The Retort

The Sports Corner: Baseball Records and Stats

October 7th, 2011 by Cory Lovec Of The Retort Staff

With Major League Baseball’s playoffs fully underway, baseball records and statistics come to mind—so why not read a list of some of the most amazing, unbreakable, and odd baseball statistics and records?

“Baseball fans love numbers. They love to swirl them around their mouths like Bordeaux wine.” ~Pat Conroy

• The Cy Young Award—the award given to the best pitchers in the MLB each year—was named the “Cy Young” Award for good reason. All Young did was win a record 511 games pitching in his career
• Walter Johnson, a pitcher in the early 1900s for the Washington Senators, has the infamous record of hitting the most batters with pitches in a career: 205.
• The last World Series to go the full seven games was in 2002. The Anaheim Angels beat the San Francisco Giants in the final game.
• Eddie Murray must have been a very “giving” player. He has the record for most sacrifice flies in a career with 128.
• The oldest player to lace up cleats as a MLB player was Satchel Paige, who played until he was 59 years old.
• Yankees closer Mariano Rivera is considered by most to be the best MLB closer of all time. Numbers don’t lie: Rivera has the best playoff ERA ever (0.74), the second best winning percentage (8-1 or .889), and the most regular season saves all-time (603).
• Rickey Henderson can be considered a very “sneaky” (and fast) player. He’s stolen the most bases of all time - 1407. Henderson also has the most stolen bases in a season with 130. To put that into perspective, since 1987 no MLB player has had more than 80 stolen bases in a single season.
• Lou Gehrig has the record for most grand slams hit in a career. In his record-breaking career as a MLB player, Gehrig hit 23 grand slams (he holds many other records as well).
• Cal Ripken set many great records during his career. But, he also hit into 350 double-plays in his career - the most ever.
• Former Yankees right fielder Mickey Mantle holds the record for most career home runs (18) and RBIs (40) in World Series history.

Why not have a few jokes, quotes, and stories as well?

• According to the Chicago Tribune, the statistic “The Oakland Athletics are 32-0 in games in which they have scored more than their opponent” was in the press notes for a June 7 game vs. Chicago.
• “Having a designated hitter is like watching someone else take Shaq’s free throws for him.” - Unknown
• “I love autumn. It gives me a chance to sit at home and watch the World Series - kinda like the Dodgers.”
• “Watching a spring training game is as exciting as watching a tree form its annual ring.” - Jerry Izenberg
• “It was so foggy today the Cubs couldn’t even see who was beating them!”
• “It ain't like football. You can't make up no trick plays.” -Yogi Berra
• One day the Devil challenged the Lord to a baseball game. Smiling the Lord said, “You don’t have a chance, I have Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and all of the other great baseball legends up here.” “Yes,” the Devil snickered, “but I have all the umpires!”
• “Good pitching will beat good hitting any time, and vice versa.” - Bob Veale, 1966
• Two men are walking around in Hell when it begins to snow. One man turns to the other and says, “Well, it finally happened. The Cubs won the World Series.”
• “Don't forget to swing hard, in case you hit the ball.” - Woodie Held