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Time of India
13 hours ago
- Sport
- Time of India
10 Sports records that might never be set again
Sometimes, records in sports seem to be broken. But then there are a few so wild and rare that they feel frozen in time. On March 26, 2025, fans across the globe once again took a look at some of the unbreakable records in sports history. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Records that are milestones in their own right that have withstand the test of time from years, and in some cases, decades. From the baseball diamond to Olympic pools and NFL stadiums, these legendary feats may never be repeated. Here's a look at the ten that top the list. 1. Rickey Henderson stole 1,406 bases, no one is close Rickey Henderson played pro baseball from 1979 to 2003. He stole more bases than anyone ever—1,406 in total. That's nearly 500 more than Lou Brock, who ranks second. On June 24, 2025, stats showed the top four active MLB players combined haven't reached that number. No current player has even come close to 75 stolen bases in a season. 2. Pete Maravich scored as no one else in NCAA basketball In 1970, Pete Maravich completed his college career at LSU with an NCAA record average of 44.2 points per game, including an outstanding 44.5 average in his best season. He still holds the top three single-season averages. Since the year 2000, no player has averaged over 31 points. 3. Cal Ripken Jr. played 2632 consecutive games without missing one Between 1982 and 1998, Ripken played, literally, every single game for the Baltimore Orioles. That's 2632 consecutive games. Zero sick days, zero days off. The next closest streak belonged to Lou Gehrig with 2130 games back in 1939. 4. Michael Phelps has 23 gold medals - this is more than anyone else in history Phelps competed in five Olympics, beginning with the one at 2000 Sydney, and finishing the 2016 Games in Rio. He has 28, if I remember correctly, total medals, and of those, 23 that are gold! Katie Ledecky and Mark Spitz are second with the most gold medals with a total of 9 each, and no one else has over 9. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now 5. Nolan Ryan had 5,714 strikeouts in MLB Nolan Ryan was in the MLB from 1966-1993. No one in baseball is close to 5,714. Behind Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson is in second place with 4,875 strikeouts. As we look at active players in 2025, Justin Verlander has the most with around 3,400 strikeouts, a long way to go to catch Ryan. 6. Jerry Rice has 22,895 receiving yards in the NFL Jerry Rice was a wide receiver from 1985 to 2004. He is the only pro player that has over 20,000 yards. The second place guy is Larry Fitzgerald; he retired in 2020 and he is still 5,400 yards behind. 7. NFL Emmitt Smith ran for 18,355 rushing yards in NFL Emmitt Smith started his career with the Arizona Cardinals. From 1990 to 2004 he mostly spent time with the Dallas Cowboys. He currently still holds the record for rushing yards. Frank Gore finished 2,355 yards short of that mark, despite playing 16 seasons and in his late 30s. 8. Wayne Gretzky holds the NHL records for most career points and assists of all time Wayne Gretzky, "The Great One," gathered two from 1979 through 1999. Alone, his assists would put him as the NHL's all-time leader in points. No one in the NHL has yet reached 2,000 points. 9. Tom Brady has 7 Super Bowl wins and over 102,000 passing yards Tom Brady retired in 2023. In his career Brady threw 737 touchdowns for a total of 102,614 yards, including playoff statistics. He also has 7 Super Bowl wins. The next closest Super Bowl wins by a quarterback is 6, and has 86 fewer total wins than Brady. 10. Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in one game in the NBA Kobe Bryant is the nearest anyone has been to that number when he had 81 points in a game in 2006. Wilt Chamberlain was the closest to scoring and relatively dominating a game (100 points in a game on March 2, 1962 in Hershey, Pennsylvania). Wilt averaged 50.4 in that regular season. Since that time the highest has been 41. Also Read:
Associated Press
30-04-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
This Date in Baseball - Alex Rodriguez ties Willie Mays for 4th place on the all-time home run list
May 1 1884 — Toledo's Moses Fleetwood Walker became the first black player in the pre-modern era of the major leagues. His Blue Stockings lost 5-1 to Louisville. 1891 — In front of almost 10,000 fans, Cy Young of the Cleveland Spiders defeats the Cincinnati Reds, 12 - 3, in the first game ever played in Cleveland's League Park. 1901 — Chicago's Herm McFarland hit the first grand slam in American League history and Dummy Hoy also homered in the Chicago White Sox' 19-9 rout of the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers committed an AL record 12 errors, 10 by the infield, in the loss. 1906 — John Lush of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched a no-hitter at Brooklyn, beating the Dodgers 6-0. 1920 — Joe Oeschger of the Boston Braves and Leon Cadore of the Brooklyn Dodgers each pitched 26 innings in a 1-1 tie, the longest in major league history. 