I am so excited to be going to San Francisco for the book event. I cant wait. I have been telling all my friends and family and they are all very excited for me
Love the Costas story - so why haven't we seen the America's Greatest Human list? And where's Buck? That would be a great Reader's Challenge - Joe's Ten Greatest Humans (Living, dead, and International editions.)
I have Mookie comfortably in front. Of course there is still amonth to go and the scores can really change as evidenced by Mookie's hot month itself.
I do my own version of runs above average and using DRS for defensive runs, it goes like this:
6th: Lindor is a long way back. We love to do power speed numbers, because it is fun, but as exciting as stolen bases are, they don't tend to add much value, and to treat them the same as home runs is a bit silly. Lindor is +15 runs offensively this year, including baserunning, and is +10 runs in the field, for a +25 total.
5th: Ha-Seong Kim. Kim has been very good offensively at +22 runs. He has been amaxing defensively with +18 at 3 positions for a total of +40. I am sure their are many people who don't follow the Padres that are unaware of how good he is. That is +40 in 517 PAs, the least by 50 of any of the 6.
4th: Matt Olson: I think because Matt leads in home runs, people vault him up with the other 3. While home runs are definitely more value than steals, leading in them does not make you rise to the top. Matt is +40 offensively and has also been +5 defensively, for a total of +45.
3rd: Freddie Freeman: Freddie has been amazing at 33, and I have seen Braves fans questioning letting him go and picking up Olson despite Olson having a great season. Don't worry fans, Freddie will fall off the table while Olson is still good, but man is he raking now. Freddie is +61 runs offensively, but is having a down year in the field at -5, leaving him at +56.
2nd: Ronald Acuna Jr : Acuna is an example of how exciting baseball is not always indicative of baserunning value. He has an incredible 62 steals, but not only has he been caught 11 times he also has 11 other TOOTBLANS besides that for a total of 22 outs on the basepaths. He is still amazing for all that though. Acuna is also +61 runs offensively and is only -1 in the field to end up at +60. Acuna leads in raw runs created as he has the most PAs, (and outs) creating 126 runs.
1st: Mookie. When you have that hot of a month and you were already great, things skyrocket. Mookie is +63 runs with an incredible 9.22 runs per 27 outs. He is also +8 in the field playing 3 positions for a total of +71.
Maybe you're tracking TOOTBLANs yourself, but I could not find a current tracker for them, so I copied and sorted it myself. I'm assuming that you're using Baseball Reference's OOB+PO-PCS, correct? If so, I note that while Acuna leads MLB in TOOTBLANS, he has only one more than Wander Franco, Vladdy Jr and Ahmed Rosario, and two more than CJ Abrams, TJ Freidl and Steven Kwan. Nine other players, including Jose Ramirez, Rafael Devers, Jorge Mateo and Keibert Ruiz all have 8 and another 20 players have seven TOOTBLANS, mostly very good players. FWIW, Ohtani and Betts each have 4, Olson has 3, and Freeman has only one.
In short, while they may be annoying to watch, I see no correlation between TOOTBLANs and the type of player or the success of the team. Hence I think it is perhaps less than accurate to say definitively that he is hurting his team's chances of winning with those 11 TOOTBLANs, especially given that he leads the majors with 5.1 WPA and his team has - by a significant margin - the best record in MLB.
I also take exception to the notion that Acuna is hurting the team by having gotten caught stealing 11 times. For one thing, his overall success percentage (85%) is still excellent, well above the MLB average of 80%.
In the 11 games in which he's been caught, the Braves are 9-2, with all nine of the Wins coming by at least two runs. The two losses were at both by one run, but in both cases Acuna led off the game (once with a hit, once a walk) and then got caught, once by pickoff, once by the catcher. In the latter case, he was initially ruled safe before a manager challenge. So back in the day he'd have had that bag stolen. Regardless, Matt Olson grounded out, 1-3, just after that, so Acuna would likely have been erased anyway.
