Do Records Matter Anymore?

61
755
56

These are historical numbers

73
762
262

These are modern numbers

Do you know what they are anymore? Growing up, every baseball fan knew 61 homers in a season, 755 in a career and Joe Dimaggio’s 56 game hitting streak. As a baseball fan, I needed to research the new home run records (add the asterisk if you want) of Barry Bonds for a season (73) and a career (762). The other number on that list – you will never guess, Ichiro’s single season hits record.

So with Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez hitting his 600th home run today, joining an elite group of seven other players, why is everyone shrugging their shoulders at this milestone?

Could it be because he admitted using steroids? Could it be because of his purple lips? Maybe it is just because he plays for the Yankees. Whether it was Rodriguez or some one who is loved like Ken Griffey Jr., the numbers are starting to mean less and less to the fans. What we care about now apparently, is scandals and winning. Give us one or the other, preferably both – c’mon Cincinnati Bengals!

Many things have contributed to the apathy towards modern sports records. The increased length of the season has allowed players a better chance of beating records. Ichiro’s record of 262 hits would never have happened if the season was 10 games shorter. The length of the season is one factor, but the number of teams and players involved in the league also figures into the issue. The expansion of all professional sports has watered down the talent pool to the point where the super star athletes stand out like sore thumbs. It is much easier for someone like Rodriguez to succeed when he is facing sub-par talent 3 out of 5 games (given the benefit of the doubt that teams have two good pitchers).

With players now involved in more games per season and playing against worse competition that helps them get their numbers up, the other factor is length of career. Players are involved at the top level for a much longer period of time. All sports start their recruitment of players in high school, and the best are already playing major roles on pro teams by the time they hit their 20th birthday. With the extended careers, based on age, better physical care by the training staff, better off-season training, not to mention performance enhancing drugs and it turns records into a thing of the past.

Will numbers always matter to the sports fan? For sure they will, but they are changing. A players worth is no longer measured by home runs and runs batted in, it is now OPS and WAR and UZR. These are complicated mathematical formulas to determine the worth of the player to his team, it’s just too bad these don’t translate well to the back of a baseball card.