Something to aim for

February 17, 2011

One of my favorite sections of the then-Street and Smith,/now-Sporting News annuals is the part devote to player milestone/targets.

It remains great fun to see where the contemporary stars rank in relation to the legends of the game. I enjoy looking at a player and counting down, and guessing if he’ll make the goal during the current season. For example, Derek Jeter needs just 74 hits to reach 3,000. Seems like a lock. Ivan Rodriguez, on the other hand, is 183 away. Doubtful.Alex Rodriguez, at 2,672, needs two seasons at 164 hits each to get there. Probable, all things being equal.

See? Fun!

Other targets of note:

  • Jim Thome needs 11 home runs to reach 600; Manny Ramirez needs 45. Vlad Guerrero is 64 away from 500.
  • A-Rod is 69 RBIs away from 1,900; Ramirez, 70. That would tie them for 11th place, all-time.
  • A-Rod is 43 runs away from 1,800 (17th place)
  • Tim Wakefield is seven wins away from 200, no one else has a shot this year (unless Roy Halladay can win 31). Jamie Moyer is closest to 300 but is still shy by 33.
  • Mariano Rivera is 41 saves away from joining Trevor Hoffman as the only relievers with 600 saves (43 will give the future Hall- of Famer the record). Francisco Cordero needs 10 to reach 300; Francisco Rodriguez needs 32, Joe Nathan 53.
  • In the “can’t touch this” category: Walter Johnson holds the shutout record with 110. Halladay is the active leader with 19. Wahoo Sam Crawford hit 309 triples. Carl Crawford has 105 and seems unlikely to accrue scads more in tiny Fenway Park. Juane Pierre is 879 stolen bases behind Rickey Henderson.

This basically only works for non-average marks. That is, batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage require more calculations than I’m willing to do.

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