Look Out! Falling Records!

More than any other sport, baseball is a game of records. There are some that are insurmountable, like Deion Sanders's 62 triples in 1993, Greg Maddux's 20 complete games in 1996 or Waikiki's 129 losses in 1993. Other records seem to fall annually. With less than 20 games left in the 2008 season, what records appear to be in jeopardy? We asked a panel of sportswriters which single season marks they're keeping an eye on.

Caroline Glick, Jerusalem Post: It's almost a done deal, but I'm still holding out hope that we can hold onto the last single-season record still held by a Jerusalem Rabbi: Doubles! Terry Shumpert had 69 doubles for the Rabbis in 2000, that glorious World Series-winning season before they packed up and moved to Stanhope, New Jersey. We all thought the record would fall two years ago to Philly's Brian Roberts, but he came up just short with 67. Will there be another miracle to keep this record in Jerusalem? That's what it would take: Newark's Matt Stairs has 64 doubles, meaning he needs just 6 more to set the record, with 18 games left to play! At his current pace, Stairs will finish the year with 72 doubles, three more than Shumpert. As if that's not enough bad news, there's also an outside shot of another guy challenging the record: Carolina's Dustin Pedroia, who has 58 doubles in 143 games. At his current pace he'll finish the year with 66 doubles, so he's certainly within striking distance. Shumpy from 1st place to 3rd? Oy.

Cam Cole, Vancouver Sun: The record I've been watching has already fallen, eh! It's the modern mark for triples and our own Curtis Granderson blew by it a few weeks ago. Curtis has 29 triples this season and there's still 19 games left, so we're all hoping he reaches the 30 three-bagger plateau. At his current pace, Granderson will finish the year with aboot 33 triples. The previous DMB Era record was a three-way tie at 24 triples, set in 2006 by Jose Reyes and tied last year by Reyes and Wes Helms. Just a year earlier, Carl Crawford had 23 triples to break the record of 20, set in 2002 by Phoenix's Juan Uribe. Uribe took it from Toledo's Lance Johnson, who had 17 in 1997. Johnson actually had it the longest, at four years. I'm not even going to bring up Deion Sanders and his ridiculous 62 triples in 1993 with Cheyenne; those were the Microleague days, when triples were apparently a lot easier to come by. The craziest thing about Granderson and the triples record this year? Philly's Jimmy Rollins has 20 with 19 to play, meaning if Granderson hadn't broken the record, Rollins might have done so. Too bad, J-Roll. But look at it this way: You only need nine triples to tie Granderson!

Rob Deer, former Waikiki Key: Just like the triples record, there's another DMB Era record that's already fallen, yet the all-time mark appears very safe: Mine! Yeah, some people would be bummed about holding the record for most strikeouts in a season (357 in 1993), but hey, at least I'm in the record books. And while people tend to remember all those strikeouts, what they forget is that I had a pretty good year in 1993. (Editor's note: Deer hit .192 with a .662 OPS in 527 AB.) Yeah, OK, .192 isn't so hot, but I did have 33 home runs and 72 RBIs. And remember, that was my first year in the DMBL. Bigger things were still to come! (Editor's note: That was Deer's only year in the DMBL.) I've had just enough out of your, editor. I was speaking of my personal life. Anyway, no one's ever come close to my 357-K performance; in fact, no one else has ever topped 300. In fact, during the DMB Era (1997-present), the record is just 244, set by Adam Dunn (then with Hillsborough) in 2005. Well, Dunn just got past by a guy after my own heart, Newark's Jack Cust. The rookie has 249 strikeouts this year and he still has 18 games left to pile up some more. If he keeps up his current pace he'll strike out 280 times this year -- impressive, but nowhere near my record. Better luck next year, kid.

Cy Young, Baseball Immortal: What's this? Most wins by a pitcher in a single-season... the record is 26? 26?! You kids today and your "quality starts" and "save opportunities." Ridiculous! I won 36 games in '92 and I threw 43 complete games! Not to mention nine relief appearances! Did I whine about throwing 453 innings in a season? Hell no! I was happy to do it and grateful for the $1,450 they paid me! Mind you, those were 1892 dollars. In those days, for 50 cents, you could get a haircut, a steak dinner, a hot bath and a handjob. And all from the same fella! I tell you things have changed, and not for the better. Eh, all in all, maybe I'm better off dead. So your precious Greg Maddux had 26 wins in 1998 and now you think this fella Jake Peavy might catch him. Well, I may not know what an "Intrynet" is but I do know it's mighty hard to win games if you don't pitch in 'em. Peavy has 21 wins but by my calculations only four more starts this year, so at best he's going to wind up with 25 -- good enough for second on the all-time list. This Peavy lad has an outside shot at another record, as he's allowed just 6.3 hits per inning this year. The all-time record is held by a young man by the name of Nolan Ryan (6.1 H/9 in 1992), while the modern record was set by Roger Clemens in '06 (6.2). Assuming Peavy pitches four more games, and he does his usual 7 innings per start, that's 28 innings left this year. If he gives up just 12 hits in those 28 innings, he'll set the all-time record; 14 would give him the modern record. And if he can throw shutouts in those last four starts, he has a shot at that record too. Peavy leads the league with 4; the DMB Era record is 6, by Arkansas's Kevin Brown in '94; the all-time record is 7, by Sid Fernandez in '94.

