Casual Diehard

The NBA Finals pit the 53-win Denver Nuggets against the 44-win Miami Heat, which means that we’re going to see a second all-time NBA champion with a specific regular-season win total. The only question is whether it’s going to be for the first time in nearly 70 years, or the second time in a row.

53-win NBA champions: 2021-22 Golden State Warriors (53-29)

44-win NBA champions: 1956-57 Boston Celtics (44-28)

The 1948-49 Minneapolis Lakers also won 44 games, losing just 16, but they weren’t NBA champions. They were BAA champions, the forerunner league for the NBA, beating the Chicago Stags and Rochester Royals in the Western Division playoffs before a six-game triumph over the Wasington Capitols in the Finals.

Should be a good time.

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Last night was one of the best pitched games of the season, not just for the Mets, but in all of Major League Baseball. Kodai Senga’s seven innings of one-hit shutout ball, with nine strikeouts and no walks, has been matched this year only by Michael Kopech of the White Sox in a 2-0 win over the Royals on May 19, and veteran Drew Smyly, now with the Chicago Cubs, in a 13-0 pasting of the Dodgers on April 21.

It was such a clean, crisp performance, with such ease, and with that little Kody Clemens single in the third inning that plopped in front of Tommy Pham, you might not think of it as so great, especially without the round number of 10 strikeouts, but here’s the list in Mets history of pitchers who, according to Stathead, went 7+ frames of one-hit ball (none of these Mets was pulled after seven innings of a no-hit bid), with nine or more strikeouts and no walks…

* Tom Seaver, July 9, 1969 vs. Cubs (the Jimmy Qualls game)

* R.A. Dickey, June 13, 2012 at Rays (9-1 win, unearned run after an error in the ninth)

* Matt Harvey, May 7, 2013 vs. White Sox (no-decision, Mets won in 10 innings)

* Jacob deGrom, May 21, 2015 vs. Cardinals (Matt Carpenter first-inning single)

* Senga, last night vs. Phillies

Embrace the power of the Ghost Fork. Senga said he wanted the Phillies, he got them, and he took care of them in devastating fashion.

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This will be only the seventh time since the start of the NBA’s conference finals, as such, in 1971, that one series was a sweep and the other went seven games.

So, for the rest vs. rust narrative… here’s how it’s gone historically.

* 1982: Lakers swept Spurs, 76ers beat Celtics in 7… Lakers over 76ers in 6

* 1987: Lakers swept SuperSonics, Celtics beat Pistons in 7 … Lakers over Celtics in 6

* 1996: Bulls swept Magic, SuperSonics beat Jazz in 7 … Bulls over SuperSonics in 6

* 1998: Jazz swept Lakers, Bulls beat Pacers in 7 … Bulls over Jazz in 6

* 2001: Lakers swept Spurs, 76ers beat Bucks in 7 … Lakers over 76ers in 5

* 2013: Spurs swept Grizzlies, Heat beat Pacers in 7 … Heat over Spurs in 7

The team coming off a conference finals sweep is 4-2 all-time against the team that played seven games to get to the Finals, with the two being the Bulls on their second three-peat, winning their sixth title in eight years; and the Heat winning their second title with LeBron James at the peak of his powers.

This isn’t really surprising. It’s really, really hard to sweep a conference final, as the Heat found out when they had to fight so hard to close out the Celtics.

Also, it’s very funny how close the Jazz came to losing three straight Finals to the same Bulls team. Not quite as funny as what happened to the Celtics last night, in front of everyone, and on video so we can all point and laugh forever. But funny.

