MLB 2nd Half
The playoff race is now starting to take shape and with the new playoff format, we’ll see if the extra wildcard spot makes for good drama. Rather than a 1 game Wildcard matchup, the division winner with the least amount of wins will play the last wildcard team in a 3 game set (for example above the Twins vs. Blue Jays/ Brewers vs. Phillies). The other two wildcard teams, in this case, Rays vs Mariners and Braves vs Padres, would also play each other in a 3 game set. The top two division winners will receive a bye and in theory, will have a rested pitching staff for the division series. This now gives plenty of incentive for teams to try and win their division rather than catch on as a wildcard.
If you don’t have a favorite team or your team is already out of the race, the Baltimore Orioles are certainly the fun underdog team in the hunt. Entering the season, the oddsmakers gave the O’s a league-worse 61.5 win total. With the way they are playing of late, they may achieve the 62-win mark in early August. Excluding the abbreviated COVID 2020 season, the Orioles have finished in last place in the AL East every year since 2017. At this point in previous seasons, they would have already rolled over and played dead so who knows, maybe we’ll see if they can cause some havoc amongst the AL East juggernauts and even crash the October party.
Award Races
MVP
Purposely leaving off Shohei Ohtani here. Even though he isn’t far off from his 2021 MVP Campaign, I can’t give my hypothetical MVP vote to someone whose team went on a 14-game losing streak. Aaron Judge hit his 34th homer 94 games into the season and is currently on pace for 59 big flies. If he can lead the Yanks to a 100+ win season chasing down Ruth and Maris, I can’t see how he doesn’t earn the award.
Mets fans, I wanted to go with Pete Alonso. Although he’s the first baseman on the better team, it’s tough to overlook Paul Goldschmidt leading the NL in runs, batting average, on-base %, and OPS while dragging the Cardinals to the playoffs.
Cy Young
Justin Verlander at 39 years old has bounced back from his Tommy John surgery with the help of Kate Upton, pitching to a 12-3 record with a 1.89 ERA. Since joining the Astros in 2017 he has gone 55-18 with a 2.35 ERA.
Sandy Alcantara leads the NL in quality starts (6+ innings, allowed 3 runs or fewer) with 14. He’s been a quality pitcher throughout his 6-year career but this year has taken it to another level. Clayton Kershaw complimented Alcantara stating, “We all know that he’s the best pitcher on the planet right now.”
Rookie of the Year
Julio Rodriguez arrived on the center stage during this year’s home run derby. J-Rod’s 16 first-half homers have the Mariners currently in the playoffs. Seattle has not made the playoffs since their 2001 collapse. Braves’ Spencer Strider has filthy stuff, so far striking out 114 in 74.1 innings.
Oneil Cruz, MacKenzie Gore, Bobby Witt Jr., and Adley Rutchman were all highly rated prospects who are going through the typical rookie struggles but have flashed potential at times.
Deep Dive: “The Captain” Ep. 1 & 2
For starters, it is clear as day as to why Derek Jeter turned out the way he did. His parents need to be “protected at all costs” (I think I used that phrase correctly). Put me on record petitioning a Dot Connors (#2’s Grandma) monument plaque in Yankee Stadium for making Jeter a Yankee fan. The Connors were residents of Jersey City (shoutout Peacock Nation) before moving to Bergen County where young Jeter would play wiffleball in their yard on summer visits. Episode 1 illustrated just how Jeter’s moxie was instilled at a young age.
Pre-Jeter 90s Yankees
Everybody praises Billy Beane (Moneyball A’s) because Brad Pitt did a great job starring in an underdog sports movie about exploiting market inefficiencies, but Gene “Stick” Michael built the 90s Yankees using those analytics before Beane. Michael is the only person to serve at one time or another as a player, scout, manager, and general manager for the Yankees. Stick was the architect responsible for drafting Jeter, Posada, and Pettitte, signing the likes of Bernie and Rivera, as well as trading for O’Neill and Cone. He valued on-base % when it was not taken seriously.
Buck Showalter, who also deserves recognition for developing the 90s Yanks, mentioned that Gene Michael had an eye for finding players who have “it”. The concept of a player having “it” is hilarious but on point. To explain in NFL terms, Joe Burrow has “it” (not necessarily an otherwordly athlete, may not have the most cannon of an arm, but has a presence that seems to find a way to win). Gene Michael assembled a collection of guys who had “it”. Yes, I know how ridiculous that sounds.
After a brutal 1995 best-of-5 series loss to the Seattle Mariners, George Steinbrenner sought change. According to the doc, The Boss wanted Showalter to fire 5 of his coaches and the manager didn’t think he could stomach it and still have respect in the Yankee clubhouse. The team’s captain at the time and Yankee icon, Don Mattingly, was retiring after battling back issues for the better part of a decade. Gene Michael also shifted from GM to an advisor front office role as VP of major league scouting which he held until his death in 2017.
‘96
It is very easy now to look back on this era of Yankee baseball and think: of course they won, they were loaded, but at the time this was a team of unknowns and castoffs. Joe Torre took over as manager and the NY media immediately wanted to write him off because of his 3 previous lousy managerial stints. Derek Jeter was a rookie just a few years removed from committing 56 errors in a minor league season. Mariano Rivera was a failed starting pitcher who hadn’t yet refined his cutter. David Cone was an overworked workhorse who had to have an aneurysm surgery to repair his right shoulder in the middle of the season; which may have been caused by him throwing 140+ pitches in game 5 at Seattle in ‘95. Tino Martinez got off to a brutal April start while trying to fill Mattingly’s shoes. Doc Gooden and Darryl Strawberry were both one late NYC night away from facing a lifetime ban.
If you just look at the stats on this team, it would be easy to assume they were just mediocre. Their team ERA was higher than the MLB average and they actually led the Majors in runners left on base while barely cracking the top 10 in runs scored. Nonetheless, the 1996 team persisted. They had a secret weapon out of the bullpen in Mariano Rivera for multiple middle innings relief and on offense finished top 3 in on-base %. A team of patient hitters worked the count on opposing starters and feasted on opposing teams’ bullpens (they were nothing like the flamethrowers today). As the second baseman, Mariano Duncan, put it, “We play today. We win today. Das it” - the mantra for the season.
‘98
As exciting as it must have been rooting for an underdog during the 1996 season, the 1998 season must have been crème de la crème. After losing to the Cleveland Indians in the 1997 ALDS, Brian Cashman was given the keys to the franchise as the GM in ‘98. He retooled the Yanks by signing Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez and Chuck Knoblauch. Cashman also made his first shrewd diamond in the rough trade, acquiring Scott Brosius (he was the player to be named later in a deal where NY paid the A’s to take Kenny Rogers).
In the 1998 season, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa juiced 66+ homers each. The Yankees remarkably led the majors in runs scored without a single player hitting over 28. David Wells pitched a perfect game during a Beanie Baby giveaway day. Scott Brosius took home World Series MVP, hitting .471 with 2 dingers and 6 RBI in a 4-game sweep over the Padres. Once again Gene Michael’s fingerprints were found on this team. They led baseball in on-base % and an unselfish group of players who had “it” won the most games in a single season in MLB history.
Episodes 3 & 4 of “The Captain” air Thursday, July 28 on ESPN.
YouTube Rabbithole
A breakdown of an all-time classic baseball brawl. Was tempted to go with the Jeffrey Maier catch… decided to save it for a later date.
Enjoy your weekend!