None of that is to say that Mookie doesn't deserve the NL MVP. Maybe he does. I just don't think that Acuna's outs on the bases make him definitively less qualified for it.
Let's not go crazy about the idea that his team's great record has anything to do with this. It is not a coincidence that one of the other guys on his team is on the list, or that the Braves have allowed the least runs per game in the NL. This isn't basketball, team record has nothing to do with it. Nor does whether his team wins or loses the games in which he gets caught (which is only half those outs anyway). I am speaking about runs created here, not wins.
There is no reason to bring up WPA either. It specifically does not include anything about baserunning, only events at the plate.
Betts has been on base (not counting home runs, in which Betts leads as well) 208 times and made 350 outs from the batters box. Acuna has been on 228 times and made 370 outs from the batter's box. But Betts has been thrown out on the basepaths only 7 times, which also adds 7 outs, and removes a baserunner solely by his own actions. This makes it 201 times on base and 357 outs. Acuna's 22 outs makes his numbers 206 times on and 392 outs made. You can see the difference right? (This is not even including the fact that Betts has 8 more home runs)
I would say that making additional outs on the bases DEFINITELY hurts Acuna's case. How much? Harder question, but I don't think there is any doubt it hurts his argument.
Can always count on Khazad for the great breakdown! I am all in on this as well. I LOVE Acuna's basestealing, but it really doesn't add that much value & his baserunning isn't as valuable as it seems with all his TOOTBLANS. Being an average RF also makes it hard to stand up to Betts who is so wonderful in RF and also been quite competent at 2B & SS and putting up a monster offensive season as well now.
I decided to do Shohei for fun, to see if he matches up just offensively with these guys without counting the pitching. He does. He is +62 runs offensively, one behind Mookie. He would win the Al MVP if he had never thrown a pitch.
as much as it pains me to even acknowledge or give kudos to ANY Dodger, let alone a Brave (i still remember 1993!), i've got to give it up for the phenomenal trio of Mookie, Freddie, and Ronald (the latter just having become the inaugural member of the 30/60 club in grand style last night), who have amazed me each and every day this season despite my despising their respective clubs, who are beating up on each other through this Sunday at Chavez Ravine
Joe, I know the tour is going to be crazy but I want to put in a good word for you coming to Portland, Oregon. The book comes out on Sep 5, which is not just my birthday but also my 50th birthday. Isn’t the book, like, 50 reasons why we love baseball? Plus I was born and raised near Cleveland like you so this is meant to be. Kismet. Don’t ask me why that justifies it, but it does. Come to Portland.
Kudos to Joe, especially using "cut-and-dried". English language police insist that when used as adjective as in "cut-and-dried MVP, it should be hyphenated. I make language faux pas all the time but I suspect Joe does not. He probably even knows that the plural form of faux pas requires the second part to be pronounced as "pas" as opposed to the singular pronunciation of "pa". Please excuse me, I think it's time to take my medication.
I badly want to come to your Spring Lake reading with Costas but as a New Yorker with no car it seems out of reach. It’s only an hour if you can drive--3.5 hours by public transit!
Quick question…is the book discussion scheduled for Spring Lake (September 5th) being held at the Spring Lake Community Theater, as originally stated, or at the Thunder Roads Books store in Spring Lake as noted above?
I love you, Joe. This is, for real, the ONLY subscription I pay for. I'm not kidding. That's how much I think of your writing and thinking and personality.
But I've had enough. I did not pay for this blog to read endless commercials for your book. And I say that as someone who is planning to come to your Spring Lake gig!! Not to mention, I suspect I have now paid for your book twice -- I didn't know the fee for the Spring Lake thing was to pay for a book. I'd already pre-ordered it. The communication on this was poor, Joe.
I'm really tired of reading about your book that I haven't yet read. Seriously. Strenuously.
I strenuously disagree. I love reading shout his book tour- today’s edition with all the back stories was super fun. You can just feel the joy and wonder that Joe is experiencing and it translates to me. I feel happy reading about his joy.
