This fight cost Greinke 3000 strikeouts, what are some other random things that cost players major milestones?

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  1. Archduke Franz Ferdinands driver taking a wrong turn led to Sam Rice not getting 3000 hits

  5. I crop dusted Dan Uggla in Buffalo Wild Wings and it kept him out of the Hall of Fame.

  6. Bob Uecker would have made it into the Hall of Fame as a player if not for one unfortunate incident – he didn’t have a lot of MLB level talent.

  9. Greinke is a guaranteed first ballot Hall of Famer but another 21plus strikeouts does look good but here’s what cost Zac Grenke the ability to get to 3000 strikeouts. Final season: 2 wins 15 losses and 97 strikeouts. If he had just pitched to the same strikeout percentage he had his whole career he would’ve crossed the 3000 strikeout mark

  10. Ellis Burks and Kenny Lofton trying hard on every play probably kept them from being HoFers. Maybe Edmonds as well

  14. covid season cost us Greinke’s 3,000, a more serious run at 500 homers for Nelson Cruz, and stalled Nick Markakis’ momentum to 3,000 hits.

  15. Jeff Kent would be in the HOF if he didn’t have that truck washing incident that left him with a broken wrist.

  17. Does war count as random? Ted Williams would almost be guaranteed 3,000 hits if he didn’t miss three full seasons, and all but 43 games total in two others (so really 5 full seasons) to go fight in WW2 and Korea. (I know others were affected by service too but his are the most glaring.). Dude won a triple crown and then took three years off right after to go fight.

    37 homer average per 162. So if you give him
    Just those averages he’s at like 690, and since that was peak career time…yeah he may have gotten to 700 homers too.

  18. Lack of talent prevented Adrian Gonzalez from having two brothers in the big leagues.

    ![gif](giphy|ZyDnb48KjXp4c)

  19. This wasn’t even a fight, Carlos Quintin should not have charged and then breaks his collarbone then gets a slap on the wrist. I remember my friends and i “heckling” him in left about it but when the padres came to the trop that year.

  20. There’s 20 pitchers in mlb history with 3000 k’s. There’s only one man who has a brass set big enough to lower his shoulder when an ex pac 10 linebacker charges the mound

    Greinke gave up greatness for legendary

  21. I have a feeling Greinke has put a grand total of 0 seconds worrying about what falling short of 3000 strikeouts does to his legacy.

  22. CC Sabathia getting tossed for retaliatory plunking, coming two innings short of a $500K bonus. That’s a teammate.

  23. The final Dodgers game of the 2011 season was rained out and cancelled, leaving Matt Kemp with 39/40.

  24. Willie Mays probably would have over 700 home runs and possibly have broken Ruth’s record first if it wasn’t for the military draft.

  25. I think we will have some more answers to this when we see what the final career tally’s for a lot of players from this era with a shortened, and disjointed 2020 season played with.

    As a Mets fan, I know Pete Alonso would be about to have his 7th straight 30+ home run season from the start of his career, which would put him in some rare air. Who knows how many in a row he’d have, think he’s got a few more 30+ in a row to go.

  26. My now wife and I went on vacation to San Diego and were at that game. Wild stuff
    Yeah, that’s all I have

  27. Joe DiMaggio played from 1936-1952. He won the World Series his first 5 seasons, left for 3 years to fight in WW2, came back and won 4 more before retiring. Yankees won the World Series in 1943 so he would’ve had 10 rings with 6 of them in a row if not for the war.

  29. A rained out game in 1958 kept Al Kaline from being the first American Leaguer with 400 HR and 3,000 hits.

  31. I like this post, these are fun ones to think of. Kirby Pucket would have made a run at 3,000 hits if he didn’t wake up at 36 unable to see. Dude hit .314 the year before and tore it up in spring training before poof, vision gone, and couldn’t get it back.

  32. Spinal stenosis probably cost David Wright a hall of fame career

    I know that’s not the same but I’m still not over it

  34. Albert Belle randomly being perhaps the biggest jerk to play baseball in the 90’s DEFINITELY cost him an MVP, and maybe the HOF.

    His random development of ARTHRITIS at age 34 cost him a few more seasons of numbers that may have made it impossible to keep him out of the hall, POS or not.

  35. Alex Ovechkin would be a lock to be the first player to reach 1000 goals (or already there) if he hadn’t had 1. An entire season wiped out by a lockout, 2. Another 1/3 of a season wiped out by a lockout, and 3. Half a season wiped out by COVID.

  36. A rain delay cost Greg Maddux a chance at pitching a no-hitter for the Dodgers.

    A throwing error by Hanley Ramirez cost Clayton Kershaw a perfect game.

  38. Two seasons shortened by labor strife (1972 and 1981) caused Sparky Lyle to finish his career with 99 wins and 899 games pitched.

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