On the season’s final day in 1980, the Royals skipped to a 4-0 win, able to generate the offense even without that season’s AL MVP – George Brett – in the lineup. Taking the day off, Brett finished the year short in his pursuit of being the first batter since […]
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. […]
In an easy-going, 20-4 rout of the St. Louis Browns on May 21, 1925, Philadelphia Athletics backstop Mickey Cochrane erupted for three home runs. The verb is useful here, as Cochrane entered the game with one four-base hit on his career ledger; then again, he had only played 27 games […]
The 1925 Athletics roster featured four future Hall of Famers, with three of them in their debut seasons – Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove and Mickey Cochrane. The fourth, Al Simmons, was experiencing his second go-round and did he ever make a splash: a league-leading 253 hits, a league-leading 392 total […]
As of right now, the big league leaderboard for OPS fans out to reveal a dozen players with a mark above .900. The reigning MVPs – Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani – are there, holding down the top two slots. Kyle Schwarber makes the cut as he positions himself for […]
The 2025 Tigers have scored 309 runs – an impressive output at this stage of the season but not really anything exceptional to trace through history. The worthiness of any exploration lies along a convergent path, one that places that runs scored tally alongside the team’s runs allowed (Detroit has […]
The Dodgers’ top-10 leaderboard for runs scored in a single season is littered with names from long ago: three players from the 1880s, six from the 1890s (including the top Dodger dog, Hub Collins and his 148 runs in 1890) and one from the 1930s. There is one name from […]
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 […]
From 1973 through 1981, Richie Hebner participated in eight Opening Days. “Participated,” while accurate, fails to match the power of the corner infielder’s impact in those contests. He went 18-for-33 (.545), scored 13 runs and whammed his way to making a baker’s dozen of those safeties go for extra bases […]
Almost exactly one year ago, 27-year-old Tarik Skubal opened the Tigers’ season with six innings of three-hit, no-run ball. The 1-0 final in Detroit’s favor was, in a way, the initial abracadabra in what turned out to be a magical, fantastical year for both pitcher and team. Now, Skubal – […]