Slugger Shavings 2057.4 - Can Kwakou outhit Bopper?

[RT60]

Even though future hall of famer Semei Kwakou recently lost his full-time hold on first base for the Sluggers, fans hope he still has plenty left in the tank to win it back and then some (editor's note: he did win it back right after this article was published). 2057 has been Kwakou's worst season, as the 37-year-old finally appears to have succumbed to years of giving it his all. What appears forgotten in his downward spiral is the fact that Kwakou recently picked up his 3,500th career hit, currently sitting pretty with 3,509.

La-dee-freakin-da say fans of all-time hit leader Bopper Kengos. Bopper finished his career in 2018 with a whopping 3,900 hits. That is almost 400 more than Kwakou has now. There's no way Kwakou will catch Kengos!

Probably, but consider the following:

-Bopper played his entire career for one club: Madison. Kwakou will likely play his entire career for Louisville when all is said and done. Does that matter? Not at all, but it is a cool parallel.

-Bopper had 3527 hits at age 37. Kwakou will likely finish this season at age 37 about 10-15 hits below that. That is neck-and-neck.

-Bopper played four more years after this point, averaging 93 hits per season. Kwakou has never had less than 100 hits in any season, though certainly his 109 so far this season is likely not going to be exceeded in any future season.

-Kwakou is durable and should be able to get enough at bats provided he doesn't choose to retire, but his contract expires after the next three seasons with the last season being a player option. If he stays in Louisville, he knows he will have a GM that will protect him. Who knows what others might do to him.

So if Kwakou extends his contract to come back in 2061, he just needs to average 97 hits per season. Even more intriguing is that he just needs to average 77 hits per season if comes back in 2062. And what if the Kwakou of old decides to come back to form next season skewing those averages to a more achievable number in his last years? An intriguing situation indeed, and one that will test Lousiville's GM as the team hopes to be in contention while potentially hurting itself playing Kwakou just to chase the record.

[Dington]

Bat him leadoff and get that man his hits!

[RonCo]

Gotta love Kwak.