During his famed run from 1921 through 1925, Rogers Hornsby scripted a slash line that reads like some fantastical pull from another dimension: a .474 on-base percentage and .690 slugging mark to support the inconceivable three digit number that begins it all – a .402 batting average. Yes, the baseball […]
Even with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx in its corner, the AL has played second fiddle to its older sibling when it comes to producing players to reach 400 total bases in a season, with the Junior Circuit having 12 to the NL’s 18. From 1921 (when […]
Since the NL and AL started tussling in the Midsummer Classic, 30 pitchers have been able to take a breath at the pause to the season and pridefully point to already owning at least 15 wins. Bob Feller was the first to have this chance, way back in 1941 when […]
If they (and we) are fortunate, defending MVPs Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge will end their respective seasons with somewhere north of 150 games played – an almost daily entry across six months of regular season baseball. In contrast, the best pitchers will present their arms and offerings – if […]
I wonder, in whatever realm franchises possess some sort of collective consciousness, if the Expos still have nightmares about the Barry Bonds experience from 2000. In nine games that season, Montreal pitchers were tagged for eight doubles and seven homers by the Giants’ left fielder. There were also two singles […]
On May 25, 2008, in front of more than 46,000 folks at Dodger Stadium, Clayton Kershaw struck out seven Cardinals batters, including three in the first inning. That Sunday afternoon, Kershaw was just a couple of months past his 20th birthday and wearing #54 on the back of his Dodger […]
Across 16 seasons, representing seven franchises, while manning first (a lot) and third (a little) and adding about equal time behind the dish and as a DH, Carlos Santana has drawn 1,315 walks in 9,094 plate appearances. “So what?” you might ask. Here’s what. There are 23 players in baseball […]
Since June of 1920, there have been 138 pitchers to wend and wield and wind and whiff and wow to the tune and rhythm of at least five starts and five wins with no losses during this first month of summer. Athletics right-hander Slim Harriss was the first to brand […]
The 1895 Baltimore Orioles won more games than any other NL club that year and did so with a young array of talent that shimmers even when looking from a perch more than 125 years removed. By Baseball Reference’s accounting and evaluation, that club had a trio of position players […]
In 1963, outfielder Leon Wagner produced 26 home runs for his Angels club. It was a strong number, good enough to tie Daddy Wags for ninth in the AL, but was also a fairly steep drop from the previous season, when the first-time All-Star clocked 37. Wagner’s tally in ’63 […]