RIP Abe Vigoda...Seriously

Screencap from The Godfather with Abe Vigoda (left) and Al Pacino

Not known for being the best looking actor in Hollywood, hard working actor Abe Vigoda, passed away today at his daughter's home at the age of 94...really. Best known for his roles in the Godfather movies and as Fish in Barney Miller, perhaps one of the longest roles he had was weather he was really dead or alive.

As far back as 1982, news sources had accidentally reported Vigoda as having passed on. People magazine was the first to do so, but he quickly debunked this by posing with a picture of the issue that declared him dead for a picture in a Variety magazine ad. On Late Night with David Letterman, they had a skit where they tried to communicate with Abe Vigoda's ghost only to have Vigoda come out on stage and call him a Pinhead. Unfortunately, this time it's for real.

Vigoda had an acting career which included film, television, and stage work, dating all the way back to 1949.

“‘The Godfather’ changed my life,” he told The New York Times in 2001. That was the role that solidified him in mainstream entertainment. As Tessio in The Godfather movie, he was the trusted mobster and friend to Don Vito Corleone, only to become a betrayer to the family after Vito's death. Tessio, interested in filling the hole left by Corleone's death, he becomes one of the many steps Michael Corleone has to step over to rise to power after he plots Michael's murder. Even though Tessio is murdered in the first movie, he makes an appearance in The Godfather Part II during flashbacks.

He moved on to sitcom fame as Detective Fish in Barney Miller. As Fish, he was nominated three times for an Emmy for best supporting actor. Constantly battling hemorrhoids, his character gained so much of a following that he was spun-off into his own short-lived series, Fish.

Afterward, he would make appearances in Santa Barbara; Murder, She Wrote; Law & Order, Wings, Touched by an Angel, and many other shows. Even at that, he stated many times that film was his first love. He would act in small roles in movies such as Joe Versus the Volcano, Good Burger (where he would mock his own premature death announcements), Jury Duty, and Sugar Hill. He would also go on to reprise his role as Tessio in The Godfather video games.

A blue collar type of actor, there aren't too many actors like Vigoda anymore.

DH to the NL by 2017?

Photo by Daniel Millhouse; pitcher James Shields leading off of first base

With Major League Baseball coming up on its final year of the current collective bargaining between owners and players, rumors of expanding the role of the designated hitter into the National League have started to spread.

After years of offensive dominance in baseball, the league batting average dropped to .254 which has been the second lowest (the lowest being .251 in 2014) since the inception of the designated hitter position. Some of the owners have been worried about a decline in offensive production hurting attendance numbers.

Contrary to the American League, many of the National League owners of the past were reluctant to even consider adding the position.

Philadelphia Phillies chairman Dave Montgomery told the press, "We would like to remain real baseball." While he's not alone, he's finding those who agree with him to be fewer in numbers.

Newer owners are reconsidering the tradition that has made the NL uniquely different to the AL. With interleague play becoming a daily occurrence now, more AL pitchers are finding themselves hitting than ever before. On the flipside, since NL teams don't normally utilize the position, they focus less on signing nine hitters capable of being in a starting lineup and more on extra pitching. When an NL team plays at an AL park often their DH is just a good bench player compared to the AL teams that have DH's such as David Ortiz and Albert Pujols.

If such an agreement were discussed at the end of this year, the NL teams may find themselves a little behind the AL for the first couple of years. They'd have to compete against the AL to sign DHs from free agency or may have to turn to their minor league system depending on a rookie or younger player in general to provide a boost in offense comparable to the AL DHs.

The rumblings have picked up recently due to several injuries to NL pitchers while hitting. The most significant injury to a pitcher this past season came when the St. Louis Cardinals' Adam Wainwright tore his Achilles while at-bat.

While finding ways to prevent injuries is an admirable thing to do, Major League Baseball has taken it a step further than it should. Many times managers are already too conservative when dealing with their pitchers when it comes to innings pitched and pitches thrown. Once a pitcher hits 75 pitchers, regardless of how well they're pitching, often a reliever can be seen warming up in the bullpen.

Innings leaders in the past before 1980, commonly reached 300 plus innings a season. Now, if a pitcher tossed 230 innings, he is an innings leader and if you're a younger pitcher, you're lucky to hit 150 in a season.

Baseball has become too conservative when it comes to their pitchers. They are not eggs. They will not break.

