If you have the MLB At-Bat app, then you probably know that Major League Baseball has been honoring the 75th anniversary of Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hit streak by sending push notifications as if it’s happing today. Joe D’s hit streak spanned 63 days in 1941, from May 15 to July 17, during which he posted some ridiculous stats.
What year is it? pic.twitter.com/hbKeL64vUs
— Andrew (@Yankees_talk) May 15, 2016
It’s ironic that fans are receiving up-to-the-minute notifications on Joltin’ Joe’s hit streak, because 75 years ago the news was not that easy to come by. As the streak went on, the entire baseball world was on edge waiting to hear if DiMaggio extended the streak for another game. You were either in the ballpark, listening to the game live, heard it by word of mouth, or saw it in the newspaper – there were no push notifications. Hell, Duct Tape had not even been invented yet.
So as MLB is honoring The Yankee Clipper, I pose the question: what single season baseball record would you most want to break?
Single-season records are an odd thing in baseball. For the most part, pitching records don’t apply to the modern era because guys with names like Pud Galvin and Old Hoss Radbourn hold them from the 1880’s. Hitting records have become a farce because of the steroid era, but those are still more breakable than 59 wins or 513 strikeouts in a season.
They are fun to think about though. I’ve picked out 4 single season-records that, one, I think could be broken, and two, I’d personally want to break.
56-game hit streak: Joe DiMaggio (1941)
Until Cal Ripken’s 2,632 consecutive games-played record, DiMaggio’s 56 was considered the most “unbreakable” in baseball. While I agree that Ripken’s streak is safer, since you’d have to be a lunatic to ever break it, there are a number of reasons why I think DiMaggio’s record is also safe.
First of all, the league is much bigger today. There were a total of 16 teams in 1941, half the size of the league today. DiMaggio faced 43 different pitchers in the 2-month span, a total that today’s players may eclipse in a month. With the addition of the 5-man rotation, 7+ inning starts being the exception instead of the rule, and specialty relievers being used for match-ups, a player today is less likely to face tired pitchers who they’ve seen a number of times.
The travel today is also much more demanding. DiMaggio didn’t have to travel west of St. Louis, which means he didn’t land at 4:00am and play the same day. Now, granted, there are a number of ways players can get themselves ready for games that didn’t exist 75 years ago, but the overall length and grueling nature of a 162-game season does take a toll on players.
The pressure on Joe was immense, I’m sure, but the attention he would have today just doesn’t compare – just look at the push notifications as an example. If a modern day player neared 40 games, every one of his at-bats would be nationally televised.
Getting a hit every day for 2 straight months is just insane. Currently the longest streak in the majors is Jackie Bradley Jr., who has a 24-game hit streak going. Impressive, but he’s still less than half the way to Joe D.
262 hits: Ichiro Suzuki (2004)
The single-season hit record stood for 84 years before Ichiro broke George Sisler’s record from 1920. If you asked the average baseball fan outside of Seattle who holds the single-season hit record, I’m guessing they would not know.
84 years is a loooooong time for a record to stand, and when something like that is broken, it should be celebrated – or at least remembered – more than it is.
Even though this record is crazy, it can be broken; we just need to find the right type of player. Dee Gordon led the league in hits last year with 205, which is still 57 short. Currently, Jean Segura – the most recent Yankees killer – leads the league in hits with 59 through 40 games. If he hit at that pace, and if he played every game, he would still fall 23 hits short of Ichiro. Pete Rose, the all-time hit leader, led the league in hits 7 times, but never topped 230.
A player would have to average 1.6 hits per game to be in the 260 ballpark. The catch is, that number assumes he plays every game. Guys don’t do that anymore. Ichiro only missed 1 game in 2004, so if a player is going to break this record, he needs to play at least 160.
Manny Machado played all 162 last season but only had 181 hits. Part of that is because he walked 70 times. Ichiro only walked 49 times in 2004. Ichiro also batted leadoff, meaning he got about 50 more plate appearances than Machado did last season.
