The first thing I need to do in this post is define what I mean by a value quarterback. By value I am referring to return on investment, that is the team received a higher performance on the field than what they had paid for. These may not necessarily be the names you are thinking of, but the teams that have them got more than their money’s worth out of them.

Additionally, I need to go over the criteria I used to rank the QB’s. First, I took the top QB from each team in 2017, used their cap hit for 2017 from Spotrac, used their passing yards, wins, and TD: INT ratio from nfl.com, and their total QBR from ESPN. I adjusted wins, TD:INT ratio and QBR to be on a similar scale as passing yards. That is I found the average variance of all QB’s between them and multiplied to scale. From this I divided the total cap hit by the average of passing yards, adjusted wins, adjusted TD:INT ratio, and adjusted QBR. This gave me a quarterback’s ‘value’. Just an FYI, using this scale, the lower the ‘value’ is the better, as it is the amount of money the team spent for each adjusted stat.

Let’s get started, shall we?

5. Trevor Siemian; Value: 313.95

This one was a bit of a surprise. Trevor Siemian did not have a good year, but he was helped out by a very low cap hit (as is the case for most of the top 5). In looking at the stats, Trevor Siemian had the lowest QBR, and a TD:INT ratio of 0.85:1; neither jump out. He did, however, have 2,285 passing yards, which tremendously helped his case. Believe it or not, the Broncos actually got more than they paid for.

4. Jimmy Garoppolo; Value: 231.67

I think quite a few people expected Jimmy Garoppolo on here. As the bright spot for the 49ers in 2017, he led them to 5 wins to close out the year, and he put up pretty good stats. Although he had low passing yardage due to lack of games, his QBR was 80.5. Couple that in with a backup’s cap hit and he was a great pickup for San Francisco. The future is looking pretty bright for them.

3. Josh McCown; Value: 217.25

Another somewhat surprise on here. The old veteran put up decent stats last year for the Jets with almost 3,000 passing yards and a TD:INT ratio of 2:1. Leading the Jets, who arguably had the least talented roster in 2017 makes up him a player who easily exceeded his payscale.

2. Jacoby Brissett; Value: 212.40

The second former Patriots backup on that list is somewhat of a surprise as well. He did start most of the year for the lowly Colts, and he put up semi-respectable numbers for them. The thing really propelling him is the fact that he had the absolute lowest cap hit of any quarterback on this list; in fact, he was the only one below $600,000. Unfortunately for Brissett, he most likely won’t have the chance to play much next year with Andrew Luck returning.

1. Dak Prescott; Value: 170.05

Dak easily crushed the competition in this one. Ranking in the top half of the league in most categories except for salary made him an easy number one choice. Couple that with the fact that he is still on his rookie contract and has a cap hit of just over $635K, and he was far and away the best value quarterback. I think the most interesting part of this is looking into the crystal ball and trying to determine how much money he will demand in the future.

Takeaways

I think the biggest takeaway I got from this is that a team can survive with a value QB. However, it is difficult for a team to succeed most times with simply a value at quarterback. Dallas was the only team represented that had a winning record (the highest value playoff QB was Case Keenum at 6; Value: 313.95). Many quarterbacks that we would consider ‘elite’ were at the bottom half of this list. The one thing I wish I could revamp would be added revenue. Tom Brady adds a ton of revenue to the Patriots, for example, taking more away from his salary. That is difficult to quantify, but something to consider for the future. I would love to see what everyone thought of this in the comments, so comment some quarterbacks you thought should be on here, other things you want to see, anything!

By its very nature, baseball is the sport that is most conducive to endless debates and arguments over the relative merits of its players. Since each of the ballparks is unique with respect to the size and shape of their outfields and the height of their fences, there will never be a logical way to determine the definitive “best” pitcher or hitter. Unlike basketball or tennis, for example, baseball is not played in a uniform setting which makes comparing the statistics of players, who play half of their games in their own unique home stadiums, dubious at best.

