ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Im grateful to the many people who helped with this book.
My wife, Linda, scheduled our wedding date around the 1985 NBA Finals and abided my sports addiction ever since. Cant ask for more than that. Looking forward to at least thirty-one more years together.
Our children, Robert, Jackie, and Richard, are beautiful people. Robert served as my primary reader and put every word and idea under illuminating scrutiny. Awesome job, Rob.
My mom, Shula, watched almost every match I wrestled, and supported everything Ive ever done. Thanks, Mom.
My brother, Alan, edited and provided (since our childhood) sound, creative arguments that honed or inspired much of what Ive written. This book doesnt happen without him.
My sister, Marilyn, turned out to be the best athlete in the family, and a good writer too.
Arnie Berns and Bob Cohen greatly improved various parts of the manuscript. John Middletons support also helped a lot. Thanks to them and to other great friends.
Professor Matthew Schulkind provided important scholarly advice in several areas. Thanks for educating my daughter, and me as well.
Sam Chi, editor of RealClearSports.com, provided unwavering support, good cheer, and fine advice. All sports fans should check out RealClearSports every day.
My agent, Chip MacGregor, saw potential in an early version of the book, encouraged it, and found it a fine home. Id recommend Chip to any writer.
Stephen Hull and colleagues at ForeEdge added the finishing touches, beautifully done.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Tetlock, Philip E., and Dan Gardner. Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction. New York: Crown Publishers, 2015.
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WEBSITE RESOURCES
The following websites provided most of the statistics cited in this book:
www.baseball-reference.com
www.basketball-reference.com
www.fangraphs.com
www.pro-football-reference.com
DiMaggios Hitting Streak Is Overrated
Joe DiMaggios 56-game hitting streak is widely considered in the realm of epic sports feats that includes Wilt Chamberlains 100-point game, Bob Beamons 29-feet-2-inch broad jump, Wayne Gretzkys 92-goal season, and the like. Some sports fans even regard it as the greatest achievement in sports history.
As sacrilegious as this may seem, The Streak does not deserve that sort of veneration. DiMaggio certainly had a terrific 56-game run in 1941 with a .408 batting average and fifteen home runs. However, several players out-hit DiMaggio over 56-game sequences: Rogers Hornsby batted .476 over 56 games in 1924; George Brett hit .480 over 56 games in 1980; and, notably, over the exact time period of DiMaggios streak, Ted Williams (in 55 games) hit .412 with more than twice as many walks and a higher on-base plus slugging percentage.
History celebrates DiMaggios 56 games over the superior feats of Hornsby, Brett, and Williams solely by virtue of the consecutive-game hitting. However, The Streak is based on a contrived form of consecutivenessat least one hit in every gamein which the hits are unrelated, separated from each other by many at bats; that is to say, they have zero interactive value. This oxymoronic interrupted consecutiveness provides none of the benefit of true consecutiveness, as demonstrated by, for example, successive hits in an inning leading to runs, or planks laid in a row constructing a bridge.