As far as the lull in offense, just as it has in the past, offensive stats go up then they go down, just like a rollercoaster. Stats were high in the early '60s with legendary hitters like Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Clemente, Robinson, Banks, and many more dominating the game while another good hitter, Roger Maris, broke the record for homers in a season in 1961. By the end of the decade, offensive stats declined, culminating in 1968 when pitchers dominated the game, led by Bob Gibson and his 1.12 ERA, Denny McLain's 31 wins and 1.96 ERA, and Luis Tiant's 1.60 ERA. After the 1968 season, the mound height limit was set at 10 inches, effectively juicing up offensive stats again.

The game has always been a rollercoaster. When offense dominates the game, people debate whether players are taking PED's or if the baseball is "juiced". When the stats drop like where they are today, talks spring up on how to invigorate the slumping offenses. Talking about instilling a DH in the National League is not new. It was discussed in the early '80s once stats started to slump again and now we are back at it again.

Keeping the DH away from the NL is essential. It gives the National League a unique identity compared to its American League counterpart. If the game is homogenized, having two leagues doesn't make as much sense as it once did. If the DH is instilled across baseball, maybe it would be better for Major League Baseball to realign the leagues similar to what the way the NBA has. East and West.

While Joe Torre has denied the discussion has ever come up and Commissioner Rob Manfred has said he has no opinion either way, team owners and chairman have talked about it on the more casual level. With the collective bargaining agreement talks coming up at the end of this year, probability that the DH comes to the National League is a real possibility.

Training in the Workplace an Oversight

Picture by Daniel Millhouse

In today's job place there are so many different companies that now run operations their own way and utilize proprietary software that at least some training should be expected. Unfortunately, many companies view this as a hindrance and refuse to relinquish any payroll toward training new employees on how they do things. This is not to say that the employee isn't qualified, but every company has their own timeframes, their own systems put in place, and many have their own computer programs that are not used outside of the company itself.

On job search boards it is not uncommon for companies to even advertise that they prefer a candidate to have experience with a particular software program. The problem is that this program is exclusively used by said company, meaning that the pool of candidates they would consider are potentially limited to past employees. Sticking to this qualification preference, the company loses out on potential candidates that could be a better overall fit to that company, only if they are given some basic training on how to use the program.

In some cases, companies have even done away with employee training manuals, preventing employees that learn better by reading from adapting easier to the job. The cost of a training manual in minimal. It is only slightly more when every employee is given their own copy to keep. Various statistical reports show that when an employee is trained more efficiently, turnover rates drop like a rock. The cost of a personal training manual compared to the possible cost to train a new employee months later is very minimal and should be a main factor in the decision of a human resources department to expand on new employee training.

One of the problems is that the mentality is that of the previous century when most registers were nearly all the same and the workplace featured no computers. Training was more basic then and it was easier to insert a new employee into a position. This is no longer true. With payroll cuts and a more complex workplace in the current century, a new employee who is inserted into a new job instantly with no previous training is likely to fail in the job or at least hit some speed bumps along the way. The more experienced workers may be able to relate the new job to previous ones or at least have an idea of what the expectations might be, but often these employees with more previous experience cost more and inexperienced employees are hired instead because of their cheaper cost.

Not only is training needed when it comes to computers. Every retail company has their own procedures when it comes to marketing and other visual standards. Some companies prefer a single display or display per product while others prefer to flood the floor with as much as can fit on the shelves. Some prefer price tags in the corner, some prefer price tags on the back of the product. Shoe stores have different ways of just tying their laces for shoes that are displayed. While this training isn't intense by any means, it is still needed to have a more efficient workplace.

The old saying, "You have to invest money to make money," still holds true today. Dr. Laurie Bassi, the CEO of McBassi & Company put that theory to the test from an investor stance. Along with a business partner, she launched an investment firm that specifically buys stocks in companies that invest heavily in employee training compared to others. She had a 24 percent return over the previous year, two years in a row, topping the Standards & Poor's index by four percentage points.

Cutting corners, especially when it comes to staffing only hurts the company ultimately. It may save a dollar today, but cost two dollars in the future, only leading to the company's eventual downfall.

Alan Rickman Passes Away; World Loses Legend

Screencap of Alan Rickman in Dogma

Within just four days, England, along with the rest of the world lost two major icons in the entertainment field. David Bowie passed away four days ago and the world wept. Unfortunately, without nearly as much news coverage, Alan Rickman passed away from cancer.

