Fun with Old Newspapers (Part 2)

The Sporting News, November 3, 1979.

A Bill Walsh Sample Script

Fun with Old Newspapers (first of an occasional series)

Published November 1, 1994. Jordan returned to the Bulls six months later.

Position Instability, Updated

Fernando Tatis, making his 28th start for the Mets in LF last night, separated his shoulder, ending his season.

Grounded

Air Force failed to complete a pass in their 31-28 win over Houston on Saturday, only the second I-A team to do so in the last nine years. Oddly, both teams that did so won. (Update: Army had 0 completions in a game on October 11 and still won.) (Update 2: Navy had 0 attempts vs. SMU on October 25 and won.) (Update 3: Navy had 1 completion vs. Northern Illinois on November 25; its other pass attempt was a clock-killing spike.) Fewest team completions in a game, I-A teams, 2000-2009: < Team Date Comp Att Yards TD Int QB Rating Opp Result Ohio 10/19/2002 0 1 0 0 0 0.00 Kent St. W, 50-0 Air Force 9/13/2008 0 7 0 0 0 0.00 Houston W, 31-28 Navy 10/25/2008 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 SMU W, 34-7 Navy 10/24/2009 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 Wake Forest W, 13-10 Ball St. 9/16/2000 1 8 5 0 2 -32.25 Kansas St. L, 76-0 Rice 11/4/2000 1 5 12 0 0 40.16 SMU W, 43-14 Ohio 10/5/2002 1 7 12 0 0 28.69 Bowling Green L, 72-21 Rice 10/25/2003 1 4 34 0 0 96.40 Fresno St. L, 31-28 Rice 10/9/2004 1 5 5 0 0 28.40 SMU W, 44-10 Navy 11/5/2005 1 3 29 0 1 47.87 Tulane W, 49-21 Memphis 11/26/2005 1 8 -3 0 0 9.35 Marshall W, 26-3 Navy 9/9/2006 1 7 21 0 1 10.91 Massachusetts W, 21-20 Navy 10/7/2006 1 6 8 0 1 -5.47 Air Force W, 24-17 Navy 12/2/2006 1 6 11 0 0 32.07 Army W, 26-14 Miami (Fla.) 11/3/2007 1 14 84 1 3 38.26 North Carolina St. L, 19-16 (OT) Army 9/27/2008 1 5 4 0 0 26.72 Texas A&M L, 17-21 Navy 11/25/2008 1 2 32 0 0 184.40 Northern Illinois W, 16-0 Air Force 10/17/2009 1 5 2 0 0 23.36 Wyoming W, 10-0 Georgia Tech 10/17/2009 1 7 51 0 1 46.91 Virginia Tech W, 28-23

Position Instability, Part 2

The 2008 Mets are the 17th team, counting the 1961 Kansas City Athletics and 1976 Montreal Expos twice, to start at least 12 players at a single position. Most different starters at any team-position, excluding pitchers and designated hitters, 1956-2007: Team Pos Leader Starts Starters Notes 2002 Cleveland Indians LF Russell Branyan 39 15 1961 Kansas City Athletics RF Jim Rivera 29 13 1968 Cleveland Indians LF Lee Maye 65 13 1976 Montreal Expos LF Bombo Rivera 44 13 Andre Dawson’s arrival in September solidified the OF. 2001 Pittsburgh Pirates RF John Vander Wal 51 13 Operation Shutdown 1961 Kansas City Athletics LF Leo Posada 53 12 Don Larsen (yes, that one) started one game in LF. 1976 Montreal Expos RF Gary Carter 31 12 1987 Detroit Tigers RF Pat Sheridan 86 12 1992 Oakland Athletics RF Jose Canseco 76 12 1993 Cincinnati Reds LF Kevin Mitchell 85 12 1997 Cincinnati Reds LF Chris Stynes 38 12 2000 New York Mets LF Benny Agbayani 88 12 Rickey Henderson was cut 37 games into the season. 2001 Colorado Rockies LF Ron Gant 48 12 2003 Texas Rangers LF Shane Spencer 40 12 2004 Kansas City Royals LF Dee Brown 49 12 2004 Tampa Bay Devil Rays LF Carl Crawford 115 12 Most different starters at a given team-position, 1956-2007: Team Pos Leader Starts Starters Notes 1967 New York Mets P Tom Seaver 34 20 1960 Chicago Cubs C El Tappe 38 8 1998 New York Mets C Mike Piazza 99 8 The Mets used 5 catchers before trading for Piazza on May 22. 1976 Cleveland Indians 1B Boog Powell 83 11 (12 different teams) 2B 8 Last: 2005 Reds and Nationals. 1958 Cleveland Indians 3B Vic Power 40 11 1987 Pittsburgh Pirates SS Al Pedrique 68 9 2002 Cleveland Indians LF Russell Branyan 39 15 2007 Oakland Athletics CF Nick Swisher 57 11 Travis Buck is the only one of the 11 to play for the A’s in 2008. 1961 Kansas City Athletics RF Jim Rivera 29 13 2001 Pittsburgh Pirates RF John Vander Wal 51 13 1989 Texas Rangers DH Harold Baines 44 19 Stabilized after the Sosa for Baines trade.

