Barry Sanders’ special year
ESPN.com has tried to put Tom Brady’s spectacular season in perspective. The Patriots quarterback threw an NFL-record 50 touchdown passes this season. How epic of a year is that? ESPN.com ranked the 25 greatest individual single-seasons in sports history.
Barry Sanders’ 1988 season at Oklahoma State ranked No. 6. In 12 games that year, Sanders rushed for 2,850 yards and 42 touchdowns. Let those numbers sink in. That’s 237.5 yards and 3.5 touchdowns a game. Sanders scored at least two touchdowns in every game and scored three or more 10 times.
Amazing. Simply amazing. In ESPN.com’s top 25, only one other college football season is listed — USC’s Marcus Allen in 1981 ranks 25th. Allen’s season was monumental, unless you compare it to Sanders’. Allen rushed for 2,427 yards in 12 games and carried an NCAA record 435 times, counting his Fiesta Bowl results. Allen had an NCAA-record eight 200-yard games. A monster, monster year. But 19 slots away from Sanders’.
The only argument about Sanders’ season is how high on this list it should go, and I say it could go even higher. Here is the list, with my comments:
25. Allen 1981: Just like now, USC faced all comers. USC’s non-conference schedule that year included Tennessee, Indiana, Oklahoma and Notre Dame.
24. Ted Williams 1941: The last .400 season (.406), Williams missed the Triple Crown by five RBIs. Joe DiMaggio won the RBI title and the MVP, thanks to that 56-game hitting streak, which come to think of it is quite the season itself. DiMaggio didn’t make this list, which might be an oversight.
23. LaDainian Tomlinson 2006: 31 total touchdowns and 28 rushing TDs set NFL records. I have no problem with this ranking. Think about that — 28 rushing TDs in a 16-game schedule. That’s almost two per game, in a league where it’s a mighty feat to rush for a touchdown.
22. Michael Jordan 1987-88: A bogus ranking. Jordan averaged 35.0 points a game and was named defensive player of the year, averaging 3.2 steals per game. But steals always has been an overrated stat. This was a great year, no doubt, but not one of the best 25 in sports history.
21. Martina Navratilova 1984: Martina’s 74-match win streak included 13 straight tournament titles and three majors. She went 78-2. And she teamed with Pam Shriver to win all four majors doubles. But I have a problem with any tennis player on this list. The sport never has been deep enough to provide great competition.
20. Mario Lemieux 1992-93: Mario scored goals in the Penguins’ first 12 games and was on pace to break Wayne Gretzky’s single-season scoring record. But on Jan. 12, Lemieux announced he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease; he missed two months. He returned to the ice March 2 and scored a goal and an assist in his first game, and won the scoring title anyway. A great year, a heartwarming year, but one of the 25 best ever? Doubtful.
19. Pedro Martinez 1999: I love this season — 23-4 record, 2.07 ERA in a league that averaged 4.86, 313 strikeouts in 213.3 innings. Then a great playoff, too. I love seasons that counter trends. Great pitchers in a hitter’s era. Great runners in a passing era. Pedro’s season is too low.
18. Richard Petty 1967: Won 27 of 49 races, including 10 straight. This season earned him the nickname, The King. But I don’t know enough about NASCAR history to rate this season. Sure sounds like the competition wasn’t great.
17. Lew Alcindor 1966-67: His sophomore season at UCLA, averaged 29.0 points a game and shot 66.7 percent from the field. In the days before network coverage of the NCAA Tournament, much less ESPN, the future Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a mythical figure. If he came along today he would stop the sports world dead cold. Probably a season ranked too low.
16. Bobby Jones 1930: Invented the Grand Slam, not by name but by accomplishment, winning the U.S. and British opens and amateurs. Then he retired. Give him a gold star for going out on top, but not to be taken seriously as an epic season. Considering competition, Phil Mickelson has had 10 seasons better.
15. O.J. Simpson 1973: Rushed for 2,003 yards in 14 games, an average of 143.1 yards a game, a feat that hasn’t been approached and might not be unless Adrian Peterson gets even better than he already is. O.J. rushed for 219 and 200 yards his final two games; he beat runnerup John Brockington for the rushing title by 859 yards. Chew on that for awhile. Clearly an underrated season. Should rank ahead of all other NFL seasons.
14. Steffi Graf 1988: Big-time year, winning all four majors as well as Olympic gold. She also ended Martina Navratilova’s run of six straight Wimbledon titles. But again, tennis is not a deep sport. This is too high.
13. Oscar Robertson, 1961-62: Before the invention of the term “triple-double,” the Big O achieved it — for a season, averaging 30.8 points, 11.4 assists and 12.5 rebounds. But 1962 was an offensively explosive year, as you will see. I love Oscar Robertson. I’m not convinced Michael Jordan was better than the Big O. But this season is ranked too high.
12. Dan Marino, 1984: In his second NFL season, Marino threw for 5,084 yards and 48 touchdowns, both league records. He also took the Dolphins to the Super Bowl. Probably ranked about right.
