Oscar Taveras

I don't need to be the one to tell you that life is fragile. 

Oscar Taveras, 22-year old outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, was killed in a car accident with his girlfriend in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, his hometown. His agent confirmed the tragedy late last night and the news spread like wildfire even on to the biggest stage.

Taveras saw spurts of action in 2014 and was expected to make a run for one of the starting outfield spots on the 2015 roster. He was an impressive combination of speed and power that made tracking fly balls easy and hitting home runs even easier. Here's an example of Taveras' skill in the NLCS, when he hit a clutch moonshot to right to tie the game at 3 in the 7th. That at-bat was his last Major League action. 

Taveras was born June 19, 1992. One month younger than me to the date. To begin the season, he was ranked as the #3 prospect across the board (MLB.com, Baseball America, and Baseball Prospectus), and to be honest, I had him as my 2014 NL Rookie of the Year. I thought he would get more playing time this year; I even drafted him in fantasy baseball thinking he would be a mid-May call-up and have a Puig like effect on the game. 

It's kind of creepy thinking about that knowing what we know now. 

I wrote a post a few weeks ago about Derek Jeter's last at-bat and the end of Tiger Stadium and how it was such a poetic ending and how sports are such redeeming moments in our eyes. But what about this? How does this make any sense? How can there be a reason for an incredibly talented 22 year old kid to be taken in such a violent fashion so soon? Sports are something we can get lost in, forget the woes of our daily lives and believe in something bigger than ourselves; but what happens when the woes of sports creep into our daily lives? I guess this is poetic too, but rather than Whitman writing this story, it's Dickinson. 

This past weekend was a series of rivalry games for my fandom. Michigan and Michigan State squared off on the gridiron, and I watched intently and hopefully, only to see Michigan take a 35-11 drubbing and leave the fields to chants of "little sister." Chelsea, my favorite English football club, faced the hated Manchester United in a matchup of EPL giants and again, I was drawn into the simplicity of the game only to see Chelsea concede a 94th minute goal off of a questionable free kick to end the game in a painful draw.

My teams didn't win. They broke my heart, even, considering it was a rivalry weekend. But what happened to Taveras doesn't even come close. And what really shook me was how baseball characters put their lives on hold to bid another one goodbye, specifically the Cardinals' biggest rival. The Cubs and Cardinals have hated each other for as long as either one was a franchise, but they put all that aside Sunday night to pause and recognize the tragedy that had just occurred. 

At work this morning, I complained about how my teams let me down. But then I paused and kicked myself for saying that because I didn't lose anyone close to me.

Giants outfielder Juan Perez, though 5 years older than Taveras, is from the Dominican Republic along with Taveras. The two had played on some younger teams together and Perez took the loss very hard. In the middle of the 5th inning, Perez wandered down the dugout towards where Fox broadcaster Erin Andrews was stationed.

His eye caught her prompter and saw the word "Taveras" which was odd considering the Giants had defeated the Cardinals a few weeks ago to advance to this very World Series. 

What happened next is heartbreaking. Perez watched in horror as he saw the death of a close friend develop before his very eyes. Can you imagine finding out that way? Not through a friend or family member or hospital official - but on a broadcasting monitor on the other end of the dugout. 

You'll see Taveras in the white, second from the left. Perez is the lone Giant facing the camera.

Jorge Ortiz of USA Today writes more here.

The same thing happened to Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart in the 2009 season. Adenhart pitched in a single game in April of 2009, allowing 7 hits over 6 shutout innings against the A's. The following night, Adenhart and two others were struck by a drunk driver and killed on impact, ending the hopeful career of a 22-year old pitcher who had overcome major elbow surgery to just get to the big stage. The Angels' finished the year with his jersey hanging in their dugout 

and celebrated mightily when they clinched the AL West crown. 

I'm guessing the Cardinals will do something similar, whether it be a jersey patch or an outfield pad, or a jersey in the dugout. Adenhart or Taveras, it doesn't make it any easier to swallow. I think now that I'm actually 22 and the same age as they both were when they passed wakes me up a little bit, forcing me hang my head in mourning but also thankful that I have never lost anyone close in my life. 

I'm not writing this to tell you to appreciate every breath or take life one step at a time or any other YOLO-esque cliche, because you probably have enough of those crocheted into a throw pillow. I'm just trying to tell you that even while sports are so great because of stories like Jeter and Tiger Stadium, it also is that much harder because of the emotional investment we have. Very few of us probably ever met Oscar Taveras let alone knew him, so why are we so sad about this? It's because of his potential and what could have been. It's because it just doesn't seem fair that such a rare physical specimen is gone in the blink of an eye. It's because for the sorrow that a loss brings, a win can be mean so much more than beating your rival.

Remember Juan Perez, the poor guy that found out he lost a friend over a TV monitor? He slapped a two run double three innings later off of the best AL reliever this season. 

I can only imagine what Perez felt after that hit. 

And again, I can only imagine what the Taveras family is going through right now. 

Thanks for reading. And please, if you will, keep Taveras, his family, and the Cardinals in your thoughts. 

2014 Postseason, Part II

Well I'm a day late on my promise of delivering the NL Offseason busy body, but hey the World Series was on last night. I had a date with good baseball, can you blame me? No, I didn't think so.

Either way, I'll be getting to it right now. With Joe Maddon now on the market as the top 'free agent' manager, it will be interesting to see how some teams shape their offseason pickups around their managerial search. For example, if Minnesota signs Joe Maddon, he could be bringing Ben Zobrist with him and push Trevor Plouffe to left to replace Josh Willingham. This is all conjecture, but there are numerous situations where I can see Maddon signing and either bringing in some of his own or management taking his word to sign someone else. 

