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Barry Bonds has hit 78 home runs in approximately a year and a week. That's more homers than all these men -- thought of as very good hitters -- have hit in their careers:
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| Bonds |
Dmitri Young
Sean Casey
John Vander Wal
Brad Fullmer
Johnny Damon
Through Wednesday, Bonds had as many homers (5) as Jason Kendall, Rickey Henderson, Julio Franco, Dean Palmer, Greg Norton, Warren Morris, Alex Cora, Keith Lockhart, Jorge Fabregas, Charles Johnson, Chad Kreuter and David Dellucci had hits this year combined.
If you follow those standings closely, you saw something this year you've never seen before:
Two games into the season, every NL East team was tied for first place -- and last place -- at 1-1.
After four games, they were all tied for first -- and last -- again, at 2-2.
And after six games, they were all tied again, at 3-3.
In one of our most insane trips back through time ever, we combed through the standings every year since division play began in 1969. There were only two seasons in all those years when any division even featured everyone tied at 1-1. That was the five-team NL East in 1999 and the seven-team NL East in 1989. But they couldn't keep it going through 2-2 and 3-3.
So what does this prove? Either that there's more competitive balance than we're led to believe, or we've lost our minds. (Please don't send in your votes.)
Phil Garner was the seventh manager in the last half-century to get fired within the first 16 games of the season (and just the second, of course, to get fired within the first six games of the season).
That's way too hasty for our taste barring extenuating circumstances. But history shows that quick firings generally improve a team's performance. Then again, to get fired that fast, it probably would be hard for the new manager to do worse.
Of those six other teams that zapped their managers within the first 16 games, four had winning percentages at least 100 percentage points higher under the new manager than under the guy they fired:
1988 Orioles: Cal Ripken Sr. 0-6, .000. Frank Robinson 54-101, 348.
1972 Padres: Preston Gomez 4-7, .364. Don Zimmer 54-88, .380.
1991 Phillies: Nick Leyva 4-9, .308. Jim Fregosi 74-75, .497.
1982 Yankees: Bob Lemon 6-8, .429. Gene Michael 44-42, .512.
2001 Devil Rays: Larry Rothschild 4-10, .286. Hal McRae 58-90, .392.
1985 Yankees: Yogi Berra 6-10, .375. Billy Martin 91-54, .628.
Ah, but we know what you're thinking: Did those firings accomplish anything in the short haul? We took a look at each firing and how the new manager fared in the same number of games his predecessor had before hitting the golf course. Not one did worse:
'88 Orioles: Ripken 0-6, Robinson 0-6.
'72 Padres: Gomez 4-7, Zimmer 6-5.
'91 Phillies: Leyva 4-9, Fregosi 7-6.
'82 Yankees: Lemon 6-8, Michael 6-8.
'01 Devil Rays: Rothschild 4-10, McRae 5-9.
'85 Yankees: Berra 6-10, Martin 11-5.
Who kidnapped the Mets' All-Web Gem team? These Mets committed 14 errors in their first eight games. They also committed 40 errors in spring training. And what the heck is up with that?
Remember, it was only 1999 when they were The Greatest Defensive Team in History. On the way to a record-low 68 errors all year that season, they had 10 fewer errors than this team (i.e., four) after eight games. It took them 29 games to commit their first 14 errors. On the other hand, they did commit 32 E's in spring training that year. So we can't go by Port St. Lucie.
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| Ordonez |
Then there's Rey Ordonez, who had two two-error games in three days this week. Meaning he equaled his error total for the whole 1999 season in three days.
Ordonez hadn't had any two-error games since July 19, 1998. And if you toss out his rookie year, when he was still acclimating from Cuba, he'd had two two-error games in his whole career before this week.
So how do you think John Rocker likes the American League so far?
Rocker as an American Leaguer: 5 saves, 4 blown saves, 5.97 ERA, 9.56 hits per 9 innings.
Rocker as a National Leaguer: 83 saves, 16 blown saves, 2.63 ERA, 6.27 hits per 9 innings.
OK, so there was a postseason, four months of winter and one MVP flying across country in the middle of this. But until they lost to the Rangers on Wednesday, the A's had gone a ridiculous 35-6 in their last 41 regular-season games. The Elias Sports Bureau's Rob Tracy reports no team had had a 35-6 blitz in any 41-game stretch since the '84 Tigers opened the season 35-6.
Two days after allowing eight runs in one inning, John Smoltz told Useless Information, "I still can't believe I gave up eight runs in an inning." He shouldn't.
In 361 games as a starter, Smoltz gave up eight runs in an entire start only six times and hadn't done it in four years (since May 17, 1998, in Houston).
And Elias' Ken Hirdt reports he was the first reliever to give up eight runs or more in the ninth inning for any team since the fabled Jeff Jones did it against Cleveland on May 9, 1982.
