Posted on 10/03/2004 8:48:31 AM PDT by Mike Fieschko
SEATTLE -- Three generations of the George Sisler family came to Safeco Field on Friday to witness -- and applaud -- the end of an 84-year-old Major League record dear to their hearts.The family patriarch set the all-time single-season hit record in 1920 when he had 257 hits for the St. Louis Browns. Bill Terry challenged the record in 1929 with 254 hits and Lefty O'Doul made a run the following year, also ending up with 254 hits.
But Sisler's record has rested comfortably ever since -- until this season.
Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki used speed, bat control, a strong mind and healthy body to challenge, and eventually catch, one of the oldest records in the book.
Ichiro entered Friday night's series opener against the Rangers with 256 hits and promptly bounced a single over the head of Rangers third baseman Hank Blalock. Two innings later, Ichiro hit a hard grounder up the middle for his record-breaking 258th hit.
The Sisler family, flown in by the Mariners for the three-game series, watched from the Commissioner's box near the first base dugout when Ichiro tied and then broke the record.
Two hours earlier, they were sitting at a table in the Safeco Field interview room.
"We are here to celebrate baseball and my grandfather," said Ric Sisler. "There are mixed feelings. I'm very proud of my grandfather's accomplishments in baseball, but records are made to be broken."
Along with Ric were his mom and George Sisler's only daughter, Frances, grandsons Peter Drochelman and William "Bo" Drochelman, and great-grandson Brian Drochelman.
"My grandfather really respected the game of baseball," Bo Drochelman said. "He cherished it and he played every minute to the hilt. He was dedicated to the game, dedicated to hard work and it would make him proud that the same kind of person is moving toward his record."
Sisler once held the AL record for the longest consecutive-game hitting streak -- 41 games in 1922. He was still alive when Joe DiMaggio shattered the record with a 56-game streak in 1941.
"When Joe DiMaggio broke the record someone asked my grandfather how he felt about it," Peter Drochelman said. "He said, 'I think it's great and couldn't happen to a nicer guy.' In this instance, he would be saying the same kind of thing about Ichiro."
Now 81 years old, Frances has fond memories of her father, considered by some as the greatest first baseman to ever play the game, and certainly one of the nicest to play it.
"I am delighted to be here," she said. "I had it wonderful growing up. I had three brothers and was the only girl in the family, so I ignored baseball pretty much. My father was a gentleman and I love the fact they called him 'Gentleman George,' because he was such a gentleman. From what I have been told, Ichiro also is a gentleman."
As they reminisced inside a room full of national and international media, the Sisler offspring talked of George being so modest that he refused to talk about his own career.
"My brother and I would try to get stories out of him about his own exploits and he wouldn't budge," Bo said. "He would just never tell stories about himself. He might tell stories about other great players he played against, but he wouldn't talk about himself."
And there was so much to talk about. George Sisler played against Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. He was the American League Most Valuable Player in 1922, when he batted .420 -- still the highest average ever in the AL.
As the oldest grandson, there were times when Bo received special privileges.
One of those times was when his retired grandfather and Branch Rickey were in the living room talking about which players they thought were potential Major League hitters and those that weren't.
"If I had a tape recorder at that point, I probably could have sold that tape for a lot of money," Bo said. Brian Drochelman, 30, Bo's son and George's great grandson, said, "My great-grandfather passed away the year before I was born so I didn't have a chance to know him. But I recently have been able to read some of the stories that have been written on him and to learn what a great person he was."
So great was Sisler that Cobb -- one of the roughest players in the game when he played -- went out of his way to be a gentleman around him.
"Maybe it was because of who my grandfather was on the field and as a person," Bo said, "but whenever they played against each other in St. Louis, [Cobb] would always come over to my grandfather and ask if my grandmother was in the stands.
"He respected her so much he was the ultimate gentleman when he talked to them."
Cobb reportedly once said that Sisler might have been the only player better than him and Sisler's one weakness was, "He was too much of a gentleman. When I went into a base, my spikes were up and if the guy was in the way, he was in trouble. If George was going into a base and it looked like he might hurt [the defender], he would back off.
"You have to admire a man like that."
Wilson and Samuel both had loads of talent, but both could be undisciplined at the plate, if memory serves. I remember when Samuel came up with the Phillies, he was supposed to be The Next Big Thing (I know, lots of players are) and he did in fact have a nice career. But erratic both in the field and at the plate. Wilson seems to be remembered chiefly for two things -- lots of stolen bases and the most strikeouts in a World Series (although I believe Soriano broke that record last year.) I'm too lazy to look it up.
Wayta go Ichiro, you did good!!
Excellent. Reading that page, I was amazed to note that that was Branca's sixth loss of the season to the Giants, and that he had allowed 11 home runs to them. We would not today call that the height of strategery on the part of the manager. Guess they didn't keep those charts back then on how players performed against each other. And as a result, we had ---- THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT --- THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT
When a guy gets 700+ at-bats in a single season, the first thing that crosses my mind is that he hardly ever walks. That's what made Willie Wilson's record so odd; he was a leadoff hitter who didn't walk at all.
