MULTIPLE MAJOR SPORTS CHAPIONSHIPS IN A SEASON

In the history of North American major professional sports league championships (which include the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL), a city/metropolitan area has been home to multiple championships in a season seventeen times. Detroit is the only city to have more than two major league championship teams in a season. Philadelphia is the only city to have all four major sports teams play in their respective championship games or series in the same season (1980), though only one of the four actually won the championship.

CITIES WITH MULTIPLE CHAMPIONSHIPS IN A SEASON
Year	City	Team	League	Team	League	Team	League
1927	New York City	Giants	NFL	Yankees	MLB
1933	New York City	Rangers	NHL	Giants	MLB
1935	Detroit	Lions	NFL	Red Wings	NHL	Tigers	MLB
1938	New York City	Giants	NFL	Yankees	MLB
1948	Cleveland	Browns	AAFC	Indians	MLB
1952	Detroit	Lions	NFL	Red Wings	NHL
1956	New York City	Giants	NFL	Yankees	MLB
1969	New York City	Jets	NFL	Mets	MLB
1970	Baltimore	Colts	NFL	Orioles	MLB
1979	Pittsburgh	Steelers	NFL	Pirates	MLB
1986	Greater New York	Giants	NFL	Mets	MLB
1988	Los Angeles	Lakers	NBA	Dodgers	MLB
2002	Greater Los Angeles	Lakers	NBA	Angels	MLB
2004	Greater Boston	Patriots	NFL	Red Sox	MLB
2007	Greater Boston	Celtics	NBA	Red Sox	MLB
2009	Pittsburgh	Steelers	NFL	Penguins	NHL
2014	Bay Area	Giants	MLB	Warriors	NBA
2018	Greater Boston	Patriots	NFL	Red Sox	MLB

THE TOP 10 FASTEST MOVING OBJECTS IN SPORTS – NUMBER 8: BASEBALL

Top 10 fastest moving objects in sports. Stay tuned as the countdown to number 1 continues.

The fastest pitch belongs to reliever Aroldis Chapman, who hit 105.1 miles per hour as a rookie with the Cincinnati Reds in 2010. (In 2010 a Nolan Ryan fastball was recorded at 100.9 miles per hour. At the time, speed was measured when the ball was ten feet from the plate. If the pitch had been measured at the now-standard 50 feet from the plate, the speed extrapolates to an incredible 108.1 miles per hour).

WRIGLEY FIELD CENTER-FIELD FLAGS

At Wrigley Field, the color-coded flags of each team flown above the center-field scoreboard are arranged daily to reflect National League division standings in win-loss order. Until divisional play began in 1969, the team standings flags were arranged with top four NL teams on the left-field side, the bottom four on the right. Now three poles are used to inform fans of the current order of the league’s three-divisions.

MLB - RENNIE STENNETT - ONLY PLAYER TO GET 7 HITS IN A 9-INNING GAME

Rennie Stennett, playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates, is the only player in the 20th century to have seven hits at seven at bats in a nine-inning game. Stennett’s seven-hit game occurred on September 16, 1975, as Pittsburgh routed the Chicago Cubs 22-0. Stennett’s first hit came off starter Rick Reuschel and his seventh was off Rick’s brother Paul. Pittsburgh’s 22-0 victory also set a major league record for the largest winning score in a shutout game in the modern era. (That record was matched by the Cleveland Indians in 2004).

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL - RARE FEATS

PLAYERS WITH A HOMER IN AT LEAST 40 DIFFERENT BALLPARKS
PLAYER	YEARS	NUMBER OF BALLPARKS
Sammy Sosa	1989-2005, 2007	45
Ken Griffey, Jr.	1989-2010	44
Fred McGriff	1986-2004	43
Ellis Burks	1987-2004	41
Mike Piazza	1992-2007	40
Gary Sheffield	1988-2009	40

TWO BIGGEST COMEBACKS IN MLB HISTORY BASED ON WINNING TEAM EXPECTANCY*

 *Winning team expectancy (Wwe) is the probability (expressed as a percentage) of a team winning the game given a particular inning, score and base-out situation.

DATE	TEAM	OPPONENT	Wwe	SCORE	INN	OUT	ROB	FINAL
6-29-52	CHC	CIN	0.01%	2-8	T-9	2	0	9-8
With 2 out and bases empty. Cubs score 7 runs on 5 hits and 1 error.

DATE	TEAM	OPPONENT	Wwe	SCORE	INN	OUT	ROB	FINAL
8-21-90	PHI	LAD	0.01%	1-11	T-8	1	2,3	12-11
With 1 out and runners at 2nd and 3rd in the top of the 8th, the Phillies score 2 runs on 3 hits and no errors. In the 9th inning Phillies score 9 runs on 6 hits, 3 walks and 2 errors.

