Season 36 is now in the books, and I have a wealth of attendance statistics to share with you. And not just the tie for most surgeries by the statistician!
First, thanks to Elliot and Sierra for hosting the end-of-season party, and to Biller and Pete for hosting the annual awards ceremony. Clearly, we set a record for most trophies ever (both won and deferred; you must be present to win). Also thanks to Eric for his first-class photography, a slideshow of which was another highlight of the party.
We had strong attendance this year, even though we were hampered by some rain. We had 4 rainouts and another game played entirely in the rain by 14 diehards. We scheduled a whopping 30 games but only played 26. The all time record is 29 games; imagine if we had less rain!
The “unbreakable” records from 2016 still stand, and we mostly posted “third best” overall records:
- 3rd highest total player appearances (630).
- 3rd highest average players per game (24.2).
- Tied for 3rd highest number of players (97).
- Tied for 3rd highest number of games (26). There is now a six-way tie for 3rd.
- 2nd highest number of regular players, with at least 5 games (44).
- 2nd highest number of players with 10 or more games in a row (7).
- 2nd highest number of games with 20 or more players (23).
- 3rd highest number of games with 30 or more players (3).
- 3rd highest number of rainouts (4).
We set one new overall record for most players in the final game: 28. That beat the previous record of 24, set just last year. And it matches the highest number of players for the first game of the season, also set last year. And for a record that we don’t want to break, we ended the season with a tie for the second earliest date: October 9, which is just 2 days after the earliest ending ever, back in 1986. I wonder how long we’d play if insurance wasn’t an issue.
We also had one new individual record, which has been recurring: Dave set a new record for oldest regular player (5 or more games). As Dave likes to remind us, he is so old that he was born in the first half of the last century. Dave is just 4 seasons shy of breaking Tom Merrick’s record of oldest player in any game (72.9). Dave can beat this by playing in any game in 2022. Go Dave!
Congratulations to the 5 players with 20 or more games this year. Becky and Roger S both had 21 games. Elliot had his highest ever at 23 games. And Pete and Bill only missed one of the 26 games. Now, who got the Frequent Attendance Record Trophy? Long ago, we decided that unlike most sports, where you have to dethrone the champion to get the the top spot, we do the opposite. So, since Pete won the FART trophy 2 years ago, Bill got it this year.
In addition to the 44 regular players who played at least 5 games this year, there are two “ultra’ attendance categories. “Super Consistent” players are regular players who have played at least 100 games and averaged at least 10 games/year. There are 2 new such players, both named Kevin: Kevin F and Kevin C. We now have 14 super-consistent players:
The last category is exceeding difficult: the Ironman. You have to play 20 games in a row for 5 consecutive years to be an Ironman. Only 4 people have ever done it, and only Bill and Pete are Ironmen now. Bob and I dropped off the list this year; Bob missed it by one game! Becky could be the next Ironman; she needs just 3 more 20+ seasons.
In the “change” category, Sam V upped his season total by +15 games this year. Peter moved back to New England and saw his total jump by +12. On the other hand, Joanne disappeared and went -18; our surgically repaired statistician was -12, and Nathan M was -11. Nobody else was in double figures.
Here is a list of the 44 regular players with at least 5 games:
- Bill 25
Pete 25
Elliot 23
Roger 21
Becky 21
Peter 19
Bob 19
Kevin 19
Eric 18
Sam 17
Dave 17
Nick 17
Kevin 16
Jeff 16
Kit 15
Sandy 15
Tinu 15
JJ 15
Nate 14
Dan 14
Richard 13
Deanna 13
Mike 12
Nathan 11
Ashley 11
Collin 10
Dale 9
Roger 9
Brandt 9
Scooter 8
Chas 7
Philip 7
Jason 6
Joe 6
Kailey 6
John 6
Paul 6
Leslie 6
Jeff 6
Crutch 6
Ben 5
Greg 5
Sam 5
Tony 5
See you next season,
-Stat Man
