Category Archives: Other Sports

OLYMPICS CONTINUUM: What was Team USA’s Best Slugging Percentage? You’d be surprised…

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It’s time for OLYMPICS CONTINUUM. Today, I was just thinking: “How can you measure what team has had the best Olympics?” There are several methods, of course, and technically the Olympics aren’t even about winning or losing, officially, especially outside of individual events. For example, medal tables are done entirely by the media, not the IOC.

So… is it what country has the most golds? What country has the most overall medals? Some type of points system?

Then, I realized: Winning a medal is like getting a hit in baseball. And so, I provide you with THE OLYMPIC SLUGGING PERCENTAGE. 

As you are on a baseball blog, you probably know how slugging percentage is calculated, but if you aren’t normally up on baseball stats here’s the formula:

In essence, it weighs how good each hit is done, and that, divided by how many times they were at the plate, determines the slugging percentage. The greatest slugging percentage ever, for example, is held by Babe Ruth, who had a .690 career slugging percentage.

Of course, there are some problems with adapting this to the Olympics. For example, obviously winning gold is a “Home Run”, but what are silver and bronze? Well, my way of thinking is that obviously winning gold is far bigger than just winning a silver, so, for the sake of this article, a silver is equivalent of a double, with a bronze a single. And “AB” is instead replaced by “total number of medals awarded”. Due to the fact that, of course, in many events a “sweep” is impossible, this means that it would be impossible for any team to have a perfect score. So, here are Team USA’s “slugging percentage” in all Olympic Games both Summer and Winter… after the jump:

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The Oh-Crud-I-Forgot-To-Write-This-Until-The-Last-Minute Super Bowl Prediction

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By all accounts, the weather in NJ will be fine, so I’m going to go with Manning and the Broncos tonight. Once, in the past, I would have gone with the defensive advantaged team, but the NFL has changed, and that is no longer true. So, advantage Broncos, uhm… 27-24.

For the Super Bowl, here’s George Carlin again with “Baseball and Football”

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This is at least the third time I’ve posted this, but it’s still funny.

Famous For Something Else: Russell Wilson

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As amazing as it seems, I have never had Russell Wilson of the Seahawks as a “Famous For Something Else” entry. Oh, I had a post in which I put up his minor league numbers, but it wasn’t a “Famous for Something Else”. So, without further ado, Russell Wilson’s minor league statistics:

Year Age Tm Lg Lev Aff G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB
2010 21 Tri-City NORW A- COL 32 143 122 18 28 4 4 2 11 4 6 16 36 .230 .336 .377 .713 46 4 4 0 1 0
2011 22 Asheville SALL A COL 61 236 193 40 44 5 4 3 15 15 2 35 82 .228 .366 .342 .708 66 2 7 1 0 0
2 Seasons 93 379 315 58 72 9 8 5 26 19 8 51 118 .229 .354 .356 .710 112 6 11 1 1 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/13/2013.

It should be noted that Wilson has not officially retired from baseball. Oh, sure, he probably won’t ever play again (although he has said he might be interested in hanging out with the Rangers next Spring Training to take BP, after they had picked him up in the Rule 5 draft as a publicity stunt), but he still appears on a Major League organization’s depth chart, if only as a “just-in-case” possibility.

Of course, even if he did want to be a two-sport athlete, it’s highly unlikely that he’d be able to pull it off, and not just because of his career .229 BA. The fact is, it’s more-or-less impossible to imagine an NFL quarterback also playing another sport, given both his importance to his team and how involved the QB is to football’s strategies and tactics. Bo Jackson was a running back- important, but not the type of person who needs to know every play in the book. Same goes for Deion Sanders (who, admittedly, always had the NFL as his higher priority except for when his MLB team was in the playoffs), who while an important part of every defense he was in, was hardly as indispensable as a quarterback is to a NFL team.

The only way I could maybe see it happen would be if the QB was a starting pitcher who only worked early in the week. But even that is a bit of a stretch.

Quick Aside

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In the next few days, there will be some football stuff leading up to the Super Bowl… but also a Bizarre Baseball Culture!

Predictions for tomorrow’s AFC and NFC championship games

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Well, here are my predictions for tomorrow’s NFL games. Who will go to the Super Bowl?

  • In the latest super-epic-deathmatch between Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, I think Manning will win. However this isn’t a game between Manning and Brady, it’s a game between the Broncos and Patriots. And that, ultimately, leads to Manning’s problem and tragedy: He could do great, even spectacular, and it still might not be enough if the Patriots just play better. So if the Patriots use their momentum and suddenly-amazing running game to beat the Broncos, don’t be surprised. However, that said, I still like the Broncos in a close one, since the Broncos are a better defensive team than, say, the Colts.
  • Meanwhile, I think the Seahawks will beat the 49ers, because, well, i still don’t see anybody beating the Seahawks at home. I know, that’s a cop-out answer, but when you are this late in the playoffs, sometimes cop-out answers are necessary, since it can be so hard to predict who could win a single random sporting event.

