A consideration of the variables and measurements that impact the resonance (or ephemerality) of a performer’s stretch of success is beyond this mere little introduction; suffice it to say, why and how and to what degree we recall and remember and imprint could fill up a season’s worth of dialogue. […]
For all his gaudy career numbers, Eddie Murray doesn’t possess much in the way of single-year supremacy. There’s an AL-best number of walks in 1984 to go along with the circuit’s best on-base percentage (and the league’s best OPS+) that year, a few seasons with more intentional walks than any […]
On September 25, 1964, Angels right-hander Dean Chance claimed his 20th win of the year, but it wasn’t easy, as his Halos scored their only run in the bottom of the eighth. Given a lead, at last, Chance then retired Harmon Killebrew on a flyball to right, got Jimmie Hall […]
In 1972, the Padres pitching staff posted the third most team shutouts in the NL, with 17. Problem was, they were also blanked 17 times, which amounted to the second most in the league. However the computations and balances played out, the club finished the year with a dismal 58-95 […]
A year ago, Shohei Ohtani flirted with the exceptional achievement of clocking triple digits in extra-base hits, a feat that’s been managed only 15 times in this National Pastime’s history. Ultimately falling one shy of the century mark, Ohtani had to settle instead for a belt that was stitched with […]
September baseball is the time to meaningfully count – up and down. With each contest that marches upward toward the 162nd, postseason pursuers can focus on a magic number, counting down toward the desired zero that translates to October baseball. With each day moving a player closer to his final […]
Since the 20th century gave way to the 21st, 1,713 contests have abruptly and resoundingly concluded with a home run. Pinch-hitters have authored 104 of these dream (or nightmare) scenarios, going from witness to hero in whatever time it took to emerge off the pine, prep in the on-deck space, […]
When Dave Kingman closed his career in 1986, the 37-year-old had produced 442 home runs – at the time, the 19th most in baseball history. Those 442 also represented an unprecedented 28.1% of his entire collection of hits – a greater percentage than any ballplayer with at least 5,000 plate […]
Albert Pujols’ first 10 seasons were as close to ideal as any player has ever experienced – a full-time player from day one, no significant time lost to injury or labor issues or global conflict or global pandemic, a start at a very young age, eye-popping numbers throughout. That […]
There have been 32 Yankees to power through an August and come out at the end with at least nine home runs and at least 23 RBI. Babe Ruth did this on his way toward establishing a new home run record in 1921. Joe DiMaggio did it on his way […]