Don't look now but Alex Rodriguez just passed Lou Gehrig on the all-time RBI list. With a couple more, he'll overtake Barry Bonds for third place. That's going to happen.
Sure, like Bonds, A-Rod's accomplishments have been tainted by the dreaded performance enhancing drug thing, but there is no doubt that whatever he's doing these days -- he's doing it clean. If anybody's currently being regularly tested -- it's A-Rod.
It really is a shame in a big way that some players (in Bonds' case allegedly) resorted to such tactics. Few would doubt that Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez would have been shoo-in Hall of Famers with the skills they always naturally possessed.
Rodriguez would need a couple hundred more ribbies to approach Ruthian territory* for second place, let alone challenging Hank Aaron as the all-time leader. That probably won't happen. Yet the Yankees are on the hook for one more year regarding A-Rod and his salary and, hey, if he's still producing, why not play him?
*It should be noted that opinions vary regarding the all-time RBI leaders. The stat wasn't even kept prior to 1920, and quite loosely for several years afterwards, so Ruth and Gehrig's exact career marks are a matter of speculation. For that matter, one Cap Anson, who was born in 1852, a full 9 years before the Civil War started, and played 27 seasons for the Chicago Cubs (1871-1897) is credited with anywhere between 1800-some and 2200-some career RBIs. His whole career spanned a time long before RBIs began to be recorded. Nobody will ever know for sure what his exact tally was.
Seattle Mariners' starting pitcher Felix Hernandez is tearing it up. He recently became the first pitcher this year to notch his 8th W against only one L. Could he -- gasp -- potentially become the first 30-game winner since Detroit Tiger Denny McLain (31-6) way back in 1968?
Sure, assuming he stays on the same torrid pace for the rest of the year, certainly no given, and if the season was maybe 190 games instead of 162. McLain pitched every 4 days and modern day starting pitchers take the mound every 5. At the time of this writing, the Mariners had played 46 games, well over a quarter of the season. Extrapolate on Hernandez staying at the same pace. After 92 games, he'd be 16-2. Add in another 46 games for a total of 138 and Felix would be 24-3. Then there would only be 24 games remaining, likely 5 starts at the most. Even if he won them all, he'd still run out of games before he could hit the 30 mark. Denny McLain will forever be the last pitcher to win 30 games.
It's simply a matter of numbers.
More about why Major Leaguers seem to be so much more fragile in modern times than they were in yesteryear next time out.
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