1927 $70,000 - Babe Ruth (unconfirmed) 1930 $80,000 - Babe Ruth (unconfirmed) 1949 $100,000 - Ted Williams (unconfirmed) 1961 - $75,000 - Mickey Mantle (unconfirmed) 1966 - $130,000 - Willie Mays (unconfirmed) 1972 $200,000 - Hank Aaron (unconfirmed) 1979 - - Pete Rose (unconfirmed) 1981 - $2,000,000 - Dave Winfield (unconfirmed) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1985 - $2,130,300 - Mike Schmidt 1986 - $2,800,000 - George Foster 1987 - $2,127,333 - Mike Schmidt 1988 - $2,340,000 - Ozzie Smith 1989 - $2,766,667 - Orel Hershiser, Frank Viola 1990 - $3,200,000 - Robin Yount 1991 - $3,800,000 - Darryl Strawberry 1992 - $6,100,000 - Bobby Bonilla 1993 - $6,200,000 - Bobby Bonilla 1994 - $6,300,000 - Bobby Bonilla 1995 - $9,237,500 - Cecil Fielder 1997 - $10,000,000 - Albert Belle 1998 - $14,936,667 - Gary Sheffield 2000 - $15,714,286 - Kevin Brown 2001 - $22,000,000 - Alex Rodriguez
The following chart reveals the Major League Baseball players that have earned the most total salary in their career (through the end of 2002). Data is verified through research by Doug Pappas.
$95,095,000 - Greg Maddux $88,963,215 - Barry Bonds $87,901,000 - Roger Clemens $84,376,294 - Albert Belle $83,747,644 - Kevin Brown $82,659,654 - Ken Griffey Jr $81,593,335 - Gary Sheffield $79,295,000 - Randy Johnson $76,700,000 - Cal Ripken Jr (no data available for 1981-1984) $74,765,000 - Barry Larkin $74,688,354 - Mark McGwire $74,568,000 - Sammy Sosa $73,297,996 - Rafael Palmiero $72,363,430 - Larry Walker $71,199,437 - Tom Glavine $69,437,500 - Juan Gonzalez $68,860,000 - Matt Williams $68,342,501 - David Cone $67,603,815 - Roberto Alomar $67,014,000 - Frank Thomas