Remarkable seasons, outstanding performances, and incredible sports teams are something that has always intrigued me. Especially the ones I’ve actually seen play in person or on television.
I’ve always heard how amazing the 1927 New York Yankees, which featured six Hall-of-Famers, were. They are supposedly among the best of all time. But alas, even though I am the Old Sports Dude, I’m not ancient, so I never got a chance to see them play.
Two of the first “historic” teams I ever saw were the UCLA Bruins of the early 1970s and the 1972 Miami Dolphins.
The Bruins won seven consecutive NCAA Men’s basketball championships from 1967-1973. They really didn’t catch my attention until 1971 when a big redhead by the name of Bill Walton starred at center. They once had a winning streak of 89 games. Truly, true remarkable.
When the Miami Dolphins closed out the 1972 season with a 14-7 win over the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII - yes, that’s seven as the seventh Super Bowl that was ever played — I had no idea I was watching history.
I knew the Dolphins were good, after all they were 14-0 in the regular season, then went 3-0 in the postseason, but I would have never believed that here we are 50 years later, and another undefeated NFL season has never been recorded. Just think about that, amazing.
Then there is the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls who began the season an unbelievable 41-3 on the way to winning the NBA Championship. Before the season was over, including the postseason, they won 83 of the 100 games they played.
The 1998 New York Yankees had a 114-48 regular season record and eventually won the World Series by sweeping the San Diego Padres in four games.
All of that is great, and certainly worthy of respect, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the amazing performance the University of Oklahoma softball team just put together.
During the 2021 season the Sooners went 56-4 on the way to winning the Women’s College World Series. That OU team only lost two games in the regular season. After losing to upstart James Madison in the first game of the WCWS, they battled their way back to win the title, setting World Series records for homers, 15; hits, 67; and runs, 49. All of this coming in eight games.
How in the world would Oklahoma back up that great season? Well, with an even better one.
The Sooners began the 2022 season 39-0 and only lost one game in the regular season (4-2 to Texas), before falling to Oklahoma State in the Big XII Championship Game by the score of 4-3.
The Sooners rolled through the Regional, embarrassing Texas A&M 20-0 in the championship game, then swept Central Florida 8-0, 7-1 in the Super Regionals.
OU kept hot in the NCAA Tournament in Oklahoma City earlier this month, smashing Northwestern 13-2, then beating Texas 7-2 before falling to UCLA 7-3, for only its third loss of the season. The Sooners bounced back to eliminate the Bruins by
crushing them 15-0 to set up a best of three matchup with Texas in the Championships series.
OU once again dominated, thumping Teas 16-1 in game one, then winning 10-5 in game two.
Just how good was this Oklahoma team that finished the season an outstanding 59-3? Well, the Sooners won 41 of their games by the run-rule, led the nation in team batting average and team earned run average, and crushed the most homers in a season ever. They posted 33 shutouts on the season and recorded eight no-hitters.
Oklahoma’s best player, Jocelyn Alo, hit an unconscious .515 with a nation-leading 34 homers and managed to drive in 85 runs with her 85 hits, while also scoring 84 runs with an on base percentage of .646 and an OPS of an unfathomable 1.885. By comparison, the best OPS ever recorded in a Major League season was 1.422 by Barry Bonds.
But Alo wasn’t the only big gun, the Sooners had three players with more than 20 homers and six in double digits.
Oklahoma posts a team batting average of .371, on base percentage of .471 and OPS of 1.208. That’s as a team! The pitching staff’s ERA was 1.05 with a batting average against of .141.
In just six games in the Women’s College World Series this year, the Sooners scored 64 runs, eclipsing there record they had set the previous year by 15, in two less games.
In my mind, it’s just going to be really hard to talk about the best teams of all time, with bringing up the 2022 OU softball team.
The numbers speak for themself.
