Hack Wilson Hits His 56th Home Run, Setting the National League Record

On September 27, 1930, Hack Wilson of the Chicago Cubs belted two home runs, bringing his season total to 56 and setting a new National League record. The previous NL mark of 43 had been held by Rogers Hornsby since 1922. Wilson obliterated it.

Wilson stood five feet six inches tall and weighed 190 pounds, with an 18-inch neck, size-six shoes, and forearms that made him look like a different species from the lean players around him. He was built low to the ground, compact, and enormously powerful. His contemporaries struggled to describe his frame. He looked nothing like what a home run hitter was supposed to look like.

His 1930 season produced numbers that still stand out nearly a century later. Beyond the 56 home runs, Wilson drove in 191 runs, a major league record that has never been broken. He batted .356 with a .454 on-base percentage and a .723 slugging percentage. The RBI total, originally recorded as 190, was corrected to 191 by researchers in 1999 after discovering a misattributed run batted in from a game against the Reds.

The record-setting campaign came at the peak of the live-ball era's most offense-heavy season. The entire National League batted .303 in 1930. But even within that context, Wilson's production stood alone.

Wilson's 56 home runs remained the National League single-season record for 68 years, until Sammy Sosa hit 66 and Mark McGwire hit 70 in 1998. His 191 RBIs remain untouched in either league.