The Boston Red Sox third baseman, Rafael Devers, is close to accomplishing the almost unheard of feat of hitting sixty doubles in a single season. Despite this unprecedented milestone, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim center fielder, Mike Trout, remains the favorite for the Most Valuable Player award in the American League.
As is, the 22-year old Domican Republic native has 48 doubles with 28 games remaining in the season. That means that he has hit 48 doubles over the span of 134 games. That is not entirely true, however, because he has only played 129 of those 134 games. That means that he doubles once every 2.688 games. Charlie Gehringer, Paul Waner, Hank Greenberg, Joe Medwick, George H. Burns, and Earl Webb are the only players in baseball history to record 60 or more doubles in a season. Gehringer hit 60 doubles for his 1936 Detroit Tigers, Waner hit 62 for the 1932 Pittsburgh Pirates, Greenberg hit 63 for the 1934 Tigers, Medwick hit 64 for the 1936 St. Louis Cardinals, Burns hit 64 for his Cleveland Indians in 1926, and Webb hit 67 for the Red Sox in 1931. Four of those six players are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame (Gehringer, Waner, Greenberg, and Medwick). No one has hit 60 doubles or more in 83 years. Devers, if he continues at his pace of hitting one double every 2.688 games, and he plays every one of those 28 games, should mathematically hit roughly 10.5 more doubles, ending the year with 58.5 doubles. Now, he cannot hit half of a double, so lets round that down to 58 to really put his back against the wall. That, clearly, does not get him to the fevered milestone, but that calculation also does not take into account that he has a hot bat, lately. In the first half of the season, he hit 25 doubles. In the second half, he has recorded 23 doubles (“First Half” meaning “Before the All-Star Game” and “Second Half” meaning “After the All-Star Game”). The first half lasted 91 games, while the second half has thus far lasted 43 games. This means that Devers doubled once every 3.64 games in the first half, but he has doubled once every 1.87 games in the second half. If he continues at his second half rate, he should mathematically double roughly 15 more times. This would lead him to finish the season with roughly 63 doubles. The last player to hit even 50 doubles in a season was José Ramirez with his current team, the Indians, in 2017. He finished third in M.V.P. voting with a league-leading 56 doubles. This leads us to the question: “Why did Ramirez not win first in the M.V.P. voting?” That year, José Altuve of the Houston Astros and then-rookie Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees finished ahead of him in the M.V.P. voting in first and second, respectively. Judge hit 52 home runs, batted .284, produced 154 hits, and drove in 114 runs, and Altuve hit 24 home runs, batted .346, produced 204 hits, and drove in 81 runs. Ramirez only hit 29 home runs, batted .318, produced 186 hits, and drove in 83 runs, making him a roughly inconsequential player in the midst of Altuve and Judge. This season, Trout has hit 43 home runs, batted .293, produced 131 hits, and driven in 100 runs. Devers has astonishingly hit 28 home runs, batted .326, produced a league-leading 174 hits, and driven in 104 runs. Devers has the clear advantage over Trout; despite hitting fewer home runs, he still has driven in more runs. Trout, being a home run hitter, is expected to have a sub-.300 batting average and is hitting accordingly, though .293 is still very good. Devers is exceeding the norm for non-home run hitters. He is not known for his home runs, he is known for his ability to get on base, but despite this, the Boston third baseman will almost assuredly finish with at least 30 home runs this season. Trout is behind Devers in everything vitally important to M.V.P. consideration except for three things:
Homers always make a difference, but considering that Devers will likely end up with decent home run numbers of his own, this is somewhat trivial. W.A.R. is an important statistic because it is designed to determine how valuable a player is to his team or how much the team needs a player to win. While this sounds like the only stat that should even matter, W.A.R. can vary due to how good or bad a player’s team is. Devers’ team’s lineup is padded with the bats of the reigning M.V.P. (Mookie Betts), the only player to win two Silver Slugger Awards in one year (J.D. Martinez), an all-star shortstop (Xander Bogaerts), and a Rookie of the Year contender (Michael Chavis). Trout’s team’s lineup has the reigning Rookie of the Year (Shohei Ohtani), a severely aged formerly great first baseman (Albert Pujols), and a perpetually injured former M.V.P. candidate (Andrelton Simmons). Trout clearly has less to work with and is therefore more valuable to the Angels than Devers is to the Red Sox. This does not mean that Trout is better overall, though. Another disqualifying factor of W.A.R. is that not even statisticians fully understand it and there is no simple way to calculate it. Third of the aforementioned advantages for Trout is that he was an all-star and Devers was not. This is not a death-sentence for Devers’ M.V.P. hopes, though, as there have been 11 M.V.P. Award winners who were not all-stars, including Hall of Fame members Greenberg, Robin Yount, Willie Stargell, and Chipper Jones. All this means is that Devers either had a poor first half or that he went so underappreciated that he was not