04/19/24
July 17, 2009
Ryan Howard Faster Ever to Reach 200 Home Runs: Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies hit his 200th homer in his 658th game Thursday, becoming the fastest player in baseball history to reach 200 home runs, breaking the record of Ralph Kiner. When asked what he knew about Kiner, Howard said, "Uh, he's the guy whose record I broke." The slowest player to reach 200 home runs appears to be Buddy Bell, who took more than 2,300 games to reach the milestone.
I saw him play against the Boston Braves when I was a kid. I remember that even in Braves Field, which was huge, you didn't pitch to him with men on base. If you look at his numbers in rcade's link, you'll see that he led the NL in HR for several years in a row, although this achievement should be tempered by his having played half his games in Forbes Field. He also had some pretty good BA, and OPS numbers.
posted by Howard_T at 02:50 PM on July 17, 2009
Kiner isn't exactly a household name.
Given that Kiner is a broadcaster for the Mets, you'd think that Howard would have crossed paths with him at some point.
posted by goddam at 04:59 PM on July 17, 2009
Interesting record, but does not really mean much in terms of predicting where Howard will end up on the all-time chart. Howard got a very late start in MLB. Albert Pujols, who has over 150 more home runs than Howard, is a couple of months younger than Howard.
posted by holden at 05:23 PM on July 17, 2009
Kiner left the Mets' crew some years ago (he did make an appearance on their telecast Sunday), so it's likely Ryan had not crossed paths. It does show another problem -- ask a young player about Kiner, the Deans, or many players from before 1980, and it's probable they would have no clue.
posted by jjzucal at 09:40 PM on July 17, 2009
It does show another problem -- ask a young player about Kiner, the Deans, or many players from before 1980, and it's probable they would have no clue.
I think that's the nature of history, though; the further along baseball history we go, parts of it get forgotten and only the true standouts (Ruth, Gerhig, etc.) are timeless.
posted by dfleming at 12:07 PM on July 18, 2009
Kiner's not a household name? 6 out of 12 years HR king - that's just unfortunate, at least for any household that enjoys baseball.
posted by bobfoot at 10:03 PM on July 18, 2009
Kiner isn't exactly a household name. He had 8 good years in the late 40's/early 50's, never won an MVP and fizzled out. It's no wonder Howard doesn't know much about him. By today's standards, he probably wouldn't make the Hall of Fame, but in his time, his numbers were pretty amazing.