Quote:
Originally Posted by STinLA
But lol@ stopping at #499.
This got me curious.
Sam Rice retired after reaching 2,987 career hits. Sam Crawford (who I often mistake with Sam Rice) had 2,961. Both players came from an era that predated 3,000 being considered a historic milestone. Frank Robinson (2,943) and Barry Bonds (2,935) are more recent players who probably could have reached that circle, but didn't.
MLB's other vaunted milestone, the 300-win club, doesn't really have an equivalent. Bobby Matthews could not have known in 1887 that his final win total would have sat on the cusp of arbitrary round-number greatness. Meanwhile, the ironically named Early Wynn hung around a tad too long trying to get there.
Lou Gehrig and Fred McGriff each stopped at 493 career home runs. Gehrig had a doctor's note, though. Meanwhile, the Crime Dog lives on as an avatar here on 2+2 somewhere (can't remember who).
Rocky Marciano retired with a 49-0 record. Oh if only there existed his generation's version of Conor McGregor to get him to that even 50, but noooooo.
In the National Handegg League, Randall Cunningham threw for 29,979 passing yards. Not that there is any real celebrated cutoff for 30K in the way MLB holds up 300 wins or 3,000 hits. But still. Probably would like one of those third-down quick kicks back.
Eric Moulds ended up at 9,995 career receiving yards. And looking at that list, it dawns on me that 10K in that category doesn't seem as impressive now as it did when I was a kid. Figure that Don Maynard was the all-time leader back when I first started following sports. Now, he ranks 28th.
Clinton Portis logged 9,923 rushing yards. The crazy part is that he seemed destined to end up in the all-time top 10 until he got slammed by the injury bug. So in a different way, he's lucky to have flirted with the 10K list at all.
Moses Malone retired at 29,580 career points. Then again, he split that up between two leagues, so he wouldn't have thought of nearing any type of milestone. Similarly, Artis Gilmore wrapped it up at 24,941 points between the ABA and NBA.
In 16 years in the NHL, Glenn Anderson netted 498 career goals. He should have borrowed a page from Lanny McDonald, who finished right at 500. By the way, when Lanny used to get announced, the older fans always heard "Yaurel."