April 2008

I'm Glad We Lost

By David Horne, Sports by the Numbers co-author

It was an ugly game, marred by blown calls, a coach getting ejected, countless errors and unearned runs, and overall, just poor baseball out on the field.

It was a great experience though--we were seniors, most of us, and had played together since Little League. Our season began with only one goal--to win state--and without exception it was our sincere belief that not only was it possible, but that it was a sure thing.

We were good, really good--and we knew it, too.

Only one game stood between us and a trip to the state championships in Baseball City, Florida--and the guy pitching against us was Chipper Jones, a guy we all knew would get to play this game a lot longer than the rest of us.

Well, we beat him.

Of course, he also won a couple of state titles in high school, was drafted number one by the Atlanta Braves, won a league MVP, and a World Series title--not to mention, he made a few bucks along the way--but still, we had our moment.

We made it to the state championships, and all of our dreams were about to come true.

In our final practices before making the trip south, some of the guys who graduated before us, who once played on our field, gathered up on the hill behind the third base dugout and looked down at us with envy. They never got a trip to state--and I remember thinking about how badly they must have wanted to trade places with us, about how they wished they were the ones out on the field.

I never could have imagined how quickly things would end, or that I would end up on that same hill, feeling empty, willing to do anything for the chance to play one more game.

Then came the ugly game--our last, the one that we all remember not because we won state, but because we lost all of our dreams.

I was on first, and the tying run was at the plate when the game ended--and some photographer captured the exact moment when I realized my baseball career was over.

It was painful, obviously, but I also think it was good.

I try to imagine my life if we had won that game, and the best I can come up with is that Chipper would still be playing for the Braves and they still would never have wanted me.

So I think it was good, losing--because today so many people have a sense of entitlement, they think they deserve things and aren't willing to work for them. Players whine today, a lot of them, anyway--too many of them, for sure.

We lost, but time went on. I had to figure out if I wanted to stay on that hill and think about the past, or if I wanted to find a new game--this thing we call a life. I actually think losing made me a better person in the long run because it prepared me for dealing with adversity as an adult, and I know it made me focus on things that are truly important in life.

Of course, I don't mean to say winning isn't important, because it is.

But losing, though painful, is a lesson we should all learn. The reason is simple. Losing is a reality that we all must face, and the sooner we get it over with, then the sooner we can get on with life and tackle other things.

Last year I bought my nine-year-old nephew, Travis, an X-Box 360 for Christmas. He got a basketball game to go with it, and we set it up to play. My history of playing video games with Travis is like this--I beat the snot out of him without mercy, every game, every time.

I know it sounds cruel, but it's only a video game, and I'm trying to prepare him for life.

Well, it was Christmas, and he was excited, and so it crossed my mind that maybe I should throw him a bone and let him post one in the win column. It was a tight game, but I held a two point lead with a couple of minutes left.

I was laid out on the floor, relaxed, having the time of my life. Travis was standing, his face red and tense with sweat, his hands clutched in a death-grip on his wireless controller.

His intense desire to win forced me to cave. I had the ball at mid-court, and so I hit the button to shoot and for his benefit let out a "Hey, I didn't mean to do that!" shout.

Of course I made it.

I let him go uncontested the length of the court when he took the ball in--and he missed a dunk.

He was screaming at the TV. I took the ball inbounds, and threw it up the length of the court. I made it again, and my two point lead was now eight.

I tried to lose, but ended up beating him by eleven.

To tell you the truth though, I didn't even feel bad.

Besides, this past summer, for the first time ever, Travis beat me in a game of Madden. If you could have seen him when the clock ran out you would have thought he won the Super Bowl. It turns out, I think, that all those times I beat him made him work just a little bit harder to achieve something he wanted really bad--and I think that's a pretty good lesson to learn.

So now when I see this picture of me in that exact moment when my baseball career ended I can honestly say that I'm glad we lost.

Well, sort of.

Melky, Chien-Ming, and Those Darn Rays

Sports by the Numbers NYY Stat of the Week

26 It is early still, but after (26) games the Yankees are 1.5 games back of the division leading Tampa Bay Rays. Okay, so Tampa is tied with Baltimore and Boston on top of the standings, but after winning six in a row the Rays are the hottest team in baseball - and after dropping six of their last ten, the Yankees are dog-paddling to stay afloat, although I'm fairly certain that no one in the Bronx envisions the Rays as a long term problem.

