Donald Murillo:
Scott Border was the all time homerun leader for 15 years.Timothy Knight, for four seasons.Tony Martinez, for two seasons. Cody Newport, for one season. Hector Abad, for fifteen seasons. For the last 42 years, however, only one man has held the title of "Homerun King." Donald Murillo.
The sixth Hall of Famer to come out of the 2023 draft, Murillo was the 11th overall pick that year, selected by Atlanta. Murillo spent one year at AA, where he showed his power potential, ripping 21 homeruns. In '24 and '25, he split between AAA and the big leagues, where he continued to show impressive power, with 12 homeruns in only 130 at bats in the majors in 2024. Atlanta had a capable 3B already in place, and so Murillo was traded early in 2026 to Los Angeles. Los Angeles, a team that hadn't had a winning season in 2019, stuck Murillo in the starting lineup with no trepidation. Their confidence was rewarded. While Murillo smacked 32 homers in his first full season, the Dodgers captured the NL West division title, winning 88 games. They proceeded to win their first World Series since 2006, sweeping their way through the playoffs.Murillo stepped forward in Game Two of the World Series. Though the Dodgers led the series one game to none, they trailed in the second game, 4-1 heading into the eighth inning. Murillo got them back in the game, delivering a 2 out, 2 run homer to make it a 1 run game. Los Angeles plated 2 runs in the ninth inning to pull out the victory. The rest of the Series was relatively easy, as they outscored Nashville 13-3 in games three and four.
Murillo was now a rising star. In '27, he belted 41 homeruns and made his first All Star team.In 2028, his homeruns jumped to 45, and the Dodgers returned to the postseason.This time, things were not so easy. They survived Pittsburgh in 7 games in the NLCS, and then faced off against Knoxville in the World Series. In Game 2, Murillo hit a two run homer in the first inning, but Los Angeles blew a 3-0 lead before pulling out a 6-5 victory to even the series at a game apiece. The teams split the 3rd and 4th games as well. Murillo delivered a 3 run homerun in the first inning of Game 5, but the Dodgers blew that lead, too. This time, they didn't come back to win the game, falling 6-4. Facing elimination, the Dodgers clung to a 5-3 lead in Game 6, heading into the 6th inning. Murillo homered to lead off the 6th inning, and the Dodgers forced Game 7, hanging on for a 6-4 victory. It looked bleak for Los Angeles, as they trailed 3-0 going into the seventh inning. With one out, however, Murillo ripped a double. One out later, the Dodger centerfielder, Rogelio Diez, slammed a two run homer. The Dodgers weren't going to go down easily. Knoxville pushed the lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the 7th. Dodger DH, Walter Woodard led off the 8th inning with a homerun. Knoxville's pitcher imploded. The homerun was followed by a walk and then a double. After an out, the Los Angeles leftfielder, Roberto Torre, delivered a two run single to give the Dodgers a 5-4 lead. The Dodgers' closer, Devin Costanza, notched his 7th save of the playoffs, and the Dodgers, along with Murillo, were world champions again.
In '29, Murillo's homerun total dipped to 37. It wouldn't go under 40 again until 2037. The Dodgers made the postseason again, but were knocked off in the NLCS. Murillo's 1 for 16 performance helped with that. In 2030, Murillo won the first of 6 Gold Glove Awards, but the Dodgers muddled along to a third place finish. The Dodgers continued to struggle, and so, following the 2032 season, Murillo headed to Memphis, who wa coming off of an unlikely World Series victory. Memphis was good, but not good enough in '33, finishing in second place with 86 wins. 2034 would be different. While Memphis cruised to a franchise-record 97 wins and a division title, Murillo had a different record on his mind. Scott Border(5) and Anselmo Maldonado(1) had combined for 6 60-HR seasons from 2004 to 2010. A 60-HR drought followed Border's 2010 season until Antwan Leanos hit 62 in 2028. From there, 5 different players reached 60 from '28 to '34. Murillo, his sights on Border's AL record of 62, was one of them. April was a good month, though not really a sign of what was to come, with 9 homeruns. Murillo smacked 14 in May. In June, three Grizzlies hit at least 12 homeruns; Murillo belted 13, giving him 36 through three months.He was at 46 through July, but cooled off a bit in August, with only 6. Down the homestretch, Murillo didn't waver. 10 homeruns in the final month of the season gave Murillo 62 for the season, and a share of the AL record with Border. For his stupendous season, Murillo was awarded the AL Silver Slugger. It was all for nought, however, as Memphis fell in the ALCS to Nashville. Memphis sunk to last place in 2035, and Murillo packed up his bags again, this time for sunny San Diego.
