Dingers and Ks - The Irony of Nolan's 5714 Ks

[Peter_Spaeth]

Nobody is likely to have Ryan's longevity, that plus pitchers now don't throw as many innings even if their per 9 is high.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by BearBailey

The number of walks he gave up will be more difficult to break than the strike outs.

Probably, but I did say one of the most difficult to break.

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Nobody is likely to have Ryan's longevity, that plus pitchers now don't throw as many innings even if their per 9 is high.

Addressed longevity in my ERA comment regarding only one pitcher throwing 162 innings and the demise of the 7 to 9 inning starters. Also the age of Verlander and Scherzer.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Probably, but I did say one of the most difficult to break.



Addressed longevity in my ERA comment regarding only one pitcher throwing 162 innings and the demise of the 7 to 9 inning starters. Also the age of Verlander and Scherzer.

Maybe what you see as ironic I just see as a function of Ryan's extreme uniqueness in terms of longevity, plus the fact that the high K ratios are somewhat offset by less IP.

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Nobody is likely to have Ryan's longevity, that plus pitchers now don't throw as many innings even if their per 9 is high.

+1 agreed

[Ricky]

In addition, check out how many guys are hitting .300 in each league..

[Mike D.]

I'd have loved to see what that Ryan kid could have done if he hadn't suffered that career ending arm injury in 1993. He may have had more in the tank.

Speaking of such things...home runs are all the vogue, but with Cabrera getting his 500th today, there could be quite a wait for another 500 HR hitter...never mind someone breaking the all time record.

Unless Nelson Cruz (Age 40, 443 HR) truly IS ageless, there next guy with a legit chance is likely Mike Trout, who has 310 career HR and just turned 30 earlier this month. Even he'd have to average nearly 32 HR per year for the next 6 years to get there (or play well into his late 30's at a lower rate).

[Peter_Spaeth]

Bryce Harper, 255 at age 28, is in the running.

[Tao_Moko]

Ryan was one of a kind. Very much a freak of nature and his record is safe in my lifetime for sure. The game will continue to evolve, but his career SO record, Pete's hit record and Henderson's SB are 3 I dont expect to see broken with any current players. Cal is 100% safe too. I can probably think of a half dozen more that you all already know. Thing is, new records will be made and two generations from now the same argument will be made.

I'm a fan of Trout, but my money is on sub 500 hr's and sub 300 career avg. Another 6 years won't be enough and most shocking will be if he plays more than that.

[frankbmd]

In the era of strike outs and dingers (HRs), this thread could just as easily been directed to the irony of Hank Aaron's 755 Home Run record, even though it wouldn't satisfy Peter's standards of ironicity.

[Mike D.]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Bryce Harper, 255 at age 28, is in the running.

Yes, he's another guy with a chance, for sure...not a great chance, but a chance. Of course, by definition of a club with 28 players in it (when there have been 20,000+ total major league players), everyone has not a great chance.

Safe to safe that that we're 5, 6, 7 years off from anyone having a chance, and anything further away than that is anyone's guess.