But this isn't about Joe Maddon, it's about NL teams that are going to make some aggressive moves towards the top. The first team that came to my mind was the Cubs; they have a core of strong, young talent in Baez, Bryant, Soler, etc., that will help their anemic offense perk up a bit. Sure they'll set every NL record possible for strikeouts but they'll also hit 40 home runs each, so you ask the Cubs fans what they'd rather have. President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein has already put together winning teams (2004 and 2007 Red Sox) and is only a few steps away from putting the Cubs back on the big stage. But he already made a lot of moves late in 2014 for starting pitching (Felix Doubront, Tsuyoshi Wada, Jacob Turner, etc.), so its a degree of quality issue. I wrote a post a few months ago citing the Cubs as the top target for Max Scherzer or Jon Lester signing, but we'll see if management wants to sign one of them and write off one of their new arrivals. Either way, you won't win a World Series with Edwin Jackson losing 15 games a year (he's 14-33 as a Cub). 

The point is, I think the Cubs will be in the market for either a closer or a starting pitcher. Not both. But they won't be the top movers.

The Braves will. 

In 2014, the Braves limped to the finish, going 21-31 in August and September and watching not only the Nationals fly by them but also the Mets catch up to them and tie them for 2nd in the East. For a fan base that has witnessed 14 straight division championships, losing the division is a shock let alone finishing a season under .500 (they haven't been under .500 since 1990). Much like the Red Sox, the focus of Thursday's blog, they are used to winning and putting out a product like 2014 is unacceptable. They have a new stadium coming in and it would feel hollow putting a bad team there. 

The Braves aren't a bad team, but their weak is weaker than other team's weaker. 

Kind of like this, but opposite.

For example: BJ Upton led the team in strikeouts but played in fewer games than Justin Upton, Andrelton Simmons, Jason Heyward, and Freddie Freeman. His .208 batting average was also the lowest of anyone on the team with more than 300 at-bats. Not a good combination, leading the team in K's and taking the rear in batting average. If he hit 29 home runs and 102 RBIs like his brother in right field then it wold be a different story, but he only hit 12 home runs and 35 RBIs. Centerfield is a strong weakness, but he is signed through 2018 and the Braves don't have a strong farm system when it comes to outfield. Victor Reyes is their top outfield prospect and he turned 20 three weeks ago. His ETA to the majors is 2017 and I don't think the Braves will sit on their hands and wait patiently for a prospect to develop in hopes that he can take over for BJ Upton.

As far as solutions go, the centerfield free agent market is thin. Colby Rasmus of the Blue Jays seems to be the best bona fide centerfield option considering Denard Span will most likely re-sign with the Nationals. Rasmus is not only an average player but he is a danger to the clubhouse too. Tony La Russa essentially booted him from the Cardinals clubhouse and hasn't made many friends in Canada, either - that's hard to do! However, Emilio Bonifacio and Nori Aoki are free agents and could be great fits at the top of the order. 

Another weakness is starting pitching. Signing Brandon Beachy and Gavin Floyd in the offseason made sense but they both missed the entire season due to injury. The Braves made do with Harang and Santana and they pitched well, but not to the caliber that they were hoping. Keep in mind the Hall of Fame just inducted two Braves pitchers so they are used to the highest quality of pitching. You don't find a Maddux or Glavine every day but I think they can do better than Gavin Floyd and Brandon Beachy. That's why this year I think they'll be hunting some serious free agent game. The first name that comes to mind is Max Scherzer. I know in a previous post I said the Cubs would go after him and I would love it if he stayed a Tiger, but he can go to Atlanta still on a contending team and be their ace (if not ace then a close second to Julio Teheran). Scherzer had 3 quality wins stolen from him as a Tiger - he led the AL with 18 wins and could have had 21 if the bullpen kept his work intact. Imagine if he was with the Braves and had oh, Johnny Venters in the 8th and Craig freaking Kimbrel in the 9th inning? He wouldn't have to worry about holding a lead then. 

Another option would be James Shields. Big Game James has not shone as brightly in this postseason but in the 2014 regular season, he posted a 14-8 record with a 3.21 ERA, which would have been tied for most wins on the Braves staff and 3rd best starters' ERA. Jon Lester (unlikely) and Aaron Harang (likely to re-sign) are free agents but I think Shields would be a relatively cheap and successful option for the long term.

Again, I'm no GM but I think Braves have deep enough pockets and a good enough talent pool around them that they could hop right back into competition, even with the Nats right in the same division. We'll see.

Thanks for reading.

The 2014 Offseason

With the World Series fully underway, 28 other MLB teams have their sights set on everyone's least favorite part of the baseball season: the offseason. This year was a great year in terms of competition; if you look at any of the division races from the 90s or early 2000s, many of the division winners had run away with the division by Labor Day and oftentimes the Wild Card was the best of the worst. Compared to the last few years where many races are decided on the final day of the season, it is no question that the current baseball is more competitive top to bottom than baseball of the 90s.

How great were the 90s? Pictured here (from left): Ken Griffey, Jr., Larry Walker, Barry Bonds

While that has made the sport much more exciting, it also has given the current middle-of-the-road teams a glimmer of hope at contention. 

Teams are much more inconsistent year to year than from what I remember. For example, the Red Sox finished last in 2012 under Bobby V, won it all in 2013, and finished last again this year (in the AL East). The Braves finished 30 games above .500 in 2013, winning the NL East, but suffered the same fate as the Sox and plummeted to 79-83, a 17 win difference, but still good enough for 2nd in the East (and people thought the AL Central was bad...). The Rangers went from 91-73 to 67-95 (although their injury bug was worse than Ebola), and in the same division, the Astros improved from 51-111 to 70-92 and still fired Bo Porter. Poor guy. 

