UPON FURTHER REVIEW
ESPN host misses the mark on legendary Astro in latest book
Apr 4, 2023, 12:53 pm
The Rocket would like a word. Composite image by Brandon Strange.
ESPN host Mike Greenberg has a new book out today called Got Your Number – the Greatest Sports Legends and the Numbers They Own. He’s talking about uniform numbers, the best who wore the numbers one through 100 on the back of their jerseys.
It’s a fun topic sure to start many friendly debates, for example, Number 32. Among the candidates: Jim Brown, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Sandy Koufax, Karl Malone, Steve Carlton, O.J. Simpson, Bill Walton and more. Who ya got? I’ll take Magic over the long haul, Koufax for the snapshot.
Number 34 is a whole lot of trouble, too. Who’s the greatest? Nolan Ryan? Hakeem Olajuwon? Shaq (again)? Charles Barkley? Big Papi? Walter Payton? Let’s hear it for Earl Campbell. It might wind up being Giannis Antetokounmpo, though.
Greenberg said he had the most difficulty picking the greatest player to wear Number 21. He and his stat helper narrowed it down to Roberto Clemente, Deion Sanders and Tim Duncan. Their qualifications:
Roberto Clemente: 15 time All-Star, 3,000 hits, Baseball Hall of Fame.
Tim Duncan: five time NBA champion, “the Big Fundamental,” 19 years all with the San Antonio Spurs.
Deion Sanders: two-time Super Bowl champ, 1994 Defensive Player of the Year, also played big league baseball.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Clemente was a great right fielder, but there was a better one in the same era, a guy named Henry Aaron. Duncan was terrific, but the Spurs’ titles were a team effort. Sanders was an amazing defensive back, but just a slightly above average baseball player (.263 career batting average). Also, a bit of a jerk.
Of course it’s unfair – and slightly ridiculous – to compare athletes of different eras because sports are constantly changing and evolving. For example, who was the more dangerous home run hitter: Babe Ruth or Barry Bonds? When the Babe played, it was pre-Jackie Robinson and 1947 so he never faced African-American pitchers. He also didn’t have to deal with late-night flights across three time zones. The westernmost city in baseball was St. Louis.
Of course, Bonds had his advantages, better equipment, better facilities, better nutrition, better coaching during his youth and, well, the obvious.
So in their own ways, Ruth and Bonds are close, undoubtedly the greatest of their time, but hardly comparable.
The best way to measure greatness, and ultimately who’s the greatest, is how a player compared to his contemporaries.
For my money, and I don’t think there’s any question, the greatest athlete to wear Number 21, in any sport, any era, happens to be from Houston.
Roger Clemens.
I know, he wore Number 22 while he pitched for the Astros and Yankees, but he was Number 21 for the bulk of his career with the Red Sox and Blue Jays and that’s when he racked up most of his spectacular numbers.
You want to crunch some numbers? The Rocket won 354 games and lost only 184 for a career winning percentage of .658. He struck out 4,672 batters (most ever in the American League and third most all-time). His career earned run average was 3.14. He led all of baseball in wins four times and earned run average seven times. He is tied for the most strikeouts in a nine-inning game with 20, but he’s the only pitcher to do it twice.
Most important, how did Clemens compare to other performers during his era? He won seven (!) Cy Young Awards given to the best pitcher in his league. That’s the all-time record and it’s two more than anybody else (Randy Johnson).
Let’s dig deeper. Clemens won the Cy Young Award for four different teams. He won his first Cy Young in 1986. He also won the American League’s Most Valuable Player that year. He won back-to-back Cy Youngs … twice. He did it with the Red Sox in 1986-87 and with the Blue Jays in 1997-98, both times wearing Number 21. Twice he won the Triple Crown of pitching, leading the league in wins, earned run average and strikeouts. He won his first Cy Young at age 23, his last at age 41.
That’s the winning number – 21 – and Roger Clemens owns it.
The Houston Texans addressed their most glaring needs by selecting offensive tackle Aireontae Ersery and a pair of Iowa State receivers in the NFL draft.
