Mike Trout, Andrelton Simmons, Albert Pujols paired with the offseason acquisitions, namely Shohei Ohtani and Chris Young, will put the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim atop the American League in 2018. The lineup is stacked and the division is weak, so the odds fall ever in their favor.
Ohtani had a splendid start in his first Spring Training game, a 6-5 victory over the MIlwaukee Brewers. He struck out two and allowed only one run in 1.1 innings pitched. He most recently had a rocky start against the Tijuana Toros, but he picked himself up easily later on. Angels’ catcher Rene Rivera said, “Once the lights come on, they call 'play ball,' you're going to see a different pitcher. We'll see a lot more velocity, sharper pitches. He's going to be Ohtani. You have to give it time.” Rivera was right, for later in his performance, the Japanese star’s curveballs were dropping into the corners of the strike zone and his fastballs were hitting the upper 90s. Andrelton Simmons is returning from injury, so the LA lineup is all set to go with him, Young, Pujols, and, of course, Trout. All four players had favorable seasons last year and make great parts of the strong lineup. Simmons batted .278, with 14 home runs, 69 RBIs, and a .331 on-base percentage last year. Since he’s not there strictly for offense, those are great stats, especially with his speed because getting on base almost a third of the time means more stolen bases. His defense is also one of the best in the league, for it landed him with his third Gold Glove, eighth place in the MVP voting, the best defensive WAR at 4.2, and the eighth best WAR at 7.1. Pujols is a first ballot Hall of Famer and he hit 23 home runs last year, accompanied by 101 RBIs. Age doesn’t seem to have the effect on him that it has on most other players because he’s still able to clobber the ball out of the park and he will definitely add to his monstrous career 614 longballs. Trout is arguably the greatest baseball player of all-time and last year, which was not even his best season, in only 114 games, he hit 33 home runs, 72 RBIs, a .306 batting average, a .442 on-base percentage, a .629 slugging percentage, 1.071 OPS, the second best offensive WAR at 7.4, and the tenth best overall war at 6.7. He made his sixth all-star appearance and he would’ve started if not for an injury. He also came in fourth for the MVP award only following the World Series Champion, José Altuve, the Rookie of the Year with 53 home runs, Aaron Judge, and the Cleveland Indians’ star, José Ramirez (who all barely edged him out for the award). The Angels’ open their season at home against the Indians on April 2. Stay tuned for the second part of this series of articles about the prowess of underestimated California baseball teams in “California Countdown Part 2: Head Of Family And League.” The San Diego Padres, like the Angels, should definitely be on everyone’s watchlist. Jesse A. Cook “California Countdown Part 1: City Of Angels Soars” March 10, 2018
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2018 starts in a few hours, so to welcome the new year, here’s an installment of baseball in year 8s. From Charlie Comiskey to Chase Utley, baseball has taken a wild ride in year 8s.
1888: The St. Louis Browns held the best record in all of baseball. Atop the American Association at 92-43, the Browns were better than any team in the American Association or National League. Led by player manager Charlie Comiskey, the Browns helped pave the way for decades of great 8 baseball. 1898: Five years before winning the first World Series, the Boston Beaneaters, later named the Red Sox, had the best record in baseball at 102-47. Future Hall of Famers Hugh Duffy and Slidin’ Billy Hamilton led the team to their abundant victories. 1908: 1908 was the last time until 2016, 106 years, that the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. In October of that year, not only was the first game between an all-American team and an all-Japanese team played, but singer Billy Murray (eerily similar to the name of the most famous Cubs fan alive, comedic actor Bill Murray) introduced the world to “Take Me Out To The Ballgame,” and Baseball’s Sad Lexicon led the Cubbies to 4-1 series victory over the Detroit Tigers. The Cubs were led by a trio of infielders: Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance. The poem about the 3 may happen to be what put them all in the Hall of Fame, however Baseball’s Sad Lexicon did more to cause anguish to the Cubs’ opponents.: These are the saddest of possible words: “Tinker to Evers to Chance.” Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds, Tinker and Evers and Chance. Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble, Making a Giant hit into a double Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble: “Tinker to Evers to Chance.” The poem describes that if a ball comes anywhere near 1 of these 3 greats, all hopes of getting on base vanished. The smug Tigers thought that they would walk all over Chicago, but the Detroit crowd would be silenced in 5 games. The next year, 1908, would mark the last Cubs World Series victory for 108 until November 2 and 3, 2016. 