While the world revels in the authoritative voices of actors such as Morgan Freeman, James Earl Jones, and Malcom McDowell, one of the most overlooked was Alan Rickman's. In a statement released by Helen Mirren to Entertainment Tonight, she said, ""He was utterly distinctive, with a voice that could suggest honey or a hidden stiletto blade, and the profile of a Roman Emperor." His voice was so distinctive that director Kevin Smith cast Rickman as the Metatron (the voice of God) in Dogma.

And this is not to take away from his overall acting abilities. Rickman was a master at transforming into whatever the part required of him. He could star in romantic roles in movies like Sense and Sensibility and Love Actually. He was also able to pull off comedic roles such as in Dogma and Galaxy Quest.

 Most of all, he was able to play the perfect villain. As Hans Gruber in Die Hard, Rickman was voted the 46th best villain in cinema history in "AFI 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains". For those who are younger, they would probably know him from his role as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series of movies. To a lesser extent, he played the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and as Rasputin in Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny in one of his few television roles.

Not only could he act before a camera, but he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and logged in time on the stage. He was so good that he was nominated twice for a Tony Award as a lead actor for his roles in Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Private Lives.

In his career he had been nominated for multiple awards and pulled down wins in the BAFTA Awards, the Golden Globes, the MTV Movie Awards, the People's Choice Awards, the Emmys, the Satellite Awards, and the SAG Awards. About the only major award he was never even nominated for was for the Oscars which is a travesty considering all the great roles he has played and made his own.

He was also a talented voice actor in such roles as Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and as Absolem the Caterpillar in the Alice in Wonderland movies starring Johnny Depp. The sequel Alice: Through the Looking Glass will end up being his last role as the movie is set for a May release in 2016.

With friends and family at his side, Rickman passed away quietly and the world lost another legend.

Rams Moving to LA Short of What City Deserves

Photo taken by Daniel Millhouse

As of yesterday, the NFL announced that they have granted the Rams franchise of St. Louis the okay to move to the Los Angeles area. With a vote of 30 to 2, NFL owners granted the Rams approval to move the site of the old Hollywood Park horse racing track which is located in Inglewood. Is this really the best move for the NFL though?

While this news breaks the hearts of many Raiders fans in Southern California and leaves Chargers pondering if their team will join the Rams within the next year. The Chargers will have one year to decide whether or not they want to move to Inglewood and if they pass, the Raiders will have one year to make a similar decision.

Stan Kroenke, owner of the Rams has also promised that the stadium will be surrounded by entertainment, retail, and restaurant venues, upgrading the entire area surrounding the stadium that is expected to be completed by 2019.

Everything sounds great on the surface, but what about building a loyal base? Though the Rams played in Southern California from 1946 to 1994, some of their fan base still feels the sting from when the team left the first time around along with the Raiders. Some of the loyal fan base still remains, but it now feels like Southern California is getting back a recycled team that couldn't thrive in a part of the country that adores football more than any other sport.

If the Chargers moved to Los Angeles, they would have that same recycled team feeling. Raiders fans on the other hand are masochistic in a manner, not seeming to care that their teams moves every couple of decades on a whim of the Davis ownership. They're in Oakland, they're in LA, they're in Oakland, now they want back in LA. Just stay put in Oakland or move to St. Louis or San Antonio as some have proposed.

What Los Angeles deserves is a new expansion team. One that can build that fan base and feel like they truly belong to Southern California. Even if you disregard that the Rams played in St. Louis since 1994, the fact is they originated in Cleveland, though many of us alive today wouldn't remember that. A team in the second largest market in the United States shouldn't feel like they're getting a recycled team.

Bringing in an expansion team would allow fans to feel more invested in their team from day one. From logo and mascot creation, to the expansion draft, to their first college draft, fans will feel like they are part of the ride. Yes, the team will probably have a few poor seasons before finally pulling everything together, but it's not as if the Rams, Chargers, or Raiders were winning teams either.

Two teams seems ridiculous in Los Angeles as well. There are so many markets ready for a football team such as San Antonio, Las Vegas, and Omaha all come to mind. To many teams in the same market saturate the fan base and the money that could be spent on sports. It would be one thing if there was some sort of history with two teams in the same city such as Chicago with the Cubs and White Sox, but Los Angeles doesn't share that same die-hard devotion to their teams that Chicago does.

No, an expansion team would have been best for the city of angels. Bringing in an existing franchise falls just short of what the football fans of Los Angeles deserve. Something to call their own, from the start.