What I'm getting at is that you never know what can happen, and the last 3-5 years have been better indications of that more than ever. Teams that are counted out in Spring Training can show up in October and teams that are hailed and praised bow out in August. So that said, who will be the team making the most moves this offseason?

This is sort of a loaded question because of how many moving parts are attached to each trade. We'll know more when the Winter Meetings roll around in beautiful San Diego when big names are always moved (Mark Trumbo last year, Pujols in 2011, you never know what can happen). But my first thought was the Red Sox. They are a winning city impatient for another championship after they've had 3 in 10 years, and another sub .500 season will cost John Farrell his job. GM Ben Cherington showed some serious guts trading away Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes for one of Cuba's finest in Yoenis Cespedes and then signing essentially a carbon Cuban copy in Rusney Castillo, which creates a logjam in the outfield. Promising rookie Mookie Betts hit .296 in just over 50 games, the flyin' Hawaiian Shane Victorino will be coming back for 2015, and Jackie Bradley Jr. will be there again just because for whatever reason he keeps getting a chance despite hitting .198 in 127 games. Third basemen Will Middlebrooks is like a cat at an open door, you never know what you're going to get. 

Now that you're finished laughing at my bad joke, you'll see that I'm serious. Even though he's just 25, Middlebrooks hit only .191 in 63 games, but still had 7 multi-hit games. It just doesn't make sense for a sub .200 hitter. David Ross is an aging backstop and equally as inefficient at the plate, hitting only .184 in 50 games. 

The Sox had 3 starters hitting below .200 (rarely was it all at the same time given injuries and DFAs) and they will not stand for that again, so I expect them to be in the market for some bats to protect Napoli, Papi, and Cespedes.

I wouldn't quite classify the Red Sox as a "win now or bust" team like the Tigers; they have a healthy farm system and a good starting rotation as long as they remain healthy. They just need enough hitting to complement the aforementioned sluggers to be competitive. Yes, Papi and Napoli are aging, but you don't need to be 24 to turn on a waist high fastball and send it to the boroughs. 

The first solution for third base that comes to mind is Ben Zobrist. Zobrist, a utility/journeyman for the Rays, was an All-Star in 2012 and is always commended for his spectacular defense regardless of where Joe Maddon used him on the diamond (career .987 fielding percentage, .997 in the OF).

He has played 4 games at third base over 3 years and has made one error so take that .750 F% with a grain of salt. Zobrist is also a career .264 hitter with average home run power. At age 33, he will come cheap, play good defense, and perhaps swing a few home runs around the Pesky Pole in right field.

As far as catching goes, I think Geovany Soto would be a great fit for Boston.

After winning the NL Rookie of the Year in 2008 for the Cubs, Soto has yet to find similar success with anyone. He has bounced around from the Windy City to Texas and then to Oakland where he is currently. He is only signed through 2014 so he will be on the free agent market, and like Zobrist, will be cheap. Soto's track record of all-defense no-offense is attractive to a lot of teams and for the Red Sox, who already have tons of offense, he can simply throw runners out and not worry about his at-bats. In split time between Oakland and Texas in 2014, Soto hit .250 in 24 games - quite respectable and a huge improvement from his .198 performance in 2012. His hitting is trending upward and his defense has always been the best part of his game - that's why he started the Wild Card game for the A's in 2014 despite only playing 10 games for them up to that point. He didn't allow a steal through 3 innings and then replacement Derek Norris allowed 7 - goes to show you that he can stop the run.

In 2013, the Red Sox hit at a torrid pace on their way to a World Series title. First in the AL in runs scored, 3rd in steals, 2nd in average, and 1st in slugging was a winning formula in Farrell's first year as manager. 2014 was a completely different story as the Red Sox scuffled to 12th in the AL in average and 11th in runs scored - but when you have 3 starters who hit below .200, what can you expect? I think Zobrist and Soto would be great additions to an already stellar team. The Red Sox dynasty is far from over, I think it was merely dormant in 2014. 

I enjoyed writing this. I felt like a GM and a detective at the same time, figuring out who would fit where and whose contract was compatible...I'll do the busiest NL team tomorrow. Thanks for reading. 

The Sun Devils

Now that we are on our 341st day without baseball (or so it feels), I'm grasping at straws for any baseball topic to write about because I miss watching it being played. 

Me without baseball on every night.

So here's what we have for a random topic. What college has produced the best all-around team? Not the best players or most Hall of Famers, but if we were to build a team from their graduates, who would be the best team? Baseball is one of the few remaining sports that doesn't require their athletes to go to college, so a lot of stars (ever heard of Mike Trout?) are drafted straight from high school and don't develop a relationship with the NCAA. That makes this blog interesting because some of the biggest names never went to school. 

My first thought were the poewrhouses of the south like Texas, but they've produced aggressively average major leaguers by the likes of Taylor Teagarden, Drew Stubbs, and Jordan Danks. They have had some go on to big time success such as Brandon Belt and Huston Street. Okay, how about UNC? Good teams year after year but not always the best pros - Andrew Miller, Chris Iannetta, Kyle Seager lead the highlights but that's about it. TCU has made a recent run to prominence, but other than Andrew Cashner, Jake Arrieta, and Matt Carpenter are the only Horned Frog alum with serious success. So here's where I leave it. The two best colleges to field a team would be Arizona State and USC. I'll let you decide who would win.