1920 — Babe Ruth hit his first home run as a Yankee, and 50th of his career, as New York beat Boston 6-0 at the Polo Grounds. 1925 — The Philadelphia Athletics introduce another future Hall of Famer, 17-year-old catcher Jimmie Foxx, who pinch-hits a single in the 9-4 loss to the Washington Senators. 1926 — Legendary pitcher Satchel Paige makes his debut in the Negro Southern League. 1944 — George Myatt of Washington went 6-for-6 and the Senators beat the Boston Braves 11-4. 1951 — New York's Mickey Mantle hit his first major league home run in an 8-3 loss at Chicago. The first of Mantle's 536 homers came in the sixth inning off Randy Gumpert. 1968 — Philadelphia Phillies pitcher John Boozer was ejected by umpire Ed Vargo at Shea Stadium for throwing spitballs during his warmup pitches. Boozer was the second major league pitcher to be ejected from a game for this. 1969 — Houston's Don Wilson beat the Cincinnati Reds with a 4-0 no-hitter at Crosley Field, one day after the Reds' Jim Maloney no-hit the Astros and nine days after Wilson absorbed a 14-0 pounding by Cincinnati. 1973 — The San Francisco Giants scored seven runs with two outs in the ninth inning to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-7. 1975 — Hank Aaron collects four hits and two RBI in the Brewers' 17-3 win over Detroit. This brings his career RBI total to 2,211, breaking Babe Ruth's published record of 2,209. 1984 — Dwight Gooden became the first teenager to strike out a least ten batters in a game since Bert Blyleven did it in 1970. The Mets' 19-year-old phenom would set a major league rookie record with 276 strikeouts. 1991 — Rickey Henderson surpassed Lou Brock as baseball's career stolen base leader with his 939th steal as the Oakland Athletics beat the New York Yankees 7-4. 1991 — Nolan Ryan pitched his seventh no-hitter, struck out 16 and shut down the best-hitting team in the majors, as the Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-0. 1992 — The Dodgers postponed a three-game series against Montreal because of rioting in Los Angeles following the Rodney King verdict. 1992 — Rickey Henderson garners his 1,000th stolen base. 2000 — San Francisco Giants left fielder Barry Bonds becomes the first player to hit a ball into San Francisco Bay (McCovey's Cove) as the first 'splashdown' home run at Pacific Bell Park. 2002 — With a save against the Chicago Cubs, San Diego closer Trevor Hoffman set the major league record for the most saves with one team, 321. He broke Dennis Eckersley's record of 320 with Oakland. 2012 — Orioles manager Buck Showalter wins his 1,000th game as a major league skipper when the O's defeat the Yankees, 7-1. 2015 — Alex Rodriguez ties Willie Mays for fourth place on the all-time home run list when he hits number 660 against the Red Sox. 2020 — Even though there is no baseball being currently played, P Emmanuel Clase of the Indians manages to get himself suspended, as the results of a test are positive for Boldenone, an anabolic steroid. He will be suspended for 80 games from whenever the season eventually starts. 2022 — Kelsie Whitmore becomes the first woman to start a game in the Atlantic League, which is now part of Organized Baseball as a partner league of Major League Baseball, when she starts in left field for the Staten Island FerryHawks against the Gastonia Honey Hunters. _____
New York Times
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
MLB Weird & Wild Week 1: Yankees' torpedo power, strange injuries, Sacramento has a ball
Boy, oh boy. Has this been the Weirdest and Wildest first week of a season ever, or what? The Yankees unleashed a new bat and then hit more home runs than I'm pretty sure the White Sox hit all last season. … A catcher hit for the cycle, in a park that had never before hosted a big-league game. … A pitcher made it to home plate and got a hit before a whole slew of guys who get paid to get those hits. … Not to mention we had a guy get hurt during a home run trot — and another guy get hurt (and laughed at by his wife) during a shower. Advertisement But the best part about this week is that baseball was back, so let's get rolling and … If this edition of Weird and Wild seems especially hard-hitting, that's because I'm writing it on my new Torpedo Laptop … specially fitted with my personal Torpedo Keyboard … and brilliantly displayed on my fabulous Torpedo Monitor. Oh, and I'm actually eating a delicious Torpedo Sandwich as I'm typing it. It's just more proof of a better life through torpedoes. And you don't even have to take my word for it. Just ask the Yankees. They exist to remind us that all you need is a handy dandy MIT physicist on your staff … and you'll be happier, too. You might also be hitting cleanup for the Pirates by next week, but no guarantees on that. Thanks to the Yankees and the funky torpedo bats, we've generated somewhere in the neighborhood of 800,000 words worth of revelatory baseball torpedo literature on this site in the last week. And also thanks to those torpedo bats, we're not done! Because now it's the Weird and Wild column's turn. How'd the Yankees' first torpedo-driven homestand of the season go? Thanks for asking. It went kinda like this: Leadoff madness — The Yankees have played baseball for 123 seasons. They've won more than 10,000 games. They've played in 