Ranking the Remaining Ballparks From the Mid-80s Part 2

                Today, we continue with part two of our look at current ballparks that were in use in the mid-1980s. Again, we go to the West Coast as we look at ballpark #5.

#5. Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim, California

Home of: Los Angeles Angels since 1966

Built in: 1966

Baseball Capacity: 45,957

Previous Names: Anaheim Stadium (1966-1997)

                                  Edison International Field of Anaheim (1998-2003)

History: The Los Angeles Angels played the first five years of their existence in downtown LA, first at Wrigley Field (Yes, there was a Wrigley Field in LA), than at Dodger Stadium. They moved into the park in Anaheim and changed their name to the California Angels. In 1997, the team dropped California and called themselves the Anaheim Angels, then changed to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (which sounds stupid, so I just leave the “of Anaheim” out) in 2005. The Angels won their only World Series Championship in an exciting seven game series against the San Francisco Giants in 2002. Some of the All-Star players in team history are Nolan Ryan, Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson, David Eckstein, Troy Glaus, Troy Percival, Mike Trout and Albert Pujols

               

Charm:  I like this ballpark, and despite it being number five on my list, it is far better than Oakland’s. The renovations at the Angels’ ballpark were actually the opposite of Oakland’s in that they originally had an enclosed stadium—the Los Angeles Rams played here from the late 1970s until their move to St. Louis in 1995—and changed it to be a bit opened with a beautiful view of the mountains.

    

Below, the first picture is the ballpark with the enclosed outfield before the renovations. The second is the park as it looks today.

         

  

Great Moments:

October 12, 1986: This moment cannot be placed higher because it happened against the Angels. California led the best of seven ALCS three games to one against the favoured Boston Red Sox. They also led Game 5 by a score of 5-2 as play entered the top of the ninth. With one out, Boston’s Don Baylor hit a two-run home run to bring the score to 5-4. After the second out and a hit batter, California relief pitcher Donnie Moore faced Boston outfielder Dave Henderson. With two strikes against him, Henderson blasted another two-run homer for the Sox, giving them a 6-5 lead. Although the Angels tied the game in the bottom half of the inning, the Red Sox won in eleven, and then won both Games 6 and 7 back in Boston to advance to the World Series.

October 27, 2002: This was the date the Angels captured their only World Series Championship. This was Game 7 and after falling behind in the top of the second 1-0 to the Giants, the Angels tied the score in the bottom of the inning, then added three more in the third. The pitching held the Giants’ offensive juggernaut scoreless the rest of the way and when Darin Erstad caught the flyball for the final out in the ninth inning, the Angels were on top of the baseball world.

October 26, 2002: This was Game Six of the 2002 World Series, and although it wasn’t the game that won the Angels the World Series, it was a much more dramatic game. The Giants led the game 5-0 going into the bottom of the seventh. They were six outs away from winning their first championships since moving to San Francisco back in the late 1950s. But the Angels scored three runs in the seventh and another three in the eighth, and closer Troy Percival shut the door in the ninth as the Angels won 6-5 to tie the series and set the stage for the clincher the following night. (I’ll talk about the “Game Ball” incident in October.)

Watch the final out of the 2002 World Series.

A Look at the Career of Hall of Famer John Smoltz

                With Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014, it is only fitting that John Smoltz, the third member of Atlanta’s Big Three, followed last Sunday.

                The difference with Smoltz as compared to his Braves’ teammates, is that he was as great a relief pitcher as he was a starter.

                Smoltz was born in Warren, Michigan, and when the 1985 Amateur Draft came around, it was the Detroit Tigers who selected him, albeit in the 22^nd round, 574^th pick overall.

                He pitched in the Tigers’ minor league system for two years before being involved in a trade. The Tigers were in the midst of a division title race with the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees and needed some help in their rotation. The Tigers sent Smoltz, 20 years old at the time, to the Braves for Doyle Alexander. While Alexander did help Detroit win the division, he was out of baseball by 1989.

                Smoltz pitched for the Braves from 1988 until 2008. He was an eight-time All Star and won the Cy Young award as the National League’s best pitcher in 1996.

                Over a span of nine years (1991-99) that included eight post seasons (the 1994 strike cancelled the playoffs) the Braves made it to the World Series five times, although they only managed to win one championship (1995).

                After numerous trips to the disabled list in 1998 and 1999, Smoltz underwent elbow surgery prior to the 2000 season and didn’t pitch the entire year. When he returned to the team in 2001, he didn’t have the effectiveness of previous years and it looked like his career might be over.