So here we go. For the Sun Devils: 
1. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
2. Ian Kinsler, 3B
3. Barry Bonds, LF
4. Reggie Jackson, RF
5. Either Ike Davis or Bill Buckner, 1B
6. Andre Ethier, CF
7. Paul Lo Duca, C
8. Willie Bloomquist, SS
9. Jim Palmer, P

That is a mean lineup with 48 All-Star Games between them (Bonds and Jackson lead the way with 14 a piece). Pushing Kinsler to third might be a bit tricky but offensively it will not matter given the protection of the home run king behind him and Mr. October behind him! The only weak portion is Willie Bloomquist, who isn't bad offensively with a .272 average but his .976 fielding percentage at shortstop is alarming. Pedroia has an MVP, Kinsler has 2 pennants, Bond has 7 MVPs, Jackson has an MVP, and Jim Palmer has 3 Cy Young awards. Oh and not to mention Jackson and Bonds are cousins (apparently) so having some family ties always helps.

For the Trojans:
1. Bobby Valentine, SS
2. Fred Lynn, CF
3. Ralph Kiner, LF
4. Mark McGwire, 1B
5. Bret Boone, 2B
6. Lucas DUDA, RF
7. Aaroun Boone, 3B
8. Jeff Clement, C
9. Randy Johnson or Tom Seaver OR Don Sutton (!!!!!!!!), P

Again, a mean lineup, though they seem to rely heavily on star power. This lineup reminds me of the Tigers this year, great at the top but the role players will make it weak. The Boone brothers had a few great years (even though Bret was suspected of juicing) but still, Aaron's a .263 career hitter and his known only for his clutch home run to send the Yankees to the 2003 World Series. Honest answer, how many of you knew he played for the Astros, Marlins, and Nationals? Still, Fred Lynn did have a Platinum Season in 1975 and Kiner and McGwire have 952 homers between them, making a formidable 3-4 combo.

So who wins? I'd say ASU in a close game. If Johnson starts, maybe not as close given the Sun Devils career averages against him. Paul Lo Duca (Backyard Baseball alum) hit a cool .317 off of the Big Unit, Bonds hit .306 with 3 dingers, Pedroia is 4-5 career (small sample size, I know), and Ethier is 2-3. So like I said, I think it would be close. Jim Palmer has faced Bobby Valentine (.167) and Fred Lynn (.200) which is compelling evidence for the Sun Devils, but if Mark McGwire hits a hold of one...it will be rolling for awhile. 

I think it would be a fun matchup. My parents' alma mater, University of Michigan, has some serious talent too, but not this deep. Guys like Barry Larkin, Jim Abbott, and Mike Matheny were Wolverines in their day, but unfortunately, the rest of the starting 9 wouldn't be able to compete with ASU.

Thanks for reading - and the World Series starts tomorrow!

Why I Am Pulling for the Royals

The Fall Classic is finally upon us, and it certainly is an unexpected matchup. For the first time since 2002 and only the second time ever, the World Series is comprised of two Wild Card teams facing off - for teams that consider a playoff berth a consolation prize after not winning their respective division, I think they'll be happy with a pennant flying in centerfield next season.

For the Giants, it is their third pennant in 5 years (2010, 2012, 2014, they hate odd years), which I guess makes them one step below a dynasty. If they win this World Series against the Royals, then will be indeed a bona fide dynasty, only 5 teams have won that ratio of titles to years (early 1910 A's, late '30s Yankees, early '50s Yankees, early '70s A's, late '90s Yankees). With surprising 2014 performances from guys like Joe Panik and Yusmeiro Petit, bench play from Joaquin Arias and Travis Ishikawa, clutch hitting from starters Brandon Crawford (he hit the first ever postseason grand slam by a shortstop in the Wild Card game against the Pirates) and Buster Posey, and a cult following of Hunter Pence, the Giants have eliminated star power from their winning concoction and relied on pitching and defense to get them there. 

But I'll say it: I'm sick of the Giants. And the Cardinals too for that matter; for the last 5 World Series, the NL participant has been one of the two. It's not that I actively dislike the Giants or their style of play (although Bruce Bochy looks like he always has a paper cut between his fingers), I just want to see someone else playing in October. These classic NL teams have a fundamental way of baseball that is not necessarily thrilling to watch but it is great tactical baseball and that's why they are there, but I want to see the Pirates or the young Nationals take their shot at a title. But I guess I'll have to wait. 

That's not the only reason I'm rooting for the Royals, though. For starters, finishing a game behind the Tigers, I tip my cap to the Royals for gritting their teeth and winning when it mattered. In the 19 games they played against the Central winners, the Royals went 6-13 and allowed 100 runs to the Tigers, the most they allowed to any team by 17 runs. They had to do some serious work against the rest of the Central (15 of their last 19 games were against the Central), and they did, finishing 33-24 against the White Sox, Indians, and Twins. The Royals also saw their season dwindling away in the dog days of summer; as of July 21st they were 8 games back in the Central, so what else do they do than rip off a 41-27 record for the second half and had a chance at a game 163 for the Central championship if the Tigers hadn't won on the last day of the season.

So yeah, the Royals battle, they're gritty, they're underdogs, however you want to frame it. They've overcome the odds, etc. They're the first team ever with a World Series berth without a 20 home run hitter (Gordon led the team with 19) and a 15-game winner (Shields and Ventura both had 14), which is fun, but it still isn't why I'm rooting for them.

The city. As I was driving to work the other day listening to my morning radio show, host Ryan Schuiling (@ryanschuiling on Twitter) made an excellent point about the city of Kansas City. Being one of the smallest markets in baseball, KC doesn't always have the electric crowd you've seen in October. They ranked 11th in AL attendance and haven't cracked 2 million fans since 1991. While The K is a beautiful stadium, Kansas City just isn't a hotbed for fandemonium until it matters (October). 

We all know the Royals' last World Series was 1985, flirting with 30 years. That's a long time.

But what else do they have to root for?

