[Big Six]

Here's what a look at the career leaders after the 1917 season turned up:

Pat O'Farrell is seventh all-time in career batting average, with a .329 lifetime mark. Tris Speaker is ranked 12th, at .323.

O'Farrell is also on the all-time home run list, in 22nd, with 59. There's a slight chance, if Pat catches the lively ball wave just right, that he might briefly get to be the all-time home run leader.

Sam Crawford, who's 37 now, leads with 108. Sam hit 5 homers in 1916 and 1917 combined. Harry Lumley is next with 103, but Harry's the same age as Crawford, and isn't playing regularly anymore. Wildfire Schulte has 94 at age 35, and he's still hitting the long ball. He had nine homers in '17, just like Pat.

Jim Nealon is the next active player on the list, with 84 at age 32. Nealon's a big-time slugger, with a 7 rating in Power (Pat has a 5). Nealon is young enough to take advantage of the lively ball, if it appears, and hit quite a few more homers.

Ed Konetchy has 70, and he's the same age as Nealon, but isn't nearly as powerful a hitter. Roger Bresnahan has 63, but that's mostly because he's been playing big league ball since 1897. And Tex Erwin got almost one third of his 60 lifetime taters on one big plate, when he hit 19 in the Year of the Homer, 1914. Tex is only 31, and has a 7 in Power, but he's not the regular catcher in Detroit any more. All-Star Red McKee is.

So, if Pat, with 59, lasts long enough and starts going deep often enough, he might catch Nealon...if Pat plays longer than Nealon does. Then Pat might hold the top spot until Ruth, or some other slugger, passes him. I never thought Pat would develop into a power hitter, but it's happened.

Sam Crawford needs 35 more RBI to pass Jake Beckley and become the all-time RBI king.

Speaker and O'Farrell are both among the career leaders in doubles. Tris is 13th, and second among actives to Crawford, with 343. Pat has 304, good for 19th all-time, and he's fourth among active players (Lumley has 336).

Pat has 152 triples, 18th on the list, and if he hits 12 ore in 1918, he'll pass four more retired players.

Sammy Strang retired with one fewer base on balls than Roy Thomas, and the Dixie Thrush didn't try to hang on and walk twice more to take the all-time lead. O'Farrell is 7th all-time with 944, 186 free passes shy of the record. He should pass Al Bridwell, who walks only about half as often as Pat does now, and the ageless Bresnahan, and within two years might be the all-time Walking Man.

Stealing 99 bases will cause a player to move up on the all-time list. Pat is now fourth in career steals with 626. Cobb passed Honus Wagner and became the all-time leader in 1917; Ty now has 704. George Moriarty stole 71 bases in 1917, and he's currently seven steals ahead of Pat in third place. Tillie Shafer stole 85, and he's now at 545 for his career. Shafer gets caught a lot, though...I'm fairly sure that his 43 times caught stealing this past year is an all-time single season record.

Addie Joss needs one more win to join Cy Young and Christy Mathewson in the 300-win fraternity. Del Mason has 244 victories, and Roy Hitt stands at 208. Pat's old teammate Tex Pruiett, now with the Braves, won his 200th game in 1917 as well.

Mathewson, who has struck out 2,769 batters in his career, will be the all-time strikeout leader for one more season, most likely, before Walter Johnson (2,596) passes him. Matty spent much of '17 in the minors, and might be all through. Cy Young, Hitt, and Mason are the only other pitchers with 2,000 Ks to their credit, but Joe Wood, with 1,810, should join them in 1918, and depending on how long the Big Train keeps rolling along, might end up as the all-time leader. Smoky Joe will be only 28 in 1918.

It looks like Mathewson, with 58 shutouts, might fall just shy of Cy Young's record of 62. Addie Joss is third with 53. The best bet to pass Young might be Del Mason, who has 45 and is still going strong at age 33.