                However, Braves’ manager Bobby Cox put Smoltz in the role of closer after John Rocker was dealt to the Cleveland Indians late in the season. And in 2002, Smoltz first complete season as Atlanta’s closer, he broke the National League record by saving 55 games. Over the next two season, he recorded 45 and 44 saves but wanted to return to the starting rotation for the 2005 season.

                Smoltz would win 44 games as a starter between 2005 and 2007, but injuries would resurface in 2008. Although he would pitch several games for the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals, his best days were behind him.

                He would end his career with 213 wins (210 with Atlanta) and 154 saves. He added another 15 victories in the postseason (including a 7-0 record in the Division Series) and four saves.

                Smoltz would have his number (29) retired by the Braves during the 2012 season.

                His induction to the Hall of Fame cements his status as one of the best pitchers of the last 25 years.

This Day in Baseball History: July 28, 1991

July 28, 1991

                It was on this day in 1991 that pitcher Dennis Martinez, threw a perfect game for the Montreal Expos against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Dodger Stadium. It was the first and only perfect game in Expos history as the team moved to Washington at the end of the 2004 season. The Expos won the game 2-0.

                   Expos’ catcher, Ron Hassey, became the first catcher in Major League history to catch two perfect games. His first was for Len Barker of the Cleveland Indians against the Toronto Blue Jays on May 15, 1981.

Watch the entire game here.

Ranking the Remaining Ballparks From the Mid-80s. Part 1

This is a six part series that will focus on the six remaining ball parks that were in use in the mid-1980s. We will focus on one park per post and count down in reverse order.

                I have always been fascinated with baseball parks and stadiums. No other sport can rival baseball in terms of the charm and tradition that baseball has with its playing facilities. Sure you can argue about the “frozen tundra” of Lambeau Field in Green Bay and the “Black Hole” in Oakland for football, but that’s only two. And hockey has the Montreal Forum and the Chicago Stadium, but those don’t exist anymore and their replacements don’t have the same feel.

                Baseball, on the other hand, whether it’s parks that no longer exist, or the new parks themselves, have a special place in the heart of baseball fans, almost as much as the teams.

                I’ve been watching and following baseball since the mid-1980s. At that time, there were 26 teams. Of the ball parks that were being played in at that time, only six of them are still in use.

                I have ranked them in order I think they belong (please feel free to disagree with me) and this series will focus on each ballpark, give a little bit of history on it, discuss what makes it special (or not), and list the top three moments of each park (since the mid-1980s).

                As always, these are my opinions and I would love to hear from you regarding yours.

#6. O.co Coliseum, Oakland, California

Home of: Oakland Athletics since 1968

Built in: 1966

Baseball Capacity: 35,067 (expandable to 55,945 when Upper Deck is opened)

Previous Names: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

                                  Network Associates Coliseum

                                  McAfee Coliseum

                                  Overstock.com Coliseum

History: The Athletics started playing in the Coliseum in 1968 when they moved from Kansas City. They have won four World Series Championships while playing here: 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1989. Some of the all-star players have included Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue, Reggie Jackson, Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Rickey Henderson, Miquel Tejada and Coco Crisp.

Charm:  Personally, I really don’t like it when stadium names are changed whenever some company comes along and gives a team money for stadium naming rights, but unfortunately, that’s the age professional sports is in, and like it or not, we’re stuck with it. To me this ballpark will always be the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

                And it use to be not bad of a park. Granted, it never had much charm, and Oakland isn’t exactly near the top of the list in vacation destinations, but it was a park with a natural grass playing surface and it had an open grandstand configuration in the outfield up until the mid-nineties.

But then, the NFL Raiders moved back to Oakland from Los Angeles and the renovations took place. The outfield was enclosed with more seats to accommodate larger crowds for the football games, and the luxury boxes were added for the VIPs.

                It’s pretty much a dump now, the ballpark and the city and it’s not even on my bucket list.

Below: The first picture is one of the park before football came back to Oakland. The second contains the hideous-looking renovations.

               

Great Moments:

3.  October 11, 1992: The only thing keeping this moment from being number one is that it happened against the A’s. But who can ever forget Toronto Blue Jays’ second baseman Roberto Alomar launching a two-run homer in the ninth inning against A’s closer Dennis Eckersley, tying the game at 6. The Jays would later win it in the eleventh.

2.  October 6, 2006: After losing the ALDS four years in a row, the Athletics finally make it to the  ALCS for the first time in fourteen years by defeating the Minnesota Twins 8-2 to sweep the best-of-five series. Marco Scutaro is the hero with a bases loaded double in the seventh inning.

1.  May 1, 1991: Rickey Henderson becomes baseball’s all-time Stolen Base king when he swipes bag number 939, passing the mark set my Lou Brock. Henderson would retire with 1406 stolen bases.

