Who are the only Phillies to hit 40 home runs in a season?

Kyle Schwarber is already proving himself to be a unique player in Philadelphia Phillies history. Now in his second year with the club, Schwarber is on the cusp of reaching the 40-home run plateau in back to back seasons, one year after leading the National League with 46 bombs in 2022. And while we can debate Schwarber's utility as a very non-prototypical leadoff hitter, his raw power cannot be questioned. Say what you will about the batting average, but he just seems to work within the context of this team's DNA. The Phillies don't have a team captain, but Schwarber has that kind of makeup.

If this pace continues, Schwarber is destined to go down as one of the greatest sluggers in the team's long history by the time all is said and done. It may sound kind of crazy at this somewhat early juncture of his tenure with the Phils, but it's true. When he does eclipse the 40-homer mark once again this year, it will be just the 15th such time that the feat has been accomplished for the Phillies, with only seven players (Schwarber included) being members of the club. It says a lot that so few players have reached this mark in the Phillies' lengthy history. Even when you dismiss the first couple decades of team history since home runs were so scarce, we only see a Phillie launch 40 or more home runs once every six or seven years, on average. So enjoy it while it's happening, because you never know when it will again.

So, as Schwarber stands on the brink of adding another cool entry into the Phillies' record books, let's take a look back at everyone who preceded him in reaching this single season achievement for the team.

Ryan Howard

'The Big Piece' is the only player in Phillies history to hit 40 home runs on four separate occasions, accomplishing it every season from 2006 through 2009. Howard may take the title of 'Most Raw Power' for any player to put on a Phillies uniform, but his career average was a respectable .258 for his career, largely buoyed by a .313 mark during his bonkers 2006 MVP season, when he set a team record with 58 dingers. He remains the only man to hit 50 for the club. It was truly awe-inspiring to watch him come out of virtually nowhere to blast mammoth home runs as the preeminent slugger in the game for almost a decade.

Ryan Howard's 382 home runs for the Phillies put him firmly in second place on the club's all-time list, and it's fair to say that the 2006-2009 stretch is one of the absolute best extended performances at the dish that we've ever seen in the game, as he AVERAGED 50 home runs and 143 RBI during that time period. Alas, Howard comes up probably one or two monster seasons short of being considered a slam dunk Hall of Famer, although his place in Phillies lore is forever secured. His trophy case is full, even including a Home Run Derby victory. At the very least, we'll be seeing him on the Phillies' Wall of Fame someday in the very near future.

Howard attempted to return to the bigs with both the Braves and Rockies, but his minor league tenures there fizzled out, leaving him as solely a Phillie on MLB ledgers. And that's just fine with all of us. Nowadays, Ryan Howard would like to sell you chicken sandwiches. With each bite, remember just how fortunate we were to witness his prodigious power displays during a golden era of this franchise.

Jim Thome

The Phillies were twisting in the wind after the 2002 season, one that saw them trade franchise cornerstone Scott Rolen and left everyone wondering about their future. They had one more season to play at Veterans Stadium before finally moving into a new ballpark, and the time was right to make a splash in free agency. That's when the Phillies dug deep and persuaded Jim Thome to come to down. What a move.

Everything around the club seemed rejuvenated for 2003, and Thome delivered on expectations, launching 47 home runs to fall just one shy of the club record at the time. The following year, Thome christened brand new Citizens Bank Park with a 42-homer season, one that included his milestone 400th big league home run. Thome and the Phillies seemed like a great match, and it felt like the good times would never end. Unfortunately, that's when injuries got in the way, severely shortening his 2005 campaign and paving the way for the Ryan Howard era at first base. With nowhere to put him and an eye toward the future, the Phillies moved Thome to the White Sox after that season, bringing him back for a brief reunion in 2012. All told, Thome only hit 101 home runs with the Phillies, but the 2003-04 version of the Hall of Famer will be fondly remembered by a generation of Phils fans.

Jim Thome went on to mash 612 MLB home runs, putting him currently in 8th place on the career list. He got his deserved call to Cooperstown in 2018, capping a brilliant career in all facets. It is truly a shame that his time in Philadelphia couldn't have lasted longer, although it was the right move for the team at the time.