worthy of a spot on the American League roster. Whichever reason it is that his 16 home runs, .324 batting average, 112 hits, and 62 R.B.I.s in 346 at-bats did not earn him that honor is irrelevant now because his second half has been what makes him an M.V.P. contender. Since the All-Star Game in Cleveland, Ohio at Progressive Field back on Tuesday, July 9, 2019, Devers has hit 12 home runs, batted .332, produced 62 hits, and driven in 42 runs in 187 at-bats. Pre-All Star Game, he hit a home run once every 21.625 at-bats and drove in a run once every 5.581 at-bats. Second half, that changed to a home run once every 15.583 at-bats and a run batted in once every 14.452 at-bats, two vast improvements. Trout’s first half stats read as 28 home runs, a .301 batting average, 91 hits, and 67 R.B.I.s in 302 at-bats. A home run every 10.786 at-bats and an R.B.I. once every 4.507 at-bats. His second half stats read as 15 home runs, a .276 batting average, 40 hits, and 33 R.B.I.s in 145 at-bats. One home run once every 9.667 at-bats and an R.B.I. once every 4.394 at-bats. Trout has had a more consistent season as far as home runs and R.B.I.s and he hits them more often than Devers. However, while these are important, Devers is not a home run hitter primarily (home run hitters generally drive in more runs). He is specialized in getting on base and has fantastic hit numbers and batting average numbers that have surpassed Trout all year. The fact that he has even relatively close home run and R.B.I. totals and averages to Trout alongside his incredible ability to reach base set him up as a better player than Trout this season. Jesse A. Cook “Devers Approaches 60 Doubles, Trout Remains M.V.P. Favorite” 29 August 2019
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Cincinnati Reds broadcaster of 45 years, Marty Brennaman, has announced that he will retire at the end of this, his 46th, season. His tenure has lasted since Opening Day of the Cincinnati Red Legs’ 1974 season, which they finished with a record of 98-64, second place in their National League Western Division, second place in their National League, and second place in all of Major League Baseball.
Unfortunately, Brennaman did not get to call any playoff games in his rookie season as though they were the second best team in baseball, they were not the first-place team in their division and teams could not move on to the postseason if they did not lead their division at the end of the season. The Red Legs did not lead their division as the Los Angeles Dodgers led baseball (and the N.L. West) with their incredible record of 102-60. Despite the bitter finish, the very first half inning of the season set a positive start for Brennaman’s long tenure. In the top of the first inning on April 4, 1974 (45 years ago, today), Opening Day at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio (where baseball’s Opening Day is a holiday accompanied by a parade), Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit a home run over the fence in left-center field. This moment was historic as it was home run number 714 for Aaron, tying George Herman “Babe” Ruth’s all-time home run record. Just four batters into Brennaman’s career, he had called a historic occasion. Since that moment, he has called six no-hitters (one of which was Tom Browning’s perfect game and another was Roy Halladay’s playoff no-hitter), Scooter Gennett’s four-home run game, and three Cincinnati World Series victories. His trademark, wildly dressed hair was once described as a Cincinnati landmark. Incidentally, this remark was made at an event where Brennaman had his head shaved on the field at Great American Ballpark. He first announced alongside former Reds’ pitcher Joe Nuxhall, but sometime after Nuxhall’s retirement and death, former Reds’ pitcher Jeff “The Cowboy” Brantley filled the role. Brennaman’s son Thom Brennaman is now a well-known broadcaster for FOX Sports for mainly baseball and football games. The father and son duo has appeared as a broadcasting team for Reds’ games several times, with the younger Brennaman on-air referring to his broadcast partner, not by his first name (as broadcasting duos tend to do), but by “Dad.” The Red Legs won Brennaman’s first game 7-6, though that game did not result in Brennaman saying his famous post-win catchphrase, “And this one belongs to the Reds!” He said that he did not immediately develop that signoff, but after 40+ seasons of hearing it after every win, the words have become imprinted on the hearts of Reds fans. He did, however, get the opportunity to say the line after Opening Day this season. On March 28, 2019, the Reds opened their season at home with a 5-3 win over the N.L. Central Division rivals, the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pirates’ left fielder Corey Dickerson grounded a David Hernandez pitch to Reds’ second baseman Jose Peraza, who then fired the ball to Cincinnati first baseman Joey Votto for the out. As Votto closed his glove around the ball, Brennaman ended his last ever Opening Day with a trademark, “And this one belongs to the Reds!” With Brennaman’s final game less than a season away, it’s reasonable to conclude that his historic career, as he would say, “Belongs to the Reds!” Jesse A. Cook “Marty Brennaman Announces Retirement” April 4, 2019 After Major League Baseball faced scrutiny after announcing their new rules, but they recently announced that they have a few additions that they are hoping will eliminate fans’ anxiety.