Honorable Mentions
 
5 Melky Cabrera and Jason Giambi are tied for the team lead with (5) homeruns through the first 26 games of the 2008 season. Cabrera hit his fifth against C.C. Sabathia on Sunday to give the Yankees a 1-0 victory on the road in Cleveland - and his blast also improved Chien-Ming Wang's season record to (5)-0.

10 In case you can remember as far back as last season and the terrible performances in the early going from Mariano Rivera, the Yankees closer has now tossed (10) scoreless innings to start 2008 - after a scoreless inning against Cleveland on Sunday - and he has given up only four hits while striking out ten batters. Rivera is tied for fifth in the league with seven saves.

323 The ERA (3.23) for Chien-Ming Wang after pitching seven innings of shutout ball against Cleveland on Sunday to become the first five-game winner in the American League. Catcher Jose Molina later said of Wang, "He was amazing - you don't see many 1-0 games and this was one to appreciate." Wang gave up only four hits and two walks, but struck out a season high nine batters.

480 The winning percentage (.480) after posting a 12-13 record through his first 25 games in LA for former skipper Joe Torre. That record in the A.L. East would put a club two games back of the Rays - but the Dodgers trail the Diamondbacks in the N.L. West by six games, which is currently the largest deficit by a second place club in either league.

500 The winning percentage (.500) after posting a 13-13 record through his first 26 games in NY for current skipper Joe Girardi. To be honest it is a little embarrassing to be trailing the Rays after nearly a full month of play - but Girardi is doing things pretty well by most accounts to this point. NY is 5-4 at home, 8-9 on the road, and 7-7 against Boston, Baltimore, and Tampa - the three teams ahead of the Yankees in the standings.
 

How About Them "Devil" Free Rays

Sports by the Numbers MLB Stat of the Week

99 The number of pitches (99) Royals starter Luke Hochevar threw in six innings of work against the Blue Jays on Saturday. Hochevar tossed 63 of them for strikes, while giving up only six hits and one earned run. Jose Guillen hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Royals a 2-1 lead that held up - and the victory is the first in the big leagues for Hochevar, who afterwards said, "You dream of that since you're a little kid - to get the first one is pretty surreal."

Honorable Mentions

4 Boston's losing streak hit a season high (4) games on Saturday despite a terrific performance from Clay Buchholz. He carried a one-hit shutout into the eighth inning against Tampa, and he tied a career high with nine strikeouts - but the Rays won 2-1 on a two-out two-run homerun from Akinori Iwamura.

5 Tampa's winning streak hit a season high (5) games after the dramatic homerun from Iwamura - it is the first time in more than two seasons the club has won as many as five in a row. I hate to jinx the "Devil" free Rays, but a win on Sunday coupled with an Orioles loss would put Tampa on top of the division standings - and with only three more days left in the month, the club has a chance to be on top of the A.L. East at the end of April for the first time in team history.

8 Atlanta is now 0-(8) in games decided by a single run. The Mets scored four runs in the third inning against Tim Hudson on Saturday and then held on to beat the Braves 4-3. The Braves are the only team left in the majors that have not won a one-run game this season - but they are 12-4 in games decided by more than a single run.

45 The number of pitches (45) Rockies starter Mark Redman threw in the first inning against the Dodgers on Saturday. Colorado staked him to a two-run lead in the top of the first, but Redman gave up six hits, three walks, hit a batter, threw a wild pitch, and gave up a grand slam - all in the bottom of the first - as the Dodgers sent 13 batters to the plate and scored ten runs. Redman stayed in the game for six innings - but he used only 61 pitches and gave up only one hit while pitching scoreless ball for the next five frames.

667 The Chicago Cubs won again on Saturday and now stand at 16-8 for a (.667) winning percentage. Chicago has won seven of their last ten to climb on top of the Central Division standings - but of greater significance, it is the club's best start since 1995 and they need only one more victory to break the franchise record for wins in the month of April. Cubs fans are understandably excited, but we are talking about April here - so there is no need to get too excited.
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Smoltzie by the Numbers

John Smoltz Career Retrospective

The Detroit Tigers selected John Smoltz with the last pick of the twenty-second round of the 1985 amateur draft - meaning 573 players were drafted ahead of the Hall of Fame bound right-hander.