1918: This may possibly be the most hated season in Boston Red Sox’ history, considering that right after the season ended, BoSox’ owner Harry Frazee traded arguably the greatest baseball player of all-time, George Herman “Babe” Ruth, to their hated rivals, the New York Yankees. Beantown took the World Series (their last one until 2004, an 84 year drought called “The Curse of the Great Bambino”) 4 games to 2 over the Cubs led by Ruth. 1928: Taking the Cards down in four, the New York Yankees’ Murderers’ Row easily won the World Series led by Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri and the great Bambino. With the best record in all of Major League Baseball at 101-53, the Bronx Bombers were an unstoppable force that continues to dominate baseball to this day. At 68-25, the St. Louis Stars led the Negro National League that same year, with a wide margin over the 49-31 Kansas City Monarchs. 1938: While the fearsome Yankees, now led by rookie Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio, swept the North Side Cubbies in the Fall Classic, 1938 was an unusual year for baseball. On June 11, the Cincinnati Reds’ Johnny Vander Meer no-hit the Boston Bees at Crosley Field in Cincy and he made history on June 15 of that same year in Brooklyn when he no-hit the Dodgers, becoming the only man in baseball history ever to pitch two consecutive no-hitters. Not out of the ordinary, the 32-15 Monarchs and 27-10 Homestead Grays led the Negro American and National Leagues, respectively. 1948: One year after Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier and thankfully forever integrated the MLB, the Cleveland Indians started baseball’s longest active World Series drought. They took the Series 4 games to 2 over the Boston Braves. At 55-21, the Birmingham Black Barons were atop the Negro American League. 1958: The Yankees, led by DiMaggio and catcher Yogi Berra, took a thrilling World Series over the Milwaukee Braves 4 games to 3 to end the season, led by Cy Young Bob Turley. On January 28, however, bad news opened up the year the career of Los Angeles Dodgers’ catcher Roy Campanella broke his neck and paralyzed his legs. In addition to the mediocrity of the year, for the first time in eight years, no new members are elected to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. 1968: Another thrilling World Series, in the midst of a presidential election (which Richard Nixon won over Hubert Humphrey), the 103-59 Tigers beat the 97-65 St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 3. The MVP and the Cy Young winners were the same for both leagues and both represented a World Series team: Denny McLain of Detroit and Bob Gibson of St. Louis. Gibson, a Hall of Famer, also set the record for best single season Earned Run Average at 1.12. 1978: Now split into the East and West, the American and National Leagues boasted the Yankees (AL) and the Dodgers (NL) in the Championship Series. The Yankees took it 4-2, winning their second series in a row. The Boston Red Sox’ Jim Rice was the AL Most Valuable Players and the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Dave Parker won the award for the NL. 1988: Dennis Eckersley’s Oakland Athletics were heavily favored over the LA Dodgers, but in Game 1 Kirk Gibson hobbled up to the plate. The iconic Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully had the call, “And look who’s coming up!” when the injured outfielder, Gibson, surprised West California and the rest of the world by hitting a walkoff home run to start the Trolley Dodgers’ sweep off of the Hall of Fame closer, Eck, opposite him. The Minnesota Twins’ (AL) Frank Viola and the Dodgers’ (NL) Orel Hershiser, who pitched the longest scoreless streak in baseball history at 59 innings without a run that year, were the Cy Young winners and Gibson of the Dodgers and José Canseco of the A’s were the MVPs. 1998: Led now by Andy Petit, Jorge Posada, the greatest closer of all-time, Mariano Rivera, and the greatest shortstop, arguably greatest player in history, Derek Jeter, sweeping the San Diego Padres, the Yankees won their 24th World Series Championship. The leagues now had East, West and Central divisions, as well as a Wild Card spot in the postseason. There were four 20 game winners, three of them in the American League: the Toronto Blue Jays’ Roger Clemens (AL), the Yanks’ David Cone (AL), the Texas Rangers’ Rick Helling (AL), and the Atlanta Braves’ Tom Glavine (NL). 2008: Led by Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels and Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee, the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Rookie of the Year Evan Longoria led Tampa Bay Rays in five games. Hamels was the World Series MVP. Boston’s Dustin Pedroia won the American League MVP and the Cardinals’ Albert Pujols won it for the National League. 2018: Right around the corner, tomorrow, January 1, 2018, will start a story just as great as the previous 13 decades mentioned in this article. Already looking exciting, 2018 will feature Giancarlo Stanton apart from his Miami Marlins and now joining the 2017 Rookie of the Year, Aaron Judge, in the Yankees’ outfield, Shohei Otani accompanying Mike Trout for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and a red hot Rhys Hoskins leading the reborn Phillies. Jesse A. Cook “Baseball In Year 8s: Welcoming 2018” December 31, 2017 Today is the 20th anniversary of the Seinfeld episode concerning the holiday, Festivus. In following the tradition, this December 23rd, here is my airing of grievances and feats of strength from the major sports:
