Comparing Records From Other Sports

ALSO: ARE THE HIGH-SPENDING METS REALLY BETTER?

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Pregame Pepper

Did You Know?

Commissioner Rob Manfred on stalled negotiations for the new CBA, “We already have teams in smaller markets that struggle to compete. Shortening the period of time that they control players makes it even harder for them to compete.”

Ender Inciarte, just signed by the Yankees as a minor-league free agent, won three Gold Gloves with the Braves for his play in center field . . .

Curt Flood (remember him?) was commissioner of the proposed United Baseball League, a 10-team circuit that never played a game in 1996 because the 232-day player strike ended before the new loop would have started play . . .

Buck O’Neil’s grandfather Julius O'Neil was born on the banks of the Niger River and brought to America as a boy on a slave ship.

Leading Off

By Rich Campbell 

As baseball’s lockout-induced off-season lurches along, some fans fill the relative quiet by paying greater attention to other sports.  Here in the Bay Area, topic Numero Uno has been Steph Curry’s pursuit and capture of the record for career three- pointers, reached in New York Wednesday night versus the Knicks.

Since this is a baseball outlet, I thought it would be fun this month to consider Curry’s achievement whilst looking at it in the context of a few baseball records and some personal favorites from other sports.  The metric we’ll be considering is the distance – on a percentage basis – between the career record-holder and the player 10th on the list for that statistic.  This approach allows for some comparison of the records and how far the pace-setter is from notable competition.

Let’s start with Curry’s 2,977 triples.  Tenth on the NBA three-pointer list is Curry’s contemporary (and Oakland native) Damian Lillard with 2,114.  Crunching the numbers, Curry has 41 per cent more threes than Lillard.  Pretty darn impressive, but how does that margin stack up to some Bay Area baseball legends and their noteworthy accomplishments?  Let’s start in Oakland, as that’s where Curry started his NBA career.

Rickey Henderson’s 1,406 career steals is thought to be one of the untouchable marks in sports.  In 10th place for career steals sits Honus Wagner with 723.  Rickey has a whopping 94 per cent more steals than Wagner.

Another career mark Henderson holds is runs scored with 2,295.  In 10th place is Stan Musial with 1,949 runs.  Here the margin is significantly thinner, with Henderson holding an 18 per cent advantage over Musial.

Just as Curry’s career took him from Oakland to San Francisco, let’s move across the Bay to look at two of Barry Bonds’ career marks.  First up is his career home run mark at 762.  In 10th place is Frank Robinson, who pounded 586 taters in his career.  Bonds has a 31 per cent lead on Robinson.

How about walks?  Bonds amassed 2,558 bases on balls (Rickey is second at 2,190, by the way).  Frank Thomas resides in 10th place with 1,667 free passes, giving Bonds an impressive 51 per cent more than Thomas.

Switching to pitching, Nolan Ryan’s 5,714 strikeouts dwarfs Greg Maddux’s 10th-place total of 3,371, with Ryan compiling 70 per cent more Ks than Maddux.

Cy Young’s 511 career wins mark will never be approached, as even winning 20 games a year for 25 years would fall short of his amazing record.  In 10th place is Tim Keefe, who retired in 1893 with 342 wins, meaning Young has 49 per cent more than Keefe’s 10th place total.

Moving over the the NFL - and returning to the Bay Area theme - former San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders great Jerry Rice holds the career mark for touchdowns at 208, well ahead of Jim Brown in 10th place with 126 scores.  Rice scored 65 per cent more TDs than Brown did in his illustrious career.

We can wrap it up with a few NBA records, since that is Curry’s league.  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the career scoring leader with 38,387 points.  In 10th place is another Lakers center, Shaquille O’Neal, with 28,596 points, meaning Kareem outscored Shaq by 34 per cent.

John Stockton owns a pair of NBA records associated with the point guard position: steals and assists.  Stockton ended his remarkable career with 3,265 steals or 51 per cent more than Hakeem Olajuwon in 10th place.  Stockton’s 15,806 assists is 76 per cent more than Gary Payton’s 10th place total.

Circling back to Curry, he is still in the midst of writing his career story.  So while his 41 per cent lead in three-pointers does not yet measure up to the margins of Henderson’s steals, Bonds’ walks, Ryan’s strike outs, Young’s wins, Rice’s touchdowns or Stockton’s steals and assist marks, there is still time for Steph to pad his lead over the competition.

