The season ended today with the New York Mets out of the playoffs and the New York Yankees in. Earlier this season such a scenario seemed next to impossible.

The Mets ended May at 34-18. They ended up going just 54-56 the rest of the season. In stark contrast the Yankees finished May at a very poor 22-29 but went on win 72 and lose just 39 the rest of the year.

The Mets lost to the Florida Marlins today 8 to 1, while the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals 6 to 1 to take the NL East crown by one game.

Just 18 days ago on September 12, the Mets looked like shoe ins to make the playoffs with a 7 game lead over the Phillies.

The Phillies joined the Cubs and the Diamondbacks in the NL playoffs. The Padres and the Rockies are tied for the wild card spot with 89 wins each and will have a one game playoff to decide who gets it.

In the AL it's the Red Sox, Indians, and Angels winning their respective divisions with the Yankees taking the wild card spot (by 6 games over the Tigers and Mariners.)

Labels: New York Mets, New York Yankees

Alex Rodriguez, Yankees 3B
.309 AVG, .418 OBP, .637 SLG, 53 HR, 140 Runs, 151 RBI, 24 SB

Rodriguez has had an incredible season statistically and he's the #1 reason that the Yankees made the playoffs. Rodriguez is my choice for AL MVP and I have no doubt he will win the award.

David Ortiz, Red Sox DH
.330 AVG, .444 OBP, .615 SLG, 34 HR, 114 Runs, 116 RBI

Ortiz is actually leading Rodriguez in OPS (1.059 to 1.055) and he's had a great season but as a DH he would need to be beating a 3B in HR & SLG to have any chance at the award.

Magglio Ordonez, Tigers RF
.359 AVG, .430 OBP, .591 SLG, 28 HR, 116 Runs, 136 RBI

Ordonez has had a career year and is probably going to win the batting title and he would have a good shot at the MVP if it wasn't for A-Rod's awesome year.

Carlos Pena, Devil Rays 1B
.278 AVG, .405 OBP, .616 SLG, 44 HR, 96 Runs, 119 RBI

Looking at the home run numbers in the AL this year makes A-Rod's season all the more impressive. Pena is the only other AL batter to have more than 34 HR (Ortiz is 3rd in the AL with 34 HR.) This has been a breakthrough year for him. He had only hit more than 18 home runs once before and that was in 2004 when he hit .241 with 27 homers. Pena has been one of the best sluggers in the big leagues this year. It'll be interesting to see if he can keep it up next season.

Labels: Alex Rodriguez, Carlos Pena, David Ortiz, Magglio Ordonez

The Giants have told Barry Bonds they will not be bringing him back for 2008 because they want to move in a younger direction. Bonds had made it clear that he wished to stay with the Giants in 2008.

While some may think Bonds may just want to call it quits, Bonds is not retiring. He wrote "There is more baseball in me and I plan on continuing my career. My quest for a World Series ring continues" on his website.

Bonds could potentially do much better in the AL than the NL because he would be able to DH which would mean much more time to rest and much less wear & tear on his 43 (and 44 next summer) year old body. It seems that Bonds will be able to get significantly more at bats in the AL as a DH than he would as an NL LF.

The Oakland A's could be the perfect fit because Bonds is the ultimate "Moneyball" player. While the A's don't usually spend a lot of money on free agents, I do not think the market for Bonds will match his skill level because of his unpopularity and his age. Oakland is also of course very close to San Diego and the fans there would be more likely to be accepting of him than probably anywhere else.

Of course this is total speculation, but if I had to lay a bet out right now I'd bet on the A's. Then me and IHateU could root for the same team next season.

Labels: Barry Bonds

Continuing my series on the best hitter, starting pitcher, and relief pitcher of each decade I am moving backwards now to the best hitter of the 1990s. Barry Bonds is the selection. Bonds is also the best hitter of the 2000s. I'm pretty sure he'll be the only player to be selected as the "best of" of two decades, but we'll see.

