Built narrow like a stake, with a mustache and a crew cut, Francis is widely considered the best horseshoe pitcher in history. He has won 15 world titles, including the past seven. He hopes to extend his streak in early August at the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association world tournament in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

But the number that most impresses those whom the 40-year-old Francis routinely beats or who gather to watch him pitch is the key statistic in horseshoes: ringer percentage.

Get a ringer 70 percent of the time, and you are in a shrinking class of world-class pitchers. Get one 80 percent of the time, and you are probably in the top two.

Get one 90 percent of the time, and you are Alan Francis.

“Of all the guys that have pitched this game, he’s the best,” said Gerald Bernard, a veteran of a summer tournament circuit made up almost entirely of people with no hope of beating Francis. “No doubt.”

In the championship game of last year’s world tournament, which had more than 1,300 participants, Francis fell far behind Vermont’s Brian Simmons, a two-time world champion and Francis’ only viable rival. Francis pitched ringers on 25 of his final 26 shoes to win what some call the greatest match in the sport’s history.