Jeter - the next hit king?

[Marc D]

Originally Posted by bucksfan2

I will disagree with some of what you said. Modern medicine/fitness has definatly prolonged the careers of many players however the human body is still and will always be a body. It will continue to age even if you eat right, excercise, stay in shape, etc. The things that tend to put off the effects of aging and the effects of the daily grind are steriods and those are illegal. Baseball is a game that relies so much on leg strength and wrist speed. You can keep your leg strength as you age but it becomes more difficult. However as your wrist speed starts to decline as you age there isn't anything you can do to reverse those effects.

Steroids being illegal doesn't seem to be the biggest deterrent in the world. Also, I agree that eventually you can't stop the aging but my point is how they can extend it.

Take the hit record for instance, at a 20 year career we all know its 200 hits a year for 20 years. Add just 5 more to that career and its all the way down to 160.

Still an impressive feat no doubt but the point is how reasonable it is to see them being able to add 5 years to the career of a guy who took good care of himself and the effect on the career accumulation records when/if that happens?

Very plausible imo.

[cumberlandreds]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

If Ichiro would've started in America, he might've had a shot -- but even his game is based so much on speed that I don't see him being able to continue to average 200 hits into his late 30s/early 40s.

I agree with you. If Ichiro had played his entire career in the USA he would have flown past Rose's record. I think Ichiro played seven season in Japan. If he had played that here and at 200 hits per season,that's another 1400+ to tack on to his 1500. He would now be at 3000 at age 33(?). Barring a terrible injury he would have easily passed Rose.

[nate]

Originally Posted by Unassisted

It would be interesting to see Pete's reaction if his record was broken in his lifetime.

Especially if he took the under.

[Dom Heffner]

I think Rose averaged 200+ hits a year from ages 36-40, didn't he? Good luck matching that.

[RedsBaron]

Originally Posted by Dom Heffner

I think Rose averaged 200+ hits a year from ages 36-40, didn't he? Good luck matching that.

Not quite. Pete had 185 hits at age 39 (1980) and the strike in 1981 eliminated 1/3 of the schedule, holding him to 140 hits at age 40, which still lead the NL. He had 935 hits from ages 36 through 40. From ages 34 through 38 (1975-79) Rose had 1035 hits, an average of 207 a season. Good luck matching that at those ages.