Doomed by history: Record-setting in the modern age

Photo by Keystone/Getty ImagesBabe Ruth kinda sucks.

Let me explain myself. I started this post as a light and fun way to look at Yankees who were off to record paces in the first week of the season. I write a lot of deeper analytical stuff, so I thought that it would be fun to say hey, look how high so-and-so’s on-base percentage is, it’d be a record if he could keep it up!

But it wouldn’t be a record, because Babe Ruth had a .545 OBP season.

Anthony Rizzo is crushing the ball to start the year. He won’t maintain his .688 slugging percentage, but that would be a crazy season, right? That mark is 70 points higher than Bryce Harper put up during a 2021 NL MVP season, and 40 points higher than…