Another Great Article by the Best Baseball Writer in the Country

Wow. I never knew that Ricky Henderson had 130 stolen bases in a season. That's a crap load.

 

It's a good article but Stark is far from the best baseball writer...

 

Yeah, looking at how much the style of baseball has changed since Ricky's hayday, I'd think that 130 SB in a season would be about as unbreakable as the vaunted 56 game hitting streak.

How many times did he get thrown out that year?

 

42 times, which gave him a 75% success rate. That means he averaged a little over an attempt per game. The Astros as a team don't do that.

I would have put Ryan's 7 no hitters up higher. Or on there.

 

191 RBI is an underrated record.

 

He lost me when he said Joe D's hitting streak was 100% controversy free. Did he not read Gary Gillette's article (Perceptions of history are slippery), posted on ESPN insider about baseball records and how rule changes and other variables played a part:

"Let's take another prominent example: Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak. It is often cited as the paradigm of an unimpeachable record by those who feel that the integrity of all home run records has now been destroyed. Did you know that DiMaggio's legendary streak was prolonged by a highly unusual stratagem, employed solely to help preserve the streak? In the bottom of the eighth inning of Game 38, with a runner on base and one out and New York leading by two runs, Yankees slugger Tommy Henrich laid down a sacrifice bunt. Why? To avoid hitting into an inning-ending double play with the hitless-on-the-day DiMaggio on deck.

Henrich hit 31 home runs that year, sacrificing only seven other times and grounding into only six DPs. He never would have laid down that bunt if not to guarantee DiMaggio would get another chance to extend the streak. Does that call into question the integrity of that record?"

 

And what about Van Der Meer's back-to-back no-no's?

Highly unlikely it'll ever be tied and NO WAY it's broken.

 

What about pitching a no-hitter while tripping on LSD?

Me and Buck are going to write a screenplay about that, btw. Coming to theatres in 2011.

 

That was a bit of a stretch by Gillette. Things still had to happen in order for Dimaggio to extend his streak. Henrich had to not bunt into a DP and DiMaggio still had to get a hit. Gillette also uses the fact that Henrich ONLY sacrificed 7 times as an argument, yet he uses the fact he ONLY DP'd 6 times to further his argument. Essentially, the odds were better than Henrich would sacrifice rather than hit into a DP. Gillette's argument would have had more merit had Henrich been a DP hitting machine (a la the old Brad Ausmus). It would have made much more sense for Henrich to intentionally strike out, thus assuring he would not bunt/hit into a DP and that the pitcher would not intentionally walk DiMaggio with a base open due to the sacrifice.

If Gillette really wanted to pursue that "controversy", why didn't the opposing pitcher intentionally walk DiMaggio? It certainly made baseball sense to walk the hottest hitter in the game, assuming Henrich's sacrifice was successful, because first base would have been open. I suspect the pitcher was worried for his personal safety. Imagine walking DiMaggio with a long hitting streak on the line in the 8th inning of a game in Yankee stadium.

 

if i had to take a wild guess as to who would break the 56 game hitting streak, it would be Ichiro.

 

Stark addressed this in the article when he wrote:

"But by "best," we don't mean: Which ones are the hardest to break?

Look, even Fernando Tatis (two grand slams in one inning) has an unbreakable record. But it's not a record anybody cares about.

What we're looking for are the records people care about most. We're looking for the records that would create the most buzz if someone were closing in on them."

 

Cy-Youngs 500+ victories are the safest record. No one will come within 150 wins of that record, ever. Book it!

 

Are you sure about that? No one will ever come within 150 wins? Cy Young retired in 1911. Well, Warren Spahn retired(1965) with 363 wins. That's 148 wins shy. Pete Alexander(1930) and Christy Mattewson(1916) both finished with 373 wins and Walter Johnson retired(1927) with 417 wins. And who knows, Roger Clemens is at 341. If he decides to go one more year, he can easily finish within 150 wins of Cy Young.

 

I'll take that bet as well. Tom Glavine has 283 career wins and he's 8-2 this year. I'll make a wager he gets to 300 wins next year. And don't forget about Randy Johnson. He's currently at 270 wins and he's 7-4 this year. I'm gonna say he'll get it 300 early 2008 if he decides to pitch that long.

 

Should have clarified, but I meant in the future. I'd put good money on Roger a) Not winning 20 this year and b) Making this part time season his last.

 

No if, if's on Glavine. He's a lock for 300. If RJ pitches in 2008, he'll get 300. Wanna make anymore wagers? 3000 hit club? 3000k club? 500HR? C'mon, I'm ready.

 

I bet NOBODY ever hits .400 again.

Last time it was done?

1941 Ted Williams