October 7, 2001: A Day of Records In Baseball

Rickey Henderson (left) and Tony Gwynn

October 7, 2001, 25 years ago: On the last day of the regular season -- delayed a week, due to the 9/11 attacks -- the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres, 14-5 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego (formerly named San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium). Rickey Henderson, now with the Padres, bloops a double down the right-field line off John Thomson of the Colorado Rockies. It is the 3,000th hit of his career.

Tony Gwynn, who is playing in his last game, meets him at home plate, 2 members of the 3,000 Hit Club together. Gwynn retires with a .338 lifetime batting average, which remains the highest of any player who debuted after the 1939 season. (That was Ted Williams' rookie year, and he finished his career at .344.) It is also the highest of any black man, whether American or Hispanic.

Also on this day, Barry Bonds extends his major league record for home runs in season to 73*, as he drives a 3-and-2 1st-inning knuckleball off Los Angeles Dodger Dennis Springer over the right field fence at Pacific Bell Park (now named Oracle Park) in San Francisco.

The blast also secures two more major league records * for the San Francisco Giants' left fielder, as he surpasses Babe Ruth (1920, .847) with a .863* season slugging percentage, and bests Mark McGwire (1998, one homer every 7.27 AB *) by homering in every 6.52 at-bats *. The Giants beat the Dodgers, their arch-rivals, 2-1. Nevertheless, the Dodgers have made the Playoffs, and the Giants have not.

Indeed, it is a day of records. The Chicago Cubs lose to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4–3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Nevertheless, they become the 1st team in major league history to not allow an opposing pitcher to throw a complete game against them all season. Sammy Sosa closes out 2001 with his 64th * home run in his final at-bat of the game, and sets a new franchise record with 98 * extra base hits, one more than Hack Wilson had in 1930.

Sosa also finishes with another franchise record of 425 total bases (the 7th-best all-time total), 2 ahead of Wilson. His 160 RBI are the highest total in the NL since Wilson set the MLB record with 191 in 1930. Chuck Klein had 170 that year. Sosa's RBI total for the past 4 years also breaks Klein's 4-year mark set in 1929-32. To finish out the record day, 5 Cubs pitchers combine for 12 strikeouts as the staff sets a major league record with 1,246 strikeouts. The Yankees do the same, setting an AL mark with 1,266 strikeouts.

As for the guy with whom Sosa battled for the single-season home run record in 1998, Mark McGwire plays his last game. He pinch-hits for Jim Edmonds in the bottom of the 9th, and flies to center, as the St. Louis Cardinals lose 9-2 to the Houston Astros at Busch Stadium. He finishes with 583 home runs.

It hadn't been all that long since people were thinking he had a shot at breaking Hank Aaron's record of 755. But it would be Bonds that broke it. At 38, McGwire should have had something left. But he battled injury and batted just .187 that season. The steroids caught up to him.

For the record, Bonds would finish his career with 762 home runs; Sosa, 609; McGwire, 583; Henderson; 297; and Gwynn, 135. They would finish with these totals of hits: Henderson, Gwynn, 3,141; 3,055; Bonds, 2,935; Sosa, 2,408; McGwire, 1,626. Batting average: Gwynn, .338; Bonds, .298; Henderson, .279. McGwire, .263; Sosa, .273. OPS+, keeping in mind the higher the better, and 100 is exactly average: Bonds, 182, 3rd all-time behind Babe Ruth and Ted Williams; McGwire, 163; Gwynn, 132; Sosa, 128; Henderson, 127.

Also on October 7, 2001, the Pittsburgh Steelers played their 1st game at Heinz Field, it having been postponed after the 9/11 attacks. They beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 16-7. In 2022, the stadium was renamed Acrisure Stadium.