People often mistakenly claim that Ken Griffey was the best hitter of the 90s. That claim is based mostly on the fact that Griffey hit a lot of home runs in '97 and '98 (56 each year) and more so on an ignorance of the importance of not getting out (ie getting on base.) It's also based on the fact that people think Ken Griffey is a jolly good guy while they think Barry Bonds is a big headed jerk (who did steroids/hgh/killed children/whatever.) Hopefully that spurious Ken Griffey BS can be put to rest in this here article. Read on...

Look at some of the stat leaders for the 1990s to start getting an idea why Bonds ranks #1 among all 1990s hitters.

OPS+ Leaders For The 1990s. (min. PA 3000)
1. Barry Bonds 179
2. Mark McGwire 173
3. Frank Thomas 169
4. Jeff Bagwell 160
5. Mike Piazza 157
6. Edgar Martinez 153
7. Ken Griffey 152
8. Albert Belle 149
9. Manny Ramirez 147
10. Jim Thome 146

Home Run Leaders For The 1990s
1. Mark McGwire 405
2. Ken Griffey 382
3. Barry Bonds 361
4. Albert Belle 351
5. Juan Gonzalez 339
6. Sammy Sosa 332
7. Rafael Palmeiro 328
8. Jose Canseco 303
9. Frank Thomas 301
10. Fred McGriff & Matt Williams 300

OBP Leaders For The 1990s
1. Frank Thomas .440
2. Barry Bonds .434
3. Edgar Martinez .430
4. Jeff Bagwell .416
5. Rickey Henderson .412
6. Jim Thome .412
7. Mark McGwire .411
8. John Olerud .406
9. Garry Sheffield .401
10. Manny Ramirez .399
...
29. Ken Griffey .384

SLG Leaders For The 1990s
1. Mark McGwire .615
2. Barry Bonds .602
3. Albert Belle .581
4. Ken Griffey .581
5. Juan Gonzalez .576
6. Manny Ramirez .576
7. Mike Piazza .575
8. Frank Thomas .573
9. Larry Walker .571
10. Jim Thome .547

Along with ranking in the top 3 in all of the above statistics, Barry Bonds also led the 90s in OPS, Runs, Walks, IBB, & Runs Created. He's a very close 3rd in RBI (only 23 behind Belle for first.) 3rd in Extra Base Hits (9 behind Belle.) Bonds also finished 6th in the 90s in stolen bases. Although stealing bases isn't technically part of "hitting" it is included in what I mean by it which is overall offensive production.

Bonds Vs. Griffey: Not Actually Even Close.

If the battle between Bonds and Griffey was really that close (and it's not) then Bonds would easily be pushed ahead anyway by his huge lead in stolen bases (343 to 151.)

The only stats I can find where Griffey greatly outranks Bonds? Strikeouts & Outs. Griffey was 21st in the 90s with 901 strikeouts while Bonds was 53rd with 747. Griffey was 14th in the 90s with 3913 outs. Bonds was 32nd with 3606.

Also interesting to note is that while Griffey did have more home runs than Bonds during the '90s that's mostly a product of Griffey's lack of discipline (comparatively) at the plate. Griffey walked a lot less than Bonds and thus got a lot more at bats. Griffey's 90s home run ratio was one home run every 14.1 at bats. Bonds' hit a home run every 13.6 at bats in the 90s.

Another interesting point is that Barry Bonds won three MVP awards in the NL in the 1990s. Griffey only one won MVP in the AL. Meanwhile Juan Gonzalez & Frank Thomas both won two.

So please put it to rest people of the baseball universe. Ken Griffey Jr. was not the best hitter of the 1990s. No. The correct answer is Barry Lamar Bonds.

Mark McGwire & Frank Thomas

I'd also like to point out you can probably make a better argument for Frank Thomas or Mark McGwire than for Griffey. But ultimately the arguments for Thomas and McGwire are pretty weak too.

McGwire was very inconsistent. He started the decade very slowly, hitting only .235 in 1990 and a putrid .201 in 1991. While McGwire put up monster home run numbers and got on base almost as good as anyone, he was never in the same class as Bonds as an all around hitter. He certainly didn't have the same speed on the basepaths. McGwire also never won an MVP award (although he was clearly robbed in 1998.) McGwire missed most of '93 & '94 with injuries.