As a side note, what made this so idiotic was that until Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa arrived on the scene a few years ago the National League record for home runs in a 154-game season was higher than the record for a 162-game schedule.
September 4, 1991: After 30 years, the asterisk attached to Roger Maris' 61 home runs in 1961 is removed by an 8-man Committee for Statistical Accuracy. Regarding the expunging of the asterisk, historian Bill Deane later points out, "It was an easy job: the asterisk never existed. Maris's record was, from 1962 until 1991, listed separately from Ruth's and was never actually defined by 'some distinctive mark.'" The committee also defines a no-hit game as one which ends after nine or more innings with one team failing to get a hit. This removes 50 games from the list that had previously been considered no-no's, mostly shortened games, but also including Harvey Haddix's 12 perfect innings against the Braves in 1959 and Jim Maloney' 1965 1–0 loss in 11-innings. Another casualty is Ernie Shore's 27 straight outs in 1917, a game in which he relieved Ruth with a runner on and no outs in the 1st. It is now a combined no-hitter.
You could also argue that the quality of the average pitcher today is probably much better than in the 1920's so that batters have a much more dificult time of it.
Yep more than anything else illness and playing in the dead ball era lead to Sisler being underappreciated. He was one of the last great first basemen who was not a power hitter. I guess a modern analog to him might be Mark Grace who does not have a lot of power for a modern first baseman.
Here are the career stats of Sisler and Grace, Grace through the 2003 season:
Player-----AB---R----H----HR-BB---SO---BA---OBP----SLG
Sisler--- 8267--1284--2812--102--472---327--.340--.379--.468
Grace-----8065--1179--2245--173--1074--642--.303--.383--.442
A Grace link:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/players/4194/
A Sisler link:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/sislege01.shtml
Notice reflecting his era, Grace walked and homered a bit more but also struck out a bit more but they are similar in the two most important numbers onbase percentage and slugging percentage. And note Grace played much of his career in a ballpark that existed in Sisler's time.
As someone suggested Sisler missed the 1923 season due to an infection affecting his optic nerve and was never as good after that. Thus his best years were mostly in the dead [or dirty] ball era.
And just for the heck of it let's look at Irchiro's career numbers through 2003:
Player-----AB---R---H--HR-BB--SO---BA---OBP----SLG
Ichiro----2018--349--662--29--134--184--.328--.374--.440
which looks alot like Grace and Sisler. Ichiro's numbers came from:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/suzukic01.shtml
Nice. Although I would note that Sisler struck out an almost impossibly-small amount of the time. I mean, 327 Ks in 8267 ABs - we give someone like Ichiro, and others, credit for striking out 10% of the time. We talk about how rarely Barry Bonds strikes out... when in fact, he's worse than 10% of his ABs this year.
Sisler struck out in fewer than FOUR PERCENT of his career ABs. CAREER. That alone is about as impressive a stat as ever existed. Deadball or otherwise, you still have to make contact, and it appears that Sisler did so, possibly better than anyone in history.
I think the comparison of Sisler to Ichiro is a better one than to Grace. Both make contact, both show excellent speed, neither walks a whole lot. Grace shows a little more power and a LOT better discipline (walks more), but about zero speed. (More doubles for Grace, fewer triples and steals.)
In any case, as much as I've followed baseball my entire life, I've not heard much about Sisler. I would hope that Ichiro's record-breaking performance would bring a little light to the man that quietly held that record for over 80 years.
Good point on the D. Bill James in his Hisorical Abstract, where I looked up the reason Sisler missed that season, said that for a while in the early 1920s Sisler was the second best player in baseball behind Ruth. While they aare good players and apparently a good guys, you have never been able to say that about either Grace nor Ichiro.
Of course we can't say Grace or Ichiro was, like Sisler, the "second best player in baseball behind Ruth" - they never even PLAYED with the Babe. ;-)
That said, who IS the second best player in baseball (behind Bonds)?
Of course we can't say Grace or Ichiro was, like Sisler, the "second best player in baseball behind Ruth" - they never even PLAYED with the Babe. ;-)
That said, who IS the second best player in baseball (behind Bonds)?
Good point on the speed. I just checked and Ichiro in 3 seasons has more than Grace in his long career. A speedy player just is not going to end up at first base in modern baseball I guess.
Interestingly like Ruth, Sisler came up as a left handed pitcher and had a decent era like Ruth's but only pitched 10% as much as Ruth. I did not either know or remember this.
I do not follow MLB as much now since they became so PC, but I would guess it would probably be ARod.
I guess I would have to agree. (It pains me, since I'd just as soon not even acknowledge A-Rod's existence; he plays for That Team and not my Red Sox. ;-) I think Pujols is a better hitter in just about every respect, but A-Rod's defense (he's better at a more difficult position) puts him over the top. Plus, A-Rod's been doing it longer than Pujols...
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