1. RELIEF PITCHERS MUST FACE TWO BATTERS: This rule comes along with the rule about starters, which we’ll call the “Brandon Woodruff Rule,” which states that starting pitchers must face three batters before being pulled. This rule is really a win because it gives previously one-batter pitchers a second chance to prove their arms and take down batters they would never have been expected to face. This also creates more skilled, seasoned pitchers with that Mariano Rivera flare, where they can demolish right-handed hitters equally as they can left-handed hitters. 2. BASERUNNERS MUST TELL FIELDER THEY’RE STEALING: This rule adds more strategy to the game and encourages a new focus on the speed of a baserunner. Baserunners must indicate to the fielder pre-pitch if they’re stealing. They can do this as close to the pitch as they would like, as long as they convey the message before the pitcher releases the ball. The fielder has this time to call out to the rest of the field that the runner is stealing, so they can jump into order and prepare to catch the speed-demon. This ingenious addition to the rulebook prevents big and slow players from risking injury and it prevents pitchers from ruining the game on wild pitches. 3. PLAYERS MUST PLAY THROUGH STREAKING FANS: With baseball trying to speed up the game, this rule is a definite time-saver. Fans often try to get themselves on camera and mess up the field of play, but now they won’t be able to get that attention, as players will just continue with business as usual. So there will be no more Jeffrey Maiers, no more Steve Bartman’s, and no more of those Astros’ fans interfering with Mookie Betts robbing a home run. The game will just have to continue and the fans will just have to sit back and accept that they can’t mess up the game. 4. DEFENSE ADDS FOURTH OUTFIELDER, OFFENSE CAN ADD SECOND BATTER: This evens the playing field. With baseball’s new rule allowing the defense to add a fourth outfielder in certain situations, the offense will be allowed to bring up a pinch hitter to stand in the batter’s box opposite the scheduled batter. When the Baltimore Orioles put their tenth player in the field to combat Aaron Judge, the Yankees will be allowed to put Brett Gardner directly opposite him and make the field an equal place. 5. ANNOUNCERS CAN DECIDE ONE CALL PER GAME, POST-SIXTH INNING: This rule has taken far too long to come into effect, now announcers can decide one call per game after the sixth inning. This rule ensures that both sides get a fair input on the game. The radio broadcasters for each team will have an opportunity to call down to their team’s dugout to tell the manager to inform the umpire when a call must be reversed. They have to do this quickly, though, as the defense can get the ball back to the picture and start the next play, rendering the announcer’s opinion on the last call a moot point, causing them to waste that call. These rules are truly wins for baseball and will be implemented this season. Of course, now it’s time to reverse this article as it is clearly fabricated, ridiculous, and a product of this insidious day known as April Fools’ Day. Jesse A. Cook “Baseball Implements Surprise Rules” April 1, 2019 After taking a yearlong hiatus from baseball last May, the Seattle Mariners’ outfielder, Ichiro Suzuki, returned for the opening series of the Major league Baseball regular season at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan against the Oakland Athletics.
In the style of Derek Jeter and David Wright, “#RESPECT” tags are circulating Twitter with Ichiro’s number in the word, reading “#RE51PECT” where the “1” melds with the “P.” With five at-bats over the two games in Tokyo against Oakland, the legendary Mariners’ outfielder, walked once to ensure a .167 on-base percentage for his final season, 2019. Ichiro’s career is benchmark in baseball history, signifying that the sport has truly become worldwide. Ichiro has set a precedent for foreign athletes to make their way in American sports’ leagues. He acquired 3,089 hits in his Major League career, though debuting at the 27 years of age, which is old for most rookies. He acquired 2,542 of his hits for Seattle. Including his two games this season, he played 19 seasons in the Major Leagues, 14 of them in Seattle, three years for the New York Yankees, and three years for the Miami Marlins. Apart from his 19 seasons in America, he played nine seasons in Japan in the Nippon Baseball League. He spent his entire Japanese career with the Orix Blue Wave, based out of the Kyocera-Dome in Osaka. He acquired 1,278 hits for the Blue Wave. Combined with his Major League stats, Ichiro’s career hit total comes to 4,367, 111 hits more than the Cincinnati Reds’ utility star, Pete Rose, who acquired the recognized most hits in Major League Baseball history at 4,256. Tied with Hall of Fame outfielder Vladimir Guerrero for the 126th best W.A.R. (Wins Above Replacement) in baseball history at 59.4, Ichiro is a ten-time all-star, a ten-time Gold Glove Award winner, and a three-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He has finished in the top-25 for voting for the Most Valuable Player nine times, winning the award in his rookie season, 2001, when he easily won the Rookie of the Year Award. In his first M.L.B. game, Ichiro and the Mariners took home a 5-4 victory over the Athletics. In his final M.L.B. game, Ichiro and the Mariners took home a 5-4 victory over the Athletics. He left the field at the Tokyo Dome during the eighth inning of yesterday’s game to a blisteringly loud crowd full of nothing but cheers. Jesse A. Cook “Ichiro Returns To Japan, Retires” March 22, 2019 Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Dallas Keuchel, Craig Kimbrel—the list goes on for offseason names, but which of these players will receive the contract they actually want? Pitchers and catchers first report on February 12, but none of these players have chosen a team and that is hurting both them and the fans.
