Yanks Split Slugfest Series with Angels; Garret Anderson, 1972-2026

The Yankees played 4 games at home against the Los Angeles Angels. The Monday night game was a wild one, the kind of game that tends to make people think, "If we can win this game, nobody's going to stop us."

The Yankees took a 4-0 lead on home runs Aaron Judge and José Caballero. But just as Caballero giveth, he tooketh away, making an error at shortstop to start the top of the 4th inning. Will Warren then got a groundout, but followed that by allowing a double, then getting a strikeout. Then, between them, he and Fernando Cruz gave up 2 singles and 3 walks, for 4 unearned runs and a tie game.

Trent Grisham hit a home run in the 5th. Mike Trout and Aaron Judge traded long home runs in the 6th. Trout hit another bomb in the 8th, and that gave the Angels a 10-8 lead. It was only the 2nd time in MLB history that 2 players who had each already won 3 Most Valuable Player awards had both hit 2 home runs in the same game. The 1st one was in 1956: Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals, and Roy Campanella of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Jazz Chisholm led off the bottom of the 9th with a single, and Grisham hit another home run. Caballero made up for his error with a double, Austin Wells drew a walk, and the runners moved up on defensive indifference. The moment was set for the terribly struggling Ryan McMahon to be the hero, but the chance was taken away from him when Angel reliever Jordan Romano threw a wild pitch, to let Caballero home. Yankees 11, Angels 10. Paul Blackburn ended up as the winning pitcher.

*

But there was no momentum. The Tuesday night game was lousy, as Ryan Weathers had another bad start, including Trout starting a streak of 3 straight home runs in the 1st inning. And Angel starter Reid Detmers just stopped the Yankees cold. Their only run came in the bottom of the 8th, on a Randal Grichuk double, a Wells single, and a Ben Rice sacrifice fly. Other than that, they only had 3 baserunners, all singles. Angels 7, Yankees 1.

Luis Gil started on Wednesday night, and, clearly, he still isn't ready, allowing 4 runs in 5 innings. Judge and Trout each hit another home run. The Angels led 4-3 with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th. Then Chisholm singled, Wells walked, and Caballero doubled them home. Yankees 5, Angels 4. Winning pitcher: David Bednar.

Because the Angels needed a getaway day, the Yankees played yesterday in the afternoon, and it was hot in The Bronx, reaching a high of 96 degrees. But Max Fried had nothing, and the bullpen was worse. Judge, Rice and Giancarlo Stanton all homered, but Trout hit another, and the Angels won, 11-4, to gain a split.

Career home runs: Stanton, Yankees, 455; Trout, Angels, 411; Judge, Yankees, 376; Paul Goldschmidt, Yankees, 373.

The Yankees started the season 7-1. They are now 10-9, and they need to get their act back in gear. They start a 3-game home series with the Kansas City Royals tonight.

*

But the Angels and their fans got some bad news today: Garret Anderson died today, at age 53, after what's currently being described as "a medical emergency" at his home outside Los Angeles.

The left fielder played 15 seasons for the Angels, then 1 more each for the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He batted .293, collected 2,529 hits including 287 home runs, had 4 straight seasons of at least 100 RBIs, made 3 All-Star Games, and helped the Angels make the postseason 5 times, including winning the 2002 World Series. He is a member of their team Hall of Fame.

Who Else Will Make the Hall of Fame? 2026 Edition

Among active Major League Baseball players, who will -- and who should -- eventually be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame?

Given that Clayton Kershaw, despite his choice to play in the upcoming World Baseball Classic, is officially retired, the only active players whose career statistics put them already there are Max Scherzer (on the left in the photo above) and Justin Verlander (on the right).

Giancarlo Stanton's only qualification is his career home run total, so he'll probably have to get to 500 to get in. Two more healthy seasons will do it -- emphasis on "healthy."

Aaron Judge, Mike Trout, Bryce Harper and Nolan Arenado are two good years away. No, Judge is not there yet. No, Trout is not a "first-ballot Hall-of-Famer," or a HOFer at all. Neither is Harper, neither is Arenado.

Career hits: Harper, 1,801; Trout, 1,754; Judge 1,205. Home runs: Trout, 404; Judge, 368; Harper, 363. Gold Gloves: None for any of them. Judge has been mostly a right fielder; Trout, a center fielder; Harper, a right fielder in his 20s and a 1st baseman in his 30s.

Arenado has a better case: 1,921 hits, 353 of them home runs, and he's a 3rd baseman. A 3rd baseman, shortstop, 2nd baseman or catcher with his stats, or Judge's, or Trout's, or Harper's would probably get in. An outfielder or a 1st baseman does not.

Freddie Freeman, Manny Machado and Paul Goldschmidt are three good years away. 

Shohei Ohtani (if he can stay healthy), Gerrit Cole (ditto), Juan Soto, Mookie Betts, Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor are about five good years away. Chris Sale also needs 5, and given that he's 36 years old, he's not going to make it. José Ramirez is helped by the fact that he's a 3rd baseman, but he's a long way off.

Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel are harder to figure, simply because they're relievers, and the standards for relievers getting in haven't really been set. But both have more saves than Billy Wagner, and both have better postseason records than he does. They each have a good chance.

Aroldis Chapman might be the least reliable relief pitcher of all time, especially in postseason play. But the best argument for him is that Wagner, the other major contender for that title, is in.

Andrew McCutchen won't make it. Neither will Blake Snell: He's basically Cliff Lee, a lefty pitcher with 2 great seasons and the rest ordinary.

Met fans will tell you that Jacob deGrom will get in. No, he will not. His candidacy is a joke: He's 37, and has 96 career wins. Babe Ruth had 94 career wins, and he only pitched 31 innings past his 25th birthday. Ohtani, for all his time spent away from the mound, might end up with more wins than deGrom. Ron Guidry was a better pitcher than peak deGrom, and he has 170 wins, and hardly anybody suggests he should be in the Hall. If Guidry with 170 doesn't get in, anyone suggesting deGrom with 96 should get in needs to be told, "Go away, you're wasting everybody's time."

José Altuve will probably get in, but should be disqualified, as a known cheater.

For younger stars, such as Ronald Acuña Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Cal Raleigh and Elly De La Cruz, it is way too soon to tell. Things can happen. Ask George Foster. Ask Fred Lynn. Ask Kirk Gibson. Ask Eric Davis. Ask Ryan Howard.

Ask Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden.

If they were still alive, you could ask Mark Fidrych, Tony Conigliaro and Joe Pepitone.

Who Is Baseball's Greatest Living Player?

At a dinner to honor the 100th Anniversary of professional baseball in 1969, 2 all-time teams were named: The Greatest Players, and the Greatest Living Players. Babe Ruth was named the Greatest Player, and Joe DiMaggio was named the Greatest Living Player -- and, for the rest of his life, he insisted upon being introduced as "Baseball's Greatest Living Player."

When he died in 1999, the title of "Baseball's Greatest Living Player" was, for most fans, passed to Willie Mays. Willie died this week. So who holds the title now?