This Day in Baseball History: July 26, 1984

July 26, 1984

                It was on this date in 1984, that Montreal Expos first baseman Pete Rose collected the 3502nd single of his major league career, tying him for Ty Cobb on the all-time Major League list. Rose’s hit came against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 5-4 Expos’ win at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium.

Rose would end his career with 3215 singles, accounting for 75 percent of his Major League record 4256 hits. Again, another example of why Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame.
                And today being Hall of Fame induction day, Major League Baseball should take a good look at itself and figure out why they insist on keeping him out.

Yankees Sweep of Orioles Confirms They Are AL East's Best

                On Thursday afternoon at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, the Yankees beat up on the Baltimore Orioles 9-3, to sweep the three-game series.

                So what we did we learn from these three games? I think we learned that the Orioles haven’t quite got their act together this year as well as they did last season. They don’t seem to be playing with the same enthusiasm and are looking less and less like the defending American League East Champions.

                But I think, more importantly, we learned that the New York Yankees, the 2015 version, are for real. Their sweep over the Orioles confirms that they are the team most likely to finish atop the division at year’s end. The Toronto Blue Jays are now in second place, and unless they make some significant upgrades in the starting and relief pitching, they won’t get very far past the .500 mark. The Tampa Bays and Boston Red Sox have proven thus far that they won’t contend either. So unless the Orioles turn their fortunes around pretty quickly, the A.L East crown will go to the Yankees.

                But these aren’t the Yankees of previous years. The core that made up the previous five championships are gone now. The only player that has been with the team longer than ten years is Alex Rodriguez. The ace of the pitching staff from their last championship in 2009, C.C. Sabathia, is no longer the ace of the club.

                So what makes this Yankee club so good, that by year’s end they may just add the twenty-eighth flag to their collection?

                It starts with their pitching. Starters Michael Pineda and Nathan Eovaldi have won nine games each, Masahiro Tanaka has chipped in with six. And the bullpen has been incredible. Closer Andrew Miller has already recorded 22 saves along with a 1.62 ERA. Another reliever, Dellin Betances has seven saves of his own and a 1.40 ERA.

                Then there’s the offence. Let’s look at some numbers. First baseman Mark Teixeira has already smashed 24 homeruns and driven in 65. Catcher Brian McCann has hit 15 homeruns. Outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner are both close to batting .300.

                And then there’s A-Rod. Approaching 40 years of age and coming off a season-long suspension for using Performance Enhancing Drugs, no one really expected him to have a good season. However, he has pounded 20 homers and added 54 RBIs as the team’s designated hitter.

                Like him or not—and I don’t—you have to applaud him for the type of season he’s had so far despite all the distractions around him. It’s not easy to perform this well after a year off, especially when age is not an ally.

                He’ll be around for another couple of seasons and (again) like it or not, he WILL pass Barry Bonds as the all-time home run king, provided he can avoid injury and not let his off-field shenanigans affect his play.              

                All-in-all, the Yankees should be back at the top of the division, and although many don’t like it, the Yankees at the top are good for baseball.

Pujols Resurgence Key to Angels' Success

About ten years ago, a friend at work asked me who I thought the best player was in baseball at the time. I never give much thought to who the best player is at a given time because there are so many differing opinions about what makes one player better than the other. 

However, I didn’t hesitate for a moment because a player came to mind right away: Albert Pujols. He was in his fourth or fifth year in the majors at the time and he had been impressive right from his first day with the Cardinals back in 2001. In fact, he would continue to knock the cover off the ball and put up MVP-type numbers for another six years.

Pujols played the first eleven years of his career for the Cardinals and here are some impressive stats: eleven straight years with 34 or more home runs; ten of eleven years with more than 100 Runs Batted in (the only year he missed, he drove in 99); a batting average that was above .300 for 10 years (again, the year he missed, he hit .299), and for five of those years he was above .330.

He also led the Cardinals to three National League Pennants and two World Series Championships.

Then he sent shockwaves throughout baseball when he left the Cardinals as a free agent after the 2011 season and signed a ten-year, $254 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels.

His first season with the Angels produced another 30/100 season but the batting average slipped to .285. Then a knee injury cost him two months of the 2013 season while rumours swirled around linking him to performance enhancing drugs. The rumours were unsubstantiated as Pujols has never tested positive for PEDs and the former Cardinals’ hitting coach who had launched the accusations, retracted them, saying he had misspoken.

Pujols was healthy again in 2014, and put up decent numbers (28 homers, 105 RBIs and a .272 average) but it appeared he was no longer the lethal hitting machine that he had once been in St. Louis.

