It feels like baseball again. Fresh dirt on the infield. Box scores back in our lives. That quiet optimism that this could be the year. With the season underway, there is no better excuse to fall back in love with the beautiful, ridiculous details that only baseball can produce.
A rivalry so old it broke math
After more than 130 years, the all-time regular season head-to-head between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants is perfectly tied at 1288-1288-17. Thousands of games, multiple cities, generations of legends, and the universe still could not pick a side.
Speed, but make it efficient
Greg Maddux recorded at least one stolen base in 10 different seasons without ever being caught stealing. The greatest control artist in pitching history apparently applied the same philosophy to his legs.
Babe Ruth, pitcher first
For a time, the only pitcher with a winning record in every season in which he had at least 10 decisions was Babe Ruth. Before he changed baseball forever with a bat, he was already dominating with his arm.
Just how hard is it to make the majors
According to Baseball Reference, only 23,615 people have ever played Major League Baseball. That number would not even fill half of most MLB ballparks. The show has always been exclusive.
Football legends, baseball footnotes
In 1979, the Kansas City Royals drafted two future Pro Football Hall of Famers: Dan Marino and John Elway. Neither ever played a big-league game. Meanwhile, Tom Brady remains the last active player ever drafted by the Montreal Expos.
When being second best still wasnt enough
In 1957, a 25-year-old Mickey Mantle hit .365 with a 1.177 OPS, the best marks of his Hall of Fame career. He did not lead the league in any of those categories because a 38-year-old Ted Williams somehow did even better.
Baseball timing is undefeated
A Giants manager once joked that humanity would land on the moon before Gaylord Perry hit a home run. Seven years later, about 30 minutes after the moon landing, Perry hit his first career homer.
The math of greatness
If Hank Aaron had never hit a single home run, he still would have finished his career with more than 3,000 hits. Long live The King.
Longevity like youve never seen
Jamie Moyer faced roughly nine percent of all hitters in Major League Baseball history. Meanwhile, Satchel Paige threw three scoreless innings at age 58, because baseball never learned how to tell him no.
Perfectly unhinged footnotes
Tony Gwynn struck out just three times in 287 plate appearances against Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz combined. Prince Fielder hit more inside-the-park home runs than Rickey Henderson. Bob Uecker homered off Sandy Koufax, Gaylord Perry, and Ferguson Jenkins. Of course he did.
That is baseball. Equal parts numbers, nonsense, history, and miracles hiding in plain sight. Welcome back.