All data from Baseball Reference and Stathead searches.
Ruth had the most HRs from 1920-24 with 235. Cy Williams had the next highest in the AL/NL with 124. So Ruth's differential was 111. This was the highest I found for the #1 and #2 guys for any 5 year period in baseball history.
The highest by anyone not named Ruth is 76 by Ralph Kiner from 1947-51. Then the next highest by anyone not named Ruth or Kiner was 53 by Sammy Sosa from 1998-2002.
|
Player |
HR |
From |
To |
Diff |
2nd |
|
Babe Ruth |
235 |
1920 |
1924 |
111 |
CyWilliams |
|
Babe Ruth |
232 |
1924 |
1928 |
110 |
Hornsby |
|
Babe Ruth |
219 |
1923 |
1927 |
93 |
CyWilliams |
|
Babe Ruth |
232 |
1925 |
1929 |
87 |
Gehrig |
|
Babe Ruth |
256 |
1926 |
1930 |
79 |
HWilson |
|
Ralph Kiner |
234 |
1947 |
1951 |
76 |
TWilliams |
|
Babe Ruth |
206 |
1921 |
1925 |
62 |
Hornsby |
|
Babe Ruth |
194 |
1922 |
1926 |
60 |
Hornsby |
|
Babe Ruth |
255 |
1927 |
1931 |
59 |
Gehrig |
|
Ralph Kiner |
215 |
1949 |
1953 |
57 |
Hodges |
|
Ralph Kiner |
220 |
1948 |
1952 |
55 |
Sauer |
|
Babe Ruth |
236 |
1928 |
1932 |
53 |
Gehrig |
|
Sammy Sosa |
292 |
1998 |
2002 |
53 |
Bonds |
|
Ralph Kiner |
215 |
1946 |
1950 |
49 |
TWilliams |
|
Mark McGwire |
284 |
1995 |
1999 |
43 |
Sosa |