The greatest players in the history of our National Pastime, regardless of the era they played,

would still be among the top players in the game today.  Ty Cobb would still be a great hitter,

Bob Gibson would still dominate on the hill and Mantle would still be Mantle.

The same thing cannot be said of other sports in which the size, speed and strength of

modern players varies dramatically from players of previous generations;

not to mention the use of technologically advanced equipment.

This and the fact that baseball reveres its history more than any

other sport is the reason "No Asterisk Records" was created.

Many of the most hallowed records that baseball holds dear have been tainted

over the last 15 years due to the use of performance enhancing drugs. 

Players that have used these drugs are not welcome in "No Asterisk Records"

"When they study our civilization two thousand years from now,

there will be three things that Americans will be known for: the Constitution, Baseball and Jazz music.

They're the three most beautiful things that Americans have ever created."

Gerald Early

                                    HOME RUNS LIFETIME                              HOME RUNS SEASON

1	HANK AARON	755	1	ROGER MARIS	1961	61
2	BABE RUTH	714	2	BABE RUTH	1927	60
3	WILLIE MAYS	660	3	BABE RUTH	1921	59
4	KEN GRIFFEY JR.	623	4T	JIMMIE FOXX	1932	58
5	FRANK ROBINSON	586	4T	HANK GREENBERG	1938	58
6	HARMON KILLEBREW	573	4T	RYAN HOWARD	2006	58
7	REGGIE JACKSON	563	7	LUIS GONZALEZ	2001	57
8	JIM THOME	561	8T	KEN GRIFFEY JR.	1998	56
9	MIKE SCHMIDT	548	8T	KEN GRIFFEY JR.	1997	56
10	MICKEY MANTLE	536	8T	HACK WILSON	1930	56
	TED WILLIAMS	521	1   1	154 GAME SEASON BABE RUTH 162 GAME SEASON ROGER MARIS	1927   1961	60   61

"Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer."

Ted Williams

Ted Williams missed 5 seasons, during his prime, serving our country as a fighter pilot in WWII and Korea. 

He was awarded the Purple Heart. Had he played those 5 seasons, he would have hit a projected 700 HR's.

Ted Williams was a patriot, a great American and one of the greatest hitters ever to live.

"I played with Willie Mays and against Hank Aaron, they were tremendous players, but they were no Josh Gibson."

Baseball Hall of Famer Monty Irvin

Baseball historians consider Josh Gibson to be among the very best catchers and power hitters in the history of the game.

Unfortunately GIbson died tragically at age 35, less than 3 months before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. 

Gibson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.

"If I'd just tried for them dinky singles I could've batted around .600."

Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth first broke the single season Home Run Record in 1919 with 29.  Ruth then broke his own record in 1920 with 54,

again in 1921 with 59 and then set a record that still stands, when he hit more HR's than every American League Team in 1927 with 60 HR's.

Babe Ruth would have hit a projected 800 homeruns had he not been used primarily as a pitcher his first 5 seasons.

 

                                         RBI LIFETIME                                              RBI SEASON

1	HANK AARON	2,297	1	HACK WILSON	1930	191
2	BABE RUTH	2,213	2	LOU GEHRIG	1931	184
3	LOU GEHRIG	1,995	3	HANK GREENBERG	1937	183
4	STAN MUSIAL	1,951	4	JIMMIE FOXX	1938	175
5	TY COBB	1,937	5	LOU GEHRIG	1927	175
6	JIMMIE FOXX	1,922	6	LOU GEHRIG	1930	174
7	EDDIE MURRAY	1,917	7	BABE RUTH	1921	171
8	WILLIE MAYS	1,903	8	HANK GREENBERG	1935	170
9	CAP ANSON	1,879	9	CHUCK KLEIN	1930	170
10	MEL OTT	1,860	10	JIMMIE FOXX	1932	169

"Trying to throw a fastball by Henry Aaron is like trying to sneak a sunrise past a rooster." Curt Simmons

Hank Aaron is the only player to hit 30 or more home runs in a season at least 15 times, he never hit 50 in a season.

