Baseball's 'Unbreakable' Records

Ted Williams, left, and Joe DiMaggio completed feats
in 1941 that might never be broken.

It's funny how over the years the so-called "holy grail" of baseball's unbreakable records has shifted. As one after another was surpassed, a new record was "the" one that was unassailable.

Yesterday was the 70th anniversary of the start of Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak. This is also the 70th anniversary of Ted Williams being the last to bat .400. Both records seem unlikely to be broken. But the list of unbreakable records that have fallen is impressive.

When Henry Aaron was on his way to becoming baseball's home run champion, it was almost unimaginable that Babe Ruth's mark was going to be surpassed. 

I was lucky enough to be at Wrigley Field to see Aaron hit No. 702. My Dad took the family and my cousin to see the former Milwaukee Braves star play the woeful Chicago Cubs. I was a confirmed Cubbie fan back then, but that day I was rooting for Hammerin' Hank.

What Is Fan Loyalty, Exactly?

As I cruised through web today, I stumbled on a Bleacher Report feature judging baseball's worst fair weather fans. It's an easy story for the site, famous for slideshows and captions, to do. These can be fun to buzz through. This one, though, just doesn't hold up.

Sports is apparently the one business where the customers are castigated for not buying the product. If a movie bombs or a car doesn't sell, critics point out the deficiencies of the product. Maybe it's because teams disguise themselves as representatives of the cities they play in.

That makes it seem almost unpatriotic to not go the games. While it's easy to get wrapped in the notion, the reality is that  team owners are quick to move or threaten to move to get whatever tax breaks or new stadiums they want.

And then there's the biggest problem with the thesis of the post: Somehow it was deduced that when teams had bad years attendance dropped. And, amazingly, when teams play they sold more tickets. Sherlock Holmes would be proud.

Even the Yankees have had their problems at the gate. Back in the early '90s when George Steinbrenner was suspended by major league baseball, getting tickets to a game was not so difficult.

Batter Up

Welcome to my blog. In this space I will look at the latest news around baseball and offer opinions, sprinkled with a sense of humor. I hope you will enjoy it and join in by commenting. The baseball season has started and already there are a few surprises.

First, of course, there was Boston's winless start that left the so-called Red Sox Nation seething and reaching for the tranquilizers. Then there was Manny Ramirez's foray into the world of PED's once again. And that had to leave Sox fans on the defensive. After all, Manny helped break the team's cursed championship drought. And now more evidence that a whole baseball era full of power bats and amazing feats was just a chemical-induced illusion.

As for the Red Sox, who are going on without Manny, they are struggling. Who would have thought the Sox would be winless against everyone but the Yanks? Maybe it's the Manny curse, a twist on the Curse of the Bambino. Instead of not winning the World Series, the Sox can now only beat the dreaded Yanks. Now that would be a curse for the new century.