AIRING OF GRIEVANCES PLAYER’S POWER In the NBA, the power of the players to control their owners has been a constant problem. Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Paul George and Chris Paul say they want to leave their franchise team and there’s no debate, they’re right onto listening for new deals! They say they want out and they’re gone. That’s ridiculous, but it looked like it was staying in the NBA until recently. STANTON LEAVES MIAMI Giancarlo Stanton followed in suit with the NBA stars and decided he wanted to leave the city he’s called home for his entire eight-year career. Immediately, he’s dealt to the New York Yankees, which actually leads me to my next grievance which is how a lifetime Pinstripe traded the star of the team he newly owns to the Yanks for next to nothing! Derek Jeter willingly deals the reigning National League MVP from the Miami Marlins to the Bronx for Starlin Castro and a couple of mediocre minor leaguers? Something’s not right, here. FIGHTING IN FOOTBALL From Michael Crabtree and Aqib Talib to A.J. Green and Jalen Ramsey, the fighting in the NFL has gotten out of control. The sport is dangerous enough as it is, and with the ongoing investigations into concussion protocol and CTE, they definitely do not to be scrutinized over how Ndamukong Suh stepped on Aaron Rodgers’ throat. The Cincinnati Bengals are a prime example, for they’ve been recognized as thugs ever since Adam Jones and Vontaze Burfict tried to essentially assassinate Antonio Brown in the 2015-16 AFC Wild Card. NHL LEAVES THE OLYMPICS With great players from around the globe in the NHL, it’s a real shame that this 2018 Olympic Games is the first tournament to not include the NHL athletes. Who doesn’t want to see Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin lead Team Russia against Patrick Kane and Zach Parise for Team USA, or Tuukka Rask and Team Finland against Henrik Lundqvist and Team Sweden, or the many notable faces of Team Canada against whatever sorry country they’re pitted against? The NHL doesn’t want to take two weeks out of their season anymore to showcase their best and brightest stars, but fortunately, we still have the Hockey World Championship in late spring. NBA SUPERTEAMS The Golden State Warriors, the Houston Rockets, the Boston Celtics, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Oklahoma City Thunder are prime examples of superteams. These teams are corrupting the NBA because now great players are just getting together and making it ridiculous for other teams to even try! It’s not inconceivable that the only competition in the West is the Warriors, Houston and OKC and it’s only Cleveland and Boston in the East because of these superteams. FOOD AT MARINERS’ GAMES The Seattle Mariners are a fine organization, but their food has gotten a little outlandish. Safeco Field is now serving roasted grasshoppers at Mariners’ games, but however good they may or may not taste, this writer is not on board with munching on insects. HATING TB12 The New England Patriots are often thought of as the Yankees of the NFL because they just keep on winning, but that hate is directed mainly at Tom Brady. People claim that he’s not the greatest quarterback of all time, but the stats do not lie and now people are claiming that he’s not that good when he’s the front runner for MVP. Giving the MVP Award to somebody else is like when the NBA gave the award to Karl Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon or Magic Johnson just so Michael Jordan didn’t get it every single year; greatness gets repetitive and people need to get on board. 