Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
October 12, 2001, Washington Post

A Year for the Record Books

Baseball's 2001 regular season is over. But, boy, what a season. Some of the biggest and oldest records in the history of the game were shattered by today's superstars.

San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds was the biggest record setter of all.

Everyone knows that Bonds clobbered 73 home runs this season to break Mark McGwire's record of 70 round-trippers. But that was not the only record Bonds set this year.

The Giants star left fielder also established a new mark for slugging percentage. A slugging percentage is like a batting average, but players get extra credit for doubles, triples and home runs. Bonds slugged at a .863 clip this season. That smashed the old record of .847 held by the great Babe Ruth. The Babe set the slugging mark during the 1920 season.

Bonds also was the first player in 44 years to have an on-base percentage of over .500. That means Bonds got on base (walks count too) more than half the times he came to the plate. The last players to do that were Hall of Famers Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle.

Barry Bonds was not the only player who had a big year. How about rookie sensation Ichiro Suzuki? The Seattle Mariners right fielder rapped out 242 hits this season. That's the most hits by a rookie since "Shoeless" Joe Jackson played for the Cleveland Naps (later the Cleveland Indians) in 1911.

Baseball had lots of great hitters, but let's not forget the pitchers. Randy Johnson, "The Big Unit," just missed breaking Nolan Ryan's record for the most strikeouts in a season. The Arizona Diamondbacks' 6-foot-10 left-hander did win 21 games. He was one of seven major league pitchers who topped the 20-game win mark this season.

Speaking of wins, the Seattle Mariners ran up a total of 116 victories while running away with the American League West title. That is the most wins by a team since the Chicago Cubs won 116 games way back in 1906.

The most amazing thing about the Mariners is that they won all those games even though they lost superstars Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez to other teams over the last three seasons. The Mariners didn't quit because some good players were gone. The Mariners buckled down and got even better.

Now the playoffs have begun. The big question is whether the Mariners can win 11 more games and win the World Series. It will be tough. The New York Yankees are the defending champs and they are always hard to beat in October. My postseason favorite, the Oakland A's, are the best young team around. The National League has the red-hot St. Louis Cardinals. And don't forget that the Diamondbacks and the Atlanta Braves have some of the best starting pitchers in the game.

So which team will win it all? You got me. But if the playoffs and the World Series provide half the fireworks of the regular season, it should be quite a show.

© 2001 The Washington Post Company