If Chris Davis hits 62?

[Ruzious]

The only thing to do is bench him after his 60th homer - unles he gets it by game 154.

Or leave it up to Rick Dempsey's discretion.

[jamalshw]

The number I'm most concerned with is 11. That's the number of wins I want the Orioles to get in the play-offs this year. I honestly don't care how many HRs Davis hits as long as we win.

If Davis hits 62, great. If he hits 74 (not happening, but still) awesome and THAT is the record. You cannot ignore history. The record books are merely a vehicle for telling the history of the sport (as is the Hall of Fame). Bond's 73-homer season happened. As far as PEDs are concerned, baseball should be far more concerned with preventing PED usage than how to treat 12 year old records that resulted in part because of them.

[El Gordo]

People shouldn't have to endanger their health in order to compete. That is why you can't legalize PEDs. They are an unnecessary part of the game, cause health problems (especially with abuse), and shorten life expectancies. If they were legal, everyone would feel compelled to take them to compete. If you didn't take them, the public would demand that you did in order to be better.

One more thing, I am sure it is coming from someone, but please spare me the Keith Law BS that it isn't proven that steroids help you to hit the ball or hit for more power. Find a player that took them that didn't think that they immensely helped them to be a better player. It isn't an accident that so many players that seem to have had huge improvements in their games were ultimately found to have taken steroids.

If you are stronger, you have more bat speed, can wait longer to identify the pitch and swing, and when you do swing you don't have to hit the ball as square.

If this were true, why aren't more world class weight lifters playing baseball. They would make a lot more money. Do you really think Hank Aaron was stronger than Canseco? He hit a lot more HR.

[sfosfan]

Yes, I know, it's very unlikely, even though he's on pace to hit about 59 or 60 now. But if he did, I wonder if people will give him the respect that he's due in the media in the record books. I mean, technically, it would be the MLB record in a non-steroids aided aided year, the only people to have ever exceeded 61 have been Bonds, McGuire, and Sosa. If nothing else, it would be the AL record.

However, if he keeps this up, I could see a 140+ walk season for him, so his at-bats might be scarce.

One would think he'll get walked more. But it's hard to walk him when a switch hitter bats behind.

[Trackmaster]

Exactly.

In some minds 60 is still the record because of 154 games

In some minds 61 is still the record because it's "clean"

In some minds 73 is still the record because it simply happened on the field.

I don't think 62 by Davis is going to make that big of a splash. It will mean some things to some people and other things to other people. To ESPN... it will probably mean 2 solid weeks of debating how much it means to some people

Let's get this straight. Nobody who's living still says that 60 is the record. We've had 162 for over 50 years. So nobody can ever break Bath Ruth's record then because there will always be 162 games or more.

IMO, if anything, you should throw out older records. I'm not a big fan of comparing numbers against eras.

[El Gordo]

Let's get this straight. Nobody who's living still says that 60 is the record. We've had 162 for over 50 years. So nobody can ever break Bath Ruth's record then because there will always be 162 games or more.

IMO, if anything, you should throw out older records. I'm not a big fan of comparing numbers against eras.

Maybe the best thing to do would be to go back to the154 G season. That would give us more time for the playoffs, put Bonds, Sosa, Maris, and McGwire in a special category(162 G season) and make The Babe's 60, still the record. And all things would be right with the world.

[isestrex]

Let's get this straight. Nobody who's living still says that 60 is the record. We've had 162 for over 50 years. So nobody can ever break Bath Ruth's record then because there will always be 162 games or more.

IMO, if anything, you should throw out older records. I'm not a big fan of comparing numbers against eras.

Well, yes. Nobody living says the record in 60... and in 75 years, no one will still be living who thinks the record is 61. That's not really relevant to the discussion. The problem with throwing out records (instead of comparing them) is the subjectivity to it. Which numbers do you keep and which numbers do you throw away? Do you simply put an arbitrary "only stats in the last 60 years" cutoff point? So stats before 1953 should now be discarded? Next year stats from 1954 will be discarded?

Baseball is a game that has been largely unchanged for over 100 years. It has gone through different eras with different strengths and weaknesses but it's still the same game. Trying to separate eras takes away from the charm.

[Ruzious]

Maybe the best thing to do would be to go back to the154 G season. That would give us more time for the playoffs, put Bonds, Sosa, Maris, and McGwire in a special category(162 G season) and make The Babe's 60, still the record. And all things would be right with the world.

I would be all for that. And as an additional benefit to doing that, it'd allow them the extra time to make the wild card playoffs a longer series. Make every post-season series best of 7.

[Symblized]

The respect he is due in the media? This is his first full season in the field. I am confused by that statement. Sometimes I feel like the Orioles and Ravens are the same team on here.

I just have never heard Chris Davis not be respected in the media. In fact, I have heard nothing but praise in the national media about Chris Davis.

It might not be a lack of "respect," but he does not get as much pub as he deserves. Just a few days ago on Baseball Tonight, one of the crew said something close to that Chris Davis was "quietly putting together a nice little season." That is a ridiculous understatement if I've ever heard one.

[baltfan]

If this were true, why aren't more world class weight lifters playing baseball. They would make a lot more money. Do you really think Hank Aaron was stronger than Canseco? He hit a lot more HR.

Because you have to have the requisite hand eye coordination to hit. Super strong guys with enough pitches could probably run into one and hit it very far. Aaron hit more homers because he made better contact more often, but your fooling yourself if you think Aaron with a quicker swing wouldn't have hit more homers.

[El Gordo]

Because you have to have the requisite hand eye coordination to hit. Super strong guys with enough pitches could probably run into one and hit it very far. Aaron hit more homers because he made better contact more often, but your fooling yourself if you think Aaron with a quicker swing wouldn't have hit more homers.

HR come from the combination of hand eye coordination, bat speed and body mass. Bat speed comes from lower body strength. Being able to bench press a lot does little to enhance bat speed . It does increase body mass but that doesn't appreciably add much to HR distance by it's self. Davis is successful because the combination of body mass and bat speed gives him great power, even when his hand eye coordination doesn't allow him to square the ball up.

His average HR distance is 409 feet this year. Bonds was 398, same as Nick Markakis. McGwires was around 419.

[Orioles4Life21]

Guys I don't know if this counts towards Chris' totals, but I just hit a 420 foot bomb with him on MLB 13 The Show.

[baltfan]

HR come from the combination of hand eye coordination, bat speed and body mass. Bat speed comes from lower body strength. Being able to bench press a lot does little to enhance bat speed . It does increase body mass but that doesn't appreciably add much to HR distance by it's self. Davis is successful because the combination of body mass and bat speed gives him great power, even when his hand eye coordination doesn't allow him to square the ball up.

His average HR distance is 409 feet this year. Bonds was 398, same as Nick Markakis. McGwires was around 419.

So you think that PED guys don't have leg days? The point isn't to say that PEDs make a scrub a star but to say they can make any player better. You say that bat speed and body mass contribute to the ability to hit homers. When Bonds took Roids both of those things increased markedly for him. This in turn made him not have to square up as much, gave him extra time to get the bat through the zone, and gave him extra time to recognize pitches.

Canseco said he was a totally different player with them. And he is the only one that has ever spoken honestly about them.

[Ommaculate]

Could anyone please name a good comparison to Chris Davis other than Barry Bonds? I am tired of referring to Davis as the new Bonds.

[FlipCup]

Could anyone please name a good comparison to Chris Davis other than Barry Bonds? I am tired of referring to Davis as the new Bonds.

Mark Reynolds?