The NBA and NHL will be lucky to get in a full playoff if they even return. Major League Baseball certainly won’t play a full 162-game schedule. And who knows about the NFL?
But while coronavirus is wreaking havoc on the calendars of every sports league, each organization has experience with playing shortened seasons. They’ve always adapted, just as the players within them have.
With that in mind, here’s a look at some of the best short season performances from athletes of every stripe.
Mark Moseley
A players’ strike shortened the NFL season to only nine games and there were some weird results. The biggest one: A placekicker being named MVP! Moseley won the award by making 20 of 21 field goals for the Redskins (though none over 50 yards) and recorded 76 total points. Moseley is the only pure special teams player to ever win MVP (Kicker Lou Groza won in 1954, but was also an offensive tackle at the time.)
Wes Chandler
Chandler played only eight of 1982’s nine-game schedule and he still put up numbers any fantasy owner would love: 49 receptions for 1,032 yards and nine touchdowns. He made the only All-Pro team of his career for the effort.
Dan Fouts
Fouts led the NFL in passing during the nine-game 1982 NFL season, throwing for 2,833 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Neil Lomax
The Cardinals quarterback was one of the estimated 15 percent of players who crossed the picket line during the 1987 strike and it allowed him to lead the league in completions (275), attempts (463) and passing yards (3,387).
The passing touchdowns leader? Another guy who crossed the picket line: Joe Montana (he finished with 31 to Lomax’s 24).
Jerry Rice
Rice’s numbers over 12 games in 1987 were INSANE. The Hall of Fame receiver caught 22 touchdown passes on 65 receptions for 1,078 yards.
Babe Ruth
Ruth was still with the Red Sox and only in his second season as a full-time hitter when the Spanish Flu pandemic cut the season to around 140 games for most teams. Ruth’s bat exploded for 29 home runs over 130 games, breaking the previous all-time record of 27 set by the Cubs’ Ned Williamson in 1884. The second highest home run total in 1919 was the 12 hit by Philadelphia’s Gavvy Cravath.
Eddie Ciccotte
Ciccotte was a right-handed knuckleballer who would later be banned for baseball for his part in the 1919 Black Sox scandal. But he put in work during the 1919 regular season, going 29-7 with a 1.82 ERA and only 110 strikeouts. He made 35 starts (30 of them complete games) and pitched 306.2 innings as the White Sox won their final pennant until 1959.
Mike Schmidt
Most MLB teams only played 107 games in 1981 thanks to a players’ strike in the middle of the season. Schmidt still produced, though, hitting a MLB-high 31 homers and 91 RBI for the Phillies.
Fernando Valenzuela
Los Angeles’ famed bout of “Fernandomania!” actually happened during the strike-shortened 1981 season. The rookie Valenzuela started opening day at Dodger Stadium and won his first eight starts, five of them by shutout. He finished the year with a 13-7 record and a 2.48 ERA, winning both Cy Young and Rookie of the Years as the Dodgers went on to win the World Series.
Frank Thomas
The White Sox slugger was having a monster season before the 1994 strike stopped it, hitting .353/.487/.729 with 38 homers, 101 RBI and 109 walks over 113 games played. He was later named AL MVP for the second straight season.
Ken Griffey Jr.
Griffey had 40 home runs in 1994 when the strike began and could have made a run at Roger Maris’ run of 61 home runs in a season.
Greg Maddux
Maddux was his usual brilliant self during the 1994 strike season. At the time of the strike, Maddux had already won 16 games with a 1.56 ERA and 0.896 WHIP
Albert Belle
One year after his infamous corked bat incident, the Indians slugger couldn’t be stopped over the 144-game schedule in 1995. Belle hit .317/.401/.690 with 50 home runs and 126 RBI as the Indians made their first World Series since 1948.
Karl Malone
The Utah Jazz legend won his second MVP award in the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season, averaging 23.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists at the age of 35. The Jazz won 37 of the 50 scheduled game, sharing the league lead with eventual NBA champion San Antonio.