Murillo followed up his 62 HR season by hitting 53, and he became the 14th player to reach 500 career homeruns. The Padres survived a tight division race, and a one game playoff with Los Angeles, to reach the postseason, but they fell in the NLCS. In 2037, Murillo failed to hit 40 homeruns for the first time in 8 seasons, and San Diego just missed the playoffs, finishing one game behind Portland. The Padres won 104 games in '38, but lost in the NLCS. In 2039, Murillo left San Diego and signed with Tucson. That year, he became the third player to hit 600 career homeruns, joining Hector Abad and Antwan Leanos. In 2040, Murillo passed up Abad to become the all time homerun leader. Tucson reached the World Series, but lost to Sacramento in 6 games. Murillo turned 39 before the start of the '41 season. Now, it was all about trying to put his HR record out of reach. He combined for 44 homeruns over the '41 and '42 seasons, bringing his career total to 691. Challenge that, future ballplayers!
At the time of his retirement, Murillo ranked first overall in homeruns, 16th in doubles, and 2nd in RBI. Today, he ranks 1st overall in homeruns, with 21 more than the second place guy. He also ranks 7th in RBI.
Murillo is somewhat strange. One would think, and indeed, even prefer, that the homerun king be some great player. So many great hitters have come and gone, and it would be nice for one of them to be the homerun king. Instead, you get... Donald Murillo? A great doubles and homerun hitter, to be fair, but aside from that, a thoroughly mediocre hitter. Mediocre batting averages, mediocre walk totals, and plenty of strikeouts. As it is, though, Murillo will likely hold that record for a very long time. He's already held it for longer than all of the previous leaders combined, and for just over half of the league's history. To put things into a little perspective, Ricky Vega, mentioned in the "milestone watches" is currently 42 years old and is still about 40 homeruns behind Murillo. I don't think it's an unbreakable record, but it would take a pretty special player, with a little luck, and the right situation.
Murillo's stats:
Code:
Career Batting Stats
Year G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS Teams
2024 38 130 31 10 0 12 33 19 3 33 0 0 .238 .256 .592 .848 ATL
2025 60 168 41 11 1 4 21 24 17 51 0 0 .244 .314 .393 .706 ATL
2026 153 575 131 33 1 32 112 75 34 166 0 0 .228 .271 .456 .727 ATL LA
2027 154 586 161 42 2 41 127 96 48 141 0 0 .275 .330 .563 .893 LA,NL
2028 155 561 149 39 4 45 137 100 59 93 1 0 .266 .335 .590 .926 LA,NL
2029 151 562 133 36 2 37 123 94 54 92 1 0 .237 .304 .505 .809 LA
2030 153 564 155 38 4 47 117 84 36 105 0 0 .275 .318 .606 .925 LA,NL
2031 153 573 151 44 3 43 140 108 57 89 0 2 .264 .330 .576 .906 LA,NL
2032 157 594 140 36 3 49 142 98 44 106 2 1 .236 .288 .554 .842 LA
2033 151 574 150 38 5 42 125 96 58 112 2 3 .261 .329 .564 .894 MEM,AL
2034 156 580 150 42 4 62 165 128 53 104 1 1 .259 .321 .666 .986 MEM,AL
2035 153 570 130 32 4 53 139 110 53 109 0 2 .228 .294 .577 .871 MEM
2036 150 533 123 45 4 43 136 98 44 118 3 3 .231 .289 .572 .862 SD
