Ronel Blanco lived up to his name, turning in the young season’s first no-hit game as the Astros romped 10-0 over Toronto. Blanco walked the first batter of the game and the next-to-last (both former Astro George Springer) but retired everyone else, as no Blue Jay reached second base. It was the 13th no-hit game by an Astro pitcher (11th at home), and the second time Houston has no-hit Toronto. More after the jump.
Continue readingThis post is for voting and discussion in the 140th round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG). This is the last of three rounds of balloting adds to the list of candidates eligible to receive your votes those players born in 1979. Rules and lists are after the jump.
Continue readingThis post is for voting and discussion in the 139th round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG). This is the second of three rounds of balloting adding to the list of candidates eligible to receive your votes those players born in 1979. Rules and lists are after the jump.
Continue readingThis post is for voting and discussion in the 138th round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG). This is the first of three rounds of balloting adding to the list of candidates eligible to receive your votes those players born in 1979. Rules and lists are after the jump.
Continue readingWildcard teams were the big winners in the just concluded League Division series that left the best regular season teams (and their fans) asking “What just happened?” More after the jump.
Continue readingSeptember means pennant chases but, until recently, it also meant greatly expanded rosters and the chance for teams not in the post-season hunt (or even some that were) to take a look at some of their top minor league prospects. That is the topic of this post, looking at those players who made the most of a short rookie audition. More after the jump.
Continue readingTo tide us over for the next couple of days, here’s a quick quiz. Not very hard, but some of the names may surprise you. So, what accomplishment can be claimed only by these players?
| Rk | Player ▲ |
|---|---|
| 1 | Richie Ashburn |
| 2 | Rod Carew |
| 3 | Corbin Carroll |
| 4 | Joe DiMaggio |
| 5 | Mark Fidrych |
| 6 | Ron Hansen |
| 7 | Frank Robinson |
| 8 | George Scott |
| 9 | Fernando Valenzuela |
| 10 | Dick Wakefield |
| 11 | Jerry Walker |
On April 23rd this season, Clayton Kershaw pitched 6 innings for the win against the Mets. And, on June 14th, Jose Berrios went 7⅔ against the Orioles and also collected the W. What do these two games have in common? Find out after the jump.
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One year after we “all rose” for Aaron Judge‘s successful quest for the AL single-season home run record, Luis Arraez (pronounced ah-RISE, per Baseball-Reference) is giving us another reason to get to our feet, as he chases one of baseball’s holiest grails, maintaining a .400 batting average as the season approaches its halfway point. More after the jump.
Continue readingThe major leagues have instituted a number of rule changes this season with the objectives of speeding up the game and increasing offense. A quarter of the way into the season, it is abundantly evident that those objectives are being met, with games proceeding at a pace not seen since the 1980s, and offensive results providing some of the largest ever year-over-year increases for many metrics. More after the jump.
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