With Buster Posey out for the season with hip surgery, all baseball fans alike question Posey’s Hall of Fame case. The lifelong Giant has a curious career; Posey has a slew of awards with underwhelming stats. Over his ten years of service, he has 1,276 hits, 246 doubles, 635 RBIs, an impressive .306 batting average, and 133 home runs in 1,144 career games. Additionally, Posey’s home run numbers has been steadily declining since 2014, basing at only five in 2018. However, Posey has four Silver Sluggers, with the most recent coming in 2017. The three time World Series champ also won the Rookie of the Year in 2010 and the MVP and Comeback Player of the Year in 2012, to go along with six All Star appearances and a Gold Glove. Award wise, Posey is in very good shape at this point of his career. Posey is still far, but he stills needs to compile more awards and milestones if he wants to be enshrined among the immortals in Cooperstown.
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National League Cy Young Tensions
As of August 25, with five weeks left of the regular season, the National League Cy Young of 2018 is certainly gaining traction. The National League possible front runners are the Mets’ Jacob deGrom, Phillies’ Aaron Nola, and the reigning winner, Max Scherzer. So far, Scherzer is 16-6 with a 2.13 ERA and a league leading 244 strikeouts in 181.2 innings. Nola is 15-3 with 169 strikeouts, all while matching Scherzer’s ERA. deGrom is currently has 214 strikeouts and is leading the NL with an immaculate 1.77 ERA. However, deGrom only has a .500 record (8-8). His lack of wins looks bad to the eye, but his minimal ERA contradicts the stat. In an age where Sabermetrics matter and people want to “kill the win,” deGrom has a better chance of winning this year than past decades. Scherzer is a better candidate than Nola because Scherzer has more innings under his belt, more strikeouts, and more wins while sustaining an identical ERA. So, the National Cy Young is up for grabs between Scherzer and deGrom.
Juiced Review
Summary: Juiced by Jose Canseco was published in 2005 and changed baseball forever. In this book, Canseco tells of his personal struggles and what he did to become a ballplayer. His story is inspirational as he was a scrawny young immigrant who became a professional baseball player. However, the meat of the story comes when he tells of steroids. Canseco rats out numerous players involved in steroids from his point of view. In the end, he admits about 90% of players used steroids during his time.
Opinions: I found this book both intriguing and disappointing. The book was fast moving and keeps your attention really well. Canseco vividly describes his life, making it easy to forget the book is about drugs. His personal experiences are interesting and sure to give you a good laugh. Overall, I highly suggest you to read the book.
Breaking News! Huge Trades After ASG
After the All Star Game, just before regular season games restart, two huge trades took place. Manny Machado was just traded to the Dodgers in his walk year. The multi-position All Star brings Gold Glove defense and a power bat to Los Angeles. The Dodgers are without their main shortstop Corey Seager for the season after he needed Tommy John Surgery.
The Cleveland Indians got a huge boost to their bullpen from the Padres on July 19. Dominant southpaw Brad Hand was traded in turn for a package of prospects. Hand carries in 24 saves with the Padres through 44.1 innings of work.
MLB Sent Something Amazing To Me!
On Monday, April 30, I received a package in the mail from the offices of Major League Baseball in New York City. Approximately ten days earlier, I wrote a letter to Commissioner Rob Manfred telling him how much I enjoyed baseball. I only asked for an autographed business card, but I got much more.
The package was sent first class in a bubble mailer. The shipping cost totaled at $3.75, which was a surprise since I did not send any money in. When I opened it, I found my requested signed business card along with a full sized official Major League Baseball. The baseball was signed in blue Sharpie across the sweet spot.
This is only my second through the mail autograph return, and I am really grateful. Five years ago I wrote a letter to Ken Singleton and got a signed 8×10 glossy picture. Acts like these make the game stronger and get more fans involved.
BP Report with Jacoby Nolnaho: 4/6/18
On April 6, 2018, I went to my first baseball game of 2018. As usual, it was the Yankees hosting the Orioles at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees have now introduced a three hour batting practice block. In other words, on select Friday home games, the gates will open three hours before game time instead of the traditional two. This is great for ballhawks like me, giving us an extra hour of opportunities to catch balls. Using the Clear Lane, I was able to get into the stadium a tad before anybody else. Only the right and left field seats were open, but I was still in luck.
Within ten minutes of getting in, a worn baseball was sitting approximately twenty feet from the wall. Yankees reliever Adam Warren was making his way to the dugout when I exclaimed, “Hey Adam, over here!” Warren turned and threw a liner right to me. I did not realize I caught the ball until I turned around and saw it in my glove. I quickly turned around and thanked Warren along with giving him a thumbs up. Later during BP, I ran into Zack Hample (once again). I did not want to bother him because he was swarmed with ten year olds, so I simply said hello and moved on.