When I mention small markets, I mean more than just attendance - Kansas City only has one other professional team, the Kansas City Chiefs. Since 2007, the Chiefs are 42-75 and have lost in the first round of the playoffs twice. In fact, since their inception in 1963, the Chiefs have won one Super Bowl: 1969, 45 years ago. Only a small sample of their fan base has seen two city championships, most have probably seen one, and probably the majority haven't seen any (or can remember any).

Compare this to Detroit, let's say. Detroit, routinely in the top 10 sports cities in the country, has the Tigers, Red Wings, Pistons, and Lions. The Tigers have won 4 straight AL Central titles as well as 2 pennants in the last 10 years. The Red Wings have won 4 Stanley Cups in my lifetime ('96, '97, '02, '08), and have been in the playoffs literally every single year I have been alive. The Pistons have the 2004 championship most recently and the early 1990s Bad Boys which won 2 titles themselves. The Lions, are, well, the Lions. I'm prouder of their 2008 0-16 season than I am of the Red Wings playoff streak to be honest, but the point is we are spoiled. The Tigers didn't win this year but the Red Wings will be competitive and the Lions are moving forward. 

Let's look at San Francisco. Even though they don't have a hockey team, the 49ers have been a powerful force in the NFC the last few years, going to the conference championship game in 2011 and 2013 and going to the Super Bowl in 2012. Even the Golden State Warriors are fun young team with playoff berths the last two years and one of the best shooters in the game in Stephen Curry. Oh and their baseball team has 2 World Series in the last 5 years. That's fine. 

As Schuiling pointed out, Kansas City does not have a whole lot to hang their hat on in terms of athletic achievement. Kansas City, Missouri, however, was awarded a municipal gold medal for their Anti-Drug Sales Tax campaign - in 1995. 

I know as an independent blogger I should be remaining neutral, but what was the first thing you learned in kindergarten (other than how to spell my last name)? Sharing. 

I'm looking at you, San Fran. Kansas City deserves a win. You've had plenty.

Thanks for reading. 

Dad's Birthday

So first things first I want to wish my dad a happy 60th birthday today. The man who cleans teeth for a living and reads Civil War books for fun

See, I'm not kidding. This is us at Fort Macon in North Carolina.

 also taught me how to throw a baseball and hit a pitch thrown overhand. Even though he hates to admit it, I am indeed bigger than him now, but that doesn't mean I can't look up to him and here is a birthday post to you, Dad.

Knowing that all of you are so great at math, my dad was born in 1954 in Detroit. As he began to grow up, the Tigers came into their own after a rebuilding phase between the 1940s slugging teams of Greenberg and York and the 1960s intimidating defense with Denny McLain and Mickey Lolich. When we would watch October baseball together in the past, he would always reminisce of how his teachers would stop whatever they were doing in class so they could turn the Tigers on the radio in the '68 World Series against the Cardinals (the MLB wouldn't dream of having a weekday World Series game now). And then he would share some memories of his favorite players, Willie Horton and Gates Brown. 

Willie Horton had a blue collar career, so to speak. Born in Virginia, Horton went to high school in Detroit and was drafted shortly after his graduation. Two short years later, he debuted as a 20-year old man (I saw man and not boy because look at these arms)

He's listed as 5'11"/209 lbs, I'm pretty sure his biceps were 20 pounds. Each. Screenshotted from YouTube.

 in the first game of a doubleheader in September of 1963 against the Washington Senators. Horton was a pinch hitter (remember no DH yet) for pitcher Hank Aguirre and promptly laced a single to centerfield off of Jim Hannan. Horton would round out his brief 1963 season with a .326 average, two steals, and his first career home run in only his second career plate appearance! 

Now I said he had a blue collar career, not because he played for a team that's primary collar is blue, but because of his work ethic. Horton, or so my dad says, always played the game hard and played it the right way. He showed up every day, did what was asked of him, and did it well. He wasn't the best player on the field, especially with a guy named Al Kaline playing the other corner of the outfield, but he usually played every game of a season. A 4-time All Star, Horton's best season came in 1968 when the Tigers won the World Series (coincidence?). At age 25, he hit for a solid .285 average with 36 home runs, 85 RBIs, and 20 doubles. All in all, he slugged .543, good for 3rd best in the MLB, and was 2nd in the AL in at-bats per home run. 

He brought is lunch pail every day and simply went to work. Horton was a career .273 hitter with 325 home runs and narrowly missed 2,000 hits - he finished with 1,993. Not the greatest player on the field, but always a tough out and power threat. He was fun to watch, says my dad, and rightfully so considering he was in the lineup every day and part of one of the best Tigers' teams in history. 

Gates Brown was basically Horton's backup for the duration of his career. He served as a pinch hitter and leftfielder for the Tigers from 1963 to 1975, and was essentially the 60s' Don Kelly (no wonder my dad loved him). Interestingly enough, Brown was a Tiger from 1963-1975 and Horton was from 1963-1976 before going to the Rangers, so they almost had the exact same tenure at the same position. That's what I call a neat-o fact. Brown, like Horton, was a good player and a better man. Being a career role player isn't easy (just ask about my varsity basketball career), but Brown did as he was asked and did it well. Hey, he got a ring, after all. That's all any player wants.

So happy birthday to a great dad and a great man.
Thanks for teaching me to throw.

Thanks for reading.

Who Should Hire Ron Gardenhire?

Now that you are all down laughing at my witty play-on-words of a title, let's get down to business about a very important offseason subject: managers.

