#46

                My first foray into the world of blogging has been, like so many things in my life, inspired by my wife. You see, she has suffered more than anyone due to my obsessive love of sports-related statistics. We met fifteen years ago and have now been married for 9 ½ years. You can only imagine the amount of useless sports trivia that she has been forced to pretend to listen to. So last week when she suggested I choose a slightly more public, if not silent, medium to relay my love for statistical analyses I begrudgingly obliged her. So without further ado, here’s my plan. Each week, month, or whenever I have the time to type, I will be selecting a number at random and then telling statistical tales relating to it. I think it’ll be fun so here we go with Number 1…no wait, number Number 1……well that’s just confusing. Here we go with my first blog entry:

 #46

a.) The last “official” Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash was held in 1979. Better known to everyone as the Cannonball Run, the 1979 race included a record 46 entries. The cross-country race, which was run from NY and CT and finished across the country just outside of Los Angeles, inspired the 1981 blockbuster movie starring Burt Reynolds. While some racers may have only planned to use their speed to outrun any local or state police they encountered along the way, others decided to use brains to outsmart the boys in blue. Of the 46 entries in the 1979 race, several made their way into the film due to their creativity. These included three drivers posing as priests, three young ladies wearing skin-tight suits to distract the cops, a fake ambulance with two male drivers and a female “patient” in the back, and a fake HAZ-MAT truck which most police avoided harassing. Of the 46 racing teams, 42 finished the cross-country trip. The winners were Dave Heinz and Dave Yarborough driving their Jaguar XJ-S. They finished the race in 32 hours and 51 minutes, averaging 87 mph.  There was only one minor accident when a racer tapped an exit ramp guard rail and suffered a broken suspension. Police officers were able to pick off a more than a few racers, with over 50 speeding tickets written across the country during the race.

b.)  During the 2011 NFL season, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw a total of 46 touchdown passes, just 4 short of New England quarterback Tom Brady’s record of 50. While completing all of those touchdowns during the season, Drew was also able to eclipse Dan Marino’s 27 year old record for passing yards in a season (5,084). Incredibly he accomplished this in game #15 and finished the season with an incredible 5476 passing yards. Another amazing feature of the 2011 New Orleans Saints was the depth of their pass-catchers. The Saints had 13 different receivers who logged a reception in 2011. Drew’s 46 touchdown passes were completed to 9 different receivers. Through Week 2 of the 2012 season, Drew has thrown only 4 touchdowns to go along with 4 interceptions, after throwing only 14 interceptions in all of 2011.

Eugenio Velez strikes out...again.

c.)  Beginning in August 2010, Eugenio Velez began a Major League streak of going 0-fer that lasted a record 46 games, eventually spilling over into the 2011 season. Because of a bad start with the San Francisco Giants that season, Velez was sent down to AAA in favor of a call-up for Pat Burrell. Velez was then called back up and played alongside Burrell that summer. On July 26^th, Pat Burrell lined a foul ball into the San Francisco dugout which struck Eugenio Velez in the head. After this incident, Velez did a stint on the disabled list before being re-activated later that season. Post-injury, Velez went 0-9 for the remainder of 2011 and then began the 2011 season with an 0-37 stretch leaving people wondering about his quick return to action. Velez wound up back in AAA Albuquerque in 2011 where he finished with a very respectable .339 batting average.

d.) Nolan Ryan. Not much more to be said, right? Over a career spanning four decades, from 1966-1993, Ryan notched a record seven no-hitters and 5,714 career strike outs as well as being an eight-time All-Star and a World Series Champion. Ryan retired at age 46 after his 1993 campaign, during which he started 13 games and finished with a 5-5 record and a 4.88 ERA. And how did baseball’s all-time strikeout leader fare in the season which saw him turn 46? Over 66 1/3 innings, Ryan struck out 46 batters. And while all of these statistics seem to tie so nicely together, perhaps the most memorable moment of Nolan Ryan’s career for both baseball fans and non-fans alike occurred during his final season. The now-President of the Texas Rangers organization squared off on the mound against the now-manager of the Chicago White Sox, Robin Ventura. At the time, Ryan had been pitching in the Major Leagues longer than the 26 year old Ventura had been alive. And when Ryan logged the only HBP of his final year in the Majors, history was made. (Click to enjoy!)