By looking at the list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players compiled in 1999 by The Sporting News, we can say that, with the death of Willie Mays, ranked 2nd behind Babe Ruth, the greatest living player is the man then ranked 16th, Johnny Bench.

It was a bad ranking. They had him ahead of his fellow Oklahoman, Mickey Mantle (17th, and dead in 1995), and ahead of the actual greatest catcher who ever lived, Yogi Berra (40th, still alive then, died in 2015).

Next on that list among players still alive: At 25th, Pete Rose. No. Just no. And that's got nothing to do with the reason he was banned from baseball -- or with the other reason he has become a pariah.

Next, at 26th, is Sandy Koufax. I have a hard time accepting a pitcher as the greatest living player, especially one whose legend is essentially based on just 5 seasons, maybe 6.

Next, at 28th, is Mike Schmidt. Here we go. Almost certainly, the greatest player ever to play 3rd base. Definitely the greatest player in Phillies history, and, given how many of the old Philadelphia Athletics' legends split their careers with other teams, probably also the greatest player in Philadelphia baseball history. 548 home runs. 10 Gold Gloves. 3 Most Valuable Player awards. Led his team to 6 Playoff berths, 2 Pennants, and its 1st World Series win.

You want another candidate? The next one still alive, at 30th, is Schmidt's Phillies teammate, Steve Carlton. A pitcher. Let's move on. The next living player, and the top player then active, at 34th, was Barry Bonds. This was before Bonds started setting records like crazy. This was also before we knew he had started using steroids. So, he's disqualified, even if he was "a Hall-of-Famer before he started cheating." After all, the appearance that he didn't need to cheat to be great, and then cheated anyway, makes things worse.

Next, at 39th, is Greg Maddux. Another pitcher. Next living, at 41st, is Nolan Ryan. Another pitcher. Next living, at 48th, is Reggie Jackson. He's my favorite athlete of all time, and he has been known to show some ego. But I don't think even Reggie would call himself "baseball's greatest living player."

Next, at 51st, is Rickey Henderson. Here is another legitimate candidate, even if he surpassed Reggie, DiMaggio, Ty Cobb and everybody else as baseball's supreme egotist. Baseball's greatest base stealer (1,406), he collected over 3,000 hits (3,055), had a surprising amount of power (297 home runs), and is baseball's all-time leader in runs scored (2,295).

His lifetime batting average is just .279, but, A, that's higher than Schmidt (.267), Bench (also .267) or Reggie (.262); and, B, his on-base percentage is .401 (higher than Schmidt at .380, Reggie at .356 and Bench at .342), because he was once the all-time leader in walks (2,190, surpassed by Bonds, mainly due to the intentionals, a backlash against his cheating). And he was a winner, reaching the postseason 8 times with 5 different teams. (In 1985, the Yankees fell just short, so it was almost 9 times with 6 teams.) This also includes 3 Pennants, which includes World Series wins with 2 different teams.

In 2022, ESPN had an updated list. Their top 10 players who are alive as of Mays' death are: Bonds, 8th; Pedro Martinez, 11th; Ken Griffey Jr., 13th; Maddux, 14th; the still-active Mike Trout, 15th; Roger Clemens, 17th; Schmidt, 18th; Henderson, 23rd; Randy Johnson, 24th; and Alex Rodriguez, 26th.

After that: Derek Jeter, 28th; Bench, 29th; Albert Pujols, 30th; Mariano Rivera, 31st; Koufax, 32nd; Rose, 34th.

First, let's dump the pitchers: Pedro (11th among all players? A damn joke), Maddux, Clemens, Johnson, Rivera, Koufax. Next, let's dump the steroid cheats, Bonds and A-Rod. Finally, add those we've already considered: Schmidt, Henderson, Bench.

Not yet considered: Griffey, Trout, Jeter and Pujols. All 4 of whom, as far as we know, were, or, in the case of the still-active Trout, are, clean.

Okay, let's get serious: Trout doesn't make the Top 100 players. If, for whatever reason, he never plays another game, he leaves with 1,648 hits, 378 of which are home runs. That's fewer home runs than Frank Howard and Dale Murphy, for whom home runs were kind of their thing, and neither one is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. I don't care that he already has 3 MVPs: Trout is not a Hall-of-Famer yet.

That leaves Griffey, Jeter and Pujols. Jeter has more hits than any human being who, today, is both alive and eligible to be in baseball: 3,465. He had a .310 lifetime batting average and 358 stolen bases. And, in his time, he was baseball's biggest winner. But he only hit 260 home runs, and never won an MVP, although he was robbed of at least 2 and maybe a 3rd.

That leaves Griffey, with 630 home runs, and Pujols, with 3,384 hits (not that far behind Jeter), 703 of which were home runs. Griffey had 10 Gold Gloves, Pujols 2. Pujols had the postseason success, Griffey didn't. (Remember the 1995 ALDS all you want, but he never played in a World Series.)   

Is it just me, or does this picture look like

one of those baseball cards of players who recently changed teams,

which we used to call "Topps airbrush jobs"?

So, I would say that, for the title of Baseball's Greatest Living Player, there are 4 legitimate candidates. In chronological order, they are: Mike Schmidt, Rickey Henderson, Ken Griffey Jr. and Albert Pujols.

If Junior hadn't tailed off a bit when he went to the Cincinnati Reds in 2000, he could have made the question easy to answer. Same for Phat Albert, if he hadn't tailed off a bit when he went to the Los Angeles Angels in 2012: He could have put it away. If Junior hadn't had so many injuries, and if Albert hadn't gone to Anaheim, one of them might have hit 763 home runs to surpass Bonds, and make this an easy answer.

So, of the four, which one is Baseball's Greatest Living Player? Henderson would tell you it's him. The other 3 wouldn't claim that for themselves. Perhaps that's another reason why each of them might deserve it.

UPDATE: Pete Rose died on September 30, 2024, removing him from anyone's discussion; and Rickey Henderson followed on December 20, 2024, removing him from this discussion. That leaves Mike Schmidt, Ken Griffey Jr. and Albert Pujols.

Yankees Hit Just Enough to Beat Angels In 10

After a very weak opening game of their home series with the Los Angeles Angels, the Yankees needed another bounce-back game. And it was another hole-in-the-rotation game, and, after 2 nice starts and 1 bad one, Jhony Brito needed one as well.

He gave us one. He threw 84 pitches before being removed in the 5th inning, allowing 1 run on 3 hits and 3 walks. He would not be the winning pitcher, but he would not be responsible for a loss, either. Nor would Michael King, who took it through the 7th without allowing any further runs.

Aaron Judge certainly took his 2022 replacement of Shohei Ohatani as American League Most Valuable Player to heart. In the 1st inning alone, he robbed Ohtani of a home run, and then hit one himself, to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

The Angels scored off Brito in the 5th, but it was still 2-1 going into the 8th thanks to him and King. But Aaron Boone made the mistake of bringing Wandy Peralta in to pitch. He allowed a single to former Yankee Gio Urshela, balked him to 2nd, and then allowed a game-tying single to Hunter Renfroe.

