How great is this stat?

[Moose Milligan]

I was listening to Colin Cowherds show today in the car (strictly cause I left my ipod at home) and he was saying this amazing statistic occurred last night and that he'd get to it after the break. He kept hyping it and hyping it...I couldn't think of what it was, as I hadn't heard anything today about someone setting an incredible record last night.

So he comes back and starts rattling off great statistical feats in sports history...Wilt Chamberlain averaging 50 points and 25 rebounds in a single year, Edwin Moses winning 122 races in a row, Pistol Pete averaging 42 ppg (without a 3 point line) for his career in college, some Russian wrestler who went an entire decade who not only didn't lose a match but DID NOT ALLOW A SINGLE POINT. Mindblowing stuff.

So then he gets to this great statistic that occurred last night and he says it's entered his top 10...by this time I'm thinking it's gotta be amazing...I mean Edwin Moses's streak is just filthy and I'd never heard about that Russian wrestler before.

So he finally shuts up and stops hyping it...and it's Randy Johnson. He's started 14 games against the Cubs in his career and his record is 13-0, with like a 1.87 ERA or something. I'm not sure if he was gushing over the record or the ERA, but he was just raving about how amazing it was.

Maybe I'm missing something...thats pretty damn impressive, but not as impressive as the feats that he was talking about. I also have to think that there's another pitcher in history that's done better against a single team before. Just looking at Pedro Martinez, he was 13-1 with a 1.57 ERA against Seattle and 11-1 with a 1.77 ERA against Cleveland. Koufax was 17-2 with a 1.44 against the Mets and 14-2 with a 1.90 against Houston. And uh...Andy Pettite is 24-6 against the Orioles...

Anyway, I'm sure some of the bigger statheads on here could find something more dominant than Randy Johnson's career stats against the Cubs. Does this performance vault him into the pantheon of Wilt, Edwin Moses and Pete Maravich, etc?

[BaltimoreTerp]

I think when you found yourself explaining why you were listening to that person, you answered your own question.

[Frobby]

I'm with you, Moose. If a great pitcher ran off a 1.87 ERA in 14 starts, nobody would think it was that amazing. Now 13-0, that does take a bit of luck in addition to skill. But a lot of the other feats you listed had little to do with luck.

[AgentOrange]

The Russian wrestler is the most amazing thing I have ever heard.

(Former wrestler bias alert!!!)