41 World Series. I was almost thinking there wasn't much left that they haven't done. Ha, ha, ha. Yeah, sure. On Opening Day, they jogged our memory — that they'd never started a catcher in the leadoff spot … and they'd also never led off any of those previous 122 seasons with a home run … until 2025 arrived and … So think about this: Rickey Henderson, Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Brett Gardner, Alfonso Soriano once led off more than 3,000 games for the Yankees — and never did this. In fact, according to YES Network's James Smyth, no Yankee had even led off a season with any kind of extra-base hit since Roger Maris did it … in 1960. Advertisement But Austin Wells, in the first game leading off in his big-league life, went deep to start the season. Baseball. It's amazing. 20 is plenty — Then came Saturday. Yankees 20, Brewers 9. Stuff happened: • Nestor Cortes! He looked kinda familiar. He'd spent the past four seasons pitching for the Yankees. One of his many specialties in New York was keeping the baseball in the park he was pitching in. In fact, he'd made it through his final 36 starts in a row for the Yankees without giving up three home runs in any of them. Then, in the first game he started against the Yankees after his trade to Milwaukee, he served up three home runs on his first three pitches. Baseball started keeping track of pitch counts in 1988. Before Saturday, you know how many pitchers had ever done that to start off a game? That would be none. Of course. Also, you know how many pitchers in the division-play era (1969-present) have ever allowed homers to the first three hitters they faced for their new team? That, according to STATS, would also be none. Of course. • Nine home runs! We're a week into the season … 19 teams still haven't hit nine home runs all season … At one point Thursday, the Rockies, Rays and Astros had only hit nine combined … Babe Ruth once went 15 straight months late in his career without hitting nine in a month … Babe Ruth! … But on Saturday, the Yankees hit nine in one day. • Not to mention 20 runs! Did you know it took the Yankees fewer games to put a 20 on the board this season than it took Daniel Jones and those New York football Giants last season? The Giants didn't score 20 (or more) until Game 3. They didn't do it at home until November. But the Yankees fired up a 20 Saturday in Game 2, in just six spins through their batting order — while throwing two fewer interceptions than Jones by the way. Advertisement Judgement Day — Aaron Judge, man. He pounded three home runs Saturday. He almost hit five. He had a chance to hit a fourth home run off a position player (more on that later). He did whomp a fourth homer of the season the next day. So do we take this guy for granted? I sometimes think we do. Ever heard of Ronald Acuña Jr.? Pretty good player right? He played 49 games last year before he got hurt — and had four home runs and 15 RBIs. Meanwhile, that Aaron Judge guy had four home runs and 11 RBIs in the first series of this season. Cheaper by the dozen — Did you know that at one point, the Yankees hit 12 home runs in 11 innings on Saturday and Sunday? Is that ridiculous or what? I asked the great Katie Sharp of Baseball Reference how many teams have ever done that. Only one other team has: the 1999 Cincinnati Reds, in back-to-back games in Philadelphia, on Sept. 4 and 5. You know who played third base in those two games for the Reds? A fellow named Aaron Boone. Crazy eights — Finally, I found this kind of amusing: By Sunday night, the Yankees already had eight players who had hit a homer. The Mets at that point only had six players who had hit a single. But of course, just one of those teams had bats designed by their resident MIT physicist. I wonder which one! They play Major League Baseball in Sacramento, Calif., now. It hasn't been boring. Cycle race — Before Monday, before the big leagues showed up in Sacramento, no Cub had hit for the cycle in 32 years. In fact, only one catcher on any team had ever hit for the cycle anywhere in the state of California — and that was Charlie Moore, in Anaheim, 45 years ago. But Cubs catcher Carson Kelly wasn't alive to see any of that. So Sacramento, this was what a cycling catcher looks like. Carson Cycle Kelly. — Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 1, 2025 So what's so Weird and Wild about that? Oh, just a couple of things. Nothing important: • The A's played over 4,000 games in the Coliseum in Oakland. Want to guess how many visiting players — at any position — hit for the cycle there? Somehow or other, that would be … zero! And then Carson Kelly hit for the cycle in their very first game in Sacramento. Advertisement • Then again, what were the odds that somebody would hit for the cycle on Day 1 in any new park, under any circumstances? Ho-ho-ho. They were so long that according to my friends from STATS Perform, nobody had ever done it in the first game in any park. • The previous record for quickest cycle in a new park, according to the incredible Kenny Jackelen of Baseball Reference, was set as recently as … 122 years ago! That one came in Game 3 at the late, great Mahaffey Park in Cleveland, courtesy of Buck Freeman, of the Boston Americans, who had himself a day against the Cleveland Napoleons on June 21, 1903. • Oh, and the record for quickest cycle at a current park is Game 35, set by David Bell at Citizens Bank Park in 2004. For what it's worth, after that, no Phillie hit for the cycle in that park again for another 20 years, until Weston Wilson broke that streak last year. • But none of that is even my favorite part of this cycle recap. In the eighth inning of this game, Kelly arrived at home plate for his final shot to complete a cycle. 