Keep it up Joe. For as long as you want. And if you want to talk about Portland (or Seattle) being added to the book tour, well so much the better.
You have a choice not to keep reading about the book. Just don’t. Pretty damn simple solution to your pain.
I've been skipping that section for a few weeks now, but Ron's right - this week was neat with the description of each event and fantastic back stories concerning Costas and Schur, etc. I often roll my eyes when people name drop, but Joe is earnest about it (and actually friends with many of them). This being said, I am very looking forward to reading the book rather than reading about the book coming out ;)
You know, I don't really disagree with the main gist of this. I actually believe, myself, every single thing you said in your first paragraph.
It's just about the volume of the promotional content. Some of that would be expected and fine, but almost every blog post is half about the book. All of what you mentioned could be artfully and just as effectively conveyed in less space.
Did you notice that I said this is the only subscription I pay for and that I'm actually attending the first stop on Joe's book tour in Spring Lake, NJ next week? Rest assured, I'm not going there to boo Joe. I think he's great. That's why he's my only subscription. And that's why I think I can say to him as a friend, "Maybe tone that down a bit?"
Maybe you skipped over this bit a week or two ago, but he discussed, as kind of an apology for why he was harping on the issue so often, that in today's world book sale success is measured almost entirely by preorder.
So yeah, the man put a lot of time and energy into writing a book and he wants it to sell and he's doing everything he can - including laying out a book tour schedule that will almost certainly kill him starting next week - to make sure it sells well. That seems fair, and demarcating the newsletter entries so folks like you can skip over that bit is also more than fair.
The discussion of the MVP race was longer than the discussion of the book tour (which, for those who are near the locations involved, needed to include the detail) and it took about three seconds to scroll past on my laptop. Sorry, I'm disagreeing about the need to tone it down (and the book tour isn't coming anywhere near me and my personally inscribed copy from Rainy Day Books is presumably on its way so I hardly need to hear about it either).
Another reason Xander was an odd signing is Jackson Merrill in the minors. Why sign Xander when you have a Short Stop plus a future Short Stop (that could be in the major leagues in roster next year!!)
Yes! That too. With Machado, Tatis and Merrill (and yes, even Kim... a cheaper good piece) why do you need another shortstop regardless of how good they are?
Joe, wish I could make it to one of your events, I think the closest is about 4 hours away. I will have to console myself with the fact that my copy of the book will be in the mailbox anyday now. I havent been this excited about an inbound parcel since I got a subscription to the Sporting News for my 13th birthday. I could not believe that all that goodness would show up in my mailbox every week! And now the best of Joe will be arriving soon as well. A 70 year old man feeling 13 all over again.....which my wife says is my level of maturity anyway.
at least you're a mere 4 hrs away; i'm in Hamburg- unless Joe schedules a stop somewhere in Europe/UK, i'm a trans-Atlantic plane flight away from the closest event (and thanks to Brexit, even if Joe did schedule a stop in London, i'm forbidden to reenter Britain until 2028!)
the whole weekend was one of the weirdest, wildest & most bizarre of my entire life, involving a vanload of Gypsies supposedly headed to UK from Belgium who were planning to steal my guitar and lengthy leather jacket, overnight inside a gas station/convenience store next to the notorious 'jungle' in Calais, France (where the police advised me to stay inside the whole evening for my safety), 8 hrs detention by Brit authorities at Calais port, next evening after being turned away from reentering UK, almost being raped (fleeing guy's vehicle in middle of nowhere), my shoes falling apart as i fled along a busy highway, and much much more
it's quite a story, it's in my 2nd book 'Island Life and Travel Tales', the 1st, 'Heaven Can't Wait' is being shopped around now, covers my life up until my midpoint in Thailand, 2014, 2nd bood picks up from there w/my extensive travels through the Land of Smiles, then to Europe & UK in '16, and again to travel & live in '18
Joe, A quick question for you: Have any teams ever finished the same season with: the highest win-loss record during the regular season, a World Series win, and players who have won the MVP and the Cy Young Award? Inquiring fan minds want to know. Thank ya!