Jillian Michaels, 'The Biggest Loser': In an odd coincidence, the record for most losses in a single season was set in 1993 -- by two pitchers! Waikiki's Rick Sutcliffe and Charleston's Chris Bosio each lost 21 games that year. Incredibly, the record would stand for the next 14 years! Steve Trachsel came closest as he twice lost 20 games in a season -- for Honolulu in 1999 and for Westwood in 2005. Finally, last year, Sutcliffe and Bosio had to move over and make room for Las Vegas's Oliver Perez, who tied them (and set the DMB Era record) by losing 21 games in a season. This year, could they be joined by another pitcher -- or even surpassed? There are two pitchers with 18 losses and each likely has four more starts to make this year. Sardine City's Daisuke Matsuzaka is 7-18, while Hoboken's Scott Kazmir is 8-18. By the way, Perez, now with New Jersey, is a miserable 3-16 but likely won't get five more starts this year. But he does have an outside chance to become the first guy since Trachsel to post two 20-loss seasons in his career!

Barack Obama, Democratic Candidate for President: As a long-time fan of the DMBL, I know there's a mystique about the Cereal Bowl. Pitchers have been known to come out of there with post-traumatic stress syndrome. And I know of a few pitchers who have been reputed to come down with "cereal-bowl-itis" before a big series in Newark. But just remember the Sugar Bear pitchers have to work in that same unforgiving environment, so it cuts both ways. But obviously Newark has figured out how to succeed in this ridiculous ballpark, and possibly to historic proportions. The Sugar Bears are 57-14 (.803 W%) at home this year, with 10 games yet to play in the Cereal Bowl. If they can maintain their current pace and win 8 out of those 10 games, they'll go 65-16 and set the all-time record, just edging out the '02 Arkansas Golden Falcons, who went 64-17 (.790) at home. Oh, and if you're curious: The best road team this year so far are the Vancouver Iron Fist, who are 48-27 (.640). They could win all six of their remaining road games and they wouldn't crack the top 5 for road winning percentage.

Big Daddy Graham, 610 WIP Sports Talk Philadelphia: Is there some kind'a league rule that the commish's team has to hold every single record? I mean come on! Let somebody else have something! The Philadelphia Endzone Animals posted an amazing .786 team save percentage in '02, led by Armando Benitez and Jose Mesa, to set the all-time DMBL record. What's all the more amazing about that record is the Animals went 70-92 that year to tie for 11th place, so they weren't exactly a powerhouse team. Every win was important and the bullpen nailed 'em down, 33 saves in 42 chances. Pretty remarkable. The Honolulu Sharks came ridiculously close in 2004 with a .784 save percentage (40-for-51), but other than that, the .786 record has stood the test of time. But now here come the big bad Vancouver Iron Fist, looking to take not just our Morris Division title but also our team record for save percentage.  Gimme a break, huh? You think the average yahoo up there in Vancouver has any idea that there's even a record for team save percentage, let alone who holds it or that the Iron Fist are challenging it? Whadda they do up there in Vancouver anyway, just sit around all summer waiting for hockey right? That's just sad. Canadian rules football or something? I dunno. Anyway, so this year the Fisters are 39-for-50 in save chances, a .780 team save percentage. If they nail down their next two save chances they'll be at .788. But just a few blown saves in there and the record'll be safe for another year. So I need everybody listening on the radio to start sending bad mojo toward Manny Corpas and Billy Wagner and the rest of the Iron Fist bullpen. Come on everybody, think bad thoughts about 'em. Save our save record!

Lance "One Dog" Johnson, former Toledo Mutthen: It may not be the most well-known of records, but I'm keeping an eye on it anyway: Performance in one-run games! We only have data going back to 1998, but in those 10 season, the best team in games decided by a single run were the 2003 Newark Sugar Bears who went a remarkable 32-11 (.744 W%) in one-run contests. By just one win, the Sugar Bears eeked past the previous record, set just a year earlier by the Arkansas Golden Falcons, who went 31-11 (.738). No other team has had a one-run game winning percentage above .700. If you're curious, the rest of the top 10: Stanhope Mighty Men '03 (.694), Vatican City Cardinals '01 (.667), Philadelphia Endzone Animals '07 (.658), Arkansas Golden Falcons '00 (.641), Jerusalem Rabbis '00 (.636), Jerusalem Rabbis '98 (.634), Tijuana Banditos '02 (.629), and Hoboken Cutters '04 (.625). This year, the Las Vegas Rat Pack are closing in on Newark's record, as they're 27-9 in one-run games (.750). What's all the more amazing about their performance is in non-one-run games, they're 65-42 (.607 W%), meaning they're 143 points better in one-run games. The '03 Sugar Bears were just 80 points better in one-run games, while the '02 Golden Falcons -- who won 120 games that year -- had almost identical record in one-run or non-one-run games.