Ruth? A-Rod? Where Pete Alonso fits into NY’s home run greatness

Forget whether the ball was juiced or not. Forget whether Alex Rodriguez was juiced or not. Fifty home runs in a season remains one of those numerical targets that matters to baseball fans. My pal Joel Sherman writes often about how effectively random milestone numbers are — if you get 3,000 hits, you were every bit as good a hitter at 2,999 — and he’s right.

But fifty remains nifty, even if we have to suspend out belief in some cases. Maybe it’s because I was raised a baseball fan during the 24-year stretch from 1966-89 when only one man — George Foster in 1977 — topped 50 in a year. Still, when Pete Alonso joined that club, it made me happy as a New York baseball fan — as a city, we have seen more of these than any, 12 (of 46 overall) in all now.

Can you make a case for which were the best?

What, you thought I’d let that hanging slider go by?

1. Babe Ruth, 1927 (60): Because baseball, at its core, adores mythology, and there was no more mythic figure than the Babe. And when he hit his 60th on the last day of the 1927 season, he was every bit as aware of what he’d done as Alonso was Friday night, when he so clearly reveled in the moment of tying Aaron Judge’s rookie record. “Sixty!” Babe crowed that day, Oct. 1, 1927. “Let’s see some other SOB try and top that one!”

2. Mickey Mantle, 1956 (52): Yes, others in New York have hit more. But The Mick’s 1956 season was the one in which he fully realized his extraordinary gifts by winning the traditional triple crown (.353/52/130) but also slashed .353/.464/.705. He called it his favorite year. With good reason.

3. Roger Maris, 1961 (61): We revere Maris now, and many choose to consider him the all-time single-season “clean” leader, but ’61 was an expansion year and homers were up that year as they are this year. But it wasn’t like everyone hit 61. And it was Maris who wound up chasing that record solo once Mantle broke down. Yankees fans don’t even need the video, just Scooter Rizzuto’s call: “Deep to right, this could be it…!”

4. Babe Ruth, 1920 (54): Look, the Yankees thought they’d gotten the better part of the famous deal with the Red Sox back in January. But when Ruth socked 54 homers, it was the kind of mind-bending record that Bob Beamon’s long-jump record became in 1968. Think of this: If we (reluctantly) look at Barry Bonds’ 73 homers in 2001 as the record (and that’s what the books show), then for someone to break that record the way Ruth broke his own standing mark of 29 from 1919, that player would need to hit 135 homers in a single year. Better start eating your Wheaties, Aaron and Pete.

5A & 5B: Aaron Judge 2017 (52), Pete Alonso 2019 (52 through Friday): It is both unfair and impossible to list one over the other: both rookies, both unknown commodities out of their respective spring trainings, both going where no players in baseball history have ever gone before. What a glorious time to be young, a baseball fan and a New Yorker.

6. Willie Mays, 1955 (51): The Say Hey Kid followed up his only MVP-in-New-York season in ’54 with a .319/51/127 year that was only good enough for fourth in the ’55 MVP poll. Those voters might want a do-over.

7. Babe Ruth, 1921 (59): Almost everyone agreed this was as high as the number could ever go. Everyone except the guy who would soon wear No. 3 on his back.

8. Mickey Mantle, 1961 (54): For years, Yankees fans fantasized about what might’ve been if Mantle had played a whole year (he played just 153 games and hit just two homers after Sept. 8).

9. Babe Ruth, 1928 (54): Not a bad follow-up to 1927.

10. Johnny Mize, 1947 (51): The Giants slugger actually shared the NL home-run crown that year with Ralph Kiner.

11. Alex Rodriguez, 2007 (54): Fair is fair*.

Vac’s Whacks

Whatever you do, don’t start the eight-part Netflix series “Unbelievable” early in an afternoon, because it will go from 1 o’clock to 9 o’clock in an eye blink in your house. Not just the binge-iest series to come along in a while, but one of the very best.

Fifty years ago, between Sept. 23 and Sept. 26 … 1) The ’69 Mets clinched the pennant; 2) “Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid” opened; 3) “The Brady Bunch” premiered; 4) “Abbey Road” was released; 5) My wife, the former Leigh Hursey, was born. Best week ever for 2-year-old me.

I’m a simple man who often hearkens for simpler times, so I fondly recall when the only whistleblower the entire nation knew about was Mendy Rudolph on those old Miller Lite commercials.

Reggie Jackson once said of Tom Seaver: “Blind men go to the ballpark to hear him pitch.” When he’s just right, and there’s a crowd at Citi Field, I think of that quote whenever Jacob deGrom is on the mound, too.

Whack Back at Vac

Robert Lewis: It sure would help if Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge, especially in the playoffs, would make contact once in a while. In the clutch in the playoffs, I’d rather see DJ LeMahieu up rather than these two chokers. Who cares they can hit the ball 450 feet when there is no pressure on.

Vac: It’s beginning to sound a lot like October …

Sharon Flood: How does a team with a terrible offensive line win six or seven games? I saw Wisconsin play Saturday — maybe the Jets can get their O-line wholesale, LOL. Sam Darnold will be running for his life!

Vac: Into every ointment there is a fly, and that, alas, is the one that could really make this Jets season unbearable.

@jerrycolfer: Jerry Koosman was an underappreciated lefty and one of my favorites. He pitched on some brutal Mets clubs in the late ’70s and had success for the Twins, too. So glad he’s getting his number retired.

@MikeVacc: It’s been hard to find anyone who isn’t happy No. 36 is getting its proper due next year.

Ralph Amendola: A reality check for the Giants: One victory on a last-second missed field goal of 34 yards does not make a Hall of Fame career. Make no mistake, though: I am happy the Giants won.

Vac: Nothing in sports sparks the Hyperbole Machine quicker than a young quarterback and a big game. Been that way a hundred years, will be true a thousand more.

Source: Read Full Article