What do you think of Jimmy Rollins' hitting streak?
396612
Sad to say it is over. It was fun to watch and I wish he had broken the record. But even though he was 18 games away from the record, 18 games is HUGE on the tail end of that chase. If that record is ever broken, it will be a LONG time. Probably someone who won’t be born for a long time will eventually do it. That is a very tough record to break; I give him props for going 38. Had he continued it beyond today as the games got closer and closer to the Record 56 the pressure would have become really intense. I think it already was. In the long run, it is better for him and his team. Now he is out of the Limelight and can focus on what is most important, his team winning.
577743
I would rather see Bonds retire before he surpasses Aaron on the all-time homerun list. That way It would still be known as a sacred mark. Bonds may have cheated but he was only doing what EVERY homerun hitter was doing at the time, (McGuire , Sosa ) come to mind. With that said, I still believe Bonds would  ( IS ) the most dangerous hitter period in the league. The steroids are not making him hit the ball.
737177
I think he's got a good strong arm...I believe he was a top recruit in baseball too...as a pitcher or third baseman???  Anyways, both positions where you have to have a strong arm.  It will be interesting to see how he does at SamH.
835240
Everyone is bringing up steroids; I don't care if he used them or not - he's NOT a Hall of Famer.\n\nHis numbers just aren't there; this is the "Hall of Fame" - not the "Hall of Guys who were fairly good at ONE aspect of a game when there's '5 Tools' behind true greatness."\n\nTo me, Big Mac had TWO "HOF" caliber seasons; 1996 and 1998. The guy played 15 years and all he could muster was ONE season over .300 in which he played over 90 games.\n\n.300 is the mark of a 'good' hitter; not even great. Big Mac has a career average of .263; that's average-to-below-average; Big Mac was a BELOW AVERAGE contact-hitter - playing a position that wasn't at a premium defensively - that almost makes him a liability.\n\n583 - his homerun total - is impressive. Very good. Prodigal; even. As is his 10.6 At Bats per Home Run(good for best all time).\n\nBut his strikeout totals are pretty 'impressive' too; if you like big numbers. He's 23rd all-time(1596). Which doesn't contrast very nicely with the fact that he isn't in the Top 100 for all-time at-bats - I don't know what he ranks in that; only that it's over 1500 less than the guy who is 100th (Bid McPhee, 8291). What I'm getting at: He strikes out too much to be a hall of famer.\n\nSo, he strikes out too much; he doesn't hit for average. He's not even top 5 in home runs - but that's not the worst of it.\n\nHe's a choker. He has a .217 career average in the post-season. His prodigal power becomes timid in the post season; 5 HRs in 129 ABs. That's ONE homerun for every 25.8 at-bats; Which is rather pedestrain. So, Big Mac turns into a Kid's Meal under pressure. Hall of Fame? Pshaw - David Eckstein is more of a HOFer once October rolls around. This is a guy they needed to count on; he was a key part of the batting order; called upon to produce - he didn't.\n\nYou want to enshrine someone who lived and died(judging by his Batting Average and Strike Outs, mostly died) by the Home Run - an overrated statistic, if you ask me - who can't buy a hit in the post season - into the Hall.\n\nNo; just no.
433249
I'm a huge Cardinals fan, so I sure hope he will.  The argument in favor:\n\n1. He's put up 5 straight years of Triple-Crown caliber production from the age of 20-25.\n2. He just turned 26, and most ballplayers peak between the age of 26 and 29.\n3. He's got two legit All-Stars batting behind him in the lineup (Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds), so it's tough to walk him.\n4. He's got more home runs in April than any player except McGwire in MLB history, and he's only one shy of tying Big Mac's record, set in his 70 HR 1998 season.\n5. There are still 5 games left in April.\n6. He's hitting the ball a mile, so his hitting is basically ballpark independent.\n7. He's the most focused, disciplined hitter I've ever seen, and I don't think the pressure will get to him the way it might a lesser player.\n\nAll that said, I think the odds are heavily against him breaking the mark, but I think he's got to be favored to do something almost as impressive:  be the first guy to hit 50+ home runs since the Juiced Era wound down.
373936
I think the way he's swinging the bat this year is a sign of things to come for the big guy.  It might not be this year but definitely soon to come.  I'm predicting 58+ for this season.
1093261
How good can he be?  He's in his sixth season, so that's five complete seasons.  IF he can stay healthy for a 20 year career, at his averages after 5 seasons (multiply them by 4 for a 20 year career), you're looking at:\n\n3928 hits, 3rd all time behind Rose and Cobb\n2516 runs, 221 ahead of Rickey Henderson's record\n908 doubles, 116 ahead of Tris Speaker's record\n804 home runs, 49 ahead of Hank Aaron's record\n2484 RBI's, 187 ahead of Hank Aaron's record\n7336 total bases, 408 ahead of Aaron's record\n1604 walks, 11th all time\n.418 OBP, tied for 10th all time\n.629 SLG, 4th all time behind Ruth, Williams and Gehrig\n.331 BA, tied for 21st all time - appropriately enough, with Musial
106478
I don't buy that he will retire.  He is arrogrant and will want the record all for himself.  If he doesn't break it within the next year year, he'll probably demand to go to an AL team where he can DH and hit out of the park without having to worry about the phyiscal strain of playing the field on the steroid-less body.\n\nI always thought that he would break Ruth's and then stop because the public scrutiny for number 2 is always less than number 1.  But I don't think he will stop and I think he will break the record, unfortunately.  And although Aaron will never say it outright, he will be disappointed that his record wasn't broken by someone with class and dignity, but by someone who will always have the collective consciousness of an asterik next to his name.