Playboy Mansion For Sale; End of an Era

Photo courtesy of Glenn Francis via Wikipedia

Playboy Enterprises announced over the weekend that one of the most famous residences in the world, the Playboy Mansion, home to founder Hugh Hefner, is up for sale for $200 million. The only caveat is that 90-year old High Hefner gets to stay there until he passes way. It's believed that the home will in reality sell anywhere between $60 to $90 million. The reality of the matter is that with the sale, it will be the end of an era.

With free porn on the internet, sales of print media dropping, and Playboy deciding to no longer feature nude pics of women in their magazines, the Playboy empire is most likely on its decline. The mansion was a key to what became the sexual revolution, along with the magazine of course.

While some may view the mansion as the home of sexual deviation, in many ways it inspired people to look at sex differently. Hefner wanted people to be okay with the fact that they are sexual beings and that the act of sex itself can be a beautiful thing. Hosting parties for various artists brought an expansion of these ideas to mainstream and changed how sex was perceived by the American public.

With the sale of the house, it feels that the empire itself will eventually fall into obscurity. Kids will wear t-shirts with the famous bunny logo, but not really understand what it stands for. People who claimed they were "only reading the magazine for the articles" will be saddened when one less source for articles/interviews from political, religious, and other notable public figures, and a source for short stories written by Arthur C. Clarke, Ian Fleming, Ray Bradbury, and various other important writers of our generation fades out.

The magazine made famous for premiering with Marilyn Monroe on its cover, helped find famous pinup queen Bettie Page financial backing when Hefner found out that she had no money, yet her image was being used for profit with kicking her back some royalties. When Page passed away, she was worth $20 million thanks to the legal team that Hefner help put together for her. Her estate is now worth even more.

To teenagers, it was almost a right of passage when they would come across old copies of the magazine that their brothers, fathers, grandfathers, or other relatives would be hiding in their homes. Another piece of the American life that died off since it is easier for someone to find naked pictures online than in person anymore.

Hefner and his empire had an expansive reach. Cooper Hefner, son of Hugh, had remarked before about being astounded by the correspondence alone that were sent to his father by figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., President Ronald Reagan, and other historical figures of the last sixty years. Hefner's influence touched millions in America alone, let alone around the world.

Now that the mansion is for sale, it feels like the end of an era is near. Most likely the famous Midsummer Night's Dream Party will end. Most likely the animals that live at the onsite zoo will have to find a new home. Most likely the charity events for autism and community healthcare will have to find a new place to be held at. With the mansion for sale and after Hefner's death, America will be forever changed.

RIP David Bowie

Screencap: David Bowie as Tesla in The Prestige

In the world of music thousands of people try to add their two cents into the world, but only a rare, select few ever get the chance to really change it. These rock stars are often a combination of music talent, likeable personality, style, and charisma...David Bowie had this all and more. He was one of the few music artists that could not only transcend music genres successfully, but also dive into the acting world without appearing to be a stunt casting.

Unfortunately, the world lost Bowie on the night of January 10th, 2016. He battled cancer for 18 months according to his Twitter account, before succumbing to it with family and friends at his bedside.

Starting out his solo music fame with "Space Oddity" in 1969, he became one of the pioneers of a new sub-genre of music called Glam Rock. Introducing his alter-ego Ziggy Stardust with his release of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, the album was intended to be the soundtrack for a TV or film production of the same name, but never produced. Hits such as "Starman" and "Suffragette City" sprang from this album which Rollingstone Magazine ranked as the 35th best album of all-time.

Later on his Diamond Dogs album, he released the hit song "Rebel Rebel" which would go on to be one of the most covered songs of all-time. It was his good-bye to glam rock song. The song featured a riff that was reminiscent of songs by Rollingstones or even Iggy Pop. The song could even be cited as being a precursor to the Grunge Rock movement that would take place years later and fall under the category of early punk.

Not long after, Bowie would release "Fame" which would be the first time he broke onto the Billboard Hot 100 charts (pop music), hitting number one. Unknown to most people, he recorded this song with the help of John Lennon who received song writing credit, played guitar, and was the backing vocals to Bowie in this hit song.

In 1976, Bowie would dive into the world of acting as well, starring in The Man Who Fell to Earth with Rip Torn and Candy Clark. This would bolster his confidence in his acting abilities, leading him to star in movies throughout his career.

Before the end of the '70s, he would release other hit singles such as "Sound and Vision", "Heroes", and "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)".

