era pops into our head and we say it out loud and all our buddies go, oh yeah, I remember that guy. That's that's the game we're about to play. So here are some home run hitters from the 1987 season number one Mark McGuire hit 49. He was 23 years old he was the rookie sensation and of course his rookie outburst there foreshadowed what was to come in the 90s for sure. Andre Dawson the Hawk hit 49 home runs. He was 32 years old and he won the National League MVP on a last place Cubs team think about that one of the most iconic seasons of the entire decade of the 80s George Bell he had 47 home runs third in the na uh in the majors he was 27 years old the AL MVP and he was uh you know had such an all-around great season um Dale Murphy 44 home runs he was 31 years old he like I told you earlier he was the face of uh 1980s consistency and you know that dude was just good for 25 or 30 a year it seemed like one of the guys that if I were a betting man I would say that we will talk about on here and dedicate to him his own uh 30 minutes to but a guy that I always respected so much and enjoyed watching him play Eric Davis hit 37 home runs that year from the Reds. He was 25 years old Dell Murphy was 31 when he did his thing if I didn't mention that Eric Davis was that really lean kind of lanky power speed combo freakish athlete guy who stole 50 bases that year as well and so he had a legendary season probably MVP stuff if not for Andre Dawson. Strawberry I already told you hit 39 well he was 25 years old and he was entering his prime let's see Jack Clark some of you remember Jack Clark the big first baseman for the Cardinals and other teams um but he was on the Cardinals team that year he hit 35 home runs he was 31 years old and the Cardinals were built for speed and he was kind of the exception to that he was the power hitter. Mike Schmidt old Mike Schmidt hit 35 home runs that year and he was already 37 years old. And just some more George Brett had 30 home runs that year he's more known for his average and consistency probably than having big home run outbursts. Dwight Evans hit 34 that year Kirk Gibson hit 28 that year Tony Armas hit uh 30 home runs that year and Howard Johnson Hojo he hit 30 home runs and he was one of the more underrated uh out um power speed guys um in the for an infielder back in those days so let's look get a little context 28 different players hit 30 plus home runs something really unheard of several of these players posted their career highs in 1987 and that's another reason it stands out is this weird year. And no one reached 50 but with 49 being done by two different guys it really gave the impression to fans especially what 50 was just around the corner which tells you everything you know about how big the numbers were and how wild uh that season really was and so to kind of wrap it up in a bow, 1987 for me it kind of reminds us that baseball history is fun and it really matters when you look at seasons independently along with looking at decades and eras and dynasties and things like that that happen over time. It's always fun to look at these data points that jump or sink for whatever reason. That's fun. Not every era is going to fit neatly into some narrative right and sometimes just a season is just going to stand alone and be unexplained and unforgettable in a million different ways and I think that's what 1987 was all about and that's why this season was so fun as a Gen X baseball fan because back then for one summer man baseball was hitting some home runs at a record pace and it was really fun to read about in the papers and watch on the highlights um afterwards. And so there you go there's just one aspect of Major League Baseball in the 80s that I found kind of fun and exciting to talk about and so that's the unexplained power explosion of 1987 that most of you probably remember quite fondly. I knew it happened at some point in the in 86 seven or eight somewhere in there but I wasn't sure and so hey that's our first that's our kickoff for baseball content for the next few months sprinkled with some other miscellaneous things in there maybe but I hope you enjoyed that kicking off our baseball coverage for this season and as usual I'd appreciate it if you'd give us a like or a comment please subscribe please share by word of mouth if you enjoy what we do here and get other fans our age who like thinking about this kind of stuff involved. Okay so I appreciate you spending 30 minutes of your time with me this week and I'll be back next week with more baseball from Gen X 70s, 80s and 90s sports. And this is your host Sean Enos and I'll talk to you again in a week.

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