From 1927 to 1931, Lou Gehrig drove in 803 runs. That is an average of 160 per season. In 1929, his "down" year in that stretch, he drove in "only" 125. That "down" year would have placed second in the major leagues this past season. Only 17 times in major league history has anyone else driven in as many runs as he averaged over that stretch. Only one player since WWII has driven in that many runs in a single season.
Let me say that again, and you think about it. Only once in the last 80 years has any player driven in as many runs in a single season as Gehrig averaged over that five-year stretch. And, of course, there were four other seasons not in that stretch when he drove in 150 or more runs.
Let's make that number even more amazing. In 1961 and 1962 the two major leagues expanded their schedule to 162 games per regular season. When Gehrig played, the regular season was 154 games, so for the last 56 seasons major league players have had an extra eight games per season to take a crack at Gehrig's numbers. Let's go even further. Do you know who batted in front of Gehrig in the line-up all those seasons? Babe Ruth. He drove in 780 runners over that stretch himself, so that left a lot less opportunities for Gehrig to do it.
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