'All' he needed was a triple (chuckle-chuckle). Not to suggest that was impossible. But heading into that game, here were all the active players with at least 1,800 career plate appearances, 10 big-league seasons and no more than two triples: Austin Hedges — 2,359 PA, 10 seasons, 2 triples Carson Kelly — 1,809 PA, 10 seasons, 2 triples One of those two men needed a triple for the cycle — and then hit that triple. I love baseball. The Cubs' 18 wheeler — But Kelly sure wasn't the only Cub who was letting it fly in Sacramento that night. The Cubs put up a four-run inning, a five-run inning, a six-run inning and 18 runs altogether — in an 18-3 blowout in the first big-league game ever played in Sacramento. And yeah, that was a thing, too. • Shockingly, according to STATS, this was not the worst loss a home team had suffered in its first game at its new ballpark. But it makes the leaderboard. The only worse defeat in the modern era in a park's debut belongs to Ozzie Guillen's 1991 White Sox in their first game at what was then known as the 'new' Comiskey Park — a 16-0 bashing by Rob Deer's '91 Tigers. Advertisement • And if you'd like to travel back to the beginnings of MLB in the 19th century, Kenny Jackelen dug up a 21-3 bludgeoning of Barney Gilligan's 1885 Providence Grays in their first game on record at the Wright Street Grounds, not to be confused with the Ground Round. • But you should also note that in the very first major-league game played in Sacramento, the Cubs put up 18 runs, 20 hits and 10 extra-base hits. How many times did any team have a game like that in the Athletics' 56 seasons in the Coliseum in Oakland? Right you are. That would be none. Save the best for last — Oh, and one more thing: A pitcher got a save in this game. Colin Rea wound up strolling out of the Cubs' bullpen in the seventh inning — when it was 'only' a 16-3 game. He stuck around so long, he actually got an at-bat (striking out against A's catcher Jhonny Pereda) and pitched 'effectively' enough that he got credit for a save. In an 18-3 game. So yes, he owns more saves right now than Emmanuel Clase. And yes, he also owns the second save in history in an 18-3 game. Joel Pineiro scarfed up the other one for the Cardinals on Aug. 22, 2008. Gotta love the save rule — almost as much as we love baseball in Sacramento. THIRD PRIZE — Phillies reliever Matt Strahm had to be scratched from his last appearance in spring training … because of a packing malfunction. He told the Weird and Wild column he was packing his daughter's toys in a box and jammed the cardboard between his nail and finger. He also revealed it was his second packing injury of the spring. 'I'm going to have to buy a house here (in Florida),' he said, 'so I don't have to pack.' SECOND PRIZE — If you always thought of Freddie Freeman as the cleanest player in baseball, are you sure that's a good thing? He just missed the Dodgers' whole series with the Braves, then went on the injured list, because of a dreaded 'shower mishap.' Which he said was actually a technical term for: slipping in the shower. Much to the amusement of his wife, Chelsea, apparently. Advertisement 'Chelsea actually made the joke: 'I thought I was going to deal with this when you're 70, not when you're 35,'' he reported this week. FIRST PRIZE — The good news for Pirates second baseman Nick Gonzales is, he hit the Pirates' first home run of the season on Opening Day. The bad news is, everything else about that. Check out the most painful home run trot of 2025. First home run of 2025 goes to Nick Gonzales — Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 27, 2025 No, he didn't twist something or pull something, despite Greg Brown's best on-air medical diagnosis. This guy managed to fracture an (already sore) ankle somewhere in between unleashing that mighty swing and gingerly working his way around the bases. And, well, he'll be out for a while. It would almost be funny — if it wasn't the most Pirates thing ever. EIGHT WINS AND TWO CYS — Not only are the Dodgers undefeated, but also they've faced (and beaten) both reigning Cy Young Award winners in their first seven games. That seems hard. They beat the AL Cy Young, Tarik Skubal, in Game 3. Then they turned around four days later and did the same to the NL Cy Young, Chris Sale. So of course I had to know if that was as rare as I thought it was. I asked my friends from STATS to dig into this. If we don't count relievers who won the Cy Young (yeah, that actually used to happen), then the Dodgers became the third team to face both reigning Cy Young starters within their first 10 games of a season: 2013 Indians — faced David Price and R.A. Dickey in their first six games. 