First of all, the memory of J.D. Martinez’s failed expedition to attain a seven-year $200 million contract should be fresh in these players’ minds (Martinez ended up acquiring a five-year $110 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, far less money than what he originally wanted). A picture of two bats with Philadelphia Phillies’ logos and Harper’s name and number 34 circulated on Twitter on Monday, January 28. Many fans and analysts are speculating that the image means that Harper will sign with the Phillies. The Score’s beat reporter Bruce Levine said in October that, “Harper is reportedly looking for a 10-year, $350 million deal as the starting point in negotiations.” The Washington Post’s Thomas Boswell said on Friday, January 25 that Harper will not end up making nearly as much money as he wanted. He said, “Harper’s best concrete offer now is not for an average annual value of $37.5 million or $35.7 million… No team claims that it has any contract offer on the table to Harper at all. There’s been plenty of big talk and goo-goo eyes but no “sign here.”” The waiting game might not be the only part of this process hurting players. Baseball simply is not bringing in enough money for teams to be giving out $200, $300 million contracts anymore. Frankly, after the New York Yankees’ experiments with Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Giancarlo Stanton (giving players upwards of $100 million for over seven years) and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s franchise-crushing contract with Albert Pujols, the odds of team following in their footsteps are unlikely. Kimbrel is looking for a six-year contract for at least $100 million, but he is not receiving the interest he hoped he would. The best interest the World Series Champion closer has gotten is a potential three-year deal from the Minnesota Twins. The Houston Astros want Keuchel to return to their squad, but the Cincinnati Reds are making a serious bid for him. Scott Boyken, Fansided’s Reds’ beat reporter said that, “Following his trade to the Cincinnati Reds earlier this week right-hander Sonny Gray agreed to a three-year $30 million extension. The numbers suggest he’s similar to remaining free agent ace Dallas Keuchel.” The Reds spent $30 million on Sonny Gray and Boyken says that they are likely to spend that for Keuchel ($10 million per year). Machado is getting interest from many teams including the Yankees, Phillies, Chicago White Sox, and San Diego Padres. Machado entered the offseason looking for essentially the same deal Stanton made in the 2017-18 offseason, a 13-year commitment for $325 million. Wallace Matthews of New York Daily News said that Machado is looking at a deal similar to Harper. He said that Machado is looking at contracts on a, “range from $175 million for seven years to $250 million for eight years.” Spring training is 11 days away, but the fans still have no idea which players they will be rooting for. Jesse A. Cook “MLB Offseason’s Toll On Players And Fans” February 1, 2019 Earlier tonight, the National Baseball Hall of Fame finalized its induction class for 2019. The Today’s Game Era Committee elected Harold Baines and Lee Smith back in December, but Mike Mussina, Edgar Martinez, Roy Halladay, and Mariano Rivera joined the ranks a few hours ago.
Not only did Rivera make history as he is now officially the first player in history to be unanimously elected to the Hall. Ken Griffey Jr. was elected with 99.3% of the vote, but until tonight, no player had ever been elected with 100% agreement. Another bullet dodged, the Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were not elected. In the modern era, steroid usage has become a major issue in determining a player’s worth and how deserving they are of immortalization in Cooperstown, New York. Every year, it looks more and more like offenders such as Bonds and Clemens, who blatantly violated Major League Baseball’s substance abuse policies, will enter the Halls in Cooperstown, tainting their heavenly glow. Finishing sixth and seventh in the voting, Clemens being sixth and Bonds being seventh, these steroid users are not the only users who will remain on the ballot for the following years. Manny Ramirez, Gary Sheffield, Andy Pettitte, and Sammy Sosa, who are all known to be steroid abusers, will remain on the ballot for next year. Sosa acquired the least amount of votes among the aforementioned steroid users at 8.5%, Pettitte got 9.9%, Sheffield earned 13.6%, and Ramirez attained 22.8%. The top seven vote-getters go as follows: Hall of Famers:
The cutoff to get into the Hall is to acquire 75% of the vote. If a player receives less than 5% of the vote, then they will not be eligible in the following years to be voted into the shining Halls of homy Cooperstown, New York. Nowadays, while players used to have 15 years of eligibility to be voted into the Hall of Fame, they have 10, so if a player does not receive 75% of the vote, but still receives above 5% for those 10 years, they will also no longer be eligible. These are high qualifications, and only 1.2% of all Major League Baseball players has ever gotten into the Hall of Fame. The Hall’s Plaque Gallery, itself, is a little smaller than a football field. This is very little space for anyone but the honest-to-goodness best. There is no room for underachievers, mediocrity, or cheating. Bonds and Clemens (and the others, including probably Robinson Cano) will probably have their day at the grounds outside the Clarks Sports Center, the green fields where the induction ceremony takes place, but thankfully, they are closer to missing out on the honor they do not, by any means, deserve. Jesse A. Cook “Baseball Hall of Fame Survives Steroids Again” January 22, 2019 2019 starts in a few hours, so to welcome the new year, here’s an installment of baseball in year 9s. From Roger Connor to Hideki Matsui, baseball has taken a wild ride in year 9s.