However, 2015 has proven to be a bit of a comeback year for the slugger. While the batting average isn’t where it should be, the power numbers have improved significantly. As of Tuesday night, Pujols has hit 29 homers and driven in 60 runs, putting him on pace for possibly 50 homeruns (which would be the first time in his career he would have done that) and another 100 plus RBIs.

Pujols resurgence has helped the Angels overcome an early season deficit (they were seven games out of first at one point) and propelled them into first place in the American League West as we near the end of July.

While age will continue to diminish his skills over time, there is no reason to believe, barring injury, that Pujols will continue to put up the same numbers for the Angels over the next three or four years, that he did for the Cardinals when he was in his prime.

And depending on when he does retire, a serious run at Barry Bonds homerun record is an outside possibility. He currently stands at 549 homeruns, some 213 homeruns behind Bonds. At age 35, that may seem like a lot of ground to make up. But let’s say he can play until the age of 41 (Bonds played until he was 42 and Pujols’s contract will expire when he’s 42, so it’s not unrealistic.) That means he could play six more years and would have to average 36 home runs a year over those six years. Also, keep in mind this year still has two more months so if he could hit twenty more before the end of September, that would mean he would only need 196 (roughly 33 a season).

A longshot, but a possibility if he can avoid injury.

When he does decide to walk away from the game, he will do so as the one of the best players of the modern era, and there will be a place waiting for him in Cooperstown, regardless if he has the home run record or not.

This Day In Baseball History: July 21, 2008

July 21, 2008

                It was on this date in 2008, that Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks, struck out Chicago Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez to become the first pitcher in Major League Baseball history to collect 2000 career strikeouts with two different teams. The left-hander had previously k’d 2162 batters when he pitched for the Seattle Mariners.

                Johnson would throw seven innings, allowing only two hits and striking out four batters in the Diamondbacks 2-0 win.

                Johnson would finish his 22-year career with 4875 strikeouts with six different teams (Montreal-51, Seattle-2162, Houston-116, Arizona-2077, New York Yankees-383 and San Francisco-86). The total is good enough for second place on the all-time list behind Nolan Ryan (5714) who played five more seasons than Johnson.

This Day In Baseball History: July 20, 1987.

July 20, 1987

              It was on this date in 1987 that New York Yankee first baseman Don Mattingly tied a Major League record by recording 22 put outs in one game, against the Twins in Minnesota’s Metrodome. The record had been previously set in 1906 by another Yankee first baseman, Hal Chase.

              Although Mattingly was 0 for 4 at the plate, the Yankees still won the game 7-1.

Second half predictions: National League

                Today, we will focus on what will happen in the National League’s second half.

National League West

                So far, the Los Angeles Dodgers look like the best team in the division. They hold a four and a half game lead over the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers’ pitching staff is led by Zack Greinke who ended the first half with an 8-2 win/loss record and an outstanding 1.39 ERA. But you have to wonder how many more wins he could have with more run support. He has eight no-decisions.

                The same goes for Clayton Kershaw. Although his win/loss record only sits at 6-6, his 2.85 ERA deserves better. Chances are, he’ll end up with more wins in the second half.

                The Giants, however, can never be counted out. Remember, they finished second in the division in 2014, but got everything going when October rolled around, and I don’t see any reason why they can’t do so again.

                With a pitching staff that includes Madison Bumgarner, Chris Heston and Ryan Vogelsong, the Giants have a starting trio that could rival any in baseball. The bullpen with closer Santiago Casilla, and relievers Sergio Romo, George Kontos and Javier Lopez, can protect any lead when the ball is in their hands.

                The Giants offense features catcher Buster Posey (.314 average, 14 home runs and 58 rbi), shortstop Brandon Crawford (.262, 12 and 52) and second baseman Joe Panik (.308, 7 and 33) but may miss Pablo Sandoval once October rolls around.

                There is no threat from Arizona, Colorado or the high-spending San Diego Padres.

Predicted order of finish: Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Arizona, Colorado

National League Central

                The St. Louis Cardinals looked like the best team in all of baseball for much of the first half of the season. The perennial contenders have held first place the entire season and had as much as a nine game lead at one point in the season.

                The Cardinals potent offense features catcher Yadier Molina, second baseman Kolten Wong, shortstop Jhonny Peralta, third baseman Matt Carpenter and outfielders Matt Holiday and Jason Heyward, any of which can carry team over an extended period of time.

                But watch out for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who swept the Cardinals right before the break to get within 2 and a half games. The Pirates have been in the wild card game for two straight years, beating Cincinnati in 2013 and losing to San Francisco last year. As always, the Pirates are led offensively by Andrew McCutchen (.295, 12 and 56).

                In all probability, they will end up in the game again this year, as they may not have enough to catch St. Louis.

