Nate Silver: belief

Transcript context

…We may come back to politics, but let’s turn to a nobler endeavor, sports. [laughter] You’re a fan of baseball, and I’d like to ask you, of all the different baseball records, which is the one that is most impressive to you, or the most a statistical aberration, and try to stay a bit modern. We both know in 1889, Hoss Radbourn won 59 games. Start with Wilson’s — was it 36 triples in 1912? That, and up through the modern age. What’s the most statistically impressive baseball record, and why? I think the biggest outlier is the number of intentional walks that Barry Bonds drew. I forget what year it was, 2001, where he had like 161 intentional walks, and the next closest player is 50? [laughter] There is just no other example I can think of in sports where the record holder has three times the sum total of the nearest highest player. What do you think of streaks? Do streaks impress you more or less than most people? DiMaggio’s hitting streak, consecutive games played streak, Cal Ripken. Johnny Vander Meer, two no-hitters in a row. When will that be done again?…

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