Don't invite to tailgate party...

Oh, the rigors of Competitive Eating.

Apparently the reigning Nathan's Yellow Mustard Belt holder, Kobayashi, has overtrained for the event and is suffering from an arthritic jaw. The much anticipated match up between Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut on July 4th may not happen. Chestnut set a new world record a few weeks ago by downing nearly 60 hot dogs in 12 minutes.

I've watched the hot dog eating championship for the last couple of years now. The sheer gluttony and disgust level apparently appeals to me. I like the fact that the organizers of this "league" don't take themselves very seriously and it's done just for the fun of it. I guess that's all well and good until somebody loses an eye. And eats it.

Rare Brewer Performances

I know this is about a week late, but I thought it was interesting enough to pass along. Using the 50 years of play-by-play data available from Retrosheet, SABR member John Jarvis created a histogram showing the number of times a team has been no hit, one hit, etc. The data shows 129 no hitters, or about 2.6 per year on average. What is interesting, though, is that the 22 hit performance the Brewers had against the Rangers is actually more rare than the no hitter! A team has blasted 22 hits in a game only 111 times during the last 50 years.

So, if you are still embarrassed about your team being held without a hit by a guy with positively nasty stuff, perhaps that little tidbit can cure what ails ya.

Oh, on the other end of the hit spectrum is an August 28, 1992 game in which Milwaukee pounded out 31 hits while beating Toronto 22-2. That's the highest total in the Retrosheet data. If you are interested in the complete breakdown, just let me know.