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Albert Pujols hit a career-low 32 home runs in 2007.

MLB Story lines Miracle Mets? Power Outage? Big-Time Tigers? AL East? Torre-Girardi? Mitchell Report? Barry Bonds? Ready Rays? Fluky Rockies? Contracts?

In 2006, 11 players across the league hit 40 or more home runs. In 2007, that number dropped to five.

At first glance, that could be the result of talented sluggers having off-years; Albert Pujols' elbow bothered him through most of 2007, while David Ortiz' knees kept him from generating too much in the way of power. Further examination however, reveals that home run power in general is down across all of baseball.

Teams hit 4,957 homers in 2007 compared to 5,386 in 2006, almost an 8 percent drop. What's caused this power outage? Part of it may be do to the aforementioned injuries to big sluggers, but is there more to the story? Offensive totals in general rise and fall with each successive era in baseball, but there's always a very good reason; pitchers in 1968 dominated hitters because of a bigger strike zone and higher mound, for instance.

It's possible that home run totals could be returning to more reasonable levels after the offensive explosion of the late-1990s and early-2000s. But is there a different reason? Cast your vote now!

What They're Saying

We've collected a sample of what writers, bloggers, and players themselves have said this offseason about the drop in power from 2006 to 2006. For this issue, we've chosen ESPN's Jerry Crasnick and Eric Karabell, and NewScientist.com's Bob Holmes:

Jerry Crasnick: "And now for a change of pace, here's a story on players making news by not hitting the ball over the fence.

"While Barry Bonds steps up his pursuit of Sadaharu Oh, Frank Thomas and Alex Rodriguez revel in their 500th home runs and Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez prepare to join the club, this might go down as the season in which the warning-track fly ball became fashionable.

"Check the statistics, and you'll find a slew of brand-name sluggers failing to produce to their usual standards. Although the list doesn't quite run from A to Z, most of the alphabet is covered on our journey from Jason Bay to Travis Hafner to Derrek Lee to Vernon Wells.

"As the wild-card races heat up and baseball barrels toward another attendance record, home run symbols from the Citizens Bank Park liberty bell to the Shea Stadium apple are too often dormant these days. At least Bernie Brewer's posterior is getting a workout on the Miller Park outfield slide thanks to Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun."
Aug. 14, 2007
Many possible reasons for decline in big flies

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Eric Karabell: "Goodbye, first round Mr. Pujols, hello Ryan Braun. That's right, the latest Pujols news [elbow injury] was the last straw for me, and I no longer think a big season is coming. Maybe he can play through it, maybe not, but his baseline for performance has dropped."
March 10, 2008
Pujols, other changes in my ranks

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Bob Holmes, NewScientist.com: "When the Colorado Rockies baseball team reached the World Series last October, many analysts gave part of the credit to the humid room where the team stores its baseballs. But a new analysis by a pair of physicists suggests that the humidor's effect is not what baseball experts had thought.

"The Rockies' home field in Denver is 1,600 metres above sea level, far higher than any other team in the Major Leagues.

"Denver has always had a reputation as a hitter's heaven and a pitcher's hell, because batted balls travel further in the thin, dry air. As a result, hits that would fall harmlessly into a fielder's glove at other parks are more likely to clear the fences for a home run, leading teams to average more than two extra runs per game compared to other cities.

"In an attempt to compensate for this, in 2002 the Rockies began storing baseballs in a humidified room before games. They reasoned that the balls would absorb more moisture and thus not fly as far. The strategy has worked, reducing the average runs per game from nearly seven per team to less than six."
Dec. 6, 2007
Humid balls help Rockies hit fewer home runs

The Rundown: Slumping Sluggers

For a while, it seemed like every team had someone who could mash 40 home runs without breaking a sweat. That all changed in 2007, as that barrier once again retained at least a little of its previously rarified air. Here's a quick list of players who hit 40 or more home runs in 2006, and their corresponding totals in 2007.

Ryan Howard
2006: 58 HRs
2007: 47 HRs

Albert Pujols
2006: 49 HRs
2007: 32 HRs

Alfonso Soriano
2006: 46 HRs
2007: 33 HRs

Lance Berkman
2006: 45 HRs
2007: 34 HRs

Carlos Beltran
2006: 41 HRs
2007: 33 HRs

Andruw Jones
2006: 41 HRs
2007: 26 HRs

Adam Dunn
2006: 40 HRs
2007: 40 HRs

David Ortiz
2006: 54 HRs
2007: 35 HRs

Jermaine Dye
2006: 44 HRs
2007: 28 HRs

Travis Hafner
2006: 42 HRs
2007: 24 HRs

Jim Thome
2006: 42 HRs
2007: 35 HRs