“The idea was to try to add good players, good people that are young, tough, hungry, that want to win, that put the team first,” general manager Nick Caserio said. “These picks exemplify that.”
The Texans got players that could help them quickly despite not picking in the first round for a second straight season. They didn’t have a first-round pick last year because of trades, including the one to move up and get defensive end Will Anderson with the third overall pick in the 2023 draft.
This season they shipped the 25th overall pick to the Giants on Thursday in exchange for several picks.
Their first selection in this draft was receiver Jayden Higgins, who was taken with the second pick of the second round. They added Ersery later in the second round with the 48th overall selection and picked up Higgins’ teammate Jaylin Noel in the third round.
Ersery could be Houston’s left tackle of the future after the offseason trade of five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil. Ersery started 38 games at left tackle over three seasons at Minnesota where he was a third-team All-American last season.
He comes to Houston to help shore up a line that allowed C.J. Stroud to be sacked 52 times last season, which was the second most in the NFL.
The Texans added veteran tackle Cam Robinson this offseason and Ersery will compete with him to protect Stroud’s blind side as the Texans attempt to reach the playoffs for a third straight season under coach DeMeco Ryans.
The 6-foot-6, 331-pound Ersery, who was the Big Ten’s Offensive Lineman of the Year last season, can’t wait to play with Stroud.
“C.J. Stroud is a baller,” Ersery said. “I’m so honored to be a guy to help out and come in and help protect him. I’m just super stoked and I know I’m going to a great organization.”
Cyclones teammates
Higgins and Noel join the Texans to add more depth at receiver to complement star Nico Collins with Tank Dell recovering from a serious knee injury and Stefon Diggs gone to the Patriots.
Higgins, who has been compared to Collins, had 87 receptions for 1,183 yards and nine touchdowns last season for the Cyclones and Noel added 80 catches for 1,194 yards and eight scores.
After Higgins was drafted, Noel never imagined he’d be heading to Houston, too. He shared on social media a fortune he received from a Chinese restaurant that read: “Look forward to an unplanned reunion with an out-of-touch friend.”
Noel later shared his feelings about joining Higgins on the roster.
“I was surprised,” Noel said. “But they’ve seen that 1-2 punch all year. They’re going to be very happy with those selections for sure.”
Caserio said a talk with Iowa State coach Matt Campbell on Friday helped him make his final decisions on the receivers.
“He was effusive in his… belief and praise of both Higgins and Noel,” Caserio said.
The Texans now have three receivers from Iowa State on their roster after drafting Xavier Hutchinson in the sixth round in 2023.
Overcoming obstacles
Ersery and his four siblings were raised by a single mother and experienced homelessness when he was a child despite her working multiple jobs. He is thrilled to have put those struggles behind him as he embarks on his next chapter.
“I’ve got that hardworking mentality from her,” he said. “So, growing up times were tough but now I’ve got my foot in the door and I look forward to trying to change some things around.”
Caserio loves guys with work ethic like Ersery’s and said that’s one reason why they believe he’ll fit in with the Texans.
“If you come in and put your head down and work and just get better, take advantage of your opportunities, you’re going to have a shot to have success and do a lot of good things for the organization,” he said.
What’s in a name?
Along with Noel, the Texans added another Jaylin in this draft with they picked USC cornerback Jaylin Smith in the third round.
“We got Jaylins, and we got all these guys around. It’s going to be hard to keep them straight,” Caserio joked on Friday after they picked Smith.
Then on Saturday, the Texans added another player with the same name, albeit with a different spelling, when they took Penn State safety Jaylen Reed in the sixth round.
That gives them four players with the same name and three different spellings as the three rookies join starting safety Jalen Pitre on the team.
Doubling up
Along with drafting two players from Iowa State, the Texans also added a pair of players from Southern California when they picked running back Woody Marks in the fourth round after drafting Smith in the third.
Marks ran for a career-high 1,133 yards with nine touchdowns for the Trojans last season after transferring from Mississippi State.
Be sure to watch the video below as NFL.com Draft Analyst Lance Zierlein shares his thoughts on all the Texans' picks!