BY THE NUMBERS

Last season, Brady Anderson of the Baltimore Orioles hit 24 home runs, which was a career-high . . . if you don’t count his 50-homer explosion in 1996. Granting that his career isn’t over yet, the difference between Anderson’s two highest single-season homer totals--26--is the greatest in baseball history. Only active players with more than five seasons in the majors were considered, as otherwise Angel third baseman Troy Glaus--29 homers as a sophomore last season and only one as a rookie in 48 games in 1998--would top the list.

Biggest difference between two highest single-season home run totals:

26: Brady Anderson, 50 (best home run season), 25 (second best)

25: Davey Johnson, 43 (best), 18 (second best)

22: Roger Maris, 61 (best), 39 (second best)

19: Joe Charboneau, 23 (best), 4 (second best)

19: Ken Hunt, 25 (best), 6 (second best)

19: L Willard Marshall, 36 (best), 17 (second best)

19: Terry Steinbach, 35 (best), 16 (second best)

Source: Baseball Prospectus

Reported by Bob Rohwer