Most Unbreakable Record In Baseball

56, 511, 4256, 383, 5714, 2632, 130.....All these are milestones in baseball that some believe are unbreakable records. All of these records are held by legends of the game and in some cases, are the reasons why they're considered legends. The game has evolved over the 150+ years it has existed and with the way it is played today, are these records unbreakable?

56...Out of these records listed above, I believe the one that could fall the easiest is 56, as in consecutive games with a hit. Held by Joltin' Joe DiMaggio, he set this record in 1941. In 73 years since he set the record, the closest players to come to it were Pete Rose in 1978 with 44 games and Paul Molitor with 39 in 1987. Both of them hall of fame caliber players in their own right, but still miles away from Joltin' Joe.

So why do I think this record is breakable? First off it was accomplished in a single season. I believe that most single season records are easier to beat than career long records. Especially in this case where a player on a hot streak could try to go after the record. Also, it technically has been beaten before, but on other levels of baseball. Robin Ventura hit in 58 straight games in 1987 for Oklahoma State. Plus the game hasn't changed so much, that the number can't be hit.

130...The most stolen bases in a single season is held by legendary leadoff man, Rickey Henderson. If he played today, fantasy baseball players would draft him first overall because he could single handedly win you the stolen bases category. Since he broke the record in 1982, the next closest was Vince Coleman with 110 in 1985 and 109 in 1987. Since that 1987 year, no one has even had over 100 stolen bases in a season and the most since Rickey and Vince is Jose Reyes with 78 in 2007.

Baseball changed. "Money Ball", power hitters, and stolen bases being more evenly distributed among teammates have caused the running game to change. The Money Ball method cites that your team has a better chance to score if the game is played straight up, without trying to bunt or steal bases. Ironic that the team that has employed this tactic is the Oakland A's, the very team that employed Rickey Henderson for much of his career including his record breaking 1982 year. The "Steroid Era" also is a reason for the drop. Power hitting became gold in the MLB and even if one of your faster players is on base, you would hold him off from running so you wouldn't bug your power hitter who is at-bat.  Finally teams seem to spread out the stolen bases these days. You'll have more players on a team with ten or more stolen bases, but none with very high individual numbers.

4256...The all time hits record held by Pete Rose, a player who played for 24 years. He had ten seasons with 200 or more hits and several more that just finished just short such as 198 in 1972. He also led the league in hits for seven different seasons. Is this record breakable? I think so, although it would take the right circumstances to do so.

The current active leader is Derek Jeter, who is on a farewell tour. Unfortunately, he won't break the record because he ONLY has 3363 hits as I type this blog out. He's ninth on the all-time hits list, but as long as he stays healthy for his final season, should be able to move past the sixth spot currently held by Cap Anson with 3435 hits. He could even move past Tris Speaker for fifth, who has 3514, but that would take some great hitting by Jeter.

If star Japanese player, Ichiro Suzuki came to the MLB earlier, he could have had an outside shot. He broke the single season record for hits and despite having only fourteen seasons under his belt (the last three which haven't been too productive), he currently has 2768 hits. He too has ten 200 hits or more seasons (all of them in a row) and also like Pete Rose, has led the league seven times. Unfortunately, he didn't come over to the MLB until he was 27 years old, spending his younger years in the Japanese baseball league. He currently has 4046 hits between the two professional leagues, but that takes into account that even though he hit 1278 in Japan, they only play 130-140 games a season. He too is currently playing, and by the end of his career, should have more hits overall than Pete Rose, but unfortunately for him, it won't count.

Currently playing, with a small outside shot of getting near the record, is Miguel Cabrera. He currently has 2058 hits in twelve seasons, but has spent the last couple of years dominating the MLB in not just average, but overall hitting. He won the triple crown in 2012. He also plays in the American League, which will allow for him to hit as a designated hitter, long after his fielding days are over.

