MLB's Golden Oldies: Can Josh Hamilton, Roy Halladay, A-Rod Rewrite Record Book?
The term golden oldies records usually conjures up images of Elvis Presley's "(You Ain't Nothin' But A) Hound Dog," The Beatles' "She Loves You" and The Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction."
That term is a bit different in sports. When Ray Allen hit career three-point shot No. 2,561 on Feb. 11th, he broke a record that had been held by Reggie Miller for 13 years. When the Cleveland Cavaliers lost their 25th consecutive game on Feb. 7th, they broke an NBA record set by the Cavs in 1982-83.
But those records were just babes in the woods compared to some of the longest standing marks in U.S. pro sports. In 2010, Jorge Cantu of the Florida Marlins opened the season with at least one hit and one RBI in his first ten games, breaking the MLB record set by George Kelly of the New York Giants back in 1921.
Some of the records are more than 100-years-old, and some are held by players considered among the greatest in sports history. The highest single-season batting average was achieved in 1901. The mark for most victories by a pitcher in a season was set in 1904. The last player to hit .400 or better was Ted Williams in 1941.
But like the three-point, consecutive losses and hit-RBI marks, many of them can potentially be eclipsed. It's just a matter of when, and by whom.
Highest Single-Season BA, Last .400 Hitter
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Highest Single-Season BA: Nap Lajoie, Philadelphia Athletics, .426, 1901
Closest: Rogers Hornsby, St. Louis Cardinals, .424. 1924.
Single-Season .400 BA: Ted Williams, Boston Red Sox, .406, 1941
Who might break either? Safest bet: No one.
Over the past 35 years, the highest single-season BAs have been recorded by George Brett, .390, 1980; and Rod Carew, .388, 1977. Among active players, Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners holds the single-season MLB mark with 262 hits in 2004, the same year he batted a career high .372.
Josh Hamilton (pictured) of the Texas Rangers led the Majors in 2010 with a career-high .359 batting average. Carlos Gonzalez of the Colorado Rockies led the NL in 2010 with a .336 BA, 0.52 higher than 2009.
Most Career MLB Wins (Regular Season)
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Most Career MLB Wins (Regular Season): Cy Young, 511, 1890-1911
Closest: Walter Johnson, 417, 1907-1927
Who might break it? Safest bet: No one.
Young had five seasons in which he won more than 30 games and had 75 victories after reaching the age of 40.
The closest among active pitchers: Roy Halladay (pictured), 33, has 169 career wins. Even if he plays seven more years he would need to average more than 47 victories a year. CC Sabathia, 29, has 157 career wins and even if he plays ten more years he would need to average more than 34 victories a year.
Among the other youngest active players: Joe Blanton, 29, has 72 career wins; Jeremy Bonderman, 27, has 67 career victories; Scott Kazmir, 26, and Adam Wainwright, 28, each have 66 career wins; Jon Lester, 26, has 61 career wins; and Zach Greinke and Cole Hamels, each 26, each have 60 career wins.
Most Wins By A Pitcher In A Season
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Most Wins By A Pitcher In A Season: Jack Chesboro, New York Highlanders, 41, 1904
Closest: Ed Walsh, Chicago White Sox, 40, 1908
Who might break it? Safest bet: No one.
Denny McLain of the Detroit Tigers in 1968 had 31 victories, the most recent pitcher to win 30 or more games in a season. Among the active players considered to be the best pitchers in the game, CC Sabathia's (pictured) single-season high is 21 wins in 2010, Roy Halladay's best was 22 wins in 2003, Cliff Lee's personal best was 22 wins in 2008, Chris Carpenter's was 21 in 2005 and Tim Lincecum's was 18 in 2008.
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Most Runs Scored In One Season
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Most Runs Scored In One Season: Babe Ruth, New York Yankees, 177, 1921
Closest: Lou Gehrig, New York Yankees, 167, 1936
Who might break it? Safest bet: No one.
