Amazing marks in the MLB season
Every Major League Baseball season has its own history and, invariably, a ‘rosary’ of records, feats and curiosities.
But the 2022 season is very close to being unique and special because of the combination of rare feats that could materialize in the last two weeks of the regular series.
A 700 home run hitter, a slugger who is looking for a Triple Crown and at the same time the home run record in a league and a player who never ceases to surprise us with his extraordinary ability to perform at an all-star level as a hitter and pitcher, are, among many others, the brightest spots of a season that could be historic.
THE 700 CLUB: Dominican Albert Pujols, who is playing the final season of his career, begins the week two homers away from becoming the fourth member of the 700 Club in the major leagues. Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714) are the only others to do so. Ruth reached 700 on July 13, 1934, Aaron on July 21, 1973 and Bonds on September 17, 2004.
Pujols would be the first Latin American and the third consecutive minority representative. Also, the Quintana Roo starter would be the first non outfielder of the group.
AMERICAN HOMER KING: With 16 games remaining for the New York Yankees, outfielder Aaron Judge has a good chance of setting the American League record for home runs in a season.
Judge has hit 59 balls out of the park and is two away from tying Roger Maris, who hit 61 in 1961, when he broke the record held by Ruth (60) since 1927. Both Ruth and Maris also did it while wearing a Yankees uniform. The all-time major league record is held by Barry Bonds with his 73 home runs in the 2001 National League season. Mark McGwire (70 in 1998) holds the major league mark for right-handed hitters. Judge’s 59 are the most for a right-hander in the young circuit.
THE TRIPLE CROWN: While seeking a league record for home runs, Judge is also trying to win the Triple Crown for hitters (batting average, home runs and runs batted in), something that has only happened 17 times in U.S. major league history. Judge began the penultimate full week of the regular series leading his circuit in home runs and RBIs (59 and 125) and one point behind the batting leader.
The Minnesota Twins’ Venezuelan Luis Arraez leads all hitters with a .317 average, while Judge is tied with Boston Red Sox Cuban slugger Xander Bogaerts at .316.
Venezuelan starter Miguel Cabrera of the American League’s Detroit Tigers was the last to do so, in 2012. Before Cabrera, it was achieved by Carl Yastrzemski, also in the American League, in 1967. No National League hitter has won the Triple Crown since Joe Medwick in 1937.
Two Yankees players won the Triple Crown: starter Lou Gehrig (.353, 49 home runs, 165 HRs) in 1934 and outfielder Mickey Mantle (.353, 52, 130) in 1956.
HOMER WITH 200 K AND 30 H4 PITCHER: Japanese two-way hitting sensation Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels continues to impress the baseball world with his ability to execute at the highest level as a hitter and pitcher.
In 2021, when he won the American League MVP award unanimously, Ohtani had 46 home runs, 100 runs batted in, 103 runs scored and 26 steals as a designated hitter and 9-2, 3.18 and 156 strikeouts in 130.1 innings as his team’s star pitcher. This season, he has a 13-8 record, 2.43 ERA and 196 strikeouts in 148.0 innings as a Cy Young Award candidate and 34 home runs, 89 runs batted in, 83 runs scored and 11 steals as the Angels’ everyday designated hitter.
Any way you look at it, whether as a great pitcher who can hit or a super hitter who can pitch very well, Ohtani is a unique phenomenon in the century-and-a-half history of Major League Baseball in the United States.