Rich Campbell is a marketing professor at Sonoma State University by day and A’s fan by night.  He has previously been a sports business contributor at forbes.com and his academic writing has appeared in Sport Marketing Quarterly.  Say “hi” to him on Twitter @RichCampbellPhD.

Cleaning Up

Even With Scherzer, How Much Better are The Mets?

By Dan Schlossberg

Just before the lockout began, the New York Mets hogged the headlines with multiple free-agent signings, led by three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer.

But the wallet of Steve Cohen, the desire of Billy Eppler to make a fast good impression, and the anxiety of the players to find homes before the onset of nuclear winter may not have made the team that much better.

Here’s why:

Scherzer signed on, for a whopping $43 million per season, mind you, but the team also lost younger starters Marcus Stroman (now with Cubs) and Noah Syndergaard (now with Angels), not to mention top left-handed reliever Aaron Loup (also Angels).

Eduardo Escobar, who signed on, can’t match the defense of fellow infielder Javy Baez, who jumped ship to join the up-and-coming Detroit Tigers. Baez is more versatile than Escobar, brings more speed to the game, and has equivalent power.

Speed merchant Starling Marte plugs a huge hole in center field but takes the roster spot of Michael Conforto, a younger outfielder with more power and a much-needed left-handed bat. Conforto hasn’t yet signed elsewhere but he will.

Mark Canha, like Marte, last wore Oakland green but will now be collecting Mets green. His presence likely signals the end of Dom Smith’s reign in Flushing but many scouts think that’s a wash too. Both men are outfielders who can also play first base but Smith is more polished defensively in the infield. He’s younger too — and that seems to be a badge of dishonor on a team obviously following the San Francisco playbook of pursuing a pennant with the most experienced players.

The Giants had the oldest team in the game last year but the Mets seem certain to top them not only in payroll but also in average age.

Consider the fact that New York’s starting second baseman will be 39 — older than any regular middle infielder in baseball. After his one-year suspension, Robinson Cano also figures to be as rusty as the Titanic’s anchor — at least in the field. And don’t bet on his once-feared power coming back to full strength either.

That being said, shortstop Francisco Lindor will be the team’s top position player, seeking a comeback in his second CitiField summer. But first baseman Pete Alonso, who also needs a rebound with the bat, will be the only other infielder on the sunny side of 30.

Marte will top the lineup, followed by Brandon Nimmo, Lindor, Alonso, and Cano.

Look for Escobar to bat sixth, Canha seventh, and catcher James McCann eighth, with a designated hitter to be named later (maybe Cano if Jeff McNeil wins back his old job at second base) fitting in somewhere, assuming the DH spreads to the National League. The Mets need it, since McCann and McNeil are both in search of the comeback trail.

At least there’s good pitching at the top of the rotation.

Potential starting pitchers behind Scherzer are the equally-intimidating Jacob deGrom, Taijuan Walker, and two pitchers to be named as replacements for Stroman and Syndergaard.

Edwin Diaz, who recaptured his former form last year, returns to head a bullpen that will miss free agent deserters Loup, Jeurys Familia, and Robert Gsellman.

Does that sound like a team that’s better than the sub-.500, third-place squad that wound up 11 1/2 games behind the front-running Atlanta Braves last summer?

Maybe more signings or deals are in the works but that lockout better end soon.

The World Champion Braves have already become stronger with the projected return of injured slugger Ronald Acuna, Jr. and Marcell Ozuna, neither of whom played after July 10. If Freddie Freeman re-signs, as expected, Atlanta will be prohibitive favorites for a fifth straight division title.

Former AP newsman Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ covers baseball for forbes.com, Latino Sports, USA TODAY Sports Weekly, Sports Collectors Digest, Ball Nine, Here’s The Pitch, and others. E.mail him at ballauthor@gmail.com.

Timeless Trivia

The term “perfect game” was never used before 1908 . . .

How’s this for a conflict of interest: New York newsman Dan Daniel, official scorer of Yankees games during Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak, was often the slugger’s drinking buddy . . .

Babe Ruth hit three homers against Negro Leagues legend Dick Redding in a 1927 exhibition game at Trenton . . .

Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox, ejected a record 158 times (plus three more in post-season play), was never tossed by Al Clark, who umpired in the majors for 26 years . . .

The “Bustin’ Babes” cap worn by Ruth during his 1927 barnstorming tour with Lou Gehrig’s “Larrupin’ Lou’s” sold at auction for $155,000 in 2013.

Know Your Editors

HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Brian Harl [bchrom831@gmail.com] handles Monday and Tuesday editions, Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] does Wednesday and Thursday, and Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com] edits the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HTP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.