Alex Rodriguez (pictured) of the New York Yankees scored 143 runs in 2007 and 141 in 1996 when he was with the Seattle Mariners, the two highest single-season marks among any active player. Rodriguez also is the leader among active players with 1,757 runs scored in his career, followed by Yankees teammate Derek Jeter with 1,685. Albert Pujols has averaged 119 runs scored per season during his career.
Most Runs Batted In One Season
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Most Runs Batted In One Season: “Hack” Wilson, Chicago Cubs, 191, 1930
Closest: Lou Gehrig, New York Yankees, 184, 1931
Who might break it? Safest bet: No one.
Manny Ramirez had 165 RBIs in 1999 with the Cleveland Indians, the closest anyone among active players has come. Alex Rodriguez had 156 with the New York Yankees in 2007, Miguel Tejada had 105 RBIs in 2004 wit the Baltimore Orioles and Ryan Howard (pictured) of the Philadelphia Phillies had 149 in 2006 and 141 in 2009.
Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers had 130 RBIs in 2008 and 100 in 2010. Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers had 127 RBI in 2008 and 126 in 2010. Albert Pujols has averaged 123 RBIs a season during his career.
Longest Hitting Streak
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Longest Hitting Streak: Joe DiMaggio, New York Yankees, 56 games, May 15-July 16, 1941
Closest: Pete Rose, Cincinnati Reds, 44, 1978
Who might break it? Jimmy Rollins of the Philadelphia Phillies had a 38-game hitting streak at the end of 2005 and into the beginning of 2006. Chase Utley of the Phillies had a 35-game hitting streak in 2006.
But Ryan Zimmerman (pictured) of the Washington Nationals, who had a 30-game hitting streak in 2009 and a .307 batting average in 2010, might have the best shot.
Most Points By One Player, NFL Game
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Most Points By One Player, NFL Game: 40, Ernie Nevers, Chicago Cardinals, Nov. 28, 1929
Closest: Dub Jones (1951) and Gale Sayers (1965) each had six touchdowns and scored 36 points in a single game.
This list is not limited to baseball, so we now go to the longest-standing record in NFL history. Playing quarterback and kicker, Ernie Nevers rushed for six touchdowns and kicked four extra points, accounting for all of his team's scoring in a 40-6 win over the Chicago Bears.
Who might break it? Arian Foster of the Houston Texans led the NFL in 2010 with 1,616 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns. BenJarvus Green Ellis of the New England Patriots and Rashard Mendenhall each scored 13 touchdowns in 2010. Michael Vick, quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, accounted for 36 points in a 59-28 victory over the Washington Redskins last season, but that included four passing touchdowns to go with two rushing touchdowns. Brandon Marshall (pictured) of the Miami Dolphins holds the single-game record with 21 receptions (Dec. 13, 2009 while with the Denver Broncos) and has caught 413 passes for 5,033 yards in his first five NFL seasons.
Most Passing Yards, Game
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Most Passing Yards, Game: 554, Norm Van Brocklin, Los Angeles Rams, Sept. 28, 1951, vs. the New York (Football) Yanks
The 1951 Los Angeles Rams, which that year won the NFL championship, were led by four future Hall of Famers: quarterbacks Van Brocklin, who also doubled as kicker, and Bob Waterfield; and receivers Tom Fears and Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch.
Closest: Warren Moon, 527, Houston Oilers, Dec. 16, 1990
Who might break it? Among active quarterbacks, the two most recent 500-yard passing games were by Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who passed for 503 yards against the Green Bay Packers on Dec. 20, 2009; and Drew Brees (pictured) of the New Orleans Saints, who passed for 510 yards against the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 19, 2006.
However, Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts leads all active quarterbacks with eight regular season games and two postseason games in which he passed for 400 yards or more. But it most likely will be broken by a quarterback such as Elvis Grbac, who had a relatively non-descript nine-year career except for 2000, when he made the Pro Bowl and on Nov. 5 passed for 504 yards for the Kansas City Chiefs during a 49-31 loss to the Oakland Raiders.
Most Interceptions, Season
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Most Interceptions, Season: 14, Dick "Night Train" Lane, 1952
Lane was in his rookie year and set this mark during a 12-game season. He had 68 interceptions for his career, fourth all-time.