2013 Red Sox — faced Dickey and then Price in their first 10 games. So if the category is 'facing' both Cy Youngs, that 2013 Cleveland team holds the record. But only one team has ever 'beaten' both reigning Cy Youngs that early in a season. And that team would be … who else … the 2025 Dodgers. Advertisement LIFE IS A BREEZE — I keep looking for ways to put Rafael Devers' wild, swingin'-and-missin' start in perspective. Would this do it? Steven Kwan swung and missed at 69 pitches all last season. At this pace, Raffy (41 whiffs in seven games) will pass him next Tuesday! INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY (PITCHING) NO. 1 — Jake Bauers isn't an actual pitcher. But that didn't stop the Brewers from sending him to the mound twice last weekend to mow down the otherwise-unstoppable Yankees on Saturday and Sunday. So what's so Weird and Wild about that? According to Baseball Reference's Jessica Brand, he's the first true position player to pitch twice in his team's first series of the year. But also … The Brewers' real pitchers against the Yankees last weekend: 22 IP, 34 ER, 15 HR Jake Bauers (not a real pitcher) vs. the Yankees last weekend: 2 IP, 0 ER, 0 HR INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY (PITCHING) NO. 2 — Here's something else you don't see every year: A position player pitching on Opening Day! But a well-rested Opening Day staff — and even an off day the next day — didn't stop Angels manager Ron Washington from waving in utility dude Nicky Lopez to pitch in an 8-0 game in the opener. So of course, our question of the day was: Has that ever happened? The official ruling of the Weird and Wild column: No! A handful of other 'position players' did turn up in a Baseball Reference/Stathead research project. But they were all guys who pitched way too much to be considered 'true' position players. Our closest call was Christian Bethancourt, for the 2017 Padres. But ignore the rest of his career profile. He pitched 24 times that year between the big leagues and Triple A. So Nicky Lopez, you're now a true Opening Day legend. FIRST CONTACT — As you may have heard, we have two new ballparks in MLB this season. There's George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, proud home of the Not Yankees (aka the Rays). And there's Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, new home of the Team with No First Name, the A's. Advertisement So how 'bout this thing that happened, that caught the eye of all of us here at Weird and Wild World HQ. First homer by a Ray in Tampa — Kameron Misner. First homer by an A in Sacramento — Jacob Wilson. What do they have in common? Not only was it the first home run by the home team in both parks … it was also the first home run in the big-league life of both guys who hit them. So how many of the other 28 parks have had their first home run hit by players who had never hit any other big-league home runs? That, says our friends at STATS, would be exactly … none! BOX SCORE TAG TEAM OF THE WEEK — You'd think we'd run out of wacky tidbits on that nine-homer game in Yankee Stadium, wouldn't you? But guess what? You'd think wrong. How about these two box-score classics from a pair of Brewers hurlers that day: Nestor Cortes — 2 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 5 HR Connor Thomas — 2 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 3 HR So maybe you're wondering: How many teams in the live-ball era have had two different pitchers give up eight earned runs and at least three homers in the same game? That answer, according to Baseball Reference, is: Not a one … until last Saturday in the Bronx. HERE COMES THE JUDGE — There's only one thing that could possibly be more magical than watching a feared slugger walk to home plate with a chance to hit his fourth home run of the game. And that would be … Watching that feared masher dig into the box … and finding a position player on the mound. So yes, that happened last Saturday, when Aaron Judge had to take his shot at a four-homer game … against Brewers multi-position threat Jake Bauers. It didn't result in any four-homer history. Jake Bauers stops Aaron Judge from getting four home runs — Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) March 29, 2025 But it did make me think: How many times in history could that have happened? Thanks to Katie Sharp, we can now answer that! Here are the only four other men to bat against a position player with their fourth homer on the line. Lawrence Butler vs. Garrett Stubbs — Butler went deep three times for the A's against the real pitchers, but flied out against the Phillies' intrepid backup catcher, on July 14, 2024. Advertisement Adolis García vs. Jace Peterson — García didn't homer again, but he at least doubled off the A's utilityman on April 22, 2023. Alex Dickerson vs. Drew Butera — Yes, Dickerson really did hit three homers in one game for the Giants, in one of those Coors Field specials, on Sept. 1, 2020. But Butera held him to a double in the ninth. Good relief work! Gary Sánchez vs. Hanser Alberto – The then-Yankees catcher hit three bombs in this game at Camden Yards on April 7, 2019 — but he hadn't faced the fearsome Hanser Alberto, who held him to a fly-ball out in the ninth. No wonder Dave Roberts pitched Alberto 10 times in 2022! 