All of Major League Baseball hit 5,693 home runs in 2000 which, at the time, was the new record. That record stood for 16 years — Until last night.

Tigers outfielder Alex Presley tied the record before Royals outfielder Alex Gordon smacked the record-setting blow off Blue Jays pitcher Ryan Tepera.

“A pretty cool thing to be a part of,” Gordon said. “I didn’t hit many this year, but I guess I made one count.”

Gordon has hit an unimpressive .209/.286/.314 with eight home runs and 44 RBIs. The four-time Gold Glover and three-time All Star told reporters about his plans for the baseball.

“I’m going to give it to Cooperstown,” Gordon said. “I figured they’d probably have much more reason to have it than I do. I don’t really want to remember too much about this season, so I’ll probably just give it away and let them take care of it.”

With about a week left in the season, MLB hitters are in a great position to blow the former home run record out of the water. Giancarlo Stanton is leading the way with 55 home runs as he chases #61. Here is the full leaderboard:
  1. Giancarlo Stanton – 55
  2. Aaron Judge – 44
  3. J.D. Martinez – 40
  4. Khris Davis – 39
  5. Cody Bellinger – 38
  6. Joey Gallo – 38
  7. Justin Smoak – 38
  8. Edwin Encarnacion, Logan Morrison, Mike Moustakas – 36
  9. Charlie Blackmon, Paul Goldschmidt, Joey Votto – 35
  10. Nolan Arenado, Jay Bruce, Marcell Ozuna – 34
Some of baseball’s all-time greats* top the leaderboard in 2000 for most home runs in the league:
  1. Sammy Sosa – 50
  2. Barry Bonds – 49
  3. Jeff Bagwell – 47
  4. Troy Glaus – 47
  5. Vladimir Guerrero – 44
  6. Richard Hidalgo – 44
  7. Jason Giambi – 43 (AL MVP)
  8. Gary Sheffield – 43
  9. Frank Thomas – 43
  10. Jim Edmonds, Todd Helton – 42

Fun Fact: Sammy Sosa hit 66 home runs in 1998, 63 in 1999, and 64 in 2001. He did not lead even just the National League in any of those seasons. Mark McGwire hit 70 in ’98, McGwire again hit 65 in 1999, and of course Barry Bonds hit the record 73 in 2001. Though, Sosa did win NL MVP in 1998.

Here’s how the Mets sluggers did in 2000:

  1. Mike Piazza – 38 (Finished 3rd in MVP voting behind winner Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds)
  2. Edgardo Alfonzo – 25
  3. Robin Ventura – 24
  4. Todd Zeile – 22
  5. Derek Bell – 18
  6. Jay Payton – 17
  7. Benny Agbayani – 14
  8. Todd Pratt – 8
  9. Melvin Mora – 6
  10. Kurt Abbott – 6

The 2017 Mets, meanwhile, are poised to break their own single-season home run record. However, the top six home run hitters are not currently playing for the Mets due to either a trade or injury.

  1. Jay Bruce – 29
  2. Michael Conforto – 27
  3. Curtis Granderson – 19
  4. Wilmer Flores – 18
  5. Yoenis Cespedes – 17
  6. Lucas Duda – 17
  7. Jose Reyes – 14
  8. Asdrubal Cabrera – 13
  9. Travis d’Arnaud – 13
  10. Neil Walker – 10