1889: Managed by Jim Mutrie, first baseman Roger Connor and the New York Giants topped the National League, a game ahead of the Boston Beaneaters, winning the league championship with an 83-43 record. They shared their city with the American Association Champs, the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, led by outfielder Oyster Burns and managed by Bill McGunnigle, who topped their faction of baseball with a staggering 93-44 record. They played each other in a primitive form of the World Series, the Giants winning six games to three. 1899: Finishing eight games above the second-place Beaneaters, another Brooklyn team took home a league title in this ‘99: the Brooklyn Superbas led the National League with a record of 101-47. In May of that season (May 15, 1899), Brooklyn’s Wee Willie Keeler hit an inside-the-park grand slam to win a game over the rival third-place Philadelphia Phillies. 1909: The classic seven-game World Series between the gentleman Honus Wagner’s Pittsburgh Pirates and the dastardly Ty Cobb’s Detroit Tigers took place in this year. Despite losing the series, Cobb made history that year for compiling baseball first Hitter’s Triple Crown since Nap Lajoie of the 1901 Philadelphia Athletics. On July 19, Neal Ball of the Cleveland Naps turned the first unassisted triple play in the history of Major League Baseball. 1919: Scandal struck the 1919 season when after the Cincinnati Reds took home their first World Series trophy in a five to three series win over the Chicago White Sox, it was revealed that the powerful representatives of the American League, now nicknamed the “Black Sox,” had purposefully lost the series to the seemingly inferior National League team. Gangster Arnold Rothstein had bribed players into throwing the series to receive more money than they would have received for winning the series in the first place. Eight players from that Black Sox’ team were banned from baseball for life, the most notable suspension being handed to, as anyone who’s ever seen the 1989 classic baseball movie starring Kevin Costner, Ray Liotta, and James Earl Jones, “Field of Dreams” can tell you, Shoeless Joe Jackson. During this year, Rube Foster began plans to form the Negro Leagues. 1929: Despite being named the MLB’s Most Valuable Player, second baseman Rogers Hornsby could not bring his Chicago Cubs to win the World Series Championship they would chase so fervently until the early morning of the November 3, 2016. Instead, the Cubs lost the series in five games to Mickey Cochrane, Al Simmons, and Lefty Grove’s Philadelphia Athletics, managed by the genius, Connie Mack. This was the final time in the World Series era (1906 and 1922 preceding it) that Boston held last place in both the American and National Leagues, the Red Sox at the bottom of the AL at 58-96, and the Braves at the bottom of the NL at 56-98. In the Negro Leagues, at a staggering 66-14 record, the Kansas City Monarchs won their fourth of 12 Negro National League titles. 1939: In this year, the Reds’ Bucky Walters (the National League Most Valuable Player) became the first National League pitcher since the Brooklyn Robins’ Dazzy Vance in 1924 to win the Pitcher’s Triple Crown. His Reds lost the World Series in four games to the American League MVP, Joe DiMaggio, and the New York Yankees. The National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York (incidentally, where I’m writing this edition of this annual article from) inducted its second class, including Cap Anson, Eddie Collins, Charles Comiskey, Candy Cummings, Buck Ewing, Lou Gehrig, Willie Keeler, Charles Radbourn, George Sisler, and Al Spalding. The American League won the MLB All-Star Game 3-1 at Yankee Stadium, the West won the first Negro League All-Star Game 4-2 at Comiskey Park, and the East won the second Negro League All-Star Game 10-2 in New York City. The Monarchs won their sixth Negro National League Pennant and the Baltimore Elite Giants won their first of two Negro American League titles. 1949: Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox in the AL and Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers in the NL won their respective MVP Awards. Robinson lost the World Series to the crosstown rival New York Yankees four games to one in an unexciting World Series exhibition. The Rockford Peaches won their second of three consecutive and third of four total championships to win the All-American Girls’ Professional Baseball League, defeating the Grand Rapids Chicks three games to one. The American League won the MLB All-Star Game at Ebbets Field 11-7 and the East won the Negro League All-Star Game 4-0 in Chicago. The Baltimore Elite Giants won their second and final Negro American League title. On June 15, future MLB manager Dusty Baker was born. On July 21, future terrifying closer Al Hrabosky, and a week later future Oakland Ace Vida Blue were born. On September 27, considered maybe the greatest third baseman of all-time, Mike Schmidt was born. 1959: Sandy Koufax and the Dodgers won their first World Series as the Los Angeles Dodgers, beating the AL MVP Nellie Fox and the Chicago White Sox four games to two. The Chicago Cubs’ Ernie Banks won the NL MVP. While Bob Allison of the Washington Senators took home the Rookie of the Year Award, future first-ballot Hall of Famer Willie McCovey won the award for the San Francisco Giants. On April 22 of this year, future