1. The Diamondbacks gave up their DH on Sunday — which allowed this wild thing to happen: Ryne Nelson (he's a pitcher) got a hit this year before the NL batting champ (Luis Arraez). Not to mention before José Ramírez, Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa, Rafael Devers and Willson Contreras (all definitely not pitchers). 2. Juan Soto has now played on Opening Day in Houston two years in a row (last year with the Yankees, this year with the Mets). It still feels Strange But True to me that Alex Bregman hasn't! 3. The MVP award has been around for more than 90 years. For nine decades, we never saw a game in which three former MVPs hit back-to-back-to-back homers. So naturally, it's now happened twice since last Aug. 31. The Dodgers did it then (Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman). The Yankees did it Saturday (Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, Judge). And as the great Sarah Langs of observed, both were leading off the game. 4. Padres reliever Wandy Peralta should have played 1-1-1 in the lottery last Thursday. It was Opening Day (aka Game 1). He threw one pitch. And he collected Win No. 1! A big hat tip to Braves broadcast Weird/Wildness aficionado C.J. Nitkowski for not letting that one slip past us. Thanks to him, we know the only other pitcher in the pitch-counting era with a one-pitch win on Opening Day was Dan Naulty for the Twins in 1997 — with a one-pitch double play! Advertisement 5. So has any team had a more bizarre first week than the Reds? Luckily, Reds TV research genius Joel Luckhaupt was all over it. Opening Day — Reds pitchers strike out 17 Giants … and lose. Game 2 — Reds pitchers strike out one Giant … and win. Games 4-5-6 — the Reds score 14 runs against the Rangers, then lose back-to-back-to-back 1-0 games … for the first time in franchise history. Oh, and you know how hard it is to score 14 runs in one game and then lose three straight 1-0 games? So hard that no team has ever pulled off that Weird and Wild trick. Heck, you know how hard it is to score 14 and then just get shut out (by any score) in even two games in a row? It's so hard that no team has done it since July 2018, when it was done by Cleveland, a team managed by … yep … Terry Francona! RICKEY BE WONDERING ABOUT THIS! The coolest thing the A's did Monday in their first game in Sacramento was to have every player honor the late, great Rickey Henderson by wearing No. 24. The only not-cool part of that tribute: Want to guess the only team in baseball that hadn't even attempted a stolen base yet? Yup. That would be that team trying to honor Rickey! HEY 19 — There are many other teams besides the Phillies that have perfected the art of swinging-and-missing. But here's what those other teams haven't perfected: The art of whiffing … and still winning! So on Opening Day, that Phillies offense — the same dudes who won three different nine-inning games last season in which they struck out at least 16 times — spent their day battling MacKenzie Gore and the late-afternoon shadows … and struck out 19 times (in 10 innings)! And how'd that work out? They did what they always do in games like this: They won. Here's how Strange But True that was: • Games won by teams that struck out at least 19 times last year (in a game of any length): none! Advertisement • Record of all teams that had struck out that many times in games of 10 innings or fewer in the wild-card era: 2-28! • Record of all teams that had struck out that many times in games of 10 innings or fewer in the live-ball era: 3-30! • Games won by the Phillies in all their previous games since 1901 in which they punched out 19 times or more (in games of any length) — uh-huh, none! As in 0-6. Strikeouts. They're just outs! CATCH THIS — It was a big week for catchers. They went cycling. They got to pitch. And they got to do what the Cardinals' Iván Herrera did Wednesday: Smoke three home runs in one game. That would be cool no matter what. But it was more Strange But True than you think. • Ted Simmons, Joe Torre, Tim McCarver, Darrell Porter and (lest we forget) Willson Contreras have all caught for the Cardinals over the last century. Yet somehow, Iván Herrera became the first Cardinals catcher who has ever hit three homers in a game. • But that's not all. Johnny Bench, Mike Piazza, Gabby Hartnett and Buster Posey are among the hundreds of catchers who have played baseball in St. Louis over the last century. Yet somehow, the entire list of catchers who have had a three-homer game in St. Louis, for or against the Cardinals, consists of … Iván Herrera. • And that's still not all. Because to find the last catcher to hit three home runs in a game anywhere for or against the Cardinals, you would need a time machine. Because it happened 103 years ago — when a guy named Walter 'Butch' Henline did it for the Phillies, on Sept. 15, 1922, at one of the all-time band boxes, Baker Bowl. Since then, Reds catchers (not all of them named Bench) have had five three-homer games. … And Texas has allowed four of them to opposing catchers just in the 2000s. But the Cardinals? They were a trifecta-free zone … until they weren't. Finally. Advertisement GIMME-SIX — We've seen walk-off homers … and walk-off walks … and walk-off