Excellent MLB Records And Who Broke Them
It is said that America’s favorite pastime is the crowning glory of the culture, and every season is something that millions look forward to each year. Baseball isn’t just a sport or a game that produces some American celebrities. It is a seasonal event where families and friends unite, rooting for their team to make it to the World Series. It’s also the sport where vast structures have been built to hold the excited fans as they witness each game of their team. More so, cities and states take pride in the excellent records that their favorite player or team holds. It is said that these numbers become so memorable for every fan, and they are always crossing their fingers that it doesn’t get broken. On the other hand, followers of an aspiring record breaker would be found to give all-out support in any way just so their active MLB star does succeed!
Some of baseball’s most famous historic feats are categorized by single-season records. Babe Ruth holds the total bases at 457, runs at 177, and the extra-base hits at 119. All these were set in 1921 by the Bambino and MLB Hall of Famer. The most number of wins in just a single season as a New York Highlander is held by Jack Chesbro, also known as “Happy Jack,” back in 1904. Three years before that, the single-season record in batting average was grabbed by Phillies’ Nap Lajoie at .426. In 1912, another record was set by John Owen “Chief” Wilson of the Pittsburg Pirates, with most triples of 36 in just a single season. In the 1930s, Hack Wilson got a high mark at 191 RBIs, while Earl Webb set a record of 67 doubles in 1931. The record of hitting streak in a single season belongs to Joe DiMaggio, a Yankee then, at an impressive 56 games!
For the career records, Denton True Young – better known as Cy Young – holds the most wins when he finally retired from baseball in 1911. This is an additional feat to his first ever World Series pitch, which Cy Young threw in 1903, and the perfect game he won in 1904, not to mention the stellar two decades career in baseball. Ed Walsh also holds the ERA career record at 1.82, while Sam Crawford earned the triples record at 309. Both Walsh and Crawford made those outstanding marks in 1917. A decade or so later, another career record in doubles was set by Tris Speaker at 792. Around the same time, Ty Cobb earned his spot in American baseball history with an average of .366.
Now let’s go to the long-standing records that were later broken. The 84-year record of George Sisler at most hits in a single season was broken by Ichiro Suzuki. The Japanese sensation marked 259 hits in 2004 while he played with the Seattle Mariners. The over eight decades record of Babe Ruth in slugging percentage was also shattered by Barry Bonds in 2001 when the SF Giants slugger broke Ruth’s .847 at .863. Fate had it that Bonds also broke Babe Ruth’s base-on-balls record for a single season. The 170 mark by the Bambino in 1923 was broken by Bonds at 177 in 2011 after 78 years! Another record that Bonds managed to break was the on-base percentage for a single season Ted Williams held for over five decades. When Barry played in 2002, he got a .582 percentage to beat Williams’ .553 record.
Almost a stellar record-breaking was that of Rickey Henderson, who played for the San Diego Padres in 2001. That year, Henderson got 2,295 career runs, beating Ty Cobb’s numbers at 2,246, which the legend held for 73 years. Still, in 2001, Henderson also broke the record of Babe Ruth in career bather sed on balls held by Babe Ruth for 66 years.