The 1984 Tigers, though that's kinda cheating since the sportswriters inexplicably gave both the CYA and MVP to their Closer, Willie Hernandez. They had 104 Wins, the best record in MLB, and beat the Padres in the WS.
And the 1963 Dodgers with Sandy Koufax as both ML CYA and NL MVP, though they only had the most wins in the NL, with 99. The Yankees had 104.
Ditto for 1957, when Aaron won the NL MVP and Warren Spahn won the MLB CYA, and the Braves beat the Yankees in the World Series. They had 95 Wins to lead the NL, but the Yankees had 98.
And I think that's it. The only time a team ever had the best record in MLB with both awards going to different players on the same team and won the WS was 1961.
Without looking too hard, so I am sure there are others, the 1961 Yankees fit your parameters. Most wins (109), WS victory (in a sweep), MVP (Roger Maris) and Cy Young (Whitey Ford)
Brent H, Thank you! I should have assumed that if any team had run the awards table, it would have been the Yankees. Now, I'm really curious if they are alone. P S If so, it might make them feel better. given this season-- or maybe worse!
I am so excited to be going to San Francisco for the book event. I cant wait. I have been telling all my friends and family and they are all very excited for me
Love the Costas story - so why haven't we seen the America's Greatest Human list? And where's Buck? That would be a great Reader's Challenge - Joe's Ten Greatest Humans (Living, dead, and International editions.)
And how did Paul Rudd get on it?
Hasn’t Joe seen “Only Murders In the Building “?
Fire up Poscastellanos watch for Freddie Freeman!
I have Mookie comfortably in front. Of course there is still amonth to go and the scores can really change as evidenced by Mookie's hot month itself.
I do my own version of runs above average and using DRS for defensive runs, it goes like this:
6th: Lindor is a long way back. We love to do power speed numbers, because it is fun, but as exciting as stolen bases are, they don't tend to add much value, and to treat them the same as home runs is a bit silly. Lindor is +15 runs offensively this year, including baserunning, and is +10 runs in the field, for a +25 total.
5th: Ha-Seong Kim. Kim has been very good offensively at +22 runs. He has been amaxing defensively with +18 at 3 positions for a total of +40. I am sure their are many people who don't follow the Padres that are unaware of how good he is. That is +40 in 517 PAs, the least by 50 of any of the 6.
4th: Matt Olson: I think because Matt leads in home runs, people vault him up with the other 3. While home runs are definitely more value than steals, leading in them does not make you rise to the top. Matt is +40 offensively and has also been +5 defensively, for a total of +45.
3rd: Freddie Freeman: Freddie has been amazing at 33, and I have seen Braves fans questioning letting him go and picking up Olson despite Olson having a great season. Don't worry fans, Freddie will fall off the table while Olson is still good, but man is he raking now. Freddie is +61 runs offensively, but is having a down year in the field at -5, leaving him at +56.
2nd: Ronald Acuna Jr : Acuna is an example of how exciting baseball is not always indicative of baserunning value. He has an incredible 62 steals, but not only has he been caught 11 times he also has 11 other TOOTBLANS besides that for a total of 22 outs on the basepaths. He is still amazing for all that though. Acuna is also +61 runs offensively and is only -1 in the field to end up at +60. Acuna leads in raw runs created as he has the most PAs, (and outs) creating 126 runs.
1st: Mookie. When you have that hot of a month and you were already great, things skyrocket. Mookie is +63 runs with an incredible 9.22 runs per 27 outs. He is also +8 in the field playing 3 positions for a total of +71.
