ESPN and the Associated Press botched this one on Friday:
Ichiro Suzuki broke the major league single-season record with his 199th single in the seventh inning of the Seattle Mariners’ game against the Oakland Athletics on Friday night.
With a hit in the seventh inning for his second single of the game, Suzuki bettered the mark of 198 singles set by Lloyd Waner of Pittsburgh in 1927.
Of course, as I noted in a column about Ichiro three years ago, the major league record at the time was 206 set by Wee Willie Keeler in 1898, and the AL record was 185 by Wade Boggs in 1985. Ichiro broke that AL record in 2001, extending it to 192, and has now broken Keeler’s record as well, with 211 singles through last night. But a little halfway competent research would have indicated the right record.
Looks like somebody forgot the ubiquitous “since 1900”, which cheerfully helps writers from having to think about whether it’s an appropriate distinction or not. (In this case, I don’t see any real reason why Keeler’s record shouldn’t count.) Amusingly, last month in the Daily News I saw a list of the single-season home run leaders “since 1900”.