Brett mentioned the possibility of A-Rod having the all-time hit record by the time he retired. It made me think of the current record holder and how he came to amass that number of hits...
Pete Rose's record is specious in my mind for a few reasons.
1. Pete Rose had 13 seasons where he played more than 154 games, which was the max Cobb could have played. That's 104 extra games Rose played in that Cobb never could have played in.
2. Rose had 173 hits after his team's game 154 alone. I went back season by season to calculate this using Retrosheet.
-Another way of looking at it was that it took Rose about 2,500 more PA to break that record- and by virtue of the 162 game schedule had almost 200 more career games available.
3. During his last 4 years, Rose was a. 256 hitter with a .305 slugging and 2 homeruns in his final 1748 PA!!! This is a guy who couldn't run, couldn't hit, couldn't hit for power, couldn't field, and was out there solely because he kept himself in the lineup to break the record in a shameless manner. Trying to hit singles and only singles to pad his totals.
I saw an interview with Rose in 1979 after he had broken Cobb's record for 200 hit seasons (10). He self-absorption was omnipresent- he knew his exact totals in hits, runs, doubles, and even times on base. He knew his standing amongst the all timers in National League history, even then.
After he broke the record in Sept. 85', he boasted that he would go on to break Cobb's all time record for runs scored, too.
People talk about the number of extra PA's/games Aaron had to break Ruth's record. Well, Aaron was still a very good hitter during his last 4 years- and didn't keep himself in the lineup as player-manager to break the record.
What does everyone feel about this record in light of these facts?
Pete Rose's record is specious in my mind for a few reasons.
1. Pete Rose had 13 seasons where he played more than 154 games, which was the max Cobb could have played. That's 104 extra games Rose played in that Cobb never could have played in.
2. Rose had 173 hits after his team's game 154 alone. I went back season by season to calculate this using Retrosheet.
-Another way of looking at it was that it took Rose about 2,500 more PA to break that record- and by virtue of the 162 game schedule had almost 200 more career games available.
3. During his last 4 years, Rose was a. 256 hitter with a .305 slugging and 2 homeruns in his final 1748 PA!!! This is a guy who couldn't run, couldn't hit, couldn't hit for power, couldn't field, and was out there solely because he kept himself in the lineup to break the record in a shameless manner. Trying to hit singles and only singles to pad his totals.
I saw an interview with Rose in 1979 after he had broken Cobb's record for 200 hit seasons (10). He self-absorption was omnipresent- he knew his exact totals in hits, runs, doubles, and even times on base. He knew his standing amongst the all timers in National League history, even then.
After he broke the record in Sept. 85', he boasted that he would go on to break Cobb's all time record for runs scored, too.
People talk about the number of extra PA's/games Aaron had to break Ruth's record. Well, Aaron was still a very good hitter during his last 4 years- and didn't keep himself in the lineup as player-manager to break the record.
What does everyone feel about this record in light of these facts?
Comment