There are, however, rare player accomplishments in baseball history which transcend the differences of the playing fields, or the weather conditions at the time, or anything else for that matter. They are noteworthy for both their tremendous infrequency and their high level of achievement… and they also provide excellent material for baseball trivia questions. I suspect fans will argue over which feat is the most impressive for some time to come. Here are a few to consider:

• The Immaculate Inning – Three batters are struck out in the same half inning on just 9 pitches thrown by the same pitcher. This feat has been accomplished only 47 times in Major League Baseball history. Forty-four pitchers have done it once during their careers while 3 have done it twice. You realize it’s a rare event when you look at the number of possible opportunities versus the number of actual occurrences. In each game, pitchers have 8 or 9 opportunities to pitch a half inning. Each of 30 teams play 162 games each. That’s a range of between 38,880-43,740 chances for all pitchers to pitch an Immaculate Inning… and that is during only ONE season! Multiply those numbers by, say, only 30 seasons and you get 1,166,400 – 1,312,200 opportunities. Now compare that to only 47 actual occurrences. It’s mind boggling!
• 4 Home Runs In One Game By Same Batter – Only 16 players in the history of Major League Baseball have hit 4 home runs in one game. No batter has hit more than that and no player has hit 4 in a game more than once during his career. Again, the numbers are staggering: 9 players have an opportunity to hit 4 home runs in each of 162 games. There are 30 teams. The total opportunities are 43,740 in one season. If we multiply that number as we did in the first illustration by only 30 seasons, we get a grand total of 1,312,200 opportunities. We then compare 16 occurrences to that number. I’d say the 4 home run game is a baseball rarity!
• The Baseball Triple Crown For Batting – This award is given to the hitter who led his league in home runs, runs batted in and batting average all in the same season. Since the first Baseball Triple Crown was awarded for hitting in 1878, only 17 players have won it making it one of the rarest of all achievements in baseball. 17 winners in 135 years!
• The Baseball Triple Crown For Pitching – To win this award, a pitcher must lead his league in wins, strikeouts and earned run average all in the same season. While not as rare as the batting Triple Crown, this prize has been awarded only 38 times since it was first presented in 1877.
• The Perfect Game – A perfect game is achieved when a pitcher throws to the minimum number of batters from the opposing team and not one of them reaches base over nine innings. This means no hits, walks, hit batters, errors, catcher’s interference or strikeouts with passed balls or wild pitches. Since there are 3 outs per inning and there are 9 innings, a pitcher must retire 27 batters in a row to achieve a perfect game. How rare is this? A total of only 23 perfect games have been pitched in Major League history since the first one in 1880. Statistically less rare (due to far less playoff games) but equally impressive is the one perfect game pitched in post-season history; Don Larsen of the New York Yankees needed only 97 pitches to make history in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series.
• Home Run During First At-Bat – In the history of Major League Baseball, only 113 batters have hit a home run in their very first at-bat. Of those 113 hitters, a mere 28 hit their respective home run on the very first pitch. Everyone was a rookie at some point in their careers so every player that ever got to the plate had a chance to hit a home run in his first at-bat. As it turns out, this accomplishment is one of the most rare events in baseball history.

In the Major Leagues, teams play 162 regular season games. The games’ lengths are determined only by the time it takes to play 9 or more innings and not by a time clock. The pace is generally slow and deliberate. Winners and losers are not determined until the final out is recorded. Teams do come back from large deficits to win games when the odds are overwhelmingly not in their favor. Just one final pitch or swing of the bat can make history. The lack of time constraints can provide moments of great drama and rare feats of accomplishment.

We have discussed some of these rare feats, some of which took just a few seconds to accomplish while others occurred over the course of one game or an entire season. Our list was far from exhaustive but it does include some good material for baseball trivia questions! Did you think of any other baseball rarities? If so, we invite you to share them at our site.

When you hit your puts are you off line so many times?

You say to yourself “How did I do that? It was such a simple put

and dead straight, yet I managed to hit it to the left of the hole”

– or was it to the right?

Which ever way, you did something wrong. If you lifted your head as

you hit the ball, such an easy thing to do due to a slightly

anxious attitude, you will always hit your ball to the left of the

hole.

Last week, I tried putting with a very much shorter back swing

which meant that I had to hit the ball with authority to get it up

to the hole.

On the practice putting green before the game, it

worked amazingly well. So I took it out onto the course and only

had 31 puts during the round.

This meant an improvement of between

9 and 5 shots.

You can certainly wrack up a score by hitting more

puts during a round can’t you?

So, concentrating on your putting and reducing the number of puts

can lead to a win and a reduction in your handicap.

OK, here are some tips on how to hit a straight put.

Firstly, as already mentioned, take a shorter back stroke and hit

with authority.

Next, exaggerate your follow through.

This will of course make you

hit with authority and accelerate through the ball and keep your

putter head on line.

Another reason for hitting the ball to the left of the hole is

movement of the hands as you hit the ball.

