It’s Hall of Fame consideration season. For the rest of the calendar year, Connections will be looking at some of the names on the 2025 ballot. On Tuesday, June 2, 1998, the Brewers hosted the Braves for the second contest in a three-game set. Thanks to the new alignment […]
It’s Hall of Fame consideration season. For the rest of the calendar year, Connections will be looking at some of the names on the 2025 ballot. It’s July 21, 2004, and the Indians are hosting Mark Buehrle and the White Sox. Through six-and-a-half innings, Chicago has erupted […]
With the Hall of Fame ballot available for assigned voters to muse over, I’m reminded of the thought I had at this time last year: This process is getting harder. That isn’t even taking into account the lingering issue of whether to vote for players with the stigma of […]
When he was all done menacing pitchers, Ty Cobb was the all-time leader in hits and runs, total bases, extra-base hits and times on base. A few years later, he would even get to claim pole position among the inaugural Hall of Fame class, with his 98.2% of the […]
In 1927, Lou Gehrig produced an 11.4 oWAR (this is bWAR, with the defensive element removed). This explosive display is the showcase of all showcases for first basemen, the unsurpassed mark for the position. And thus, Gehrig gets us started on a fun offensive dream team, one made up by […]
Following this opening, there’s a little more than a thousand words devoted to connecting the three AL MVP finalists from 2024 to the past. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig are going to be referenced, as will Honus Wagner and Rogers Hornsby. Ted Williams and Stan Musial are brought up, as […]
For his efforts during the 1999 season, Pedro Martínez was the unanimous winner of the AL Cy Young Award. “Efforts” is probably the most mundane, vanilla, blah descriptive ever for the right-hander’s season, for it was a supernova display, a realization of a magician and genius at the height of […]
Thanks to a pair of Triple Crown winners, the 2024 Cy Young Award races appear to hold little drama for the unveiling. Since the award has been bestowed on an ace or aces of the season (1956), a Triple Crown winner has now emerged to tilt the balance 16 times. […]
We’re all guilty of overestimating the capabilities of young players, particularly after they deliver a strong rookie season. After all, if they already show they can more than handle their own over the first extended look at the sport’s highest level, then surely they’ll be even better with more experience, […]