                The Chicago Cubs are much improved this year thanks to a ton of spending in the off-season. But they haven’t seemed to gel as of yet, consistently around the .500 mark. They have the talent, however, to ensure the Central division has three teams in this year’s playoffs. First baseman Anthony Rizzo leads the Cubs offensively (.295, 16 and 48) and while starting pitcher Jake Arrieta is having a great year on the mound (10-5, 2.66), Jon Lester will have to improve upon his 4-8 record and 3.59 ERA if Chicago hopes to have a chance to end its 107-year World Series drought.

                The Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers are pretty much whipping boys for this division and won’t threaten anyone in the second half.

Predicted order of finish: St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee

National League East

                It would be easy to say the Washington Nationals should easily win the division, what with the horrible season both the Philadelphia Phillies and Miami Marlins are having, combined with a disappointing season thus far from the Atlanta Braves. But don’t overlook the New York Mets.

                After six straight losing seasons, the Mets are finally giving their fans reason to hope. They were only two and a half games out at the break and there’s plenty of time to catch up.

                Jacob DeGrom leads the pitching staff with a 9-6 record and 2.14 ERA. Curtis Granderson leads the charge offensively (.247, 14, 30), along with some help from Lucas Duda (.241, 12 and 38) but the hitters need to improve their batting averages if they want to win enough ball games to threaten Washington.

                And speaking of the Nationals, watch for outfielder Bryce Harper (.338, 26 and 62) to continue his MVP-caliber season, and starting pitchers Max Scherzer (10-7, 2.11) and Jordan Zimmerman (8-5, 3.27) need to continue their strong seasons in order for the team to keep ahead of the Mets.

Predicted order of finish: Washington, New York, Atlanta, Miami, Philadelphia

Playoff Prediction

Wild Card Game: Pittsburgh over San Francisco

NLDS: St. Louis over Pittsburgh

Washington over Los Angeles

NLCS: Washington over St. Louis

World Series: Washington over Baltimore

This Day in Baseball History: July 18, 1927

Today, a new feature will be added to Top of The Third. "This Day In Baseball History" will feature a brief recap of an historic event. All comments and thoughts are welcome.

July 18, 1927

 It was on this date in 1927 that Ty Cobb, playing with the Philadelphia Athletics, collected the 4000^th hit of his Major League career. He became the first player in history to reach that milestone. He collected a double in the first inning against the Detroit Tigers, the team with which he spent the first 22 years of his career. Detroit won the game 5-3.

                Cobb would retire at the end of the following season, ending his career with 4191 hits. A record that would stand for almost 60 years when Pete Rose passed him on September 11, 1985.

                Rose and Cobb remain the only two players in baseball history with more than 4000 hits. Shamefully for baseball, only one is in the Hall of Fame.

Second half predictions: American League

               The second half of the baseball season starts tonight, and I guess there’s no better time than now to give my prediction of what to expect by the end of the season.

                Now I have to put forth a disclaimer: Predictions, whether they’re written on a personal blog like this, or if they’re come via an expert from ESPN, MLB.com or Sports Illustrated, are nothing more than thoughts that have no virtually no merit behind them. Most experts use their “extensive knowledge” and try to give you stats and past situations explaining why the picks they give will come to fruition, but in reality, nobody knows what may happen.

                I like to make predictions so that if I, by chance, do manage to get even one right, I can look back and say, “Hey, I made the right pick. I’m an expert.” But seriously, there’s no validity in any pick that is made. They’re just fun, that’s all.

                Okay, here are my picks for the rest of the 2015 MLB season. We’ll start with the American League today and the National League will follow this weekend. Enjoy.

American League West

                I guess you’d have to say the surprise of the baseball season so far is the Houston Astros. They’re challenging the Los Angeles Angels for first place after finishing fourth in the division last year, 28 games behind. But you have to wonder if they’re about to fade as their second half of the season gets set to begin again on Friday night.

                On July 3, they held a five game lead over the second place Angels and have seen that lead rapidly diminish over the last couple of weeks. Granted, the Angels are playing some good baseball as of late but considering the Astros have lost six in a row and eight of nine, it’s not surprising to see them slip out of the top spot before the break.

                If they are to snap out it and quickly re-establish themselves as the good team they were at the end of June, they will need to get production from second baseman Jose Altuve. The fifth-year player is hitting just under .300 with twenty-five stolen bases so far this year. The Astros have five players with more than ten homeruns (Luis Valbuena 19, Chris Carter 15, Evan Gattis 15, George Springer 13 and Colby Rasmus 11) but only one of those players has a batting average better than .250, that being Springer at .264.

                They need to improve their team average and hit better with men on base if they hope to stay ahead of the Angels for much longer.