two-time World Series Champion manager Terry Francona was born. On October 21, future Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer George Bell was born. 1969: A wild year for the entire world, this year involved Woodstock, Neil Armstrong set his foot on the moon, and, possibly the most unlikely of all, the New York Mets won the World Series. Only seven years old, the franchise with Tom Seaver and a young Nolan Ryan secured its first Championship with a “Miracle Mets” victory in five games over the Baltimore Orioles. Willie McCovey, the Rookie of the Year ten years prior, was the MVP of the All-Star Game at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, which the NL won 9-3. McCovey also won the NL MVP and Harmon Killebrew of the Minnesota Twins won it in the AL. Early in the decade, San Francisco Giants’ pitcher and teammate of McCovey, Gaylord Perry, conjectured that men would never walk on the moon. Being a terrible hitter, he said, “They will put a man on the moon before I hit a home run.” On July 20 of this season, just minutes after Armstrong stamped his foot and the American flag on the lunar surface, Perry knocked a solo blast over the fence in the Giants’ 7-3 win over Los Angeles Dodgers in San Fran at Candlestick Park. 1979: Led by the co-NL MVP Willie Stargell (the other was the St. Louis Cardinals’ Keith Hernandez) the Pittsburgh Pirates won the Fall Classic in seven games over Ken Singleton of the Baltimore Orioles. Stargell also won the World Series MVP Award. The AL MVP was Don Baylor of the California Angels. The Pittsburgh Pirates’ Dave Parker won the All-Star Game MVP in the NL’s 7-6 victory at the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington. 1989: This would be the second of three consecutive American League Championships for the Oakland Athletics, but this would be the only one of these times that they won the World Series, beating the San Francisco Giants in a series sweep. The Series was interrupted by the Loma Prieta Earthquake which collapsed part of the Bay Bridge. This occurred just minutes before Game Three was scheduled to start. The natural disaster temporarily knocked out the television feed and prompted both teams to venture onto the field for safety and the umpires and Major League Baseball decided to postpone the game until ten days later on October 27. A’s pitcher Dave Stewart won the Series MVP. The MVPs were Kevin Mitchell of the Giants in the NL and Robin Yount of the Milwaukee Brewers in the AL. The Kansas City Royals’ Bo Jackson was the MVP of the All-Star Game at Anaheim Stadium, which the AL won 5-3. Jackson and Wade Boggs of the Boston Red Sox led off the bottom of the first with back-to-back home runs off of the Giants’ Rick Reuschel. 1999: The New York Yankees, led by their young stars Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, and veteran Roger Clemens, won the World Series in four games over the Atlanta Braves (with their young, new third baseman future Hall of Famer Chipper Jones). The Braves had just won their eighth of 14 consecutive division titles. Jones was the NL MVP and Iván “Pudge” Rodriguez of the Texas Rangers was the AL MVP. The AL won the All-Star Game 4-1 at Fenway Park. Boston Red Sox’ ace Pedro Martinez was the MVP after a historic start, striking out five of the six batters he faced, striking out the first four: Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGwire, and finishing on Jeff Bagwell. Two of those five, Larkin and Bagwell, would make it into Cooperstown, and the two of the other three would probably be alongside them if their steroid use had never come out (Walker is still on the Hall of Fame ballot). 2009: World Series MVP Hideki Matsui (and Jeter, Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Alex Rodriguez, and Rivera) led his New York Yankees to a four games to two World Series victory over Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies. The Minnesota Twins’ catcher Joe Mauer won the AL MVP Award and the St. Louis Cardinals’ first baseman Albert Pujols won the NL MVP Award. Andrew Bailey of the Oakland Athletics won the AL Rookie of the Year and Chris Coghlan of the Florida Marlins won the NL Rookie of the Year. The Boston Red Sox’ right-handed starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka led Team Japan to their second World Baseball Classic Championship defeating South Korea 5-3 in ten innings at Dodger Stadium in the Final. 2019: Right around the corner, tomorrow, January 1, 2019, will start a story just as great as the previous 13 decades mentioned in this article. Already looking exciting, 2019 will feature Bryce Harper apart from his Washington Nationals, possibly, and now joining any one of many exciting teams, Paul Goldschmidt with the St. Louis Cardinals instead of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Manny Machado playing for, at this point, anyone, Yasiel Puig leading a brand new Cincinnati Reds roster, and Mookie Betts taking his reigning World Champion Boston Red Sox for another spin. Jesse A. Cook “Baseball In Year 9s: Welcoming 2019” December 31, 2018 Chris Sale fired strike three past a sprawling Manny Machado to clinch the Boston Red Sox’ ninth World Series Championship at around 11:15 last night. Christian Vazquez immediately shot up and leapt into Sale’s arms in front of the mound at Dodger stadium. The score read 5-1 and the series ended 4-1.
