SHINY THING$ 0139 ✨

Its a long weekend, so we wanted to make this weeks 139th installment of Shiny Thing$ a nice easyyyyy one to bookend the holiday.

Professional sports live at the center of culture now more than ever, and they anchor relationships for a huge portion of the world. The unbelievable stories of the legends of court & field find their way into conversation as easily as the weather. So on this celebratory weekend, we present 25 of the most insane stats from around the world of sports, packed up nicely for addition to your Sunday group-chat…

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Dusty Baker, former MLB manager and player from 1968 to 1986, is widely credited with inventing the High Five. While crossing home plate after a pivotal home run as a Dodger on October 7th 1977, he noticed the next batter, Glenn Burke coming toward the plate with his hand in the air, possibly strecthing. According to Baker, “he was arching way back. So I reached up and hit his hand. It seemed like the thing to do.”

Michael Phelps has more Olympic medals individually than 81% of all nations in their entire history of competing in the Olympics.

Tom Brady (the football player) was the last active Montreal Expos draft pick (the baseball team) to retire from professional sports

On June 23rd 1917, Babe Ruth was the starting pitcher when the Red Sox faced the Washington Senators. To start the game, he walked the first batter, then punched the home plate umpire, and he and his catcher got ejected from the game. The new catcher threw out the runner trying to steal on the next pitch, and the new pitcher, Ernie Shore, got the next 26 outs in a row, completing the first combined no-hitter in MLB history.

If you take away ALL of Hank Aaron's home runs, he still has 3,000 hits. Neither Babe Ruth or Ted Williams have 3,000 hits. 

Don Mattingly set a single season record for grand slams in 1987 with six. Those were the only grand slams he ever hit in his 14 year career.

In 1933, there was a professional football team known as the Providence Huskies. They had a perfect season, and they are still the only team in the professional or semi-professional record books to have not allowed their opponents to score a SINGLE POINT in a full season.

Sammy Sosa is the only player to hit 60 or more home runs in a season three times. He did not lead the league in home runs in any of those three seasons.

Celtics star Jayson Tatum has scored more points in the Conference Finals than the LA Clippers franchise all time. The Clippers were already in the NBA for 9 years when Tatum's father was born.

In December of 2016, Warriors star Klay Thompson scored 60 points against the Indiana Pacers while only dribbling 11 times total. 

Golfer Scottie Scheffler has been ranked #1 in the world for 93 weeks in a row. To catch Tiger Woods record total of weeks at #1, he would need to remain in the top spot every week until mid 2035.

In 14 games as a starting quarterback for the 1962 Houston Oilers, George Blanda threw 42 interceptions. The Oilers still went 11 - 3.

During the 1961 NBA season, Wilt Chamberlain averaged 48.5 minutes per game - a half minute longer then there are minutes in regulation (he played every game + entire overtimes). 

LeBron James has scored at least 10 points in 1,200 straight NBA games.

Since 2009, Lionel Messi has won the Man of the Match award in over half of all FIFA-regulated games he has played.

Wayne Gretzky is the all time leading goal scorer in the NHL. If he didn’t score a single goal in his entire career, he would still be the all-time points leader with 1,963 assists.

Yankee’s Mariano Rivera earned a save in two different stadiums on the same day: a 4-2 victory against the Mets in Shea Stadium on July 8th 2000, then the second game of a double-header later that day at Yankee Stadium which the Yankee’s also won 4-2. 

Usain Bolt can outrun a Formula 1 racecar for 30 feet.

Tommy John surgery, an operation intended to stabilize the elbow after a ligament is torn, was first performed in 1974 and used sparingly on professional pitchers. Today, 60% of all Tommy John surgeries are performed on 15-19 year olds. 

Tom Brady has only completed a single touchdown pass in the first quarter of a Super Bowl despite playing in 10. 

Brett Favre's two NFL receptions were both thrown by Brett Favre, on two different teams.

Babe Ruth hit more home runs than every American League team in 1920.

Larry Fitzgerald, the 17 year NFL wide receiver, has more tackles than dropped passes in his career. 

The NFL player with the most receiving yards after turning 40 is Jerry Rice with 2,169. In second place is Tom Brady, with 6. 

In the NFL, there are four teams in the AFC East division. The Jets are currently 5th in all-time AFC East division titles 😔

Until Next Week…