Interesting Rarely Known Sports Facts/Tidbits Thread

[HarleyQuinn]

2 wide receivers who played under Joe Tiller at Wyoming are in the Top 10 all-time in FBS receiving yards: Marcus Harris at 4,518 (1993-1996) is 5th, Ryan Yarborough at 4,357 (1990-1993) is 10th.

The career leader? Western Michigan's Corey Davis with 5,285 (2013-2016) who finally broke Trevor Insley's (Nevada) long-standing record of 5,005 set from 1996-1999.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

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[alfdogg]

Lowry seems like such a random example to illustrate this, but I suppose it is either him, Rondo or LaMarcus Aldridge who has the best resume from that rookie class.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Kyle Lowry and PJ Tucker are the only active players from the 2006 draft class and Lowry has had a better/more notable career.

 

[alfdogg]

Kevin Garnett is the only player to play against the 1996 Bulls and the 2016 Warriors.

Saw this one on twitter a couple weeks ago; he is also the only player to play against Magic Johnson and Nikola Jokic.

 

[MFer]

Funny thing, as long as LeBron has played, I'm not sure if he has two players he played against who would garner that "wow" reaction. I pulled Karl Malone and Victor Wembanyama off the top of my head, but as it turned out, Malone missed both games against the Cavs in 2004!

 

[alfdogg]

Vince Carter (22 seasons)

Played against Dominique Wilkins and Ja Morant
Played against Horace and Harvey Grant as well as Jerami and Jerian (looks like a few others did this one too after more digging)

Also played in both lockout-shortened seasons and the Covid-shortened season.

 

[strummer]

With the Wolves losing in the Conference finals no teams from Minnesota in the 4 major North American sports have made their sports final round since the 1991 Twins. 33 years ago.

Without looking it up that has to be up there for markets represented in all 4 sports.

 

[alfdogg]

The Stanley Cup and NBA Finals saw the Florida Panthers and Boston Celtics both jump out to 3-0 leads in their series, only to lose game 4 of their series.

The NHL has seen four teams come back to win series after being down 3-0.

1) 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs over the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals
2) 1975 New York Islanders over the Pittsburgh Penguins. In the following round, the Islanders would once again fall down 3-0 and come back to force a Game 7, but this time would come up short against the Philadelphia Flyers. Overall, the Islanders won 8 games in this postseason when facing elimination.
3) 2010 Philadelphia Flyers over the Boston Bruins
4) 2014 Los Angeles Kings over the San Jose Sharks. The Kings won 7 games when facing elimination in this postseason, the most ever by a Stanley Cup winner.

The 2004 Boston Red Sox are famously the only team to make such a comeback in the MLB. It has never happened in the NBA.

 

[strummer]

And we are getting a game 7. The Oilers could be the first team in 82 years to win the cup after trailing 3-0 in the series

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Pretty cool stuff...

 

[alfdogg]

In 1991 Terry Pendleton was named National League MVP, but was not named an All-Star. Without looking it up, are there any other instances of this happening, in any sport?

 

[alkeiper]

Kirk Gibson won the '88 NL MVP and was NEVER an All Star selection.

 

[alfdogg]

Looks like it's actually happened quite a few times in baseball.

BP Unfiltered: MVPs Who Weren't All-Stars | Baseball Prospectus

Which players have won MVP awards without making the Midsummer Classic?

www.baseballprospectus.com

 

[snuffbox]

I was going to mention Robin's second MVP.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Babe Ruth had 3 seasons of 160+ RBI yet Lou Gehrig had 3 seasons of 170+ RBI including 185 in 1931.

Manny Ramirez's 165 RBI in 1999 is still tied for 11th highest All-Time in MLB history. 3 other players on that Indians team had 100+ RBI including a very young Richie Sexson. That was also the rookie season of one Dave Roberts.

 

[alkeiper]

Babe Ruth in 1931 came to bat with 459 runners on base. Lou Gehrig? 601.

The 1930s were an era where teams had high batting averages and on base percentages but not everyone was a power hitter. Lots of RBI opportunities.

 

[alkeiper]

Most famous pennant races feature a great completed comeback, not one that fell short. The 1928 Yankees after July 1 led the American League by 13.5 games over the Philadelphia A's. The A's actually took the lead briefly in September before dropping three of four to the Yankees and falling short of the pennant. It was a sign of things to come though, the A's won the next three pennants.

 

[alkeiper]

John Henry "Pop" Lloyd. Hall of Famer. Had an extremely long career, his pro career ran from 1906-1932. But his time in recognized "major" leagues did not start until he was 37 years old. How good was he? By the time his career shows up he's playing second base, Here's Lloyd after age 37 compared to other second basemen:

Player Batting Season & Career Stats Finder - Baseball | Stathead.com: Query Results | Stathead.com

stathead.com

Caveats about comparing negro league stats to AL/NL stats. But this isn't just "there's some good players in that group." It's the elite second basemen. I don't think it's a stretch to suggest Lloyd might've been as good as Eddie Collins.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

John Henry Lloyd - Seamheads Negro Leagues Database

www.seamheads.com

By his late 20s and early 30s, he was putting up 140+ or 170+ OPS numbers. I think he'd have been very comparable to the elite SS of the era like Ray Chapman or a young Rogers Hornsby. It would've been really interesting to see if his power numbers jumped like Hornsby did in the early 20s.

