Twins' Escobar on pace to shatter 87-year-old doubles record

Perhaps "Jeopardy!" should rename its "Daily Double" in honor of Eduardo Escobar, since the Minnesota Twins third baseman is making two-base hits an everyday occurrence.

Escobar has emerged seemingly from nowhere to become an unstoppable doubles machine this season. On Tuesday against the Boston Red Sox, the 29-year-old hit his major league-leading 31st and 32nd doubles of the season in his 66th game (his second double of the game came about thanks to a postgame scoring change).

He's now on pace to finish the year with 75 doubles - a total that would shatter the single-season record that's stood for 87 years.

(Video courtesy: MLB.com)

In 1931, Red Sox outfielder Earl Webb recorded 67 doubles to establish the sport's gold standard. Webb was out of the majors two years later, but he remains the single-season doubles champion, and his record hasn't been seriously threatened since the end of World War II. In fact, there have only been six 60-plus-double seasons in baseball history. All of them, including Webb's, occurred during a 10-year stretch from 1926-36.

*Indicates Hall of Famer

Before crowning Escobar as the new doubles king, though, it's important to realize that this road he's traveling is littered with many valiant efforts to catch Webb that fell well short. The closest anyone's come to hitting 60 doubles, let alone 67, since the 1930s was the Rockies' Todd Helton, who finished with 59 in 2000. Cleveland Indians star Jose Ramirez hit 56 doubles one year ago, and he did that despite being well behind Escobar's current pace, having recorded just 21 through his first 66 games.

According to The Athletic's Jayson Stark, the only other active player to have matched or exceeded Escobar's current pace is Manny Machado, who hit 31 doubles in his first 69 contests of 2013. Machado finished that year with only 51 two-baggers.

Right now, Escobar is not only on pace to catch Webb by season's end, but he's in line to make a little history before the All-Star break. He's well on his way to breaking Justin Morneau's Twins record of 47 doubles from 2008, and could even catch the former MVP before July is out. Mickey Vernon's overall franchise record of 51, set when the team was still known as the Washington Senators, is also on the table.

And if you're expecting Escobar to be fazed by all the sudden attention surrounding his doubles, don't hold your breath. Asked Tuesday by Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press if he knew about his record pace, Escobar laughed before responding: "I don't know what you're talking about."