caught-stealings … and walk-off inside-the-parkers. But I'm pretty sure we've never seen this. Check out this 'walk-off' in the Cubs' 4-3 win in Arizona last Saturday. Technically, that's not a walk-off 6-unassisted moment of inspiration from Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson — because that term, walk-off, is supposed to be for hitters. But that's what Swanson called it. So we're going with it. Except then I decided I absolutely, positively had to know the answer to this question: Could that have ever happened? It took Katie Sharp way too many hours of her valuable life to figure that out. But she did it! We decided that stuff like popups and 6-unassisted force-outs at second didn't count. They had to at least vaguely resemble this play, which was ruled a 6-unassisted out 'at home' since the base runner, Garrett Hampson, had rounded third and couldn't get back. So here's what you need to know: The Baseball Reference play-by-play database goes back more than a century. Want to guess how many other games in that time have ended on a 6-unassisted ground-ball out 'at home'? None would be an excellent guess. Katie did find two very different 6-unassisted ground-ball 'walk-offs.' One was turned by Astros shortstop Roger Metzger on May 15, 1972, in which he tagged out a runner going from second to third. The other was a 6-unassisted double play pulled off by Giants shortstop Hal Lanier on Aug. 25, 1970, in which he ran down runners trying to advance to third and second. But that's all pre-video. So what was the coolest, most innovative, most baseball-I.Q.-ey 6-unassisted walk-off that we can actually see with our own eyeballs? You just watched it! CENTRAL CASTING — Hey, let's look in on the AL Central. Wait. What? Was that The Onion? Or some kind of misprint? Or did we really see five teams in one division — all tied for first place — a week into the season? OK, it's 100 percent real. So yeah, I know what you're thinking before you even … um, too late! @jaysonst What is the latest into a season that all 4 teams had the same record like the AL Central's 2-4? — Mike Peterson (@Tnut10) April 3, 2025 So Mike, by popular demand, I asked Kenny Jackelen to look into this, with the caveat that it's actually five teams tied, not four. As always, he worked his magic. • In the divisional era, this ties the record for most games into a season in which the entire division was tied. The 2002 NL East was also ensnarled in a five-way tie after six games, at 3-3. Advertisement • But if we travel back deeper into the modern era, before divisions, there was a five-way tie (sort of) in the NL in 1961 after four of those teams had played nine games (5-4) but a fifth team had played 11 (and was 6-5). Of course, there were eight teams in that league. So all eight of them obviously weren't tied. • And if you're a fan of the 1896 standings, you could peer back and find five teams virtually tied in the NL after either 21 or 23 games. That was in a 12-team league. • But now here's the answer to your biggest question: What's the latest in a season that five teams were tied for first, all with losing records? Ha. You're looking at it. Kenny reports that had never before happened after any number of games — not even one — until this week. So welcome to the AL Central, where winning is optional … but somebody has to finish first. Or everybody. DON'T WALK THIS WAY — Finally, it doesn't seem that hard, in theory, to count to four. Even your 3-year-old can probably do it. But in baseball? It can be harder than it looks — as documented last weekend by our friends at Jomboy Media with this at-bat by Seth Brown. Last night, Seth Brown saw FIVE pitches called balls before taking his walk and no one noticed — Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) March 30, 2025 What a world. We just finished a spring training where lasers could detect if a pitch was one-84th of an inch outside the strike zone. But back here in real life, if nobody remembers to count to four … do not take your base! It's just a reminder that humans still matter these days, even in the beautiful sport of … Baseball! GO DEEPER Happy New Year, Baseball! 17 Weird & Wild ways the season's first week surprised (Top photo of Jazz Chisholm Jr.: Pamela Smith / Associated Press)
Fox News
01-04-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
Athletics' Sacramento era starts with historic blowout, 'Sell the team' chants and peculiar circumstances
The Sacramento era for the Athletics could not have gotten off to a worse start. In case you missed it, the A's will be in Sacramento in a minor league ballpark for at least the next three seasons before calling Las Vegas home. They had spent the previous 57 seasons in Oakland. Well, Monday marked the first time they played a home game in Sacramento, and it got off to an emotional start by honoring the late Athletics legend Rickey Henderson (although, of course, he became a household name in Oakland) before turning completely sideways. Each member of the A's came onto the field during introductions donning Henderson's No. 24, which they wore throughout the game, and his daughters threw out the ceremonial first pitch – he died in December at the age of 65. And that was about all the positive