Subject: Interesting sports tid-bits:
Date: Fri Nov 5 01:00:45 2021
User: redberet
Message:I got curious about them being originals, so I went to the site where the pic came from. It's a baseball memorabilia auction house, mile high something or other. #1 auction is a Babe Ruth card currently at 1.5 million with minimum met. So it would definitely have to be mint. I posted the pic to remind those that if they're good they just might end up with one of these in their sock, instead of the obligatory lump of coal. Not to be confused with the lock in the sock.
Date: Mon Jan 10 14:27:10 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:I think this is more a tib-bit than an oddity, altho I guess it could go in either thread, as it's both.
32-under in 72 holes - that's very close to averaging a birdie every other hole. That's like 8.5-under, for four straight rounds. Wowzer. And at that.............he only *barely* beat Jon Rahm, who finished 31-under. Matt Jones shot a 61 on the final round. I'm guessing that course was playing easy.........but still, it counts - and there are many other 'easy-ish' courses they play. Kinda like Ruth, Mantle, and Maris playing in Yankee Stadium.......but still, it all counts.
And just think..............that's just plain ol' work for those guys - playing golf in Maui in the middle of the winter. Well, not everybody can be a hockey player or snowboarder.
Link: Cameron Smith goes REAL LOW in Maui
Date: Mon Jan 10 14:38:02 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:Date: Mon Jan 10 14:27:10 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:
"32-under in 72 holes - that's very close to averaging a birdie every other hole. That's like 8.5-under, for four straight rounds..."
Dude, I think your slide rule has an alignment problem.
I mean, yeah, 8.5 times 4 is like 32, but it equal to 34. (Which, by the way, was Smith's score, not 32 under)
;)
.nudge TN
Date: Mon Jan 10 14:46:25 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Good call. I suspect that to be an artifact of my phone trying to re-write sports history. So my math was correct, but my typing wasn't. (And btw..........believe it or not.......I never owned a slide rule.) Also..............I've never come close to going 34-under in a PGA tournament, so pardon my unfamiliarity with that score. I don't think I've even done 30-under. :)
[And so.....p.s., Rahm was 33-under, not a mere 31-under.]
Date: Thu Mar 3 15:30:17 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Ruth is the only pitcher to bat No. 4 for any team in at least 97 years.
-- "Baseball Reference", as of 2013. I'm assuming it's now been 105 years, but can't say for sure. Has Ohtani broken that data?
Date: Thu Apr 21 19:54:36 2022
User: Klepp
Message:Reminds me of Tatis (Sr.) hitting two grannies in one inning...even odder, he did it off the same pitcher, Chan Ho Park...
...data mining baseball-reference.com is fun!
Link: STL@LAD 4-23-99
Date: Thu Apr 21 22:17:55 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:......And *that* reminds me of Tony Cloninger in July 1966 - a game I was listening to live in amazement. Not two slams in one inning, but two in the game, becoming the *first* in the NL, and still the only *pitcher* to do so. And now with the full infection of the DH into the Senior Circuit, too, will likely remain the only one - with the remote possible exception of Ohtani.
He was another one of those pitchers that could hit. He had NINE RBIs that game, still the team record for the Braves, using a borrowed bat. Aaron, Mathews, Adcock, Murphy, Andrew Jones, Chipper Jones, Davey Johnson, etc., etc. - nobody has had as many RBIs in a game as that pitcher.
Ended up hitting 5 HRs that season, 11 for his career, lifetime .192.
Date: Thu Apr 21 22:22:26 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Oh, and meant to include........I previously mentioned that occurrence in 2016 in the "crazy baseball occurrence" thread, but without the Cloninger career hitting stuff included.
Date: Fri Apr 22 11:14:10 2022
User: Klepp
Message:He retired after the '72 season...I wonder if he sniffed around AL training camps in '73, curious about this new position "Designated Hitter" that need not play the field...the arm was gone, but could he hone his bat, maybe he had a shot?
Date: Fri Apr 22 12:07:28 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Who knows? Kinda doubt it, as he was more a NC homeboy. But I bet if it had been around when ol' Diz retired, he woulda been on that train. Kinda blows my mind that the DH has been a 'thing' since 1973.
Date: Fri Apr 22 14:03:38 2022
User: Klepp
Message:Maybe Ohtani plays DH until 2040.