999580
Wow, some very in depth analysis so far, let me see if I can add something to all the great dialog\n\n1) starting pitching had been giving the team quality outings\n2) the defense has not committed an error during the streak\n3) most of their line-up is on a hot streak right now\n4) they are getting clutch, 2-out hits throughout the line-up\n\nThat all adds up to good baseball (and sometimes even winning streaks).  Even if they do not win another 9 in a row, they will consistantly win many ball games if they play like they are.
565797
Roger Connor is correct. He hit 138 HR's in his career, which spanned from 1880-1897.\n\nAlthough season records were well circulated even back in the 19th century, career records were not really maintained on a consistent basis until the 1960s. You might look at a list of all time hit leaders, and notice that, for example, Sam Rice retired in 1934 with 2,987 hits, and wonder why he didn't stick around long enough to get 3,000... the answer is because when he retired, he had no idea how many career hits he had... he later said that had he known 3,000 hits would be such a big deal, he would have played long enough to reach that milestone.\n\nSome attempts were made in the 1920s and 30s to figure out what some of the major career records were...  "The Baseball Cyclopedia", the first attempt to produce what we now know as The Baseball Encyclopedia, was produced in 1922. This was during the period of time when sports writers first attempted to figure out what the career records were for pitching and batting categories.\n\nThey also researched such things as hitting streaks, and consecutive game playing streaks...and without their efforts, the Lou Gehrig streak story would not exist.\n\nThis first group got a lot of things wrong...they variously attributed the career HR record to Sam Thompson, or Dan Brouthers, or Gavy Cravath...and in doing so, they overlooked Roger Connor completely. It wasn't until the 1960's that Lee Allen (who published the first MacMillan Baseball Encyclopedia in 1969) 'discovered' that it was, in fact, Roger Connor who had 'set' the career HR record with 138, which Ruth broke in 1921.\n\nConnor held the career HR record for almost 25 years before Ruth surpassed it in 1921.\n\nConnor died in 1931, and because career records were not fully or accurately kept, he certainly never knew that he had ever held any kind of career HR record.
541317
Well he is strong physically and he considers Cricket another form of Baseball and he may be a little bit lacking in technique but the sheer power he has allows him to score runs at the rate he does.It is yet to early to compare him with one of the greatest players in the history of Cricket-Sachin Tendulkar and it is also too early to say whether he will break any of Sachin's records.If he keeps going at this rate he definately will break some records.
986162
Man, you answered your own question, by saying: "... How many guys actually shoot for this record? Most don't care."\n\nBy that yardstick alone, Cal's record of 3,198+ consecutive games played is EXTRAORDINARY!  If no one else cares, and this outstanding player, who did it everyday in the same Oriole uniform, at that--did do it, then isn't that one he11 of an acomplishment?  \n\nOf the three former players eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame this next year, i.e., Ripken, Mark McGwire, and lovable Mr. Tony Gwinn, Cal is the most dominant, the most durable, and yes, the most reliable of the three, and dang well better be inducted on the first ballot, or there is something wrong 'round here.
631441
He played last year in Toledo at AAA level,  he played a whole four innings in the whole season.  He had a ERA of 2.25.  I'm not sure if he is playing this season but I'm guessing no. Was that good enough for you?
1159091
hitting for the cycle...in fact it happened last night for a player on the mets and Billy Wagner blew the save...that loss also broke a 25 straight win streak for  others who hit for the cycle and their teams won...84% of the time when you hit for the cycle...your team will win...oh well
1008489
Too early to say be he is deffinitely on pace to do it. When he's 35 and he's still hitting 40+ HRs it is time to consider him a serious cantidate. Most players rely on pure raw skill for their hitting ability. Between the ages of 29-33 most have lost enough eyesight and reflexes that they start to suffer a serious decline. Pitchers learn the new weak spots and the hitter is mostly done if they cannot adapt and be a smarter hitter. \n\nPujos is another that shows potential but again it is way too early too tell.
89841
NO.  IF this is his last season, he will not break it.  Even if he IS healthy all season, pitchers will pitch around him.  He needs 48 home runs to break the record.  He only hit 45 in 03 and 45 in 04 playing 130 and 147 games.  There is no way he is going to get close to that many games again with his bad knees.  He will need two more seasons to do it.\n\nI think that with all of the controversy around him.  He is going to bow out second on the list after this season.  He does not want the media attention on himself or his family.  Just the fact that he is second is going to give him more coverage than he would like.\n\nMLB themselves are not sure how they want to acknowledge any records that he may get because of the controversy.
368372
The answer is YES. Forget about the betting. \nHis Career Numbers are:\n\n4256 hits- Most All-Time\n3562 Games Played- Most All-Time\n2165 runs- 5th most All-Time\n746 doubles-2nd All Time\n5752 total bases- 6th All-Time\n.303 Career Average\nOnly had 160 Career Homeruns and \nOnly had 1314 Career Rbi.\nPlayed the game the way it was meant to be played. \n\nIf anyone belongs ... he does. Hasn't it been long enough?