2632...This was achieved by Cal Ripken Jr., breaking the Iron Horse Lou Gehrig's record of 2130. The closet since the record being set in 1998 was Miguel Tejada with 1152 games, but that ended in 2007. The most recent streak was at 547, broken this year by Prince Fielder. Unfortunately a herniated disk in his neck forced him into a season ending surgery. Can this record be broken? There is a small chance that it can, but with managers being overly conservative with players, especially star players, Cal Ripken Jr. was a member of a dying breed.

383/5714...Nolan Ryan's records for strike outs in a single season and in a career, in the modern era. In 1973, Ryan broke Sandy Koufax' record of 382 and since then, the closest was Randy Johnson in 2001 with 372. Both Koufax and Ryan accomplished the feat when teams ran with four man rotations. Ryan had pitched in 40 games when he had 383 strikeouts, giving him an average of 10.6 per 9 innings pitched. When Johnson threw 372, he average 13.4 strikeouts per 9 innings, but he did it in the five man rotation era while only pitching in 34 games. So why is this record harder to break than the all-time hits record? With five man rotations sometimes giving way to six man rotations, innings limits being set by teams and player's agents, and pitch counts rarely going 100 pitches, star pitchers are sometimes only limited to 30 starts in a season now. This means they would have to average nearly 13 strikeouts a game, when they now rarely go over seven innings a game.

With the career record, Ryan accomplished this in twenty-seven seasons and quite frankly was a durable, freak of nature. Several other players of the same makeup have followed since (Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Dwight Gooden), but various factors prevented them from breaking Ryan's career record. Johnson never pitched a complete season until he was 26 years old and by the time Ryan was 26, he 1205 career strikeouts, including two seasons with over 300. Clemens had 1215 by the time he was 26, but retired by age 44, had two seasons shortened by injury, and two more seasons that he didn't start playing until midseason. Of this bunch, Gooden had the most strikeouts by age 26, with 1541, but injuries and drug problems proved to be road blocks in his career, preventing him from being a future Hall-of-Famer.

Currently, CC Sabathia is the active leader with 2437, but that's in fourteen seasons and his body has been breaking down the last few. The three current players with the best shots are Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlander, and Clayton Kershaw. At age 28, Hernandez has 1786 strikeouts, fairly close to Ryan's pace. Verlander has 1721, but is 31 years old. Both Hernandez and Verlander have been solid when it comes to health as well. Finally at age 26, Kershaw currently has 1252 strikeouts, 47 more than Ryan at the same age and the season still isn't over. By the time all three retire, it's easy to believe that they'll all be in the top twenty-five of all-time, but to break the top five, they'll have to prove themselves to be freaks of nature like Ryan, Johnson, and Clemens.

Finally, the record that will be the most impossible to break, is 511 career wins. Set by Cy Young himself, he averaged 22 wins a season for his entire 22 year career. In Cy Young's days, he often would pitch as much as 50 games in a season, starting around 45 in a season at his peak. Today, a reliever that pitches in 50 games in a season, is considered to have pitched in a lot of games, at that's usually around 1 inning at a time. Cy Young started so many games, that he lost 316 games.

The closest in recent years has been Greg Maddux (355) and Roger Clemens (354) and both of them retired in their 40's. Greg Maddux pitched for one of the longest dynasties in baseball and Clemens was a freak of nature. In his time, Cy Young had over 815 career starts, but the closest active leader is CC Sabathia with 440. As with the strikeout records, with limited innings/pitch counts, five/six man rotations, and the wear and tear of pitching a whole career, this record is the most untouchable in baseball.

Expansion Time

With everyone in Major League Baseball trying to find ways to improve or change the game in some form, I wonder why it hasn't occurred to someone to suggest another expansion? In the "Expansion Era" (1961-present), fourteen teams were added to the MLB. Now baseball has gone longer without expanding since the era started.

The last expansion draft was in 1998 with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Arizona Diamondbacks being added to the MLB. That's sixteen years without adding a new team. Since the era started, the MLB has had expansions in 1961, 1962, 1969 (4 teams), 1977, 1992, and 1998. The biggest gap as you can see was fifteen years.