What happens is that the

hands rotate a bit to the left.

To overcome this, try turning your right hand in an anticlockwise

direction so that the back of your hand faces the hole.

This can stop the rotation of your hands.

Next, if you hit the ball with an open or closed putter head, of

course the ball will travel accordingly.

Have a look at your blade

after it has hit the ball – say two inches past the ball – and see where it is pointing.

If you have closed it or opened it, it will be obvious here and you will be

able to make the necessary changes to your putting stroke.

You think you are watching the ball, but are you?

Think of a nail sticking out of the ball from the point where you

want to hit it.

Think about driving this nail into the ball.

This means that you will have to look at the dimple that you want to hit.

You have to hit this dimple with your putter’s sweet spot.

You really have to watch this part of the ball to hit it.

Then, don’t look up but wait to hear the ball falling into the hole.

Think about all these tips, and take one at a time.

Spend some time with each one and practice it on the practice putting green.

Practice until the particular tip has become a part of your normal

putting technique.

Otherwise, when you get out onto the course you

will become very confused.

You will not remember to do a certain

part of the put until you miss.

Then you will clearly know what you

didn’t do and kick yourself.

Not a good attitude during a round of

golf when you have to be so positive and confident.

I hope these tips help you and improve your game. They certainly

improved mine. I am terribly impressed by the results of the short

back swing.

I was told about this a couple of years ago, but never

really tried it until very recently. We h ear about so many tips

but dismiss most as not being relevant to our game don’t we?

Big mistake!

The result of your put will depend almost totally on how you hit

it.

You want your ball to roll head over heels as it were.

You certainly do not want your ball to bobble along to the hole, or

deviate because you have applied side spin to the ball.

Nor do you want your put to be short just because you have topped the ball.

Well, here is how you alleviate all these faults.

When you stand over your put, keep the height of your put as low as

possible. I am talking about the putter head.

o Number one. Do not lift your putter head on the back stroke, but

keep it as close to the ground as possible during the whole back

stroke.

o Lifting the putter head causes you to hit down on the ball and

this is a type of chopping motion.

It may not feel as though you are doing this, but you are.

This causes, believe it or not, back spin on the ball and even some side spin.

I hear you saying

“No wonder I am always beside the hole and it always seems to be on the

same side”. Right?

o With the putting stroke, similarly, keep the putter head as close

to the ground as possible. This means on the back stroke and on the

forward stroke as well. Lifting the putter head as it nears the

ball to hit with a slightly upward blow is not good.

I have seen this done by players in an attempt to get top spin on the ball and

so more distance for the same amount of power.

So, keep the putter head low to the ground right through the put.

Do not allow it to rise slightly just after you have hit the ball.

The result achieved by not keeping your putter head close to the ground as above is a

scooping type action that causes you to hit the ball thin or even

top it.

Distance loss is the result.

o So, let me repeat because it is so important. When you want to

put well, which is all the time I would think, a square solid hit

is achieved by keeping your putter head as close to the ground as

possible during both your back swing and your forward or putting

stroke.

The feeling of the put is so different.

It really feels that you are hitting the put with the sweet spot on the putter, which you

are of course.

It impossible to do so if the putter is descending

or rising during the put.

Make sense?

I am sure you will agree that when you put, you must hit the ball

squarely.

Anything not square will of course send the ball along the wrong

line to the hole and cause you to miss your put.

How do you do this?

Answer: with your grip, your stroke and the manner in which you

use your hands while making the stroke.

So, taking these features of the put in order, let us look at the

grip.

There is no right way to hold your putter.

The way for you is that grip that allows you to hit the ball with a square putter head.

A very good starting point is to hold our hands together palm to

palm and then put your putter grip between your palms.

Now keeping your palms in the same alignment, move the hands so

that you can hold your club.

This way, your palms are still facing each other but are at different levels.

Many people now place the bottom two fingers of their upper hand

over the lower hand. Very comfortable.

Others hold the club in the same way as they hold their other

irons.

The normal golf grip.

There is something to be said to setup as for any other iron

and hit your put like this. Straight left arm etc.

Give it a try but don’t expect to like this method. If you do, then well and good.

Then of course there is the reverse grip where right handers place

their right hand above their left and a bevy of other variations

only restricted by the imagination.

A good tip is as long as your right hand is squarely aligned with

the putter blade, you will have little difficulty in hitting along

the desired line.

Use your right hand to push the putter head along the chosen line.