So now Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson have both whiffed 17 or more in a game, providing yet more proof they're the greatest one-two punch of modern times. Nevertheless, believe it or not, it's not that unsual to find teammates who have had 17-punchout games. In fact, according to Elias, the Red Sox last year employed three pitchers who had done it: Pedro Martinez, David Cone and Bret Saberhagen.
The Orioles scored eight runs in a span of 14 hitters Opening Day. Since Opening Day, they'd scored six runs all season through Wednesday.
Alfonso Soriano Walk Alert: Now that he's a quasi-disciplined leadoff man in training, Soriano is up to two walks already this year. It took him until May 25 to walk twice last year.
Finally, when the Pirates inched over .500 last week for the first time since Aug. 15, 1999, it moved our pal, John Perrotto, of the Beaver County Times to round up just some of the developments in our great world that had taken place in all that time when the Pirates didn't have a winning record:
-- Tiger Woods won 17 PGA events and more than $19 million.
-- Randy Johnson struck out more than 800 batters.
-- St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner threw for more than 12,000 yards.
-- The Chicago Bulls lost 189 games.
-- Barry Bonds hit more than 140 home runs.
-- There were 13 Space Shuttle launches.
-- *NSYNC sold more than 10 million records.
-- More than 3 billion people spent more than $20 billion going to the movies.
-- And the world's population grew by approximately 150 million.
But outside of that, not much.
Triviality
With his three home runs in three days for the Rockies this week, Todd Zeile now has homered for nine different teams, tying the all-time record held by Tommy Davis and Dave Martinez. But two other active players have homered for eight teams. Can you name them? (Answer at bottom.)
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| Ward |
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| Giles |
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| Burrell |
The Sultan's Corner
Last Sunday, Pat Burrell, Brian Giles and Daryle Ward all hit game-ending, walkoff, extra-inning home runs. The Sultan of Swat Stats, SABR's David Vincent, reports this was just the fifth time in history that there were three game-ending extra-inning home runs on the same day. Savor the names of the others:
July 7, 1970
Brooks Robinson, Bal. (10th)
Elliott Maddox, Det. (10th)
Ted Savage, Mil. (12th)
Sept. 12, 1981
Lance Parrish, Det. (12th)
Chris Chambliss, Atl. (11th)
Julio Gonzalez, St. L. (13th)
May 13, 1986
Pat Tabler, Cle. (10th)
Hal McRae, K.C. (11th)
Dave Kingman, Oak. (10th)
Aug. 6, 1989
Mike Devereaux, Bal. (10th)
Kevin McReybolds, N.Y. Mets (14th)
Jeff King, Pit. (18th)
All three Braves outfielders (Gary Sheffield, Andruw Jones and Chipper Jones) hit home runs in the same game April 4. The Braves had done that 14 times before (though not in seven years), according to the Sultan. But peruse some of these memorable outfield trios:
Aug. 13, 1966: Rico Carty LF, Gary Geiger CF, Hank Aaron RF.
Sept. 13, 1966: Hank Aaron RF (2), Rico Carty LF, Felipe Alou CF.
Aug. 13, 1967: Mack Jones LF, Rico Carty RF, Hank Aaron CF.
Aug. 1, 1970: Hank Aaron RF (2), Tony Gonzalez CF, Rico Carty LF.
Sept. 26, 1977: Gary Matthews LF (2), Brian Asselstine CF, Jeff Burroughs RF.
July 21, 1985: Dale Murphy CF, Terry Harper LF, Claudell Washington RF.
Aug. 14, 1986: Dale Murphy CF, Omar Moreno RF, Ken Griffey Sr. LF.
Aug. 12, 1988: Dale Murphy RF, Dion James LF, Terry Blocker CF.
June 1, 1990: Oddibe McDowell CF, Ron Gant LF, Dale Murphy RF.
Sept. 5, 1990: Oddibe McDowell LF, David Justice RF, Ron Gant CF.
Sept. 25, 1990: Lonnie Smith LF, David Justice RF, Ron Gant CF.
July 26, 1993: Deion Sanders CF, Ron Gant LF, David Justice RF.
Aug. 13, 1993: David Justice RF, Deion Sanders CF, Ron Gant LF.
Sept. 16, 1995: Marquis Grissom CF, David Justice RF, Ryan Klesko LF.
Sheffield also became the third player in history to homer in the first three games of the season for his new team. The others, according to the Sultan:
Frank Robinson, Orioles 1966.
Jimmy Wynn, Dodgers 1974.
Trivia Answer
Ron Gant and Ruben Sierra, who joined this elite group Friday night when he hit his first home run as a Mariner. Rickey Henderson will have eight as soon as he homers for the Red Sox.
Jayson Stark is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
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