The fights that need fighting
Time might be a flat circle, but repeating dark periods in history is a choice
Over the course of Oddball’s existence, Jonathan and I have used this newsletter to talk about some of the more unpleasant issues in sports, including but not limited to financial corruption, cheating, sexual assault/abuse, intimate partner violence, gender-based pay disparity, and more. These things are cultural problems that are also sports problems and not the inverse; as we’ve mentioned many times, we view sports as a part of culture and not apart from it.
Accordingly, I really wanted to write something about the Supreme Court’s horrifying decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in this intro, because of course I did. Thing is, there’s nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said more eloquently by smarter and more directly-affected people. Given this, I sat down to write about the situation that led to Freddie Freeman firing his agents.
Then I realized that based on what I have seen and heard (and been told), a thing sorely missing from the current discourse about abortion is men offering their full-throated opposition to this barbaric, backwards-ass decision and support for the people, everywhere, who will suffer because of it.
Jonathan and I are both 100% pro-choice. We strongly believe that anyone with a uterus should get to make any and all decisions related to that uterus, including decisions related to terminating a pregnancy. We believe that bodily autonomy is inseparable from humanity, and that any government that would seek to infringe upon that bodily autonomy is tyrannical and evil.
Yes, we are two guys who write a sports trivia newsletter and not policy makers, community leaders, or doctors. But this is not a women’s issue. This is a human issue. Saying nothing is not an option.
— DJ
#whylardigginssmith
The last time the AL wins leader (i.e. pitcher wins) and the NL wins leader had the same first name, what were the pitchers’ last names?
Since Marion Motley did it at age 30 in 1950, only two NFL rushing leaders were 30 or older in their league-leading year. One is a Hall of Famer who played his entire career in the same division. The other is one of the few NFL running backs to have worn a single digit jersey number. Name them.
Since Larry Bird did it in 1986-87, only three players currently in the Hall of Fame have led the NBA in (regular season) three-pointers made. Who are they?
With 29 points (8G, 21A) in this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs, Conn Smythe Trophy winner Cale Makar accomplished the fourth-highest playoff points total among defencemen in NHL history. What three d-men scored in a single playoffs?
Answers from last week’s issue
Newly minted NHL MVP Auston Matthews has now led the league in goals in consecutive seasons. Alexander Ovechkin was the last player to do this. Who were the last two players to do it before Ovechkin?
Pavel Bure led the league in goals in 1999-2001, and Teemu Selänne led in the two seasons before that. Should Matthews lead the league in goals over the course of the 2022-23 season, he’d be the first player not named Alexander Ovechkin to go back-to-back-to-back since Brett Hull lit approximately one zillion lamps from 1989-1992.
Who was the last quarterback not named Drew Brees to lead the NFL in passing yards in consecutive years?
Surprisingly, the answer is not Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr., who has led the NFL in passing yards four times but never in consecutive years. When you take Brees out of the mix, the last QB to go back-to-back was Warren Moon (1990, 1991).
Dennis Rodman led the NBA in rebounds per game for seven straight seasons between 1990-91 and 1997-98. Name the three players who have led the league in rebounds per game in at least three consecutive seasons since The Worm’s reign of terror ended.
Andre Drummond was the most recent to do it, leading the NBA in RPG from 2017–20. Dwight Howard (2007–10) and Kevin Garnett (2003–07) are the other two.
Name the last American-born player to lead the AL in RBIs in consecutive seasons and the last non-American player to lead the NL in RBIs in consecutive seasons.
Shreveport, Louisiana-born Albert (don’t call him Joey) Belle led the American League in RBIs in 1995 and 1996. Caracas, Venezuela-born Andrés Galarraga led the National League in 1996 and 1997.
#postscript
Many thanks to WNBA All-Star Skylar Diggins-Smith for being named her name and to you for being named your name, unless your name is Clarence Thomas or Brett Kavanaugh or Samuel Alito or Amy Coney Barrett or Neil Gorsuch because if you’re a ghoul you don’t get thanked. Fuck you.
Until next week, be the Ezequiel Carrera you wish to see in the world.
— DJ/JY