With home runs flying off the bat too easily, cameras, morse code on trash cans, and buzzers may not have been baseball’s worst scandal this year. In the past few months, three managers have been fired for cheating through using electronics to steal signs, A.J. Hinch of the Houston Astros, Alex Cora of the Astros and Boston Red Sox, and Carlos Beltran of the Astros and New York Mets.
No action has happened relative to Major League Baseball juicing the baseballs. The managers were fired for their collective work in cheating their way to a World Series in 2017 and Cora may have also used the same cheating methods to win the World Series in 2018 with the Red Sox, but the Red Sox investigation is still ongoing. In 2017, a young outfielder from California also made his debut for the New York Yankees alongside a first baseman out of Arizona who made his debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Aaron Judge of the Yankees and Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers started one of the most exciting home run races since the 1961 bout between Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Someone on M.L.B.’s marketing team saw the buzz these rookies were generating and mustered up an age-old idea that home runs bring more fans. The timing was perfect. With the obvious increase in home runs, M.L.B. needed something to turn attention away from the shady work. Again, the timing was perfect. In 2019, former Astros’ pitcher Mike Fiers moved out to Oakland to join the starting rotation for the Athletics and broke an interesting story shortly after the season ended. He conjectured that his former team had used dishonest methods to ensure their success. The Astros had been to the American League Championship Series three times, been to the World Series twice, and won it once, all in the last three years. Boston Globe sports writer Pete Abraham said that many analysts saw an apparently inexplicable improvement from the Astros. “In 2017 it was evident the Astros were either extraordinarily good or were up to something. They never swung and missed; they were always on breaking balls. But nobody knew the extent of what they were doing,” said Abraham. The story became even more interesting when reports came out accusing the entire Astros coaching staff of perpetrating the cheating. This included Cora, who became the manager of the Red Sox directly after the 2017 season ended. In 2018, the only time in the three years that Houston lost before making it to the World Series, they lost to Cora’s Red Sox. This story was more interesting than almost anything in baseball besides the game, itself. Really, the timing was perfect. The fiendish idea to juice the baseballs was rumored to have come up in the early 2010s, but the idea was largely dismissed. Exiting the steroid era in baseball, when baseballs flew into the stands more often than planes flew out of airports, a large amount of home runs was not unprecedented. Home runs, in fact, had decreased in total. Boston Globe sports writer Dan Shaughnessy said that he does not think people should jump to conclusions, but there is something amiss. He said, “Swing path and the true outcomes of walks and strikeouts show more about the home runs and what was the actual cause of the spike, but I wouldn’t discount that there’s something to it.” “The ball was juiced,” said Abraham. There were significant changes in home run totals. Host of both the Section 10 Podcast and the Starting 9 Podcast Jared Carrabis made no hint of any indecision. Definitely, he said, “It was scientifically proven that it was the baseballs.” In 2017, Judge and Bellinger became big names, Giancarlo Stanton, then of the Miami Marlins, hit his prime, and Houston players like Jose Altuve suddenly had morse code telling them what pitch was coming. For the first time in baseball history, the league saw more than 6,000 home runs in one season at 6,105. Shaughnessy said he blamed the increase on different pitching tactics. “Pitchers are trying to strike out every batter and no one is hitting the ball to the fielders. Baseball has devolved into a sport where it’s either a home run or strike out. Used to be a team sport, but it’s just the batter, pitcher, and whoever can bring a home run back in the outfield,” he said. 2018 saw a less exciting home run story with the A’s Khris Davis, the Colorado Rockies’ Nolan Arenado, the Minnesota Twins’ Miguel Sano, and Boston’s J.D. Martinez leading the league with less exciting numbers; no one hitting 50 like Judge and Stanton did. The league combined for 5,585 home runs, 520 fewer shots than the previous year. “There were definitely guys that were having strong power seasons out of nowhere, and there were balls being hit on a nightly basis that didn't look like they had enough off the bat that were flying over the fence,” said Carrabis. In 2019, baseball saw an unmistakably concerning uptick in home runs. Mets’ rookie Pete Alonso, the Cincinnati Reds’ Eugenio Suarez, and the Kansas City Royals’ Jorge Soler all outhit the M.V.P.s in Bellinger and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s Mike Trout. The home run total jumped up by 1,191 to a never-before-seen 6,776 home runs league wide. “Home runs are rewarders, lower batting averages are not punished… people like home runs,” said Shaughnessy. Carrabis cited that players work with the added influence on the baseballs. “It was a combination of the way the baseballs were designed to travel longer distances, players having an understanding of how launch angle works, and pitcher velocities being higher than ever,” he said. With non-home run hitters suddenly leading the league, an occurrence reminiscent of the steroid era, something seemed inconsistent. Abraham said that baseball has changed and that players are trying to hit home runs more than they ever have. He said, “Everybody wants to get the ball in the air and hit homers. They're willing to strike out four times to hit one homer. That never happened 10 years ago. It's a power game now. Hitters used to want to use the whole field and hit line drives. Now everybody wants to pull the ball in the air.” Baseball’s television ratings changed, too. 2019 saw the best television ratings and attendance that the League has ever seen. 167.9 million people tuned into M.L.B. games last year. More people watched baseball last year because more home runs were hit. There is no reason to expect the league to change from that last year. Shaughnessy said that there is a culture around home runs and that sometimes they are the only way to advance in the minor leagues. He said, “It’s impossible to predict what will happen down the road in baseball, but home run-loving stays the same. Guys are trying to separate themselves from other minor leaguers the same way they were trying to do it in the steroid era.” Jesse A. Cook “Cheating Behind The Real Scandal; Major League Baseball Juiced The Baseballs And Covered It With The Spying” March 16, 2020
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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 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 Adding John Tavares to their roster pre-season, the Toronto Maple Leafs were expected to take the Stanley Cup without a hitch, but they trail the Tampa Bay Lightning by 14 points and the New York Islanders are only one point behind them.