And congratulations to Miami on joining the Stanley Cup Final/NBA Finals in the same market club… tracking back on that:

* 2016 Bay Area: Warriors beat Cleveland, Sharks lost to Pittsburgh

* 2013 New Jersey: Nets lost to San Antonio, Devils beat Anaheim

* 1994 New York: Knicks lost to Houston, Rangers beat Vancouver

* 1992 Chicago: Bulls beat Portland; Hawks lost to Pittsburgh

* 1980 Philadelphia: 76ers lost to Los Angeles, Flyers lost to N.Y. Islanders

* 1974 Boston: Celtics beat Milwaukee, Bruins lost to Philadelphia

* 1972 New York: Knicks lost to Los Angeles, Rangers lost to Boston

* 1958 Boston: Celtics lost to St. Louis Hawks, Bruins lost to Montreal

* 1957 Boston: Celtics beat St. Louis Hawks, Bruins lost to Montreal

Nobody’s ever done the double, but three of the nine metropolitan dreams have ended in double defeat. If you had to pick one of the Heat or Panthers to pull it off, I think it’s the Panthers because of the outsize effect that Sergei Bobrovsky can have on games, and also I think we’ve seen through these playoffs, with all due respect to Jimmy Butler, and that’s plenty — the Heat simply do not have an answer for Nikola Jokic, and Denver seems a lot more Drederick Tatum than the Mike Budenholzer-coached Bucks (a real testament to Giannis’ talent that he won that title, jeez), the Julius Randle-led Knicks (it’s okay to be a very important player in the team’s transition from laughingstock to contender, and he’ll be fondly remembered as an ex-Knick), and of course, the case-study-in-buckling-under-pressure Celtics.

The Heat, while extremely good and deserving of being here, are not all that different in composition from the Lakers, with Butler and Bam Adebayo being analogous to LeBron and Anthony Davis, superstar duos surrounded by a bunch of dudes. The Lakers’ stars are better than the Heat’s, but the Heat’s dudes are better as a group because of how much they buy into being those dudes and doing all those Pat Riley/Erik Spoelstra things. Thing is, Denver’s deal is Jokic and Jamal Murray, plus a bunch of dudes, only the dudes include Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr., each of whom has it in them to be at Murray’s level and make it a true “big three,” if only they could do it consistently.

It’ll be a fun series, particularly because the Boston Celtics aren’t in it, after going 3-0 down in a series to an 8 seed, coming all the way back, including a miracle to win Game 6 on the road, then going into full Kevin McHale counting the bolts mode for Game 7.

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Back in the old days, there were a few ex-pats who had come from what became the Soviet Union, and may have been during their careers — Eddie Ainsmith was born in Russia, but came to America and went to high school in New Hampshire before becoming a catcher for the Washington Senators from 1910-18, and then on to the Tigers, Cardinals, Brooklyn Dodgers, and New York Giants through 1924. Ukrainians Reuben Ewing (1921 Cardinals) and Izzy Goldstein (1932 Tigers), and Latvian Joe Zapustas (1933 Philadelphia A’s), all played in the majors after the Russian Revolution, but were born before it.

Similarly, Dovydas Neverauskas was born in Vilnius in January 1993, nearly three years after independence was restored in Lithuania. Neverauskas, who went 1-4 with a 6.81 ERA with the Pirates in 76 relief appearances from 2017-20, is currently on the inactive list for Frederick in the Atlantic League, where the nickname-free team also is where Starlin Castro, Jimmy Paredes, and former nominative determinism prospect Johnni Turbo (career 290 stolen bases in 1,348 minor league games, but 86 times caught stealing, reaching Triple-A with the Angels and Orioles) can now be found.

But the actual USSR? Only one major leaguer was born there: Victor Cole, born in Leningrad on January 23, 1968, and author of a scoreless inning against the Mets on June 6, 1992. Unfortunately for Cole, he was then asked to pitch another inning, and after getting Todd Hundley to ground out, he served up a ground-rule double to Sid Fernandez, a walk to Vince Coleman, a single to Willie Randolph, and a bases loaded walk to Howard Johnson before Dennis Lamp came in and allowed those inherited runners to all score, on hits by Eddie Murray and Bobby Bonilla.