31 TEAMS Sure, the Las Vegas Golden Knights is a pretty addition to the NHL, but now the league is in a weird situation. The West now has 16 teams and the East has 15, lopsiding the league so that there’s one more team to contend with in the Western Conference than there is the East. Maybe it’s just an answer to how the Nashville Predators, who made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, were the last seed in the West, but the seventh seed Calgary Flames wouldn’t have made it in the East, so now teams have to do slightly better to make the playoffs. FEATS OF STRENGTH WIN STREAKS The Celtics, Cavs and Rockets all boasted win streaks in the double digits, with the Land at 12 games, Houston at 14 and the Celts at an outstanding, historic 16 games. Granted, all three of these organizations fell under my list of superteams, in the competitive National Basketball Association winning above ten games in a row is no small task. Only a strong team could pull off such a feat. ANGELIC DEALS The Los Angeles Angels are making themselves into a powerful foe for their American League counterparts. Already possessing arguably the greatest baseball player since Babe Ruth in Mike Trout, with the recent acquisition of Shohei Ohtani, Zack Cozart and Ian Kinsler, they’re a daunting danger to the daring demeanor of the distant desert teams in the AL West. The all-star Reds’ shortstop Cozart and the WBC Team USA star Ian Kinsler make a deadly, dastardly duo in the middle infield and Ohtani speaks for himself, something he doesn’t do when addressing an English-speaking crowd! They barely missed the playoffs last year, so with this rejuvenation, this year will be a wild one. THE COMEBACK Okay, okay, it was last season, but it’s still 2017 and 28-3 is the greatest Super Bowl comeback in history. Without their star tight end, Rob Gronkowski, and only held up by Tom Brady’s cool calm collectiveness, Julian Edelman’s nimble fingers, James White’s clutch speed, LeGarrette Blount’s means of just hurling himself through a defense and Martellus Bennett’s grit, Bill Belichick’s soldiers sauntered into Houston, through screeching Falcons to the first Overtime victory in Super Bowl history. A fifth ring to the GOAT’s hand through the only 21 minutes and 8 seconds of a comeback is no small deed. LIGHTNING STRIKES AGAIN Last season, the Tampa Bay Lightning was the tenth seed in the Eastern Conference and now they’re the best team in the entire league! This year, they have the best powerplay, most goals scored per game, the most points, most wins (and least losses), Nikita Kucherov leads the league in both goals and overall points, Anton Stralman has the best plus-minus, and Andrei Vasilevskiy has the most wins by a goaltender. This isn’t a jump from the absolute worst, but the irrelevant squadron from the 2016-2017 season is now the scariest phenom on the ice for the 2017-18 season. Now that I’ve exhausted my airing of grievances and feats of strength, it’s time to take out the festival pole. 2017 has been a good year for sports and let’s hope for an even better one in 2018, so this December 23rd can really prove to be a Festivus for the rest of us. Jesse A. Cook “Festivus” December 23, 2017 Lance McCullers of the Houston Astros is starting against Yu Darvish of the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game Seven of the World Series. That’s an all-star matchup, but it’s the last game of the year, the managers won’t hold back with bringing in their bullpen. It’s more likely that, unless either pitcher is tossing a perfect game, that by the fifth inning, the matchup will be Dallas Keuchel versus Clayton Kershaw.
Kershaw said, “I can go 27 innings. Whatever they need.” Clearly, he’s willing to follow in the footsteps of former Dodger and MVP of the 1988 World Series, Orel Hershiser, and sacrifice his arm for a ring. Darvish got rocked by the Houston bats in Game Three and didn’t finish the second inning, while McCullers led his team into the sixth inning before leaving. Granted, McCullers gave up three runs, Darvish allowed four, but as I said in the title, “Starting pitching will make no difference in Game Seven.” Why won’t it make a difference? Well, A.J. Hinch and Dave Roberts are smart managers, they understand that they have no possibility of playing another game after tonight, so they understand that they can throw literally every reliever they have in the game and take out the starting pitcher as early as they need. If George Springer and Alex Bregman hit back-to-back home runs to lead off the ballgame, Roberts will probably call to the bullpen and have Kershaw or Alex Wood start warming up their arms. If Chris Taylor starts a three-run first inning with Yasiel Puig on deck behind Cody Bellinger, Hinch is going to get Keuchel and Justin Verlander up and stretching. These managers have every starter and reliever at their disposal tonight because as far as this season goes, there’s really no tomorrow. If history tells us anything, Darvish will not be productive and McCullers will be able to go at least six innings. Considering that LA has a much, much better bullpen, the ‘Stros have to make sure that McCullers can go as long as they need, and Keuchel is ready to take the hill. Game Seven is just like the All-Star Game in how managers manage it: just put everybody in when one guy starts to get tired. Jesse A. Cook “Starting Pitching Will Make No Difference In Game Seven” November 1, 2017 With Justin Verlander starting on the mound, tonight, the Houston Astros should win the World Series. It’s Game Six in Los Angeles and the Astros starter is undefeated in his new uniform. A former Detroit Tiger, Verlander has not lost a game since heading to Southeastern Texas.