Tavares’ former team, who was supposed to be at the bottom of the barrel for this season, is only a point behind them. Auston Matthews, who spent a portion of the season recovering from injury is one of Toronto’s few bright spots, but even his 1.21 points per game has not put him in the league’s top ten. Their team stats have not exactly been top tier, either. Center Mitchell Marner is their top point-getter with 63, which is only 10th best in the National Hockey League. Tavares is 24th with 56 and Morgan Rielly is 32nd with 52. In two of the last three seasons, the top point-getter on the Cup-winning team was in the top three of point-getters in the entire NHL. The numbers do not bode well for the Maple Leafs if they keep up these poor numbers. They are also only 5-4-1 in their last 10 games, the overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings who are the third worst team in the Eastern Conference. Their other four losses are to the Arizona Coyotes, Florida Panthers, Colorado Avalanche, and the Boston Bruins. Boston is the only one of these teams who are in a position to acquire even a Wild Card spot. That brings up another interesting point involving the Bruins. Their mean age is 26.03 years old, meaning that they are a very young team that Toronto will have to contend with for years to come, which hinders their shot at future Cups, as well. Why is that so important if Boston is struggling to hold onto a Wild Card spot? This season, the Bruins and Leafs faced four times, three of which Boston won. One of those Boston wins was in Toronto. Boston also won two of those games by three goals or more, losing their only loss by two goals. Now, the Leafs are only slightly older than the Bruins, their mean age is 26.33 years old, but their record against this young Boston team shows that they will have troubles with Boston in not only this year’s postseason, where the two have a high chance of playing each other, but in future seasons for at least the next five years. If teams like Boston are going to be such a roadblock for the team that was supposed to have an easy road to the Stanley Cup this season, then the Leafs are in for some major issues. Not to mention that a team from perpetually warm Tampa Bay, Florida is beating them at a game played on ice, something Tampa has not seen naturally occurring since December 23 of 1989. Toronto is in trouble and is ultimately a disappointment to their fanbase. Jesse A. Cook “Maple Leafs Aren’t Everything They Should Be” February 6, 2019 Sprinting down the hash marks into the back of the end zone, Jason McCourty’s incredible play to knock a possibly game-changing touchdown out of the hands of Brandin Cooks is only one of many defensive efforts that won Super Bowl LIII 13-3 for the New England Patriots. Brian Flores’ New England defense held the Los Angeles Rams to 301 total yards, 229 of which were passing. Kyle Van Noy ultimately made the biggest impact on defense due to the constant pressure he kept on Jared Goff. Lawrence Guy and Albert McClellan came up big, as well, knocking Goff down during throws, and Jonathan Jones, Duron Harmon, and Dont’a Hightower made some important hits, as well, but Van Noy was an absolute beast on the New England defensive line. On an important third down midway through the second quarter, Van Noy made the one of the best plays of the entire game sacking Goff for a huge 14-yard loss. The linebacker Van Noy started the play in the defensive backfield, teaming up with Hightower to erase any thought of passing to running back Todd Gurley up the middle of the field on a quick pass, but once Goff left the pocket, Van Noy started towards the young quarterback. Once there were no blockers in site, Goff started to panic and looked for heave downfield, but he made the wise decision to hold onto the football. Van Noy soared over the acreage between the 50 and the Rams’ 40-yard lines. Diving, he spun Goff around and grappled him to his knees on Goff’s own 39-yard line, to force Los Angeles to punt and give New England the football. Van Noy, Jones, and Hightower combined to sack Goff four times, Hightower taking him down twice. Stephon Gilmore’s game-winning fourth quarter interception was forced by pressure and an almost-sack by Duron Harmon. The Patriots threw a zone blitz at the Los Angeles offense who put four receivers running downfield in various crossing routes, with Cooks running a straight route right directly to the corner of the end zone. With six blockers left to defend their quarterback, Goff, there was one man left unblocked in the Patriots defense, who were rushing seven.