Position Instability

The 2008 Mets have started 12 different left fielders this season, none of whom have started more than 23 games. How unusual is this? Fewest games started by team-leader at any position, excluding pitchers and designated hitters, 1956-2007, excluding strike seasons: Team Pos Leader Starts Starters Notes 1997 Milwaukee Brewers LF Marc Newfield 28 10 Gerald Williams led the team in LF games and innings played. 1961 Kansas City Athletics RF Jim Rivera 29 13 2000 Colorado Rockies LF Jeffrey Hammonds & Larry Walker 30 8 Hammonds also led the Rockies in starts in RF. 1976 Montreal Expos RF Gary Carter 31 12 Carter played OF on the days when he was not catching. 1986 Chicago White Sox LF Bobby Bonilla 32 9 Carlton Fisk started the first 26 games in LF, but was moved back to C. 2005 Los Angeles Dodgers 3B Mike Edwards & Antonio Perez 33 7 1972 Texas Rangers LF Dick Billings & Tom Grieve 35 8 154 game schedule. 1961 Philadephia Phillies RF Ken Walters & Johnny Callison 36 8 154 game schedule. 1963 Los Angeles Angels RF Lee Thomas 37 10 1968 California Angels RF Bubba Morton 37 8 Roger Repoz led the Angels in RF games with 54. Fewest games started by team-leader at a given position, 1956-2007, excluding strike seasons: Team Pos Leader Starts Starters Notes 1957 Kansas City Athletics P Ned Garver 23 14 154 game schedule. 1973 Texas Rangers P Jim Bibby 23 17 1960 Chicago Cubs C El Tappe 38 8 154 game schedule. 1962 New York Mets C Chris Cannizzaro & Sammy Taylor 42 7 1973 Chicago Cubs 1B Jim Hickman 38 7 2004 New York Mets 2B Jose Reyes 41 7 2006 Chicago Cubs 2B Todd Walker 41 7 2005 Los Angeles Dodgers 3B Mike Edwards & Antonio Perez 33 7 1961 St. Louis Cardinals SS Bob Lillis 43 5 154 game schedule. 1963 Cleveland Indians SS Larry Brown 45 4 1992 Philadelphia Phillies SS Juan Bell 45 6 1997 Milwaukee Brewers LF Marc Newfield 28 10 1957 Chicago Cubs CF Bob Speake 39 8 154 game schedule. 2003 New York Mets CF Jeff Duncan & Timo Perez 41 8 1961 Kansas City Athletics RF Jim Rivera 29 13 2001 Anaheim Angels DH Orlando Palmeiro & Shawn Wooten 25 15 What do these teams have in common? None made the playoffs, and only the 1961 Cardinals (80-74) and the 2000 Rockies (82-80) had winning records. Six of the teams lost over 100 games. More to follow tomorrow.

New NFL Uniform Patch for Week 2

(Idea: Matthew Furtek)