Two significant sports milestones were achieved this week. On Monday night, Brock Holt of the Boston Red Sox became the first player ever to hit for the cycle in a post season game during the Sox 16-1 thrashing of the New York Yankees. Holt, who was making his first playoff start of 2018, singled and tripled in the fourth inning, doubled in the eighth, and homered in the ninth. Think about it. In the thousands of playoff games in Major League Baseball history, the Sox utility man is the only player ever to do it. You can find all kinds of facts and stats in my book, The Average Joe’s Super Sports Almanac.
Holt’s feat may have been a bit overshadowed by what went down in the Big Easy Monday night. I’m referring, of course, to New Orleans Saints quarterback, Drew Brees breaking the NFL’s all-time career passing yardage mark. Brees torched the Washington Redskins for 363 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 43-19 victory. With his 62-yard TD pass to Tre’Quan Smith, he surpassed Peyton Manning’s record of 71,940 yards. He now sits on top of the vaunted list with more than 72,000 yards passing. That’s more than 40 miles of passes, in case you were wondering.
Brees is one of the subjects in my new book, Heart of a Champion: True Stories of Character and Faith from Today’s Most Inspiring Athletes. His story is special. Considered too small to become a big time quarterback, he came back from a shoulder injury that would have ended the career of most, and… well, you need to read the story, and those of Clayton Kershaw, Russell Wilson, Steph Curry, Allyson Felix and many others.