The Yankees got men on 1st & 2nd with 1 out in the 8th, but didn’t score. And when they wasted a leadoff hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the 9th, I could feel a Cliché Alert coming on: "I Hate Extra Innings."

But the long rest the bullpen got worked -- except for Peralta. Clay Holmes pitched a scoreless 9th, and Ian Hamilton pitched a 1-2-3 10th, standing ghost runner Mike Trout.

The Yankee ghost runner wad Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Anthony Volpe was told to bunt him over to 3rd. He tried, but popped up to the pitcher, Matt Moore, for the 1st out. A rookie mistake: He'll learn to be a better bunter, and we should appreciate his effort.

Judge was intentionally walked to set up the inning-ending double play. But Moore choked, hitting Anthony Rizzo with a pitch to load the bases. All that was needed was a long-enough fly ball, and Gleyber Torres hit one to center. Trout is good with the glove as well as with the bat, but, in the deepest part of the new Yankee Stadium, he was not going to throw IKF out at the plate.

Yankees 3, Angels 2. WP: Hamilton (1-1). No save. LP: Moore (1-1). A big win, showing that they could win when 2 runs over 9 innings wouldn't be enough. They hit just enough to win in 10.

The series concludes this afternoon, at 4:05. Nestor Cortés, no hole-in-the-rotation he, starts against Patrick Sandoval.

One of Those Games -- the Good Kind

Last night's finale of the Yankees' home series against the Los Angeles Angels looked like it would be one of those games. You know the kind: The kind where, at the end of the season, if we finish one game out of (take your pick: Home-field advantage, the Division title, the Playoffs entirely), we will look back and say, "This game was one of those that would have made all the difference. We should have known then that we weren't going to make it."

Instead, it turned into one of those games where, if we do win the Pennant, we will look back and say, "This game was one of those where the team's character was proven, where they figured out that they were winners, and came from behind and won it."

Jameson Taillon started the game, and the goose eggs kept coming. Through 7 innings, he had a perfect game going. But the Yankees weren't scoring, either: They had men on 1st and 2nd with no outs, and 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs, in the 2nd inning; 1st and 2nd with no outs in the 3rd; a leadoff single in the 4th; a leadoff double and a 1-out walk in the 5th; and a 1-out walk in the 6th. End of 7: Angels 0, Yankees 0.

Aaron Boone sent Taillon back out for the 8th. He allowed a leadoff double, to end the perfect game and the no-hitter. He got a popup and a groundout. But then he allowed an RBI single. He got a flyout to end it, but, going to the bottom of the 8th, it was Angels 1, Yankees 0.

How can you have your pitcher to pitch 7 perfect innings, and then allow him to lose? If you want to win a championship, you can't do that. With 1 out in the bottom of the 8th, Miguel Andújar doubled. A wild pitch got him to 3rd. Isiah Kiner-Falefa drew a walk. He stole 2nd, but the Angels allowed it, rather than let Andújar have a chance to come home with the tying run. Aaron Hicks, hitting much better lately, drew a walk. Bases loaded, trying run on 3rd, potential winning run on 2nd, only 1 out.

Up came Joey Gallo, along with Hicks the target of Yankee Fans' recent wrath. He struck out, and got the hell booed out of him.

Up came Anthony Rizzo, pinch-hitting for Kyle Higashioka. He hit a grounder up the middle, and no one could reach it. Andújar and Hicks scored.

With closer Aroldis Chapman still on the Injured List, Boone sent Clay Holmes out to finish the game. He got a strikeout and a groundout. It would have been fitting for the last out to be Shohei Ohtani, the man being called the closest thing to Babe Ruth since Ruth himself, to make the last out at The House Built Across From the House That Ruth Built. But Holmes walked him.

Up next was Mike Trout, along with Ohtani the popular choices for the 2 best players in baseball. Trout didn't play like it in this series, going 0-for-10. But Holmes hit him with a pitch. Up next was Jared Walsh, and Holmes hit him, too. The bases were loaded, for Luis Rengifo.

Holmes induced a grounder to short, and IKF threw him out. Whew. Holmes was "Aroldising" out there: Coming close to messing it up, but finishing it off. Yankees 2, Angels 1. WP: Taillon (6-1). SV: Holmes (7). LP: Oliver Ortega (1-2).

The Toronto Blue Jays and the Tampa Bay Rays also won, so the Yankees remain 5 1/2 games ahead of the Jays in the American League Eastern Division, and 6 ahead of the Rays, as they begin a 3-game home weekend series with the Detroit Tigers.

Shohei Who?

A rain-forced doubleheader, with another rain delay late in the opener, left me with little time to write up that game. Here goes:

Shohei Ohtani was the Angels' starting pitcher, and the designated hitter rule allowed him to leave the game as the pitcher and remain the DH. But he would not be the story of the game today, either on the mound or at the plate.

The story would be Nestor Cortes, who is having the kind of season that the Mets' Jacob deGrom can only dream of, full of run support. He pitched 7 shutout innings, allowing just 5 hits and 2 walks, striking out 7. He got support in the form of home runs from Matt Carpenter and Gleyber Torres in the 1st inning, and Aaron Judge in the 3rd; and an RBI double from Marwin González in the 4th.

Ohtani did not return to the mound in the 5th. He didn't have a good day offensively, either: He went 1-for-5, his hit a single in the 5th, and he was picked off 1st base by Cortes. Mike Trout didn't have a good day, either: A walk and 3 strikeouts.

The Yankees got 2 more runs in the 5th, including a home run by DJ LeMahieu. Clarke Schmidt allowed a run in the 8th, but after a rain delay of 1 hour and 10 minutes, Wandy Peralta pitched a scoreless 9th to end it. Yankees 6, Angels 1. WP: Cortes (5-1). SV: Peralta (1). LP: Ohtani (3-4).

Ohtani and Trout are widely considered the 2 best all-around players in the game right now. With this game, the Angels are 27-24, riding a 7-game losing streak, 6 games behind the Houston Astros in the American League Western Division. The Yankees are 35-15, leading the AL East by 5 1/2.

It's almost as if baseball pundits want to give credit to just about anybody -- the Angels, the Astros, the Tampa Bay Rays, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Boston Red Sox, the Atlanta Braves, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Mets -- anybody but the Yankees.

The series concludes within an hour after the posting of this entry. Jameson Taillon starts for the Bronx Bombers, Reid Detmers for the Halos.

Who Are ESPN's Top 100 Baseball Players, and How Right Did They Get It?

This week, ESPN released a list of the Top 100 Major League Baseball Players of All Time. Trying to narrow down the over 22,000 men who have appeared in at least one MLB game over the last 150 seasons is not easy. The last serious attempt to try was in 1999 -- the end of the 20th Century seemed like an appropriate time -- by The Sporting News, the "newspaper" that once billed itself as "The Bible of Baseball."

Before I present you with ESPN's Top 100, let me show the 4 major "baseball milestones," and which members of these "clubs" did not make the Top 100:

* 3,000 Hits: Paul Waner, Lou Brock, Eddie Murray, Craig Biggio, Rafael Palmeiro.

* 500 Home Runs: Murray, Palmeiro, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Gary Sheffield.

