In the entire statistical record covering Major League Baseball, there are 19 player seasons that can spread their metaphorical arms wide, wide, wide with the boast of at least 100 runs scored and driven in, 100 walks drawn and at least 20 home runs and 20 steals. There are a […]
When 19-year-old Mickey Mantle stepped onto the diamond for his big league debut on April 17, 1951, the single-season high mark for home runs by a switch-hitter rested at 35, courtesy of Ripper Collins’ efforts representing the 1934 Cardinals. When the 1955 campaign came to a close, the mark was […]
Over a five-year stretch from 1948-1952, the average Ralph Kiner season looked like this: 109 runs scored, 44 home runs, 112 RBI, 119 walks. Only 10 different players – apart from Kiner – have assembled that line in a season, and that’s what Kiner averaged. And if that perspective is […]
In 1978, J.R. Richard became just the fourth different right-handed hurler since 1893 to rocket to 300 strikeouts: a 303-K campaign that placed him alongside Walter Johnson (1910, 1912), Bob Feller (1946) and Nolan Ryan (1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977). It was an explosive outcome for the 28-year-old who, before […]
Since the 20th century gave way to the 21st, 1,713 contests have abruptly and resoundingly concluded with a home run. Pinch-hitters have authored 104 of these dream (or nightmare) scenarios, going from witness to hero in whatever time it took to emerge off the pine, prep in the on-deck space, […]
Albert Pujols’ first 10 seasons were as close to ideal as any player has ever experienced – a full-time player from day one, no significant time lost to injury or labor issues or global conflict or global pandemic, a start at a very young age, eye-popping numbers throughout. That […]
Major League Baseball’s story in the 21st century has been significantly devoted to single-season longball feats – a Major League record here, an AL record there, a shuffling of NL and AL rookie records, perhaps a new record for catchers this season. The narrative has been much less consumed by […]
When Dave Kingman joined the Mets for the 1975 season, Cleon Jones possessed more home runs than any other player in the franchise’s history, with 93. Over 664 games with New York, Kingman would clobber 154, ending his tenure with the Mets in 1983 as the club’s career home run […]
Justin Verlander made his Major League debut in the second game of a doubleheader on July 4, 2005 – the records claim more than 33,000 chose to spend their holiday evening at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, witnessing the very start of, whaddayaknow, a Hall of Fame career. Things didn’t begin […]
When Jimmie Foxx hit 50 home runs for the Red Sox in 1938, his home environs at Fenway Park offered a seductive set of dimensions for the slugger – so much so that 70% of his round-trippers (35 of 50) came in the home whites. Right now (but seemingly not […]