most incredulous sports-related statistics/facts you're aware of
galaxy27
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i'll start.
Stan Musial played in 3,026 games and amassed 12,718 plate appearances.
he struck out 3 times in the same game once in his entire career.
(July 28, 1963 against Dick Ellsworth of the Cubs.)
you'll never be able to outrun a bad diet
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This is a long one, but worth it:
A beat-the-field streak is the number of consecutive rounds in which a player’s score is better than the average score of the field for that round. For example, if a player shoots 69 when the field average is 70.8, the player has “beaten the field.” A Tour player stringing together a long run of fine rounds would be a great measure of dominance and consistency.
Considering all players at all PGA Tour events since 1983, what would you conjecture is the record for the longest number of consecutive rounds beating the field? I put the question to dozens of golfers, fans, and Tour professionals, and their estimates ranged from 15 to about 35 rounds. Those rough guesses would be spot-on, were the sport limited to mere mortals. For example, Mark O’Meara has the second-longest beat-the-field streak, with an impressive 33 consecutive rounds in 1992. When I made O’Meara aware of his feat, he was surprised. “That’s an interesting stat,” he said, “and one I take pride in.” Peter Jacobsen ranks fourth on the list, with 30 straight rounds beating the field. Again, impressive. Of all the people I asked about the streak, Jacobsen, by far, made the loftiest guess. “Tiger could have some crazy number,” he said. “It could be in the 60s.” Jacobsen is right in two respects: the record-setting number belongs to Tiger Woods, and it’s crazy. Crazier than crazy.
From August 1999 through November 2000, Woods beat the field’s average score in an astounding 89 consecutive PGA Tour tournament rounds. That is roughly three times the length of the streak posted by his nearest competitor. (Only official PGA Tour stroke-play events are counted for this streak, so the WGC-Match Play, for example, is not included.)
Men's marathon record of 2 hours one minute and 39 seconds.
Appx a 4.40 per mile pace for 26 miles.
Tom Brady's 30-3 record versus the Buffalo Bills. That city is going to party like it's Mardi Gras on the day he retires.
Eric
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Brett Favre's first NFL Green Bay completion was to himself.
Bill Buckner has more hits than Ted Williams. No, I did not realize this until he passed away! Crazy
Yeah, but williams fought in TWO wars, otherwise not even close.
Harmon Killebrew was never asked to bunt during his entire career, and this was when players actually knew how, and were even asked to.
When this was pointed out to him, he said that he always checked with the 3rd base coach, but never saw the sign.
Record has been equaled by Frank Thomas if I am not mistaken.
The team with the highest batting average in the American League in 1968 was the Oakland A's, with an average of .240.
Wilt Chamberlain never fouled out of a game in his NBA career. Considering how many games Wilt played, how important he was in each game, and the fact that he averaged around 45 minutes a game, that stat should be impossible.
Rafael Nadal has won the French Open 12 times. A record for any man or woman in a grand slam event.
IT CAN'T BE A TRUE PLAYOFF UNLESS THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONS ARE INCLUDED
In the grandslams the 4 biggest tournaments in tennis; Roger Federer has streaks of 36 consecutive quarter-finals (That's 9 years in a row without losing a match before the quarterfinals); 23 consecutive semi-finals (That's nearly 6 years in a row without losing a match before the semi-finals); and he holds the two longest streaks of reaching the Finals of a grand slam 10 consecutive (2 1/2 years straight) and another 8 consecutive (2 years straight.) He's not just facing the best from 1 country, he's facing the world's best and having to deal with players who specialize on each surface (clay, grass, and hardcourts.) He's also playing best of 5 sets (3hour+ matches) and managed to get through all of those without 1 muscle pull or injury that would force him to retire in a match and end the streak.
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Sugar Ray Robinson from 1943 to 1951 went on a 91 fight unbeaten streak where he compiled the third longest unbeaten streak of all time and had a record of 128-1-2 before the end of that run. What makes Robinson's feat so remarkable is he wasn't fighting doormats, he was fighting boxing greats such as Henry Armstrong, Jake LaMotta (3 times), and Kid Gavilan (twice) He also knocked out 56 opponents during that 91 fight unbeaten streak and had to go 15 rounds in several of those fights.
Family, Neighborhood, Community,
make the World a better place.
In 23 seasons, gre g maddux was on the disabled list one time, for 15 days in 2002.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
....and welcome back, Galaxy!
I see the name "Galaxy" now on Sports Talk and begin salivating like a Pavlov dog thinking there might be another contest coming. 🐕
NEVER gonna beat this one, tie maybe, but NEVER beat.
https://www.espn.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/132729/on-this-date-a-pitcher-hits-2-grand-slams-in-the-same-game
I was going to post a sport statistic, but after reading yours, why bother. The MVP ( Most valuable post) goes to........MCMLVT!
