The month of August is proving fatal to Houston Astros Pennant hopes. Michael Silverman, Boston Herald sportswriter, said, “The prize the team (Boston Red Sox) needs to strive for is best record in the American League. Suddenly, it’s within their reach.” The Red Sox are Houston’s main competitor and until now, they didn’t look like a threat.
Before August, Houston stood atop the American League at 69-36, but after a 10-16 August, they’re at only 79-52. Before August, they’re rivals in the east were at a dwindling 58-51, yet after a masterful month with a 17-8 record, Beantown is a mere four and a half games back at 75-57. Houston players are also faltering: before the All-Star Break, Houston had at least one player in the top five in the following categories: runs scored (R), runs batted in (RBI), hits (H), home runs (HR), on-base percentage (OBP), slugging percentage (SLG), slugging percentage + on-base percentage (OPS), walks (BB), stolen bases (SB) and batting average (AVG). Now, Post-Break, the statistics are showing a faltering Astros’ offense; they have four players in the top ten for caught stealing (CS), no players in the top 20 for RBIs, no players in the top 25 for HRs and no players in the top ten for Rs. Their bright lights since the Break have been, unsurprisingly, second baseman Jose Altuve, and, extremely surprisingly, third baseman Alex Bregman. Both men are leading the team in several categories Post-Break including R, H, HR, RBI, BB, SB and AVG. The other giant threatening Houston is in the Land. The Cleveland Indians are half a game ahead of the Red Sox and are on six game win streak. A team rising above their mere Wild Card status at the end of the previous season, this Indians’ team looks more like the team that took the highly favored Chicago Cubs to extra innings in Game Seven of the same year’s World Series. The Tribe has a mostly new cast this season, but nevertheless, they are succeeding. As the Houston baseball team is in trouble, unfortunately, so is the city, so our thoughts and prayers go out to the hurricane-stricken area. Hurricane Harvey’s statistics are about as atrocious as the team’s, so we, Texans and all Americans hope that both change for the better, soon. Jesse A. Cook “Stars Falling: Astros Are Declining” August 30, 2017
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Boston outfielders are always reminiscent of the rest of the Major Leagues. There are two types of outfielders: the big and slow and then there’s the fast and nimble.
What Red Sox’ outfielders show is how those two types are at their best in Boston. From Duffy Lewis to Mookie Betts, Beantown is baseball’s Mecca. In 1912, Tris Speaker was the poster child for the hard-nosed athlete who’d kick anyone who looked at him funny from Massachusetts to Timbuktu. When people think about that era, the antics of Ty Cobb come to mind, but without the flying fists of Fenway’s fearless fighter in center field, Cobb wouldn’t have zero World Series championships to Speaker’s three. Speaker was the fast, strong player won Boston their 1912, ‘14 and ‘15 championships. He paved the way for decades of more gritty outfielders leading all the way up to the eighties with Pete Rose. Speaker was the type of outfielder who’s Hall of Fame abilities weren’t limited to the plate. By contrast, in 1939, a young left fielder from San Diego, California took the field in front of the Green Monster. Coming in fourth for the Most Valuable Player Award in only his rookie season, Ted Williams might have won the award if he had played some defense. The Kid is a perfect example of the big, lumbering, power-hitter who can have a Hall of Fame career, but can’t even catch a cold. Out of the Williams mold came several other greats: Hank Aaron, Giancarlo Stanton and Vladimir Guerrero all were at the top of their game from the batter’s box, but their gloves rarely found themselves very useful. The year directly following Williams’ final season in 1960, he was replaced by future Hall of Fame left fielder, Carl Yastrzemski. Yaz was a combination of Speaker’s defense and Williams’ power. The 18-time all-star was revered by his teammates and foes as one of the game’s greats. He was a seven-time gold glove winner, a three-time batting champ and in 1967, he won the triple crown. Modern stars such as Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge and Betts budded from his mold. Betts is the fourth chapter of the Boston outfield history; he’s different than all the previously mentioned BoSox’ despite possessing the power at the plate and in the field. While Yaz had the fundamentals and could hit homers, Williams made seemingly unattainable records and