 | | Munsch
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| The Minnesota Twins selected a Tulane pitcher named Shooter Hunt in the Major League Baseball draft Thursday.
Shooter Hunt. Interesting name.
Doesn't that sound like a name some screenwriter would create for a character in the “Dukes of Hazzard” sequel?
I can see it now ...
Daisy: Cooter, I didn't know you had a cousin named Shooter. Shooter Hunt. So I guess he likes to hunt, huh?
Cooter: Nope, he likes to fish.
What, you were expecting Shakespearean wit from a “Dukes of Hazzard” sequel?
I noticed that Hunt - whose real first name is Steven, a nickname he took from the Dennis Hopper character in “Hoosiers” - attended Ramapo High School in Franklin Lakes, N.J., where former University of Texas and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Chris Simms went to school.
I also discovered, while doing research on Wikipedia, that Ramapo was the alma mater of one Marty Munsch, who works as a producer (among many ventures) in the music industry, particularly punk music.
To paraphrase Forrest Gump, I do not think we are related.
Flirting with .400, hit streak
When Houston Astro Lance Berkman was on his tear a few weeks ago, one couldn't help but think of two milestones deemed safe in modern baseball: the .400 season average and Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hit streak.
Berkman and teammate Hunter Pence had their respective hit streaks snapped in May, and Berkman reached the .400 plateau the same month. Atlanta's Chipper Jones is batting well over .400 now. But whether he sustains that average prompts the ageless question, or at least since Ted Williams' .406 season in 1941: Will anybody ever hit .400 over a season again?
How about Joltin' Joe's streak - is it safe?
And while we're at it, is it likely that Major League Baseball will produce a pitcher to have a 30-game win season?
Answer to all three questions: Not likely.
The 30-game winner - last done by Detroit's Denny McLain in 1968 (31-6) - is the least likely possibility now with the five-man rotation and the advent of the “quality start” that says a pitcher has done well if he gets through six innings with few hits and runs.
Complete games are becoming more and more rare, with clubs worried about pitchers' injuries and overuse.
Batting .400 might never been done again because of the long haul of the season and the possibility of slumps and injuries. But baseball will continue to generate a healthy flow of .300-plus hitters.
That leaves the 56-game hitting streak, set by DiMaggio in 1941. This is the best record in all of pro sports because of its degree of difficulty and consistency of excellence it requires, so its status in the record book could be safe for good.
Still, baseball fans love the possibility that someone will break these records one day - and without the cloud of the steroid scandals surrounding home run records of recent years.
Don Munsch can be reached by email at dmunsch@fbherald.com.
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