Interesting Rarely Known Sports Facts/Tidbits Thread

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1645094464531079174

2003 was closest I followed MLB. The Marlins were a total afterthought and underestimated the entire season. Basically every champion has pulled the “Nobody respected us!” card but the ‘03 Marlins might be a rare example of that being true.

That being said…Red Sox would have pounded them if they won the ALCS. Grrrr.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Fun video highlighted around 5:30 when they talk of a husband/wife duo being signed to be kicker/holder as a gimmick.
Followed by a clip of the woman botching a hold and getting plowed by half the D.

 

[BruiserBrody]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1649211971173068803

 

[BruiserBrody]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1650693012312162305

No Super Bowls for 12 was that close from happening, and he was no where near the field

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1650989140337475585

I would say this wasn’t one of @HarleyQuinn ’s prouder moments but he seems pretty psyched

 

[HarleyQuinn]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1649211971173068803

There's a reason those 70s Washington teams were nicknamed the "Over the Hill Gang" due to having almost all veterans (mostly came with George Allen from the Rams where he had coached them in the late 1960s).

The 1980s surprised me more though since I expected Gibbs to utilize more 1st Round picks in that era.

 

[alfdogg]

Dennis Rodman is the only player to be teammates with Isiah Thomas and Dirk Nowitzki.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

With the Boston Bruins loss last night, none of the teams who set the record for the all time regular season wins in the four major North American sports leagues have gone on to win a championship.

 

[BruiserBrody]

With the Boston Bruins loss last night, none of the teams who set the record for the all time regular season wins in the four major North American sports leagues have gone on to win a championship.

Larry Czonka runs you over, carrying a big asterisk.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

SportsCenter pointed out that the WNBA team with the all time regular season record won a championship.

Woke culture run amok!!!!

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Tonight is the first time that the Anaheim Angels and St. Louis Cardinals have played when Albert Pujols isn’t playing for one of the teams.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Pro Football HOF on Facebook:

At the NFL Draft #OTD in 1985, the Dallas Cowboys had the 17th pick, with which they intended to take a particular wide receiver.
But when the San Francisco 49ers traded with New England to move up to No. 16 and took Jerry Rice, it changed the course of NFL history.

So there exists a possible timeline where I grew up hating Jerry Rice.
Or Jimmy J trades him for a boat load of picks.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1991/04/20/cowboys-make-a-deal-get-no-1-pick-in-draft/419dd915-eeb7-490e-9db2-2005ccd995ec/

There's an alternate universe out there where WR Rocket Ismail is either a Dallas Cowboy or New England Patriot with the 1st overall pick or an Atlanta Falcon with the 3rd overall pick instead of spurning the Dallas Cowboys and going to the CFL.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

The Chicago White Sox have won three playoff series since the Black Sox Scandal in 1919. All three series wins were during the 2005 postseason.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

In the past 30 years, the State of Florida has appeared in as many Stanley Cup Finals as the entire country of Canada.


Piss off, Gary Bettman.

 

[Hawk 34]

In the past 30 years, the State of Florida has appeared in as many Stanley Cup Finals as the entire country of Canada.


Piss off, Gary Bettman.

Buddy hate to remind you but uh, you ain’t Canadian.

 

[BruiserBrody]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1665872147900669952

 

[HarleyQuinn]

3 Defensive Players from the 2001 Chicago Bears (who went an improbable 13-3 that year while allowing an astonishingly low 203 points all year) would end up playing for the Patriots by 2003 or 2004: Keith Traylor, Rosevelt Colvin, and Ted Washington. From Week 11 - Week 17 that Bears defense allowed 6, 10, 17, 3, 15, 0, and 13 points.

Almost 95% of that 2001 defense was gone by the end of the 2004 season, which is a crazy turnaround to think about.

Feels like when people think of the "Urlacher Bears Defenses" they think of that team or the 2005/2006 teams (the 2005 team allowed 202 points for comparison's sake).

 

[alkeiper]

Let's talk about double plays. Albert Pujols is the all time leader with 426. Pujols rolled into a lot of double plays but he also played a large number of games. A lot of guys grounded into double plays at a more prodigous rate. Gene Green only qualified for a batting title once but led the league in GIDP twice. He grounded into a double play in 5% of his career plate appearances. But with a runner on first and less that two outs, that percentage jumped to 21.4%. Basically if he was batting in a double play situation, you had a better than one in five chance of getting one.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Let's talk about double plays. Albert Pujols is the all time leader with 426. Pujols rolled into a lot of double plays but he also played a large number of games. A lot of guys grounded into double plays at a more prodigous rate. Gene Green only qualified for a batting title once but led the league in GIDP twice. He grounded into a double play in 5% of his career plate appearances. But with a runner on first and less that two outs, that percentage jumped to 21.4%. Basically if he was batting in a double play situation, you had a better than one in five chance of getting one.

