A Brief History
On September 12, 1984, New York Mets pitcher Dwight “Doc” Gooden broke the 30 year old record by Cleveland Indian pitcher Herb Score for strikeouts by a rookie pitcher with 276 whiffs, besting Score by 30.
Digging Deeper
Of course, the 1984 season was 162 games long, whereas the 1954 season was only 154 games. Controversy over single season records over the longer season hit the front pages in 1961 when Roger Maris topped Babe Ruth’s cherished 60 homers in a season record.
Other factors to consider when tabulating individual or team records include the statistics compiled in the old Negro Leagues, back when many of the finest players were barred from the major leagues. In 2024, MLB decided to include those stats.
Many rule changes have occurred over the years that can affect statistics, and the big decision over when to start MLB records is another major topic, generally 1903 for the NL and 1905 for the AL.
Note: Herb Score was not only a great pitcher but was also a long-time broadcaster of Indians games. The author met Score in real life and found him to be charming and quite nice. Another factor skewing career post season statistics and records is the fact that the post season used to consist of just the NL and AL pennant winners playing in the World Series, whereas today we have all sorts of levels of preliminary playoffs, affording players and teams much more opportunity to compile numbers toward records. The designated hitter rule has also allowed older and somewhat infirm hitters to play much longer than when every player had to appear on the field. Changes in tactics, use of relief pitchers, and various rules also greatly affect the way statistics are amassed. Finally, the shadow of PEDs hangs over the MLB record books.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: What is the greatest baseball record?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Gooden, Dwight and Ellis Henican. Doc: A Memoir. Little A, 2017.
Martirano, Ron. Baseball: Great Records, Weird Happenings, Odd Facts, Amazing Moments & Other Cool Stuff. Imagine, 2015.
