Stats the Fact, Jack; September 12, 2020
(A weekly look at several sports stats you may not know)
- The Brewers on September 9 defeated the Detroit Tigers 19-0. It was the second largest shutout blowout in team history. On April 22, 2010, the Brew Crew defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 20-0. It was also the seventh time in team history they scored 19 or more runs in a game and the first time they won a game 19-0. The Brewers are 55-0 in games when they score 15 or more runs in a game and 135-1 in games when they tally 13 or more runs in a game. The only loss when they scored 13 or more runs in a game was on June 29, 1995 when they lost to the Chicago White Sox 17-13.
- The Milwaukee Bucks placed three players on the NBA all-defensive first or second team for the 2019-20 season. Giannis Antetokounmpo was a first team selection while teammates Brook Lopez and Eric Bledsoe were chosen to the second team. It was the fifth season where the Bucks had multiple players on either the first or second team of the NBA all-defensive team; it happened in 2018-19 (Giannis and Bledsoe) and in 1985-86 (Paul Pressey and Sidney Moncrief), 1984-85 (Pressey and Moncrief) and 1981-82 (Quinn Buckner and Moncrief).
- In the Brewers 19-0 shutout of Detroit on September 9, starting pitcher Corbin Burnes allowed just one hit over seven innings, striking out 11. He became only the fourth Brewers pitcher to pitch seven or more innings with no earned runs, have 11 or more strikeouts and allow one or no hits. The others were Chase Anderson (May 27, 2017), CC Sabathia (August 31, 2008) and Steve Woodard (July 28, 1997).
- There have now been 17 NBA playoff series that have gone to a seventh game since the 2016 playoffs (the past five playoff seasons). Of those 17 series, the team that won Game 6 also won game 7 in seven of those 17 series.
- Over the past five NFL seasons (2015-19), home teams have a winning percentage of .561 (715-560-5). Topping the list are the New England Patriots who were 33-7 (.825) in home contests the last five seasons. Completing the Top 5 in best home winning percentage from 2015-19 are Kansas City (.750), Minnesota (.725), Pittsburgh (.700) and Green Bay (.688). The NFL’s worst home team (based on winning percentage the past five seasons) was Cleveland with a 12-27-1 (.313) in home contests.
- Did you know that seven NFL QB’s have passed for 400 or more yards in a regular season game yet did not throw a TD in that game? Detroit’s Matthew Stafford has done it twice. The others: Joe Montana, Warren Moon, Mark Brunell, Boomer Esiason, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Bernie Kosar. It has happened once in an NFL playoff game: Randall Cunningham on December 31, 1988 passed for 407 yards but no TD passes in the Eagles 2012 loss in the post-season to the Chicago Bears.
- Packers head coach Matt LeFleur had a fantastic first year with the team last year going 13-3 and playing in the NFC Championship Game. It was probably the best first-year coaching job in team history. So what will Year Two look like? If we look at all the Packers head coaches going back to Vince Lombardi, Year Two at the helm of the Pack was pretty good. Of the nine coaches from Vince Lombardi to Mike McCarthy who had a second season coaching the Packers, five made the playoffs their second season; the nine coaches compiled a combined 83-53 record (.610) winning percentage that second season. Five of those coaches won 10 or more games their second season with the Packers: Mike McCarthy (13-3), Mike Sherman (12-4), Lindy Infante (10-6), Dan Devine (10-4) and Vince Lombardi (10-4).
- Since 1970, the Packers have started the season on the road 16 times, compiling an 11-5 record. Eleven of those 16 season-opening games on the road since 1970 were decided by eight points or less. The last three season-opening road games were: 2015-at Chicago, a 31-23 win; 2016-at Jacksonville, a 27-23 win; and 2019-at Chicago, a 10-3 win.
- A pair of baseball Hall of Famers passed away recently, Tom Seaver and Lou Brock. Here are a few stats you may not know about these two legends of the game.
- Seaver: He had 231 career complete games, tied for 100th place… in addition to the 311 career wins, Seaver had one career save… he had 10 200-strikeout seasons; that places him fourth on the all-time list behind Nolan Ryan (14), Randy Johnson (13) and Roger Clemens (12)… Seaver made 18 appearances as a pinch runner and three as a pinch hitter in his career. He also had four career stolen bases… baseball.reference.com listed Seaver’s career salary total as $6,662,914. Imagine what he would’ve made in today’s baseball economy… Seaver is one of only ten pitchers to have 13 seasons with 15 or more wins (he had 13). Topping the list are Greg Maddux and Cy Young each with 18 seasons with 15 or more wins… Seaver finished in the Top 10 of the league MVP voting five times.