2037 148 533 123 40 4 37 112 81 47 112 4 0 .231 .293 .529 .822 SD
2038 156 528 153 42 5 39 132 86 40 103 3 1 .290 .340 .610 .950 SD,NL
2039 153 572 146 42 5 29 104 94 45 123 0 1 .255 .310 .498 .808 TUC
2040 155 546 146 53 4 32 112 102 44 121 1 0 .267 .322 .555 .877 TUC
2041 154 515 127 44 7 36 118 97 48 150 0 1 .247 .311 .569 .880 TUC
2042 94 295 57 25 1 8 39 38 30 83 1 1 .193 .268 .366 .634 TUC ATL
Total 2644 9559 2397 692 63 691 2134 1628 814 2011 19 16 .251 .310 .553 .863
Career Minor League Batting Stats
Year G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
2023, AA 123 490 129 17 0 21 53 57 39 91 7 7 .263 .317 .427 .744
2024, AAA 90 359 83 22 0 14 47 43 23 65 4 1 .231 .277 .409 .686
2025, AAA 53 202 58 9 1 11 36 22 12 33 0 1 .287 .323 .505 .828
Career Postseason Batting Stats
Year G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
2026 8 30 8 2 0 2 4 7 5 8 0 0 .267 .371 .533 .905
2028 14 49 11 4 0 3 10 6 6 10 0 0 .224 .309 .490 .799
2029 4 16 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 .063 .063 .063 .125
2034 6 25 5 2 0 0 3 3 2 4 0 0 .200 .259 .280 .539
2036 6 17 4 2 0 1 3 3 2 4 0 0 .235 .316 .529 .845
2038 7 22 4 1 0 1 3 2 2 1 0 0 .182 .250 .364 .614
2040 13 41 5 3 0 1 7 4 4 12 0 0 .122 .200 .268 .468
Total 58 200 38 14 0 8 30 26 21 42 0 0 .190 .267 .380 .647
Player History
Drafted in 1st round, 11th overall pick, by Atlanta in 2023...
Injured on 4/17/2023 with a Inflamed Elbow Ligament, out for one week...
Had first career hit on 7/29/2024, off Richard Taylor (KNO)...
Hit first career homerun on 8/2/2024, off Larry Page (MEM)...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/18/2024, hitting .391 with 4 HR, 12 RBI...
Traded from Atlanta to Los Angeles on 4/26/2026 (Going to ATL: 2B A. Stackhouse, 1B C. Stangl. Going to LA: 3B D. Murillo)...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/25/2026, hitting .391 with 4 HR, 8 RBI...
Won World Series with Los Angeles in 2026...
Was selected to the 2027 Allstar game...
Was selected to the 2028 Allstar game...
Drove in 7 runs against Sacramento on 8/18/2028...
Won World Series with Los Angeles in 2028...
Drove in 6 runs against Hartford on 6/2/2029...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/14/2030, hitting .500 with 2 HR, 5 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 5/12/2030, hitting .444 with 3 HR, 10 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 6/1/2030, hitting .319 with 11 HR, 26 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 6/16/2030, hitting .500 with 2 HR, 6 RBI...
Was selected to the 2030 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 7/7/2030, hitting .438 with 3 HR, 3 RBI...
Hit 3 homeruns against Sacramento, driving in 4 runs on 7/17/2030...
Drove in 7 runs against San Diego on 8/21/2030...
Won Gold Glove Award at Third Base in 2030...
Was selected to the 2031 Allstar game...
Hit for the cycle against Harrisburg on 4/12/2032...
Drove in 6 runs against Harrisburg on 4/12/2032...
Signed as a free agent by Memphis on 2/4/2033 to a 3-year deal worth $6,286,500 per year...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/14/2033, hitting .435 with 4 HR, 10 RBI...