Not to be outdone, Bowie was even more successful in the '80s. He released singles that included "Ashes to Ashes" and "Fashion" before combining his efforts with Freddie Mercury of Queen for the hit song "Under Pressure", which would be one of the most significant songs of the decade and featured one of the most famous bass lines of all-time. The song regained fame after Vanilla Ice sampled from it for his hit song "Ice Ice Baby".

After "Under Pressure", Bowie collaborated with Bing Crosby to release one of the most iconic Christmas songs of all-time, "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy". To this day, it is hard to avoid this song every December. It solidified his status as one of the greatest music artists of all-time.

Less than a year later, Bowie released Let's Dance which would feature three hit singles, "Let's Dance" which would be accompanied by one of the most famous music videos ever, "China Girl", and "Modern Love". This is where he firmly planted his music in the New Wave genre with the platinum hit sensation.

In 1985, he would once again collaborate with a fellow musician, this time Mick Jagger, to release a cover of the song "Dancing in the Street". This song would chart in nearly every genre from rock to pop.

In 1986, he would star in the hit movie Labyrinth as Jareth the Goblin King. The movie would feature puppetry from the Jim Henson Workshop and would be the first major role for star actress Jennifer Connelly.

He would go on to collaborate with other music artists in the '90s as well, most famously with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails for the single "I'm Afraid of Americans". Other collaborative works include "Hallo Spaceboy" with the Pet Shop Boys and "The Buddha of Suburbia" with Lenny Kravitz.

In the 2000's, Bowie would stay in the eyes of pop culture, appearing as himself in the movie Zoolander and winning an MTV Movie Award. He then would go onto his one of his most famous movie roles as Tesla in the Christopher Nolan movie, The Prestige which would also star Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Scarlett Johansson, and Michael Caine.

His last top ten hit was in 2013 with "Where Are We Now?".

Bowie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, won two Grammy Awards, and was ranked the 23rd best singer of all-time by Rollingstone Magazine. In 1999, Bowie was made a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, but turned down being knighted in 2003 by the British Empire. In total he sold an estimated 140 million record albums.

Born as David Jones, he had to change his name to avoid confusion with Davey Jones of the Monkees. Bowie is survived by his wife, actress/model Iman; his son, director Duncan Jones; and daughter Alexandria.

Powerball Lottery Grows Higher

With no winners in the latest Powerball lottery, the newest jackpot will grow to $1.3 billion which is the highest lottery jackpot in United States history. On Wednesday, someone could potentially be able to afford the Playboy Mansion that was just put on sale for $200 million and still have a ton of leftover money.

With the millions of tickets purchased when it was just over $900 million, it is amazing to think that there was not a single winner among the millions of tickets. Yet here we are. Lottery drawing after drawing has left us with no new millionaires. Hope keeps growing and thousands of people out there are determined that they will be the next jackpot winner, that it is their destiny.

And why not? In a poll taken by Bankrate.com, over 54 percent of Americans under 29 believe that they will be rich within their lifetime and that one-third of all Americans think it will be "very likely" that they will be rich at some point in their life.

Some believe that this will come off of something they do in their work lives that will lead to this, but depending on what you do it is highly unlikely to earn that much money. Some believe that it could be from investing money, which is a higher probability, but many times this could be dumb luck that contributes to this (i.e. Forest Gump investing in a "fruit company" that turned out to be Apple). Some people are just fortunate enough by birth to be born into a rich family and have a large inheritance waiting for them.

For most of us, the lottery is the only real prospect of possibly becoming rich, but many people who play think they will eventually win. This can't be obviously, but people still try. This obsession fuels the sales of more tickets especially when the jackpot grows over time. People at home already debate what they will buy with the money with vacations, homes, and cars topping the list.

With that said, is it okay to be cynical and not play at all? It's okay not to play of course, but be resigned with the fact that if you don't play, you can't win. On the flipside, it wouldn't be advisable to spend a paycheck on lottery tickets, trying to up your odds of winning. You most likely won't and the money could be used to something more useful such as bills.

Buying a few tickets on occasion doesn't hurt and someone has to win even when the odds are stacked against them.