Hank Aaron had 12,364 At-Bats, almost 4,000 more than Babe Ruth who had 8,399 At-Bats.

 

                                          HITS LIFETIME                                            HITS SEASON

1	PETE ROSE	4,256	1	ICHIRO SUZUKI	2004	262
2	TY COBB	4,189	2	GEORGE SISLER	1920	257
3	HANK AARON	3,771	3	LEFTY O'DOUL	1929	254
4	STAN MUSIAL	3,630	4	BILL TERRY	1930	254
5	TRIS SPEAKER	3,514	5	AL SIMMONS	1925	253
6	CARL YASTZEMSKI	3,419	6	ROGERS HORNSBY	1922	250
7	HONUS WAGNER	3,415	7	CHUCK KLEIN	1930	250
8	PAUL MOLITOR	3,319	8	TY COBB	1911	248
9	EDDIE COLLINS	3,315	9	GEORGE SISLER	1922	246
10	WILLIE MAYS	3,242	10	ICHIRO SUZUKI	2001	242

"In baseball, even the best hitters fail seven of ten times, and of those seven failures there are different reasons why.

Some are personal failures, others are losses to the pitcher. You just get beat. In those personal failures, I felt I could have done better."

Ichiro Suzuki

Ichiro had 1,278 hits in Japan where he played 9 seasons professionally before playing in the MLB.

It took Ichiro 160 games to break George Sisler's single season hit record, Sisler only had 154 games in which to set the mark.

 

                            BATTING AVERAGE LIFETIME                    BATTING AVERAGE SEASON

1	TY COBB	.367	1	NAP LAJOIE	1901	.426
2	ROGERS HORNSBY	.358	2	ROGERS HORNSBY	1924	.424
3	JOE JACKSON	.356	3	TY COBB	1911	.420
4	PETE BROWNING	.349	4	GEORGE SISLER	1922	.420
5	ED DELAHANTY	.346	5	TY COBB	1912	.410
6	TRIS SPEAKER	.345	6	JOE JACKSON	1911	.408
7	TED WILLIAMS	.344 (.34441)	7	GEORGE SISLER	1920	.407
8	BILLY HAMILTON	.344 (.34429)	8	TED WILLIAMS	1941	.406
9	DAN BROUTHERS	.342 (.34212)	9	HARRY HEILMANN	1923	.403
10	BABE RUTH	.342 (.34206)	10	ROGERS HORNSBY	1925	.403

"I never could stand losing. Second place didn't interest me. I had a fire in my belly."

Ty Cobb

When Ty Cobb retired he held over 90 MLB records.  Cobb still holds the record of most career batting titles (12) and highest career average (.367).

Pete Rose had 2,619 more at bats than Ty Cobb to achieve achieve just 67 more hits than "The Georgia Peach".

Cobb received the most votes of any player on the 1936 inaugural Hall of Fame Ballot, receiving 222 out of a possible 226 votes.

1	CY YOUNG	511	1	ED WALSH	1908	40
2	WALTER JOHNSON	417	2	CHRISTY MATHEWSON	1908	37
3	GROVER ALEXANDER	373	3	WALTER JOHNSON	1913	36
4	CHRISTY MATHEWSON	373	4	JOE MCGINNITY	1904	35
5	WARREN SPAHN	363	5	JOE WOOD	1912	34
6	GREG MADDUX	355	6	GROVER ALEXANDER	1916	33
7	STEVE CARLTON	329	7	WALTER JOHNSON	1912	33
8	EDDIE PLANK	326	8	CHRISTY MATHEWSON	1904	33
9	NOLAN RYAN	324	9	CY YOUNG	1901	33
10	DON SUTTON	324	10	DENNY MCCLAIN	1968	31

"Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again.

That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is."

Bob Feller

On Decemeber 8, 1941 Bob Feller enlisted in the Navy, voluteering immediately for combat service,

becoming the first MLB player to do so following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7. 

Feller served as a gun captain aboard the USS Alabama and missed four seasons.

Had Feller played those 4 seasons he would have had a projected 350 wins and over 3000 strikeouts. 

Bob Feller is a patriot, a great American and the best pitcher to come out of the "Greatest Generation".

