Visits: 9
The word “asterisk” comes from a Greek word meaning “little star.” Never has a little star caused so much discussion and controversy than the one Commissioner Ford Frick attached to Roger Maris’ single season record 61 home runs in 1961. Frick was a close friend and biographer of Babe Ruth and was a beat writer for the Yankees in 1927 when Ruth hit his record 60 home runs. So when it became apparent that both Maris and Mickey Mantle were threatening Ruth’s record in 1961, Frick felt compelled to issue a ruling on the subject on July 17. He said any “player who may hit more than 60 home runs during his team’s first 154 games would be recognized as having established a new record. However, if the player does not hit more than 60 until after his club has played 154 games, there would have to be some distinctive mark in the record book.”
The timing of Frick’s ruling was telling. Just two days earlier on July 15, Maris hit his 35th home run of the season in Chicago off White Sox pitcher Ray Herbert in a 9-8 Yankee victory in 10 innings. That home run gave him 35 in the first 85 games of the season, a pace that would give him 67 home runs in the newly expanded 162-game schedule. Perhaps as an answer to Frick’s proclamation, Mantle then hit his 34th and 35th home runs of the season the very next day on July 18 in Washington off Senators pitcher Joe McClain in a 5-3 Yankee victory. Frick clearly wanted to protect the most cherished record of the game’s most cherished icon.
What became known as Frick’s asterisk or “distinctive mark” in reality never appeared in the record books. Rather, a parenthetical notation accompanied Maris’ record indicating it was accomplished in a 162-game schedule. Then in September of 1991, Commissioner Fay Vincent struck the parenthetical notation out of the record books logically noting that other records that were established since the advent of the 162-game schedule did not carry with them any such notation. However, even though the notation no longer exists, its legacy does. Much controversy and discussion persist over the validity of both the single season and the career home run records.
It must first be acknowledged that baseball records hold a certain veneration that records in other sports do not. There are certain numbers that have become synonymous with baseball records. Mention the number 56 and you think of Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak in 1941. The number 714 will always remain synonymous with the number Hank Aaron chased down in 1974 to surpass Ruth’s lifetime home run record. Aaron’s final number of 755 stood as the new number in that category until Barry Bonds came along. The previously mentioned numbers of 60 and 61 have become forever attached to Babe Ruth and Roger Maris, respectively. But what numbers are synonymous in other sports? What’s the record for career points in the NBA? Most single season rushing yards in the NFL? How about career passing yards? Chances are you know the recordholder but not the number itself off the top of your head.
When it comes to home runs in the baseball record book, tread lightly. Depending on who you talk to, one record holds more value than another one. Maris’ record 61 home runs in 1961 was not only minimized because he broke the record in the 162nd game of the season, not within the 154-game schedule of Ruth’s era, but also he had only been a Yankee for two years and lacked the charismatic personality of both Ruth and his teammate Mantle. Some writers flatly stated that they wouldn’t have minded Ruth’s record being broken as much had Mantle done it rather than Maris.
Demands for the asterisk returned during the steroid era when Maris’ record was shattered six times between 1998 and 2001 by Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire. This time there were no parenthetical notations inserted in the record book. But that hasn’t stopped the baseball records police from dismissing all six of those home run records due to the alleged steroid use by the recordholders. Many cling to the notion that Aaron Judge now holds the record even though Bonds is in the record book with 73 home runs in 2001. During Judge’s pursuit and conquest of Maris’ 61 home runs this season, the fact that all six of the record-breaking performances between 1998 and 2001 were by National League hitters provided the media and fans a very convenient way of elevating the historical significance of Judge’s pursuit. Since Bonds, Sosa and McGwire were all National Leaguers, everyone was afforded the luxury of saying Judge was chasing the “American League” record of 61 home runs. Had any of the six record-breaking home run performances occurred in the American League, no one would have been able to say he was chasing any record at all.