So, there you go, the Seahawks and Broncos will meet in the Super Bowl.

Unless I’m wrong.

Which I probably am.

The Alex Rodriguez Suspension/NFL Prediction Awkward Combination Post

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Okay, so, I was going to make my picks for the NFL playoffs this weekend, but then Alex Rodriguez finally received his steroid suspension from the arbitrator, a one-year ban, which is lower than the 211-game ban MLB had originally given him but still the longest suspension in the history of MLB’s drug program.

So, here are my thoughts on that:

  • Not many people win in this. MLB and Bud Selig have now been shown to have overreached with the 211-game suspension, and also will get bad publicity even as the Hall of Fame vote stuff just starts to settle (on the bright side, Alex Rodriguez won’t see a MLB field in 2014). Rodriguez, of course, misses the entire next season. The MLBPA, although many of it’s members would probably be fine with letting A-Rod burn, has been dealt a defeat, with one of their members being suspended despite a lack of a positive test.
  • Interestingly, the only people who really benefit (besides lawyers) are the New York Yankees themselves. Without having to pay A-Rod next year, they have more money to possibly use in the Masahiro Tanaka sweepstakes.
  • This isn’t over. It’s unlikely the federal courts are going to side with Rodriguez, but it still will keep this story in the public eye. And even after the suspension, Rodriguez will likely try to make a comeback in 2015… wherever he plays. It’s hard to see the Yankees wanting him back.
  • Oh, and guess what? Due to a loophole, Alex Rodriguez will be able to come to spring training. Yankees’ position players must be in camp by February 19! Boy, oh boy!

And now, my thoughts on this weekend’s  NFL playoff games:

  • I’m not going to go against the Seahawks at home, where the stadium has, in the past, caused small earthquakes and gotten to dangerously high levels of noise.
  • I will, however, go against the Patriots and go with the Colts. Maybe it’s the team of destiny the Colts gave last week, or maybe that’s just me.
  • I’m going with the 49ers over the Panthers. After going through Lambeau, Charlotte is probably a cakewalk.
  • I’m going with the Broncos over the Chargers. They just are the better team.

Okay, so, let’s see how well it all turns out to be!

Football Continuum: Short Predictions for the NFL Wild Card Round (2014)

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Okay, so, it’s time for the NFL playoffs. Some quick thoughts:

  • I like the Chiefs over the Colts today. I’m not 100% sure why. Maybe it’s just my gut.
  • I like the Eagles over the Saints. This time, though, I have reasons. For one, it’ll be really cold in Philly, and the Saints don’t do well on the road, so the Eagles definitely have the elements and the crowd on their side.
  • Bengals over the Chargers. I feel like Andy Dalton is going to come into his own as an elite QB during this postseason.
  • I have no idea what might happen in Green Bay on Sunday. It’ll be so cold that weird things could happen, and who knows if Aaron Rodgers is truly “back” yet. So, for lack of a better prediction, I’m just going to say that the 49ers are the better team but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Packers win.

Famous for Something Else: Vic Janowicz

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Two Heisman Trophy winners have played in MLB: The most recent one was, of course, Bo Jackson. But before that, there was Vic Janowicz, the 1950 Heisman Trophy winner from Ohio State. After graduating, he pursued a baseball career, only returning to football when it was becoming clear he was doomed to be a benchwarmer on the mediocre Pirates teams of the era.

Sadly, his professional football career was also cut short when the halfback/kicker sustained injuries in a 1956 car crash that left him partially paralyzed. The year before, he had been second in the NFL in points and 10th in touchdowns, leaving his career a giant question of “What If?”

Here are Janowicz’s MLB stats:

Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF Pos
1953 23 PIT NL 42 131 123 10 31 3 1 2 8 0 1 5 31 .252 .287 .341 .628 64 42 3 1 2 2
1954 24 PIT NL 41 84 73 10 11 3 0 0 2 0 0 7 23 .151 .235 .192 .426 14 14 0 1 3 0 5/7
2 Yrs 83 215 196 20 42 6 1 2 10 0 1 12 54 .214 .267 .286 .552 45 56 3 2 5 0
162 Game Avg. 162 420 383 39 82 12 2 4 20 0 2 23 105 .214 .267 .286 .552 45 109 6 4 10
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/2/2014.

UPDATE!

Aside

I contacted Ben Blatt, who wrote the subject of yesterday’s post, and it turns out they are going to try and update it.

Huzzah!