Bay Area Writer Must Have ESPN

Talk about clairvoyance!

Before the San Francisco 49ers lost to the Seattle Seahawks last Sunday, 34-0, they had not been shut out in 420 regular-season games.

But Dan Brown of the San Jose Mercury News saw it coming.

He wrote a feature story before the game about the last shutout, a 7-0 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Oct. 9, 1977, indicating the streak was about to end.

After the game, several readers e-mailed Brown, asking about lottery numbers.

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Trivia time: What Heisman Trophy winner was the 49ers’ quarterback when they were shut out by the Falcons in 1977?

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Sorely missed: “If you were watching Sunday’s 34-0 loss to the Seahawks on TV,” Scott Ostler wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle, “that fizzling sound you heard late in the second half was Bill Walsh’s spirit being sucked up through the ozone layer. Ladies and gentlemen, the Genius has left the building.”

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Planting the seed: The Seahawks were given incentive to end the streak by their defensive line coach, Dwaine Board, a former 49er.

“Dwaine Board, he let us know about the streak,” Seahawk defensive end Chike Okeafor said. “After you hear that, you take it as a big challenge. You always want the goose egg.”

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Good hitters on bad teams: Dozens of readers sent e-mails after reader Joe Gutierrez posed this question last week in regard to the Seattle Mariners’ Ishiro Suzuki: “Has anyone in the history of the game ever had a higher batting average than his team’s winning percentage?”

The answer is yes. Dave Lapkin of Tustin provided research that showed players with 400 or more at-bats have had higher batting averages than their teams’ winning percentages 108 times.

Steve Vanderpool of Stats Inc. was among those who pointed out that two Detroit players did it last year, when the Tigers had a winning percentage of .265. Dmitri Young hit .297 and Alex Sanchez .289. Many readers noted that Richie Ashburn hit .306 for the woeful 1962 New York Mets, who had a winning percentage of .250.

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Looking back: Reader Dan Fuss, 84, of Sherman Oaks pointed out that on this day in 1937, Johnny Allen of the Cleveland Indians failed in his bid to finish the season with a 16-0 record when Jake Wade of the Detroit Tigers pitched a one-hitter and beat the Indians, 1-0.

Hank Greenberg of the Tigers knocked in the lone run to finish the season with 183 runs batted in, one fewer than Lou Gehrig’s American League record.

“On that day, Allen fell one win short of a perfect season, Wade fell one hit short of a no-hitter and Greenberg fell one RBI short of the record,” Fuss said.

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Trivia answer: Jim Plunkett. And the coach was Ken Meyer, a former Ram assistant who had a one-year stint with the 49ers.

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And finally: Atlanta pitcher Paul Byrd, on his team’s winning a 13th consecutive division title: “The law of averages apparently does not apply to the Atlanta Braves.”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@ latimes.com.