Earlier this month I wrote a blog article about the fascination (or obsession) with statistics in sports, “Statistics Overload”.
Coincidentally, I was watching World Series Game 3 between the Atlanta Braves and the Houston Astros, when the funniest graphic appeared on my television screen.
Obviously, it was a typo by whoever does these graphics, and probably went unnoticed by the majority of the viewing public. I (having previously established that I do like statistics), however DID notice. The strange part about it is… it was never mentioned by the commentators, even as a joke.
They must have missed it too.
The graphic, for those unfamiliar with baseball statistics, was pointing out the throwing speeds of the three Astros outfielders. This in case there was a tag-and-run play by the Braves, having runners on 2nd and 3rd with only one out in the inning.
For Kyle Tucker and Michael Brantley, center and right fielder, the speeds shown were a pretty decent 87.6 mph for Tucker and a somewhat lesser 77.7 mph for Bradley. Certainly useful information for the runner deciding whether to tag up on a fly ball.
But the posted throwing speed for left fielder Yordan Alvarez was an obviously mistyped but awesome throwing speed of 911.1 mph.
I could not pass up the opportunity and froze the frame on the TV set while I snapped a picture.
Why there aren’t thousands of memes on this screenshot is beyond me. So many opportunities…
- “Alvarez could throw out the runner from Savannah, Georgia.”
- “An errant throw could take out a dozen spectators and damage several cars in the parking lot.”
- “U.S. Air Force plucks Yordan Alvarez from MLB.”
Another way to post last night’s graphic would’ve been:
In the end, we can surmise that Alvarez probably throws the baseball at a still impressive 91.1 mph. And to make the point clear, I enjoy all of these statistics that now seem to come at us with ever increasing frequency.
I’m still waiting for that home run that will have a calculated and projected distance of 4,583 feet.
Play ball!