Detroit traded Smoltz to the Atlanta Braves for pitcher Doyle Alexander on August 12, 1987, as the Tigers were looking to make a post-season push down the stretch and the Braves were looking for young talent to build for the future.

As deals go, it worked out pretty well for Detroit initially - Alexander posted a 9-0 record and a 1.53 ERA down the stretch as the Tigers claimed the A.L. East title, but after giving up only 15 earned runs in 88 innings in August and September, Alexander gave up ten earned runs in only nine innings of work against the Twins in the league championship series.

The Twins won the pennant over the Tigers and went on to claim a world championship - and the Braves began to build their club around a young pitching staff that would eventually lead to 14 consecutive division titles.

Smoltz, of course, was one of the Braves' building blocks - and while his legacy in Atlanta has been secured for quite some time, on Tuesday night he confirmed his ticket for Cooperstown as well when he struck out Felipe Lopez of the Washington Nationals for career strikeout number 3,000.

Smoltz later said, "It certainly was an incredible moment - I think the course of my career has made this very special."

Take a look at the career of John Smoltz using Sports by the Numbers:

1 The number of World Series titles (1) Smoltz has won with the Atlanta Braves (1995).

3 Smoltz tossed a career high (3) shutouts in 1992 - but his career total of 16 is the eighth highest among active major league pitchers.

8 The number of innings (8) Smoltz pitched in his major league debut on July 23, 1988 - he gave up only four hits, one run, and struck out four batters as he beat the Mets at Shea Stadium. Smoltz is also an (8)-time All-Star.

10 Smoltz has been among the top ten league leaders in strikeouts (10) times in his career - and his 3,006 career strikeouts are a franchise record.

15 The number of post-season victories (15) for Smoltz - a Major League record.

16 There are only (16) members of the 3,000 strikeout club - including Smoltz - which makes it one of the most exclusive clubs in baseball. There are fewer players with 3,000 strikeouts than there are players with perfect games (17), 300 wins (23), 500 homeruns (23), or 3,000 hits (27).

24 John Smoltz won a career high (24) games in 1996 - and won both the Cy Young Award and The Sporting News National League Pitcher of the Year Award.

53 Smoltz has (53) career complete games - the eighth highest total among active major league pitchers. His career high of nine complete games came in 1992.

55 Smoltz led the league with a career high (55) saves in 2002 - and earned the National League Rolaids Relief Pitcher of the Year Award.

86 The number of dollars in thousands ($86,000) that John Smoltz earned during his first full season with the Braves in 1989 - he has gone on to earn more than $116,000,000.

112 Smoltz posted a career best (1.12) ERA in 2003 when he came out of the bullpen 62 times and closed out 45 saves.

154 Smoltz saved (154) games from 2001-04. His total is a franchise record.

194 The number of post-season strikeouts (194) for John Smoltz - a Major League record.

210 Smoltz has won (210) games in his career - a total that is the fifth highest in franchise history - but from 2001-04 he was the dominant closer in baseball and made only five starts on the mound.

265 The post-season ERA (2.65) for John Smoltz. In 24 post-season series Smoltz is 15-4 with four saves - and he was the 1992 National League Championship Series MVP.

276 Smoltz posted a career high (276) strikeouts in 1996. He led the league with a 9.79 ratio of strikeouts per nine innings pitched - and it was also the second time his overall total was the best in the league.

325 Smoltz has posted an impressive (3.25) ERA for his career - and eight times as a starter he closed out a season among the top ten league leaders.

465 Smoltz struck out career batter number 3,000 during start number (465) of his career.

706 Smoltz has pitched in a total of (706) games - the third highest total in franchise history and one of the top 100 totals in baseball history.

850 Smoltz led the league with a career high (.850) winning percentage in 1998 after posting a 17-3 record - it was the second time he led the league in winning percentage.


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Godzilla, A-Rod, and Red Sox Nation

NYY Stat of the Week
2 The number of days (2) the Yankees have been on top of the American League East standings after three weeks of the 2008 season - the number of days in first for the Boston Red Sox: 11.

Honorable Mentions
323 Hideki Matsui is batting (.323) after three weeks of play - giving him the leading average on the club so far this season. Godzilla also leads the club with a .405 on-base percentage and it looks like his power stroke is in fine form as well.

