Most unlikely record holders

[Jim_s_Son]

@John_DiFool

What’s strange is that nobody has really made a run at Webb, at least during the (ahem) steroid era, when doubles in general were being hit at all-time high levels overall. 23 of the top 49 all-time top doubles seasons were from 1993-2010, but oddly none were in the top 6, and none even topped 60 (Todd Helton got 59 one year). The only thing I can imagine is that what would have been a double in the bigger 1920’s/30’s parks would be a home run today, and, combined with the higher levels of strikeouts, there just isn’t enough opportunities for most batters to drill 68 balls which have a gooc chance of becoming doubles.

Ballplayers nowadays are too busy standing at the plate watching to see if it’s a home run instead of hustling to second. Okay, a bit of a “get off my grass rant”. But every thread that has baseball in it almost needs it. But it could be players were more aggressive and also got thrown out more often trying to stretch base hits.

Sam LoPresti played 74 games in the NHL but in one of them in 1941 faced a record 83 shots.

[Jim_s_Son]

Gilles Gilbert was an alright NHL goaltender but he holds the record for most consecutive wins with 17 in an NHL season in 1975-76. His coach with the Bruins, Don Cherry, didn’t care him much though.

[R.P.McMurphy]

Betcha didn’t know this:

Don Mossi:

Mossi’s career fielding percentage of .990 was the highest ever recorded by a pitcher when he retired.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Mossi

Hoyt Wilhelm:

Wilhelm was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity; occasionally as a starting pitcher, but mainly as a specialist relief man (in which role he won 124 games, still the record for relief pitchers). He is recognized as the first pitcher to have saved 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. He is also one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.

Although his accomplishments as a pitcher are well known, Wilhelm also holds an interesting record as a batter. On April 23, 1952, in his second game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm came to the plate for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm swung and sliced a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he played 21 seasons and went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoyt_Wilhelm
Rocky Colovito:

His record could be framed a lot of different ways. Player with the most HR’s, RBI’s and runs to have a perfect pitching record.

Later in that final season of 1968, with his last team, his boyhood idol Yankees, he became the last position player until Brent Mayne in 2000 to be credited as the winning pitcher in a game, earned in a scoreless two and two-thirds inning relief appearance in the first game of a doubleheader. He also homered in the second game.

(The Tigers were his old team and the 1968 Tigers went on to win the World Series.)

His lifetime record as a pitcher is 1-0.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Colavito

If I can recall some others I will post them.

[Enginerd]

@R.P.McMurphy

Betcha didn’t know this:

Don Mossi:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Mossi

Biggest ears in sports, too.

[DKW]

Wow…this is amazing. I think this has generated more discussion than my last three OPs put together. And just to clarify, fluke, fundamental, astonishing, brilliant, crazy, unlikely, I don’t care, it takes all kinds. Carry on!

Marley23 - Thanks for the article. Fascinating insights on what was happening that night. It’s great that Skiles acknowledged the record for what it was; a team effort that isn’t the be- and end-all of his career, but it’s still nice to have. Kobe Bryant could learn a few things from him.

etv78 - Man, I’d like to see that run. (Searches came up empty.) Be interesting to hear what he said about it afterward.

notfrommensa - Just out of curiosity, which ones were on par-72s and which were on par-70’s? That makes a pretty big difference.

zamboniracer - Well, I was trying to avoid negative records, but you do raise an interesting point. How good did the other aspects of Testaverde’s game have to be that all those interceptions didn’t destroy his career? It certainly says something about how hard it truly is to find a quality quarterback that a hot and cold QB can survive…so long as there’s enough of the former.

One more:

Paul Lawrie – Biggest deficit in the final round of a major overcome (10 strokes)
Credentials: [Insert credentials here, assuming this guy has in fact any.]
How he did it: The 1999 British Open was held at Carnoustie, one of the most brutal, painful, murderous, monstrous, lethal golf courses in the world. Going into the final round, leader Jean Van De Velde was sitting pretty at even par, while Lawrie was scraping by at +10. In other words, Lawrie’s task was tantamount to climbing Mount Everest in a wheelchair.
Van De Velde had a shaky start, bogeying two of the first three holes, and he had only one birdie the whole round. It was clear that he was playing conservatively, trying to “bend not break”, and make just enough decent shots to win. Lawrie, meanwhile, with nothing to lose, came out strong. He -2 in the first nine holes and capped off the back nine with a spectacular birdie to finish -4 for the day, +6 overall. Even so, Van De Velde was +3 going into the final hole, needing only a double bogey to win outright, which, even on Carnoustie, is a perfectly managable score.
Note that even in the unlikely event that Van De Velde got a triple bogey…or worse…Lawrie’s work wouldn’t be done, as he’d be in a playoff with Justin Leonard (who started the day 5 back), a distinguished veteran who turned in a very solid round that day.
Well, you know what happened. Banana, banana, sploosh, slash, blast, and a one-putt to make the playoff.
Okay, epic fail, biggest collapse etc. etc., but he’s still in it. Lawrie, Leonard, and Van De Velde are starting from zero now. If anything, it looks like Leonard’s going to steal this one.
And then Lawrie cranks up the afterburners another notch, finishing the 4-hole playoff in even par while his hapless rivals can do no better than +3. Lawrie makes history and becomes the first Scot since 1910 to win this event.
It was a fluke. It was a wild, crazy, loopy, freaky, stinky, unfathomable, unbelievable, jaw-dropping, eye-popping, heart-stopping fluke. Who can explain? It’s golf.
**Possible X-factor: **Snopes explained this in the “Sports Illustrated cover jinx” article. It’s all about expectations. No expectations, no pressure, freedom to shine.
**Breakable?: **Just conceivably possibly possible, but I guarantee that it will make sports headlines worldwide if it happens. Lawrie hit a super jackpot; the next Rocky who wants to do the same will have to be at least as fortunate.

[etv78]

Don’t know if he was ever considered an elite jumper, but Bob Beamon shattering the long jump record comes to mind.