                And speaking of the Angels, they ended the first half with a 12-3 record and, as I mentioned earlier, been playing awfully well since the middle of June.

                Leading the charge is re-juvenated first baseman Albert Pujols, who is finally earning his high-priced contract that he signed four years ago. Although his batting average is not the same Pujols-type average we saw when he was in St. Louis, he has hit 26 homeruns and added 56 RBIs. He’s on pace to finish in the high forties in homers and well over the one hundred mark in RBIs.

                Add in the impressive Mike Trout—who just earned his second All-Star Game MVP award—with 26 homers and 55 RBIs and you have enough power to compete with any duo in the league.

                To finish off the rest of division, Texas needs Prince Fielder to keep swatting and Josh Hamilton to return to his MVP form of several years ago in order to compete for possibly a wild-card spot. Seattle continues to disappoint despite the high-spending and the Oakland A’s, I’m afraid, are finding out that the Billy-Ball success they’ve had over the last fifteen years can’t last forever.

Predicted order of finish: Los Angeles, Texas, Houston, Seattle, Oakland

American League Central

It’s not surprising to see Kansas City with a decent-sized lead at the break when you look at the success they had last year. It’s obvious it will continue with the hitting and pitching they have.

                Shortstop Alcides Escobar, first baseman Eric Hosmer and centerfielder Lorenzo Cain will continue to lead the charge offensively, while the pitching strength will still be in the bullpen. The three-headed monster of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland will continue to shut the door and protect the lead in late innings.

                I’d have to say one of the biggest surprises of the baseball season has to be the Minnesota Twins. After finishing last in the Central in 2014 with a record of 70-92, the Twins have turned it around this year and sit four and a half games behind the Royals at the break. They also hold down one of the Wild Card spots and should be in pretty good shape heading into the second half.

                The Twins are led offensively by second baseman Brian Dozier (.256 average, 19 homeruns, 50 rbi), first baseman Joe Mauer (.271, 6, 42) and rightfielder Torii Hunter (.257, 14, 49) returning to the Twins after spending the last several season with the Angels and Detroit Tigers.

                And speaking of the Tigers, what is going on there? With all the talent they have, it’s hard to believe that they’ve been struggling to stay above the .500 mark all season.

                While the offensive leaders, Miquel Cabrera, J.D. Martinez and Jose Iglesias have been putting up decent numbers, the pitching has been merely lackluster. David Price is the only starter to have an ERA less than 4.25 (his is sitting at 2.38) but only has a 9-2 record due to lack of run support and the bullpen being unable to hold leads.

                The Cleveland Indians and Chicago Whitesox have been improving but being in the division that they are in will probably prevent both of them from challenging for a playoff spot.

Predicted order of finish: Kansas City, Detroit, Minnesota, Cleveland, Chicago

American League East

                Well, this division has pretty much been a disaster for the first half of the season. Thank goodness the Yankees went on a bit of a run in the last couple of weeks so that at least one team in the division has a half-decent record.

                The post Derek Jeter era has gone better for the Yankees than most would have expected. Outfielders Jacoby Elsbury and Brett Gardiner are putting up solid numbers and the pitching is holding up fairly well despite ace C.C. Sabatthia having a disappointing year thus far.

                But I think the Baltimore Orioles have too much talent to stay behind the Yankees for much longer. Chris Davis, Manny Machado and Adam Jones need to keep producing offensively in order for the O’s to put on a charge to take the division. Pitchers Wei-Yin Chen, Ubaldo Jimenez and Miguel Gonzalez will also have better second halves enabling Baltimore to finish at the top of the division.

                The Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox, despite showing flourishes of being decent teams, will all continue to fall further behind as the Yankees and Orioles will continue to improve.

Predicted order of finish: Baltimore, New York, Boston, Toronto, Tampa Bay

               

Playoff Prediction

Wild Card Game: Detroit over New York

ALDS: Kansas City over Detroit

Baltimore over Los Angeles

ALCS: Baltimore over Kansas City

The Great Baseball History of Cincinnati

The American League has earned home-field advantage for the World Series with its 6-3 win over the National League in the 86^th MLB All-Star Game played Tuesday night in Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark. The MVP of the game was Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels, who hit the first lead-off homerun in an AS Game since Bo Jackson in 1988.

                But despite the great moments and great plays in the game, I’m going to focus on the team that played host to this year’s Mid-Summer Classic, the Cincinnati Reds.

                Cincinnati has a story-book baseball past as the Reds are the oldest professional team in existence, having been established as an independent club in 1881 before becoming a member of the American Association the following year. They later joined the National League, where they still reside, in 1890.               

