04/24/24
April 07, 2014
SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
It's crazy how fast that flips. If it happened in a videogame I'd think it was unrealistic.
Yu Darvish got to 500 strikeouts faster than any other pitcher in Major League history. He did it in 401 2/3 innings, three below Kerry Wood's record.
posted by rcade at 09:21 AM on April 07, 2014
| All-time hits leaders | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pete Rose | 4256 |
| 2 | Ty Cobb | 4189 |
| 3 | Hank Aaron | 3771 |
| 4 | Stan Musial | 3630 |
| 5 | Tris Speaker | 3514 |
| 6 | Cap Anson | 3435 |
| 7 | Honus Wagner | 3420 |
| 8 | Carl Yastrzemski | 3419 |
| 9 | Derek Jeter | 3320 |
| 10 | Paul Molitor | 3319 |
An 150-hit season puts him in sixth place and is 56 hits below his career average. How high will he go?
posted by rcade at 10:28 AM on April 07, 2014
Armando Galarraga (sigh) has signed with the Brother Elephants in Taiwan.
posted by rcade at 12:22 PM on April 07, 2014
Armando Galarraga (sigh) has signed with the Brother Elephants in Taiwan.
I get that the "sigh" has to do with his (im)perfect game that was ruined by the umpire call, and that he was denied immortality.
It's interesting that I when I see Galarraga's name, I immediately remember that moment in baseball history. I think I'm more likely to remember his name for that moment than perfect game pitchers Philip Humber (the worst pitcher to ever throw one), Dallas Braden (the second worst pitcher to ever throw one), or Mike Witt.
posted by grum@work at 01:32 PM on April 07, 2014
I'd rather be known for perfection than for being robbed of it by an umpire's mistake. We experienced Armando Galarraga's cruel fate as it happened and it registered with us, but in time a lot of fans will only know of it secondhand, and it likely won't make as much of an impression.
In 20 years, will Galarraga still be as well-remembered like Mike Witt and Kenny Rogers? I don't think so.
posted by rcade at 06:30 PM on April 07, 2014
Dallas Braden (the second worst pitcher to ever throw one)
Len Barker had a longer career, but he was pretty damn pedestrian. The way he progressed, Braden would've lapped his WAR had his career not gotten cut short at 27 due to injury.
posted by dfleming at 08:46 PM on April 07, 2014
In 20 years, will Galarraga still be as well-remembered like Mike Witt and Kenny Rogers? I don't think so.
I had to look up Mike Witt to find out he threw the perfect game. I thought it was Bobby Witt.
And Kenny Rogers isn't going to be known for his perfect game, but for pushing around a cameraman and getting lit up like a Christmas tree whenever he pitched in Yankee Stadium (or pitched in the playoffs for any New York team).
posted by grum@work at 10:42 PM on April 07, 2014
I remember Rogers more for pushing around Simon Gonzalez, Texas Rangers beat writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 1994. I was working with Simon's wife at the Telegram's online newspaper when it happened.
posted by rcade at 07:18 AM on April 08, 2014
Rogers didn't always know how to hold 'em, but he did know how to fold 'em.
posted by beaverboard at 07:33 AM on April 08, 2014
Simply fantastic racing in the Grand Prix yesterday - if you've any interest in motor racing you should definitely find a stream if you can before FOM hits it with the takedown hammer. Especially nice that the race came after Bernie and di Montezemolo had a whine about the new Formula being boring.
Pastor Maldonado was at it again. He ended up with a stop/go penalty, a five spot grid penalty for the next race and three of those brand new penalty points for turning Esteban Gutierrez into an astronaut.