11. Jerry Rice, 1987: Caught a record 22 touchdowns, in only 12 games, due to the players’ strike. Give Rice 16 games, and that equates to 29 TD catches. Randy Moss finally broke Rice’s record this season, with 23. But you can’t cut Rice too much slack for the strike. That was a man-made absence.
10. Bobby Orr, 1969-70: Revolutionized hockey, becoming the only defenseman to lead the NHL in goals plus assists. His 87 assists set a league record, and his 120 points missed by only six of the record. He won all four major awards: MVP, scoring, defenseman and playoff MVP. An epic season. Probably too low.
9. Bob Gibson, 1968: The best pitcher in the year of the pitcher. Don Drysdale pitched 582/3 consecutive scoreless innings and Denny McLain won 31 games, but Gibson was the best. ERA: 1.12. Shutouts: 13. During a 90-inning stretch, Gibson allowed two runs. His record was 22-9; in those nine losses, Gibson’s ERA was 2.14. After the season, the mound was lowered to give the hitters a chance. Gibson is an old favorite of mine, but the circumstances of the sport helped, and the other great pitching feats lessen Gibson’s impact. Probably ranked too high.
8. Pete Maravich, 1969-70: A season not fathomable in today’s sports. 44.5 points a game. Ten games with at least 50 points. Without a shot clock. Without a 3-point line. College basketball never had seen anything like Pistol Pete and isn’t likely to see it again. This season is ranked too low.
7. Barry Bonds, 2001: Superhuman statistics; 73 home runs, .863 slugging percentage (breaking Babe Ruth’s record .849), 177 walks (breaking Ruth’s record 1923 record) and .515 on-base percentage (best in baseball since Ted Williams 1957). Turns out, of course, superhuman is an accurate description. The steroid scandal makes this a season of shame, not a season of glory.
6. Barry Sanders, 1988: This really doesn’t have anything to do with this season, but does anyone else think that Sanders actually was a more entertaining runner in the NFL? With OSU, Sanders actually found running room from time to time. With Detroit, rarely. He was unbelievable in Stillwater, but he didn’t always have to be Houdini. In the Silverdome, he did.
5. Tom Brady, 2007: A record 50 TD passes. Stats you might not know — 10 straight games of at least three touchdown passes; 20 TD passes in the second quarter alone, a figure surpassed by only three other QBs; just eight interceptions. Peyton Manning threw six picks against San Diego alone.
4. Tiger Woods, 2000: Underrated at No. 4. Tiger won three majors, nine tournaments overall, but it’s HOW he won them. Won the U.S. Open by a major-championship record 15 shots at Pebble Beach. Won the British Open by eight strokes and shot 19-under, a major championship record in relation to par. Won the PGA Championship in a three-hole playoff, after finishing at 18-under, tying the PGA record. Dominance we’ve seen from only one athlete ever. Babe Ruth.
3. Wayne Gretzky, 1981-82: Blew up the NHL record book, with 92 goals and 120 assists. Reached 50 goals in 39 games, breaking Maurice Richard’s record. Had 10 hat tricks. Became the only hockey player ever named the AP male athlete of the year. An wondrous, wondrous season.
2. Babe Ruth, 1921: Babe is best-known for his 60 home runs in 1927, but make no mistake, 1921 was his Everest. In 1927, baseball was full of Babe Ruth replicas. In 1927, Ruth won the home run title by 13. In 1921, he hit 59 homers and won the title by 35. His totals for runs (177), extra-base hits (119) and total bases (457) still stand as records. Think about that one. Expansion, steroids, juiced balls, bandbox stadiums all have come to baseball, and yet 87 years later, the Babe’s records still reign.
1. Wilt Chamberlain, 1961-62: Sometimes, some things are so unbelievable, that instead of marvelling at them, we just dismiss them. Like it never happened, or it happened in another universe. But 46 years ago, Wilt Chamberlain really did average 50.4 and 25.7 rebounds a game. He really did reach 50 points 45 times. He really did score 100 points in a game. He really did play 48.5 minutes a game, all but eight minutes all season. Yes, 1962 was a wrinkle in time; stats went through the NBA roof. But still. An amazing season.
So here’s how I would rank the top 10:
1. Babe Ruth 1921
2. Tiger Woods 2000
3. Wilt Chamberlain 1961-62
4. Pete Maravich 1969-70
5. Wayne Gretzky 1981-82
6. Tom Brady 2007
7. Barry Sanders 1988
8. Bobby Orr 1969-70
9. O.J. Simpson 1973
10. Pedro Martinez 1999
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
interesting list. funny thing is, how many yards and/or touchdowns would Sanders have had if he had played the entire game? Most generally, he was on the sidelines in the late 3rd, or 4th quarter, b/c they were up by x amount of points.
Your list seems to pretty well cover it for me Possibly missing a tennis player in there, but it is not as widely followed a sport….
I agree with your list, especially the ‘Babe’ being first. But, if they are talking about one year, how about Denny McClain in 1968, winning 30 games. Losing to Gibson in the Series and then winning one between Lolich winning two, and the Tigers winning the Series.
Denny may have proven to have been a bad boy, but, at least he did not kill someone.