After his walk-off single to win Game Five and take a three games to two lead in the series Sunday night, Houston third baseman Alex Bregman excitedly said, “We've got Justin Verlander going for us in two days.” He means that they will undoubtedly win the series tonight because they have the best pitcher of the postseason on the hill. Verlander is facing the Dodgers’ Rich Hill who threw nine innings of a perfect game before giving up a walk-off home run to the Pittsburgh Pirates Josh Harrison to start the tenth inning in the latter half of the season. Hill recorded a no decision in every one of his playoff starts, including the Astros 7-6 Game Two victory. Verlander leads the postseason in wins, as he is 4-0, he has the only shutout and only complete game, and he only gave up three runs in his Game Two win. While the ‘Stros will be cautious about using their bullpen tonight, if Verlander shows the slightest signs of slowing down, A.J. Hinch will without a doubt take him out, but that’s not likely to happen. Hill, in Game Two, while he only gave up one run, Dave Roberts took him out of the game after only four innings! The Trolley Dodgers have a great pen, but after six of their pitchers in Sunday’s loss, they’re stretched a little thin, even after a day of rest. Tonight’s matchup will showcase a seasoned veteran who has proven that he is more than well suited to pitch long innings against a manager who is scared to keep his starter in the game past the fifth inning (when most Dodgers fans leave the ballpark anyway) with a tired bullpen. Dave Roberts has to be confident that Hill can go to the sixth inning, at least! Now say, Houston does not take the series tonight, it’s fair to say that Game Six will be a struggle. Both teams will probably go digging into their pens, a part of the team that LA is much better in, but Houston will go there later, use less relievers, and leave Lance McCullers, another long-innings pitcher, to pitch against a faltering Yu Darvish and an exhausted Dodger bullpen. As for tonight’s starting pitcher’s comparison, Verlander has 29 strikeouts, Hill has only 19, Verlander has 2.05 Earned Run Average, Hill has it at 2.77, Verlander has four wins, Hill has zero, and Verlander’s average of Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched is 0.88, while Hill’s is 1.23. Granted, Verlander has pitched 30.2 innings to Hill’s 13, awarding him more time to strike out more batters, all that means is that Verlander has had longer to allow more runs and more hits, thusly proving that Hinch’s starter has consistently performed much better than Roberts’ this postseason. While the stats point to Houston’s favor, as well as their momentum, coming off of a huge, hard-fought victory, it’s Halloween and Game Six. All baseball fans know that crazy things happen in Game Six and all people know crazy things happen on Halloween. Happy Halloween and wonderful World Series watching! Jesse A. Cook “Why Houston Should Take The Series” October 31, 2017 Cincinnati pitching is often far behind both the rest of baseball and the offense of the team. The Reds had few great pitchers to call their own throughout their long history, which dates back to 1869, as they were the first professional ballclub.
