Posted By:
Gilbert MainesI am probably way out in left field on this one, but to my way of thinking when something which occurs has an extremely high unliklihood of occurance, I think that there may be factors in play which are unaccounted for.
For example, in 1997 if I was asked "what is the possibility of two batters averaging over 60HR/season for 4 consectutve seasons + two batters hitting 70 or more HRs", Id have said that Id bet against it.
Similarly, I ask myself: what is the chance that six batters get 250 or more hits between 1920-1930, and it never happens before nor since? Well, again I say - there has got to be more to it than is apparent from the stats alone.
Because of the above unliklihoods, Maris and Ruth both have an asterisk in my mind, and Ichiro will too, if he earns it - because those three appear to be accomplished due to wholly honest factors.
Gil, left fielder