So why is expansion needed? First off, the AL and NL both have fifteen teams now. Because of this, every game day, there is an interleague matchup happening. Now I'm not exactly against interleague play, but it was supposed to be something special. Now it's common place and because of this, TV ratings and fan attendance will drop slightly. It takes the fun and mystique out of it. Adding two more teams in an expansion will create equal sixteen team leagues, which can be divided to into four team divisions. That's four first place teams that can go to the playoffs.

Second, there are markets that can flourish with MLB teams. San Jose has been trying to steal the A's from Oakland or Giants from San Francisco, but they're so close to the Bay area, that I think that they are best served by hosting a Triple A level team. Markets I think can handle a MLB team include Las Vegas, Indianapolis, Louisville, Oklahoma City, Memphis/Nashville, Portland, and Charlotte.

Third, with team's payrolls raising up so high, two more teams can spread out the cost to pay the players. The highest cost players would be spread among thirty-two teams instead of thirty. This would leave more room for teams to play/sign lower cost players, thus lowering their payroll.

I would split the divisions like this....
AL North: New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles
AL South: Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros
AL Central: Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers
AL West: ANAHEIM Angels, Oakland A's, Seattle Mariners, LAS VEGAS BANDITS

NL East: New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals, Pittsburgh Pirates
NL South: Miami Marlins, Atlanta Braves, Charlotte Moonshiners, St. Louis Cardinals
NL Central: Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies
NL West: LA Dodgers, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks

So as you can see, my expansion team cities would be Las Vegas and Charlotte. I think these areas would be most appreciative of an MLB team. Las Vegas is dying for a professional sports team in general and if they built a stadium similar to where the Arizona Diamondbacks play, it could work with the extreme temperatures. Also Las Vegas is larger than teams that already have teams such as Atlanta, Cleveland, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh.

In the case of Charlotte, I believe that Charlotte can grow as a sports city. With teams like the NBA's Bobcats, NFL's Carolina Panthers, and NHL's Carolina Hurricanes, why wouldn't this be a city to host the MLB? Also many banks call Charlotte their headquarter city. It should be easy to find corporate sponsors for a stadium and with a growing population, a growing fan base can provide an even better financial backing.

So in what baseball historians still term "The Expansion Era" why has baseball still yet to expand? There's no reason not to. It could give the American and National Leagues a form of symmetry as both leagues could have an equal amount of teams and divisions could be split into an even 4 teams a piece. Baseball should start now since it tends to take several years for an MLB to set up. They need to find/build a stadium, develop a minor league system, and the season before, hold an expansion draft.

In my opinion, it's time to expand.

Spring Training

When February roles around, there is excitement in the air. Valentine's Day? Well for some. President's Day? Maybe if you're a banker. Well what is it?

Pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training for the up and coming new season. When many people are still freezing their butts off, many of the world's best baseball players are flying to Florida or Arizona to get ready for the new season.

For many rookies, it may be a chance to show that they deserve a spot on the roster. For some seasoned veterans, it's a last chance to stick around with a club for one more season. Players report to new teams they just signed with and managers/coaches get familiar with the new teams that they just took charge of.

One can look at Spring Training and not care. Many do. If you're a true baseball fan, it's not something to be missed...in person. The games don't mean anything, but they do give a chance to people to get up close with those they cheer for during the regular season. Tickets that would cost a grand in the regular season and sometimes take a deal with a devil to get, can go for as low as ten dollars and you have your choice of which exact seat you want. You want to lay out on the grass on a nice Spring day? For as low as five dollars, you can soak up the sun and enjoy the game from the outfield territory.

Another benefit to showing up for Spring Training? You can catch your favorite all-time greats coach the young guys. George Brett shows up every Spring still to guide the youth of the Royals. Sandy Koufax gives advice at Camelback Ranch to the Dodgers pitching staff. Robin Yount can be seen giving tips to fellow hitters such as Ryan Braun.

Not only can you watch them coach the current generation of players, many of the greats sign autographs and take pictures with fans. If you show up early enough before a game, many of the players are on the side fields taking early hitting practice or doing field drills. These practices are open to the fans and if you have a kid with you, it's almost a guarantee that you not only get an autograph from many of the players, but the occasional players gives a piece of his equipment away to the lucky kid here and there.

