12 hidden Sports Reference Easter eggs you didn't know existed
If you visit this website of ours here, it’s probable that you’re also a user of the Sports Reference family of sites as well — Baseball-Refrerence.com, Pro-Football-Reference.com and the like. They’re amazing, comprehensive and useful to find all kinds of statistical information.
The New York Times dropped a great feature on the sites once — did you know they rent space in a Philadelphia church? — and it included a reminder that there are some fun Easter eggs and hidden pages around the Sports Reference websites. So we decided to round as many as we can find here, with no doubt that we’re missing a few.
UPDATE: We’ve added in one below that just popped up with Tugsten Arm O’Doyle:
1. Keith Hernandez’s mustache has its own page
It’s been around a while despite the fact that Hernandez’s mustache, er, retired a while back before making a comeback. It’s five inches wide and weighs 0.05 lbs, and is fourth all-time behind staches including Rollie Fingers’, Rod Beck’s and Wade Boggs’ facial hair.
We've had that for years now http://t.co/qRsizAxD MT @YankeeMegInPHL Will you be making a page for Keith Hernandez's mustache?
— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) September 20, 2012
2. So does Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
It’s also sponsored, which is pretty great, and there are a bunch of punny jokes about batters he’s similar to (e.g. J.T. Snow, Rob Deer).
3. If you type in “technical fouls” into Basketball-Reference’s search bar, Rasheed Wallace’s page comes up.
Ball don’t lie. Nor does Basketball-Reference.
4. Typing in “Roy Hobbs” into Baseball-Reference’s search bar sends you over to the IMDB page for the Robert Redford character from The Natural
5. Will Ferrell has his own page
Remember that time Ferrell played all nine positions in five Cactus League spring training games back in 2015? Baseball-Reference rewarded him with his own page and it’s a delight.
Welcome, Will Ferrell to the @mlb pantheon. http://t.co/HfM5F3wlF4 @CFCcharity pic.twitter.com/TB4EIcPihN
— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) March 13, 2015
6. Oddibe McDowell’s page includes how much he owed on his water bill in 2011 and 2012
A reference to Deadspin, which tracked what McDowell owed for a series earlier this decade.
7. Pro-Football-Reference temporarily credited Vontae Davis with a half game when he retired last year
Success! https://t.co/yPE7Zj52s2 pic.twitter.com/s5rltxhxq5
— Pro Football Reference (@pfref) September 17, 2018
Davis, as you’ll recall, called it quits at halftime of the Bills’ Week 2 loss to the Chargers.
8. Madison Bumgarner’s page now includes his rodeo stats
What a career for “Mason Saunders.”
Baseball-Reference has added Madison Bumgarner’s rodeo career (and alias) to his stats page pic.twitter.com/tUZW2s12RT
— Out of Bounds (@SI_outofbounds) February 25, 2020
9. Tommy Heinsohn gets Tommy Points
After the passing of the Celtics legend, Basketball Reference said he was first in “Tommy Points Awarded” (a reference to how he rewarded players on the air while broadcasting games).
i love you basketball reference pic.twitter.com/oOJTfCHnB0
— nick (@verdugoredsox) November 16, 2020
10. Mitchell Trubisky wins Nickelodeon MVP
There it is, in Nickelodeon orange.
11. Paul O’Neill’s kick is immortalized
Remember this play?
Baseball Reference covers *everything*
(Via @baseballreddit) pic.twitter.com/Z7nj3bRUOU
— The Baseball Newsletter (@bbletter) May 11, 2021
12. You can search for Tungsten Arm O’Doyle
presented without comment pic.twitter.com/WGut79UZBg
— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) March 31, 2023
The tweet that has now turned into a very true meme about the Angels being terrible even when Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani are playing out of their minds — see below — is now searchable. LOL.
every time I see an Angels highlight it's like "Mike Trout hit three homes runs and raised his average to .528 while Shohei Ohtani did something that hasn't been done since 'Tungsten Arm' O'Doyle of the 1921 Akron Groomsmen, as the Tigers defeated the Angels 8-3"
— ℳatt (@matttomic) May 18, 2021