Don Baylor, longtime AL player and later an NL manager, has passed away at the age of 68. Baylor played over 2000 games, all in the AL, in a career spanning 19 years that included an MVP selection in 1979 and appearances in 7 post-seasons and 3 World Series. After his playing days, Baylor was the first manager of the expansion Colorado Rockies, guiding them to a post-season appearance in only their third season. More on Baylor after the jump.
The front runners in the NL Central squared off last weekend in Milwaukee. The Brewers had held down top spot for 60 straight days until the Cubs caught them last week, with the Baby Bears holding a 1½ game lead entering this series. The Northsiders were riding high with an 11-2 run since the All-Star break while Milwaukee had hit the skids with a 2-9 swoon.
Sports Illustrated writer Cliff Corcoran has authored an article with this provocative title. This is the team he chose.
I’ll leave you to consider Corcoran’s arguments. Let the debate begin.
Adrian Beltre is on the brink of 3000 hits and could reach the milestone this weekend. Here’s a look at the career (so far) of the Cooperstown-bound third sacker.
As we look to the second half of this season, there are a number of players chasing notable career milestones. I’ll take a look at some of them after the jump.
The two front-runners in the AL Central faced off in home and away series on consecutive weekends. The defending AL champions from Cleveland have yet to hit their stride this season, while the upstart young Minnesotans continue to surprise, leaving pundits still waiting for the Twins’ Cinderella start to reach midnight. More after the jump.
Last week Anthony Rizzo, first baseman for the Chicago Cubs, hit leadoff for the first time in his seven year career. Before Rizzo’s first at bat, Cubs’ color man Jim Deshaies recalled:
Big Riz did it a couple of times in spring training, and on one occasion he went out there and ambushed the first pitch and hit a home run.
Two pitches into the regular season version of this experiment Rizzo hit a leadoff home run. The next evening Rizzo, still batting in the No.1 spot, made an impact one pitch sooner by hitting the first offering of the game over the outfield fence.
Houston had been the hottest team in baseball until cooling off a bit last week. The Astros still have a very comfortable lead in the AL West, so if the defending division champion Rangers are going to make a move on their cross-state rivals, now would be a good time to start. More after the jump.
After 5 straight games scoring at least 8 runs, the Yankees reached the 60 game mark scoring 353 runs and belting 102 home runs, the latter a new Yankee record, and the former the third highest Yankee total of the expansion era.
Leading the Pinstripers is phenom Aaron Judge, boasting leading marks in the AL triple crown categories, other AL firsts in WAR, walks, runs, total bases and runs created, and 2nd place in OBP, SLG, OPS, oWAR and right field TZR. More after the jump.
The Brewers have come back to the pack in the NL Central and everyone is in the race now. Especially these longtime rivals and pre-season favorites for contesting the division title. More after the jump.