Date: Fri Jul 22 01:57:51 2022
User: Kaos
Message:The World Athletics Championships are taking place just down 300 miles south of me in Eugene, Oregon. It’s nice to see that a few more (IMHO), PED records are being usurped. Just an hour or so ago, Noah Lyles ran, what I believe , is the fastest 200m by a (hopefully drug-free) athlete. The only thing that worries me is that it was too fast - 19.31 seconds. MHO is that every previous athlete under 19.49 seconds was using PEDs so being that far ahead of everyone is a red flag. Fingers crossed 🤞
Date: Fri Jul 22 03:46:05 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:I had been wondering why you hadn't responded to my question to you about Eugene in the "Recent sports oddities" thread. I guess this would have been the better thread, although I purposely chose that one because we had been discussing track stuff there as recently as May. Although in that post I was sort of posing the idea of having a thread devoted just to the championships. I've been quite infuriated at NBC for moving it around to all kinds of different channels - some of which I don't get - so I've missed a fair amount of it.
The two 5000 heats tonight were pretty intense.
Date: Fri Jul 22 07:09:30 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:Although I am totally convinced that the entire Jamaican sprint team (male and female) is bathed in PEDs, I am have no reason to believe other teams aren’t doing it, too.
Date: Fri Jul 22 14:05:29 2022
User: Kaos
Message:Yeah TN, I looked for the thread using Denny’s search tool and a handful of terms I thought would work (like WADA) but came up empty.
Buzz, I let my subscription to Track and Field news expire a few years back but one of the last tidbits I had read was that South Africa’s drug testing had lost accreditation leaving the entire continent without any approved testing. Shortly thereafter, a certain 400m runner’s times jumped dramatically. Strange coincidence? I think only N. America, Europe, OZ & NZ and a handful of other countries now have approved testing
Date: Fri Jul 22 14:13:40 2022
User: Kaos
Message:OK, went to the WADA website and South Africa is back in plus China, India, Japan, Korea, and Thailand in Asia also Qatar and Brazil. So, being realistic, athletes in any sport from all the other countries have to be suspect.
Date: Fri Jul 22 16:24:08 2022
User: Kumquat-of-Conciliation
Message:So that will, or will not affect mrbuck in the hurdles?
Date: Sat Jul 23 00:15:23 2022
User: Kaos
Message:mrbuck, being an American, is subject to testing by a WADA-approved laboratory 🧪.
In the meantime, Sydney McLachlin, wow. Skeets without the distraction of football 🏈 Americano.
Date: Sat Jul 23 03:20:32 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Ok..............here's a duplicate of my original post that I mistakenly put in the "Baseball" thread. There may be some here who skip baseball to focus on track and field ("Athletics" to some, esp. in Europe). Well, possibly.....
------------------------------------------------------
Sydney: 50.68 in Eugene. One or two(?) of the commentators were calling it Beamon-esque, as she knocked an amazing .73 seconds off her previous record. No, it's not quite that extreme - but one could make the case......... Utterly stunning either way.
But that's Sydney being Sydney. It *is* kinda hard to absorb, like Beamon's feat, but truly a bit less so.
As this linked story notes, she's now broken the 400 hurdles WR 4 times, matching my man Edwin Moses. Moses did it over his career. Sydney has done it in just over a year. Supposedly she has her sights set on taking down the flat 400 record, which is one of the older track records extant, set by Marita Koch way back in the dark ages of 1985.
For those not hepped up.......see this thread, late June of 2021.
And also avail yourself of watching a rare, rare talent by viewing this young woman in action. She was born to do what she does.
Link: Sydney just being Sydney - again
Date: Sat Jul 23 17:32:04 2022
User: Kaos
Message:She’s obviously not taking after pole vaulter Sergei Bubka who always broke the WR in the vault by a centimeter (or sometimes two). He got a bonus for each WR so he didn’t want to jump it up that much each time.
Date: Sat Jul 23 18:42:20 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Correcto. That was semi-pathetic - but understandable considering how the Soviets paid him. More glory to the Fatherland. Hard to imagine Sydney saying "more glory to New Jersey!"
Date: Sun Jul 24 00:50:08 2022
User: Kaos
Message:Oh, and NBC sucks
Date: Sun Jul 24 03:29:10 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:It reminded me of the days when CBS had March Madness. "WE" decide what games are important and what you HAVE to watch. CBS will forever be on my naughty list for how they forever mishandled and abused that privilege. IF YOU CAN'T COVER AN EVENT PROPERLY, YOU SHOULD HAVE NO RIGHT TO COVER IT AT ALL. That said...........it wasn't all bad. What coverage they had was more or less fine. A lot of the time. Sorta.