Unbreakable MLB Records

Picture by Daniel Millhouse: Joe Torre has a 2,326 career wins as a manager which is still 1,405 short of Connie Mack

Baseball players are becoming more and more like fine-tuned machines every year compared to the legends that we think about years ago. When players like Babe Ruth played, it was possible for a player to be a star despite being out of shape and in Ruth's case, occasionally drunk during the game. Players used to report to Spring Training out of shape and use the preseason to get back into shape. Now, they are already in shape before Spring Training starts, resorting to personal trainers, home gyms, and even science to gain every edge physically.

Players of the past were burdened with having to find a job in the offseason to pay their personal bills. Today, a player can make enough in one season to be set for life. Not only can they rest from baseball during the offseason, they often develop personal training programs to improve themselves by the time they are required to report to their club for the new season.

Because of this singular focus, many records are falling that were once considered hard to break. This doesn't mean that they are all in danger of falling. On the contrary, some records will possibly be never broken because of the changes of the game. So here is a list of those records that are least in danger of being broken in Major League Baseball.

1. Career Wins (511 by Cy Young): With pitch counts, innings limits, and five/six man rotations today, this record appears to be the safest. Cy Young pitched between 1890-1911, surpassing 30 wins five times in a season and 20 wins 15 times. Only one played in baseball history has even topped 400 and he played over a hundred years ago as well (Walter Johnson). Greg Maddux (355 wins) and Roger Clemens (354) are the closest to reach 511, but still a whole career short. Big Bartolo Colon is the current active leader in the MLB with 218 wins and he is already 42 years old. If a pitcher played 20 seasons, he would have to average over 25 wins a season to approach Cy Young's unbreakable record. With pitching limits in today's game, many starters only average a little more than 25 starts in a season.

2, Career Batting Average (.366 by Ty Cobb): Ty Cobb might be known as one of the meanest players to ever play, but he was also one of the hardest to get out. While players today have been able to reach .366 in a single season, no player has come close to putting up numbers near that high for a career. Tony Gwynn was the closest in the last 50 years, hitting .338 for his career, but that ranks him 18th on the all-time list. Currently Miguel Cabrera has the highest career average with a .321 average in 13 seasons of play. Cabrera will make it to the Hall of Fame when he retires, but he will not come close to Ty Cobb as he is currently 47th all-time.

3, Career Stolen Bases (1,406 by Rickey Henderson): This record was set recently when Henderson retired in 2003. So why is this one unbreakable? Baseball has changed. Rickey was a rare bread of player, consistently able to hit 100 stolen bases in a season and playing for 25 seasons, Henderson is one of the last workhorses of his like. Several players since he began his career have shown they have Henderson-like abilities, but none had the durability, nor are they able to even attempt 100 stolen bases in a season anymore because it has been deemed too risky for a team to possibly take an out if the player is unsuccessful. Vince Coleman, Carl Crawford, and currently Billy Hamilton all had/have the 100 plus potential in them, but durability and ability has been their problems. Coleman couldn't put up hitting stats to warrant playing a long career. Crawford eventually succumbed to injuries. Hamilton, only in his second year and heralded for his speed, can't get on base and once he does, has trouble getting a good jump. Currently Ichiro is the active leader, but he has 498 stolen bases at the age of 41.

4. Strikeouts in a Season (383 by Nolan Ryan): For a pitcher today to get to 383 in a season, they would have to average 12 strikeouts a game with 32 starts in a single season. Randy Johnson got the closest in the last twenty-five years 372 in 2001, but he was considered a freak like Ryan. Only one player currently active has even hit 300 in a season (301 by Clayton Kershaw in 2015), but that is still 82 strikeouts too short. Kershaw is more likely to break the all-time mark of 5,714, also by Nolan Ryan, but that is still a long shot. Kershaw currently has 1,746 strikeouts and is 27. At his current pace, if he plays 23 seasons and doesn't drop his strikeouts average per season, he could be a threat to Ryan's record by the time he turns 43 years old.

5. Wins in a Career by a Manager (3,731 by Connie Mack): Connie Mack managed for 53 seasons, starting in 1894 and finally retiring in 1950. If a manager today manages for 25 seasons, he would have to average 150 wins a season to break Mack's record. If they managed 35 seasons, they would have average 107 wins a season. The closest current manager is Bruce Bochy with 1,702 wins in 21 seasons, followed by Mike Scioscia with 1,416 in 16 seasons. Bochy would have to manage for 46 seasons at his current average to break Mack's record, which would make Bochy 86 years old at the time the record would be broken. The closest in recent years was Tony La Russa in his 33 seasons with 2,728 wins. If he started managing again and was able to continue his pace, he would have to manage 13 more seasons.