It Depends How You Look at It

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If you’ve been reading the AP reports during Utley’s current run to 21 HR, you’ll see that it notes he has to hit 42 homers to tie both Rogers Hornsby (1922) and Davey Johnson (1973).
But as many have pointed out — and at least one newspaper corrected — Johnson actually hit 43 round trippers in ’73,Sunglasses On Sale, which would make him the sole single-season HR champ for 2B.
Why the mixup? Well, if you look at Johnson’s home run log for ’73,Cincinnati Reds Hats, you’ll see that he did hit 43 homers for the Braves that season. However, visiting the box score for the June 17 game against the Cubs shows that Johnson entered the game in the seventh inning as a pinch hitter for Sonny Jackson and responded with a three-run shot that gave Atlanta the lead.
But even though Johnson stayed in the game as a second baseman,Minnesota Twins Hats, the HR apparently counts at a pinch-hit,wholesale Music Hats, which is reflected in both the AP and the records at Baseball Almanac. (I’d try to doublecheck that at MLB.com, but the site keeps crashing my browser … help?)
Big League Stew wonders why the record for home runs by a second baseman is 42 and not 43:
Although we tend to think of records as something concrete, they really aren’t. If you define the record as “Home Runs as a Second Baseman” then 42 is correct. Davey Johnson was a pinch hitter,DC Comics & Marvel Hats, not a second baseman when he hit the extra home run. There’s no reason to assume he would stay in the game. (By the way,Cheap Rockstar Hats, it’s possible to bat without a position. If you pinch run or pinch hit,Arizona Diamondbacks Hats sale, then come up again in the same inning,cheap Oakland Athletics Hats, you are listed as having no position in the second plate appearance.)
However,Wholesale Gucci Hats, if you define the record as “Home Runs by a Second Baseman” then I think the record is 43. What I often do when I don’t have play by play information is figure out the primary position for a fielder in a season,cheap Pittsburgh Pirates Hats, usually by most games played at a position that year. So if someone plays 100 games at second and 20 games at third in a particular year,MLB Hats, I list him as a second baseman and count all his stats. Neither is more correct that the other. You do the best you can with the data that’s available.
I think we can be pretty sure,Wholesale Winter caps Hats,A few tidbits.., however,Wholesale Arizona Diamondbacks Hats, that if Utley hits 44 homers,Wholesale Baseball Hats, he’ll have some second base record.