Maybe you're tracking TOOTBLANs yourself, but I could not find a current tracker for them, so I copied and sorted it myself. I'm assuming that you're using Baseball Reference's OOB+PO-PCS, correct? If so, I note that while Acuna leads MLB in TOOTBLANS, he has only one more than Wander Franco, Vladdy Jr and Ahmed Rosario, and two more than CJ Abrams, TJ Freidl and Steven Kwan. Nine other players, including Jose Ramirez, Rafael Devers, Jorge Mateo and Keibert Ruiz all have 8 and another 20 players have seven TOOTBLANS, mostly very good players. FWIW, Ohtani and Betts each have 4, Olson has 3, and Freeman has only one.
In short, while they may be annoying to watch, I see no correlation between TOOTBLANs and the type of player or the success of the team. Hence I think it is perhaps less than accurate to say definitively that he is hurting his team's chances of winning with those 11 TOOTBLANs, especially given that he leads the majors with 5.1 WPA and his team has - by a significant margin - the best record in MLB.
I also take exception to the notion that Acuna is hurting the team by having gotten caught stealing 11 times. For one thing, his overall success percentage (85%) is still excellent, well above the MLB average of 80%.
In the 11 games in which he's been caught, the Braves are 9-2, with all nine of the Wins coming by at least two runs. The two losses were at both by one run, but in both cases Acuna led off the game (once with a hit, once a walk) and then got caught, once by pickoff, once by the catcher. In the latter case, he was initially ruled safe before a manager challenge. So back in the day he'd have had that bag stolen. Regardless, Matt Olson grounded out, 1-3, just after that, so Acuna would likely have been erased anyway.
None of that is to say that Mookie doesn't deserve the NL MVP. Maybe he does. I just don't think that Acuna's outs on the bases make him definitively less qualified for it.
Let's not go crazy about the idea that his team's great record has anything to do with this. It is not a coincidence that one of the other guys on his team is on the list, or that the Braves have allowed the least runs per game in the NL. This isn't basketball, team record has nothing to do with it. Nor does whether his team wins or loses the games in which he gets caught (which is only half those outs anyway). I am speaking about runs created here, not wins.
There is no reason to bring up WPA either. It specifically does not include anything about baserunning, only events at the plate.
Betts has been on base (not counting home runs, in which Betts leads as well) 208 times and made 350 outs from the batters box. Acuna has been on 228 times and made 370 outs from the batter's box. But Betts has been thrown out on the basepaths only 7 times, which also adds 7 outs, and removes a baserunner solely by his own actions. This makes it 201 times on base and 357 outs. Acuna's 22 outs makes his numbers 206 times on and 392 outs made. You can see the difference right? (This is not even including the fact that Betts has 8 more home runs)
I would say that making additional outs on the bases DEFINITELY hurts Acuna's case. How much? Harder question, but I don't think there is any doubt it hurts his argument.
Hurts it, yes, but arguably not very much. Not the CSs, anyway.
Yeah, 85% is a great success rate.
Can always count on Khazad for the great breakdown! I am all in on this as well. I LOVE Acuna's basestealing, but it really doesn't add that much value & his baserunning isn't as valuable as it seems with all his TOOTBLANS. Being an average RF also makes it hard to stand up to Betts who is so wonderful in RF and also been quite competent at 2B & SS and putting up a monster offensive season as well now.
I decided to do Shohei for fun, to see if he matches up just offensively with these guys without counting the pitching. He does. He is +62 runs offensively, one behind Mookie. He would win the Al MVP if he had never thrown a pitch.
great Costas story!
as much as it pains me to even acknowledge or give kudos to ANY Dodger, let alone a Brave (i still remember 1993!), i've got to give it up for the phenomenal trio of Mookie, Freddie, and Ronald (the latter just having become the inaugural member of the 30/60 club in grand style last night), who have amazed me each and every day this season despite my despising their respective clubs, who are beating up on each other through this Sunday at Chavez Ravine
Joe, I know the tour is going to be crazy but I want to put in a good word for you coming to Portland, Oregon. The book comes out on Sep 5, which is not just my birthday but also my 50th birthday. Isn’t the book, like, 50 reasons why we love baseball? Plus I was born and raised near Cleveland like you so this is meant to be. Kismet. Don’t ask me why that justifies it, but it does. Come to Portland.