Cole pitched seven more times for the Pirates, making four starts and going 0-2 with a 5.48 ERA. Cole started the next year back on the farm, and wound up pitching in the farm systems of the Brewers, Royals, Padres, Cubs, and Cardinals, along with stints in Mexico and Korea. He was just as well-traveled before even setting foot on a baseball field. After Cole was born, his family moved to Sierra Leone and Canada before arriving in America at 10. He might go back to his birthplace to check it out, but he’ll never be…

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This year’s LFGM Pride shirt with Sarah Wiener’s logo design is now available… and also we sent some to the fellas at 41 Seaver Way. Hope they enjoy them and wear them with, well, pride.

We’ve been over Pete Alonso’s torrid start with home runs, and he heads to Denver for the weekend with a major league-leading 19, a new Mets record for 51 games into a season. He’s got three dingers in nine career games there, for whatever it’s worth.

Alonso also brings with him to Denver, for the first time since his initial tear, an OPS of .900, while toting a .239 batting average. His strikeout rate is up a tick, but his BABIP is a mere .210, and that’s what going to Colorado can really help with, so we’ll see what happens there.

What’s interesting here, and the subject of today’s Stathead search, is the lowest batting averages with a .900-plus OPS for a full season, which we’ll cut off at .260 because it’s interesting and right before the next-lowest batting average this season for a guy with a .900 OPS, Juan Soto (.262/.917).

* Mickey Tettleton, 1995 Rangers, .238/.906 (32 HR)

* Harmon Killebrew, 1962 Twins, .243/.912 (48 HR)

* Adam Dunn, 2005 Reds, .247/.927 (40 HR)

* Ronald Acuña Jr., 2020 Atlanta, .250/.987 (14 HR)

* José Bautista, 2015 Blue Jays, .250/.913 (40 HR)

* Jason Giambi, 2003 Yankees, .250/.939 (41 HR)

* Mike Schmidt, 1979 Phillies, .253/.950 (45 HR)

* Giambi, 2006 Yankees, .253/.971 (37 HR)

* Schmidt, 1983 Phillies, .255/.923 (40 HR)

* Jack Cust, 2007 A’s, .256/.912 (26 HR)

* Pat Burrell, 2007 Phillies, .256/.902 (30 HR)

* Shohei Ohtani, 2021 Angels, .257/.965 (46 HR)

* Killebrew, 1963 Twins, .258/.904 (45 HR)

* Josh Donaldson, 2019 Atlanta, .259/.900 (37 HR)

* Todd Hundley, 1996 Mets, .259/.906 (41 HR)

* Alonso, 2019 Mets, .260/.941 (53 HR)

* Bautista, 2010 Blue Jays, .260/.996 (54 HR)

* Greg Vaughn, 1996 Brewers-Padres, .260/.903 (41 HR)

And for what it’s worth, the lowest batting average in a 60-homer season belongs to Roger Maris, who hit .269 in 1961 — his .993 OPS that year is the only sub-1.000 figure for a 60-dinger club member. Sammy Sosa had a 1.002 in 1999, for a 151 OPS+, the lowest in that category for a 60-homer season. Sosa was at 160 in 1998, while Maris had a 167 in 1961. Mickey Mantle’s was 206 that year. If we’d had advanced stats then, the conversation would’ve been insufferable.

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So far in the Stanley Cup playoffs, Sergei Bobrovsky has a .935 save percentage (he led the league at .931 the year he won the Vezina, 2016-17) and a 2.21 goals against average (he led the league at 2.06 in the Vezina year).

This was not Bobrovsky’s Vezina year. He’s 34, had a .901 save percentage for the season and 3.07 goals against average, and didn’t even enter the Panthers’ net until Game 3 of the first round against Boston, relieving Alex Lyon.

If the Panthers win the Cup, it’s probably Bobrovsky or Matthew Tkachuk for the Conn Smythe Trophy, which brings up the question… how much lightning in a bottle would that be for Bobrovsky?

