Tuesday Single Digits: Bryce Harper following in the footsteps of Pete Rose

TUESDAY’S QUICKIE QUIZ

>>> Which is the only school to have two different players record multiple career triple-doubles in NCAA Tournament games? Don’t forget to name the players.

(Answer Below)

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TUESDAY’S SINGLE DIGITS

>>> Tuesday night, the Phillies will be attempting to do something they have done just twice since 1900: Have the longest winning streak to start a particular season in Major League Baseball.

Yes, they are already the last remaining undefeated team at 3-0, but the Mariners also started 3-0 with two early games in Japan (March 20-21) and their first game back in North America (March 28) before losing. But a win Tuesday will make the Phils the only MLB team to start 4-0 in 2019. The only other seasons in which they had the unmatched longest winning streak to start a season were 1915 (8-0) and 1900 (3-0).

The Phillies have shared that mark in two other seasons: 1993 (3-0, with Pirates, Red Sox and Rangers) and 1926 (3-0, White Sox).

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>>> With Bryce Harper set to make his first visit to Washington as a Phillie Tuesday and Wednesday, we thought we’d look back at Pete Rose’s first trip to Cincinnati as a Phillie on June 1-2-3, 1979.

Rose took an 0-for-4 collar in the first game, grounded out in the first inning of Game 2 . . . and then proceeded to get five hits in his next nine at-bats, including the only home run he would ever hit against the Reds. The Phils’ managed only one win in the four-game series.

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>>> The Sixers loss in Dallas Tuesday dropped their road record to 19-19. We bring this up for one reason only, this list of all NBA Champions since 1960 with a losing road record in the regular season:

1977-78 Washington Bullets (15-26);
1976-77 Portland Trail Blazers (14-27);
1974-75 Golden State Warriors (17-24).

In summary, the last 40 NBA Champions – and 55 of the last 58 – have finished the regular season with a winning road record.

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>>> The Sixers’ putrid second quarter Tuesday (outscored by 23, 41-18) was their worst period of the season by point margin, topping a 49-30 (-19) performance Oct. 24, at Milwaukee. The last time the Sixers had been outscored by at least 23 points in a quarter was a 32-point thrashing (47-15) by the Warriors on Nov. 18, 2017.

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QUICKIE QUIZ ANSWER

>>> Michigan State is the only school to have two different players record multiple career triple-doubles in NCAA Tournament games: Magic Johnson (both 1979) and Draymond Green (2011-12).