On April 22, 1983, George Brett, batting genius, stroked a double as his Royals improved to 7-4 on the year. The two-base hit gave the future Hall of Famer nine doubles to go along with four home runs and gave him more extra-base hits through his club’s first 11 games […]
When Reggie Jackson hit 37 home runs before the 1969 All-Star break, that explosive first half saw the youngster (he turned 23 that May) wallop in bunches, with eight multi-home run games. Imagine that – before the Midsummer Classic that year, Jackson already had more multi-homer games than any other […]
It’s been more than a decade since the American League saw the same player capture the batting crown, on-base title, and slugging belt. A year after he claimed the traditional Triple Crown in 2012, Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera took home the rate-stat version, slashing .348/.442/.636. Minnesota’s Joe Mauer – in 2009 […]
On April 20, 1992, Giants starter Dave Burba threw a 2-1 pitch to his first adversary of the contest. The offer was gladly received and instantly returned by that opponent in the form of a, as described within the Baseball Reference play-by-play account, “Fly Ball to Deep LF Line”: Craig […]
Joe Carter is probably best remembered for a certain three-run home run to end the 1993 World Series and likely fosters many remembrances for his knack of assembling 100-RBI seasons and his significant disinterest in accepting four balls in a plate appearance (of the 162 players with at least 300 […]
There are 1,197 players who’ve accumulated at least 4,000 plate appearances through their first 10 big league seasons. Imagine this immense gathering, where the head table is reserved for the top 10 in OPS+. You’ll have heard of these guys. Ted Williams commands the table, with a 190 through his […]
To watch Paul Skenes apply the foundational brushstrokes to his self-portrait is to be constantly reminded of the exceptional and electric zaps that come with witnessing a newcomer stride to the mound and redistribute the balance of power between batter and pitcher so thoroughly in his favor. It’s to be […]
Since 1994 when baseball structured each league to provide three divisional buckets for its teams, there have been two occasions where a single division – right from the start – turned into an extended, dueling banter of “Whatever you can do (in this case, win), I can do too.” In […]
On August 15, 2015, Boston’s Jackie Bradley, Jr. came to the plate six times. His first essay in the batter’s box resulted in a two-run homer. He then doubled, and then struck out to put a small, but fleeting damper on his afternoon at Fenway. After the whiff, he doubled […]