ADAM DUNN - THE ONLY MLB PLAYER TO HIT A HOME-RUN INTO ANOTHER STATE

Great American Ball Park, the home of the Cincinnati Reds, is located on the north bank of the Ohio River in Cincinnati. On August 10, 2004, Adam Dunn, playing for the Cincinnati Reds, became the only player in MLB history to hit a home run into another state. Dunn batting against Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Jose Lima, hit a 3-2 pitch over the center-field wall. The ball bounced off Mehring Way and landed on a piece of driftwood on the banks of the Oho River. As the northern border of Kentucky is the low-water mark on the Ohio and Indiana shore as it was when Kentucky became a state in 1792, this means that Adam Dunn’s homerun left the state of Ohio and came to rest in Kentucky.

MLB - IMMACULATE INNING

An immaculate inning occurs in baseball when a pitcher in a half-inning of play throws only 9 pitches, each of which is a strike and thus strikes out 3 consecutive batters. Immaculate innings are rarer that “hitting for the cycle” or pitching a “no-hitter”, Currently 88 different MLB pitchers have accomplished this feat for a total of 94 immaculate innings. Only 5 players; Lefty Grove, Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Sandy Koufax and Max Scherzer have thrown an immaculate inning for than one. Koufax is the only pitcher to throw 3 of them. A record 8 immaculate innings were thrown in the 2017 season. The most recent immaculate inning occurred on Saturday, March 30, 2019, when Josh Hader of the Milwaukee Brewers struck out three St. Louis Cardinal batters in the 9th inning.

Josh Hader of the Milwaukee Brewers pitches an immaculate inning in 4-2 win over St. Louis Cardinals on March 30, 2019

MLB IN THE TOP 40 METRO AREAS IN THE U.S.

ATTEMPTS TO CATCH BASEBALL DROPPED FROM EXTREME HEIGHTS

YEAR	NAME	DROPPED FROM	DISTANCE	DETAILS
1884	Paul Hines	Washington Monument	542 Feet	1884 was the year that the Washington Monument was completed. The attempt was made after project superintendent bet Providence Grays outfield Hines that he could not make the catch. Three balls were dropped but none came close enough for him to make the catch. Hines was attempting to make the catch barehanded as baseball was being played barehanded in 1884.
1890	Marty Sullivan and Steve Brodie	Washington Monument	542 Feet	Sullivan and Brodie played for the Boston Beaneaters. Three balls were dropped, but none were caught.
1894	William Schriver	Washington Monument Observation Level	505 Feet	Schriver was a catcher for Chicago Colts. Initially reported that he caught ball on second attempt. Later reported that the ball hit his mitt, but he could not hold it.
1908	Charles “Gabby” Street	Washington Monument	555 Feet	Street was a catcher for the Washington Senators. He missed first two balls thrown, but made solid catch on the third one. Story subsequently circulated that the ball broke numerous bones in his hand, but it is not true. Street said that it numbed his hand momentarily. He played in a game against the Tigers that afternoon
April 1, 1930	Gabby Hartnett	Blimp Los Angeles, CA	800 Feet	Hartnett was a catcher for the Cubs, and is a HOF member. Cubs were playing their farm team in a spring training game. Hartnett caught two balls in a row. According to one report, Hartnett was wearing a suit and tie without any protective gear. (This is not a particularly well document event).
1932	Billy Sullivan	Washington Monument		Sullivan was a catcher for the White Sox. He caught 3 of 11 balls dropped.
1938	Frank Pytlak and Henry Helf	Terminal Tower Cleveland, OH	708 Feet (52 Stories)	Pytlak and Helf played for the Indians. Helf made the first catch after three attempts and Pytlak caught one three tries after Helf’s catch. Three other players participated, but did not make a catch. Reports indicate that missed balls that hit the pavement bounced 6 stories high. *
1939	Joseph Spirnz	Blimp San Francisco	800 Feet	Spirnz played for the San Francisco Seals. This was an attempt to duplicate Hartnett’s feat as he too was wearing street clothes with no protective gear. On the fifth attempt, the ball slammed his glove hand into his face with such force that he broke his upper jaw in 12 places, fractured 5 of his teeth and was rendered unconscious. Unfortunately, he also dropped the ball. *
July 2, 2012	Zach Hample	Helicopter LeLacheur Park Lowell, MA	312 Feet 562 Feet 822 Feet	Hample is a professional “baseball collector”. He claims to have collected more than 10,000 baseballs from major league stadiums. Due to his aggressiveness in going after balls he has been banned from 3 stadiums. After the third catch, the FAA halted further efforts due to high winds. There were dozens of missed balls. Balls that hit the turf were almost completely buried.
July 13, 2012	Zach Hample	Helicopter LeLacheur Park Lowell, MA	1,050 Feet	See video below.

*The accounts of catching a baseball from great heights sometimes claim the ball speed at time of the catch or impact with the ground as being as high as 154 mph. According to The Hardball Times the terminal speed of a baseball dropped at any height is about 100 mph. In the graph below, the red line represents the speed of a falling baseball without drag (air resistance), and the blue line represents actual speeds achieved over a distance of 1500 feet when it reaches its terminal velocity.