So far already, the season isn't even technically over and we've seen multiple managers lose their job. Rangers' manager Ron Washington resigned mid-way through September as his Rangers were limping to the finish line (they suffered the most injuries and most losses in the American League), but it wasn't because of his managerial resume, it was because of his personal life. Washington, who has experienced issues with cocaine in the past, held a press conference about a month ago to bring his marital infidelity out in the open. Read more here from Calvin Watkins with ESPN Dallas. Though Washington has shown good character after his mistakes have become public (both times), I have been critical of his ability to win the "big game" and etch his name into history as one of the great managers. In 2010, he took Texas to the World Series against Bruce Bochy's Giants when Buster Posey became a household name. In 2011, he was right back there with the same team and if Nelson Cruz plays that fly ball cleanly, those Rangers could have been a dynasty. Instead, the Cardinals fought and fought to win in 7, Freese ripped his jersey,

Freese's torn jersey from the 2011 World Series is one of my favorite pieces displayed at the Museum in Cooperstown - even if it is Cardinals' gear.

and Adrian Beltre is the only one from that team still producing for that team (Andrus is too overrated to be considered if you ask me). Mitch Moreland sat out this year with an injury, Ian Kinsler, CJ Wilson, and Josh Hamilton are at home watching Nelson Cruz in the ALCS, Mike Napoli is drowning in his beard but boasting his 2013 World Series ring with Koji Uehara. Looking back, the 2011 Rangers were stacked, but a lot of their players hit their stride after 2011. All I hope is that Neftali Feliz can recover to the same form his Rookie of the Year caliber in 2010 because I don't recall having more fun watching a pitcher than this guy. Talk about a live arm.

Anyway, sorry for the history lesson, but Washington not only lost 2 World Series, but he also lost the two All-Star Games he managed. All-Star Games are oftentimes not in a manager's hands considering how often pitching overpowers hitting (except for when Justin Verlander laid an absolute egg in the first inning in 2012), so it's not all on Washington, but in 2012, he had three of his starters in the lineup and could only scrape 6 hits in 9 innings. 

Washington managed the Rangers from 2007-2014, going 664-611, winning two pennants along the way.

While Washington has the most prolific story, Minnesota legend Ron Gardenhire was fired by the Twins not even a week after the season. This is a bad move by Twins' management if you ask me. Considering the Twins' pitching staff had the worst ERA in the AL, a 70-92 record (a half game behind the reigning World Series champs) is not bad at all. As for offense, the Twins were aggressively average (7th in AL in team average, total bases, steals, and 11th in home runs), but got timely hitting from quiet heroes like Brian Dozier and Kurt Suzuki. Joe Mauer had a very down year, only hitting .277 with 4 home runs in 120 games. The Joe Mauer Power Hour was never a popular show in Minnesota (that's a fun way of saying he's not a home run hitter), but his .277 is 42 points lower than his career average and nearly a hundred points lower than his career high .365 in 2009. Joe Mauer's talent isn't gone, not by a long shot, but when your best player isn't producing, that doesn't mean fire the manager. That means buy Mauer some protection that isn't strikeout machine and now current Royal Josh Willingham. Keep in mind - when Mauer won his three batting titles and his MVP he had fellow slugger and 2014 NL batting champ Justin Morneau right behind him. And no, Brian Dozier can not hit clean up. 

Gardenhire has managed the Twins since 2002, winning 6 division titles and MOY in 2010. He has a 1068-1039 record.

Long story short, 70-92 isn't a great season, but the Twins aren't a great team and they never have been even though Gardenhire won the division 6 out his 13 years as Twins skipper. In 2006, when they went 96-66, the Twins had a starting nine of Mauer, Morneau, Luis Castillo, Jason Bartlett, Nick Punto, Lew Ford, Torii Hunter, Michael Cuddyer, and Rondell White. Not what you would expect from a division winning team (even though Joe Nathan went 7-0 with a 1.58 ERA), and as you would probably expect from this starting 9, they got swept in the ALDS by the A's (Mauer hit .187 in the series). 

Mauer is the best AL catcher since Pudge Rodriguez - 3 batting titles and an MVP deserves a Hair and Shoulders shampoo commercial.

Here's a crazy thought: the Twins are only as good as Joe Mauer. And just because he didn't win a batting title doesn't mean you should fire Ronny. He has one Manager of the Year award and 5 runner-ups, why would you take away the one who has been squeezing the glue that's been holding this team together for the last 9 years (Joe Mauer was the glue - was that a horrible metaphor? Don't answer that). And with #1 prospect Byron Buxton/The Minnesota Messiah (Minnessiah?) just a few years away, you don't want a newbie manager leading a newbie centerfielder.

So who should hire him?

The D'backs fired Kirk Gibson and hired hitting coach AJ Hinch in the same week, which is another head scratching hire. The Astros fired Bo Porter (wrongfully, again - 19 win increase from 2013) and haven't hired anyone yet. 

Well, considering I went into such detail about Ron Washington and the Rangers, I think you know where I'm going with this. 

A) They're both named Ron.
B) They both rely heavily on their star players to get the job done, and Texas (when healthy) has no shortage of that. Remember when I said that the Twins are only as good as Mauer? The same goes for the Rangers, but I think their X-Factor is their outfield. On paper, an outfield of Shin Soo Choo, Alex Rios, and Leonys Martin isn't bad, but when Choo plays on one ankle most of the year and Alex Rios disappears for the 2nd half (.302 average as of July 18, .280 to end the season), leaving it to Michael Choice does not bode well. 

But look at next year. Once everyone heals up, here's what their lineup will be.
1) Andrus, SS
2) Choo, LF*
3) Beltre, 3B (ageless - he'll hit .350 when he's 40)
4) Fielder, 1B*
5) Moreland, DH*
6) Rios, RF
7) Odor, 2B (he hit .269 as a 20-year old, with a decent manager and lineup behind him, he could be a serious threat)
8) Martin, CF
9) whoever catches, whether it be Arencibia or Chirinos

For a manager who leans heavily on his star players, Gardenhire would have plenty of star power. Oh, wait their rotation - 
1) Darvish* (hopefully he won't need Tommy John after the Rangers shut him down in August with elbow inflammation)
2) Holland*
3) Ogando*
4) Harrison *
5) Lewis 

*indicates season ending injury in 2014

The Rangers had no one to work with in 2014, so it's no surprise they didn't show up. But give them their rotation and a manager, and holy cow, look out AL West. For a division that sent two teams to the playoffs (and had a third in contention to the very last day), there isn't a lot of room at the top, but if the Rangers play and are managed to their full potential - look out.

