Phillies star Jimmy Rollins' shot at history just ended. Unfortunately, I don't even think it's that sad.
Technically, Rollins had a hit-streak of 38 games. That's only 18 games short of godlike. Why, then, isn't that sad? Because there was no possible way Rollins was ever going to beat fifty-six. Fifty-six is a revered number in baseball. It's holy. It's the kind of number that bears taking the time to write it out. Letters were put on earth for a reason; that reason was to spell fifty-six. Most importantly, however, fifty-six is unbreakable. No one, I repeat, no one will ever break Joe DiMaggio's fifty-six game hit streak. From May 15, 1941 until July 16 of the same year, DiMaggio made history the likes of which we will never see again.
Rollins made a good go of it. Don't get me wrong, you can't take away the impressiveness of a 38-game streak. Here's what I do question: Say Jason Marquis and Josh Hancock, the two Cardinals pitchers who ended Rollins' streak, hadn't been able to keep the Philadelphia shortstop in check. What then?
For the sake of argument, Rollins had been able to hit for the sacred fifty-six. I don't think it's as amazing then. Rollins had an entire offseason to recoup, regenerate and rethink his approach. DiMaggio did it through the wear and tear of fifty- six straight games.
Say what you will about the offseason taking Rollins out of the zone. Granted it would have been, and still is, one of the more amazing stats in baseball, especially with the evolution of the reliever and the specialization of the bullpen making a hitter's job that much tougher.
As I think about the streak that Rollins put together, I'm reminded of a few things. There are things in life I am sure of. Interestingly enough, over half of them have to do with baseball. I know in my heart that no one will ever beat Cy Young's 511 career-win mark. No one will ever win 59 games in a season as Charles Radburn once did in 1884.
I would say that no one will ever beat Barry Bonds' record of 2,311 (and counting) career walks, but then folks said Babe Ruth's record of 2,062 would never be broken. I would say no one will ever beat Nolan Ryan's record of 5,714 career strikeouts, but then folks said no one would ever beat Walter Johnson's career mark of 3,509.
It just goes to show how surprised you can be when what you know to be fact turns out to be speculation. Who knows, maybe someday we can write out a larger number than fifty-six. But I doubt it.
Contact Connor McKnight at cgmcknight@wisc.edu
