Milestone predictor - ARod

Will Alex Rodriguez put up even more super-human numbers outside of the Bronx, or will his numbers start a slow steady decline?

Currently, he is 31 years old and has 518 Home Runs and 2,250 Hits.
When will he break Barry Bonds career home run record?

When will he get his 3,000 hit?


Place your predictions now.

My guess?
Break Bonds' record (whatever it winds up being) in 2014 (when he is 37)

3000 hit: 2012

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World Series Debut: Most HR

At the start of the 1986 season, only one player made his World Series debut with more than 300 career home runs (Johnny Mize: 316 in 1949)
In that '86 Series, the Red Sox had two players playing in their first World Series with over 300 homers:
Jim Rice: 351
Don Baylor: 315

(Remember, Rice was injured in 1975 so didn't play in that series against the Reds)
For Baylor, this was the first of three consecutive seasons playing in the World Series for three different teams. (Twins in 1987, A's in 1988)

It wasn't until 2002 that another player with over 300 HRs made his WS debut. Barry Bonds came to the fall classic with 613 home runs)

In the last 4 years, 3 more players joined this club:

2004:	Larry Walker	368
2005:	Jeff Bagwell	449
2007:	Todd Helton	303

Remember when Ernie Banks was the only 500+ HR player without a World Series appearance? Now there are six.

Sammy Sosa	609
Ken Griffey Jr	593
Rafael Palmeiro	569
Alex Rodriguez	518
Frank Thomas	513
Ernie Banks	512

Not likely that Griffey or Sosa will see the Series soon - but A-rod? Now that he's off the Yankees, he has a chance.

9 pitch, 3 strikeout inning

A feat I would have thought was more common:
Striking out three batters in an inning on nine pitches.
How many times has this been done in the history of baseball?
According to Baseball Almanac, only 37 pitchers have done this.

Only 3 pitchers have done it twice:
Lefty Grove did in twice for the A's in the same season (1928)

Sandy Koufax did it in 1962 and 1964

Nolan Ryan did it for two different teams: Mets in 1968, Angels in 1972

Trivia: Who is the only pitcher to strikeout 4 batters in one inning twice?
(Hint: he did it three times in two years)

• Answer

(source: Baseball Almanac)

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Already talking Sweep?

The media is already jumping on the Rockies and declaring the Series is over after the trouncing they took in Fenway last night. Predictions are now whether Colorado will manage to win one game, or will this be the 5th sweep in the last 9 years?

(From 1966 to 1989, there was only one 4-game sweep: 1966 Orioles over Dodgers)


Before you get out your brooms, remember the 2004 ALCS Game 3 when the Yankees put a 19-8 beat down on Boston to go up 3 games to none. A sweep was considered a "slam-dunk" after that game. Anyone remember how that turned out?


World Series Sweep Trivia:

Which team has been swept the most times?

• Answer (3 times)

Which team won the most World Series in a sweep?

• Answer (8 times)

Which team scored the most runs in a 4-game sweep?
(37 runs! over 9 runs per game)

• Answer

Which team scored the fewest runs in a 4-game sweep?
(only 2! and the winning team only scored 13)

• Answer

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Expansion Teams - Single Season Win Total

Before winning 90 games this year, the single-season high for the Rockies was 83 (1996, 1997). Now, the only team in history to never win 90 games is, you guessed it, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Their glorious high point was 70 wins in 2004.

Also of note, the Florida Marlins have won the World Series twice, yet never won their division. Thank you wild card!

The Expos/Nationals best year? They won 95 games in 1979, but their best record came in the strike-year of 1994 when they went 74-40. Projected over a 162 game season, this would be 105 wins.

Which expansion team has the highest single season win total?

[ Answer ]

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African Americans in World Series

Much has been written about the decline in African Americans playing major league baseball.
If the 2007 World Series features the Rockies vs. the Indians (sorry Red Sox nation), the Rockies will have the same number of African American players on their roster as the Indians did the last time they won the World Series ... in 1948! Yes, one year after Jackie Robinson became the first, the Indians went to the World Series with Larry Doby and Satchel Paige. Fifty nine years later, the Rockies will have 2 also. How far we've come.

In 2004, the Astros went to the Series with zero African Americans on their roster, so this could be looked at as an improvement.

Trivia question: Who was the last African American to win the Cy Young award?

Answer

More on Expansion Teams

Of the 14 expansion teams that joined MLB starting at 1961, who has the best overall record?
* Angels with 3690 wins and 2794 losses (0.569)

Thanks to their 90-win season, the Diamonbacksjoined them this year as the only expansion teams with a winning record (818 - 802)

The Astros started the year only 4 games below .500, but losing 89 games puts them 20 games below (3652 - 3672)

Which expansion team has won the most pennants?
* Mets (4)

Most losses?
* Texas Rangers (3,976; 160 more than 2nd place Mets)

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Class of '93: Marlins and Rockies

The year 1993 saw two new teams join the Major leagues, the Florida Marlins and the Colorado Rockies. Both were placed in the National League, to create balance with the American League which expanded 16 years earlier with the addition of the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners.

Interestingly enough, both teams have an almost identical record in their 15 year history with a .471 winning percentage
Rockies 1115-1253 0.471
Marlins 1112-1251 0.471

The biggest difference in success of the franchise has been post season performance.
Before this year, the Rockies made one visit as a wild card team after winning 77 games in strike-shortened 1995. The Marlins have been to the post season twice and both times came home with a World Series trophy.

btw, the class of '98 has had very different levels of success: The Diamondbacks with 4 division titles and one World Series championship, and the Devil Rays who managed to crawl out of the cellar in only one year of their existence.

Diamondbacks 818-802 0.505
Devil Rays 645-972 0.399

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Byrnes, baby Byrnes

If you're like me, you are glad the Diamondbacks are advancing in the
post-season for one reason. As long as they're playing on the field, Eric Byrnes
is not in the ESPN studio. I love his playing style and can even
listen to his Red-Bull amped post game talk, but please spare me his on
camera analysis in his Johnny Dangerously suit and bed-head glare.

Go D'backs! (and can you draft F.P. Santangelo while you're at it?)

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So long, Joe

While I'm a life-long Yankee hater, I've always admired Joe Torre. I wish he could have won more than 40% of the games he managed for the Mets, instead of 60% of his Yankee games. I guess he got a lot smarter when he had a team of all-stars.

Before the Red Sox reversed-the-curse in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, Torre's post season record with the Yankees was 72-34 (68%). Since Dave Roberts stole that base on Mariano, his post season record is 4-13 (23%).

We no longer have an ex-Met managing the Yankees and an ex-Yankee managing the Mets. (with both having very disappointing autumns)

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Congratulations Randy!

One bright spot from the Giants 2007 season: Randy Winn finished with a .300 average.
With 6 games left to play, he was sitting on .290. He went 12 for 21, finsihing with a double in hist first at bat in game 162 to make the .300 milestone.

Congratulations on the best non-Bonds batting average by a Giant since 2002 when Jeff Kent hit .313

(Note: Moises Alou had some .300 years without the required 502 plate appearances)