| | By Rob Neyer
ESPN.com
Yes, it finally happened. As news, it doesn't rank with the first moon landing, or a sighting of Punxutawney Phil's shadow. Nevertheless, when Vladimir Guerrero struck out Wednesday night against Andrew Lorraine, the Expos finally made headlines.
It was, of course, Guerrero's first strikeout of the season, and it came in his 47th at-bat. This would be impressive for any player, but Guerrero is a power hitter, and those fellows typically strike out three or four (or more) times for every home runs. Not this one, though. Even after last night's shocking whiff, Guerrero still has more four more home runs (5) than strikeouts (1).
Based on Guerrero's five homers this season and his 80 home runs over the previous two seasons, barring a serious injury it's reasonable to expect Guerrero to top 30 home runs with relative ease.
And if he does hit 30-plus home runs and finishes with more homers than strikeouts, just how impressive would that be?
Well, it's been done only 24 times, by 13 different players. Of those 13 players, eight are in the Hall of Fame: Mel Ott, Al Simmons, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Johnny Mize, Stan Musial and Yogi Berra.
DiMaggio is quite easily the king of this stat. Beginning in 1937, the Yankee Clipper hit 30-plus home runs with fewer strikeouts than homers in five straight seasons, his streak ending only when he left the Yankees for the U.S. Army. Here are those five seasons, with totals:
DiMaggio HR SO
1937 46 37
1938 32 21
1939 30 20
1940 31 30
1941 30 13
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Totals 169 121
DiMaggio wasn't really the same player after the war, but in 1948 he did hit 39 homers while striking out just 30 times.
But if DiMaggio's the king, there was in the 1950s a pretender to his throne. Look at this four-year run by Cincinnati's Ted Kluszewski:
Kluszewski HR SO
1953 40 34
1954 49 35
1955 47 40
1956 35 31
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Totals 171 140
And then, as suddenly as it arrived, Kluszewski's power was gone, robbed by back problems that would limit him to pinch-hitting duties for much of the remainder of his career. Kluszewski played five more seasons, and he totaled 34 home runs (and 78 strikeouts) in those five seasons. There were, to be sure, a few more moments of glory. In Game 1 of the 1959 World Series, Kluszewski homered twice and drove in five runs. And in the Los Angeles Angels' first-ever game, he homered twice to lead the Angels to a 7-2 victory over the Orioles. But for those fleeting four years, 1953 through 1956, Kluszewski was one of the most fearsome hitters in the game. A few more seasons like those and he might be remembered for far more than his bulging biceps and disdain for undershirts.
That 1956 season was the last in which a player hit at least 30 home runs with fewer strikeouts than homers. In addition to Kluszewski (35/31), Yogi Berra (30/29) also accomplished the feat that season.
So what of Vladimir Guerrero? Can he do what Kluszewski and Berra and DiMaggio, and only 10 other players, have done before? The odds are against him, of course. There's a reason nobody's done it in 45 years. But one thing's for sure ... It'll sure be fun to watch him try.
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