Thanks for reading. 

The 2014 AL MVP

The MVP is such an interesting race to me. There are so many different ways to measure a player's value to a team - some people will use WAR, total offensive output, team success, etc. None of those are wrong as long as they are justified correctly. Personally, the way I determine a player's value is sort of a hybrid of those, combining team stats and record plus the player's individual stats (I weight clutch stats very heavily into account) to produce the type of what-if-the-team-didn't-have-him type of label. It gets a little messy, but I think I have a pretty good handle on things. 

If you remember from my preseason predictions, I said Miguel Cabrera was a safe pick for the MVP, but after a disappointing (by Cabrera standards) season, hitting .313/.371/.524 with 25 home runs and 109 RBIs, he will not win the award for a third consecutive season. My actual guess was Angels outfielder Mike Trout, who had a solid season, but one different from past Trout. Rather than being a prototypical leadoff hitter, Trout was now the 2nd hitter for the Angels, and fell into a more power hungry campaign, leading the league in RBIs, total bases, and strikeouts. He stole half as many bases as last year and a third as many as his rookie year, walked 27 fewer times, and had a lower OBP by 45 points, but still managed to lead the league in runs (he has Pujols and David Freese to thank for that). 

My bold prediction was Manny Machado, who played only half the season. Despite the injury, Machado hit .283 with 14 doubles in 82 games - not MVP caliber.

So anyway, who deserves the AL MVP? I don't think there is a wrong answer, though there are good arguments for a number of players.

• Michael Brantley: .327 avg (3rd in MLB, best on team by almost 50 points) and one of 2 players with 200 hits in the MLB (led Indians by 66 hits). Michael Bourn missed 56 games, Jason Kipnis missed 34 games, Asdrubal Cabrera was traded away, Nick Swisher missed half the year, and Carlos Santana had a career-low batting average season, but the Indians still finished 85-77, only 4 games out of a Wild Card spot. A lot of that is due to Terry Francon's wizardry managing skills to get the most out of the replacements, a lot of it is Corey Kluber's dominating season, but I think most of it is Michael Brantley coming through in the clutch. The Indians hit .254 as a team in 2014, but if you remove Michael Brantley from the offense, that average dips - neigh, plummets - to .213. His clutch stats blow me away - in every category broken down by Baseball Reference, he hit over .300, including .312 in a tie game and .317 when the Indians were down by 1. He hit .366 against the AL Central and .405 against the Tigers and Royals, both playoff teams (although the Tigers didn't really fight much in the ALDS). Brantley set career highs in nearly every offensive category, and though personal success doesn't necessarily directly translate to value, in this case, it certainly does. He must have a very strong back, because he put Cleveland on it in 2014. 
• JD Martinez: Martinez was arguably the pick up of the year for the Tigers, basically a freebie from Houston after being cut out of Spring Training. After a short stint in AAA, Martinez played 123 games for the Tigers out of the 5 hole as excellent protection to Cabrera and the other Martinez, hitting .315 with 23 home runs and 30 doubles. Like Brantley, Martinez had career highs in average, home runs, doubles, total bases, etc., but how valuable was he? Not quite Brantley status, but when it mattered, he came through. The 26-year old Miami native hit .315 with 2 outs and runners in scoring position (usually they were the molasses footed Cabrera and VMart, which means his 28 RBI in 54 AB in that situation were seriously clutch), and .300 with 11 home runs and 31 RBIs in 217 ABs when the Tigers were down by 1 run. 6 of his 23 jacks came in the 9th inning (3 of those gave the Tigers the lead, another 2 brought them to within 1 run). He also hit .354 in September while the Tigers were stumbling to the finish, barely staving off the Royals by a single game. He won't win MVP - and doesn't deserve to - but there's no denying how valuable this slugging leftfielder was for the Motor City.
• Felx Hernandez: King Felix better win the Cy Young award for how much he gave Seattle. But MVP is a different story. He could get consideration, but probably not the award, but here's some food for thought: in 8 of his 15 wins, the Mariners lost the previous night. 7 other times the Mariners won when Felix took a no-decision, 5 of those came after a loss - he pitched well enough for the team to win so he accounted for 13 team wins. He played stopper for a team that needed him to step up if they wanted to make the postseason (probably would have showed better than the A's and Angels, just saying). 
• Jose Abreu: Abreu will win the Rookie of the Year by what should be the biggest margin in history. Hitting .317 with 36 home runs and 107 RBIs (and missed 17 games), he led the White Sox convincingly in every category except for triples, runs scored, and strikeouts (that's a good thing). With White Sox mainstay Paul Konerko calling it a career after 2014, Abreu's increase in production will be incredibly valuable in the future - I think he'll win one or two when the time comes.

Should Trout win? Honestly, no. Though a lot of people consider him a snub the past two years (I don't), he didn't do enough to win the award for me. .286 average is good, but not the most valuable. Home runs, RBIs, yes they're all important he played a major role in the Angels snagging the best record in baseball. Yes he won the All-Star Game MVP and he can crush the best pitching. But when it mattered, where was he? Short answer: far from valuable. 

Trout's clutch stats, per BBR.

