Greatest Numbers in Sports

There are a lot of uncertainties in the world of sports, but one certainty is that sports are all about numbers. If somebody came up and asked me how many career home runs Hank Aaron hit I’d instantly say 755. If they came up and asked me how many career race wins Richard Petty had I’d instantly say 200. Numbers are simply engrained into sports.

ESPN recently had a SportsNation poll of the greatest single-game or single-season numbers in sports history.

Here is a list of those numbers in chronological order from oldest to most recent:

.406- Ted Williams’ batting average (last player to bat .400 in a season), 1941
56- Joe DiMaggio’s hit streak, 1941
61- Roger Maris’ home runs, 1961
31-13-11- Oscar Robertson’s points/rebound/assist average, 1961-62
100- Wilt Chamberlain’s single-game point total, 1962
1.12- Bob Gibson’s ERA, 1968
92- Wayne Gretzky’s single-season goals record, 1981-82
2,105- Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record, 1984
5,084- Dan Marino’s single-season passing record, 1984
73- Barry Bonds’ single-season home run record, 2001
31- LaDanian Tomlinson’s single-season rushing touchdowns record, 2006
296- Adrian Peterson’s single-game rushing record, 2007
50- Tom Brady’s single-season passing touchdowns record, 2007
9.58- Usain Bolt’s record time in the 100 meters, 2009
59- Lowest round score on PGA Tour; occurred five times; most recently by Paul Goydos & Stuart Appleby, 2009

SportsNation fans listed these numbers as the top 5:

1. .406- Ted Williams
2. 100- Wilt Chamberlain
3. 56- Joe DiMaggio
4. 1.12- Bob Gibson
5. 9.58- Usain Bolt

My Top 5:

1. 100- Wilt Chamberlain … I don’t think anybody will ever do this again.
2. .406- Ted Williams … I also don’t think anybody will ever do this again.
3. 1.12- Bob Gibson … Once again, I don’t think anybody will ever do this again.
4. 56- Joe DiMaggio … Certainly possible, but the closest anybody has ever gotten was within 12 games.
5. 61- Roger Maris … 61 single-season home runs is still the record in my mind … Bonds’ 73 means absolutely nothing.

There are six numbers that I would like to see added to the list though:

130- Rickey Henderson’s single-season stolen base record, 1982
20- Record for strikeouts in a game; held by Roger Clemens (twice) & Kerry Wood (1998)
15- Number of strokes Tiger Woods beat the field by in the 2000 U.S. Open
14- Number of laps Ned Jarrett won a NASCAR race by at Charlotte, 1965
12- Most RBIs in a single-game held by Jim Bottomley (1924) & Mark Whiten (1992)
7- Most sacks in a single-game by Derrick Thomas, 1990

What do you think is the greatest number in sports?