This has become more apparent than ever in Boston after a June filled with 60-degree days, inches of precipitation and 90 percent cloud cover. The parallel between amateur meteorology and covering sports is based primarily in the numbers.
That’s where we base our journey as we pick some of our favorite statistics from the past week. If nothing else, it’s a shout-out to Mark Twain, who famously wrote: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.”
Without further ado, lets crunch some numbers.
34,696: The number of miles the Bruins will travel this season, an increase of over 4,000 miles from last year, according to ontheforecheck.com. Who will log the most mileage? The Calgary Flames.
12/10: Date the NHL will take over Fenway Park to begin setting up the stadium for the Winter Classic. The early installation will allow the public an opportunity to skate on the ice prior to New Year’s Day.
40: Stolen bases for Jacoby Ellsbury before the All-Star break. No Red Sox player in club history had stolen 40 bags prior to the break.
9.25: Salary in millions for Julio Lugo in 2009. It makes him the third-highest paid shortstop in baseball behind Derek Jeter ($21.6 million) and Miguel Tejada ($14.8M).
1.78: Jon Lester’s ERA since June 1. He is a combined 16-3, 2.71 ERA in 29 career starts in June and July — compared to 7-7 with a 4.46 ERA in 23 starts in April and May.
39: Number of complete games pitched by Roy Halladay since 2003. That’s more than all but nine teams’ totals over that span.