* 300 Wins: Old Hoss Radbourn, Pud Galvin, John Clarkson, Tim Keefe, Mickey Welch, Kid Nichols, Eddie Plank, Early Wynn, Gaylord Perry, Don Sutton, Tom Glavine.

* 3,000 Strikeouts: Perry, Sutton, Glavine, Ferguson Jenkins, Bert Blyleven, Curt Schilling, CC Sabathia.

Okay, right away, we have problems. Not with keeping Palmeiro, McGwire and Sosa out, because they cheated. We seem to think Sheffield did, too. But nobody thinks Murray did. You can argue that Waner was once one of the Top 50, but that he no longer makes the Top 100; and that Biggio, as good as he was, never did.

But how can you keep out Murray, an apparently clean guy with both 3,000 hits and 500 home runs? And how the hell can you keep out Brock, who had 3,000 hits and is 2nd all-time in stolen bases with 938?

Same deal with the pitching milestones? Not exactly: 3,000 strikeouts is a big deal, but not as big a deal as the other 3, which probably hurts Schilling, who won 216 games, fewer than any "3KK" pitcher (I just made that term up) except Scherzer, who's still active and only 26 wins behind him; and Smoltz, who spent spent 4 seasons as a reliever and also has 155 saves.

You can make a case that Sutton doesn't even make an all-time Dodger rotation, even if you limit it to only the Los Angeles years: Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Clayton Kershaw, and if you go to 5 guys, you can argue that both Fernando Valenzuela and Orel Hershiser were better, in terms of talent if not of career numbers. And Perry will always have the spectre of the spitter.

And while Radbourn, Galvin, Clarkson, Keefe, Welch and Nichols were all great pitchers by standards of their own time, that time had a distance from the pitcher's mound to home plate of 50 feet. In 1893, it became 60 feet, 6 inches, and has remained so ever since.

Radbourn had already retired after the 1891 season, Galvin and Welch after 1892, Keefe saw the writing on the wall and packed it in after 1893, and Clarkson did so after 1894. Nichols started in 1890, the same year as Cy Young, and, like Young, pitched about equally well before and after 1893, so he could, legitimately, be considered for this list.

The following players made the TSN100 in 1999, but not the ESPN100 in 2022: Early Wynn 100, Dennis Eckersley 98, Gaylord Perry 97, Rollie Fingers 96, Chuck Klein 92, Mark McGwire 91, Ralph Kiner 90, Goose Goslin 89, Frankie Frisch 88, Kirby Puckett 86, Dizzy Dean 85, Sam Crawford 84, Ed Walsh 82.

Also: Joe Medwick 79, Eddie Murray 77, Willie Keeler 75, Robin Roberts 74, Lefty Gomez 73, Pie Traynor 70, Eddie Plank 68, Cool Papa Bell 66, Mickey Cochrane 65, Paul Waner 62, Bill Terry 59, Lou Brock 58, Bill Dickey 57, Harry Heilmann 54, Buck Leonard 47, Carl Hubbell 44, Al Simmons 43, George Sisler 33.

So, without further ado, here are the ESPN100, with, where applicable, their TSN100 rankings. Those active, or not yet having reached the majors by 1999, would be unlikely to make the TSN100. Those who did not make that list are hereby abbreviated as DNML. Players who made one of the major milestones are so noted. And players who made the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, also chosen in 1999, are so noted. (McGwire was named to the ACT, but not to the ESPN100.) And players caught, or at least credibly accused, as users of performance-enhancing drugs are given asterisks:

