Tuesday Quickie Quiz & Vintage Digits - Doug Pederson, Jack Nicklaus, Hale Irwin, Rick Barry, Calvin Murphy, Jose Calderon

QUICKIE QUIZ

>>> Which was the first winning Super Bowl team to score fewer points than it’s Super Bowl number?

(Answer Below)

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VINTAGE DIGITS

>>> THE TUESDAY TITLE TOWN TALLY

Today we start a new weekly feature which will be a chonological listing of championships won in the four major sports by each Metropolitan Area.

A few caveats:

> We will be very lenient at what constitutes the “metropolitan area”. New York will include the Islanders’ wins on Long Island as well as the Devils, if they ever decide to bring a Cup home to Newark . . . Anaheim and Los Angeles, same thing, etc. Any problems with that, call Mrs. Murphy, my second-grade geography teacher.

> Also, we are only dealing with titles determined by an actual playoff game. So the NFL titlists from 1920 to 1931 will not count since the team with the best regular season record was crowned. The 1932 season resulted in a tie, and they held a playoff (indoors at Chicago Stadium on a shortened field, by the way), so we did include that. Any problems, then go make your own list and feel free to include the 1920 Akron Pros.

> We are including only Stanley Cup winners since 1926-27, when the Cup was first awarded to the NHL titlist and not to the winner of a series between various league champions.

> No ABA, AFL, USFL or WHA champions (except for the two Super Bowl wins). They were all fairly legit leagues by the end but they had to suffer through some growing pains and the early champions were not up to snuff.

> Lastly, we will list these by the date the game/title was decided. Game 5 of the 2008 World Series is listed officially as being played Oct. 27, but no one was climbing any South Philly telephone poles until Brad Lidge struck out Eric Hinske two days later after the Ark had cleared.

We will start with the Greatest Sports Metropolitan Area of them all:

PHILADELPHIA’S MAJOR PRO CHAMPIONS (17)

(Home Team in CAPS; Series Score in parentheses)

1910 MLB – Oct. 23, Athletics 7, CHICAGO CUBS 2 (4-1)

1911 MLB – Oct. 26, ATHLETICS 13, New York Giants 2 (4-2)

1913 MLB – Oct. 11, Athletics 3, NEW YORK GIANTS 1 (4-1)

1929 MLB – Oct. 14, ATHLETICS 3, Chicago Cubs 2 (4-1)

1930 MLB – Oct. 8, ATHLETICS 7, St. Louis Cardinals 1 (4-2)

1947 NBA – April 22, WARRIORS 83, Chicago Stags 80 (4-1)

1948 NFL – Dec. 19, EAGLES 7, Chicago Cardinals 0

1949 NFL – Dec. 18, Eagles 14, LOS ANGELES RAMS 0

1956 NBA – April 7, WARRIORS 99, Fort Wayne Pistons 88 (4-1)

1960 NFL – Dec. 26, EAGLES 17, Green Bay Packers 13

1967 NBA – April 24, 76ers 125, SAN FRANCISCO WARRIORS 122 (4-2)

1974 NHL – May 19, FLYERS 1, Boston Bruins 0 (4-2)

1975 NHL – May 27, Flyers 2, BUFFALO SABRES 0 (4-2)

1980 MLB – Oct. 21, PHILLIES 4, Kansas City Royals 1 (4-2)

1983 NBA – May 31, 76ers 115, LOS ANGELES LAKERS 108 (4-0)

2008 MLB − Oct. 29, PHILLIES 4, Tampa Bay Rays 3 (4-1)

2018 NFL – Feb. 4, Eagles 41, New England Patriots 33 (Minneapolis)

Note: The 1926 Frankford Yellowjackets were named NFL Champions based on their league-best 14-1-2 record among 22 teams.

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>>> GOLF

Jack Nicklaus played in every U.S. Open from 1957 to 2000.

That’s 44 consecutive if your are scoring at home.

Hale Irwin is next, with 34.

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>>> PHILLIES

Phillies’ record in their 18 doubleheaders since Sept. 20, 2011:

2-16 . . . First Game

6-12 . . . Second Game

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>>> NBA

On the morning of April 20, 1994, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf was shooting what would have been an NBA-record 96.4% on free throws that season, but he then went 5-for-7 over his final three games to finish at 95.6%, just short of Calvin Murphy’s 95.8%, set in 1980-81.

Jose Calderon blew up that mark with a 98.1% registered in 2008-09. That might stand for a while. The best qualifying mark since then is 94.0% (Brian Roberts in 2013-14).

The NBA single-season free-throw percentage progression:

81.1% . . . 1946-47 Fred Scolari (146-180)

85.9% . . . 1948-49 Bob Feerick (256-298)

90.4% . . . 1951-52 Bobby Wanzer (377-417)

90.5% . . . 1956-57 Bill Sharman (381-421)

93.2% . . .1958-59 Bill Sharman (342-367)

94.5% . . . 1976-77 Ernie DiGregorio (138-146)

94.7% . . . 1978-79 Rick Barry (160-169)

95.8% . . . 1980-81 Calvin Murphy (206-215)

98.1% . . . 2008-09 Jose Calderdon (151-154)

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QUICKIE QUIZ ANSWER

>>> Which was the first winning Super Bowl team to score fewer points than it’s Super Bowl number?

Answer:

San Francisco beat Cincinnati, 20-16, in Super Bowl XXIII (23).