                        WINNING PERCENTAGE LIFETIME              WINNING PERCENTAGE SEASON

1	SPUD CHANDLER	.717	1	ROY FACE	1959	.947
2	WHITEY FORD	.690	2	JOHNNY ALLEN	1939	.938
3	DON GULLETT	.686	3	PHIL REGAN	1966	.933
4	PEDRO MARTINEZ	.684	4	GREG MADDUX	1995	.905
5	LEFTY GROVE	.680	5	RANDY JOHNSON	1995	.900
6	BABE RUTH	.671	6	RON GUIDRY	1978	.893
7	JOE WOOD	.671	7	FREDDIE FITZSIMMONS	1940	.889
8	VIC RASCHI	.667	8	LEFTY GROVE	1931	.886
9	ROY HALLADAY	.665 (.66497)	9	BOB STANLEY	1978	.882
10	CHRISTY MATHEWSON	.665 (.66488)	10	CLIFF LEE	2008	.880

                 

      "I don't care what the situation was, how high the stakes were - the bases could be loaded and the pennant riding on every pitch,

it never bothered Whitey Ford. He pitched his game. Cool. Craft. Nerves of steel." Mickey Mantle

 In 1961 Whitey Ford broke Babe Ruth's World Series record of 29 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings.

                                      Ford won the 1961 World Series MVP.                           

STRIKEOUTS LIFETIME                            STRIKEOUTS SEASON

1	NOLAN RYAN	5,714	1	NOLAN RYAN	1973	383
2	RANDY JOHNSON	4,789	2	SANDY KOUFAX	1965	382
3	STEVE CARLTON	4,136	3	RANDY JOHNSON	2001	372
4	BERT BLYLEVEN	3,701	4	NOLAN RYAN	1974	367
5	TOM SEAVER	3,640	5	RANDY JOHNSON	1999	364
6	DON SUTTON	3,574	6	RUBE WADDELL	1904	349
7	GAYLORD PERRY	3,534	7	BOB FELLER	1946	348
8	WALTER JOHNSON	3,508	8	RANDY JOHNSON	2000	347
9	GREG MADDUX	3,371	9	NOLAN RYAN	1977	341
10	PHIL NIEKRO	3,342	10	RANDY JOHNSON	2002	334

"(Nolan) Ryan's the only guy who puts fear in me. Not because he could get me out, but because he could kill me.

You just hoped to mix in a walk so you could have a good night and go 0-for-3." Reggie Jackson

Cy Youngs 511 Wins and Nolan Ryans 5,714 Strikeouts are widely considered the most unbreakable pitching records in the game.

 

                                         ERA LIFETIME                                          ERA SEASON

1	ED WALSH	1.82	1	DUTCH LEONARD	1914	.96
2	ADDIE JOSS	1.89	2	MORDECAI BROWN	1906	1.04
3	JACK PFIESTER	2.02	3	BOB GIBSON	1968	1.12
4	JOE WOOD	2.03	4	CHRISTY MATHEWSON	1909	1.14 (1.144)
5	MORDECAI BROWN	2.06	5	WALTER JOHNSON	1913	1.14 (1.145)
6	CHRISTY MATHEWSON	2.13	6	JACK PFIESTER	1907	1.15
7	RUBE WADDELL	2.16	7	ADDIE JOSS	1908	1.16
8	WALTER JOHNSON	2.17	8	CARL LUNDGREN	1907	1.17
9	JAKE WEIMER	2.23	9	GROVER ALEXANDER	1915	1.22
10	ORVAL OVERALL	2.23	10	CY YOUNG	1908	1.26

"Bob Gibson is the luckiest pitcher in baseball. He is always pitching when the other team doesn't score any runs."

Tim McCarver

Bob Gibson was one of the fiercest competitors in the history of the game.

In Game One of the 1968 World Series, he struck out 17 Detroit Tigers to set a World Series record for strikeouts in one game.

Pitching was so dominant in "The Year of the Pitcher" 1968, that the mound was lowered 5 inches to 10 inches for the 1969 season.

 

All "No Asterisk Records" calculated during the Modern Era-post 1900.