100. Barry Larkin, active in 1999

99. Phil Niekro, 300 wins, 3,000 hits, DNML

98. Jim Thome, 600 home runs, active

97. Adrian Beltre, 3,000 hits, active

96. Charlie Gehringer, 46

95. Duke Snider, 83

94. Bryce Harper, not yet active

93. John Smoltz, 3,000 strikeouts, active

92. Roy Halladay, active

91. Ryne Sandberg, DNML

90. Ivan Rodriguez, active *

89. Shoeless Joe Jackson, 35

88. Willie Stargell, 81

87. Carlton Fisk, DNML

86. Roberto Alomar, active

85. Jim Palmer, 64

84. Paul Molitor, 3,000 hits, 99

83. Roy Campanella, 50

82. Eddie Collins, 3,000 hits, 24

81. Mike Piazza, active *

80. Robin Yount, 3,000 hits, DNML

79. Hank Greenberg, 37

78. Chipper Jones, active

77. Vladimir Guerrero, active

76. Cap Anson, 3,000 hits, DNML

75. Rod Carew, 3,000 hits, 61

74. Juan Marichal, 71

73. Willie McCovey, 500 home runs, 56

72. Justin Verlander, 3,000 strikeouts, not yet active

71. Al Kaline, 3,000 hits, 76

70. Harmon Killebrew, 500 home runs, 69

69. Ozzie Smith, 87

68. Manny Ramirez, 500 home runs, active *

67. Brooks Robinson, ACT, 80

66. Cal Ripken, ACT, 3,000 hits, 78

65. Max Scherzer, 3,000 strikeouts, not yet active

64. Eddie Mathews, 500 home runs, 63

63. David Ortiz, 500 home runs, not yet active *

62. Mel Ott, 500 home runs, 42

61. Carl Yastrzemski, 3,000 hits, 72

60. Whitey Ford, 52

59. Miguel Cabrera, 3,000 hits, 500 home runs, not yet active

58. Steve Carlton, 300 wins, 4,000 strikeouts, 30

57. Grover Cleveland Alexander, 300 wins, 12

56. Dave Winfield, 3,000 hits, 94

55. Reggie Jackson, 500 home runs, 48

54. Lefty Grove, ACT, 300 wins, 23

53. Oscar Charleston, 67

52. Clayton Kershaw, 3,000 strikeouts, not yet active

51. Ernie Banks, ACT, 500 home runs, 38

50. Bob Feller, 36

49. Frank Thomas, 500 home runs, active

48. Nap Lajoie, 3,000 hits, 29

47. Warren Spahn, ACT, 300 wins, 21

46. Ichiro Suzuki, 3,000 hits, not yet active

45. Wade Boggs, 3,000 hits, active, 95

44. Tony Gwynn, 3,000 hits, active, 49

43. George Brett, 3,000 hits, 55

42. Nolan Ryan, ACT, 300 wins, 5,000 strikeouts, 41

41. Satchel Paige, 19

40. Jimmie Foxx, 500 home runs, 15

39. Yogi Berra, ACT, 40

38. Jackie Robinson, ACT, 4

37. Joe Morgan, 60

36. Tris Speaker, 3,000 hits, 27

35. Josh Gibson, 18

34. Pete Rose, ACT, 4,000 hits, 25

33. Bob Gibson, ACT, 3,000 strikeouts, 31

32. Sandy Koufax, ACT, 26

31. Mariano Rivera, active

30. Albert Pujols, 600 home runs, 3,000 hits, not yet active

29. Johnny Bench, ACT, 16

28. Derek Jeter, 3,000 hits, active

27. Roberto Clemente, 3,000 hits, 20

26. Alex Rodriguez, 3,000 hits, 600 home runs, active *

25. Christy Mathewson, ACT, 300 wins, 7

24. Randy Johnson, 3000 wins, 4,000 strikeouts, active

23. Rickey Henderson, 3,000 hits, active, 51

22. Tom Seaver, 300 wins, 3,000 strikeouts, 32

21. Cy Young, ACT, 500 wins, 14

20. Rogers Hornsby, ACT, 9

19. Frank Robinson, 500 home runs, 22

18. Mike Schmidt, ACT, 500 home runs, 28

17. Roger Clemens, ACT, 300 wins, 4,000 strikeouts, active, 53

16. Joe DiMaggio, ACT, 11

15. Mike Trout, not yet active

14. Greg Maddux, 300 wins, 3,000 strikeouts, active, 39

13. Ken Griffey Jr., ACT, 600 home runs, active, 93

12. Honus Wagner, ACT, 3,000 hits, 13

11. Pedro Martinez, 3,000 strikeouts, active

10. Stan Musial, ACT, 3,000 hits, 10

9. Walter Johnson, ACT, 400 wins, 3,000 strikeouts, 4

8. Barry Bonds, 700 home runs, active, 34 *

7. Mickey Mantle, ACT, 500 home runs, 17

6. Lou Gehrig, ACT, 6

5. Ted Williams, ACT, 500 home runs, 8

4. Ty Cobb, ACT, 4,000 hits, 3

3. Hank Aaron, ACT, 3,000 hits, 700 home runs, 5

2. Willie Mays, ACT, 3,000 hits, 600 home runs, 2

1. Babe Ruth, ACT, 700 home runs, 1

Biggest jumps from 1999 to 2022: Griffey 80, Winfield 38, Clemens 36, Henderson 28, Bonds 26, Maddux 25, Morgan 23. Certainly, Griffey got shortchanged in 1999.

Biggest drops from 1999 to 2022: Collins 58, Shoeless Joe 54, Gehringer 50, Alexander 45, Greenberg 42, Campanella 33, Grove 31. That is a considerable amount of disrespect.

Rankings by position:

1st Base: Gehrig 6, Pujols 30, Foxx 40, Thomas 49, Killebrew 70, McCovey 73, Carew 75, Anson 76, Greenberg 79, Stargell 88, Thome 98. Aside from the fact that Anson, the earliest player on this 100, played entirely in the 19th Century, with significant rule differences, I don't object here.

2nd base: Hornsby 20, Morgan 37, Jackie Robinson 38, Lajoie 48, Collins 82, Alomar 86, Sandberg 91, Gehringer 96. I wouldn't put Alomar in the Top 100, but no other objection.

Shortstop: Wagner 12, Jeter 28, Banks 51, Ripken 78, Smith 69, Yount 80, Larkin 100. I wouldn't put Larkin in the Top 100. Top 125, maybe, but not Top 100. Other than that, no problem here.

3rd Base: Schmidt 18, Alex Rodriguez 26, Brett 43, Boggs 45, Cabrera 59, Mathews 63, Brooks Robinson 67, Jones 78, Molitor 84, Beltre 97. Big problems here. A-Rod should have been ineligible, regardless of whether you think belongs here, or at shortstop. Chipper shouldn't have been anywhere near this list. And there's no way Brett or Mathews should have been ahead of Brooks.

Left Field: Williams 5, Bonds 8, Musial 10, Henderson 23, Rose 34, Yastrzemski 61, Ramirez 68, Joe Jackson 89. Barry and Manny are ineligible. And there's no way Ted,  not a very good fielder, and by his own admission a poor runner, should have been that high.

Center Field: Mays 2, Cobb 4, Mantle 7, Griffey 13, Trout 15, DiMaggio 16, Speaker 36, Charleston 53, Snider 95. I have no problem with Mantle being ahead of DiMaggio. Mantle vs. Mays is the eternal New York baseball debate. But what kind of drugs does it take to put Trout at Number 15, ahead of the Yankee Clipper? He's had a great first half of his career. So did George Foster, Fred Lynn and Dave Parker, and they didn't even end up in the Hall of Fame. (UPDATE: Parker has since been elected.)

Right Field: Ruth 1, Aaron 3, Frank Robinson 19, Clemente 27, Gwynn 44, Suzuki 46, Reggie Jackson 55, Winfield 56, Ott 62, Kaline 71, Guerrero 77, Harper 94. It's way too soon to put Harper in the Top 100. Other than that, no problem.

Designated Hitter: Ortiz 63. He should be ineligible.

Catcher: Bench 29, Josh Gibson 35, Berra 39, Piazza 81, Campanella 83, Fisk 87, Ivan Rodriguez 90. I-Rod is ineligible. Putting Gibson at 35, when we just don't know, is wrong. Putting Bench ahead of Berra is very wrong. And putting Piazza on the list at all is a massive joke, even if you don't think he used steroids. The man was a born DH.

Pitcher: Walter Johnson 9, Martinez 11, Maddux 14, Clemens 17, Young 21, Seaver 22, Randy Johnson 24, Mathewson 25, Rivera 31, Koufax 32, Bob Gibson 33, Paige 41, Ryan 42, Spahn 47, Feller 50, Kershaw 52, Grove 54, Alexander 57, Carlton 58, Ford 60, Scherzer 65, Verlander 72, Marichal 74, Palmer 85, Halladay 92, Smoltz 93, Niekro 99.

If you're not going to put Fergie Jenkins or Bert Blyleven on here, then you shouldn't put Scherzer, Verlander or Halladay on here. Kershaw belongs, but not that high. Grove, Alexander and Carlton are way too low. And Pedro at 11? As they say in English soccer, Give your head a wobble.

Maybe, over the weekend, I'll give a real Top 100.

Trout's Contract Begs the Question: WAR, What Is It Good For?

Mike Trout is not coming to the Yankees. Nor is the South Jersey native going to his "hometown" Philadelphia Phillies. The center fielder, often called the best player in baseball, has signed a contract extension with his current team, the Los Angeles Angels, which will pay him $430 million over the next 12 years.

It is the biggest contract in sports history, breaking the record of the one signed by the other contender for the title of "best player in baseball," Bryce Harper, with the Phillies, $330 million over 13 years.

Trout is 27 years old, just entering his prime, has already made 7 All-Star teams, and won 2 American League Most Valuable Player awards. But, as good as they have been, neither he nor Harper has ever played on a team that has won a postseason series.

The Phillies are clearly going for it, as Harper is far from their only big acquisition. The Angels? Since his debut in 2011, they've usually been good, but have only made the postseason once, winning the American League Western Division title in 2014 (his 1st MVP season), and they got swept in the AL Division Series. So he's going to go into his 28th birthday without ever having played in a winning postseason game -- something glaring given that, each year, 10 out of 30 teams make the Playoffs.

Angels owner Arte Moreno can afford to build a winning team around Trout. But since buying the team in 2003, when they were coming off the only Pennant they've ever won in 58 seasons, and were defending World Champions, they've made the Playoffs 6 times in 16 seasons (not a bad ratio), but only won 2 Playoff series and 3 ALCS games (not good).

