1
You can cite the Hall of Fame statistics — mind-boggling numbers that put in stark relief just how good of a hitter Tony Gwynn was.
But testament to his brilliance can also be found in obscure ripples in an ocean of baseball statistics.
Eric Kay of CBS notes that in 12 seasons Gwynn had more doubles than strikeouts.
He is one of four players in Major League history to have more than 3,000 hits and fewer than 500 strikeouts.
Gwynn never hit below .300 during a full season.
Fox Sports’ Dave Holtzman points out that the only pitcher to ever strike Tony Gwynn out 3 times in a game was Bob Welch, on April 14, 1986.
They died within a week of each other.
2
Piranhas? That’s no problem at the beaches in Manaus in the middle of the Amazon rainforest.
Consider this report from
Chris Lehourites of the Associated Press:
“Beaches are a big part of life for most Brazilians, and the locals deep in the Amazon jungle are definitely Brazilian.
“In Manaus, the most exotic of the 12 World Cup host cities, the residents head to the posh neighborhood of Ponta Negra to lounge on the sandy beach and take a dip in the Rio Negro, the river that joins up with the Amazon River on the other side of the city. The warm water, as its name implies, is dark, but with a bit of a red tint.
“Oh yeah, there are piranhas in there, too, but that doesn’t seem to bother anyone.”
