In 1930 Hack Wilson drove in 191 runs with the Chicago Cubs. A record that really hasn't been threatened since then. I know they say records are meant to be broken, but is this one really achievable?
el Águila
Favorite Answer
The problem with breaking the single-season RBI record is that, no matter how good a hitter a player is, if there aren't runners on base to drive in, you can't break it.
So, you would need a great hitter "on a team full of guys who can get on base."
The 1930 Cubs featured "three" players with 200+ hits [one being Wilson himself], "five" with OBP's above .400 [including Hack], three players with over "145" runs scored [again, including Mr. Wilson], and five players with batting averages over .300 [including Wilson... the lowest of those five was .335, so there was quite a gap to sixth place].
For the majority of the 1930 season, 2-3-4 in the batting order was Woody English (.335/.430, 152 runs), Kiki Cuyler (.355/.428, 155 runs), Hack Wilson (who had 56 home runs to go along with his .356 batting average and 35 doubles, so that's 56 RBI right there). Cuyler also hit 50 doubles and 17 triples, so that's 67 times he was in scoring position when Wilson came up to bat.
Looking at Gehrig's 1931 and Hank Greenberg's 1937, I see the same thing: a slugger who hit a lot of home runs, batting behind guys with insane OBP, usually well over 200 hits, and not many homers "themselves," but with more than their fair share of doubles or triples. (Gehrig hit behind Ruth, who 'did' hit a lot of home runs, but also got on base essentially every other at bat [.495 OBP], so he was still on base a LOT for Gehrig to drive him and others in.)
So, if in 2001 Barry Bonds had had, say, Ichiro, Edgar Martinez and Bobby Abreu hitting in front of him, he could have broken "that" record, too.
But they had him batting "third," with Marvin Bernard or Calvin Murray batting first (both terrible OBP guys, which is why they weren't there very long), with Rich Aurilia batting second (not bad, actually).
alaniz
Single Season Rbi Record
hubert c
It looks simple enough now they play an additional 8 games. 162 verse 154. Hack wilson record wasn't that superior at the time Greenberg did 183 Gehrig 184 Ruth 175. The Cubs had 2 other stars Kiki Cuyler who had 134 and Gabby Hartnett 122 for the 1930 Cubs. The key why it maybe an unbreakable stat he had 109 RBI in the teams second half the NL scored 5.68 runs a game the Cubs 6.4 the NL hit .303 the Cubs .309 as a team scoring 940 .I thought Juan Gon or Manny Rod were the best hope of breaking it. I don't see anyone current that could touch 150 RBi and that leaves them 41 short.
jon
It is possible, but of course very very unlikely. It was easier to hit then, nowadays with all the pitcher specializations and 100 MPH fastballs all over the place, its harder than ever to be THAT effective. There are several records that are unlikely or impossible to ever break in baseball. The alltime hits record, triples record, hitting .400 again, 56 game hit streak, alltime strikeout record for pitchers..the alltime WINS record for pitchers is impossible to break, a pitcher would have to win 20 games a year for 20 years...and that is STILL only 400 wins, the record is 511. Cannot be done anymore. But yea, thats a pretty safe record in todays game.
J.R.
Don't see it happening any time soon. I think we're just leaving a golden era in baseball, consider the stars: Frank Thomas, Ken Griffey Jr., Derek Jeter, pre-roid Alex Rodriguez, pre-roid Barry Bonds, Ichiro Suzuki, Chipper Jones, Albert Pujols in his prime, etc., etc., etc.
And frankly, of the players on MLB rosters right now, I just don't see it getting done. Who is the best hitter in the game today? Troy Tulo, Joe Mauer, Buster Posey? They hardly compare to the best hitters of fifteen years ago. The only chance I see is if Josh Hamilton has a monster season in Anaheim within the next few years.