The 118th World Series is underway, the first contested by this season’s league champions. The 19 game difference in the regular season records of the the Astros and Phillies is the largest since the 22½ game spread between the Cubs and White Sox way back in the 3rd World Series in 1906. More after the jump.
Continue readingThe NL is featuring two wildcard teams in its championship series, while the #1 and #2 seeds square off in the AL. More after the jump.
Continue readingWith the wildcard round completed, it’s on to the division series. Three of this year’s division series feature teams from within the same division. So, no secrets and no love lost. More after the jump.
Continue readingThe 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.
Continue readingOriole left-hander John Means no-hit the Mariners, facing the minimum 27 batters, with the only baserunner reaching on a strikeout on a wild pitch (he was erased attempting to steal). An “imperfect” complete game, with 9 IP, exactly 27 batters faced, and no hits, walks or hit batsmen, had been achieved only once previously, by Terry Mulholland for the Phillies against the Giants on August 15th, 1990, with the only batter reaching on an error and erased by a double play. More after the jump.
Continue readingHow many pitchers in MLB history have thrown a shutout in the only game they ever started? I might have guessed that the answer was none. If a pitcher threw a shutout on his debut start, why would you not give that player a second opportunity?
I was wrong. The answer is four. Four players have started one MLB game, and thrown one MLB shutout. Here are their stories:
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Justin Verlander no-hit the Blue Jays on Sunday, allowing just one walk and retiring the final 26 batters in order. He becomes just the fifth pitcher since 1893 with three no-hit games, joining Nolan Ryan (7), Sandy Koufax (4), Bob Feller (3) and Cy Young (3). More on Verlander’s gem is after the jump.
Most player milestone games are well documented, at least for the past 75 years or more. That, of course, is because the milestone is anticipated, often making the game when the milestone is reached somewhat anti-climatic. But, I’ll be looking at a different type of milestone game in this post, milestones that are not anticipated, not even by the players involved. More on these mystery milestones are after the jump.
After an opening act in Japan, the 119th season of the modern era is now fully underway. Here are some game notes from today’s action.
Before Coors and humidors, JAWS and WAR, Larry Walker was just a late-season call-up hoping to make a difference for his team. Walker’s career as it pertains to the Hall of Fame has been well-covered, but what was the conversation like 30 years ago when the young Canadian first appeared for the Montreal Expos?
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