Was selected to the 2033 Allstar game...
Hit 3 homeruns against Kansas City, driving in 7 runs on 9/19/2033...
Won Gold Glove Award at Third Base in 2033...
Won Player of the Week award on 6/16/2034, hitting .476 with 4 HR, 10 RBI...
Was selected to the 2034 Allstar game...
Sets a new season AL-Record for HR with 62 on 9/29/2034...
Won Silver Slugger Award in 2034, hitting .259 with 62 HR, 165 RBI...
Drove in 7 runs against Nashville on 7/11/2035...
Won Gold Glove Award at Third Base in 2035...
Signed as a free agent by San Diego on 2/13/2036 to a 3-year deal worth $8,116,200 per year...
Drove in 6 runs against Los Angeles on 7/21/2036...
Drove in 7 runs against Hartford on 8/11/2036...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/18/2036, hitting .370 with 4 HR, 12 RBI...
Had 500th career homerun on 8/29/2036, off Hisamitsu Yukinaga (ROC)...
Won Gold Glove Award at Third Base in 2036...
Was selected to the 2038 Allstar game...
Drove in 6 runs against Portland on 9/27/2038...
Signed as a free agent by Tucson on 2/1/2039 to a 4-year deal worth $5,110,600 per year...
Had 5 hits with 3 RBI against Denver on 4/15/2039...
Had 600th career homerun on 5/28/2039, off Gary Guglielmo (MIA)...
Had 2000th career hit on 6/24/2039, off Warner Bailey (NAS)...
Won Gold Glove Award at Third Base in 2039...
Drove in 6 runs against Memphis on 4/24/2041...
Drove in 6 runs against Washington on 6/10/2041...
Hit for the cycle against Denver on 9/22/2041...
Had 5 hits with 6 RBI against Denver on 9/22/2041...
Won Gold Glove Award at Third Base in 2041...
Released by Tucson on 5/19/2042, refused assignment to minors...
Signed as a free agent by Atlanta on 6/9/2042 to a 1-year deal worth $496,000 per year...
Injured on 9/12/2042 with a Pulled Tricep Muscle, out for 6-7 weeks...
Retired and inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2043.
Batting Leader Boards Appearances
SLG
2027 - .563 - 6th
2028 - .590 - 7th
2030 - .606 - 2nd
2031 - .576 - 8th
2032 - .554 - 10th
2034 - .666 - 1st
2035 - .577 - 7th
2036 - .572 - 6th
2037 - .529 - 6th
2038 - .610 - 4th
2040 - .555 - 9th
2041 - .569 - 3rd
OPS
2030 - .925 - 9th
2034 - .986 - 6th
Doubles
2028 - 39 - 10th
2031 - 44 - 7th
2034 - 42 - 7th
2036 - 45 - 7th
2037 - 40 - 8th
2038 - 42 - 6th
2039 - 42 - 9th
2040 - 53 - 1st
2041 - 44 - 3rd
Homeruns
2026 - 32 - 6th
2027 - 41 - 3rd
2028 - 45 - 4th
2029 - 37 - 6th
2030 - 47 - 2nd
2031 - 43 - 4th
2032 - 49 - 3rd
2033 - 42 - 5th
2034 - 62 - 1st
2035 - 53 - 2nd
2036 - 43 - 4th
2037 - 37 - 4th
2038 - 39 - 6th
2041 - 36 - 3rd
RBI
2026 - 112 - 6th
2027 - 127 - 3rd
2028 - 137 - 3rd
2029 - 123 - 8th
2030 - 117 - 6th
2031 - 140 - 2nd
2032 - 142 - 2nd
2033 - 125 - 9th
2034 - 165 - 1st
2035 - 139 - 4th
2036 - 136 - 2nd
2037 - 112 - 6th
2038 - 132 - 4th
2041 - 118 - 6th
Runs
2034 - 128 - 4th