One game I attended at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona in 2012 had one of the better moments I personally witnessed in player/fan interactions. After a White Sox game, utility player Brett Lillibridge was signing autographs for some of the fans that stuck around. A kid around the age of eight years old, went up to him without anything for him to sign. He still wanted an autograph to remember his first game, but had nothing to give Lillibridge. Brett pulled out one of his personal bats from his own bag, borrowed one of the other fans Sharpie's, signed the bat, and presented it to the kid. Brett is a good utility player to have on a squad, but will never be an all-star. After witnessing what he did, he will always be an all-star in my mind.

Moments like this can be seen at many of the Spring Training games. Attending a game with the Diamondbacks in Scottsdale, Arizona, my wife, who loves to get autographs on baseballs she brings to every game. At a regular season game, you can get one autograph and feel lucky. At Spring Training, you can get seven or eight autographs and have done well. The Diamondbacks at this particular game got in a single file line in front of the seats on the third base side and spent the next hour gradually going down the line, signing everyone's balls, hats, or anything else fans handed them. We walked away with a ball that had so many autographs, that you couldn't fit anymore on her ball.

At a game in Peoria, Arizona, with the Mariners playing the Brewers, Rickie Weeks had a game face on and was ready to have a good game. On his way out to stretch before the start of the game, an older lady asked him for an autograph and in turn, gave him candy in trade. A twenty-five cent sucker and the lady had a prized possession. He came down the line to sign more autographs and when he came to my wife, he took a picture with her...with the sucker still in his mouth.

If you have never been to a Spring Training game, try to go at least once in your life. The stadiums only sit several thousand people and there are only a couple of concession stands in the whole stadium, but for a big baseball fan, it's almost like going to an amusement park. It's something that every baseball fan should get to enjoy once in their life.

Poker Is Not A Sport!

I'm going to start of by saying...POKER IS NOT A SPORT. It's a fun game, but does not deserve to be considered an Olympic sport. The thing is, the organizers of the Olympics disagree. They are favoring allowing Poker to become an Olympic sport. They are also considering bowling to become one too. How?

What's worse, is that they are getting rid of baseball and softball from the Olympics because they don't consider them sports. One Olympic organizer under the condition of anonymity said it's because he believes team sports shouldn't be allowed in the Olympics. Then get rid of soccer, basketball, and all the track and field sports where you pass a baton. You're reason isn't good enough. Baseball and softball should be in the Olympics and not poker and bowling.

If poker qualifies as a sport, why not chess or checkers? If bowling qualifies as a sport, why not curling? Oh wait, it is too. Stupid Winter Olympics. Why not dodgeball then? How about tetherball? These sports require just as much physical exertion as bowling, if not more. Why not ultimate style fighting then?

Even legendary poker player, Howard Lederer was quoted as saying, "I don't think poker is a sport. It's the greatest game in the world, but it is not a sport."

One argument being made against baseball is that it's an American sport. So any sport, game, or anything of the such, that is created in America, can't be a sport? Baseball is an amalgum of other various sports such as crickett and rounders, both British by nature. Basketball, in it's current state, is an American sport, despite various similar games existing beforehand.

Also, how can poker become a sport before American football? I know it's more based in America, but it's slightly moving into Europe now. Or how about a stock car style racing as an Olympic sport? That takes a little more endurance than even bowling. A five hundred mile race takes a lot of energy out of a driver, let alone their pit crew.

I just don't see poker being an Olympic sport. Neither do I see bowling as an Olympic sport. At least not before other sports being dropped such as baseball or softball, or other sports that aren't even being considered, like dodgeball or American football. Country of origin should have no basis, neither should team verses solo.

The Greatest Sports Movies

Movies have played a big part in molding America in the last one hundred years. They have inspired people to become politicians, activists, doctors, and more, but they have also inspired people to play sports.
So What makes a great sports movie then? One that inspires? One that makes you laugh? One that makes you cry? I don't believe that there is a single element that makes a sports movie great. Just as in life, sports has many emotions running through it. The stories of triumph, tragedy, and everything in between. So I will present my favorite sports movies...

