Issue: What is the greatest streak of all time?
Short Answer: All of them are ridiculous. Period.
Reasoning: My brother Casey sent my father and me an e-mail yesterday asking what we thought was the most impressive streak of all time, out of the ten he listed. Starting with the "least" impressive, here is my list:
- Wayne Gretzky 51 straight games with a point - It's hockey, so who really cares? Yes, sometimes we let our personal biases affect our decision making. One can either attempt to not be biased, or just roll with it. I choose to roll with it. I love Canada, and Canadians are so nice it is annoying, but have you seen their sports? Besides hockey, curling is their most popular sport. And have you seen how they play football? Plus, I believe this is the most breakable streak of the ten (Sidney Crosby, anyone?).
- Johnny Unitas 47 straight games with a TD pass - The second most breakable streak out there. I mean, have you seen Tom Brady play the last few weeks (or years)? He could go 100 games if he felt like it.
- Edwin Moses 107 straight hurdles finals wins - It falls here because a) it seems more impressive than the first two; and b) I'm not really sure how impressive it is. I have no benchmark. Anyone know what the next longest hurdles finals streak is? I thought not.
- Lance Armstrong 7 straight Tour De France wins - This streak is quite impressive - and even I know it. This streak probably should be closer to the top (or bottom in this case) of the list. But, in a sport where the winner is usually the guy who took the most steriods or found an undetectable steriod, any streak becomes less impressive (just like Barry Bonds hitting 73 home runs - doesn't matter that he took more steriods than a world class bodybuilder - it's still impressive).
- Johnny Vander Meer consecutive no-hitters - Do I think anyone will ever match, or even surpass this streak? No. But I watch enough baseball to know it is not out of the relm of possibility that a guy like Roy Halliday, Tim Lincecum, Cliff Lee, or C.C. Sabathia could do this. At least it is not unthinkable, like some of the streaks lower on this list. Also, any streak that stops at 2, just doesn't seem that impressive.
- Cal Ripken 2,632 consecutive games played - I realize that no one will ever sniff this streak. Too many outside factors in play today. It is one of the single most impressive streaks out there. But that's all it is. Playing in that many straight games doesn't mean anything in the win/loss column neccessarily. All it means is that you are durable (not a bad thing). Most of the other streaks on this list translate into wins (or are wins themselves), and this one does not. Cal Ripken only played (and won) one World Seriers, in 1983, his second year. Playing a bunch of games in a row is a great feat, but it translates to nothing, other than a great feat. Plus, it's baseball, how strenuous can it be anyway?
- Brett Favre 297 consecutive regular season starts - It beats Ripken's streak only because Favre did it in football. A few more chances to tweak an ankle on the football field. If there are any other questions, please see above, Ripken, Cal. Brett Favre only won one Super Bowl, in 1996, his fifth season.
- Orel Hershiser 59 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings - Let's just take a look at how he did this: on August 30th, 1988, Hershiser finished off a complete game against Montreal (remember the Expos?), with 4 scoreless innings. His next 5 starts, all complete games: 3-0 over Atlanta, 5-0 over Cincinnati (damn; however, it would be Barry Larkin and the Reds who would eventually snap the streak), 1-0 over the Braves, 1-0 over the Astros, and 3-0 over the Giants. To break the record, Hershiser threw 10 shut-out innings against the Padres in his next start. That alone is ridiculous. The Dodgers went to the playoffs that year, and in his first start Hershiser threw 8 1/3 scoreless innings (which did not count on his streak). His September stats during the streak: 5 complete games, 55 innings pitched, 30 hits, 34 strikeouts, 8 walks, 5-0 record (duh), and a 0.00 ERA (duh). This is absolutely one of the top three streaks of all time.
- Joe Dimaggio 56 game hitting streak - Surprised? Most people always have this at the top. And I certainly can't argue that. So, why do I not have it as the most impressive streak ever? Because any streak that is subjective (yes, shockingly enough, scorekeepers do cheat for their players sometimes), cannot be number one. However, the next longest hitting streak in the history of MLB - Willie Keeler, at 45 games, in 1896-97 - was still a full two weeks from tying Dimaggio's record. Take a look at a few stats pertaining to this streak*: 1) It began on May 15 and didn't end until July 16; 2) Dimaggio's Yankees won the World Series that year and Dimaggio himself won the MVP (Ted Williams hit .406 that same year); 3) Dimaggio had 91 hits in 223 at-bats (.409) during the streak; 4) Of those 91 hits, 35 of them went for extra bases (16 2B, 4 3B, 15 HR) and he had 55 RBI during the streak; 5) He hit safely in another 17 games after his record-setting streak ended (that would have made 74 total); 6) When Dimaggio played for the San Francisco Seals in the Pacific Coast League he had a 61 game hitting streak. Basically, Dimaggio could hit. Impressive. But not as impressive as....
- Byron Nelson 11 consecutive PGA Tour wins - This is absolutely unbelievable. It is so unbelievable that the only negative argument I could come up with is the fact that the PGA Tour, then, is not as competitive as the PGA Tour, now. How many people have won 5 or more in a row? Two. Ben Hogan (6 in 1948), and Tiger Woods (5 in 2007-08, 6 in 1999-2000, and 7 in 2006-07). Notice a few names missing? Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, etc. There aren't enough superlatives to describe how impossible winning 11 tournaments in a row is. It is downright inconcievable. How about this: during the 1940's Nelson came in the money 113 consecutive times (Nicklaus has his streak snapped in 1976 at 105), and in the same year he won 11 straight tournaments, Nelson won 18 times. 18 times in a single year. Unreal.
Please remember, this is just my opinion. You could invert the list and still make a pretty good argument. If your name appears on this list, you are good. Period.
* Most stats taken from Baseball Almanac
I don't know shit about boating, but:
ReplyDelete"United States' 24 America's Cup victories over 132 years (24 letters)
I don't know the first thing about racing sailboats, except that when Dennis Conner lost the America's Cup in 1983, it was the first loss for the United States in 132 years. That's 24 consecutive defenses! It was so automatic the United States would win, they named the prize after it. Imagine the Ravens and the Giants battling over the "Cowboys' Cup ..."
Does the world participate in this and if so, how shitty can every other country in the world be? It's not like everyone else hasn't been boating before the US ever did. In all fairness, Cuba should be dominant (sorry…I had to say it).
On your list, 40% are baseball. Another sport laced with PED controversy (albeit recently).
Why is baseball the "streakiest" sport? Although every major sport categorically has too many statistics being tracked, baseball seems to have the most marathon type records.
Possibly baseball is just flat out the playing that statistical game itself as a sport... compound the number of games, number of teams, and the fact it has records dating back to the 1860's shows why.
Or consider the fact it can be construed as a one on one matchup (most categories of streaks fall into hitting or pitching) and thus time favors some dominant figure emerging at some point...and the stats will inevitably be ridiculously hard to beat.