Here’s where something goes when it doesn’t belong anywhere else. Quick takes that don’t need a full article, Top Nine Lists (nine because it’s baseball, duh), answers to the meaning of life and so forth.
Last Sunday, Ichiro set a record as the oldest player to start a Major League Baseball game in centerfield during the modern ERA at 43 years old. This got us thinking: which players have put up the best seasons on the shady side of 40. Here are the Top Nine season by players over 40 years old. Read more
An entirely average Major League starter is still among the few hundred best baseball players on the planet. The average Major League starter produces around 2.0 Wins Above Replacement – in most seasons, fewer than 100 position players reach that mark. So when we ask “Who was the most average Major League player of all-time?” it’s not meant as an insult. It does however make for an interesting question. Read more
Baseball is back for the 115th MLB season. Last season, the Chicago Cubs broke the longest running curse in sports and Mike Trout actually won another MVP award, making him two for five in seasons where he was the best player in baseball. What does the 2017 Major League Baseball season hold for MLB fans? We’ve got some ideas. As always, if we beat a coinflip’s accuracy, we’re calling it a win. Read more
The Chicago Cubs just made the World Series for the first time in over 70 years. The World has changed a lot since October 10th, 1945 (when the Cubs lost game seven to the Detroit Tigers). Here’s nine things that didn’t exist the last time we had a Chicago Cubs World Series game. Read more
Mike Piazza enters the Hall of Fame as the best offensive catcher in baseball history. He also enters as the subject of a “Hat Policy” conversation. Though he spent his best years with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Piazza will enter the Hall as a member of the New York Mets. This makes a good amount of sense: he did spend more time with the Mets and has long held bad feelings toward the Los Angeles Dodgers over the way he left the team. But, while it’s certainly not as contentious as the inclusion of Gary Carter or Andre Dawson as Expos (against both of their wishes), there is little question that Piazza’s greatest years were spent as a Dodger. Read more
Ken Griffey Jr., one of the greatest natural talents that baseball has ever seen, will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sunday. Despite his greatness and the heights of his achievements, Junior is also one of the game’s greatest “what if?” players. Injuries ravaged the second half of his career and left many fans wondering what might have been. The stark divide in Griffey’s career production makes him essentially unique among position players in the Hall. Read more
Jake Arrieta is a very good pitcher having an incredible run at the moment, but is he – as ESPN suggested – in a “league of his own” at the moment? Is he, as Bleacher Report and NBCSports claim, the best pitcher in baseball? Has his current run surpassed the rest of the MLB field? In the case of at least one of his peers, the answer is “no.” Read more