If Trout was looking for money, he got it. If he was looking for security and stability (Harper's reason for seeking a 13-year deal), he got it. But if he was looking for his best possible shot at winning... Well, Moreno has tried, just as the Angels' original owner, legendary entertainer Gene Autry, did, but it didn't work out for him.

This morning, shortly after the deal was announced, someone on Twitter wrote this:

A reasonable aging curve for Trout's age 27-38 seasons has him putting up about 85 WAR over the next 12 seasons (that's Chipper Jones's career on top of what Trout's already done). So even at $430M the Angels are still only paying about $5M per win.

I remember, when I was a kid, reading about Mickey Mantle, and he said, "My dream was to have a big WAR. The World Series didn't matter."
Actually, no, I don't remember that. The Mick didn't say that. No player said that. And no fan dreamed of Wins Above Replacement, either. We dreamed of actual wins.

By the time he was the age that Trout is now, Mantle had already won 7 Pennants and 5 World Series -- as many as Derek Jeter did in his entire career.

True, some athletes hang on long enough to finally win one late. In baseball, we have the examples of Jackie Robinson and several other members of the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers, Warren Spahn with the 1957 Milwaukee Braves, Luis Aparicio with the 1966 Baltimore Orioles, Al Kaline with the 1968 Detroit Tigers, Jim Kaat with the 1982 St. Louis Cardinals, George Brett with the 1985 Kansas City Royals, Dave Winfield with the 1992 Toronto Blue Jays, Wade Boggs with the 1996 Yankees, Darren Daulton with the 1997 Florida Marlins, Roger Clemens with the 1999 Yankees, Randy Johnson and Matt Williams with the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks, Ivan Rodriguez with the 2003 Marlins, Carlos Beltran and Justin Verlander with the 2017 Houston Astros, and perhaps others that I'm overlooking.

But we also have examples of all-time greats who never made it. Ty Cobb was 0-3 in World Series. Carl Yastrzemski and Tony Gwynn were 0-2. Ted Williams and Barry Bonds were 0-1. Ernie Banks and Ken Griffey Jr. never made it to one.

Trout has the talent. In Moreno, he has an owner ready, willing and able to spend. Will Trout and Moreno have the luck necessary to put a title run together? We shall see.

But winning matters. WAR is just a number, one which suggests a player's winning value, but doesn't actually predict it, or prove it.

Or, to put it another way: WAR! Huh! Good God, y'all! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!

*

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 2, this Thursday night, at 8:00, a friendly against Ecuador at Orlando City Stadium.

Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 4, Saturday night at 7:00, away to Orlando City (same stadium).

Days until the Yankees' 2019 Opening Day: 9, a week from this Thursday, home to the Baltimore Orioles. A shade over 2 weeks. Come on, Brian Cashman: Sign Dallas Keuchel!

Days until Arsenal play again: 13, on Monday, April 1, at 3:00 PM New York time, home to Newcastle United. The Gunners are clinging to 4th place in the Premier League, 1 point behind arch-rival Tottenham, and have advanced to the Quarterfinal of the UEFA Europa League.

Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: 13, on Monday night, April 1, against the New York Rangers, a.k.a. The Scum, at the Prudential Center, in the regular season home finale. The Devils are not scheduled to play the New York Islanders or the Philadelphia Flyers, a.k.a. The Philth, again during the regular season.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 28, on Tuesday, April 16, at Yankee Stadium II. Just 4 weeks.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 32, on Saturday night, April 20, against the New England Revolution, at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. The next game against the Philadelphia Union will be on Saturday night, June 8, at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania. The next game against New York City FC will be on Sunday night, July 14, at Red Bull Arena. The next game against D.C. United will be on Wednesday night, August 21, at Audi Field in Washington.

Days until the next Women's World Cup kicks off: 80,  on June 7,  in France. A little over 11 weeks. The U.S. team is 3-time and defending Champions, but has struggled in its warmup friendlies and in the recent SheBelieves Cup, drawing with Japan and England before beating Brazil, while England beat Japan and Brazil to win the Cup.

Days until the Yankees and Red Sox play each other in London: 102, on June 29. A little over 3 months.

Days until the next North London Derby: Unknown, as both Premier League matches, and a League Cup match, have been played this season. The next season starts on August 10, which is 144 days from now, but the PL never puts a Derby on the opening weekend. The Gunners and Spurs usually play each other in N5 in October or November, and then in N17 (presuming Spurs finally get that new stadium open by then) in February or March.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 165, on August 31, home to the University of Massachusetts. A little over 5 months.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: Unknown, because the 2019 schedule hasn't been released yet. Usually, the next season begins on the 1st Friday in September, which would be September 6, which would be 171 days. It has been announced that East Brunswick and its arch-rivals, Old Bridge, will no longer play each other on Thanksgiving Day. That game will now be played earlier in the season, but we don't yet know when. And it will be under a new head coach, because Bob Molarz, in charge for the last 6 seasons, has resigned.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State game: 256, on Saturday, November 30, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. A little over 8 months.

Days until my 50th Birthday, at which point I can join AARP and get discounts for travel and game tickets: 274, on December 18, 2019. Under 9 months.

Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 308, on January 21, 2020. About 10 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 493, on July 24, 2020. Under a year and a half, or a little over 16 months.

Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 595, on November 3, 2020. Under 2 years, or under 20 months.

Days until a fully-Democratic-controlled Congress can convene, and the Republicans can do nothing about it: 656, on January 3, 2021. Under 2 years, or under 22 months.

Days until Liberation Day: 673, at noon on January 20, 2021. Under 2 years, or 22 months. Note that this is liberation from the Republican Party, not just from Donald Trump. Having Mike Pence as President wouldn't be better, just differently bad, mixing theocracy with plutocracy, rather than mixing kleptocracy with plutocracy.

Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Beijing, China: 1,053, on February 4, 2022. Under 3 years, or under 35 months.

Days until the next World Cup is scheduled to kick off: 1,343, on November 21, 2022, in Qatar. Under 4 years, or 44 months. The charges of corruption against Qatar may yet mean that they will lose the tournament, in which case it will be moved to a nation where it would not be too hot to play it in June and July.

American League Most Valuable Players: Right and Wrong

In every one of these cases from the 1931 establishment of the award until 1968, it goes to the Pennant winner. By definition: The most valuable player is the one who did the most to help his team win the Pennant.

From the start of divisional play in 1969, it has to go to a player who was on a Playoff team. After all, only regular-season performance is counted.

1931: Lefty Grove, Philadelphia Athletics. Right: He went 31-4 and the A's won the Pennant.

1932: Jimmie Foxx, A's. Wrong: It should have been Lou Gehrig of the Yankees. They won the Pennant, the A's didn't, and it didn't matter than Foxx hit 58 home runs.

1933: Foxx, A's. Wrong: Joe Cronin, Washington Seanators. Batted .309 and drove in 118 runs for the Pennant winners. Whom he also managed.