Date: Sun Jul 24 12:45:25 2022
User: Kaos
Message:Yeah, I posted the above because the west coast broadcast of the women’s and men’s 4x100m relays were shown three hours after the fact. Sports is a dish best served warm.
Date: Mon Jul 25 05:01:25 2022
User: Uberman
Message:What's your take on those 100m Hurdles races, Kaos? Tobi Amusan smashing the WR in the semis, and then bettering it again a couple of hours later in the final, albeit wind-assisted. It's led Michael Johnson to question the timings, but having seen her jog her way to a 12.40 in the heats it doesn't seem all that ridiculous in comparison, although all of the semis produced an unusual boatload of NRs and PBs, so you can kind of see where MJ is coming from.
At least there's less suspicion regarding Duplantis and his pole vault WR.
Date: Mon Jul 25 10:11:22 2022
User: Kumquat-of-Conciliation
Message:Einstein of course taught us that time slows down as one approaches the speed of light. :)
Date: Thu Jul 28 04:14:54 2022
User: A_Briefs_Wind
Message:There is no such thing as a dimension of time.
The past is our memory and our general misinterpretation that it is a place we can go.
The future is equally an error in our travel brochure, a place that cannot be reached but with passage on a ship we call time.
There is only our moment of existence, and inevitable change.
The same moment is experienced everywhere in the visible universe and the multiverse, simultaneously.
The rate of change is what slows down as we travel faster, or speeds up during slow down.
But that is, as Albert warned us, relative. depending on our base speed and direction (velocity) in the hypothetically undetectable ether, the ideation of which is also hypothetical.
Doesn't that make things a lot clearer?
Date: Thu Jul 28 12:47:09 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:Dave's not here, man.
Date: Thu Jul 28 12:58:32 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:So, the Astros humiliated the Red Sox in Boston, and then traveled to the pathetic A's to lose three straight.
The A's recently took a series from Toronto, leading to the firing of the Blue Jays' manager.
That's the 38-63 Oakland A's.
Date: Thu Jul 28 13:12:56 2022
User: Kaos
Message:To quote Spike Lee: “it’s gotta be the shoes 👟 “
Apparently, all the women who set PR’s were wearing the same type of shoes developed for long distance runners instead of the more traditional sprint/hurdles spikes. Two benefits: higher sole (the highest allowed) means less time before making contact with the ground after each hurdle. And, that spring effect.
Of course, as all hurdlers know, the wind can have much more of an impact in the high hurdles than in almost all of the other events. That’s because it’s rare that the number of strides between each hurdle fits exactly with the distance between each hurdle. Maybe Tobi had to lengthen her stride with regular spikes and a neutral wind but it certainly seemed she looked more comfortable with the new shoes and the right amount of tailwind.
Date: Thu Jul 28 13:16:36 2022
User: Kaos
Message:As an aside, in the discus, a headwind actually helps! Just Google up “discus throws into the wind” and there are all sorts of articles documenting the benefits - which are surprisingly big.
Date: Thu Jul 28 14:29:50 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:The worst face-plants I've witnessed in the hurdles came from attempting to stride before the lead foot coming over the hurdle has touched the ground. A small error such as this results in a brief stutter; a big error is a complete whiff -- the foot never contacts the ground and the competitor's race is over.
An elevated sole would help overcome this problem and compensate for itchy hurdlers who want to stride before coming down.
Date: Thu Jul 28 20:02:30 2022
User: _.!._
Message:Fascinating,kaos. Whoda thunkit! Theres also a spinning toy one can fashion from a Coke can that likes wind.
BuzzClik,hurdles are inherently dangerous beyond belief. Seems they could use a penalty system using lights to verify whether one completely "whiffed" or merely ticked the top. Time to modernize those and save some athletes from such unnecessary injuries.
Date: Thu Jul 28 20:40:47 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Not the same as a discus (which I only toyed with a couple of times long ago), but opinions are divided on how/whether wind helps or hurts disc throws. Most long throwers think a tailwind helps more than hurts, and my experience also fits that - altho at times a tailwind clearly will push a disc down. Surely the physics is quantitatively different because of the vast weight difference - not to mention the various aerodynamic varieties of discs. I think height from the ground makes a difference with discs, but almost certainly doesn't with a discus, other than the swirling stuff that can occur in stadiums.
But if one is participating in an MTA (Maximum Time Aloft) event, one will always want to throw into the wind. Which I think matches with the discuss physics.
Date: Thu Jul 28 21:01:50 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:I figured that somebody has studied this. Universities often have access to top athletes, smart people, and excellent research facilities. Not surprisingly, University of Texas put this together: “The Texas researchers documented that a discus thrown into a 20-mph headwind can fly up to 25 feet farther than a discus thrown with that wind.” The article didn’t provide a direct link to the UT research.
