George Springer’s very first brush with the postseason, a single-game elimination affair in the 2015 AL Wild Card Game, occurred – somewhat appropriately, it now seems – in New York against the Yankees; for over the next 10 years, as the outfielder/DH has piled up an extraordinary amount of playoff […]
At the end of their spectacular journey in 1970, the World Champion Baltimore Orioles could look at their collective postseason work (a sweep against the Twins in the ALCS, a five-game hold over the Reds in the Fall Classic) and point to and acknowledge a few standout individual batting performances: […]
Ken Griffey, Jr. may have been gone. Álex Rodríguez may have left town. Randy Johnson may have been but a memory. But Ichiro Suzuki was the new king of Seattle. Jamie Moyer and Edgar Martínez and Dan Wilson were still around. Facing the Indians at Safeco Field on October 15, […]
There are 185 instances of a postseason batter – perhaps surrounded by bunting, perhaps hearing extra jeers or cheers from a crowd feeling the intensity, perhaps extra-energized by the heightened tension that seems to come with every delivery from mound to dish – generating at least two home runs in […]
By the time Ken Griffey, Jr.’s fourth MLB season was behind him, the Mariners’ center fielder may have had to build an addition onto whatever space had been erected to display the signifiers of excellence and prominence: three Gold Gloves; a Silver Slugger; three All-Star nods as a starter for […]
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, […]
Baseball Reference’s accounting delivers a list of 58 position players who generated at least 20.0 WAR through their age-24 seasons. There are three who are credited with a number above 40.0, with the Angels’ Mike Trout (47.5) ahead of the Tigers’ Ty Cobb and the Yankees’ Mickey Mantle. The Seattle […]
As part – an immense, electrifying part – of the 1971 Giants push to an NL West crown, Bobby Bonds made his first All-Star Game, picked up his first Gold Glove and finished fourth in MVP voting. The 25-year-old also finished in the top-seven in the NL in both home […]