1934: Mickey Cochrane, Detroit Tigers. Right team, wrong player: Hank Greenberg. Cochrane had a great season and was also the manager, but Greenberg had a better one.

1935: Greenberg, Tigers. Right.

1936: Gehrig, Yankees. Right.

1937: Charlie Gehringer, Tigers. Wrong: Joe DiMaggio, Yankees. .346, 46 homers, 167 RBIs, and he wasn't yet 23 years old.

1938: Foxx, now with the Boston Red Sox. Wrong: DiMaggio. Another monster year that was better than Foxx' 50-homer season.

1939: DiMaggio, Yankees. Right.

*

1940: Greenberg, Tigers. Right.

1941: DiMaggio, Yankees. Right. Don't tell me Ted Williams batted .406: It didn't help the Red Sox finish 6th, let alone 1st.

1942: Joe Gordon, Yankees. Right. Don't tell me Williams won the Triple Crown: That and a failure to win the Pennant does not top a Pennant and a 154 OPS+. Don't tell me Williams can't be faulted for faulty teammates: There was plenty of talent on that Red Sox team, and TomYawkey had the money to buy whoever he wanted.

1943: Spurgeon "Spud" Chandler, Yankees. Right: Best year of any AL pitcher since Grove in '31.

1944: Hal Newhouser, Tigers. Wrong: Vern Stephens, St. Louis Browns. Best of a not very impressive bunch on the Pennant winners.

1945: Newhouser, Tigers. Right, on the 2nd try.

1946: Ted Williams, Red Sox. Right, beyond any question.

1947: DiMaggio, Yankees. Right: Again, Ted's Triple Crown doesn't top Joe's title.

1948: Lou Boudreau, Cleveland Indians. Right: Like Cronin in '33, he was a boy manager and shortstop who put his team on his back and led them to the Pennant.

1949: Williams, Red Sox. Wrong: Tommy Henrich, Yankees. Despite injuries and playing out of position (he frequently played 1st base instead of his usual right field), the man known as Ol' Reliable led the team in OPS+ and it won the Pennant.

*

1950: Phil Rizzuto, Yankees. Right: He didn't have as good a season in terms of power numbers as DiMaggio, or Yogi Berra, or Hank Bauer, but he did bat .324, collect 200 hits, and play sterling defense. If Vic Raschi hadn't paired his 21-8 record with a 4.00 ERA, it might have been him.

1951: Yogi Berra, Yankees. Right.

1952: Bobby Shantz, A's. Wrong: Allie Reynolds, Yankees. Shantz' season was better statistically, and he almost singlehandedly dragged the A's into 4th place, a level they wouldn't reach again until moving to Oakland. But they weren't close to the Pennant. Reynolds also had a season for the ages.

1953: Al Rosen, Indians. Wrong: Berra, Yankees. Rosen nearly won the Triple Crown, but he didn't win the Pennant. Yogi had the best season of any Yankee. It also could have gone to Mickey Mantle or Eddie Lopat, who had a Cy Young Award-worthy season at age 35.

1954: Berra, Yankees. Wrong: Larry Doby, Indians. If the Yankees had won the Pennant, Yogi would have been a good choice, but they didn't. Doby was a close call over his pitching teammates Early Wynn and Bob Lemon.

1955: Berra, Yankees. Right.

1956: Mickey Mantle, Yankees. Right: Not only did Mantle win the World Series, but he led both leagues in the Triple Crown categories, something that hasn't been done since.

1957: Mantle, Yankees. Right.

1958: Jackie Jensen, Red Sox. Wrong: Mantle, Yankees. Jensen had a really good season, but the Sox were nowhere near the Pennant.

1959: Nellie Fox, Chicago White Sox. Right: This was a Rizzuto '50-type season in that you needed to look at more than power numbers to realize how valuable he was.

*

1960: Roger Maris, Yankees. Right: He was not a one-hit wonder.

1961: Maris, Yankees. Right.

1962: Mantle, Yankees. Right.

1963: Elston Howard, Yankees. Right.

1964: Brooks Robinson, Baltimore Orioles. Wrong: Mantle, Yankees. The Orioles nearly won the Pennant, but nearly isn't enough.

1965: Zoilo Versalles, Minnesota Twins. Wrong: Jim "Mudcat" Grant, Twins. "Zorro" was a pick like Rizzuto '50 and Fox '59, but he wasn't even close to being the most valuable player on his own team.

1966: Frank Robinson, Orioles. Right.

1967: Carl Yastrzemski, Red Sox. Right.

1968: Denny McLain, Tigers. Right.

1969: Harmon Killebrew, Twins. Right, mostly. Now, we get into the Divisional Play Era, where winning your Division is a qualifier, but winning your Pennant is no longer necessary. The fact that Frank Robinson and Boog Powell both had MVP-quality years probably divided the votes for their team, enabling the Killer to win it.

*

1970: John "Boog" Powell, Orioles. Right, although it could also have gone to his teammate, pitcher Dave McNally.

1971: Vida Blue, Oakland Athletics. Right, although the Orioles' lack of an obvious choice helped.

1972: Dick Allen, Chicago White Sox. Wrong: The ChiSox finished 2nd.

1973: Reggie Jackson, A's. Right.

1974: Jeff Burroughs, Texas Rangers. Wrong: The Rangers finished 2nd.

1975: Fred Lynn, Red Sox. Right: It's probably the only time a rookie has deserved the MVP. Until 2001, it was the only time a player won Rookie of the Year and the MVP. (And Ichiro shouldn't have been considered a "rookie" at that point.)

1976: Thurman Munson, Yankees. Right.

1977: Rod Carew, Twins. Wrong: Al Cowens, Kansas City Royals. The Yankees didn't have a single player that stood out among all the others, although I could have gone with Reggie, or Graig Nettles, or invoked the Rizzuto/Fox/Versalles idea and said Mickey Rivers, or chosen Cy Young Award winner Sparky Lyle. But the Twins finished 17 1/2 games behind the Royals in the AL West, so, flirtation with .400, 100 RBIs and Gold Glove or no, Carew was not the most valuable player. Cowens had the best season of any Royal.

1978: Jim Rice, Red Sox. Wrong: Ron Guidry, Yankees. This was the dumbest decision in the history of MVP choices, far worse than any of the 3 that the Yankees "stole" from Ted Williams in the 1940s. With an ordinary player in left field instead of Rice, the Red Sox wouldn't have gotten close to the Playoffs. With Rice, the Red Sox still didn't make the Playoffs proper. With Ron Guidry, the Yankees won the World Series. With a .500 pitcher in place of Guidry, the Yankees would have finished 11 games out. I don't care how many total bases he had, or what his "WAR" or his "VORP" was that season: Anybody who thinks Jim Rice was more valuable in 1978 than Ron Guidry is an idiot.

1979: Don Baylor, California Angels. Right, although it could have gone to Ken Singleton of the Pennant-winning Orioles, now a Yankee broadcaster.

*

1980: George Brett, Kansas City Royals. Right.

1981: Rollie Fingers, Milwaukee Brewers. Right: The Brewers did make the Playoffs in that weird split-season setup.

1982: Robin Yount, Brewers. Right.