A good friend of mine threw the discus for a Big Ten university some years ago. He told me that steroids were a huge help.
So there it is: better athletics through physics and chemistry.
Link: From Sports Rec
Date: Thu Jul 28 22:15:24 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Interesting stuff, and as Kaos noted, it's a larger effect than I would have expected. Further (yes, of course intended)..........the differential between sea level and Mexico City is counterintuitive. So.............are wind speeds and directions used when allowing or disallowing records? One would think that they would be, but I've never heard them mentioned in that context. Which doesn't mean a whole lot since telecasts of field events are sparse at best. 🥏
Date: Fri Jul 29 00:09:19 2022
User: Kaos
Message:AFAIK, wind only comes into play on the track events 200m and less. I think all of the top discus throws are from events where there was a strong headwind.
Tn, I also threw the discus, but only because of competing in decathlons. It was my second worst event - only topped (or should I say bottomed) by pole vault.
Date: Fri Jul 29 01:54:06 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:LOL. Never had an opportunity to do decathlon, but the extent of my pole vault noodling about equates with my few discus throws: about 2-3 playful attempts at each. Had I a more 'robust' body type, I might have thought seriously about discus. *Might* have. Many peeps don't realize the incredible strength and speed necessary to be a good vaulter.
And yes, you're right about wind speed in track events; I was wondering about in the field events.
Date: Fri Jul 29 08:54:17 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:Long jump and triple jump are subject to the same wind regulations as the sprints. Decathlon and heptathlon have wind requirements, but averaged over all events.
Date: Sat Jul 30 01:50:09 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Oh yeah, of course. I knew that (on the jumps). My bad for not being specific enough.
Date: Fri Aug 12 12:02:51 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Has this *ever* been done in professional baseball? I'm virtually certain never in the majors.
Too bad he plays for the Cardinals............
Link: The "Home run cycle"
Date: Fri Aug 12 12:36:51 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:Saw the highlights of that yesterday. He's a big guy, but his swing has an odd hitch as he pivots on both feet during the swing. Serves him well...
Date: Sat Aug 13 00:30:22 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:From CBSSports.com:
"There has never been a home run cycle in the major leagues and it had only been done once before in the minors: Tyrone Horne, coincidentally enough another Cardinals minor leaguer, hit for the home run cycle in Double-A on July 27, 1998."
Date: Fri Aug 19 01:05:51 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Albert Pujols has avowed this to be his last year playing - his 22nd. He has smacked 689 home runs in those 22 years - including 2 in one game recently against Klepp's Brew Crew. He hopes to make 700, or at least catch ARod's 696. But doesn't play full-time, even as a DH. But the amazing thing (other than everything about this) is that he's jacked those shots against 448 different major league pitchers - only 1 less than Bonds abused in his career, which is the record. Think about that. Every time he tags another one, there's almost 2 chances out of 3 it'll be yet another new victim. That just seems preposterous. Obviously, it speaks to the short shelf life of almost all pitchers these days - both career-wise *and* within-a-game-wise. I don't know if that makes his swattage more, or less, impressive, but that's kinda trivial. It's a rather stunning heap of hurlers. No doubt he is one of the best sluggers to play the game.
Link: Pujols marching towards retirement and history
Date: Fri Aug 19 09:43:53 2022
User: mrbuck
Message:And he's hit #690, his first pinch hit grand slam. I'm hoping he somehow gets to 700 but I'm not betting the house payment he will.
mrbuck
Date: Fri Aug 19 12:39:43 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Yep. Was too tired last night to update that when I found out. And I also would bet he doesn't make it.
Date: Tue Aug 23 00:36:22 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:He just keeps on keeping on. Tonight he collected his 449th different pitching victim, one Drew Smyly, tying him with Bonds on that. But that also brings him to 693 total, with 7 dingers in just the last 10 games. All kinds of noteworthy milestones connected to this. The game-winning shot tonight gives him an incredible 7 in 12 days - at age 42. I *believe* I saw that the only other person over 40 to do that was Ted Williams.
mrbuck, you and I might need to hedge our bets somehow.
Date: Tue Aug 23 01:07:11 2022
User: Kaos
Message:Can’t get excited about this. I only see 4 players with over 600+ home runs who weren’t using PEDs (IMHO). I think Pujols just takes away from the fact that one of these four is tragically underrated as an all-time great because he resisted the temptation.
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