The 2022 post-season is underway and, as in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the first round is a best-of-three wildcard series. This time there are four teams involved in each league instead of the eight that qualified two years ago. The other difference is that this time there are fans in the stadiums. More after the jump.
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For his final season, Albert Pujols returned to his home state from his high school and college days and to the team for which he enjoyed his greatest successes. Probably both Pujols and the Cardinals expected his season to be largely a farewell tour, at most platooning at DH, giving first sacker Paul Goldschmidt an occasional day off his feet, and providing a bat off the bench when a pinch-hitter was needed. It turns out that Pujols must have taken a side trip to St. Augustine FL en route to St. Louis, as his season has become much more than he or the Cardinals might have expected, turning in one of the better seasons ever at his age, with some of the best rate stats of the back half of his career. More after the jump.
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Sixty-one years after Roger Maris hit 61 homers (still the AL record as this season began) to break, by one, Babe Ruth‘s then major league record, Aaron Judge has become the third Pinstriper to reach the 60 homer threshold. More after the jump.
Continue readingAfter starting on an historic winning pace, the Bombers have fallen on hard times over the past six weeks. After a blistering 61-24 pace to start the season, the Yankees have gone 13-24 since to see their 15 game lead on July 9th shrink to just 8 games as of this writing. Which other teams have posted similar seasons? Find out after the jump.
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The Seattle Mariners are baseball’s hottest team at the All-Star break, and their rookie center-fielder Julio Rodriguez (“J-Rod” to his hometown fans) is a big reason why. More on Rodriguez and the Mariners after the jump.
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Tiger great Miguel Cabrera has burnished his Hall of Fame credentials as the 33rd member of the 3000 hit club, collecting his milestone knock off of fellow Venezuelan Antonio Senzatela of the Rockies. More after the jump.
The 122nd season of the modern era is underway. This post takes a look at opening day games of the past, and some of the more memorable accomplishments in those games.
Continue readingThere was a tie vote in the Circle of Greats 1977 Balloting, so we will have a run-off election between the two tied players, Carlos Beltran and Roy Halladay. More after the jump.
| Seasons | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | OPS+ | TB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlos Beltran | 1998-2017 | 2586 | 11031 | 9768 | 1582 | 2725 | 565 | 78 | 435 | 1587 | 312 | 49 | 1084 | 1795 | .279 | .350 | .486 | .837 | 119 | 4751 |
| per 162 games | 162 | 691 | 612 | 99 | 171 | 35 | 5 | 27 | 99 | 20 | 3 | 68 | 112 | .279 | .350 | .486 | .837 | 119 | 298 |
| Seasons | W | L | W-L% | ERA | G | GS | CG | SHO | IP | BB | SO | ERA+ | FIP | WHIP | H9 | HR9 | BB9 | SO9 | SO/W | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roy Halladay | 1998-2013 | 203 | 105 | .659 | 3.38 | 416 | 390 | 67 | 20 | 2749.1 | 592 | 2117 | 131 | 3.39 | 1.178 | 8.7 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 6.9 | 3.58 |
| per 162 games | 17 | 9 | .659 | 3.38 | 35 | 33 | 6 | 2 | 232 | 50 | 179 | 131 | 3.39 | 1.178 | 8.7 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 6.9 | 3.58 |
This post is for voting and discussion in the 136th round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG). This round of balloting adds to the list of candidates eligible to receive your votes those players born in 1977. Rules and lists are after the jump.
Continue readingThe careers of most major league players are brief and unremarkable. Of 15,403 retired players who debuted since 1901, only 5,102 (33%) posted careers of 200 or more games, and just 2,745 (18%) managed 500 contests. Yet, even among the other 82% of players can be found those who showed promise of becoming successful major leaguers in extended careers, promise that, for one reason or another, went unfulfilled. It is to those players that this post is dedicated. More after the jump.
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