Going back to 1950, there have been eight individual seasons of at least 60 home runs. There has been only one in which a player has scored 150 runs. (Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell did it for the Astros in 2000.)
In recent baseball history, it's a statistical feat that is about as rare as it gets. In 2025, the Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani made a serious, well, run at 150, but came up just short with 146. Now another challenger has emerged.
The Nationals' James Wood, in just his second full MLB season, entered July 20 with 91 runs. That total not only led the Majors at that point -- it was blowing away the field. The second-highest total belonged to the Pirates' Bryan Reynolds (70). That gap of 21 runs between Wood and his closest challenger was the same as the gap between Reynolds and the eight players tied for 65th. Wood's total put him on pace to cross the plate 147 times this season, with a big opportunity arriving in the form of a three-game series at Coors Field, beginning Monday.
A combination of factors have led him to this point. The 23-year-old has been healthy enough to start every game this season, and he's done it while exclusively batting leadoff for a Washington lineup that has provided a surprising amount of support. At the plate, Wood combines elite selectivity (90th percentile in chase rate, 98th percentile in walk rate) with top-of-the-scales power (MLB-high 52 extra-base hits).
That Wood is authoring this sort of season at this age makes it even more impressive. Since integration, Alex Rodriguez (1996) is the only player to score even 140 runs in his age-23 season or younger. Only one player that young has reached the 150 mark in the Modern Era (since 1900): Joe DiMaggio in 1937.
So who else is Wood chasing? Let's take a closer look at some of the best run scorers in Major League history.
How rare is a 140-run season?
In terms of recent history, very rare indeed. Before Ohtani, Ronald Acuña Jr. scored 149 runs during his 2023 NL MVP Award-winning season. But that was MLB's first 140-run season since the Rodriguez scored 143 times for the 2007 Yankees.
Not surprisingly, 140-run seasons have tended to cluster in high-offense eras. There were a whopping 35 of them in the 1920s and '30s. Counting Ohtani, there have been only 16 since then, nine of which came between 1993-2001.
Seasons of 140-plus runs
Expansion Era (Since 1961)
2025 - Shohei Ohtani (LAD), 146
2023 - Ronald Acuña Jr. (ATL), 149
2007 - Alex Rodriguez (NYY), 143
2001 - Sammy Sosa (CHC), 146
2000 - Jeff Bagwell (HOU), 152
1999 - Jeff Bagwell (HOU), 143
1997 - Craig Biggio (HOU), 146
1997 - Larry Walker (COL), 143
1996 - Ellis Burks (COL), 142
1996 - Chuck Knoblauch (MIN), 140
1996 - Alex Rodriguez (SEA), 141
1993 - Lenny Dykstra (PHI), 143
1985 - Rickey Henderson (NYY), 146
Individual 140-run seasons by decade
Modern Era (Since 1900)
2020s - 2
2010s - 0
2000s - 2
1990s - 7
1980s - 1
1970s - 0
1960s - 0
1950s - 0
1940s - 3
1930s - 22
1920s - 13
1910s - 2
1900s - 2
So what about 150 runs?
Acuña fell just one run shy of breaching the 150-runs-scored barrier in 2023. Still, the fact that he was even in the conversation is impressive when you consider how a 150-run season has been virtually unattainable for the past several decades.
Most recent seasons of 150-plus runs
2000 - Jeff Bagwell (HOU), 152
1949 - Ted Williams (BOS), 150
1937 - Joe DiMaggio (NYY), 151
That’s right: Nobody has reached the 150-run plateau in 25 years, with Bagwell the only player to do so going back to 1950. It happened in 2000, when the Hall of Fame first baseman slashed .310/.424/.615 with 47 home runs in 159 games as part of a high-powered Houston offense that also got huge seasons from Moises Alou (1.039 OPS) and Richard Hidalgo (1.028 OPS), among others.
Of the 19 instances of a 150-run season in the Modern Era, 17 occurred in the 1920s and '30s, when a shorter season was counteracted by a wild offensive environment. Nearly a third of those came from Babe Ruth alone, all between 1920-30.
Who are the kings of reaching home?
If you’re looking at the entirety of Major League history, then Billy Hamilton -- the Hall of Famer who played in the late 19th Century -- tops the list. He crossed the plate 196 times for the 1894 Phillies, per the Elias Sports Bureau, posting a .521 OBP and stealing 100 bases for a team that hit a combined .350, scoring nearly nine runs per game. It was a different time, to say the least.
The Modern Era (since 1900) record holder is a more familiar name: Ruth. The Sultan of Swat scored 177 times in 1921, his second year with the Yankees.
Most runs scored in a season
Modern Era (Since 1900)
177 - Babe Ruth (1921 NYY)
167 - Lou Gehrig (1936 NYY)
163 - Lou Gehrig (1931 NYY)
163 - Babe Ruth (1928 NYY)
158 - Chuck Klein (1930 PHI)
158 - Babe Ruth (1927 NYY)
158 - Babe Ruth (1920 NYY)
Ruth (eight), Gehrig (four) and Williams (three) are the only players in the Modern Era with more than two seasons of 140 or more runs scored. Bagwell and Rodriguez are the only players with more than one since 1950.