Thomas is most hurt by the fact that he was just getting started in 1990 (he had 7 home runs in 60 games as a rookie) and he had disappointing numbers in 1998 (hit just .265 with 29 homers) and 1999 (just 15 home runs in 486 at bats.)

Barry Bonds: Far More Consistent Than The Competition

Bonds worst season of the 90s was probably 1999. But the main fault of his '99 was that he was injured. He was actually tearing the cover off the ball when he was playing. He had 34 home runs in 355 at bats that year. To further demonstrate Bonds incredible consistency in the 1990s consider this: His lowest single season OPS+ during the 1990s was his 161 in 1991, a year in which he finished second in the MVP voting (and should have won - See Terry Pendleton.) Consider that for a second: In arguably his worst season of the decade he still finished second in the MVP voting!

A worst OPS+ of the '90s comparison:

Thomas' worst was 125 in 1998.
Griffey's worst was 120 in an injury plagued 1995.
McGwire's worst was 103 in 1991.

Final Proof Of Barry Bonds Absolute Domination Of The 1990s

Pete Palmer's Batter-Fielder wins is a statistic which attempts to show how many wins a player brings to his team above that which an average replacement player would bring. This stat actually takes into consideration fielding abilities too which is beyond the scope of this article but really only makes Bonds dominance of the stat that much more impressive.

Bonds led the NL in Batter-Fielder wins in '90, '92, '93, '95, & '96
Bonds finished second in the NL in Batter-Fielder wins in '91, '94, & '98
Bonds finished third in the NL in Batter-Fielder wins in '97

The only year Bonds didn't finish in the top three? 1999 when he played only 102 games.

In comparison: Ken Griffey finished in the top 3 in the AL five times and led only once. He was 3rd three times. Mark McGwire only finished in the top 3 in his league once, that was when he led the NL in 1998. Frank Thomas finished in the top 3 in the AL three times, he also led the league only once.

Barry Lamar Bonds: Best Hitter Of The 1990s.

Labels: Barry Bonds, Best By Decade, Frank Thomas, Ken Griffey, Mark McGwire

Alex Rodriguez is catching fire again. He seems to be finishing the season how he started it, red hot. At this rate he looks like he has a good shot of surpassing 60 home runs this year. If he does reach 60 then he would be only the 6th player to do so (Along with Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, & Barry Bonds.)

Last night he hit his 50th and 51st home runs of the season. And actually while I'm writing this I just found out he hit another one in the first inning of today's game in Kansas City. That's 52. And the game is only in the 2nd inning, so who knows he could be adding to that total even more today.

The Yankees are 80-62, remember back when they were well under .500? Seems like a distant memory.

Labels: Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees

Cinderella story Rick Ankiel & 2002 World Series MVP Troy Glaus are the latest MLB players to be connected with performance enhancing drugs.

Both players have allegedly received PEDs (HGH for Ankiel, Steroids for Glaus) from an Orlando based pharmacy.

Jayson Stark of ESPN wrote a good article about the double standard we are seeing applied to these popular players as compared to the treatment that Barry Bonds has received.

And as you can imagine, that's the angle I'm interested in as well. It's obvious that Glaus & Ankiel are just one of many many many MLB players who have used HGH and/or steroids. Why do you think most players haven't said anything bad about Barry Bonds? They know how hypocritical it would be. MOST PLAYERS IN MLB HAVE USED PED. Get that through your heads people! And for God's sake: GET OFF BARRY BONDS' BACK. You seriously look foolish witch hunting this one man because of why again? Because he broke records? Seriously? You think that makes it make more sense to witch hunt him than every other MLB player who probably used steroids or HGH? I really don't get the logic. It's OK to single out one player because he's better than everyone else? Yeah. Really, that makes a lot of sense.

