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.
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Stats the Fact, Jack; August 31, 2020
(A weekly look at several sports stats you may not know)
- Josh Hader had a truly dreadful stat line on Friday August 29; coming in the game in the ninth inning in a save situation against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Hader ended up with a blown save after walking five batters and recording only one out (he allowed two earned runs). He left the game with the Brewers behind in the contest, but the team eventually came back to win the contest. Hader became the 20th pitcher since 1909 to pitch less than 1/3 of an inning and record five or more walks. The last time it happened was in 2016 when Steve Delabar of the Reds lasted 0.1 innings and also had five walks. Lou Brissie, a pitcher with the Philadelphia A’s in 1950, is the only pitcher in MLB history to pitch less than 0.1 innings in a game and have six walks.
- Let’s take a look at the flipside of Hader’s stats: Of all MLB pitchers with 200 or more career innings pitched, Hader tops the list with the highest strikeouts per nine innings. Hader had 363 career strikeouts in 214.1 innings, a per nine innings ratio of 15.24. He is one of only five pitchers to have a career strikeouts per nine innings ratio above 14. The others: Aroldis Chapman (14.81), Edwin Diaz(14.7), Craig Kimbrel (14.64) and Dellin Betances (14.44). All five of the pitchers listed above are active this season. Of those pitchers no longer active, Rob Dibble has the highest strikeouts per nine innings ratio, 12.03.
- Is it possible that the Baltimore Ravens could win 15 or 16 games this season? If they continue their winning trend over the past five seasons, it might happen. The Ravens won five games in 2015, increased that win total to 8 in 2016, 9 in 2017, 10 in 2018, and won 14 games last season. The only others NFL teams to increase their win totals over the past two seasons are the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks; the Broncos have increased their win totals from 5-6-7 over the past three seasons, while the Seahawks have won 9-10-11 over the past three years. It’s interesting to note that the Tennessee Titans have won exactly nine games in each of their last four seasons.
- The Green Bay Packers will open the 2020 season against the Minnesota Vikings. The Pack and Vikes have opened the season six times, the last being in 2008 when the Packers won 24-19. The teams are each 3-3 in season-opening contests against each other.
- There is a pretty good chance that Giannis Antetokounmpo will soon become the fifth Bucks player in team history to surpass the 1,000 point mark in playoff games for the team. Giannis has 934 career points in playoff games. Topping the list is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with 1,692 career playoff points for the Bucks. He is followed by Sidney Moncrief (1,451), Marques Johnson (1,163) and Bob Dandridge (1,126). Khris Middleton has jumped into 10th place on the list with 684 career playoff points.
- In the Giannis-era (since the 2013-14 season), the Bucks have now played in seven playoff series… their eighth will be the upcoming conference semifinals against the Miami Heat. In the previous seven series, the Bucks are 3-4 in the first game of the series. In the four series since 2015 where they lost Game One, the Bucks went on to win the series twice.
- Ryan Braun recently became the 119th player in MLB history to have 800 or more extra base hits in a career. Of those 119 players, 68 are currently in the Hall of Fame. Braun is only the second Brewers player to reach 800 career extra-base hits; Robin Yount had 960 with the club. Can you name the other three Brewers players who ended their careers with the team with 500 or more career extra-base hits? The three: Paul Molitor (651), Cecil Cooper (579) and Geoff Jenkins (521).
- Did you know that the Green Bay Packers record for most passing yards in a season-opening game is 333… held by three different QBs? Lynn Dickey (in 1983), Brett Favre (in 1999) and Aaron Rodgers (in 2013) each passed for 333 yards in a Packers season-opening game, most in team history. Dickey holds the team record for most TD passes in a season-opening game with five.
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Stats the Fact, Jack: August 17, 2020
(A weekly look at several sports stats you may not know)
- The Brewers are at the .500 mark (a 10-10 record through games of August 16) with the season one-third of the way complete. The Brew Crew is averaging only 4.0 runs per game in the first 20 games of this season; if the season ended today, that would be the 12th lowest offensive output in team history. The fewest runs per game for a Brewers team was 3.16 in 1972. The second lowest was 3.54 in 1976. That, however, is not the worst news… through games of August 16 this year, the Brewers team batting average is .221; the lowest team batting average for a season was 1971 when the team hit .229. In fact, the four lowest team batting averages were all under .243 and happened in the first four seasons of the franchise: 1969, 1970, 1971 and 1972. One more dreadful stat through the first 20 games: The Brewers offense has averaged 10.1 strikeouts per game. The most strikeouts per game the team have averaged in a season is 9.7 in 2017.