that occurred. Before the Athletics even came up to bat in the bottom of the first inning, the Chicago Cubs led, 4-0. It got even worse, as Athletics pitchers were smacked around for 14 more runs, all while catcher Carson Kelly hit for the cycle (the A's never allowed one at the Oakland Coliseum). After splitting a four-game set in Seattle this past weekend, it was an 18-3 loss to the Cubs. Joey Estes allowed six earned runs on nine hits and four walks in his four innings of work, while Noah Murdock was charged with six earned in his lone inning of relief. It was the most runs allowed by any team in a home opener in 100 years. The Athletics' radio broadcast also went out numerous times throughout the game – at one point, it even played the television broadcast. After the tough loss, manager Mark Kotsay did his daily postgame press conference in none other than a shed. It also wouldn't be an Athletics game without some "Sell the team" chants from the crowd. Oh, and there was also a drone delay. There was some good news – the game was announced as a sellout… with 12,119 people in attendance. Cubs infielder Nico Hoerner, an Oakland native who grew up an A's fan, was not pleased with the circumstances. "Around the league, a lot of people really appreciated the quality of baseball that was played there, without always the best resources, and the fans and energy that they brought," Hoerner, who added he'd "rather be playing in Oakland" and has friends boycotting the team, told reporters before the game. "A lot of players speak highly of their experiences playing games at the Coliseum even if the locker rooms weren't the fanciest. It was just a great baseball place, and I hope fans know that players appreciate a lot of the same things that fans do." While the Oakland Coliseum didn't exactly have the greatest amenities, it at least was a major league ballpark. The Athletics will not bare the city in its name for the time being, and understandably so, as it seems that this era will want to be forgotten very quickly. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
A's open season at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, give up 18 runs in blowout loss to Cubs
A's open season at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, give up 18 runs in blowout loss to Cubs The Athletics opened their 2025 home slate on Monday night, and things did not go well. The Chicago Cubs cruised to a dominant 18-3 win over the A's at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, which will play home to the team as it prepares to move permanently to Las Vegas. Carson Kelly hit for the cycle in the win, too, which made him the first player in the league to do so and the first Cubs player to pull that feat off since 1993. Advertisement Sutter Health Park will be the A's home for the next three seasons as they await their new ballpark in Las Vegas, and they'll share it with its usual residents, the Sacramento River Cats, the San Francisco Giants' Triple-A affiliate. A's players also all wore No. 24 during the game to honor Rickey Henderson, who died in December at the age of 65. Henderson's daughters threw out the first pitch. While the minor-league ballpark still only has a capacity of 14,014, some renovations were completed prior to the A's move-in: there's a new two-story clubhouse, renovated hitting tunnels and expanded dugouts and bullpens. Before the game, outfielder Brett Rooker said he hoped the atmosphere felt like "a very big SEC college baseball game in terms of the energy that we bring and with the capacity that is allowed," per USA Today's Bob Nightengale. Advertisement Before Monday's game, A's owner John Fisher said he wasn't nervous. 'I'm confident, without being overconfident, and I'm excited about where we're going,' he said, according to The Athletic. One element of the A's new digs that is decidedly not major league is the media setup, which appears to be a large shed outside the ballpark. The field also didn't appear to be in the best condition, at least in the left-field corner, prior to the game. The A's have an option to play in West Sacramento for a fourth season in 2028 if the new fixed-roof ballpark in Vegas is not ready. Cubs roll to blowout win Things started off poorly for the home team, with pitcher Joey Estes giving up back-to-back home runs in the first inning, one to noted torpedo bat user Dansby Swanson. The Cubs put up four runs in the first inning, and then gave up five runs in the fifth inning and six in the sixth inning. That completely blew the game open, and allowed Chicago to roll to the X-run win. Advertisement One of the lone bright spots in the game for the A's came from shortstop Jacob Wilson, who now has the honor of hitting the team's first home run in their new stadium. It was his first career home run, too. There was even a brief drone delay in the seventh inning. Kelly then the a triple in the eighth inning to complete the cycle. He hit his home run in the fourth, a single in the fifth and a double in the sixth. The loss dropped the A's to 2-3 on the season. They'll wrap up the three-game series with the Cubs on Wednesday afternoon, and will then head back on the road to take on the Colorado Rockies starting on Friday afternoon.
