Down by a run, down to their three final outs, the Dodgers start to rally back and conclude the surge with a swing that makes World Series history. Before the momentous swing, an intentional walk hits pause in the tension while also ratcheting the tightness. And then the history-making swing […]
Later today, before Jack Flaherty delivers the first salvo of the 120th Fall Classic, presumptive NL MVP Shohei Ohtani will be a central focus during one set of lineup introductions. AL MVP favorite Aaron Judge will absorb the same sort of attention in the other roll call. Before a single […]
Fernando Valenzuela made only one World Series appearance in his career: a complete game in Game 3 of the 1981 World Series to, for all intents and purposes, save the Dodgers season. It’s fitting that the left-hander’s rescue effort came in front of the Dodger Stadium crowd in 1981, for […]
See Here for Part 1 On the morning of October 3, 2000, the set of batters who could proclaim they ended their postseason careers with a .300/.400/.500 line (“ahem,” they might cough, “with at least 100 plate appearances”) numbered six: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Hank Greenberg, Gene Woodling, […]
The 2024 postseason has been a canvas calling to the artists who hold a bat in their hands, an invitation to paint thunderous and striking images of what can occur when a pitch nears the plate. The World Series alone will feature seven hitters coming off a 1.000-OPS line drawn […]
A number of candidates could have vied for top 2024 honors when it came to “wow” – those elevated, extra-magnetic, enchanting, exciting, entrancing individuals who commanded the highlights, flirted with the record books and treated baseball fans to six months filled with daily performances that made one joyous and awed […]
During the 2024 regular season, Juan Soto claimed partnership as one-half of one of three distinct hitting duos in the old pastime’s history to each produce a 40-HR, 100-walk, 100-RBI season. The 25-year-old Soto and his hitting mate in the feat, Aaron Judge, joined Tigers Norm Cash and Rocky Colavito […]
The very first time the Mets faced the wrenching possibility of postseason elimination – Game 5 of the 1973 NLCS against the defending pennant-winners, the Reds – the club received an imposing harmony of contribution. The NL’s ’73 Cy Young Award winner, Tom Seaver, gave the club an ace-like line, […]
The grandeur of postseason baseball is that with the condensed number of games and expanded importance of each contest, the moments turn to MOMENTS and more easily cast us back to “remember when.” A swing in the bottom of the ninth in Cleveland can instantly be a teleporter to Wrigley […]
Imagine a postseason résumé that contains the following numbers for a single year: 10 games played, 15 hits with seven going for extra-bases, 12 RBI, a .341/.370/.750/1.120 slash line. Looks and feels like a middle of the order guy, right? Maybe Jay Buhner in 1995 or Bernie Williams in 1996 […]