*Baseketball: I know it's strange to call this a sports movie, but I think it is. It's a comedy movie written by the Southpark creators and it revolves around a new sport they created that mixes baseball and basketball. I like the pop culture references that are similar to those that Parker and Stone use in Southpark, but this could be the only downfall to this movie. Fifty years from now, I don't think someone watching this movie will get the references such as "How do you think Shaq got rich? Playing in college, everyone knows that." The movie is upbeat, great soundtrack done by Reel Big Fish, and even a good acting performance by Jenny McCarthy.

*Rudy: It's the ultimate underdog story in sports movies. An undersized football player works his whole college career to play in that one game. His teammates ultimately support him even though he wasn't the most popular player on the team when he first joins the Norte Dame squad. Rudy makes a tackle in the end of the movie that is probably the biggest tackle in a football movie ever. Superb acting by Sean Austin and Jon Favreau.

*Bang The Drum Slowly: A sad movie based on a catcher for the New York Yankees. Robert DeNiro stars as the terminally ill player that is friends with a pitcher who becomes a teammate not only on the field, but off the field. Sort of Lou Gehrig like story, but with a DeNiro twist.

*Dodgeball: Look I know what you're thinking. DODGEBALL? Yes. It's a sport, albeit one played mostly by children, but still a sport. Also with Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and Christine Taylor's performances, and lines like, "Nobody makes me bleed my own blood," this movie was funny.

*Any Given Sunday: True, none of the teams are real NFL teams, but you still had to be intrigued by the drama. A lot of the best scenes in the movie were what happens behind the scenes of a football team. Also Al Pacino gives a great performance as an aging head coach and Cameron Diaz does a good job as a ruthless woman running a team in place of her deceased father. Performances by Dennis Quaid and Jaime Foxx also bolster up this movie that falls under most movie watchers radars.

*Major League: A comedy about an owner whom is trying to create a team of misfits, so attendance will drop and she can move the team to Florida-this movie was released before the Marlins and Rays joined the MLB. This group of unknown players, take the team and the city of Cleveland to the playoffs. All-star performances by Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes, Tom Berenger, Rene Russo, and James Gammon bolster the movie as well.

*Happy Gilmore: Yes this is an unrealistic movie, but it's funny. Where else would you ever see Bob Barker punching away at Adam Sandler? Sandley plays the title character, Happy and represents an "every man" persona that a lot of people have. Happy could be any of us-if we could hit the ball three hundred yards.

*Field Of Dreams: This movie poses as a baseball movie until the final scene of the movie when it's revealed what the movie is truly about. I won't ruin it for those who haven't been able to catch it yet, but make a point to watch it. Kevin Costner stars in yet another baseball movie...sort of. He hears voices that sound out one of the more popular movie catch phrases of all time, "If you build it, he will come." Costner's journey leads him to James Earl Jones' character in Boston and eventually to players of the 1919 Chicago White Sox, including Shoeless Joe Jackson played by Ray Liotta.

*Rocky: I know Slyvester Stallone wrote this one, but it's his masterpiece. The music, the action, the acting by Stallone and Carl Weathers. This movie is classic. It's what every boxing movie should aspire to be.

And my number #1 movie....
*Bull Durham: Another Kevin Costner sports movie, but this one is the best and most realistic of any baseball movie. Star writer Ron Shelton penned this script and actors Costner, Tim Robbins, and Susan Sarandon take it to a higher level. Costner is Crash Davis, an aging catcher on the verge of breaking the minor league home runs record, but hoping to play just one more season. He's brought into Durham to teach Nuke LaLoosh (Tim Robbins) how to pitch and step up to the major league level. Susan Sarandon is the ultimate fan/groupie that falls for both men and changes their outlooks on their life. A love story, drama, comedy, and in general a good sports movie rolled into one.

Swiss Cheese Red Sox

Championships aren't won in April, but they can be lost in April.

Some writers, before the season began, deemed the Boston Red Sox the odds on favorite to win the World Series this season. Nearly an eighth of the way into the new season and the Red Sox look like they could possibly end up with the worst record in the American League East. But how?