Johnny Vandemeers record would be almost impossible to top. In fact who was the last pitcher to pitch three consecutive complete games?
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Ralph
Edwin Moses went undefeated for nearly ten years.
""But that's what happened to the analytical and practical Edwin Moses, the possessor of one bachelor's of science degree in physics, one master's in business administration, two Olympic gold medals and 107 consecutive victories in 400-meter hurdles finals.
This athletic marvel enjoyed a run of nine years, nine months and nine days between losses. Four times he broke the world record. Neither his competitors nor his dreams could keep up with his performances. Bounding over the 10 three-foot hurdles, taking an unprecedented 13 steps between hurdles instead of the usual 14, he was a remarkable combination of speed, grace and stamina.""
Hey Galaxy is back! 👍😎 🍻
Fernando Tatis (Sr) hit 2 Grand Slams - in the same inning!
Bill Walton shooting a d making 21 out of 22 shots in an NCAA tournament game.
That is remarkable but I am also fond of the 1961-1962 season where Wilt averaged 48.5 minutes per game despite the fact that a regulation game is 48 minutes long.
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What about Christian Laetner’s ‘perfect game’ against Kentucky which saw him make every FG and FT attempted including the turnaround jumper at the buzzer off of the perfect full court pass from Grant Hill?
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Laettner immediately came to mind when I read the Walton comment, too.
Never doubted your stats DA, but i looked that up anyway.
Yankees had a bit above a .500 W/L record with a .214 team BA.
No wonder the game times were short.
Norm Van Brocklin threw for 554 yards in a single game in 1951. A record that still stands.
I don't think too many people realize just how "dead" that era was. The pre-Ruth years are always referred to as the "deadball era", but the 5-year stretch with the lowest MLB-wide batting average was 1965-1969; second is 1905-1909. For lowest average over a 10-year period, the top 9 spots end in the years 1968 through 1976; in tenth place is 1904-1913. Many of the best players of the second deadball era - Dick Allen, Sal Bando, Bobby Bonds, Bobby Murcer, Reggie Smith, Rusty Staub, Roy White, and Jimmy Wynn are at the top of the non-HOF list - were much, much better than most people realize.
Cy Young pitched 749 complete games.
If a pitcher starting out next year had 33 starts per season for 22 years, and pitched the entire game for all those starts,
that would give him 726 complete games, good for second place.
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Also a good point!
This record is amazing considering the pussy NFL game of today. You would think someone in the last 10-15 years would've broken this record easily.
IT CAN'T BE A TRUE PLAYOFF UNLESS THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONS ARE INCLUDED
I believe first NFL Completion (does not need the Green Bay qualifier)
I was watching Pawn Stars a few weeks back. They featured some items from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (highest number of points scored in NBA History)
They broke to commercial and asked how many 3-pointers did he make in his career? (with some multiple choice answers)
The Answer was he only made 1
Oliva was pretty good too!
5 straight home runs off of the same pitcher!
https://www.mlb.com/video/kepler-rips-2-more-off-of-bauer?t=best-performer
One always runs the risk, when making a list, of leaving out someone. I was focused on a slightly later decade, 1967-1976, than the one in which Oliva would shine. But in the interest of fairness to some other great players in the second deadball era, I'll add Oliva, Willie Davis, Frank Howard, Jim Fregosi, and Bill Freehan. I'm sure I'm still overlooking someone.
Some of the players I've listed belong in the HOF, and I would be less offended by any of them making the HOF than I was by Jim Rice or Harold Baines.
Barry Bonds 71 HRs in a Season 💥💥💥
Serious question: does that mean that many of the pitchers of that era (Gibson, Perry, Marichal, Jenkins, Seaver, for example) were worse than most people realize?
Short answer: yes.
But, you have to look at each pitcher in his own circumstances.
The pitchers who were in parks that were easy for pitchers in any era got to pitch half their games in a dead park in a dead era. The deadest hitters parks at that time were in Oakland and LA, and HOF pitchers from those teams (Hunter, Koufax, Drysdale, Sutton) were not as great as people think. In Hunter's case, not anywhere near as great as people think. But there were also pitchers in hitters parks that were cancelling out a lot of the era effects (Jenkins, Niekro).
Some pitchers pitched their entire productive career in this era (Hunter and Koufax again) and others who had already shown they were great before it began (Gibson, Marichal), or who continued to show how great they were after the era was over (Seaver, Perry, Palmer).