The Red Sox played statistically one of the greatest seasons in the history of baseball. Not only did they earn the greatest record in team history at 108 games, but they also beat two other 100-game winners on their way to the World Series and then beat the strongest team coming out of the National League. Game 5 was not an unexciting game, but Red Sox fans are glad that the Dodgers didn’t take them to an excruciating Game 7 like the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians in 2016 or the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers (again) last year in 2017. It started on a high note for Beantown. Andrew Benintendi singled up the middle off of LA starter Clayton Kershaw (who has lost his last four elimination games). This minor hit was followed by the game winner, a two-run home run from the World Series MVP, Steve Pearce. David Freese struck some fear into Boston hearts as he hit David Price’s first pitch over the center field wall, but the Dodgers would not score again for the rest of the game, the series, and the 2018 season. Mookie Betts (whose initials spell “M.L.B.”) homered in the sixth inning off of Kershaw to increase the Boston lead from 2-1 to 3-1. That was Betts’ first home run this postseason and his first run batted in this World Series. J.D. Martinez knocked one out the left field stands the next inning to put Boston up 4-1 and Pearce homered again in the eighth to make it 5-1. That would be the final score. Both Price and Kershaw pitched seven innings, both struck out five, but Price allowed four fewer hits at three and three fewer runs at one. Joe Kelly pitched the eighth for the Sox and allowed zero runs while Pedro Baez took the hill for LA and allowed the second Pearce homer. Kenley Jansen dealt to Boston for the top of the ninth and allowed zero runs, but Boston was excited to focus on their defense for the bottom of the inning. Sale took the hill to face the middle of the LA batting order, Justin Turner, Max Muncy, and Machado. Kelly had struck out the side in the eighth, and Sale followed in suit. He finally caught Machado to end it on a nasty curveball low and inside. Machado had no idea where it was. What gave Boston the edge over Los Angeles? For one, Alex Cora’s management style was very different from that of Dave Roberts. Cora based his coaching on excitement and encouragement, while Roberts told his players that he didn’t think they had it in them for a specific night. Cora put his struggling players on the field with rightfully placed confidence in them. Players simply felt better under the rookie manager, Cora. Boston’s offense was also simply better. They needed their top four hitters to step up and they finally did. Home runs from three of the first four batters in the order is exactly what they needed and that won it. Also, Brock Holt started a few rallies, Eduardo Nunez hustled his heart out, Vazquez and Sandy Leon started to finally hit well, Xander Bogaerts started getting on base again, and Mitch Moreland and Jackie Bradley Jr. remembered how to drive the ball over the fence. Rafael Devers deserves his own paragraph. He made an incredible play in the field, diving down the third base line, in Game 4 to take a line drive hit away from the jogging Machado and he had important hits to keep runs alive throughout the entire postseason. This shouldn’t however detract from Price’s masterful performance, dominating with his deceptive breaking pitches. Not to mention that Nathan Eovaldi pitched his heart out in Game 3 and allowed zero runs in his appearances in Games 1 and 2. Craig Kimbrel also stopped tipping his pitches and Sale recovered from whatever stomach condition ailed him during the ALCS versus the Astros. Price had an incredible rebound from his rocky start in Game 2 of the ALDS at home at Fenway Park against the New York Yankees. The Fenway crowd opening this Series had some good omens, as well: New England Patriots’ legendary head coach, Bill Belichick, read the thrilling opening monologue and Boston music great James Taylor sung one of the best renditions of the United States’ national anthem sung at a sporting event. Before Game 5, Boston Celtics’ Hall of Famer Larry Bird and Los Angeles Lakers’ Hall of Famer and Dodgers’ co-owner Magic Johnson had an opening debate that resulted in the Boston man, Bird, getting the last word. Despite the 18 inning Game 3 debacle, the stars aligned for Boston. After 162 regular season games, 14 postseason games, five games in the World Series, nine innings of Game 5, three outs in the bottom of the ninth, and three strikes on the last batter, Boston was more than ready to take home another trophy. Congratulations to the 2018 World Series Champions, the Boston Red Sox! Jesse A. Cook “Damage Done: Red Sox Win Again!” October 29, 2018 Eduardo Rodriguez and Rich Hill pitched a great pitchers’ duel last, but the Rodriguez’s Boston Red Sox pulled off an exciting late inning comeback winning 9-6. E-Rod left with after an unfortunate four-run sixth and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Hill left with a comfortable 4-1 lead.
