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Day: May 13, 2016
Bryce Harper
Bryce Harper is one of the best all-around players in baseball alongside Mike Trout. We now will look at this young sensation.
Bryce Harper is one of the best players in all of baseball. In 2012, a 19 year old Bryce Harper won the National League Rookie of the Year award. This Washington Nationals player replaced Ryan Zimmerman as the Nationals face of the franchise. Bryce was and still is a perfect combination of speed, power, and offense. He hit 22 home runs in his 2012 rookie campaign. He also has an amazing throwing arm. He threw out Buster Posey at home plate in the NLDS. If Buster Posey had scored, the Giants would have won right there.
Bryce, like Mike Trout, can also take a bag in big situations. A lot of people argue about who is better, Mike Trout or Bryce Harper. Bryce Harper helped lead his team during the 2014 postseason. Bryce had struggled during the regular season of 2014, but he absolutely shone during the postseason in many ways. He hit home runs, stole bases, and even made a few diving plays. He also threw out a few important runners. Bryce is one of the best fielders in the National League. Bryce is trying to help his franchise win their first World Series since moving away from Montreal. As a result, Bryce Harper is trying his best to lead his team. So don’t be disappointed when Bryce Harper is starting in a game.
Alex Rodriguez
Alex Rodriguez was one of the best players in his time until he admitted to taking PED’s. We now look at his track record.
Alex Rodriguez is a great player. He used to be able to steal bases. But after a while he got more power and stopped stealing them. A-Rod is a really good power hitter. He has more home runs than the great Yankee legend Mickey Mantle! He also broke Lou Gehrig’s record for the most grand slams.
Earlier in Alex’s career he played with the Seattle Mariners. In Seattle he did something that very little players have done before. Alex Rodriguez hit for the cycle with the Mariners. A cycle is when you hit a home run, triple, double, and single all in one game. It looked pretty good that Alex was going to go into the Hall of Fame with the home runs, stolen bases, and diving plays. But then he got on the steroid list. He wouldn’t admit that he took them. This was the second time that A-Rod had failed the list.
In 2013, A-Rod got injured and when he got back to playing he was on the steroid list. The baseball offices said he was going to get suspended for a very long time. Alex denied taking them. He appealed the suspension and tried to make an attempt to sue Major League Baseball. He would drop the lawsuit but still didn’t admit to using them. Then finally in the offseason of 2014 after being suspended the whole year, he admitted to using PEDs. Everybody is questioning how A-Rod is going to play in the 2015 season. All the Yankee fans want him to get traded but nobody wants him. Alex could have been a great Hall of Fame hitter if he didn’t use steroids. Or would he have been horrible without them? That is a question we will never know.
Masahiro Tanaka
Masahiro Tanaka is a really good superstar who came from Japan. We now look at his profile.
Masahiro Tanaka had a monster year in 2013 with Japan going 24-0. Once the teams heard that he was coming to the U.S. to play, they whipped out their wallets. Masahiro would make a great place in their rotation. The Yankees offered the most money and Tanaka went to New York. In New York, Tanaka was amazing. He struck out almost always 10 batters per game. Everybody thought he would win the Rookie of the Year because he was so great.
Masahiro Tanaka has one great pitch. That pitch is the split finger fastball. It sinks down right when it reaches the plate. Most of his strikeouts would come off of that one pitch. It soon became a battle for the Rookie of the Year. Another rookie named Jose Abreu of the White Sox was having a really good year. Tanaka would put up the contest until the accident happed. A couple of starts before the all-star game, Tanaka got a slight tear in his ACL. Although he was voted an all-star, he couldn’t play due to his injury. He wouldn’t come back for a long time due to that injury.
He would be just O.K and not as dominant as he used to be when he came back. He would finish the season with a 13-5 record. Since he was injured, he wouldn’t be voted the Rookie of the Year or even be a candidate. Instead, his fellow rookie teammate Dellin Batances would be a candidate. However, Dellin didn’t win it either. Tanaka hopes to be healthy the rest of his career as he was in Japan. In Japan, Tanaka did many great things such as going undefeated in multiple seasons and winning the Japanese Cy Young Award. He hopes to be the best pitcher.
Yasiel Puig
Yasiel Puig is the Los Angeles Dodgers best outfielder. We look at this young sensation.
Yasiel Puig is the Dodgers best outfielder. He is fast enough to make diving catches and has one of the best arms in baseball. He can always make a great throw from the outfield to get the runner out. After he does that, he does his signature finger wag. It is a way of showing not to run on his arm again.
Does Yasiel do any other crazy things? Yes! Whenever he hits a home run or gets walked, he throws the bat high up in the air. A couple of times the bat almost hit the catcher and umpire. With the bat, Yasiel can do some great things. He is pretty average with home runs hitting with 19 in 2013 and 16 in 2014. But he is amazing with hits. He gets on base a lot thanks to his hits.
Yasiel also has quick feet on the outfield ground. Although he doesn’t steal that much, he still is fast. On almost every highlight show has Yasiel Puig in it.
Puig has also brought some joy to the Dodger clubhouse. His funny habits got the team a costum made LA Dodger bubble machine. Every time the bubble machine goes on means that somebody has homered. As you can see, Yasiel Puig’s off and on the field actions help keep the Dodgers’ clubhouse strong.
Felix Hernandez
Felix Hernandez is one of the greatest pitchers in the game today. Let’s now decode his current legacy.’