Also consider these two things:

#1 As I mentioned before the pitcher that Barry Bonds hit #755 off of tested positive for steroids. He wasn't accused of taking steroids, he actually TESTED POSITIVE. Think about that. How many other juiced pitchers has Barry hit home runs off of?

#2 Troy Glaus was the 2002 World Series MVP. You remember who lost that World Series? The San Francisco Giants & Barry Bonds. Are you going to tell me that winning the World Series isn't "making history," are you really? And don't tell me that because the shipments that they've caught happened in 2003 and 2004 that means Glaus wasn't on steroids in 2002. PLEASE. This is just what they've been CAUGHT with.

Give me a break.

It is officially time to get off of Barry Bonds' back and accept the fact that your favorite players are just as "guilty" as he is.

Labels: Barry Bonds, hgh, Rick Ankiel, steroids, Troy Glaus

Alex Rodriguez hit his 47th & 48th home runs of the season in the 7th inning of the Yankees 10 to 2 win over the Mariners in New York tonight.

He became the first Yankee in over 30 years to hit 2 home runs in an inning. The last time it happened was June 30th of 1977 when Cliff Johnson did it in Toronto.

Rodriguez was at the DH spot rather than his usual place at 3B because of a sore right ankle. In fact he was sent to a hospital for tests on the ankle after arriving at Yankee Stadium with a limp.

Rodriguez now has 512 home runs in his career, tying him for 17th place all time with Ernie Banks & Eddie Matthews.

#1 on the all time list of course is Barry Bonds and he also added to his career total tonight. Bonds hit #762 in the first inning of the Giants 5 to 3 win over the Rockies in Colorado. According to San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy the pitch that Bonds hit out was a 99 MPH fast ball. The pitch was thrown by rookie Ubaldo Jimenez who became the 449th pitcher to give up a homer to Bonds.

It was Bond's 28th homer of the year. He's now hitting .277 with a .483 OBP (1st in the majors) and .583 SLG (3rd in the NL.)

Labels: Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds

Pedro Martinez finally made his 2007 debut tonight for the New York Mets. After allowing 2 runs in this first inning he settled down on got the victory as the Mets beat the Reds 10 to 4. Martinez struck out 3000th career batter and won his 207th career game.

Greg Maddux won his 11th game of the season as the Padres went into first place in the NL West with their 10-2 win over Arizona in Arizona. It was actually Maddux's first career win pitching in Arizona (in 11 career starts there.)

Maddux extended his streak without a walk to 49 1/3 innings proving that at age 41, he still has the amazing control that has made him so successful throughout his career. The NL record for innings without a walk is 72 1/3 by Maddux in 2001. That streak ended with an intentional walk. Bill Fischer holds the MLB record (and AL record of course) with a streak of 84 1/3 innings in 1962.

The win was 344th of Greg Maddux's career.

Labels: Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez

Red Sox rookie pitcher Clay Buchholz threw a no hitter in only his second career start tonight the Red Sox 10 to 0 win over the Baltimore Orioles in Boston. He is now 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA.

Buchholz became the 3rd major leaguer in history to throw a no hitter in his first or second career start.

The other two? Bobo Holloman who did it in his first start in 1953 and Wilson Alvarez who did it in his second start in 1991.

Certainly the Red Sox hope that Buchholz, 23, has a better career than Alvarez (102-92, 3.95) and Holloman (3-7, 5.23) - Holloman was 30 years old as a rookie in 1953 and after his amazing start he went 2-7 the rest of the season. Alvarez had some good seasons (1993 in particular when he went 15-8 with a 2.95 ERA) but overall he was an average pitcher during his career. Alvarez was also named as a steroids user in Jose Canseco's book, but Alvarez has maintained he never took steroids. He has not pitched since 2005.

Buccholz' no hitter overshadowed the debut of fellow rookie pitcher Ian Kennedy who had a strong start for the rival Yankees. Kennedy allowed 5 hits and 3 runs (only 1 earned) in 7 innings. He struck out 6 and walked 2. He got the win as the Yankees topped the Devil Rays in New York 9 to 6.

Labels: Boston Red Sox, Clay Buchholz