400 The Yankees have a (.400) winning percentage against Boston after losing 3 of 5 games during their first two series of the season against the Red Sox. The Yankees outscored the Red Sox 32-29 in those five games, but they scored nearly half of those runs in one game - posting a season high 15 runs against Boston on April 16.

500 The Yankees have a (.500) winning percentage overall after posting a 10-10 record during the first three weeks of the 2008 season - but what is troubling fans of the Bronx Bombers is the fact that the club has a winning record against only two teams: Tampa and Toronto. New York currently has a losing record against Baltimore, Boston, and Kansas City.

551 Here's a shocker - A-Rod leads the club with a (.551) slugging percentage, 12 runs, 24 hits, 43 total bases, seven doubles, and four homeruns - but wait, the shocker is Derek Jeter leads the club with 11 RBI, and injuries have limited him to only 14 of the club's 20 games.

968 New York scored (968) runs in 2007 - easily the highest total in the league - but after three weeks of the 2008 season, New York has been outscored by their opponents 93-85. The Yankees have also been outscored at home: 45-43.
 
 
 
 

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Tebow on Two

By David Horne, Sports by the Numbers co-author

He won an SEC title and a National Championship as a freshman quarterback at the University of Florida - and for an encore he became the first sophomore in NCAA history to win the Heisman Trophy.

Tim Tebow is easily one of the most exciting players at the collegiate ranks, and after achieving so much during such a short period of time, expectations for the Gators this fall are extraordinarily high.

Is it possible for Tebow to garnish seconds on all three - SEC title, National Championship, and the Heisman - during his junior year in Gainesville?

Gator fans think so - and more than 60,000 of them were on hand at Florida Field last week to see Tebow connect on 13 of 21 passes, good for 200 yards and a pair of touchdowns, as he led the Blue Squad to a 28-14 victory over the Orange Squad in the annual spring game (despite playing with the flu).

Expectations were high from the moment Tebow first set foot on the Florida campus - but his legendary status (and no that is not overstating it) really began to grow as a result of one extraordinary play against LSU during his freshman year.

You know the one - the jump shot ripped from basketball coach Billy Donovan's playbook - where Tebow faked a run on a second and goal play from the 1-yard line, only to pull up short of the line of scrimmage, double-clutched with the ball in his throwing hand, and then flipped it over several defenders and into the hands of tight end Tate Casey for the go-ahead touchdown with :22 seconds left in the half.

The play was electric - as is his play in general.

His coaches and teammates love him and respect him, but that falls well short of an accurate description of how much Gator fans adore the junior quarterback.

Gainesville is my hometown, and while visiting there recently the abundance of "I love Tebow" and "He15man" tee-shirts seen on ordinary people everywhere I went was truly astounding.

And I think this is a good thing for one very important reason - Tebow is truly a good guy who plays hard, and plays to win.

In the world of professional sports where there are plenty of not so good guys getting huge paydays, while setting horrible examples in terms of personal character and integrity for the countless number of kids at home watching SportsCenter, I'd say Tebow is a great thing.

We need more people like Tebow on SportsCenter.

I was recently visiting my niece and nephew (Gracie and Travis), who live not far from the UF campus.

Travis, who is only ten, met Tebow once - and he is enamored with the quarterback, which makes me exceptionally happy.

I once spent an entire summer when Travis was only two years old trying to teach him to throw a baseball left-handed - and today, he does everything left-handed except for when he is playing baseball, so go figure.

But when I was visiting recently all he wanted to do was play pick-up football in the yard with the neighborhood kids - and after three or four plays with him quarterbacking, he called us back to the huddle and said just three words, "Tebow on two."

The great thing about it, of course, is that everyone knew exactly what he was going to do. He took the snap, faked a run up the middle, and then leaped as high in the air as he could possibly go before shooting a perfect left-handed jump shot that I caught in the end zone.

I absolutely loved it.

It got even better when Travis and the other boys insisted that I tackle them - no touch football, not after watching Tebow lower his shoulder and run people over.

This is good, because I get so aggravated today when I see boys playing sports "soft," or worse, playing sports exclusively on their X-Box 360 - and I get excited when I see them outside, getting dirty, playing hard, and trying to follow in the steps of someone who is actually a good role model.

Travis and I live on different continents for most of the year - and unfortunately, the part of the year I don't see him is when his baseball season is taking place - so when I was able to get to Florida last week and see one of his games, it was the first time I had ever seen him play baseball on an actual team.

