2021 is a year of rebirth, a year of getting things back to normal, and a year of hope. The hope that Joey Gallo can stay healthy and the Rangers can keep from trading him. If those two things happen, this is the year that Joey Gallo sets his sights on history. The all-time single season MLB strikeout record of 223, held by Arizona legendary whiffer Mark Reynolds, and set in 2009.
I know what you're thinking right now. Wait a minute, Bib, I thought Nolan Ryan held the strikeout record? That's where you've got it twisted. That's the good strikeout record, the one for pitchers who are awesome, like Nolan, Bob Feller, Randy Johnson, and Sandy Koufax.
This is the record for strikeouts by a batter. It means that not only are you making an out, you can't even get the bat on the ball and hit it somewhere. That's a special talent.
The long, proud history of the strikeout has many names attached to it. Reggie Jackson is the all-time leader with more than 2,500 of them! Of course he also hit 563 home runs and won the World Series 5 times. Reggie's all-time high was 171. Gallo might get there by the All-Star break.
For the longest time, the name to look up to as the strikeout standard was Bobby Bonds, who whiffed 189 times in 1970. Bonds, whose son eventually had a head the size of the Goodyear Blimp, held that record for a remarkable 34 years until New Caney's own Adam Dunn topped it in 2004 when he reached 195. That started a free-for-all battle royale of the game's ****tiest hitters as Ryan Howard took it to 199 in 2007 and Mark Reynolds broke 200 with 204 in 2008.
Reynolds knew there would be challengers to his throne so he went a step further in 2009, elevating it to 223 strikeouts. 223 strikeouts in 578 at-bats. He also had 150 hits that year and 44 home runs, and even hit .260! he struck out 38.6% of the time he was up, and had more strikeouts (223) than ground outs and fly outs and foul outs combined (205).
They've come after him since then, they always want to topple the king from the throne, don't they? Adam Dunn reached 222 in 2011, trying his very best, with 9 strikeouts in his last 4 games, but he couldn't quite make it. Chris Davis struck out 219 times in 2016, a year where I think he hit like .077 for the season.
Now it's Gallo's turn. He's got 40 strikeouts in the Rangers' first 27 games. That puts him on pace for 240 strikeouts. Join in the celebration, root along with Joey as he pads literally every pitcher's stats. It's going to be a great summer!
I know what you're thinking right now. Wait a minute, Bib, I thought Nolan Ryan held the strikeout record? That's where you've got it twisted. That's the good strikeout record, the one for pitchers who are awesome, like Nolan, Bob Feller, Randy Johnson, and Sandy Koufax.
This is the record for strikeouts by a batter. It means that not only are you making an out, you can't even get the bat on the ball and hit it somewhere. That's a special talent.
The long, proud history of the strikeout has many names attached to it. Reggie Jackson is the all-time leader with more than 2,500 of them! Of course he also hit 563 home runs and won the World Series 5 times. Reggie's all-time high was 171. Gallo might get there by the All-Star break.
For the longest time, the name to look up to as the strikeout standard was Bobby Bonds, who whiffed 189 times in 1970. Bonds, whose son eventually had a head the size of the Goodyear Blimp, held that record for a remarkable 34 years until New Caney's own Adam Dunn topped it in 2004 when he reached 195. That started a free-for-all battle royale of the game's ****tiest hitters as Ryan Howard took it to 199 in 2007 and Mark Reynolds broke 200 with 204 in 2008.
Reynolds knew there would be challengers to his throne so he went a step further in 2009, elevating it to 223 strikeouts. 223 strikeouts in 578 at-bats. He also had 150 hits that year and 44 home runs, and even hit .260! he struck out 38.6% of the time he was up, and had more strikeouts (223) than ground outs and fly outs and foul outs combined (205).
They've come after him since then, they always want to topple the king from the throne, don't they? Adam Dunn reached 222 in 2011, trying his very best, with 9 strikeouts in his last 4 games, but he couldn't quite make it. Chris Davis struck out 219 times in 2016, a year where I think he hit like .077 for the season.
Now it's Gallo's turn. He's got 40 strikeouts in the Rangers' first 27 games. That puts him on pace for 240 strikeouts. Join in the celebration, root along with Joey as he pads literally every pitcher's stats. It's going to be a great summer!
