I realize this statement has been refuted, but it reminds me…The 1972 Miami Dolphins are officially the first team to have had a pair of runners (Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris) each gain 1000 yards. I can’t find the story just now in internetland, but I do remember reading a children’s book long long ago that reported Morris had seemed to have finished the game and the season just shy, but that upon checking the replay, a penalty that had nullified a short gain had been called in error, and so Morris was back-credited for those few yards. If this is really so, maybe it’s not too late for that perfect-game guy (I’d look up his name, but I don’t wish to misrepresent my current level of sports awareness).
Edit–after that, we can adjust Cigar’s winnings for inflation.
The oft-maligned ex-major leaguer Bill Buckner is a personal friend of mine.
The baseball fans reading this will understand why Billy Bucks is much maligned. And usually remembered for only one thing.
But his stats are near Cooperstown-worthy.
If memory serves, he finished his splendid career (near 20 years!) just a few points show of having a lifetime .300 average.
I think the number crunch comes out to…had Bucks somehow got just two more hits a season (out of hundreds of at-bats, mind you) he woulda had a lifetime .300.
Which is pretty much an automatic ticket to Cooperstown.
I remember that happening. Essentially they went into the last regular game wanting to 1)finish 14-0
2) set the NFL single season record for rushing yards by a team
3) having Morris join Csonka as a 1,000 rusher, the first team ever to have two in a season
So they
beat the Baltimore Colts 16-0 (after a 15 year span of top teams, the Colts collapsed as virtually everyone got old
set the rushing record when Earl Morrall, of all people, scrambled for 5 yards when his receivers were covered (or maybe he didn’t see an open one as happened in Super Bowl III because of the marching band). Morrall, a stay in the pocket QB, played most of the season because of an injury to Bob Griese
especially nearly the end of the game the Dolphins kept giving the ball to Mercury Morris so he could get 1,000. He had to come out several times because of leg cramps(?) and finally late in the game was out for good with the cramps. He had 991 yards unofficially. A couple days later the NFL announced they had compiled the official statistics and golly, what do you know, there was a mistake earlier in the season in a game against Buffalo. Morris wasn’t credited with 9 yards but now he was and he had 1,000yards rushing.
Personally I think Rozelle and the Dolphins arranged for this just like Ban Johnson gave Ty Cobb two hits in 1910 so he could win a batting title that Nap Lajoie won under sleazy circumstances (and also having an error changed to a hit so Cobb could hit .401 in 1921.
In a career filled with milestones, Wayne Gretzky did finish just 6 goals shy of 900. To put it in perspective Gordie Howe was second with 801 and he played almost 300 more games than Gretzky.
Tony LaRussa retired as a manager having 2,728 regular season wins, putting him 3rd on the all time list and only 35 victories behind number two, John McGraw. Had he managed one more season, he would easily have passed that mark. He would have needed about 12 to 15 more season to pass up Connie Mack, though.
If the guy is a personal friend of yours I kind of hate to fact-check. And Buckner has always seemed like a pretty classy guy, and I enjoyed watching him when he was a Cub in the late seventies.
But this is a board about fighting ignorance, and so–
As has been noted, Buckner hit .289 lifetime–not really all that close to .300.
He had 2715 hits in 9397 ABs. He would’ve needed 2820 hits in that many ABs to make it to .300. That’s another 105 hits, close to 5 hits a season, not 2. Adding just two more hits brings him to .293.
Among the relatively recent players who hit .300 and didn;t sniff the Hall of Fame are Ralph Garr (.306), Bill Madlock (.305), Hal Morris (.304), Manny Mota (.304), Moises Alou (.303), Mike Greenwell (.303), Sean Casey (.302), and Pedro Guerrero (.300). There are others too. You could maybe argue that .315 is–well, not automatic, but a ticket–but .300 just isn’t.
Again, hate to be the bringer of bad news…but he wasn;t that close to .300, and even if he’d gotten there it wouldn’t have helped his HoF case. Ah well!
In horse racing’s US Triple Crown that year, Alydar (alley-dar) finished second to Affirmed in all three races of the Triple Crown. It is still one of the greatest TC rivalries, and Affirmed was the last TC Winner until 2015 when the 37-year TC drought was ended by American Pharoah. In each of the three races, Alydar finished closer and closer to Affirmed. But he never won.
Affirmed beat Alydar by:
½ length in the Kentucky Derby
A neck in the Preakness Stakes
A head in the Belmont Stakes, considered to be one of the most exciting racehorses. Trailing Affirmed the entire race, Alydar briefly took the lead at the top of the home stretch, but Affirmed regained the slim lead and held on for the win. (YouTube, 2:43 video – - YouTube)
{1978 Kentucky Derby, 22:09 – 1978 Kentucky Derby - Affirmed -vs- Alydar - YouTube; Alydar was the favorite
1978 Preakness Stakes, 1:58 – - YouTube
}
In his racing career, Alydar beat Affirmed 3 times, twice in 1977 (which may explain why he was the Kentucky Derby favorite). Affirmed won 7 times in their head-to-head career. Alydar finished just shy of the Triple Crown in 1978.
Add in his WHA goals and he is well over 900 with a total of 940
Of course, add in Howe’s WHA goals and he is at 975.
It was only by adding the combined playoff and regular season goals that Gretzky got past Howe (1072 to 1071).
As good as Gretzky was, his production did decline once he got past 30 and really did after 35. (Last 4 years he had 23, 25, 23 and 9 goals) and retired at 39.
In comparison,
At the same age (35 to 39) , Howe had 38,26 29,29 goals and at the age of 40 (when Gretzky had retired), scored 44 goals.
Billy Pierce first pitched in the major leagues when he was 18 years old. He retired with 1,999 career strikeouts. But in an even worse example of just missing a milestone, Pierce is best remembered for retiring the first 26 batters in a game in 1958, only to lose his perfect game and no-hitter with two outs in the 9th inning.
Losing a perfect game to the 27th batter has happened 11 times, but the worst instance (imo) was Pedro Martinez losing his to the 28th batter. 9 perfect innings, but a scoreless game.
Not even close. Harvey Haddix retired 36 consecutive batters in 12 perfect innings in 1959. He didn’t give up a hit until the 40th batter (others reaching on an error and intentional walk).
Players Just Short (10 or fewer) of X00 Home Runs:
Alex Rodriguez - 696
Lou Gehrig - 493
Fred McGriff - 493
Andres Galarraga - 399
Al Kaline - 399
Dale Murphy - 398
Joe Carter - 396
Jim Edmonds - 393
Graig Nettles - 390
Tim Salmon - 299
A lot of players are just short of 300, some of whom are active and will pass it.
Bobby Mathews won 297 games in an era where they didn’t count very closely.
Tris Speaker is the all time doubles leader with 792.
Gotta say I’m not following this logic at all. Don’t see how the quality of the pitcher enters into it… Haddix pitched twelve perfect innings, several more than the other three guys.