The thing about our family is this, baseball is in our blood.

You can see in this picture the book my brother Dwin got for his eighth birthday - pretty hefty reading for his age, I might add, but quite necessary, because we were students of the game.

I'm the one holding his new bat in my left hand - and man, I wish I was left-handed. I could have been the next Jesse Orosco, which explains my previously mentioned efforts at grooming Travis to be a southpaw.

I'm not really bothered by the fact Travis plays baseball right-handed - I'm just glad he loves the game and he plays it with the same enthusiasm that Tebow plays football.

His first at bat he was out on a bang-bang play at first, but his next three at bats he got a hit, two walks, two RBI, and he scored a run.

His team lost though, and boy he was fired up about that - and I loved that too.

This is Gracie, my niece, and unfortunately I missed getting to see her play softball - but maybe next time I'll get to see her play too.

Of course after the game we went for the obligatory ice cream - and it was great to see a lot of kids with their parents doing the same, as there had been four games going on four different fields that night.

In the crowd of kids playing cup ball behind the bleachers while the real games were taking place out on the fields, I spotted six Tebow tee-shirts and countless Gator shirts.

Can Tebow get seconds in terms of an SEC title, National Championship, or a Heisman Trophy?

I don't know - and I don't really care, just so long as Tebow keeps on being the Tebow that kids like my nephew Travis can look up to and learn from.
 
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Big Time Performances, Really Long Games, and Steroid Free Milestones

Sports by the Numbers MLB Stat of the Week

103 The number of pitches (103) for Diamondbacks starter Doug Davis during a 10-5 victory over the Dodgers on April 8. Davis tossed 62 of them for strikes and limited LA to six hits and two runs in six innings of work to pick up his first victory of the season - and he took the mound that game knowing he would be entering the hospital the very next day to begin treatment for thyroid cancer. He received loud ovations from the home fans all night, and later he said, "I leave on a good note, that was the key - a quality start, that's what I take the most pride in. It was definitely emotional coming off the field." His surgery reportedly went well, and he could be back with the club in four to six weeks.

Honorable Mentions

10 Chipper Jones has a modest (10) game hitting streak through Friday night - the impressive part is that in games nine and ten of that streak he hit a total of four homeruns. In 16 games this season Jones is batting .455 with six homeruns and 18 RBI - all three stats are the best in the league heading into the third weekend of the young season. Jones said, "This is one of those crazy streaks you get in once every couple of years."

22 The number of innings (22) it took for Colorado to beat San Diego 2-1 on April 17. Troy Tulowitzki, who won the game with a two-out double that scored Willy Taveras, said afterwards, "It's definitely better to win a 22-inning game than to lose - I'll tell you that." The teams combined to use 15 different pitchers who threw 659 pitches and faced 160 batters in a game that lasted more than six hours and was the longest in the majors in 15 years. Taveras batted ten times in the game - but the biggest sombrero went to Padres second baseman Ta Iguchi, who went 0 for 7.

596 Ken Griffey, Jr. hit career homerun number (596) on Thursday in a 9-2 Reds victory over the Chicago Cubs. He is currently sixth on the all-time homerun list - and with Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa noticeably absent from any major league rosters, is it premature to refer to Griffey as the all-time leader among active players? Probably not - but of greater significance, he is four big flies shy of becoming only the sixth player in history to reach the 600 homerun plateau (and the fourth to do it honest).

672 The number of career starts (672) for pitcher Tom Glavine of the Atlanta Braves. Glavine is a two-time Cy Young recipient and five-time 20-game winner - but after leaving his third start of the season in the first inning due to a bothersome right hamstring, Glavine landed on the disabled list for the first time in his career this past week. Glavine said, "I've only been on the DL for two hours and I hate it - my job is to go out there and pitch." Braves fans might be getting a little worried about now - Glavine joins pitchers Pete Moylan, Rafael Soriano, and Mike Hampton on the DL, and every time John Smoltz throws a pitch Braves fans hold there collective breath that his shoulder stays pain free.

750 The winning percentage (.750) for the Arizona Diamondbacks after starting the season 12-4. Arizona won their season opener, but then lost two in a row to Cincinnati - and then promptly won eight straight. The Diamondbacks enter the third weekend of the season with the best record in baseball.

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