                They won two World Series Championships in the first half of the twentieth century. One of them being the infamous 1919 Series against the Chicago White Sox. The Reds won the best-of-nine series five games to three, but a year later their victory became tainted when eight members of the Sox were indicted for conspiring with professional gamblers to purposely lose games in exchange for extra cash. The 1919 Chicago team earned the nickname “The Black Sox” for the black mark they put on baseball with their association with the gamblers.

                In 1940, the Reds claimed their second championship by defeating the Detroit Tigers in a seven-game series that went the distance.

                But it was the Reds teams of the 1970s that firmly established Cincinnati as a baseball town. The team was known as the Big Red Machine and won back-to-back World Series Championships in 1975 and 1976 against the two most popular teams in the game: the Red Sox in ’75 and the Yankees in ’76.

                The Reds had some solid pitching during those years, but it was the offense that got people talking. They were a packed line-up with catcher Johnny Bench, first baseman Tony Perez, second baseman Joe Morgan, shortstop Dave Concepcion, third baseman and all-time MLB hits leader Pete Rose (who should be in the Hall of Fame, but we’ll save that story for some other time) and outfielders Ken Griffey Sr., Cesar Geronimo and George Foster.

                In 1975, the team won 108 games in the regular season, swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Championship Series and beat the Red Sox in an exciting seventh game that followed a dramatic game six loss in extra innings after Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk’s memorable homerun.

                In 1976, they won 102 games and then swept their way through the playoffs, taking out the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS and then doing away with the Yankees in four in the World Series.

                They became the first National League team to win consecutive World Championships in over 50 years. The last team to do so had been the New York Giants in 1921 and 1922. And no National League team has won back-to-back championships since.

                The team started to slowly decline as players departed via free agency or trades and the Big Red Machine was gradually dismantled. They managed to win another NL West title in 1979 but were swept by the Pirates in the NLCS.

                It wasn’t until 1990 that the Reds would taste post season success again. The eighties were a disappointment as the team didn’t win a single division title and their beloved hero, Rose, was given a life-time ban from baseball for gambling on Major League Baseball games, and particularly, Cincinnati Reds games.

                1990 eased the sting a little for Reds fans. Their new manager was Lou Pinella, he of past Yankee fame and future Seattle fame. Much of the team’s success can be attributed to a trio of relief pitchers, known as the Nasty Boys. Rob Dibble, Randy Myers and Norm Charlton were pretty much bullet proof all season as they combined for 44 saves.

                Offensively, the Reds were led by third baseman Chris Sabo, first baseman Hall Morris and outfielders Eric Davis and Paul O’Neil. Yes, the same Paul O’Neil who was a key contributor to the four Yankees World Championships that would come in the mid to late nineties.

                The team won 91 games during the season, took out the Pirates in six games in the NLCS and then swept the supposedly unbeatable Oakland A’s in the World Series. Cincinnati was on top of the baseball world again, but that would be the last time.

                They haven’t been back to the Series since and have made the playoffs only a handful of times, the last was a trip to the Wild Card game in 2013 where they played (again) the Pirates in the sudden-death game but lost.

                Their last NLCS appearance was in 1995 where they were swept by the Atlanta Braves.

                It would be nice to see Cincinnati climb back to the top of the baseball pack again. They have one of the prettiest ballparks in baseball with Great American Ballpark, which is ten times (or more) better than Riverfront Stadium, one of the cookie-cutter ballparks of the seventies.

                Now that they’ve had the All-Star Game, it’s time for the park to host the World Series. Probably not this year, with the Reds currently in fourth place, fifteen and a half games out of first, but hopefully someday real soon. Cincinnati deserves it.

Memories of the All-Star Game: A Fan's Perspective (Part 3)

This is the third and final part of the All-Star series. Like the game that was featured in moment number four, the first game we look at today also went into extra innings. Unfortunately, this one did not have a positive dramatic ending.

3.   2002 – Hunter Responsible for Change in AS Format

      This All-Star Game would get the nod for the most disappointing ending for sure.

      It was played at Miller Park in Milwaukee, and went into extra innings as the score was deadlocked at seven after nine innings. Neither team scored in the tenth—or eleventh.

      There was no twelfth inning. Both and AL and NL bullpens were empty as all the pitchers had been used. It was announced over the P.A. system that if the NL didn’t score in the bottom of the eleventh, the game would end in a time.

      The crowd booed loudly. Bottles and other debris were thrown onto the field. The NL did not score and the game ended, prompting more booing and thrown bottles.

      It was a mess. Commisioner Bud Selig was criticized for not letting the game continue and the sport of baseball, itself, had its integrity questioned.

      Looking back, I think if the MLB brass had to do it over again, the game would have continued until there was a winner, but who’s to say, really?

