You can hear Boop chat with Big Daddy Graham every Friday at 5 a.m. on SportsRadio 94.1 WIP . . .
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THURSDAY’S QUICKIE QUIZ
>>> Phillies opening-day starter Aaron Nola finished fifth in the National League in innings pitched last season . . . Can you name the five Phillies pitchers that have led the league in IP since 1950?
(Answer Below)
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THURSDAY’S SINGLE DIGITS
>>> Jim Passon – whom you should definitely be following at @PassonJim -- posted one of the greatest statistical pulls of all-time Wednesday that, sadly, will only be good for a few more hours. He pointed out these numbers for Mike Trout, whose Angels open the season at 4:07 Thursday at Oakland:
> In his last 311 games, his batting average is .311;> In his last 445 games, his on-base percentage is .445;> In his last 596 games, his slugging percentage is .596;> In his last 1,002 games, his OPS is 1.002.
Now, mathematically, that kind of thing happens more often than you might think (Intermediate Value Theorem . . . I wrote like I knew what I was talking about), but the astonishing thing here is the high numbers – both in productivity and in longevity.
Nice going, Jim . . . And, oh yeah, you too, Mike.
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>>> By the way, when asked by a Twitter follower how he found those numbers, Jim had one of the greatest replies ever:
“It’s searchable in Baseball Reference’s Play Index. Without it, I’m just wandering this earth aimlessly.”
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>>> Jake Voracek played in his 600th game as a Flyer Wednesday, becoming the 20th player in club history to do so in the 6-5 shootout victory over the Maple Leafs. By the time the season ends, he shall have passed Tim Kerr (601) and Mark Recchi (602) to move into 18th place, just behind Reggie Leach (606).
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>>> Before the Flyers’ win Wednesday, the Maple Leafs were the only NHL team that had not gone to a shootout all season. It had been 88 games since Toronto’s last shootout, a 6-5 win against the Stars on March 14, 2018.
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QUICKIE QUIZ ANSWER
>>> Since 1950, the five Phillies pitchers that have led the National League in innings pitched are:> Robin Roberts (1951-55)> Jim Bunning (1967)> Steve Carlton (1972, 1980, 1982-83)> Curt Schilling (1998)> Roy Halladay (2010)