The fact of the matter is that while the Reds have had great pitchers, most of them were relievers, which only translates to scoreless sixths, sevenths, eighths and ninths; it doesn’t prevent seven runs from being scored by the third inning, which happens a lot to the Queen City’s team. Even just in the last 30 years, the biggest names from the mound were Rob Dibble, Aroldis Chapman and Raisel Iglesias… all closers who were great for Cincy for a couple of years, but then retired, left, or did whatever will happen with Iglesias. “Ay, there’s the rub,” said the great poet and playwright, William Shakespeare, and there is the rub: the Reds could have the best bullpen in baseball history, but their starting rotation can’t keep their earned run averages under 3.00! Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer said, “If I’m running a baseball organization, I have my best teachers in those places, not up here or in the high minors. I pay them like major league coaches, not $65K a year, and I collaborate with them to develop a Reds Way that has less to do with velocity than with learning how to pitch.” Daugherty has the right mindset on the matter, for the Reds keep trying to fix their pitching next to manager Bryan Price at the Major League level. That works if Amir Garrett is slumping or Tim Adleman is returning from injury and is having some trouble in his first couple games back, but it doesn’t work if the team is trying to get Sal Romano to MLB quality pitching, in the Majors! Now, of course, if the Redlegs are looking to have one great season and win a championship then be back to being mediocre, they trade half their prospects for Justin Verlander, David Price and Yu Darvish-like pitchers. The other option is trading their aging stars for prospects, like they did with Brandon Phillips. One example is the Boston Red Sox: ever since David Ortiz retired and Hanley Ramirez starting playing first base, Sam Travis and Mitch Moreland have been playing there, but the BoSox would be much, much happier trading pitching prospects Jay Groome and Alex Scherff for Joey Votto. Votto would be perfect for Fenway Park; he hits the ball everywhere on the field and has one the best gloves in the game. According to Baseball-Reference, Votto is sixth in the league and first among first basemen in wins above replacement (WAR). WAR is a statistic that shows essentially who is most valuable to their team; the Most Valuable Player Award is given to the player with the best WAR, usually. Votto, statistically speaking, is the most valuable first baseman in all of baseball. That’s a pretty sweet way to make him sound in trade negotiations. Cincinnati is a team in desperate need of good pitching. They have Hunter Green making his way through the Minor Leagues, but their offense is good enough that if they were willing to trade a young prospect or two, they could obtain some real quality veteran pitching. Jesse A. Cook “The Reds’ Problem-Shining Cincy On The Hill” October 4, 2017 Philadelphia is not the greatest city to live in for sports fans, but the Phillies are about to change that. With the recent success of rookie left fielder and first baseman Rhys Hoskins, hitting 18 home runs in 47 games (he started out on a streak of 11 homers in 18 games), Philadelphia is excited for their chances next season in the 2018 year.
No, Philly won’t come close to reaching the playoffs in this 2017 season, in fact they have a 64-95 record, are 32 games out of first place in the National League East Division, are the second-worst team in the National League, just ahead of the San Francisco Giants, and are the third worst team in all of baseball, ahead of San Fran and the Detroit Tigers. What part of this dictates that they’ll even come at all close to the second Wild Card team? Well, they’ve got some exciting young players. Hoskins, for one, not only has the best bat, the best attitude to how to treat the game as he said in late August, “You’re just trying to win a game to start a series.” That’s what players learn from a young age; that the game is not about one good player, it’s about every player playing the best they can to help their team win, something the Phillies will be doing a lot of starting next year. Shortstop J.P. Crawford and catcher Jorge Alfaro have already been in the Majors for the team, Mickey Moniak is the top outfielder in their farm system and Sixto Sanchez is the rising star who will undoubtedly be the spark this dismal Major League pitching staff needs in their ranks. That’s just a few of the young players who, without a doubt, will be the answers to this Philadelphia baseball dilemma. Crawford made exactly zero errors in his time in the Majors. With the strong batting that the Phillies have, they need that type of player in the outfield. Alfaro is the far better batsman; he batted .304 in the Majors, 13 runs batted in, four home runs and 31 hits. A good-hitting catcher always was a rarity in baseball history and Alfaro has proved himself to be that. Moniak is listed as the number one prospect for the Phillies by MLB.com and advanced two Classes in less than half a season. The Phillies are in desperate need of players who can advance, adapt, learn and improve quickly because if they want to be good again, and soon, they want those guys in the Major Leagues. Lastly, the main problem that has helped destroy the standings of Philly is their pitching staff. By the same list of prospects, Sanchez is ranked as the best pitching prospect in their organization. On the same team as Moniak, the Lakewood BlueClaws, Sanchez went 5-3 in 13 starts, had a 2.41 earned run average, gave up only one home run, had an 0.817 walks and hits per innings pitched average and struck out 64 batters. Jesse A. Cook “Philadelphia Phillies Freedom” September 29, 2017 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 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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