It all depends on how great people think the pitcher was. Bob Gibson's 1.12 ERA could only have occurred in 1968 specifically. If anyone is comparing that 1.12 mark to ERAs in any other post-1919 year and not taking the year into account in some significant way, then that person will no doubt think Gibson was better than he really was. But I think most baseball fans understand that to some degree, whether they can put precise numbers to it or not, and take the 1.12 with a grain of salt, but still recognize that Gibson was great.
It's also how each person wants to interpret the data.
It's just as likely those pitchers were so good they helped cause the lower batting averages. Plus MAYBE several great hitters were past their primes and the next batch wasn't quite ready.
From 1950-59 Aaron, Mays, Mantle, Killebrew, Frank Robinson, McCovey, Banks and Ed Mathews all were rookies. At one point in time they comprised 8 of the top 10 home run hitters of all time. Does this mean that hitting home runs was easier then, or that a group of great sluggers all happened to arrive in a 10 year period? Was pitching worse?
Was it a combination of all of this and maybe other factors?
Certainly fun to debate!
JB, stuff like you're talking about certainly has an effect at the margins, but when the batting average for the entire major leagues drops 21 points in six years, then goes back up 21 points six years later, it does not happen because there are a few more great pitchers than normal.
In 1968, not a single MLB player, not even the guys you mentioned some of whom were at their absolute peaks, scored 100 runs. The only other time that ever happened was in 1918, when no team played more than 131 games. If we recognize Honus Wagner as one of the greatest to ever play the game - and we should - it's because we recognize that when he was hitting .330 or .340 it was a hell of a lot more impressive than any of the .400 seasons in the 20's and 30's. The same consideration should be given to the seasons Yaz had at the nadir of the second deadball era, or Mays' 1965 season, or what Reggie was doing in the deadest park in baseball.
Marichal was better in 1969 than 1968, so was Bunning and Perry. Jenkins was about as good in 1967 as '68. Kooseman was almost as good (in some areas better) the next year.
The AL it was a different story with most of the ERA leaders having their best years BY FAR.
Oh that's right, Killebrew was hurt! LOL
Mantle was about done, Jackson hadn't really arrived, Yaz had a down year( he was up and down a LOT). Frank Howard and Willie Horton were the two guys hitting the ball and neither are in the HOF. Another guy, Norm Cash didn't think it was the year of the pitcher either.
In the AL in 1968 there were two healthy HOF hitters in their primes. Yaz and Frank Robinson and it looks like Frank was hurt for part of that year.
Yaz had a down year in 1968? Um, OK, that's my cue to exit this conversation.
I will add to the list of nominations Craig Biggio, who came to bat 744 times in 1997 and ground into zero double plays.
Mickey Mantle was originally a shortstop. but after making 102 errors in his final two seasons in the minors, he was moved to the outfield.
you'll never be able to outrun a bad diet
here's a good one that literally just happened. David Duval shot 48 on the front nine at the British Open............after being 2-under thru his first 4 holes.
you'll never be able to outrun a bad diet
...because while he was ready to hit in the majors,he also had no chance of supplanting the best defensive shortstop and reigning MVP in baseball at the time - Phil Rizzuto.
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Caitlyn Jenner was selected in the 7th round of the 1977 NBA draft by the Kansas City Kings
you'll never be able to outrun a bad diet
Joe Sewell had 8333 plate appearances. Struck out 114 times. By way of comparison, Domingo Santana has already struck out more this season in 418 PA.
Home runs and RBI were way down. I didn't say it was a BAD year.
He did hit 40 HR in '67 and 69-70. He did walk a lot in '68, but hit only 23 HR. Runs scored was lowest of the 4 year period despite all the walks.
While Joe DiMaggio has become, oddly enough, underrated as time has passed he’s one of the greatest hitters and fielders of all time without question. Some dismiss this club as a ‘random’ list but to me it’s names merit it’s presentation. So, here’s the list of guys who have had more home runs than strikeouts (min. 20 HR) in a season multiple times and how many times they’ve done it:
DiMaggio- 7 seasons
Yogi Berra- 5
Ted Kluszewski- 4
Bill Dickey- 3
Johnny Mize- 3
Lefty O'Doul- 3
Ted Williams- 3
Lou Gehrig-2
Ken Williams- 2
And if you make the minimum threshold of 30 HR, the list becomes:
DiMaggio- 6 seasons
Kluszewski- 4
Berra- 2
Gehrig- 2
Mize- 2
Now, you can argue era all you want but the strikeout is an unproductive out. The ability to hit for power, average AND not strikeout has been lost because of the power swing taught to every kid in America these days. That’s why it has only happened twice since Mickey Mantle won the triple crown - George Brett and Barry Bonds. Tony Gwynn also came close but there was no Macanudo for him...
...oh yeah, Joe D hit in 56 straight games in the majors once, too.
Curious about the rare, mysterious and beautiful 1951 Wheaties Premium Photos?
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