Baseball records need to be placed in the context of the era in which they occurred. Ty Cobb led the major leagues in home runs in 1909 with 9. Red Murray of the New York Giants led the National League with 7. Babe Ruth set the all-time single season home run record with 29 in his last year with the Red Sox in 1919. These are anemic home run leaders by modern day standards, but they were set during the dead ball era. Ballparks were huge, the same baseball was used in play sometimes until it unraveled and pitchers regularly and legally scuffed and spit on the ball. Speed and what today would be called “small ball” dominated play. On the other hand, the league leader in triples had 20 or more 33 times before 1920. The all-time single season triples record was set in 1912 by Chief Wilson with 36. But since 1949, the league leader in triples has had 20 or more only eight times. This season’s league leaders in triples were Amed Rosario in the American League with 9 and Brandon Nimmo and Gavin Lux in the National League with 7. These are anemic triples leaders by dead ball era standards. Teleport anyone from 1909 to 2022 and they would be astounded by only nine triples leading the league, just as someone from today is astounded by nine home runs leading the league in 1909. It’s inconceivable a player could hit 36 triples today, just as it was inconceivable in 1909 that a player could hit 62 home runs. Was Babe Ruth breaking the single season home run record with 29 in 1919 equal to Barry Bonds breaking it with 73 in 2001 or Aaron Judge breaking the American League record with 62 this year? If Ruth were to play today, would he hit 62? If Judge were to play in 1919, would he hit 29?
The truth is, like Ford Frick, anyone could cite advantages a breaker of any record had in his era which the old recordholder did not enjoy in his. When Ruth set the single season home run record with 29 in 1919, breaking the old record of 27 by Ned Williamson in 1884, Frick probably did not point out that Ruth played a 140-game schedule and Williamson played in 112 games. Tony Gwynn hit .394 in 1994. That was the 19th best batting average ever posted in the modern era of baseball. But that doesn’t even come close to reflecting how much of an accomplishment that was when you consider the context of Gwynn’s era versus that of the others who had better averages. All 18 of the single season batting averages that were better than Gwynn’s in 1994 were set between 1901 and 1941 when the ballparks were bigger, the pitchers did not throw as hard and the hitters didn’t play with all the dominant minority players who were banned from the game before 1947. When the pitcher’s mound was lowered after the 1968 season because pitchers were dominating too much, any pitching record set afterwards must be taken in a different context than any record set before 1968. When the American League instituted the designated hitter rule in 1973, any hitting record set afterwards must be taken in a different context than any record set before 1973 due to the reduced wear and tear on hitters who no longer had to play in the field. It also inflated the ERA of pitchers in the American League who were no longer afforded the luxury of pitching to opposing pitchers. When major league baseball puts larger bases into play starting next season, any stolen base record that might be broken will have to be placed in a different context. When the shift is banned next season, the .326 batting average Jeff McNeil put up this year or the .328 Trea Turner hit last year will hold more value than a higher average put up by the batting champion next season because he will benefit from not facing any shifts. When the evolution and rules of the game change, so too does the comparative value of records. The price of a gallon of milk in 1919 was approximately 35 cents. The average price of a gallon of milk in 2022 is $4.41. That does not mean milk was cheap in 1919. Placed in the context of 1919, 35 cents for a gallon of milk seemed perfectly normal. So too did hitting 29 home runs to set a single season record. However, anyone in 1919 would have been shocked to pay $4.41 for a gallon of milk, just as they would have been shocked to see someone hit 62 home runs. Just think, then, how unimaginable it must have been for that person from 1919 just one year later to witness Ruth, in his first year with the Yankees, shatter his own record with an unfathomable 54 home runs in 1920 and 59 in 1921.
Even though the value of a particular record might differ from the one it displaced depending on the context in which it was set, one thing is certain. The record was broken. Argue about the value of a record, not whether the record was broken or not. No use crying over spilled milk.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login