.200 with 2 outs and RISP? .277 with 69 K's with a tie game? Trout's batting average drops nearly 20 points (.296 to .279) when the team he's playing is below .500 versus above .500, including .189 against the Orioles, Tigers, and Dodgers combined with 25 strikeouts in 17 games. Don't get me wrong, I think Trout is an excellent player and arguably the next Jeter in terms of class and mindset, but hey, Jeter never won an MVP either. This year won't be his year. 

So who's the winner? Jose Altuve.

Altuve led the MLB in average and hits and led the AL in steals. The Astros finished 70-92, a 19 win improvement from 2013, and they did it with an interim manager for the last 24 games. Without Altuve, the Astros team average would drop from .242 to .225, not as severe as a drop as the Indians and Brantley, but the Astros kept the same lineup for most of the year and had a smaller sample size to divide from. His clutch stats are even better than anybody's we've already talked about: 

Altuve's clutch stats, per BBR.

Other than George Springer's brief power surge after his debut in the first half, Altuve was the lone shining star in the Lone Star State. I think he has the clutch numbers, and regular numbers, to win the Most Valuable Player award.

If you take Trout off the Angels, they might not be a playoff team. If you take Brantley off the Indians, they would not be a .500 team. If you take King Felix off the Mariners, who knows where they would be? But if you take Altuve off the Astros, there is no way they have 70 wins, and no way that their yongsters did as well as they did. In my mind, Altuve is the right choice for the MVP.

As always, thanks for reading. And I would do an NL MVP post, but we all know it will be Kershaw. Take care.

The 1995 AL MVP Race

Baseball is just a punch in the gut, man. I'm currently on the way down to North Carolina for my dad's 60th birthday and while driving listened to the Tigers/Orioles ALDS game. Typical Tigers fashion, blowing a three run lead and the Orioles valiantly took a two game lead in the series and seek the sweep as they head back to Detroit for Sunday's game. 

So currently, I'm boycotting the division series' while I write this blog about the 1995 MVP race. It may seem incredibly random that I chose to write about this particular race, and you'd be right. I mean I wrote the post about the 1995 Cy Young winners so I went over to check the MVP race but other than that and my boy Jon showing intense anger towards the race, there's really no reason as to why it's an important race. But that's what makes it great!

Mo Vaughn won the award, his first and only in his career, hitting an even .300 with 39 homers and 126 RBIs, but he didn't deserve the award if you ask me. 

Runner up Albert Belle had a historical season, slugging 52 doubles and 50 home runs, still the only 50 double/50 home run season in baseball history. He led the MLB in doubles, home runs, slugging percentage, and total bases, and the AL in runs scored and runs batted in. Oh, he also batted .317 and only struck out 80 times.

Third place finisher Egdar Martinez had arguably the best season of all three, batting .356 and getting on base at a .479 clip (those are Ted Williams numbers) with 29 home runs and 113 RBIs. Tying Belle in runs scored and doubles, Martinez edged out Belle and Vaughn in total hits and OPS, which is becoming many critics' favorite indication of hitting quality. 

So why did Vaughn win? 

Here are my thoughts. I'm not taking away from anything Vaughn did because hitting .300 in the AL East (Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina, David Wells, David Cone, etc.) is not easy. It was a much tougher division than AL Central considering the Indians won by 30 games over the Royals, and though the AL West was more competitive in terms of division games back, the AL East had higher quality teams. But here's the deal. 

Albert Belle was, unfortunately, a jerk. In 2001, ESPN's Page 2 staff ranked the least likable players in baseball history; not just a year or decade or era, but all of baseball history, and here is there list.
1) Ty Cobb
2) John Rocker 
3) Albert Belle
4) Cap Anson 
To be grouped with a guy who would unabashedly slide with cleats up (Ty Cobb) and an outright racist (John Rocker) means that Belle must have really been a bad apple. For example: Belle hit the clubhouse thermostat with a baseball bat after somebody turned up the heat without telling him. It's sad that his career ended early and fizzled out because of injury but when you mistreat the media for years on end, they don't forget.

It doesn't matter how great of a season you have, if the media resents you, they won't reward your play. So despite his 50/50 season, his people skills are lacking therefore his trophy case is empty. 

Everyone loves Edgar Martinez, so he certainly doesn't have Belle's problem. His problem is the position he plays. As a designated hitter, everyone (not just media or execs, but fans, too) take will take you with a grain of salt. There's a huge backlash for Edgar not getting into the Hall of Fame, but he only played half of the game. Baseball purists will say that the American League is inferior for using a DH and that the DH is reserved for people who just can't field (like me!). 

They'll even say that the World Series will be useless until the American League plays without a DH. Extreme, I know, but that's how they're feeling. To a lesser extent, the same goes for the MVP. Because you only play half the game, it makes it significantly harder to win a DH. No primary DH has ever won an MVP award, nor has a primary DH ever been inducted into the Hall of Fame, and I don't think there will be either for a very long time (Big Papi has the best shot, but I wouldn't vote for him). So unfortunately, even though Martinez hit .356 (AL batting title) and slugged the cover off the ball, he didn't play any defense (7 games in the field at the corners), and therefore those that held votes did not vote for him (only 4 first place votes). 

It's too bad because Mo Vaughn didn't have the best season in terms of statistics or value (both Belle and Martinez had higher WARs [sorry]), but his win was merely circumstantial. Played a defensive position and wasn't a pain in the clubhouse (sidenote: if a movie is ever made about Mo Vaughn, Huell from Breaking Bad needs to play him). 

Was it a hollow victory? Absolutely not. On the field, I think Belle deserved it. Offensively, I think Martinez deserved it. If you take everything into account, I think Mo deserved it and therefore the media got it right. After all, Belle never made it into Backyard Baseball. 

Mo Vaughn did.

Thanks for reading. Remember kids, practice your defense.