Numbers are the essence of games, which is why Steve Hirdt has one of the best jobs in sports.
It is Hirdt’s job to make those numbers illuminate. To make them historical. To make them relevant. To make them fun.
Hirdt is the executive vice president of the Elias Sports Bureau in New York, the company that tracks statistics in many sports, no matter how minute. In addition to writing a periodic column for ESPN The Magazine, he also has served as the on-site number man for ABC’s “Monday Night Football” since 1982.
When Indianapolis rallied from a 21-point deficit in the final four minutes to beat Tampa Bay earlier in the year on a Monday night, it was Hirdt’s job to inform viewers the feat never had been done.
Hirdt can say that with certainty because his company documents every nuance of every game that has been played. Nothing gets overlooked. If you wanted to know the Bears’ first-down conversion rate on third-and-8 situations, Hirdt gets the answer by punching in a couple numbers in his computer; the Bears are 0-for-11, making them the only team that hasn’t converted a third-and-8.
“People ask, `Why do we chart this?'” Hirdt said. “The answer is, because the question might get asked one day. Our philosophy is to record everything accurately and have it ready to use.”
Hirdt, 52, has been looking seriously at numbers since doing research for the Baseball Encyclopedia during his college days at Fordham. His assignment was to go through every game that was played from 1894 through 1912.
“I saw the Titanic sink in every American newspaper,” he said.
Hirdt eventually got hired at Elias, never thinking he could make a living at it.
Hirdt arrived at the time of the statistics explosion in sports. When he began working with ABC on its baseball coverage in 1976, the notion of running a statistic listing how a player hit a certain pitcher was “avant-garde.” Now it is part of the basic coverage.
“In sports, there’s the sense of who is better than who,” Hirdt said. “That never leaves us when we become sports fans. Statistics are used as evidence. To me, it’s all about context, finding something relevant to the situation.”
They also are used to put things into historical context, or as Hirdt says, “a subtle way to reconfirm that we’re seeing something special.”
And in at least one case, statistics served to further boost an already massive ego. During the 1986 American League playoffs, Hirdt told Reggie Jackson that he was going to break Yogi Berra’s record for most games played in the postseason. Jackson’s eyes brightened, and he asked Hirdt if it was going to get mentioned.
“I said, `I don’t know if there will be time,'” Hirdt said. “Reggie said, `Oh, I’ll give you the time.’ Sure enough, when Reggie comes up for the first time, he starts stepping out of the box after every pitch.”
Ultimately, Hirdt said, statistics are used to entertain and enhance fans’ enjoyment of the game. He has helped expand those horizons. He continues to look for ways to push them further.
“There’s a limitless amount of hours you can spend on this, Hirdt said. “Although I think I might be approaching that limit.”
