In an era of baseball that has produced astronomical home-run numbers, the 500-home-run mark is still a great milestone, and an almost guaranteed ticket to the Hall of Fame.
With that said, the Chicago Cubs are one of a select few clubs in major-league history to boast two members of the 500-home-run club.
Only the Yankees, Red Sox, Giants, Orioles, and Cubs have had multiple players hit 500 home runs. And only the Yanks, Sox, Giants, and Cubs have had multiple players hit a total of 500 home runs while with their club.
Both of the Cubs' members have at least 500 home runs in a Cubs uniform. Sammy Sosa hit 545 of his career 609 homers in Chicago, and Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks, slugged all 512 of his career home runs with the Cubs.
Mel Ott, Mike Schmidt, Mickey Mantle, and Ted Williams are the only members of the 500-home-run club, other than Banks, to make reach the milestone with only one team.
With free agency now in play, it is rare to see a player stick with one team his entire career, or to hit 500 home runs with just one team. Currently, only Albert Pujols (303 home runs) stands close to achieving the 500-home-run milestone with the just one team, the St. Louis Cardinals.
What makes this achievement a little more remarkable is the era of baseball that Banks and Sosa hit their 500 home runs.
Banks played through the '50s and '60s, in what is now considered the "Dead Ball Era." Home runs were not the spectacles that were highly publicized by the media.
On the other hand, Sosa played through the strike, the "Juiced Ball Era," and the post-strike "Steroid Era" of baseball. He was involved in the great 1998 home-run race which, depending on whom you ask, launched baseball to new heights after the 1994 players' strike.
Of the Hall of Fame eligible players in the 500-home-run club, only Mark McGwire has not been elected. Rafael Palmerio will be up in about three years, but will not be favored to enter the Hall soon because of a positive steroid test.
If voters can look past Sosa's alleged use of steroids, he will certainly be a Cooperstown lock, and he will join Banks, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins, and Ryne Sandberg as the modern-day Cubs in the Hall of Fame.
By hitting 500 home runs, and hitting 500 total with the Cubs, Banks and Sosa put the already storied franchise of the Chicago Cubs in more rare air. The Cubs are in an elite group among the 500-homer club, while Banks and Sosa find themselves in the same club with the likes of Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, and Hank Aaron.
500 home runs is a true mark of power now, just as it was back in the day. It's a credit to the Cubs and the individual players for this great achievement.
Other players may hit more home runs than Banks and Sosa, but their names will not be erased from the baseball record books. Both achieved their milestone home runs in different eras of baseball and in different ways.
Banks did it through consistent hitting and being a true all-around player, while Sosa blasted his way through the late '90s, assaulting the home-run record book.
Either way, both Banks and Sosa have reached one of the biggest home-run milestones in baseball history and have joined some of the best home-run hitters in the process.
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