Yesterday Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes became college basketball’s all-time leading scorer. Leading up to Clark’s accomplishment, there were lots of people attempting to make the case that no matter how many points Clark scores, Pete Maravich still should be recognized as holding the record.

Debates about “the most” have been around as long as people have been keeping statistics, which is odd because whoever has the most of anything is easily quantifiable.

One of the most famous of these debates involved Roger Maris and Babe Ruth when Maris challenged and eventually broke Ruth’s record for home runs in a season.

With expansion, the American League schedule increased by eight games in 1961, so Commissioner (and Ruth’s former ghostwriter) Ford Frick issued a ruling that a player must hit more than 60 home runs in his team’s first 154 games to be considered the record holder. Maris did not hit his 61st home run until the final day of the season, so Frick suggested that a “distinctive mark” be placed next to Maris’ new record.

The biggest problem with Frick’s suggestion is that 61 > 60, so Maris hit more home runs in a single season than Ruth ever did. That being said, no one would seriously suggest that Maris had a better season in 1961 than Ruth did in 1927.

Leading up to Henry Aaron passing Ruth on the all-time home run list, there were those who felt Ruth should retain the record even if Aaron passed him. They reasoned that Aaron had played in over 400 more games than Ruth did and had almost 2,100 more plate appearances when he hit his 715th home run. There can be legitimate debate about whose total was the greater accomplishment, but 755 > 714, so Aaron clearly hit more homers than Ruth.

Having the most of all time and being the greatest of all time are two separate debates. Pete Rose has the most hits of all time, but I would challenge anyone to find a serious baseball fan, other than Rose himself, who would say that he is the greatest hitter who ever played. I can name ten players off the top of my head who were better hitters than Rose: Ruth, Aaron, Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Carl Yastrzemski, Ed Mathews, Chipper Jones, Frank Robinson, Lou Gehrig, and Roberto Clemente. We can debate whether any of these 10 players were better hitters than Rose, but there is no doubt that Rose got more hits than any of them did.

Pete Maravich was a phenomenal basketball player. He averaged 44.2 points per game back before the 3-point shot was even a concept. Freshmen weren’t allowed to play on the varsity, so Maravich scored all his points in three seasons. But even Maravich’s amazing accomplishments can be picked apart. At LSU, he played for his dad, who made sure Pistol Pete got every opportunity to score. And Maravich was a bit of a chucker, averaging almost 40 shots a game. We can debate whether Maravich was a better basketball player than Caitlin Clark, but as of right now, Clark has 3,685 points. And last time I checked 3,685 > 3,667.

Trying to justify why a previous total or accomplishment still should be recognized as the record cheapens the accomplishments of the new record holder. That’s what Frick did to Maris. Even though Maris hit 61 home runs in 1961, it was years before most people quit saying, “Yeah, but Ruth really holds the record for most home runs in a season.”

Let’s hope the same thing doesn’t happen to Caitlin Clark.