Felix Hernandez nickname is ‘’King Felix.’’ His kingdom is the Mariners stadium. There, the commoners (the fans) cheer him on. His nickname is ‘’The King’’ because he always shuts down the batters usually striking them out. The fans bring signs that say K (the symbol that they use when scoring strikeouts) or broomsticks (to represent sweeping the other team.) ‘’King Felix’’ has a no-hitter and a Cy Young Award from 2010.
Felix Hernandez is the face of the franchise alongside the newly acquired Robinson Cano. Like Cano, ‘’King Felix’’ is also a regular at the all-star game. He even started the 2014 all-star game at Target Field.
Felix Hernandez is the best pitcher some people say while others say he rivals Clayton Kershaw. As you can see, Felix Hernandez is one of the best pitchers in the American League and maybe the best in all of baseball.
Yadier Molina
Yadier Molina is one of the greatest catchers in the National League today. We now look at his greatness.
Yadier Molina is a great catcher who plays with the St. Louis Cardinals. He is one of the best when it comes to throwing out base stealers. He has been with the Cardinals his whole career. He also has multiple World Series rings. Besides ‘’Yadi’s’’ catching skills, he has some hitting skills. He isn’t in a list of the greatest hitters. He doesn’t hit over .300 or hit ten home runs in a season. He cannot steal like every other catcher. But when he does get a good jump on the ball, boy can it soar.
He does have something in common to a former catcher who has thrown out some of the most base runners. That catcher is Ivan ‘’Pudge’’ Rodriguez. He was one of the best catchers. He had outstanding offensive skills. He hit home runs and unlike many catchers, he was fast. Like Molina, he threw out many base runners. Yadier Molina is also a Gold Glove catcher. Due to his great catching skills, he is a World Series veteran.
As you can see, Yadier Molina is one of the best catchers in the game today.
Adam Wainwright
Adam Wainwright is one of the best pitchers in the National league. Let’s now look into this legend’s success.
Adam Wainwright is a successful National League pitcher who plays on the St. Louis Cardinals. He is often lost in the shadows of Dodgers superstar Clayton Kershaw. Adam usually gets 20 wins a year. People forget about him because he never leads the league in wins. In 2010 he got 20 wins but Roy Halladay had 21 and in 2014 he racked up 20 wins again but this time lost to Clayton Kershaw who had 21. Adam Wainwright is a regular at the all-star game. In 2014 he even got chosen to start the all-star game for the National League.
Adam Wainwright had to have Tommy John surgery at one point. Wainwright was already known for his massive curveball, but after the surgery the curve broke even more. Adam never had an overpowering fastball to start out with, so he went with that deadly curve. From that curve, that is basically how he gets strikeouts. Also Wainwright has one of the best catchers catching him. Yadier Molina is just a year younger than Wainwright. Wainwright and Molina make an amazing pitcher/catcher duo. As a result of this, Wainwright usually pitches good games with Molina behind the plate.
A Smile in the Sky: A Tribute to Oscar Tavares.
Oscar Tavares was one of the best youngsters in the Major Leagues who played for the Cardinals. He always had a smile on his face. He was glad to be a player in the big leagues. He did many big things in his short time as a player. We now look at the life of Oscar Tavares.
Oscar Tavares was the rookie 22 year old right field fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals. He was happy to play and took every chance he got to play. He played his best and never gave up. He made his debut before the all-star game. In only his second at-bat, he homered. In only 80 games that season, Oscar hit 8 home runs. That is a really good amount for only eighty games. He helped lead his team to the 2014 postseason. That postseason would put Oscar Tavares’ name in the record books. In the NLCS the St. Louis Cardinals faced the soon to be World Series Champions. That team was the San Francisco Giants. During one game, Oscar was a bench player. It was a tight game. With the Cardinals trailing by only one run, they sent Oscar Tavares on to the on deck circle to pinch hit. Once Oscar Tavares came up, everybody was holding their breath. Then the pitch came. The next thing you know, the game is tied. Oscar Tavares had just homered and tied the game up! With that homer Oscar Tavares had become the youngest player to hit a pinch hit home run in the postseason. Oscar Tavares would play his best to try to keep his team in the race for the trophy. Sadly, the St. Louis Cardinals lost and the San Francisco Giants were on their way to the World Series where they would face the Kansas City Royals. But Oscar Tavares didn’t complain. He tried his best and he hadn’t given up. To celebrate his success, he took a trip to the Dominican Republic.
As the World Series matchup continued to Game 6, everybody in baseball got sorrowing news about the young star. Just the night before, Oscar Tavares got into a car accident and died with his 18 year old girlfriend. The Cardinals general manager made the following statement about Oscar. ‘’I first met Oscar when he was sixteen… he lived every day to his fullest.’’ Everybody in the baseball world and outside of that was deeply sorrowed. But the World Series had to go on. The Game 6 starter Yordano Ventura could be seen pitching with a special message on his hat. The message was, ’’R.I.P, O.T #18.’’
Robinson Cano
Robinson Cano is one of the greatest MLB hitters right now. We now look into his calm and cool career.
Robinson Cano used to be the face of the Yankees alongside Derek Jeter for nine years. The Yankees wanted him back for the 2014 season. They offered him a pretty decent amount of money. But no, Robbie Cano wanted more money. The Yankees offered him more. But, you guessed it, he wanted more. The Seattle Mariners offered him more money. He then said he wanted more and finally found him a contract he agreed which would imprison him in Seattle for ten years. Now Yankee fans everywhere dislike him. Although, he is still a regular at the all-star game.
In his time with New York, Robinson won a home run derby, World Series ring, and a gold glove. If Cano didn’t leave, he might have been the new Yankee team captain.