First of all, that sixth inning was terrifying for Red Sox fans: Max Muncy, who has been killer in this series, came up with a man on, but luckily for Boston struck out. The Justin Turner doubled down the left field line making it second and third for Manny Machado. Boston head coach Alex Cora signaled for the intentional walk, loading the bases for Cody Bellinger. Then, the craziness began. Bellinger grounded the ball to Steve Pearce at first base who fired a high throw home to Christian Vazquez for one out. Vazquez immediately gunned it back to Pearce covering first, but Bellinger got in the way of the throw and it passed into right field, so Turner scored having started the play on second. Cora considered challenging the play and arguing that Bellinger should be out because he obstructed an out at first, but, after a conversation with right field umpire and crew chief Ted Barrett (who was the home plate umpire during the 18 inning Game 3), Cora decided to let it be. He decided to leave E-Rod in to face Yasiel Puig, but El Caballo made him pay with a three-run bomb to left to put LA up 4-0. The Sox got their cuts in the seventh when Mitch Moreland stepped up to the plate as a pinch hitter for pitcher Matt Barnes. With Xander Bogaerts on second and Brock Holt on first, Moreland took a Ryan Madson changeup into the right field stands to make it 4-3 Dodgers. In the top of the eighth, Kenley Jansen peered in at Steve Pearce with no one on base and one out. Seconds later, the game was tied. Pearce drove an absolute blast into the left-center fields stands making him the second Boston legend named Pearce (or Pierce) to make it rain in LA in the championship. 4-4. Remember how the sixth gave BoSox fans heart attacks? The ninth killed Dodgers’ fans. With one out Holt doubled on a chopper down the third base line, beating the shift. Rafael Devers pinch hit for Sandy Leon and singled to center, scoring Holt. Blake Swihart then came in to pinch hit for Joe Kelly and he grounded Devers to second. Dylan Floro was then ordered by head coach Dave Roberts to intentionally walk Mookie Betts. Andrew Benintendi tapped a chopper down the third base line and Justin Turner’s throw to first came late, loading the bases with two out for the Red Sox. Pearce came up again with a huge hit and doubled to right center to drive in all three men on base. Kenta Maeda walked J.D. Martinez to bring up Xander Bogaerts who singled Pearce home. 9-4 heading to the bottom of the ninth. Despite a two-run home run by Kiké Hernández, Craig Kimbrel pitched a sound ninth to win Game 4 and advance to a 3-1 lead over LA. Tonight, David Price will toss for Boston against Clayton Kershaw. Price has thrown some nasty stuff, pitching impeccable baseball since his debacle in Game 2 of the ALDS against the New York Yankees. Kershaw has been strong throughout the playoffs, with the exception of his five earned runs allowed in Game 1 of this series at Fenway Park. Maybe the Dodger Stadium air will be different and the Dodger Dogs will prevail forcing fans to go back to Boston for some Fenway Franks, but the pitching stats look promising for Beantown to earn their fourth banner of the 21st Century tonight. Their offensive stats look different for Boston, though. Their beginning of the lineup has to be better. They have been atrocious this series with the top four going 14 for 74 in the first four games. If you want to take Nathan Eovaldi’s two Game 3 “at-bats,” then 14 for 72 still is not much better. Counting Eovaldi, they’re batting a combined .189 (.194 without Eovaldi’s two at-bats). If they want to win tonight (or at all) Betts, Benintendi, Bogaerts, Pearce, Moreland, and Martinez need to hit better (mainly the first three and the last one mentioned). Jesse A. Cook “Sox Comeback Late, Up 3-1” October 28, 2018 With one out to go in a brutal Game 3, Yasiel Puig hit a sharp ground ball to Boston Red Sox second baseman, Ian Kinsler, who misfired to first base, allowing the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Max Muncy to score the tying run in the bottom of the 13th inning. Five innings later, Muncy hit a walkoff solo shot to left field to win Game 3 for LA 3-2 in 18 innings.
Unlike the game, this’ll be brief. Joc Pederson hit a homer to go up 1-0. Jackie Bradley Jr. tied it with one of his own. Brock Holt got on base in the 13th, stole second, and took home on an Eduardo Nunez dribbler resulting in an error. Muncy walked, took second on pop up, then scored on the Kinsler error. Nathan Eovaldi pitched a gem for over six innings, but he lost it on just one earned run. Muncy walked it off leading off the 18th. Rich Hill vs. Eduardo Rodriguez tonight for Game 4. Jesse A. Cook “Kinsler Muffs Ground Ball, Maybe Series” October 27, 2018 |
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