Jose Valentin of the White Sox needs 10 homers to pass Ron Hansen (20) as the single-season home run leader among White Sox shortstops. Valentin’s current total already puts him in a tie for fourth. The highest totals for a White Sox shortstop in a single season are:
BATTER YEAR HRs
Ron Hansen 1964 20
Hansen 1963 13
Chico Carrasquel 1954 12
Carrasquel 1955 11
Hansen 1965 11
Jose Valentin* 2000 11
Luke Appling 1947 8
Hansen 1967 8
Luis Aparicio 1962 7
Aparicio 1959 6
Aparicio 1961 6
Appling 1933 6
Appling 1936 6
* Acting
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HIT ME
Eighteen batters are on a pace to reach 200 hits this season, which would be the third-highest total since 1901. Leading the way is Darin Erstad of the Anaheim Angels. He’s on track for 261, which would break the single-season record of 257 set by George Sisler in 1920. The record for most 200-hit men in a season is 20 in 1930. If as many as 10 major leaguers reach 200 this year, it would be the highest total since 1937. Below are 10 seasons in which the most players stroked 200 or more hits:
YEAR AL NL TOTAL
1930 8 12 20
1929 7 12 19
1925 8 6 14
1936 6 8 14
1935 6 7 13
1922 4 8 12
1937 9 3 12
1920 8 3 11
1921 6 5 11
1923 5 5 10
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MANAGEMENT TRAINEES
Most major league managers played in the big leagues and thus were once the charges of other big-league skippers. John McGraw produced the most major league managers from his rosters with 40. The leaders among managers in the last 30 years have been Walter Alston (19), Gene Mauch (18), Billy Martin (12) and Whitey Herzog (10). According to Pierre Levasseur of The Society for American Baseball Research, the 10 managers whose dugouts produced the most big-league skippers were:
MANAGER YEARS MANAGERS
John McGraw 33 40
Connie Mack 53 38
Harry Wright 23 37
Bob Ferguson 16 31
Jack Chapman 11 30
Bill McKechnie 25 30
Ned Hanlon 19 29
Arthur Irvin 8 29
Rogers Hornsby 14 29
Bucky Harris 29 28
Frank Selee 16 28
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