Daily Archives: June 9th, 2011

Do second basemen make the best managers?

Fifty-six managers have won 1,000 or more games in the major leagues. Of those 56, 50 also played in the majors.

What position has “birthed” the most 1,000-win managers in the majors? Second basemen top the list with 11. Active skipper Tony LaRussa played second base in the “bigs” and tops the list of second basemen turned managers with the most wins, 2,675 (through June 8, 2011).

Following are the number of managers who have won 1,000 or more games at each position these managers played in the majors. Also listed is the manager who has won the most games at each position.

Position                               Managers              Most wins

Second Basemen                            11                        Tony LaRussa, 2,675*

Catchers                                            8                        Connie Mack, 3,731

Shortstops                                        6                        Leo Durocher, 2,008

Third Basemen                                6                        John McGraw, 2,763

First Basemen                                 5                         Walter Alston, 2,040

Left Fielders                                    5                         Lou Piniella, 1,835

Right Fielders                                 5                         Casey Stengel, 1,905

Pitchers                                            2                         Tommy Lasorda, 1,599

Center Fielders                               2                         Ned Hanlon, 1,313

Note: The six managers with 1,000 or more wins that did not play in the majors:

Joe McCarthy, 2,215

Jim Leyland, 1,526*

Earl Weaver, 1,480

Frank Selee, 1,284

John McNamara, 1,160

Jack McKeon, 1,011

* Through games of June 8, 2011

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NBA scoring leaders who dished the ball

Dwyane Wade in the 2008-09 NBA regular season became the seventh player in NBA history to lead the league in scoring and compile 500 or more assists that same season. Michael Jordan did it four times during his career.

Following are the NBA season scoring leaders who have dished out the most assists in the same season that they led the league in scoring.

Player, Season                                                      Scoring Ave                 Assists

Tiny Archibald, 1972-73                                                    34.0                               910

Michael Jordan, 1988-89                                                  32.5                               650

Oscar Robertson, 1967-68                                                29.2                               633

Allen Iverson, 2004-05                                                     30.7                               596

Dwyane Wade, 2008-09                                                   30.2                               589

Jerry West, 1969-70                                                          31.2                                 554

LeBron James, 2007-08                                                   30.0                               539

Michael Jordan, 1989-90                                                 33.6                                519

Michael Jordan, 1991-92                                                  30.1                                489

Michael Jordan, 1987-88                                                  35.0                               485

A Tiger hunt in the majors

Not that anyone needs to make a case for Tiger Woods’ greatness and his dominance in the four major golf tournaments during the first decade of this century, but consider the following stat:

During the first decade of the 2000’s (the 2000-2009 PGA Tour seasons) Woods won or was within four shots of the winner at the end of the tournament in 23 of the 40 major events (British Open, Masters, PGA Championship, U.S .Open). Phil Mickelson was a distant second with 14.

Following are the nine golfers who either won or finished within four shots of the winner in the most majors during the decade of the 2000’s.

1. Tiger Woods, 23

2. Phil Mickelson, 14

3. Ernie Els, 9

4. Retief Goosen, 8

5. Padraig Harrington, Vijay Singh, 6

7. Stewart Cink, David Duval, Jim Furyk, 4