Let’s look at the 21st century Conn Smythe goalies…

* Andrei Vasilevskiy, 2021 Lightning: .925/2.21 regular season, .937/1.90 playoffs

* Jonathan Quick, 2012 Kings: .929/1.95 regular season, .946/1.41 playoffs

* Tim Thomas, 2011 Bruins: .938/2.00 regular season (won Vezina), .940/1.98 playoffs

* Cam Ward, 2006 Hurricanes: .882/.368 regular season (NHL debut), .920/2.14 playoffs

* Jean-Sebastien Giguère, 2003 Mighty Ducks: .920/2.30 regular season, .945/1.62 playoffs (lost in Stanley Cup Final)

* Patrick Roy, 2001 Avalanche: .913/2.22 regular season, .934/1.70 playoffs

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So, we’re not going to have a first-ever double sweep in the NBA conference finals, since the Celtics hit a whole mess of three-pointers in Miami to extend that series to a fifth game… but now both NHL conference finals are at 3-0.

The double sweep there… has happened before! In 1992, Chicago swept Edmonton in the Campbell Conference finals, Pittsburgh swept Boston in the Wales Conference Finals, and then the Penguins swept their way to a second straight Stanley Cup, their quest for a threepeat denied the following year by David Volek. And, hey, happy anniversary to the Islanders on the first of their four straight Cups, something the Penguins did not do, again, because of David Volek.

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It could be time for some NBA history. With the Nuggets sweeping the Lakers, and the Heat up 3-0 on the Celtics, this could be the first time that both NBA conference finals have been sweeps.

A sweep and a gentleman’s sweep in the other series? That’s happened before, most recently in 2017, when Golden State obliterated Portland, while the Cavaliers dropped Game 3 (at home) to the Celtics before beating Boston by 13 and 33 (in Boston) to close out the series.

The other times there have been only nine conference finals games, total?

* 1974: Bucks swept Bulls (West), Celtics over Knicks (East)

* 1986: Celtics swept Bucks (East), Rockets over Lakers (West)

* 2015: Cavaliers swept Hawks (East), Warriors over Rockets (West)

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Should I have done this episode? No, I should not have done this episode, I sound, as Janice notes, like I gargled with gravel, and as Chrystal points out, like I smoked three packs of cigarettes before recording. But I also haven’t had a full voice since the start of this Mets winning streak, when they walked off the Rays and Pete Alonso said fuck. And I had a great time listening to Janice, Chrystal, and Colleen draft chain restaurant items to cater a wedding.

Jerry Seinfeld doesn’t like that. Jerry Seinfeld can fuck off.

We’re not forgetting around here who complained about Timmy Trumpet and cursed the 2022 Mets by destroying their vibes. It will not happen again on our watch. —Jesse

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The Mets are on one right now, in a way that they haven’t been for almost 40 years, and in a way that’s pressing history.

The last five games have all been Mets wins, all by exactly one run. That ties the team record, set from July 20-24, 1984. Then, the Mets won three games in Cincinnati — 3-2 (11 innings), 2-1, and 7-6 — before coming home to beat the Cardinals on a Wally Backman single in the 12th inning of the series opener and a Keith Hernandez single in the 10th the next night. The Mets did win their next game, finishing a sweep of St. Louis, but it was 9-3 in the finale.

Only three times in major league history have there been longer streaks of one-run games that a team won all of: the 1916 St. Louis Browns had a six-game streak, as did the 1989 California Angels, while the record is seven, set by the 1927 Cubs.

All seven of those games in the Cubs’ streak were at Wrigley Field, five against the Dodgers, two against the Giants. And where are the Mets going now, with three one-run wins standing behind them and history? That’s right, Wrigley Field. Maybe Gabby Hartnett’s grandkids can be there like Roger Maris Jr. or something. We’ll see.

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