By Brian Hoffman – Sports Editor
Today is 203 AG and if you miss high school football like I do and are searching for something interesting, here’s something you might watch to check out.
It’s been 203 days since Rudy Gobert tested positive and the Utah Jazz walked off the court back in March. Shortly thereafter the NBA, NHL, MLB and college sports put their seasons on ice, and although a semblance of normality has returned, it’s not exactly the same, with no fans in the stands and people wearing masks and social distancing.
Here in Virginia, we’re sadly missing high school football. If you want something to try and fill the void I suggest you turn to fourseasonsfootball.com on the internet. Lord Botetourt coach Jamie Harless turned me on to this site last fall when he was researching when the last time LB had an undefeated football team and I go to it every so often because it’s fun to browse.
The site lists all-time records for every high school in Virginia. Last fall it also included high schools from West Virginia, and in the meantime it has added schools from Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland and Ohio.
It really is an amazing site. For every Lord Botetourt or James River game ever played, you can find the date, opponent, score, location, head coach and the name of the stadium where the game was played. By checking the site, Harless found out the last time LB was undefeated was in 1961 under John David, the first head coach at LB when the school first fielded a team in 1959. He coached until 1966, when Pete Ergenbright took over for the 1967 season.
Botetourt’s schedule in 1961 included the William Fleming JV team and the Virginia School for the Deaf & Blind. However, the Cavaliers also played the likes of Amherst County, James River, Rockbridge and Wilson Memorial. They finished the season 10-0 with seven shutouts.
James River also first fielded a team in 1959 under Wally Elliott, going 1-8 with their only win over Lord Botetourt. You can look back through the nine years John Baker was coach and the 17 years Doug Ross was in charge. It has every score and it’s fascinating for those of you who like stats and history.
The site also has records of historical schools that no longer exist like Andrew Lewis of Salem, Big Stone Gap, Jefferson of Roanoke, Powell Valley and many more. There’s a site listed as “Work in Progress” that includes long-gone schools like Fincastle High, Troutville and Eagle Rock. I assume they’re working on gathering those records for future reference.
It’s not a substitute for going to games on Friday night, but it’s something interesting to pass the time as we wait for high school sports to return.
Having fun with MLB rules and stats
With the Major League Baseball playoffs beginning this week I have to give the league a grade of “A” for playing what amounted to an entertaining regular season under difficult circumstances. We had some playoff races go down to the wire, and I expect the playoffs to be equally exciting.
It wasn’t perfect, as you’d expect in these difficult times. The league came out with a bunch of rules before the season and not all of them were closely followed. For example, in the coronavirus rules “spitting” is strictly prohibited but I constantly saw spitting. And, if someone is standing in the outfield or in the on deck circle I didn’t see a problem with it.
Other rules required fielders to retreat several steps from runners, and that coaches should not approach runners. If you didn’t know they were rules you would never know by watching the games, and no one seemed to be worse for not obeying them.
Players were supposed to use their own personal equipment, but I remember several instances where the TV announcers commented about someone using someone else’s bat, a common occurrence in normal times.
Leaning on the railings was discouraged, but good luck on that. Balls that were touched by multiple players were supposed to be tossed out, but I didn’t see a lot of that, either. And only the players in the game were supposed to be in the dugout and the others were expected to social distance in the stands. The only guy I ever saw in the stands was the next day’s pitcher charting pitches. And how about those home run celebrations where everyone was dancing, or the home run hitter was pushed down the dugout in a laundry cart while players hugged and high-fived. No one said a word, and it didn’t seem to matter in the big scope of things, so I guess it really didn’t matter.
On a lighter vein, I found it interesting to project the statistical leaders for 60 games over a 162-game season. Of course, that’s not a true gauge of what would have been because you have injuries and slumps, but then again you had injuries and slumps in the 60-game regular season as well. Check out these numbers.
Luke Voit of the Yankees led the majors with 22 home runs, and that projects to 59.4 home runs over 162 games. Jose Abreu of the White Sox had 60 RBIs in 60 games and I don’t even need a calculator to figure that would be 162 in 162 games. How about that Roanoke College education?
Freddie Freeman of the Braves led the majors with 51 runs scored, projecting to 140.4, and he also was tops with 23 doubles, or 62.1 in a normal year. Washington’s Trea Turner had 78 hits, a pace for 210.6 for 162 games. Adalberto Mondesi of Kansas City was high with 24 stolen bases, projecting to 64.8. And here’s an interesting one, Migual Sano of the Twins struck out 90 times, and if he maintained that pace over a full season he would fan 243 times over 162 games! He did have 13 home runs and 25 RBIs while batting just .204.
Of course, your batting averages, on base percentages, slugging percentages and OPS should be the same if the players maintain the same pace. DJ LeMahieu of the Yankees led the majors with a .364 batting average, a tough pace to maintain over 162 games. Juan Soto of the Nats had a .490 on base percentage and also led the majors with a .695 slugging percentage and a 1.185 OPS. If I was starting a team and could pick anyone in the majors he’s the one I’d take. He was also second in the majors with a .351 batting average and he turns just 22 on October 25.
As far as pitching, Shane Bieber of the Indians had eight wins, projecting to 21.6 for a full season, and he also led the majors with a 1.63 earned run average and 122 strikeouts, a 329.4 strikeout pace. He’s only 25, and he’ll be fun to watch in the playoffs.
Baseball is such a statistical game, it’s a shame we didn’t have a full season to compare past performances. However, under the circumstances I’m just glad we had any games at all.
The best celebration
Of all the championship celebrations in sports, the one I enjoy the most is the Stanley Cup clinching win in the National Hockey League.
On Monday night the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Dallas Stars to clinch the cup, and even though there were no fans in the building it was great fun to watch the celebration. The Stanley Cup is like no other trophy in the world of sports, and probably the most coveted of all by the combatants.
While the Tampa Bay players swarmed the goalie as the final horn went off, throwing gloves high in the air, many Dallas players took a knee and wept. Shortly thereafter both sides lined up for the tradition handshake, which again is one of my favorite moments. After beating on each other in a hotly contested series there is always good sportsmanship at the end, even among the most “competitive” rivals.
By the time the cup was brought onto the ice the Dallas players had already retreated to their locker room, and then the real fun began as players took turns hoisting and kissing the cup. In this time of COVID-19 you wouldn’t expect to see 30 some folks taking turns kissing a bowl made of a silver and nickel alloy while you can’t even walk around in Wal-Mart without a mask. Oh well, its a tradition and I assume everyone was tested before the game.
Congratulations to the Lightning and to the NHL for being able to pull off a successful and entertaining Stanley Cup playoff tournament in these very difficult times.
Hole in one
Gary Crenshaw, a Botetourt County resident, scored a hole-in-one at the Botetourt Country Club last Sunday, Sept. 27. Three other players witnessed Crenshaw, 39, holing out the 172-yard, par three at the local course.
Way to go, Gary, I hope the other three bought you “dinner.”