- Brock: Ironically, the pitcher Brock had the most career plate appearances against was Tom Seaver. He faced Seaver 157 times and batted .250 against Seaver… Brock had 100 or more runs scored in seven seasons, one of 70 players to do so… Brock had 34 career World Series hits and 14 career World Series stolen bases, making him one of only three players to have 30 career W.S. hits and 10 career W.S. steals. The others: Eddie Collins and Phil Rizzuto… Brock and Rickey Henderson are the only two players to have 3,000 career hits and 900 career stolen bases in a career (Henderson 3,055-1,406), Brock (3,023-938)… Brock and Henderson are also the only two MLB players in history to have 900 career RBI and 900 career steals… Brock never won an MVP Award, although he did finish second to Steve Garvey in 1974. That year Brock hit .306 and had 118 stolen bases.
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
Today’s Sportstat: February 20, 2020
Milwaukee Bucks: Six stats to keep an eye on as the season draws to a close
The Milwaukee Bucks jump into the second half of the 2019-20 NBA season with the league’s best record. With a 46-8 record, the Bucks have 28 games remaining on the schedule. The team, and a few of its players, is closing in on some noteworthy stats. Here are six stats that you’ll want to pay attention to as the regular season gives way to the playoffs.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging 30.0 points per game, 13.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists. He could become the fifth player in NBA history to finish a season with an average of 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Wilt Chamberlain (1963-64 and 1965-66) and Oscar Robertson (1960-61, 1961-62) each did it twice in their careers; Elgin Baylor did it in 1960-61, and the most recent player to reach these numbers was Russell Westbrook in the 2016-17 campaign.
- As mentioned above, the Bucks have a 46-8 record. The team’s best regular season record was in 1970-71 when they went 66-16. The second-best record was the following year when the team went 63-19. Last year’s Bucks were 60-22, tied for the third best record in team history with the 1972-73 and 1980-81 squads. This year’s team will need to finish 21-7 in their final 28 games to top the 1970-71 team’s record of 66-16.
- Guard George Hill has been lights out from the three-point arc this season. He has made 131 threes, but the impressive part of that is his percentage… he is shooting threes at .511 percentage through the first half of the season. There has been only five times in NBA history that a player has shot over 50% on three-pointers with a minimum of 150 threes made in the season. The five times: Detlef Schrempf (.514 percentage, 181 made threes) in 1994-95, Steve Kerr (.524-170 threes) in 1994-95, Tim Legler (.522, 245 threes) in 1995-96, Steve Kerr (.515, 237 threes) in 1995-96 and Jason Kapono (.514, 210 threes) in 2006-07. Hill has a chance to join this list.
- Through games of February 12, the Bucks have an active streak of 78 consecutive regular season games with at least 100 points. That is tied for 6th as the longest streak in league history. If they finish the season with 100 or more points in each of their remaining 28 games, that would increase the streak to 106 games at the end of the season. That would be the third longest streak in NBA history. Denver has the longest streak with 136 straight games with 100 or more points (in 1981 and 1982) and the San Antonio Spurs are second at 129 games (1978- 80).
- Brook Lopez has 135 blocks and has attempted 242 three-pointers this season. He should pass the 250 mark in three-point attempts soon; that would give him three seasons where he has had 100 or more blocks and 250 or more three-point field goal attempts. He would become only the fourth player in league history to reach those numbers (100 blocks and 250 three-point shots attempted) in three or more seasons. The others: Shawn Marion (he did it four times), Rasheed Wallace and Karl-Anthony Towns (three times each).
- Last season the Bucks set a team record with nine different players making 50 or more three-pointers in the season. With 28 games remaining, the team already has eight players with 50 or more made threes (Middleton-114, Matthews-82, Korver-77, Antetokounmpo-73, Brooks Lopez-72, Hill-67, DiVencenzo-62 and Bledsoe-56). The Bucks need two more players to reach the 50 mark to break the team record of nine players with 50 or more threes made in a season. The best bets are Ersan Ilyasova (he has 44 this season), Pat Connaughton (he has 35) and Sterling Brown (he has 31).
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp