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Major League Baseball History: The Gaudy Stats From 1994

The 1994 San Diego Padres, as a unit, did not have much to write home about. At the time of the strike, their record was an abysmal 47-70, a mark that ranked them dead last in baseball. Yet, even though their house was dark, appearing to lack electrical power, a lone light shined bright in the living room. The sector in the abode considered to be the “main attraction” possessed an illumined glow that made San Diego fans forget about the gloom. In their last game before the season was stalled, San Diego Padres star right fielder Tony Gwynn collected three hits against the Houston Astros, which raised his league-high batting average to an astounding .394.

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Major League Baseball History: The Most Jam-Packed 40+ HR Club (1996)

From 1920-1929, Babe Ruth hit 40 or more home runs in eight of the 10 seasons. In the two years that he missed the mark, Ruth was suspended for a portion of one of them and ill for the other, causing him to miss a significant number of games. By the end of the 20s, just five players not named Babe Ruth joined the 40-home-run club. Though more names added themselves to the elite group that Ruth founded, they came to the party either by themselves or with a handful of others. In 1922, the year Ruth was suspended, Rogers Hornsby hit 42 home runs and stood alone as the sole member of the 40-home-run group that year, thus making his light beam in baseball lore. In 1927, when Ruth hit 60, his teammate Lou Gehrig got in on the fun, clubbing 47 en route to being the only other ballplayer to hit 40 or more that season.

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Major League Baseball History: The Mick

To the plurality of boys growing up in America in the 50s and 60s with an interest in athletics, Mickey Mantle was much more than just a fantastic ballplayer. He was a national icon who represented the American dream in a mythological-like manner—a folk hero with Paul Bunyan-like characteristics. Akin to Bunyan, “The Mick” showcased strength and vitality in his profession, while carrying out a career that was more chimeric in its nature than it was concrete. He grew up in Commerce, Oklahoma, a small town of less than 3,000. His father, Mutt, named him after the Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane, whose government name, funny enough, was Gordon Stanley Cochrane. Nonetheless, Mutt was set on honoring the ballplayer’s nickname a full two years prior to Mickey’s birth. With that said, even prior to him spawning into this universe, Mickey Mantle was destined to be a ballplayer. “He’s just a plain, big old country boy who liked to play baseball from the day he was old enough to carry a mitt,” said Ralph Sears, the bank president in Mickey’s hometown, via a 1956 newspaper article written by Carter Bradley, United Press Staff Correspondent (Bradley 4).

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Major League Baseball History: A Collusion Three-Peat

For those unaware, players, three times, in three straight off-seasons (1985, 1986, 1987), filed grievances against the owners for collusion. After the 1985 season, during the free-agency period, 28 players signed new deals, but only two of them joined new teams. The players, rightfully so, perceived this as “fishy” behavior and proceeded to charge the owners with acts of collusion (later dubbed Collusion I).

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Major League Baseball History: Maddux and the Glove

After his preposterous stretch of dominance in the strike-shortened 1994 season, it appeared implausible for Greg Maddux to follow up his incredible campaign with an even more extraordinary run. Yet, somehow, the man whose introduction to baseball came at the age of four at a barnyard in Indiana where, if a ball was hit into the cornfield, it was considered a dinger, outdid himself. En route to winning his fourth straight Cy Young Award, Maddux led the league in wins (19), W-L percentage (.905), ERA (1.63), complete games (10), shutouts (3), innings pitched (209.2), and WHIP (0.811). On the road, he went a perfect 13-0, with a jaw-dropping 1.12 ERA. This unprecedented feat made him the first pitcher in history to win more than ten games on the opposition’s field without suffering a loss over the entirety of a single season. The man finished with more complete-game shutouts (3) than defeats (2). Just flat-out ridiculous.

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Major League Baseball History: Dodgers and Yanks

Though the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals got cheated in 1981 (see “1981 Cincinnati Reds Blog”) due to the provisional playoff structure, those captaining the ship positioned the vessel right where they wanted. When baseball’s longest postseason to date reached its final event, the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees were the last two teams standing. An iconic pair of marquee franchises squaring off on center stage, the 1981 World Series marked the eleventh time in history that the two would meet for the Fall Classic. On average, around 41 million viewers tuned into each game on their television sets to watch the Series unfold, which, according to Baseball Almanac, is the third-most viewers per championship contest since 1973 (“World Series Television Ratings”). In the past, the championship clashes between the two renowned rivals had given the world fantastical events that will live on forever in baseball history.
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Major League Baseball History: Evolution of the Pill

In 1990, three years before the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies joined the league, Opening Day was pushed back a week due to yet another gripe between the owners and players. For those in the know, this shutdown was the seventh since 1972, after decades of consistent play without a significant lapse. All of a sudden, it was just as common for the audience to have to sit through a strike, whether minor or major, as it was for them to experience a Triple Crown winner in the American League. Since runs batted in became an official statistic in 1920, there had been seven seasons in which a player led the league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in, in the same year: Jimmie Foxx (1933), Lou Gehrig (1934), Ted Williams (1942), Ted Williams (1947), Mickey Mantle (1956), Frank Robinson (1966), and Carl Yastrzemski (1967). Seven Triple Crown winners in the AL, and seven strikes.
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Major League Baseball History: The 1981 Cincinnati Reds

In 1981, Major League Baseball suffered its worst stoppage yet, as all scheduled contests between June 12 and July 31, 1981 (a total of 713 games) were obliterated due to a disagreement between players and owners surrounding the hot topic of free agency. Owners longed for reparations for when they lose players to free agency, which the players execrated in unison, claiming that restitution in this case would be detrimental to free agency, as it would harm its mere worth. As the summer rolled on, the two sides, accustomed to quarrelling, came to an understanding, and play resumed.

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Jeremy’s Journal: LeBron James in the ECF (5/15/2018)

21. At, 21-years-old, fresh off  of graduating from the University of Massachusetts, I had the privilege to go to my first Eastern Conference Finals game. Though I attended the celebrated contest with my childhood friend, him and I resided on different sides of the spectrum when it came to who we were supporting. As you’ll find in the photo below, I was rocking with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, while he was advocating for the hometown Celtics in his Larry Bird jersey. Somewhat subtle in the backdrop of the image is the Conference Finals banner bound to the bleachers. As an enthusiast of any championship-specific pennants, pins, or hats that feature a fresh logo in honor of the crowning event, I love seeing signs like that scattered throughout the premise. My appreciation for this aspect of sports is further felt with the lid on my head: an Adidas-branded, black, Cleveland Cavaliers 2016 NBA Finals Champions Locker Room hat.

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