Major feats in the minors: some big league individual records have been overshadowed by lower-level achievements in the game

by George Vass

IT'S EASY TO OVERLOOK, IGNORE, dismiss or even be unaware of major feats in the minor leagues, remarkable as many have been, because the focus of most fans and media is almost exclusively on the big leagues.

That's true in part because the minor leagues are no longer as vibrant and widespread as they were in their heyday a generation or two ago.

It's a shame because there's a huge treasure trove of exploits of legendary proportions performed by minor leaguers, either as hopeful young prospects or as major league discards winding down their careers.

Astonishing deeds have been accomplished in minor league uniforms by players who later found their way to Cooperstown's Hall of Fame, and by others less fortunate or gifted who never pulled on big league jerseys.

For instance, while Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak with the New York Yankees in 1941 is universally hailed even by casual fans as one of the baseball's greatest achievements, few are aware he had an even longer minor league string.

DiMaggio was only 18 when he hatted safely in 61 consecutive games for the San Francisco Seals of the Pactfic Coast League in 1933. He almost casually shattered the PCL record of 49 straight games established by Jack Ness in 1914, the year Joe was born.

"I never really felt any pressure," said DiMaggio. "I was just a kid. I didn't know what pressure was, and I was having too much fun."

Unlike DiMaggio, Joe Wilhoit is no Hall of Famer, but he surpassed the Yankee Clipper in one respect. Wilhoit, a major league journeyman outfielder for four seasons (1916-1919), set the organized baseball record of hitting in 69 straight games with Wichita of the Western League in 1920.

When Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals set a major league high by hitting 70 home runs in 1998 he still fell short of the minor league mark of 72 established by Joe Bauman with Roswell of the Longhorn League in 1954. It took Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants to surpass Bauman--as well as McGwire--by hitting 73 in 2001.

Clearly, 1954 was a banner year for sluggers in the Southwest. While Bauman was hitting his 72 long ones in 138 games at Roswell, outfielder Bob Crues drove in a pro record 254 runs for Amarillo of the West Texas-New Mexico League, far surpassing Hack Wilson's 191 RBI for the Chicago Cubs in 1930, the major league mark that still stands.

Bauman, a first baseman, also had 224 RBI, batted .400, and his .916 slugging average tops Bonds' major league record of .863 in 2001. Crues batted .404 and hit 69 home runs in his banner year. (Neither Crues or Bauman ever reached the major leagues.)

Such examples make it clear that minor league achievements deserve far more respect and attention than they've attracted. While minor league talent generally falls short of that required of major leaguers, it's not to be despised.

Admittedly, the "golden age" of the minors is long past, and they never again will be what they were, extending all across the nation in the immediate post-World War II era with almost three times as many leagues and teams as exist today.

The minors reached their peak in 1949, with 464 teams in as many cities organized into 59 leagues, as detailed in Bush League, Robert Obojski's history. But the spread of television and other economic and cultural developments shrunk those hefty totals to skeletal remains. The decline was quick.

"From 1950 until the early 1960s, the number of leagues, as well as paid attendance, dropped steadily and sharply," wrote Obojski. "In 1963, only 18 leagues remained (of 59 in 1949) and total attendance dipped to less than ten million (from almost 42 million)."

The minors have rebounded somewhat from their low point of the 1960s, but will never regain their glory days.

It's staggering to reflect that at one time the St. Louis Cardinals, under visionary general manager Branch Rickey, owned 32 minor league teams outright and had working agreements with eight others, thus controlling about 600 players. In comparison, current big league teams have five or six minor league affiliates apiece, with fewer than 200 prospects in each farm system.

This "downsizing" of the minor leagues has had the unfortunate side effect of obscuring the achievements of those who played in them when they were at their height.

Additionally, the minor league accomplishments of well-known major league players are almost always disregarded as if only their Statistics in the big time are worthy of recall. This is not only incomplete but deceptive.

"Only looking at a player's major league record often can mislead us in evaluating his total career," Obojski rightly pointed out.

Take the 4,000-hit club, surely the most exclusive in pro baseball with membership that can be counted on the fingers on one hand.

No, that's not a mistake in increasing the count to five rather than the usual two. Not if you're talking about pro baseball as a whole, without limiting membership to batters who. surpassed 4,000 hits in the major leagues.

Sure, the generally acknowledged--as well as most turbulent--members of the club are Pete Rose and Ty Cobb, celebrated for their 4,256 and 4,191 hits, respectively, as major leaguers. Cobb also had 206 hits in the minors for a total of 4,397 as a pro. Rose accumulated 427 in the minors, lifting his total to 4,683.

But what about the other three pros to top 4,000, two being the equally renowned Hank Aaron and Stan Musial, the third the virtually forgotten Jigger Statz?

In addition to 3,771 major league hits, Aaron accumulated 324 in the minors for a pro total of 4,095. Before Musial got 3,630 for the Cardinals he knocked out 471 as a minor leaguer for a total of 4,101.

That brings us Arnold "Jigger" Statz, whose surname comes uncannily close to being appropriate to the topic of statistics. He also ranks among the most prolific batters ever though the majority of his 4,093 hits came in the minor leagues.

Not that Statz didn't have a decent major league career, playing outfield over eight seasons between 1919 and 1928 for four teams. At his peak in 1923, he batted .319 with 209 hits in 655 at-bats for the Cubs. His career average was .285 and he finished with 737 major league hits.

Add those 737 to the 3,356 that Statz banged out for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) over 18 seasons between 1920 and 1942 and the total is 4,093.

That makes Statz the only ballplayer other than Rose. Cobb, Musial and Aaron to exceed 4,000 hits in pro baseball.

Statz was aided by the PCL's extended schedule, which sometimes exceeded 210 games, with players getting 900 at-bats. During the 18 years of the minor league part of his career that lasted until he turned 45 in 1942, Statz played in 2,790 games, came to bat officially 10,657 times, scored 1,996 runs, and of his 3,336 hits 595 were doubles and 137 were triples (all PCL records).

Those long seasons also led to amazing team records. While the major league mark for most victories in a campaign is 116, shared by the 1906 Cubs and 2001 Seattle Mariners, Statz's Angels in 1934 went 137-50.

Among other minor league teams to top 116 victories were the Baltimore Orioles of 1921, who were 119-47 in a 168-game International League campaign, far shorter than the PCL's marathon. The Orioles of that era are also noted for winning a pro baseball record seven consecutive pennants (1919-25) in the IL.

On the other hand, even the expansion New York Mets of 1962, who finished with an abysmal 40-120 record, were not as hapless as Reading of the IL in 1926, possibly the worst minor league team ever. Not only did Reading go 31-129 for a .194 percentage (compared to the Mets' .250), but it was an organized baseball record 75 games behind pennant-winning Toronto.

But never mind team records. They aren't as dramatic as the achievements of individuals, whether great players such as DiMaggio or obscure ones such as Wilhoit, Bauman and Crues.

One of the game's spectacular feats is hitting home runs in four consecutive at-bats in a game, achieved by only four major league players including Lou Gehrig. No major leaguer, however, has hit home runs in five consecutive at-bats.