On paper the team appears loaded. Countless all-star appearances among the players on their roster. Talent, rings, veterans, and youth are everywhere on this roster. So how does a team that appears to be so good, do so poorly? It's a combination of factors. I believe General Manager, Theo Epstein saw holes in his roster and signed the big name free agents this past off season to plug the holes.

Example one: Jonathan Papelbon, "star closer" for the Red Sox is on the decline and not many people have taken notice. His ERA in past seasons hovered between the high ones and low twos. His 2010 season showed a different Papelbon. His ERA jumped to nearly four-3.90 to be exact-his walks nearly quadrupled from two seasons before, and he nearly doubled the amount of wild pitches he threw in his whole career. From a saves standpoint, he still remained in the high thirties, but they quality of his saves depleted. His saves were coming in games with three run leads instead of one run leads in the past. Even this season, he has three save in his teams total six wins, but all three saves were in games with three run leads and a lot less pressure.

The other "star" the Red Sox harbored in their bullpen was Hideki Okajima. An All-Star reliever in 2007, and putting up great stats in 2008 as well, Okajima fell from their. His ERA doubled and his WHIP went from under one to a horrible 1.71.

Epstein saw these holes and signed steady veteran Dan Wheeler and former All-Star Bobby Jenks. The problem with this is they have now filled their bullpen with 3 pitchers who would have trouble pitching more than an inning and aren't used to pitching in any other situations other than with a lead. Wheeler was a more solid signing, but Jenks not only brings his declining numbers with him, but the drama of his "break up" with the Chicago White Sox. Even as a Red Sox, Jenks still found himself trading verbal jabs with White Sox manager Ozzie Guillien and general manager Ken Williams.

Example two: David Ortiz, the loveable left handed, power hitter of the Red Sox World Series runs in 2004 and 2007. "Big Papi" seemed to be the driving factor that led the offense to post season play, but Ortiz is no longer the factor he once was. Still productive, Ortiz' numbers dropped nearly twenty home runs in production and fifty RBI's. His batting average plummeted to .238 in 2009 and despite rising back up to .270 in 2010, was nowhere near his .300 plus numbers during their World Series runs. Pitchers feared throwing Ortiz inside, but not anymore. His bat has slowed down now that his once strength, is now his weakness.

Epstein went out and traded for Adrian Gonzalez. Gonzalez is probably the most under-rated star player in baseball, at least up to this point, but it doesn't show confidence in Ortiz. Also, even though it's early Adrian's swing has changed. He has gone from pitcher friendly, Petco Park, to left handed hitter friendly Fenway. As many younger hitters have done in their life, he has changed his swing to try to hit more home runs. His once smooth swing is now a giant, sweeping uppercut. With his ability I believe he'll be able to adjust, but being seventeen games into the season so far, I don't know how hitting coach, Dave Magadan hasn't noticed.

Example Three: Jacoby Ellsbury, the speed of the team, is injury prone. He has talent that can be scary, but at times he's very breakable. Last season he played only eighteen games. The two seasons before that he never reached more than one hundred fifty three games and even then played in games with a slight injury. This season he's already played in sixteen games, but his average for the past two seasons hasn't been above .200.

To melody the situation, the Red Sox stole Carl Crawford from Tampa Bay and from the clutches of the Yankees and Angels. He's probably the Red Sox most solid signing, but has started out only hitting .149. This is one of the contributing factor to their poor start. Still, I believe Epstein saw the potential of Ellsbury being hurt again and had to find a way to ensure that his roster still had speed.

Other smaller holes/replacements are also on the team at the catcher position, but my point is that Epstein foresaw a rough time coming ahead and tried to plug the holes through veterans. In doing so, he has sacrificed possibly the team's future by trading their star prospect Anthony Rizzo to the San Diego Padres and tied up the Red Sox budget for years.

When all is said and done, I believe the Toronto Blue Jays will end up with a better record this season. They have young talent, hunger, and less drama. Sometimes "star" names aren't always the answer.