The game was long and very slow. The game went 14 innings with the Yankees leaving lots of men on base. I was originally sitting in the Budweiser Party Deck, but as the game moved on, I transitioned to the Toyota Terrace. I was over the Yankee bullpen when Orioles hitter Pedro Alvarez launched a game winning grand slam into the right field stands. The Yankees ended up losing to a final score of 7-4. I was happy the game ended since I was there right when the gates opened up until the final out. I was actually at Yankee Stadium well over ten hours.
Overall, I had a lot of fun and hope this game is just a beginning for good things to come in the 2018 Major League Baseball season.
Tom Seaver
Standing at a powerful 6’1’’ and 206 pounds, Tom Seaver was a devastating sight for any hitter to see. Besides the intimidating mound presence, Seaver’s slider, curveball, dirty rising fastball, and later a changeup proved that he was in control of the at bat. In his 20 year career spanning from 1967 to 1986, Seaver was able to win 311 games, strike out 3,640 batters (sixth most all time), post a 2.86 ERA, and throw an absurd 231 complete games with 61 of them being shutouts. He also threw 4,782.2 innings, good for nineteenth most all time. 23 years after being born in Fresno, California, Seaver received the National League Rookie of the Year with the Mets by winning 16 games, posting a 2.76 ERA, and striking out 170 batters in 251 innings of work.
1969 was a great year for the Mets. They won their first World Series in franchise history and Tom Seaver took home the Cy Young award. For the first of three times, Seaver led the National League in wins to go along with a 2.21 ERA in 273.1 innings. He would the Cy Young award again in 1973 by pitching 290 innings and leading the league in strikeouts with 251, ERA with 2.08, WHIP with 0.98, and tied for the lead with 18 complete games. Two years later, he would win a league leading 22 games and strike out 243 batters, leading him to claim the Cy Young.
Though the Mets pitching staff was centered around him, Seaver was traded midseason to the Cincinnati Reds for a bunch of hopeful stars. Needless to say, the Reds got the better package making this deal one of the most lopsided trades in the history of baseball. Seaver never won the Cy Young again, but he was able to put up five double digit win seasons.
For the last five years, Seaver bounced around with the Mets and White Sox before calling it quits with the Red Sox in 1986. The Fresno native was able to put up record numbers and collect 12 All Star during his Major League tenure. Seaver went into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 1992 wearing a Mets cap. The Mets retired Seaver’s jersey number 41 on June 24, 1988. Whether you remember him as a Met or Red, Tom Seaver is among legends with his Hall of Fame statistics.
References
Baseball Reference
ESPN
MLB.com
Mets.com
Steal Facts: Aaron Judge
Aaron judge
- Aaron Judge was born April 26, 1992 in Linden California. He was adopted the day he was born by his foster parents, the Judges. Despite being officially being told at age ten, Judge knew he was adopted due to his already strong and soon to be six foot seven, 282 pound frame. Now, Judge is a MVP candidate for the New York Yankees.
- Aaron Judge won not only the 2017 MLB Home Run Derby, but he also won the 2012 College Home Run Derby.
- After hitting a home run in his first Major League at-bat, Judge fell off the table in 2016, batting .179 with 42 strikeouts in 84 at bats. Using these statistics as motivation, Judge plugged them into his phone and told him that he could slump any time in his career.
- In 2017, Aaron Judge was the unanimous American League Rookie of the Year. He set all time rookie records with 52 home runs and 127 walks. He also won the Silver Slugger for American League right fielders and was nominated for a Gold Glove.
- Judge finished in second place in MVP voting just behind the Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve.
- Judge also drove in 114 RBIs and scored 128 runs in his 155 game season. His overall WAR (Wins Above Replacement) was a solid 8.1.
Stats and Info
Big Weekend Around Baseball
The holidays came early for us baseball fans this weekend. Two way Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Angels, significantly strengthening their pitching and offense. Ohtani’s new teammate, Mike Trout, is getting married to fiancé Jessica Cox. Also, the New York Yankees have been reported as the winners of the Giancarlo Stanton sweepstakes, making the Yankees lineup look a lot like the 1927 Murders Row.
How to make MLB the Show Better
MLB the Show is up there with other sports video games. Despite its success, San Diego Studio needs to make a few improvements. This year, there has been a bat lag glitch that really needs to be fixed. Also, some different phrases should be used. I am tired of Dan Plesac saying Chris Sale and Max Scherzer are pitch to contact guys. Their needs to be more big brands like Coca Cola or McDonald’s instead of some bootleg made up brand. The Show should also take an approach similar to Madden 18’s Longshot. Longshot provides more realistic off the field interactions that would fit perfectly in baseball. I agree with the coverboy of Aaron Judge on The Show 18 but a think a cover with Harper and Trout back-to-back would be nice.