<P> In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit so far that the batter is able to circle all the bases ending at home plate, scoring himself plus any runners already on base, with no errors by the defensive team on the play . An automatic home run is achieved by hitting the ball on the fly over the outfield fence in fair territory . More rarely, an inside - the - park home run occurs when the hitter reaches home plate while the baseball remains in play on the field . In Major League Baseball (MLB), a player in each league wins the home run title each season by hitting the most home runs that year . Only home runs hit in a particular league count towards that league's seasonal lead . Mark McGwire, for example, hit 58 home runs in 1997, more than any other player that year . However, McGwire was traded from the American League's (AL) Oakland Athletics to the National League's (NL) St. Louis Cardinals midway through the season and his individual AL and NL home run totals (34 and 24, respectively) did not qualify to lead either league . </P> <P> The first home run champion in the National League was George Hall . In the league's inaugural 1876 season, Hall hit five home runs for the short - lived National League Philadelphia Athletics . In 1901, the American League was established and Hall of Fame second baseman Nap Lajoie led it with 14 home runs for the American League Philadelphia Athletics . Over the course of his 22 - season career, Babe Ruth led the American League in home runs 12 times . Mike Schmidt and Ralph Kiner have the second and third most home run titles respectively, Schmidt with eight and Kiner with seven, all won in the National League . Kiner's seven consecutive titles from 1946 to 1952 are also the most consecutive home run titles by any player . The most recent champions (2016) are Mark Trumbo with 47 home runs in the American League, and Nolan Arenado and Chris Carter tied with 41 in the National League . </P>

Who hit the most home runs in the 1960s