Ryan Howard shot at the "real" HR record

[cj]

Interesting article...

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Ajo8IqDfnoRs9QNsyLqtgxkRvLYF?slug=dw-howard090506&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

[Valuist]

I would have to agree. Isn't it ironic that Maris, the clean one, had an asterisk next to the 61? Because baseball decided to expand their season for a few more games.

[skate]

good point


nice guy to boot, id like to see him "do it".
passes the smell test too.

it it does not get Cold too fast, he'll be there.

[kenwoodallpromos]

"The 6-foot, 197-pound outfielder thought of himself as the odd man out in Yankee pinstripes. But he fit right in as a powerful left-handed pull hitter in the inviting environment of the right field stands at Yankee Stadium."
Babe was a left handed hitter too!
I say go back to Hack Wilson, 1930 56 HR's!!
""I never played drunk. Hung over, yes, but never drunk." - Hack Wilson
191 Runs Batted In by Hack Wilson
Lewis Robert "Hack" Wilson was enshrined in Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1979.

The slugging center fielder holds the distinction of being one of the few players not remembered for his home run records (all though he did lead the league for three straight years). He is best remembered for his 1930 season where he had one-hundred ninety-one runs batted in, good for the all time record ahead of fellow Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig (one-hundred eighty-four), Hank Greenberg (one-hundred eighty-three), and Jimmie Foxx (one-hundred seventy-five). Even in today’s slug-it-out world of long ball RBIs, the only player to even come within thirty runs of Wilson is Manny "Mr. RBI" Ramirez with one-hundred sixty-five."

[ghostyapper]

Well there will never be a real home run record now with the juiced balls. Also how do we know that ryan howard or pujols are clean?

[kenwoodallpromos]

Well there will never be a real home run record now with the juiced balls. Also how do we know that ryan howard or pujols are clean?
_______________-
"It all began in 1938 when an umpire complained to Lena Blackburne, a third base coach for the old Philadelphia Athletics, about the sorry condition of the baseballs used by the American League. Back then a ball was prepped simply with mud made of water and dirt from the playing field. The result? ****The ball's cover was too soft****, leaving it open for tampering. Something was needed to take off the shine but not soften the cover."
The REAL beginning of the "live ball" era!

[ghostyapper]

You don't really believe that do you? I didn't think there was a person left on the planet who doesn't believe they juiced the balls after the 93 season.

The numbers don't lie.

[sq764]

Well there will never be a real home run record now with the juiced balls. Also how do we know that ryan howard or pujols are clean?
There have been juiced balls for MANY years..

[Zaf]

They have been replaced by balls placed in a humador :lol:

Z

[sq764]

#54 last night.. what a beast..

He's got 21 games to hit 6 more for the magical 60 mark.. what an incredible accomplishment..

Not bad that he's hitting .308 as well..

[Valuist]

I think A-Rod was counting on having the all-time HR record all to himself by the time he hung it up. But Pujols can't be discounted and the way Howard is starting, if he can stay healthy, he might get in the mix.

[skate]

Well there will never be a real home run record now with the juiced balls. Also how do we know that ryan howard or pujols are clean?

well, ok ok ok, we don't really know a thing, granted.

if we look at "the body". no comparison between, the chang in appearance with bonds and mcguire. compare that to the body of R Howard, can you see the differance?
i'm not saying this is a prove- all-be -all situation,but yooo!
if we went by "How Do We Know" theory.

i guess we could say."maybe Ruth was on something Also".

so it comes to:
throw in the towel
or
believe what you see.

[OTM Al]

This is always a fun type of arguement to have over a couple beers while watching a game. The simple facts though are these

Barry Bonds holds the record for most HRs in a season
Hank Aaron holds the record for most HRs career in the majors

So much has changed over the years in the game that we can forever compare what hitter X may have done in situation Y, but we can never know for sure. Some would say the new field in Philadelphia benefits Howard, so maybe that should count against him. To me though they all played the games, they set the marks, and that's that. You want to argue who is a better player, that's fine. Many different ways to go there. But with records there is no arguement. They are what they are and retroactively changing them is silly.

[ghostyapper]

so it comes to:
throw in the towel
or
believe what you see.

Unfortunatly we all fell into that trap when mcgwire and sosa were doing those great things. Forgive me if I'm a little skeptical with howard and pujols. I think its the whole fool me once fool me twice deal.

[kenwoodallpromos]

This is always a fun type of arguement to have over a couple beers while watching a game. The simple facts though are these.
Some would say the new field in Philadelphia benefits Howard, so maybe that should count against him. To me though they all played the games, they set the marks, and that's that. You want to argue who is a better player, that's fine. Many different ways to go there. But with records there is no arguement. They are what they are and retroactively changing them is silly.
I agree that just like in T'Bred racing, if the rules (in thsa case, venue dimensions) keep changing, there is no effective way of mixing apples and oranges and finding acorrect answer to which is best.
Having said that, I have heard that HR to K ratio stats favor Bonds...

[Bathless]

In 1991 (or was it 1990?), only two big leaguers hit as many as 40 HRs -- Jose Canseco and Cecil Fielder.

Besides juiced baseballs and smaller parks, part of the blame sits with Koufax and Gibson. It was because of those 2 guys that they lowered the mound. Then, along the way, they shrunk the strike zone. Fans just don't like 2-1 games (although I certainly do).

60 certainly isn't what it once was, but I still enjoy the game.

Willie Mays's glove: where triples go to die......(has nothing to do with anything; I just like the quote).....

[sq764]

Unfortunatly we all fell into that trap when mcgwire and sosa were doing those great things. Forgive me if I'm a little skeptical with howard and pujols. I think its the whole fool me once fool me twice deal.
The difference is Howard and Pujols were beasts from day 1, including the minors. Bonds was a 30-35 homerun guy then at like 37 he went insane.

That was the huge difference

[sq764]

In 1991 (or was it 1990?), only two big leaguers hit as many as 40 HRs -- Jose Canseco and Cecil Fielder.

Besides juiced baseballs and smaller parks, part of the blame sits with Koufax and Gibson. It was because of those 2 guys that they lowered the mound. Then, along the way, they shrunk the strike zone. Fans just don't like 2-1 games (although I certainly do).

60 certainly isn't what it once was, but I still enjoy the game.

Willie Mays's glove: where triples go to die......(has nothing to do with anything; I just like the quote).....
It's lots of things:

1) MUCH smaller ballparks
2) Too many teams = too many horrible pitchers = more homeruns
3) Baseball players didn't weight train 20 years ago like they do now

[sq764]

What's amazing is that Howard is hitting .311!

He could have a season of .310 with 60 homers and 150 rbis

That could be one of the top 3 greatest offensive seasons ever

[skate]

i think the fielders play a better game, which is tougher on the hiters, gloves are better. gees, should see the ones i had.

catchers equipment was not much either. sun glasses.
but most of all i think the"walls" are much easier to play off, or run into.

56 for R howard, might reach mid 60s along with 165 or RBIs
731 for bonds