The player with the best shot in today’s game is Dee Gordon – a fast, contact-hitter who bat’s leadoff and does not walk a ton. Barry Bonds just needs to keep him off the juice.
73 home runs: Barry Bonds (2001)
You know what’s funny? When I started writing this blog, I legitimately thought the single-season HR record was 70, held by Mark McGwire. It’s not that I forgot what Barry Bonds did in the early 2000’s – I mean, how could you? But the HR record is so tainted that I forgot Bonds holds it.
Say what you want about PED’s, but 1998 was the most riveting season of baseball I have ever witnessed. McGwire/Sosa was Maris/Mantle on steroids, literally. The problem with what McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds did is that people no longer look at this record with any legitimacy, and I have a feeling if somebody were to break it today they would receive PED-criticism even if they don’t deserve it. But, let’s take a look at the numbers…
In 1927, Babe Ruth hit a home run every 9 at-bats. 34 years later, Maris hit a dinger every 9.67 (remember, he had an extra 8* games). Fast-forward to 1998, and McGwire went deep every 7.27 at-bats. When Bonds did it in ’01, he averaged a HR every 6.52 at-bats, a truly ridiculous number. According to my research, (10 minutes spent on baseball-reference), a player will have to go yard about every 9 at-bats to reach 73, but a few other things must occur.
Assuming steroids are out of the equation, the player must have a beast hitting behind him like Babe did in 1927 (Lou Gehrig) and Maris had in 1961 (Mickey Mantle). If you don’t have a HOFer behind you, you’re just going to be walked. McGwire led the league in walks in 1998 and Bonds in 2001, but again, they had that extra good-good on the side.
The second thing that needs to happen is baseball will need to expand again. MLB expanded in 1961 when Maris set the record, and then again in 1998 when McGwire did it. The talent pool will need to be diluted in some way for this to ever happen again naturally.
The final thing that has to take place is the player needs to play in a hitter’s park like Yankee Stadium, Coors, or Citizens Bank Park. Ain’t nobody hitting 74 with half their games in Chavez Ravine.
Hitting .400: Ted Williams (1941)
Ok, this isn’t exactly a “record” per-se, but Williams was the last hitter to eclipse .400 (the same year of DiMaggio’s hit streak, you may remember). His .406 batting average in 1941 only qualifies Teddy Ballgame for 17th on the all-time single-season list. Most of the other 16 came before the Titanic set sail though, making Williams’ .406 the modern-era mark.
Others have come close to .400 since then. Rod Carew hit .388 in 1977. George Brett hit .390 in 1980. Tony Gwynn hit .394 in 1994, and many say would have reached .400 had it not been for the strike.
To me, hitting .400 is the most impressive out of all these records. It’s not just hits that you have to tally – case in point that Ichiro (only) hit .372 the year he set the hits record. So if 262 hits in a season isn’t enough to hit .400, what is?
Plate discipline is probably the biggest key to hitting .400. While Williams led the league in walks the year he hit .406, when Carew, Brett, and Gwynn came close they had 69, 58, and 48 walks, respectively. Just because you don’t walk doesn’t mean you don’t have plate discipline. Ichiro walked 49 times in 2004 but also swung at everything, so a lot of times he would make weak contact. Williams, Carew, Brett, and Gwynn were known for being hard line-drive hitters, so they rarely made easy outs.
Luck also plays a small factor. I’d imagine anyone who sniffs .400 has a few extra bloops fall in that would be caught in other years.
Given the choice on what record to achieve, I think I’m taking .407. Breaking DiMaggio’s hit streak would be incredible, but the grueling mental pressure would probably make it unenjoyable. 262 hits are INSANE, but singles aren’t sexy. I know chicks dig the long ball, but they don’t dig pimpled backs and giant skulls – two things that I think are necessary to hit 74 homers. That leaves hitting over .406, which means you’re an all-around great hitter and will be remembered forever. The added bonus of knocking off that popsicle Red Sox legend isn’t too shabby either.
Which record would you most want to break? Tweet me @Yankees_talk using #BPRecord.
