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
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Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez form the unstoppable duo that puts the Boston Red Sox as the best team in baseball. Why have they been so great, though?
After a 5-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park on May 2, KC manager Ned Yost said about Betts that he’s a, “Special player, special player… he's definitely up there with the upper-echelon players in this league. He's just fantastic, talented, athletic, quick hands, great power, good swing.” Betts hit three home runs in that game, so it’s pretty clear why he’s great. He has two three home run games this year, four in his career, and he’s second in all of baseball in homers with 17. As Yost said in his comments after the early season game that Betts’ swing is incredible: he starts by throwing his body forward, but he still keeps all his weight on his back foot (basically gearing up for a massive power swing). As he does this, he does a very Pete Rose-esque diagonal holding of the bat; he pulls his back elbow up and the barrel of the bat behind his head, and then he masterfully swings his hips around, with the bat carrying behind for a perfect swing. He also keeps his bat in the strike zone longer than most players, allowing him to put the ball on his bat for longer and that gives him more force and more power. Because he’s also an aggressive hitter, he rarely gets caught looking at strike three. His Pete Rose aggressiveness and swing, combined with his strength and stability (how he manages his weight and how he keeps his bat in the strike zone) leads to a player who has a higher batting average and a higher on-base percentage. He also is a great all-around hitter, as his he can easily tap the ball through the infield, but he just as easily hits for power (although he refuses to participate in a home run derby because he doesn’t want to risk messing up his swing, which I think is astute). As for Martinez, he’s a more typical power hitter, yet he shares Betts’ aggressiveness that helps prevent large strikeout numbers. This season, he’s only struck out 56 times, which is rather staggering for a power hitter; it’s very low for a power hitter. With the Tigers, Martinez had a low stance that’s more average oriented, but in his time in Arizona and his time in Boston, he, like neanderthals to homo sapiens, evolved into a more upright stance. He has a very different swing than Betts does, as Betts stays lower, brings his elbow up and his bat back much more, and he throws himself forward during his swing (mind that Betts still manages to keep his weight on his back foot). Adversely, Martinez brings his elbow up and his bat back only slightly, he’s very upright, and he barely moves forward at all during his swing. While his swing is very different from Betts, that doesn’t mean that he’s a worse hitter; in fact while Betts is number two in homers, J.D. is number one. Martinez is of a breed of batter that lifts the ball more and hits for distance. Being a power hitter, he likes to pull the ball (Betts is an all around hitter, so he’s very good at hitting to all fields), so when he doesn’t bring his elbow up or his bat back, that allows him to get his bat to the ball quicker and launch it down the left field line. Not moving forward allows him an easier means of keeping his weight on his back foot and gives him a swing more oriented at lofting balls into the stands, rather than hitting line drives into the stands, as Betts does. Staying tall during his swing does a similar thing as it lets him lift the ball (fun fact, of the 14 longest home runs in MLB history in the age of televised baseball, eight were hit by batters with upright stances). Obviously, Alex Cora has a lot to do with these stars’ success, for the changes in their stats from last year are staggering. Approximately one third of the way through the year, Betts and Martinez have inarguably good stats: Martinez has 18 home runs, is batting .317, has an on-base percentage of .377, has a slugging percentage of .654, has a 1.030 OPS, and has 47 RBIs. Betts has 17 home runs, is batting .359, has an on-base percentage of .437, has a slugging percentage of .750, has an OPS of 1.187, and has 37 RBIs. Betts is first in baseball in batting, Martinez is 13th, Martinez is first in homers, Betts is second, Martinez is first in RBIs, Betts is 18th, Betts is second in OBP, Martinez is 27th, Betts is first in slugging, Martinez is third, Betts is first in OPS, and Martinez is third. Last year, in the entire season, Martinez had 45 homers, batted .303, and had an OBP of .676. Last year, again, in the ENTIRE season, Betts had 24 homers, batted .264, had a .344 OBP, drove in 102 runs, had a .459 slugging, and a .803 OPS. Clearly, under new management, the stars’ stats have taken a major turn for the positive. Great swings and better management clearly have played a huge factor in the development of these definite all-stars. The new management has also fueled the team because, as Red Sox Nation has been guessing for the last four years, John Farrell is not a first-place-in-all-of-baseball manager. Betts and Martinez and their incredible swings and stats show baseball that the Red Sox will be a force to be reckoned with for the next decade or so. Not to mention that they have what is possibly the best farm system in baseball (I mean, it bred Mookie Betts, himself, for God’s sake!), but their constant production of future greats will also place an incredible team for years to come around these two and under Cora. Boston’s pitching is also key in their success as the play of Chris Sale, Rick Porcello, and David Price has greatly, greatly improved from last year, putting them as one of the best rotations in the league. Yes, Boston is in good hands and Betts and Martinez are absolutely instrumental in their success of the present and the future. Jesse A. Cook June 1, 2018 “Behind Betts And Martinez’ Incredible Year” Wil Myers leads a dark horse candidate for this postseason, but the San Diego Padres pose a new threat in the West. Their acquisition of Eric Hosmer as well as their minor league prospects will put the Padres as a leader in the National League.
Pitching is their main issue, but their farm system is readily addressing that, with seven of their top ten prospects being pitchers. One of their premiere players is Mackenzie Gore, a left-handed pitcher. Padres’ coach Darren Balsley said “Every time I’ve seen him (Gore) he’s been lights out. He’s what you want to see.” Gore is the listed as the best San Diego prospect by MLB.com, so clearly the scouts all conquer that he’s the best they’ve got. Gore is listed as San Diego’s second best prospect, baseball’s 19th best prospect, and the best left-handed prospect in all of baseball. Last season, in rookie ball (a league he won’t be in very long), Gore had a 1.27 ERA, gave up only seven hits and three earned runs, and struck out 34 batters in 21.1 innings. You should not expect to see him in the lower minor leagues come April. Anderson Espinoza, the man San Diego traded Drew Pomeranz to the Boston Red Sox for, is an optimistic question mark. Despite receiving Tommy John surgery last year, Espinoza is the 89th best prospect in all of baseball. In his last season, 2016, he had 4.49 ERA, a 1.385 WHIP, and struck 100 batters in only 25 games; this is coming from the future closer of the Padres. Clearly, they’ve got some great young talent warming in the pen. Myers is a constant to the team, and he had a fine season last year. Last season, he hit .243, but he also drove in 74 runs, had 138 hits, and at one of the best in all of baseball, he hit an impressive 30 home runs. This team leader will, as always, be who makes the team successful. They acquired Hosmer this offseason, and the man is an all-star home run machine. Playing every game last year, Hosmer knocked 25 long balls over the deep fences of Kauffman Stadium, batted in 94 runs, batted .318, came in 14th for the American League MVP, won a gold glove, and won a silver slugger. The former Kansas City Royal is sure to make a much needed addition to the Southern California lineup. The National League West should play in fear of the threat that is San Diego (and the AL West in fear of Anaheim, as predicted in part one of this series, “California Countdown Part 1: City of Angels Soars”). The best team in that division as of last year was the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the new arms and the new bat stacking Friar’s play pose a great foe for them. 2018 will be a crazy year. Jesse A. Cook “California Countdown Part 2: Head Of Family And League” March 21, 2018 |
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