Baseball: Extremistan Meet Mediocristan
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by user Ron Sen, MD
Nassim Taleb's The Black Swan points out the territories of Mediocristan and Extremistan. Somehow, often these two countries collide beyond any mortal's expectations. The world familiar to most of us - Mediocristan (height, weight, intelligence, etc) contrasts to the faraway territories of Extremistan- personal income, book sales per author, etc. Gaussian reality confronts Mandelbrotian (fractal) geometry.
Okay, I've lost you. The perfect game comes from Extremistan, but the .300 hitter lives far within the boundaries of Mediocristan. The 5-4-3 double play "around the horn" gets a yawn, but the double rundown double play gets my attention. Jeffrey Maier and Steve Bartman become legends.
17 pitchers have pitched perfect games, but only 13 players have turned unassisted triple plays. 10 players have hit double digit walk off homeruns in their careers. David Ortiz checks in at seven. Carl Yastrzemski won the Triple Crown in 1967, which hasn't been repeated in 40 years, although Yaz wasn't the greatest player of his era. But what of the more mundane?
It seems that in almost every game, something 'unusual' happens. Last night Jacoby Ellsbury scored from second on a wild pitch - Extremistan. Julio Lugo continued his 0 for EVER streak - Mediocristan (I can do that). Baseball has a seemingly endless series of 'rare' occurrences that raise eyebrows. Last week the Sox scored the winning run on an infield fielders choice where the runner scored on a grounder to third BEFORE the runner on second got tagged out. Dustin Pedroia saved a game, by pulling a Jack Nicholson-eyed Jonathan Papelbon away from an umpire, seconds before Papelbon was getting tossed.
Walk off home runs? That happens all the time. How about a walk off Baltimore Chop or walk off wild pitch during an Intentional Walk? Hitting four consecutive home runs in a game? The Sox did that this year, the fourth time in the history of MLB. That's Extremistan.
The most unbelievable 'play' you ever saw at a professional baseball game? As a kid, I saw a grounds keeper collapse with a cardiac arrest at Fenway during a night game when the crew ran out with the tarpaulin.
