One of my favorite things about living in the Pacific Northwest is the abundance of excellent hiking. When weather permits, a spectacular trail is never more than 30 minutes away, and when it doesn't, I can still manage a long walk through the lush forests of Baseball-Reference National Park. During today's journey, I went a different way than usual and stumbled upon the list of B-R's most popular pages.
Both players and teams are shown, and here's a clip of the top of the team list:
As of whenever this data was last recorded, the 1998 Yankees team page had nearly 115,000 more hits than the next-most popular page. But nevermind the Yankees. Look at that list - of the top 14 team pages, the 2001 Mariners are the only representative from outside Boston or New York. Take that, not-on-this-list 1906 Chicago Cubs.
The next-most popular Mariners page, naturally, is that of the 1995 edition, but the 2001 Mariners' team page has to date received 103% more traffic. People are always more interested in freaks.
On the player side, Alex Rodriguez is #1, which isn't surprising. Derek Jeter is #2, which isn't surprising. Edgar Renteria is #6, which is very surprising. Ichiro comes in at #10 - just behind Babe Ruth - with Griffey at #17.
But my absolute favorite part:
20: Manny Ramirez
21: J.A. Happ
22: Pete Rose
23: Mickey Mantle
24: Vladimir Guerrero
25: Ted Williams
One also notes that 2010 rookie Buster Posey already has more hits than Ivan Rodriguez, and someone named J.C. Boscan - who played in one game, walked, and scored - has more hits than Stan Musial. Finally, Mike Schmidt is less than 250 hits ahead of Jack Hannahan. You're old news, legendary Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt. It's Jack Hannahan's time to shine.