FiveThirtyEight’s top stories this week

A [FiveThirtyEight]( email [Popular This Week] Sunday, September 3, 2017 [1. Albert Pujols Is The Worst Player In Baseball]( Albert Pujols of the Los Angeles Angels is the most feared hitter of his generation — one of the greatest ever to step into a batter’s box. He ranks eighth all-time in home runs, seventh in extra-base hits and 10th in total bases. At his peak, he won three MVP awards and was also the best position player in baseball — according to wins above replacement (WAR) [Read more]( [2. Trump Voters In Alabama May Be About To Teach Trump A Lesson]( Is President Trump losing sway over Republicans? It would seem so in Alabama, where the candidate he endorsed, Sen. Luther Strange, is trailing in the state’s GOP Senate primary. In an average taken of all polls for the Sept. 26 runoff, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore leads Strange 45 percent to 36 percent. Strange’s deficit comes after also finishing second to Moore in the initial primary. [Read more]( [3. Trump Is A 19th-Century President Facing 21st-Century Problems]( Since President Trump announced his candidacy in 2015, commentators have asked whether he really understands the office. Over the last few tumultuous months, some have concluded that he does not. [Read more]( [4. Six Charts To Help Americans Understand The Upcoming German Election]( You may have heard rumblings about a populist party poised to gain power in Germany’s election on Sept. 24 — or maybe you just heard that there’s an election coming up. To better prepare you for the news coming out of Deutschland over the next few weeks, we’re offering some answers to a few basic questions about the election. [Read more]( [5. The Arpaio Pardon Has Plenty Of Precedents … That Got Other Presidents In Trouble]( Was President Trump’s pardon of former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, issued on a Friday night as a deadly hurricane barreled toward the Gulf Coast, unprecedented? Or just unpopular? [Read more]( [6. Justin Verlander Needs The Astros As Much As They Need Him]( It was the trade that almost wasn’t (but then was). Just as talks between the Houston Astros and Detroit Tigers over ace pitcher Justin Verlander looked like they were breaking down Thursday, news broke overnight that the two clubs had agreed to terms — Verlander would be headed to Houston after all, as part of a deal that also included cash and prospects. [Read more]( [7. How The Dodgers Are Using Baseball’s New DL Rules To Get An Edge]( In a season when the Los Angeles Dodgers are dominating everything in sight, they also lead the majors in a less praiseworthy category: trips to the disabled list. Two weeks ago, prized trade-deadline acquisition Yu Darvish was sent to the 10-day DL; last week, dark-horse Cy Young candidate Alex Wood was. Those are just some of the latest moves in what has become essentially a weekly ritual for the Dodgers, marking their 37th use of the short-term DL so far this season (25 of which have been for pitchers), more than any other team in baseball. [Read more]( [8. Hurricane Harvey’s Impact — And How It Compares To Other Storms]( Hurricane Harvey, which dumped an estimated 27 trillion gallons of water on Texas and Louisiana, looks to be one of the most damaging natural disasters in U.S. history. Flooding continues to affect large areas of Houston, Beaumont and other areas of Texas. Tens of thousands have been forced to evacuate their homes, and rig shut downs and evacuations along the Gulf have curbed oil and gas production. The White House, meanwhile, is expected to ask Congress for $14.5 billion in relief funding. While we don’t know Harvey’s ultimate toll on life and property — and won’t for some time — here are the best estimates of the hurricane’s impacts so far, and how they compare to the destruction wrought by other major storms. [Read more]( [9. Is Trump Losing Advisers Unusually Fast?]( Moments after Steve Bannon’s departure from the White House earlier this month, news outlets were quick to report on the high number of top advisers with whom President Trump has parted ways. The number of departures may feel like a lot, but are the shake-ups that unusual? In one sense, perhaps not: Historically, turnover of presidential advisers has been increasing since the 1970s. But in another sense, yes: The speed and timing of the exodus from the Trump administration is far exceeding even that increased pace. [Read more]( [10. There’s Been A Lot Of News But Little Change In Trump’s Approval Rating]( Welcome to a new weekly column — Name TBD — about polls and politics. We’ll follow President Trump’s approval rating and the generic ballot, and provide a far-ranging round-up of the most interesting surveys released over the past week. (Also, a “TV theme song of the week.” Just because.) I hope you enjoy it, but it’s very much a work in progress, so if you have requests for what you want to see in this space (or ideas for the column’s name), email us. This week’s TV theme song: the Osmonds sing “Hello Utah” for KUTV. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Weekly Listen [Play]( [What Happens If The Kyrie-Isaiah Trade Falls Through?]( Lastly, The Riddler Edited by Oliver Roeder From Shaun Raviv, a tall tale on the basketball court: You’re hanging out with some friends, shooting the breeze and talking sports. One of them brags to the group that he once made 17 free throws in a row after years of not having touched a basketball. You think the claim sounds unlikely, but plausible. Another friend scoffs, thinking it completely impossible. Let’s give your bragging friend the benefit of the doubt and say he’s a 70-percent free-throw shooter. So, who’s right? What is the number of free throws that a 70-percent shooter would be expected to take before having a streak of 17 makes in a row? And what if his accuracy was a bit worse? [Solve it!]( [FiveThirtyEight] [View in browser]( [ESPN]( [Unsubscribe]( Our mailing address: FiveThirtyEight, 147 Columbus Avenue, New York, NY 10023.