Speaker punched his way into Cooperstown, Betts doesn’t limit himself to fantastic stats. Granted, he is in the top five in the American League in several batting statistics, fifth in general Wins Above Replacement in all of baseball and first in defensive WAR, stats are not only what he excels in: week after week, fans are left marvelling at the MLB Network highlights and it is unusual for Betts not to be featured in the top ten. Either he’s hitting a Stanton or Judge-like bomb or he’s making a Billy Hamilton-like grab in the outfield. Betts is the recognized model for the perfect outfielder. While the Speaker, Lewis and Harry Hooper outfield of the early 20th century and the Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Andrew Benintendi outfield of 2017 share similarities in the fast and nimble players, the 2017 Killer B's have more flare. Williams and Yaz share the power at the plate, but Yastrzemski had a far better glove. Williams could swing the lumber for more yards than Betts can, but it’s easier for Betts to rob a homer than for the Kid to field a grounder. Speaker and Yaz were about as good as one another, but they played different games: Yaz was respectable, but Speaker earned his respect through dirty grit. Speaker and Williams were barely similar, for while Speaker hit for average, he played the field like few others, and Williams’ historic 1941 .406 batting average did not distract from the atrocity that occurred when the ball came near him. The real commonalities are between Yastrzemski and Betts; they both led the league in several batting categories, they both had great WAR and both made spectacular plays in the outfield. No matter how you spin it, Boston outfielders set the stage for the rest of baseball and the future of the game. Beantown is ahead of the curve, but even they evolve. Jesse A. Cook “Evolution Of Fenway Fielders” August 9, 2017 The Boston Red Sox were on an absolute tear a little more than a week ago and their rival New York Yankees were faltering. Now, the tables have turned and the Yankees are back in first place by half a game.
With the recent ESPN “30 for 30” about the Boston Celtics versus Los Angeles Lakers rivalry, fans began thinking back to all the Boston rivalries; Bruins and Canadiens, Patriots and all of football and, of course, Red Sox-Yankees. Ever since the first game at Fenway Park, when the Sox beat the New York Highlanders, later renamed the “Yankees,” the Big Apple and Beantown have been at each other’s throats. The 86 years of curses and the added hatred culminated to today’s Mookie Betts and Aaron Judge clash. Today’s teams don’t necessarily hate each other with the same passion as they did in 2004, but the two stars made up two thirds of the American League’s All-Star Game outfield. As two of the best players in baseball with Hall of Fame hopes, this pair seems similar to David Ortiz and Derek Jeter. Jeter and Ortiz were two of the best players in their day and now the probable Rookie of the Year and last year’s second in the American League Most Valuable Player voting are rekindling that heat. Both players are the top ten in several categories of statistics including runs scored, hits and doubles. Judge leads the AL in home runs, slugging and OPS. The only player visibly better than both of them is the Houston Astros’ second baseman Jose Altuve who leads in hits, doubles, batting average and on-base percentage. Clearly, the skill of Betts and Judge can only be matched a future Hall of Famer, such as the 5’6” athlete. Being the best in baseball is what kept the Sox-Bronx rivalry strong for the last 105 years since that game against the Highlanders when the Sox won 7-6 in 11 innings. Babe Ruth’s being traded for cash, Ted Williams And Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio rivalries, Bucky Dent and Aaron Boone, Alex Rodriguez slapping the ball out Bronson Arroyo’s glove and 2004 Boston comeback all led to the current Judge versus Betts clash. The Yankees trade deadline deal of earlier today to nab Sonny Gray from the Oakland Athletics may give the Pinstripes an edge in this postseason run, but the BoSox Eduardo Nunez, Rafael Devers and Doug Fister payed off in recent games. The Boston Squad and the Bronx Bombers both have their ways of winning, but their continued strife and their fight makes them two of the best teams in today’s Major League Baseball and in MLB’s history. Betts and Judge next face off in New York from Thursday, August 31 to Sunday, September 3 and that will be their last contest before the playoffs. Jesse A. Cook “Red Sox-Yankees Rivalry Revitalized” August 1, 2017 |
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