My neighbor named his dog "Mookie"
Damn good dog too
That's a great name for a dog!
but can the dog hit leadoff & play multiple positions w/aplomb?
Kudos to Joe, especially using "cut-and-dried". English language police insist that when used as adjective as in "cut-and-dried MVP, it should be hyphenated. I make language faux pas all the time but I suspect Joe does not. He probably even knows that the plural form of faux pas requires the second part to be pronounced as "pas" as opposed to the singular pronunciation of "pa". Please excuse me, I think it's time to take my medication.
good one 😊
I badly want to come to your Spring Lake reading with Costas but as a New Yorker with no car it seems out of reach. It’s only an hour if you can drive--3.5 hours by public transit!
Maybe next time...
Quick question…is the book discussion scheduled for Spring Lake (September 5th) being held at the Spring Lake Community Theater, as originally stated, or at the Thunder Roads Books store in Spring Lake as noted above?
Reached out to Thunder Roads Books and they confirmed the event location is the Spring Lake Community Theater.
I love you, Joe. This is, for real, the ONLY subscription I pay for. I'm not kidding. That's how much I think of your writing and thinking and personality.
But I've had enough. I did not pay for this blog to read endless commercials for your book. And I say that as someone who is planning to come to your Spring Lake gig!! Not to mention, I suspect I have now paid for your book twice -- I didn't know the fee for the Spring Lake thing was to pay for a book. I'd already pre-ordered it. The communication on this was poor, Joe.
I'm really tired of reading about your book that I haven't yet read. Seriously. Strenuously.
I'd rather read an update on his book with every post than you complaining about it. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
I strenuously disagree. I love reading shout his book tour- today’s edition with all the back stories was super fun. You can just feel the joy and wonder that Joe is experiencing and it translates to me. I feel happy reading about his joy.
Keep it up Joe. For as long as you want. And if you want to talk about Portland (or Seattle) being added to the book tour, well so much the better.
You have a choice not to keep reading about the book. Just don’t. Pretty damn simple solution to your pain.
I've been skipping that section for a few weeks now, but Ron's right - this week was neat with the description of each event and fantastic back stories concerning Costas and Schur, etc. I often roll my eyes when people name drop, but Joe is earnest about it (and actually friends with many of them). This being said, I am very looking forward to reading the book rather than reading about the book coming out ;)
i agree, i enjoy Joe promoting his book, it is nice to bask vicariously in his child-like joy & justified pride regarding this labor of love!
You know, I don't really disagree with the main gist of this. I actually believe, myself, every single thing you said in your first paragraph.
It's just about the volume of the promotional content. Some of that would be expected and fine, but almost every blog post is half about the book. All of what you mentioned could be artfully and just as effectively conveyed in less space.
Did you notice that I said this is the only subscription I pay for and that I'm actually attending the first stop on Joe's book tour in Spring Lake, NJ next week? Rest assured, I'm not going there to boo Joe. I think he's great. That's why he's my only subscription. And that's why I think I can say to him as a friend, "Maybe tone that down a bit?"
Maybe you skipped over this bit a week or two ago, but he discussed, as kind of an apology for why he was harping on the issue so often, that in today's world book sale success is measured almost entirely by preorder.
So yeah, the man put a lot of time and energy into writing a book and he wants it to sell and he's doing everything he can - including laying out a book tour schedule that will almost certainly kill him starting next week - to make sure it sells well. That seems fair, and demarcating the newsletter entries so folks like you can skip over that bit is also more than fair.
He separates it from the rest of the column. You don't have to read that part.
I’m just pissed that Joe keeps pimping his tour but refuses to add a Boston event. I will get over it.
The discussion of the MVP race was longer than the discussion of the book tour (which, for those who are near the locations involved, needed to include the detail) and it took about three seconds to scroll past on my laptop. Sorry, I'm disagreeing about the need to tone it down (and the book tour isn't coming anywhere near me and my personally inscribed copy from Rainy Day Books is presumably on its way so I hardly need to hear about it either).