      One thing the game did do was alter the incentive for the team that won the game. Starting in 2003, the winning League of the All-Star game would win home-field advantage for its pennant winner in the World Series. Before this change, the Leagues alternated the home field.

      While I didn’t like this idea at first (why should a great play from a player from the Seattle Mariners ensure that the Yankees had home field advantage, and so forth) it has grown on me to the point that twelve years later, I have begrudgingly accepted it.

      But we have to look closer at this game and find someone to blame for this alteration and from the morning after this game, I chose Torii Hunter.

      Although I’m joking about the blame, of course, I believe it was Hunter who was responsible for the tie. The Minnesota Twins centre fielder put his talents on display during the first inning of the game.

      The game was still scoreless when San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds stepped to the plate. Bonds had broken the single-season home run record the previous season when he belted out 73 dingers.

      Bonds swung at a 1-1 pitch and launched it high in the air to centre field. Although it didn’t have the majestic arc of most of his homeruns, it appeared that Bonds had gotten just enough of it to break the ice in the scoreless game. And he did.

      But Hunter glided back towards the warning track and timed his jump perfectly. He extended his arm above the outfield wall and snared the ball in his glove, robbing Bonds of the homerun that would have prevented the game from ending in a tie.

      Hearsay of course, because you can never tell how a game will go if such-and-such happened, but it makes for a great “what if” moment at the very least.

Watch Hunter rob Bonds of a homerun

2.   1991 – Key Gets Win in Front of Blue Jays’ fans

      This was the first and, to date, only visit to the city of Toronto for the Mid-Summer Classic. The SkyDome was the scene of the second All-Star game played outside the United States, the other being the Olympic Stadium in Montreal in 1982.

      At the time, it was the most important game to be played in Toronto (the World Series would have to wait until the following season.) Scalpers were getting in the neighbourhood of a thousand dollars for a single ticket. Considering the average price was in the seventy-five dollar range, that was quite a hefty hike.

      The AL won the game by a score of 4-2. Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken won the first of his two All-Star Game MVP awards after going two for three at the plate, including a three-run home run in the third inning off Montreal Expos pitcher Dennis Martinez.

      Secondbaseman Roberto Alomar of the Blue Jays started the game for the American League. In a classy gesture to the Toronto fans, AL manager Tony LaRussa of the Oakland A’s, allowed Alomar to play the entire game.

      But the highlight for me was seeing Toronto pitcher Jimmy Key pitch one inning of scoreless ball in the top of the third, allowing only one hit and striking out a batter. While it wasn’t an earth-shattering pitching performance, Ripken’s homer in the bottom of the inning game the AL a lead it would never relinquish, meaning Jimmy Key was the winning pitcher of the game. Key became the second Blue Jay pitcher to win the All-Star Game after Dave Stieb had done it in 1983. It would not happen again until B.J. Ryan accomplished the feat in 2006.

1.      2008 – AL Walk-off Victory In Final AS Game at Yankee Stadium

          Unfortunately for fans of the New York Yankees, the final season of Yankee Stadium II ended without a post-season appearance. That meant there was no late-inning October Magic happening in the Bronx in the final year of the hallowed ground of baseball.

          However, the game played on the night of July 15^th, surely matched the October Classics of years past with its thrilling drama.

          The ceremonial first pitch (pitches) was thrown by Yankee greats Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Rich “Goose” Gossage and Reggie Jackson. The official first pitch was thrown by Cleveland Indians ace Cliff Lee at 8:47 PM local time. The game would not finish until 1:38 AM the following morning, an All-Star Game record for the longest game at four hours and 50 minutes.

          The game was also the longest in terms of innings played at fifteen, tying the mark set by the 1967 game.

          It could have ended in the tenth, as two errors and an intentional walk allowed the AL to load the bases with none out. However, they were unable to score thanks to some fine pitching by Colorado Rockies Aaron Cook, who was able to get three ground ball outs (two of them force outs at the plate) to get out of the inning.

          The NL then had their chance in the twelfth when they loaded the bases with one out. But back-to-back strikeouts ended their threat.   

          As the game moved on, I’m sure a lot of people were thinking about the tie of 2002 and were ever hopeful that the scenario wouldn’t be repeated, especially in the last All-Star Game to be played at The Stadium.

          In the bottom of the fifteenth, the AL finally came through. Twins firstbaseman Justin Morneau led off with a single. An out later, he moved to second when Tampa catcher Dioner Navaro singled. J.D. Drew walked to load the bases.

         Texas Rangers second baseman Michael Young sent a flyball to rightfield that was caught, but the ball was deep enough to score Morneau who tagged from third and beat the throw with a slide to end the last thrilling game at the House That Ruth Built.

 Watch the game-winning play