- Bob Uecker is a Hall of Famer… broadcaster, that is. He has gotten a lot of comedic mileage out of the fact that he had a very mediocre MLB career, and his nickname of “Mr. Baseball,” which came from Johnny Carson, certainly takes advantage of that fact. But did you know that Uecker may have had one of the worst seasons of all time for a player? In 1967, Uecker had 221 plate appearances and a season batting average of .150. He is one of only 11 players since 1901 to have 200 or more plate appearances and a batting average of .150 or below in a season. If that isn’t enough, in that same season, Uecker led the league with the most errors and most passed balls by a catcher. I guess it was a good thing that he was so funny.
- Aaron Rodgers is one of 28 quarterbacks in NFL history to have 100 or more TD passes in a career and less than 100 career interceptions… Rodgers has 364 career TD passes and only 84 career interceptions. Of all the NFL QBs with fewer than 100 career interceptions, Rodgers has the most TD passes with 364. Russell Wilson is second on the list with only 68 interceptions and 227 career TD passes.
- Defense will be a big key as the Bucks try to win an NBA title this season. Consider this: The Bucks were 56-17 this season, best record in the NBA; however, they were 11-12 (.478 winning percentage) in games when they allowed the opposition to score 115 or more points in a game, and were 45-5 (.900) when they kept their opponents under 115 points in a game. The Bucks were a perfect 26-0 this season when the defense held foes to 102 or fewer points in a game.
- Over the last 21 college football seasons, the University of Wisconsin has had four different running backs lead the nation in rushing yards: Ron Dayne (1999), Monte Ball (2011), Melvin Gordon (2014) and Jonathan Taylor (2018). In the last 21 years, only one other school had multiple players lead the nation in rushing yards… San Diego State (Donnel Pumphrey, 2016, and Rashaad Penay, 2017).
- In the Brewers 6-4 win over the Twins on August 11, the Brew Crew offense hit four home runs. Since 2015, the Brewers are 29-3 in games where they hit four or more HRs. Since 2015, the Brewers are 5-23 in games when their pitching staff allows four or more home runs.
- Green Bay Packers receiver Davante Adams has 50 or more receptions in five straight seasons. He joined four others Pack receivers who had 50+ receptions in five or more seasons; Donald Driver tops the list with nine seasons with 50+ catches for the Pack. He is followed by Sterling Sharpe with seven consecutive 50-catch seasons, Antonio Freeman with six straight seasons, and Greg Jennings with five straight seasons with 50 or more receptions for the Packers.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo finished the 2019-20 NBA season with a points per game average of 29.5 and 13.6 rebounds per game. It was the third season in his career that he averaged 25 or more points and 10 or more rebounds per games in a season. He became the 17th player in NBA history to have three or more 25 points/10 rebounds seasons in an NBA career. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal each had 10 25/10 seasons, most in league history.
- The “Greek Freak” also finished this NBA season with an amazing stat: He upped his per game points average for the sixth straight season. He averaged 6.8 points per game in his rookie campaign and has upped that stat to 12.7, 16.9, 22.9, 26.9, 27.7 and 29.5 in each subsequent year. What’s even more noteworthy is that he has also upped his rebounds per game stat in each of his seven seasons in the league… he averaged 4.4 boards his rookie year and then upped that stat to 6.7, 7.7, 8.8, 10.0, 12.5 and 13.6.
- Can you imagine going a whole MLB career without a stolen base? There are quite a few players who never swiped a base in their MLB career, but four of them had 2,000 or more plate appearances and never had a steal. The four: Russ Nixon (2,715 plate appearances and no steals; he played from 1957-68), Chris Snyder (2,459 PA, 2004-13), Johnny Estrada (2,244 PA, 2001-08) and Aaron Robinson (2,191 PA, 1943-51). The Brewers have seven players who had 500 or more plate appearances in a Brewers uniform but no stolen bases. Topping the list is Jesus Aguilar, who had 1,139 plate appearances with the Brewers and no stolen bases. He is followed by Wes Helms (1,030 plate appearances), Hank Aaron (851), Chad Moeller (669), Marc Newfield (583), Adam Lind (572) and Charlie O’Brien (559). The MLB record for most plate appearances with only one career stolen base is held by Gus Triandos, who played from 1953-65. He had 4,424 career plate appearances and only one career stolen base. The Brewers record for most plate appearances with only one career stolen base is 1,664 by Casey McGehee.
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