Unlike some other failed two-sport athletes, John Elway’s stats in the minors were actually pretty good. That said, I’d say he probably made a good decision focusing on the NFL.
Famous For Something Else: John Elway
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Tag Archives: NFL
Famous for Something Else: Ricky Williams
Before he played twelve seasons of professional football, Ricky Williams played baseball in the Phillies system, reaching as high as short-season low-A Batavia. Here are his stats from his time on the diamond:
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | Lev | Aff | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | TB | GDP | HBP | SH | SF | IBB | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 18 | Martinsville | APPY | Rk | PHI | 36 | 121 | 113 | 19 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 13 | 2 | 6 | 32 | .239 | .289 | .248 | .537 | 28 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996 | 19 | Piedmont | SALL | A | PHI | 84 | 288 | 266 | 30 | 50 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 17 | 8 | 18 | 87 | .188 | .245 | .259 | .504 | 69 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 1997 | 20 | Piedmont | SALL | A | PHI | 37 | 149 | 136 | 12 | 28 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 9 | 44 | .206 | .268 | .265 | .533 | 36 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1998 | 21 | Batavia | NYPL | A- | PHI | 13 | 55 | 53 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 16 | .283 | .309 | .283 | .592 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 Seasons | 170 | 613 | 568 | 68 | 120 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 40 | 46 | 17 | 35 | 179 | .211 | .265 | .261 | .526 | 148 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| A (2 seasons) | A | 121 | 437 | 402 | 42 | 78 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 26 | 27 | 12 | 27 | 131 | .194 | .253 | .261 | .514 | 105 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Rk (1 season) | Rk | 36 | 121 | 113 | 19 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 13 | 2 | 6 | 32 | .239 | .289 | .248 | .537 | 28 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| A- (1 season) | A- | 13 | 55 | 53 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 16 | .283 | .309 | .283 | .592 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
One-sentence prediction for the NFC and AFC Championship round.
The Patriots and 49ers will win today and meet in Super Bowl XLVII. No further analysis needed.
(Oh, crud, that’s two sentences. Sorry, everyone!)
Off-Topic: Short NFL predictions for the weekend
Okay, here we go:
Ravens at Broncos: It will be cold, yes, and Peyton Manning doesn’t do well in cold. However, I still think he’ll do well enough, barring the Ravens defense taking the ball away multiple times. In other words, Broncos win.
Packers at 49ers: This is a tough one, but I think the Packers have the advantage of momentum (they haven’t been sitting around for as long), and I’d rather have Aaron Rodgers playing at QB than Colin Kaepernick. Packers win.
Seattle at Atlanta: Okay, Seattle’s sleep cycles will be messed up, and Marshawn Lynch missed much of practice this week with an injury, but the Falcons have done about as well in the playoffs as the Braves did most of their years during their grand run of NL East title: losing early. Seattle wins.
Texans at Patriots: The Patriots will slaughter them. They are clearly the better team, by leaps and bounds. New England wins.
Short Predictions for the NFL Wild Card Round
Nothing too deep, just quick predictions:
- I see the Bengals upsetting the Texans, as Houston basically backed into the playoffs, which doesn’t exactly seem like a good omen for them, even if they are playing at home.
- The night game on Saturday between Green Bay and Minnesota is tougher to predict. It’s only a week since their last game, which saw the Vikings win in overtime. This game, however, will be in Green Bay. Advantage: Packers.
- I was until a few days ago thinking that the Colts could upset the Ravens. And then Ray Lewis announced he would be retiring. Given that, I feel like the Ravens are not going to be caught napping, and the defense will take advantage of Andrew Luck’s youth to make a few key turnovers to give them the win.
- The last game of the weekend, Seattle vs. Washington, is probably the toughest to predict, so I’m going with my gut… and my gut says Seattle.
Bo Jackson: Faster than Hamilton?
Early on in the life of this blog, I declared Reds’ farmhand BIlly Hamilton as the fastest man in baseball. Possibly ever. Using some rudimentary math that admittedly had plenty of caveats, I found that they he would be running roughly 17.79 MPH while rounding the bases.
But then, last night, I saw the 30 for 30 documentary, You Don’t Know Bo, about Bo Jackson, the MLB/NFL great who may have gotten into the HoF of both sports if not for a freakish hip injury ended his football career and turned his baseball career into that of a more Dave Kingman-like slugger who could hit well for power but who’s lack of speed (he had a artificial hip, after all) and poor plate discipline cut it severely short of what it could have been.
What is the connection between these two? Well, it was mentioned in the documentary that Bo Jackson, during his NFL combine, ran a 40-yard dash in 4.12 seconds. It’s never been matched in the history of the NFL. By anyone. He would have to be averaging about 19.86 MPH during that dash. As mentioned, Billy Hamilton’s run around the bases (albeit a longer distance and thus likely bringing more fatigue as the run happened) was a “mere” 17.79 MPH. If Jackson could run 100 meters at about a 19.86 MPH pace (again, he probably wouldn’t have, given the differences in distance and the surface being run on, etc.), he’d run it in 11.26 seconds.
And, of course, that doesn’t take into account this.
So was Bo Jackson even faster that Billy Hamilton? Hard to tell, since the examples given about their speed are just so different and they came into being during different time periods (the training today is superior even to 20 years ago, after all). So the world will never know.
I think it’s safe to say that they are both faster than either of us, though. Heck, Bo Jackson now is probably faster than us.
Football Continuum: The Seattle Screwjob
Sports has had many blown calls in history: Jeff Maier, Hull in the crease, the 1972 Olympic Basketball mess (I’m still reasonably sure that Doug Collins is forming a Ocean’s Eleven-style team to go steal the gold medals back from the Russians), and, of course, the epic tale of Joyce and Galarraga. But, with the possible exception of the ’72 games, none have been as surreal as what happened last night. Given how Twitter was busy comparing the NFL’s current replacement ref-a-palooza to the WWE, I decided to do some research on pro wrestling to find a inspiration for the name for this incident (thanks internet!). I found my inspiration in something called the Montreal Screwjob, where Vince McMahon intervened in one of his fake wrestling spectacles to ensure that Bret Hart, who had announced he was about to leave for another wrestling company, would not “win” a title at McMahon’s company.
Now, admittedly, there was no vast fake-wrestling conspiracy to take out the Packers last night. Instead, it was just utter incompetence on the part of the replacements, the NFL owners, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. But, c’mon, Seattle Screwjob rolls off the tongue well.
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The Baseball Continuum 