That unblocked man was the safety Harmon who forced Goff to drop back about two more yards and move slightly to his right. The scared quarterback had to toss the deep pass to Cooks off of his back foot to avoid being sacked for a major loss by Harmon. Harmon’s aggressiveness and Goff’s nervousness translated into a short lob of a throw. With the cornerback Gilmore guarding the wide receiver Cooks closely, trailing him by only a couple of steps, cutting off Goff’s underthrown toss was the equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel. Leaping about two feet into the air and finally landing on the three yard-line, Gilmore came down with the ball, and the game, thanks, in large part, to Harmon’s speed and pressure on the quarterback. Punter Ryan Allen gave the New England defense a great deal of help with his strong leg. He finished the night punting for 215 punting yards on five attempts. Matthew Slater was a huge help on the punts, fielding the ball on multiple occasions inside the five yard-line to ensure that the Rams would have a rough starting point. Julian Edelman and Sony Michel provided a lot of help for the defense, Edelman receiving for 141 yards, rushing for eight, and Michel rushing for 94 yards and one touchdown. Tom Brady, though he did not play his best game, passed for 262 yards during the game. Stephen Gostkowski also hit two of three field goals. While these numbers did not exactly make the defense’s job the easiest it could have been, points are good for everyone and provided them with enough of a cushion to win. Jesse A. Cook “Patriots Defense Made The Difference” February 4, 2019 The Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams is right around the corner, so how will this game end?
45-41 Patriots No question that this game will be high scoring. You might think that the LA defensive line with Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh, and Samson Ebukam will be too much for the NE offensive line, but they’ve been infallible this postseason and Tom Brady has not been sacked even once. One the other side, while the New England defense stepped up against the Kansas City Chiefs and destroyed the Los Angeles Chargers, the Rams are different, more powerful team with lots of weapons. Jared Goff has really been slinging it all year, passing for 4,688 yards and 32 touchdowns, completing 64.9% of his passes. In the postseason, he’s connected for 483 yards and one touchdown, completing 58.8% of his passes. With weapons like C.J. Anderson ready to play if Todd Gurley’s having trouble and the constant positives in Brandin Cooks and Tyler Higbee, Goff has a lot of options that will surely translate into lots of points, despite the prowess the Pats’ defense has showed these playoffs. Why do the Pats pull away? It’s Thomas Edward Patrick Brady standing in the pocket with Bill Belichick calling the plays. This isn’t a sophomore Patrick Mahomes with Andy Reed, this isn’t a broken Ben Roethlisberger with Mike Tomlin, and this certainly isn’t a robbed Drew Brees with Sean Payton. This is a winning quarterback who has only lost the Super Bowl to Eli Manning on miracle catches (as well as a Wes Welker dropped pass) and Nick Foles in a feat of pure miraculousness. Goff will be back in the Super Bowl one day, probably against Mahomes, but as for winning this game, when push comes to shove, the better quarterback and the better coach prevails. Just for some proof of Brady’s superiority in pocket, while passing for slightly fewer yards and touchdowns (4,355 yards and 29 TDs), the G.O.A.T. hit 65.8% of his targets and threw fewer interceptions in the regular season (11 interceptions for Brady, 12 for Goff). In the postseason, while Brady has passed for only 274 yards, he’s hit targets in the endzone for two TDs, and he’s completed an astounding 70.5% of his passes. Lastly, Sony Michel is the main reason Brady’s passing yard numbers are so low. He’s rushed for 242 yards and five TDs over New England’s two playoff games. The score’s gonna be high, but the Pats are really gonna tear it up and pull away with Super Bowl victory number 6. Jesse A. Cook “Patriots Have Edge In LIII” February 3, 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 |
AuthorJesse Cook: High school junior. Does play-by-play for the Sharon Varsity Eagles softball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and football teams. Fanatic of the Boston and Cincinnati teams in the Big Four sports. Designs graphics of athletes, politicians, and musicians at Picsart.com. Archives
January 2019
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