Chris Davis has had an outstanding year so far, as June
comes to a close and entering July, he has not seemed to lose a step in his
pace. As of 7/2/2013 he sits at 31 HR, with 80 RBIs, and a .332 AVG. What ESPN
loves to do in this situation (and me as well) is calculate the HR pace to see
if the player has the chance of beating the single season HR record. In recent
years this record has been in many ways tarnished, with the McGwire (vs) Sosa
steroid fueled HR race in 1998 (McGwire won with 70) and Barry Bonds one-upping
them in 2001 (73 HR). Witnessing these events as they occurred represent some
of my most favorite times watching sports, but in the years following they have
seemed to lose their significance when PEDs surfaced as the root cause. But
what Chris Davis has done so far, brings back the excitement that I felt in
1998 and 2001. But this talk comes up more often than it should, because in 162
games any streak, pace, or even slump for that matter breaks and records get
either closer or farther from reach.
To look at some players who have come close to hitting this
record I want to focus on players from my generation because they provide a
closer comparison in my mind. I am skipping over Barry Bonds, McGwire, Sosa,
and A-Rod because of the PEDs and focusing on where Ryan Howard, Luis Gonzalez,
Ken Griffey Jr., and Jose Bautista were at by this point of the season.
Ryan Howard made a run in 2006 and hit 28 HR by this point
and despite picking up his pace in the second half he ended up with a total of
58 HR. In 2001, Luis Gonzalez started off on a strong pace with 34 HRs on July
3rd, but as the season went on he ended up 4 shy of Roger Maris with
57 HR. One of my personal favorites, Ken Griffey Jr., had 35 HR by July 2nd
but cooled down a little bit and ended with 56. Jose Bautista was a player who
only had 21 HR by July 3rd and went on a tear and ended the season
with 54.
All these players had incredible seasons and the problem all
these players see is as the end of the season closes the pressure to stay on
pace gets higher. With this increased pressure there is also the pennant race
that gives teams a greater incentive to pitch around these sluggers in hope
that they win the game. Mantle in 1961 got hurt which was the common story for
the tragic hero and was unable to finish his race with 52 being his ending
total. So many things can happen to throw off the pace but I am hoping that Chris
Davis will be able to carry his amazing start into the second half.
One thing that was so significant about Babe Ruth’s mark of
60 HRs was that he didn’t only establish the new single season record but he
had more HRs than any team in the American League. Maris beat the record with
many people wanting it to remain Babe Ruth’s record. This is a record with
historic meaning and if Maris’ ‘61 record can be broken cleanly, it will bring
back meaning to a record that has been seen in a negative light as of late. So is
it too early to talk about Chris Davis and the record? Probably. But I will
still be watching his pace and cheering for him as he inches closer.
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