Closest: 13, (3) players, most recently Lester Hayes, Oakland Raiders, 1980
Who might break it? DeAngelo Hall of the Washington Redskins had four interceptions on Oct. 24, 2010 and finished the season with six. Ed Reed (pictured) of the Baltimore Ravens led the NFL last season with eight interceptions, led the league with nine interceptions in both 2008 and in 2004 and has 54 interceptions for his career.
Darren Sharper, New Orleans Saints, has had three nine-interception seasons: 2000, 2005 and 2009. Sharper has 63 career interceptions but had none in 2010. Among the players with ten interceptions in a season are Antonio Cromartie (2007), Asante Samuel (2006) and Champ Bailey (2006). Among the other players with nine interceptions in a season are Charles Woodson (2009) and Jarius Byrd (2009).
Single Season NBA Scoring Average
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Single Season NBA Scoring Average: Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia Warriors, 50.4, 1961-62
Closest: Wilt Chamberlain, San Francisco Warriors, 44.8, 1962-63
Who might break it? Safest bet: No one.
Among active NBA players, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers has been the closest, averaging 35.4 ppg in 2005-06, followed by Tracy McGrady's 32.1 ppg in 2002-03 for the Orlando Magic. Kevin Durant (30.1 ppg), Dwyane Wade (30.2 ppg) and LeBron James (30.0 ppg) have led the NBA in scoring average over the past three seasons, respectively.
Michael Jordan's career best was 37.1 ppg in 1986-87. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's all-time leading scorer with 38,387 points, had his best season in 1971-72 when he averaged 34.8 ppg for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Most Points, NBA Game
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Most Points, NBA Game: Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia Warriors, 100, versus the New York Knicks, March 2, 1962
Closest: Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, 81, versus the Toronto Raptors, Jan. 22, 2006
Who might break it? Kobe Bryant has also had three games with 60 or more points. LeBron James of the Miami Heat has had nine games with 50 or more points.
Among other active players, Tracy McGrady has had four games with 50 points or more, Dwayne Wade and Shaquille O'Neal have each had three such games. Active players with two games of 50 points or more include Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki, Gilbert Arenas and Vince Carter.
Kevin Durant's career high to date is 47 points.
Most Rebounds Single Game
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Most Rebounds Single Game: Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia Warriors, 55, Nov. 24, 1960, vs. the Boston Celtics
Closest: Bill Russell, Boston Celtics 51, Feb. 5, 1960, vs. Syracuse Nationals
Chamberlain and Russell have 46 of the top 50 single-game rebound totals in NBA history.
Who might break it? On Nov. 19, 2010, Kevin Love (pictured) of the Minnesota Timberwolves grabbed 31 rebounds against the New York Knicks to go with 31 points, which was the NBA's first 30-30 game since 1982 (Moses Malone). He currently leads the NBA in rebounding with an average of 15.5 per game. Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic has led the NBA in rebounds three times, including the last three seasons, and has had the most total rebounds over the past five seasons.
Zach Randolph of the Memphis Grizzlies is currently third in the NBA behind Love and Howard with an average of 13.2 rebounds per game. Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics has led the NBA in rebounding four times, but not since 2006-07.
Most PGA Tour Victories, Single Season
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Most PGA Tour Victories, Single Season: Byron Nelson, 18, 1945
Closest: Ben Hogan, 13, 1946
Who might break it? Safest bet: No one.
Tiger Woods' best season was 2000 when he had a total of nine PGA Tour wins. Vijay Singh won nine PGA Tour events in 2004. By comparison, Nelson won 11 PGA Tour events in a row in 1945, also a record that still stands.
Most Shutouts, One NHL Season
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Most Shutouts, One NHL Season: George Hainsworth, 22, 1928–29
Closest: 15 by several goalies, the most recent Tony Esposito in 1969-70.
Who might break it? Safest bet: No one.
Since 1975, Martin Brodeur (three times) and Dominique Hasek (twice) are the only goalies to have recorded 11 or more shutouts in one season.
Barry Janoff can be contacted at editor@NYSportsJournalism.com or http://www.NYSportsJournalism.com
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