Another reason Xander was an odd signing is Jackson Merrill in the minors. Why sign Xander when you have a Short Stop plus a future Short Stop (that could be in the major leagues in roster next year!!)
I would have understood signing him if they weren't planning on extending Machado, but after that extension it made no sense.
Yes! That too. With Machado, Tatis and Merrill (and yes, even Kim... a cheaper good piece) why do you need another shortstop regardless of how good they are?
Tmutchell, thanks for all the great info! BTW, it will be interesting to see if either the Bravos or the Dodgers can win all four this year!
Joe, wish I could make it to one of your events, I think the closest is about 4 hours away. I will have to console myself with the fact that my copy of the book will be in the mailbox anyday now. I havent been this excited about an inbound parcel since I got a subscription to the Sporting News for my 13th birthday. I could not believe that all that goodness would show up in my mailbox every week! And now the best of Joe will be arriving soon as well. A 70 year old man feeling 13 all over again.....which my wife says is my level of maturity anyway.
at least you're a mere 4 hrs away; i'm in Hamburg- unless Joe schedules a stop somewhere in Europe/UK, i'm a trans-Atlantic plane flight away from the closest event (and thanks to Brexit, even if Joe did schedule a stop in London, i'm forbidden to reenter Britain until 2028!)
You've been banned from an entire country? That sounds like an interesting story!
the whole weekend was one of the weirdest, wildest & most bizarre of my entire life, involving a vanload of Gypsies supposedly headed to UK from Belgium who were planning to steal my guitar and lengthy leather jacket, overnight inside a gas station/convenience store next to the notorious 'jungle' in Calais, France (where the police advised me to stay inside the whole evening for my safety), 8 hrs detention by Brit authorities at Calais port, next evening after being turned away from reentering UK, almost being raped (fleeing guy's vehicle in middle of nowhere), my shoes falling apart as i fled along a busy highway, and much much more
Holy sh*t! I want to see the movie version!
it's quite a story, it's in my 2nd book 'Island Life and Travel Tales', the 1st, 'Heaven Can't Wait' is being shopped around now, covers my life up until my midpoint in Thailand, 2014, 2nd bood picks up from there w/my extensive travels through the Land of Smiles, then to Europe & UK in '16, and again to travel & live in '18
Please post if you get it published. I'm already hooked.
Joe, A quick question for you: Have any teams ever finished the same season with: the highest win-loss record during the regular season, a World Series win, and players who have won the MVP and the Cy Young Award? Inquiring fan minds want to know. Thank ya!
The 1984 Tigers, though that's kinda cheating since the sportswriters inexplicably gave both the CYA and MVP to their Closer, Willie Hernandez. They had 104 Wins, the best record in MLB, and beat the Padres in the WS.
And the 1963 Dodgers with Sandy Koufax as both ML CYA and NL MVP, though they only had the most wins in the NL, with 99. The Yankees had 104.
Ditto for 1957, when Aaron won the NL MVP and Warren Spahn won the MLB CYA, and the Braves beat the Yankees in the World Series. They had 95 Wins to lead the NL, but the Yankees had 98.
And I think that's it. The only time a team ever had the best record in MLB with both awards going to different players on the same team and won the WS was 1961.
Also the 103-Win 1968 Tigers with Denny McLain.
I was only 8 years old when McLain won 30 games. I thought that was probably the greatest thing an athlete had ever done.
Without looking too hard, so I am sure there are others, the 1961 Yankees fit your parameters. Most wins (109), WS victory (in a sweep), MVP (Roger Maris) and Cy Young (Whitey Ford)
Brent H, Thank you! I should have assumed that if any team had run the awards table, it would have been the Yankees. Now, I'm really curious if they are alone. P S If so, it might make them feel better. given this season-- or maybe worse!
So ... how do we find out which Ken Tremendous column it was that led to the epic friendship?