 

[alkeiper]

Lloyd was older than those guys, think more in line with Eddie Collins. But I once did searches to see similar HOF players in size, weight, dominant hand and found Lloyd was about the same size as Carl Yastrzemski. Yaz didn't play shortstop but I wonder how many of those black legends would stick at their original position. I suspect the negro leagues may have been like college ball in terms of determining who played where on the diamond. Both Lloyd and Yaz had exceptionally long careers.

Here's an interesting player I came across while looking at the increased power question. Tillie Walker. Went from hitting 2-6 home runs a season in the dead ball era to hitting 37 with the Philadelphia A's in 1922. It shows how difficult a home run park Fenway was in its early days that even with Babe Ruth, the home run leader for the Sox in 1917 was Harry Hooper with three. Moving to Shibe Park paid immediate dividends for Walker.

Post-post script on that. 1918 Ruth hits 11 home runs. The rest of his team hits four combined. 1919, Ruth hits 29, that's famous. Harry Hooper hits three, he was pretty good. Stuffy McInnis hit the only other home run for the Red Sox that season. To show the Fenway effect, Ruth hit 20 on the road and nine at home. McInnis hit his at home. Ten home runs at home for the entire club, all season.

 

[alkeiper]

An interesting note about Sandy Koufax's perfect game I read in a SABR journal. The average season batting average for the Cubs' starting lineup that night was .168, the lowest for any team no-hit in modern MLB history. Don Young and Byron Browne were making their MLB debuts. Opposing pitcher Bob Hendley carried his own no-hitter into the seventh inning. The only Dodger run scored on an error, and I believe the combined baserunner total of two is also an MLB record.

 

[alkeiper]

Morrie Martin got two Hall of Fame votes in 1966. His bWAR was 3.8 and his traditional numbers are unremarkable. 38 career wins. 4.29 ERA. Mostly a reliever. But Martin was badly injured in WWII and almost lost a leg. To come back and have a full MLB career is remarkable.

Morrie Martin Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Morrie Martin. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com

www.baseball-reference.com

Many player pages on Baseball-reference have bios linked to SABR. It's times like this that I'm grateful for that project.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Will never tire of stuff like... love that it's an engaging recap with a before-through-after with no narration. I remember literally discovering the Big 10 Channel solely for this game.

 

[alfdogg]

Something I randomly thought about today. The NBA Finals this year was between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs were coached by Jason Kidd, who was the last player active to have played in a game at the Boston Garden.

 

[alfdogg]

Since Derrick Rose's MVP season in 2011, there has been no guard from the Eastern Conference to be named first-team All-NBA.

It was also Rose's only All-NBA appearance. Wes Unseld is the only other former MVP to not make multiple All-NBA teams.

 

[alkeiper]

Last night's postseason clinching triple play by the Padres had me searching for the most consequential triple play in baseball history. By Championship Win Probability Added I found this one:

New York Giants vs Philadelphia Phillies Box Score: September 6, 1924 | Baseball-Reference.com

New York Giants beat Philadelphia Phillies (16-14). Sep 6, 1924, Attendance: 15000, Time of Game: 2:47. Visit Baseball-Reference.com for the complete box score, play-by-play, and win probability

www.baseball-reference.com

New York Giants a half game above Brooklyn with about three weeks left in the season. They end up in a Baker Bowl slugfest, leading 16-14 in the ninth. Phillies get their first two on but then line into a triple play. The Giants would go on to win the pennant.

Edit: For anyone wondering. The Wambsganss unassisted triple play took place in a 7-0 game so the probability added statistics aren't terribly impressed. I think it still has an argument.

 

[alkeiper]

From the forgotten pennant race files. The Pirates entered the last day of the 1974 season one game ahead of the St Louis Cardinals for the east crown. The Cards' game with the Expos was rained out. The Pirates trailed the Cubs in the ninth inning of their game but tied the game on a passed ball on what would've been the game ending strikeout. The Pirates won in ten innings, clinching the division.

October 2, 1974: Dropped third strike leads Pirates to NL East division title – Society for American Baseball Research

sabr.org

Chicago Cubs vs Pittsburgh Pirates Box Score: October 2, 1974 | Baseball-Reference.com

Pittsburgh Pirates beat Chicago Cubs (5-4). Oct 2, 1974, Attendance: 22725, Time of Game: 2:57. Visit Baseball-Reference.com for the complete box score, play-by-play, and win probability

www.baseball-reference.com

 

[HarleyQuinn]

I'm fully blaming Al when I'm in bed at 92 years old and my future grand kid asks me something and I go into a diatribe about a random final game from 1974 about the Pirates

 

[alkeiper]

This is what they took away from us when they created the wild card.