Now you have me curious so I thought it'd be interesting to compare some of the more well-known "speedsters" and their career GIDP rates...

Michael Bourn: 34 in 5,323 PA
Lou Brock: 114 in 11,240 PA
Vince Coleman: 45 in 5,970 PA
Rickey Henderson: 172 in 13,346 PA
Kenny Lofton: 111 in 9,235 PA
Joe Morgan: 105 in 11,329 PA
Juan Pierre: 92 in 8,280 PA
Tim Raines: 142 in 10,359 PA
Jose Reyes: 82 in 8,240 PA
Deion Sanders: 23 in 2,325 PA
Maury Wills: 92 in 8,306 PA

 

[alkeiper]

When I’m at a desktop I’ll take a close look. Speedy players by nature bat lead off and thus have less opportunities with runners on base. That’s why I like using the runner on first, less than two outs split.

Just looking at batters hitting first though, I’ll note Ichiro Suzuki and Brett Butler did particularly well and not grounding into double plays. Eric Young (Sr) was poor at grounding into double plays.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

After yesterday’s game, Miami Marlins are 10 games above .500 for the first time in franchise history.

(They were the Florida Marlins last time they were 10 games over .500)

 

[BruiserBrody]

https://www.facebook.com/GreenBayPackersNation/photos/a.222702311191791/6000698463392118

 

[alkeiper]

Following up on the stolen base thing. I took a list of the top base stealers since 1950.

Rk	Player	%	Pa	Gidp
1	Rickey Henderson	0.0949227373068433	1812	172
2	Lou Brock	0.0739074550128535	1556	115
3	Tim Raines	0.0929927963326785	1527	142
4	Vince Coleman	0.065406976744186	688	45
5	Joe Morgan	0.0491029272898961	2118	104
6	Willie Wilson	0.0717131474103586	1255	90
7	Bert Campaneris	0.072463768115942	1449	105
8	Kenny Lofton	0.0821005917159763	1352	111
9	Otis Nixon	0.0958721704394141	751	72
10	Juan Pierre	0.0851063829787234	1081	92

Note Joe Morgan, far fewer double plays than anyone else on that list. Bill James in his abstract though noted the absurdly low total of Darren Daulton and he’s better than anyone else on this list.

 

[alkeiper]

Just a few more things to throw in. I've mentioned the 'runner on first with less than two outs' split. Plugged the top 1200 in plate appearances into a spreadsheet.

-The median result for GIDP in that situation is 10.78% and the average of the group was 10.81%. Mark Kotsay, Mike Moustakas, Milton Bradley, those guys are typical.

-Max Carey is #1, just 1.93%. I don't know if I should trust that number. Double plays were not an official stat and his is counted from game level data. But Carey is a Hall of Famer and led the NL in stolen bases ten times. It's plausable.

-Darren Daulton is fifth. This injury prone catcher is tougher to double up than Ichiro Suzuki.

-Dead last is Ernie Lombardi. Lombardi is fascinating. Easily one of the slowest players in MLB history. But he won two batting titles. Infielders could play on the outfield grass and he still hit .306 for his career. He's clearly a player with an 80 bat and 20 speed.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Kansas City Royals are 0-15 when Jordan Lyles has started this season.

 

[alkeiper]

Jordan Lyles strikes me as someone who needs a lot of help from his defense. The Royals are not that team. I'm sure that tidbit came about because it's the longest such streak to start a season.

I haven't taken Luis Arraez's chances of hitting .400 seriously. But it's worth noting the last player to hit .400+ even in the first half was Rod Carew in 1983. Carew is the only hitter to hit .400 in the first half since 1948 (Stan Musial).

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Cincinnati Reds are the first team to have a ten game winning streak a season after losing 100 or more games since the Louisville Colonels (now defunct) did it in 1890.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Jordan Lyles strikes me as someone who needs a lot of help from his defense. The Royals are not that team. I'm sure that tidbit came about because it's the longest such streak to start a season.

How Jordan Lyles made a $50m career out of the art of losing

Why does the Kansas City pitcher keep getting chances to lose? Sometimes it’s easy to underestimate those athletes for whom availability is a virtue

www.theguardian.com

This story has crossed over the UK. Presumably cause they assume that the Royals are named after Charles, Camilla, and William.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Tonight was the first time that the Chicago Cubs won a game in Yankee Stadium. They were swept by the Yankees in the World Series in 1932 and 1938 and swept during their three previous visits (2005, 2014, and last season).