Mike Schmidt

Without question, the greatest player in Phillies history and the best third baseman that Major League Baseball has ever seen, Michael Jack Schmidt collected 40 home runs or more on three occasions — 1979, 1980, and 1983. This all came in an era where even hitting 30 home runs was considered extremely impressive, but Schmidt did that with ease and and then always had a little more left in the tank. He led the National League in home runs 8 times, and his team-record 548 home runs is in no danger of falling anytime soon.

Now, of course, Schmidt works in a broadcasting capacity for the Phillies, and you can also see him virtually anytime the team holds a ceremony for alumni weekend or any observance of the club's past. The team is lucky to still have this connection with an all-time great, one whose tenure in town got extremely rocky on numerous occasions. Things could have seemingly gone off the rails at any time, but thankfully Schmidt remained a Phillie for life until his surprise retirement during the 1989 season. He went into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 1995 along with Richie Ashburn amidst a sea of red in one of the most triumphant days in team history.

Because of both his bat and his glove, Schmidt's name will echo down the corridors for as long as the Phillies exist as a franchise. He possessed a unique combination previously unseen in the game, and he paved the way for the first World Series championship in team history, after nearly a century in the wilderness. This is what sports legends are made of, and there's a very good reason that his statue greets you every time you head in through the main gate of Citizens Bank Park.

Dick Allen

The late, great Dick Allen exploded onto the scene by winning NL Rookie of the Year honors during the Phillies' ill-fated 1964 campaign. The all-star selections began rolling in the following year, and it was in 1966 that he joined the Phillies' 40-homer club, bopping 40 on the nose (in only 141 games) in 1966. Allen's time with the team was tumultuous, of course, but there is no denying that he is one of the greatest talents to ever don the uniform.

Allen is regarded by many as being one of the very best players in MLB history who currently sits outside the Hall of Fame, a claim that is bolstered by the Most Valuable Player award which he won later in his career with the Chicago White Sox. His candidacy has been marked by a number of bids that have fallen agonizingly short when considered by various veterans' committees. Sadly, Allen was not able to live long enough to see this dream come to fruition, having passed away in 2020. He did attend a special ceremony earlier that year, however, where the Phillies retired his #15. It was a long overdue honor for a truly great player who had been unfairly labeled during his playing career.

Hopefully, the Hall finds space for him one of these years, but Dick Allen stands as a Phillies legend regardless of what any group of outsiders says or decides. For a certain generation of Phillies fans who hadn't yet witness Mike Schmidt or the team success that started to come along in the late 1970's, having Dick Allen in a Phillies uniform was one of the true highlights of watching the team. His legacy meant more than the mere numbers on the page, although those were pretty fantastic.

Cy Williams

After starting his career by playing six years with the Chicago Cubs, Williams was traded to the Phillies prior to the 1918 season. He continued his solid career in Philadelphia and was near the top of the home run leaderboard every year at a time when round-trippers were in extremely short supply. Then, in 1923, Williams absolutely exploded for 41 home runs to lead the National League (the second best total that year was 22). Williams became the first Phillies player to ever hit 40 in a season, although his team record would only stand for six seasons before Chuck Klein broke it.

Even today, 93 years after he took his final swing in an MLB game, Williams still ranks in the top 15 in Phillies history in games played, hits, runs scored, home runs, and other categories. Williams never won any major awards as a player, but he did lead the National League in home runs on four different occasions, so he was no slouch. He wasn't a Hall of Fame player, but Cy Williams was one of the top sluggers in the game as baseball emerged from its 'deal ball era' and realized that it was fun to embrace the home run.

Perhaps Kyle Schwarber and all of these great Phillies of yesteryear can be joined in the team's pantheon of 40-homer players in future years. We're especially looking at you to get here soon, Bryce Harper. It remains to be seen if anyone currently within the Phillies' organization has what it takes to get there someday, but you never can quite tell, and that's part of the beauty and allure of baseball. Yes, 40 home runs is just a number, and there's a lot more to baseball than just reaching a nice, round figure. But, wow, is it impressive.