Yankee upstaged by statistical oddity
So I wake up this morning, head downstairs, and turn on the computer to find out how Seattle managed to lose yet another game. While I’m on MLB.com, I check out the other headlines and see that top of the pile is a story about the Padres winning a fourth straigth 2-1 game. I’m thinking it must have been a “slow news day”.
Nevertheless, I proceed to the story deemed worthy of second place to a statistical oddity (after all, no team sets out at the start of a game trying to win 2-1). Unbelievable. Johnny Damon goes 6-for-6 (and my guess is that he set out at the start of the game trying to get a hit in every at-bat).
Now, how could a Yankee be upstaged by the Padres? Well, no team has ever won four 2-1 games in a row before, whereas seven other players have got six hits in a game since the turn of the century. If in doubt, the one that’s rarer gets the nod.
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I happened to switch to the Royals-Yankees game right near the end (within twenty seconds of me joining the action, Jorge Posada swatted a homer that just stayed fair down the right-field line to tie it 11-11). When Damon came to bat that final time, I think everyone knew what was going to happen. He just had one of those days where everything clicked. It was tough luck on the Royals and just as tough on me as Joakim Soria is the closer on my fantasy team.
Still, the Padres have really been struggling this season, so I’ve no problem with them stealing the limelight from the Yankees this time!
David Pinto has posted some thoughts about the Padres’ 2-1 run at Baseball Musings:
http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/027095.php