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Stat of the Week
Week of August 27, 2007
(1)
The number of Little League World Series titles (1) it takes to make your childhood dreams come true. Just ask Dalton Carriker, who hit an extra-inning walk-off homerun for Warner Robins to give the Georgia team a 3-2 victory over Tokyo in the championship game. Congratulations to Coach Mickey Lay and his group of extraordinarily talented 12-year-olds. Congratulations also to Coach Youichi Kubo of Japan, who saw his own team advance to the championship game in similar fashion when Ryo Kanekubo hit a walk-off grand slam for a 7-4 victory over Curacao.
Stat of the Week
Week of August 20, 2007
(155)
The number of passing yards (155) for Brady Quinn during his NFL pre-season debut against the Detroit Lions on August 18: Quinn was selected with the twenty-second pick of the first-round in the 2007 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns after a standout collegiate career at Notre Dame. He was predicted to go as one of the top picks in the draft until his stock fell during pre-draft combines. Quinn went from a standout collegiate quarterback to a holdout from the Browns camp in an attempt to get a signing bonus more in tune with the top-ten selection most thought he would be. He missed eleven days of camp before inking his name to a five-year $20 million contract, and he also missed the Browns first pre-season game. Browns fans came to life though when Quinn took the field in the fourth quarter on Saturday night and connected on 13 of 20 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns. Quinn has a lot of work left to do if he wants to repeat his performance against a first-string defense in a regular season game—but for fans of a Browns club coming off a four win season, it was a pretty good start.
Stat of the Week
Week of August 13, 2007
(51)
The number of laps (51) Jeff Gordon led the Centurion Boats at The Glen on August 12: The Nextel Cup points leader going into the race at Watkins Glen International began from the pole position and led more laps than any other driver in the field. Gordon, in search of his fifth victory of the season, held a two car-length lead over Tony Stewart heading into the first turn of lap 88, with only two laps remaining. But in a stunning turn of events, Gordon inexplicably spun out and fell to the ninth position, demonstrating the importance of not leading the most laps, but rather, leading at the conclusion of the final lap. On lap 45 it was Tony Stewart who held the lead going into turn one. He also spun out, and fell all the way back to the nineteenth position. Stewart fought back though, and when Gordon lost control on lap 88, Stewart was there to blow past him and secure his fourth victory of the season—tying him with Gordon and Jimmie Johnson for the most Nextel Cup victories through 23 races in 2007.
Stat of the Week
Week of August 6, 2007
(23)
The number of major league pitchers (23) to earn 300 or more career victories: Tom Glavine of the New York Mets became the most recent member of the 300-win club, and only the fifth lefty, when he earned an 8-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs on August 5. Glavine became the first player to reach the milestone since former teammate Greg Maddux notched number 300 in 2004, and it could be a very long time before someone else joins the club. Randy Johnson has 284 victories but is out for the rest of 2007 due to injury, and he may never pitch again. Mike Mussina has 246, David Wells has 235, Jamie Moyer has 225, and Curt Schilling has 213, but it is doubtful any of those players will have the opportunity to become the twenty-fourth member of the 300-win club (and among active major league players, they have the most victories). Glavine is a ten-time All-Star who won 20 or more games in a season five times. He is also a two-time CYA recipient, World Series MVP, world champion—and a future member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
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