1983: Cal Ripken, Orioles. Right.

1984: Willie Hernandez, Tigers. Right, although it could have gone to Kirk Gibson. A .237 batting average probably cost Lance Parrish the honor.

1985: Don Mattingly, Yankees. Wrong: Brett, Royals. This might be my most controversial decision, because "Donnie Baseball" is still (unfairly) an unimpeachable icon among Yankee Fans. But Brett had nearly as good a season with the bat, and actually reached the Playoffs.

1986: Roger Clemens, Red Sox. Right.

1987: George Bell, Toronto Blue Jays. Wrong: Kirby Puckett, Twins. The Jays blew the AL Eastern Division title in the last week.

1988: Jose Canseco, A's. Right, based on what we knew at the time. What we know about steroids now, we may not have known at the times of these decisions.

1989: Robin Yount, Brewers. Wrong: Dave Stewart, A's. A .231 batting average may have cost Mark McGwire the MVP. Batting .269 may have taken Fred McGriff out of the running, too.

*

1990: Rickey Henderson, A's. Right.

1991: Cal Ripken, Orioles. Wrong: The O's were nowhere near the Playoffs.

1992: Dennis Eckersley, A's. Right: The A's did win the AL West.

1993: Frank Thomas, White Sox. Right.

1994: Thomas, White Sox. Right: The ChiSox were leading the AL Central Division when the strike hit.

1995: Mo Vaughn, Red Sox. Right: The BoSox did win the AL East, and, again, we're going by what we knew at the time.

1996: Juan Gonzalez, Rangers. Wrong: Bernie Williams, Yankees. The Rangers did win the AL West and give the Yankees a scare in the 1st 2 games of the AL Division Series, but Bernie ultimately did more for his team. At the time, it looked like he, not Rookie of the Year Jeter, was going to be the defining Yankee of that generation.

1997: Ken Griffey Jr., Seattle Mariners. Right: The M's did win the AL West.

1998: Juan Gonzalez, Rangers. Wrong: Paul O'Neill, Yankees.

1999: Ivan Rodriguez, Rangers. Wrong: Derek Jeter, Yankees. Red Sox fans say Ted Williams was robbed of 3 MVPs. Jeter may have been, and this was the 1st.

*

2000: Jason Giambi, Oakland Athletics. Right: Again, we may have suspected that he was on steroids, but we didn't know.

2001: Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners. Wrong: Roger Clemens, Yankees. The guy won 20 of his 1st 21 decisions. If his ERA+ and WHIP don't excite you, you can go with Tino Martinez.

2002: Miguel Tejada, A's. Right, but it was close. Jason Giambi, whom the Yankees let Tino go to get, had a better season, and also won his Division but got no closer.

2003: Alex Rodriguez, Rangers. Wrong: Mariano Rivera, Yankees. A guy who can't get his team out of last place is no MVP>

2004: Vladimir Guerrero, Anaheim Angels. Right: The Angels did win the AL West, and we're not including the postseason, so David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and Curt Schilling -- all arguable MVPs for the Red Sox -- kind of split their vote.

2005: A-Rod, Yankees. Right, although this is a little dubious until you remember that the postseason doesn't count in this decision.

2006: Justin Morneau, Twins. Wrong: Jeter, Yankees. Morneau had a superb season and did win the AL Central, but Jeter's was better from a pure hitting standpoint, was close in terms of power (an OPS+ of 132 compared to Morneau's 140), and played better at a harder position (Morneau is a 1st baseman). Morneau wasn't even selected for the All-Star Team, despite a fine season.

2007: A-Rod, Yankees. Right, though it ended pathetically in the Playoffs.

2008: Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox. Right.

2009: Joe Mauer, Twins. Wrong: Jeter. Again, the Twins player selected had a wonderful season, statistically, and made the Playoffs. But Sports Illustrated got it right when it made Jeter the 1st Yankee ever to be named their Sportsman of the Year.

2010: Josh Hamilton, Rangers. Right: A miserable human being, but it's hard to argue against a Pennant winner with a 170 OPS+.

2011: Justin Verlander, Tigers. Right.

2012: Miguel Cabrera, Tigers. Right: The 1st Triple Crown since Yaz in '67, and the Tigers won the Pennant.

2013: Cabrera, Tigers. Right.

2014: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Right.

Right 56, Wrong 28. In other words, the voters get the decision right 2 out of every 3 times.

*

So who should it be? Let's look at the teams that made the Playoffs:

* AL Wild Card New York Yankees: An MVP vote taken at Labor Day should have chosen between Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira. But the former went into his usual late-season tank job, and the latter got hurt and missed the stretch run, possibly costing the Yanks the AL East. (Greg Bird's performance while stepping into 1st base gave the Yankees some run production, but he wasn't usually put in Teix' spot in the order.)

* AL Central (and World) Champion Kansas City Royals: They had 5 players with OPS+'s in the 120s: Kendrys Morales, Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Alex Gordon. Such balance is good for winning a title. It's not so good for getting one of your guys picked for the MVP.

* AL West Champion Texas Rangers: No real standout. They had 4 players with at least a 110 OPS+ and 2 with at least a 125, but no one above 126.

* AL East (and ALDS) Champion Toronto Blue Jays: They have the opposite problem from the Rangers: 3 real standouts in Jose Bautista (OPS+ of 149), Edwin Encarnacion (153) and Josh Donaldson (155). And yet, their most valuable player may have been trade deadline acquisition Troy Tulowitzki.

* AL Wild Card Houston Astros; Carlos Correa, already selected Rookie of the Year, is a possibility. But Dallas Keuchel, sure to win the Cy Young Award, is a better one.

My choice for the 2015 American League Most Valuable Player is Dallas Keuchel, pitcher for the Houston Astros. If you really can't select a pitcher for the MVP, I understand. In that case, your best choice is probably Josh Donaldson, 3rd baseman for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Why not Mike Trout, center fielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, whose OPS+ was a League-leading 176? Or Cabrera, whose OPS+ was 170? Because they didn't make the postseason, that's why.

Besides, if you've got 41 home runs and a 176 OPS+, as Trout did, you should have a lot more than 90 RBIs, as Trout did.

After all, it's not Most Outstanding Player. It's Most Valuable Player. We laughed and cursed at Stephen Drew all season long, but, in the end, his team made the Playoffs, Trout's team did not. Therefore, by definition, Stephen Drew was a more valuable player in 2015 than Mike Trout.

You might think that's ridiculous. But without Trout's contributions, the Angels would be exactly where they ended up: On the outside looking in. Surely, with Rob Refsnyder at 2nd base instead of Drew, the Yankees would have done better. But he did make a contribution to getting the team into the Playoffs.

Dallas Keuchel was the most valuable player in the American League in 2015.

Yanks Start 2nd Half By Sinking Mariners

The 2nd half of the Major League Baseball season is underway. The schedule is set up so that 41 of the Yankees' last 74 games are at home. This included last night, when the Yankees opened a 3-game home series against the Seattle Mariners.

Remember when the Mariners were supposed to be a Playoff contender, led by ex-Yankee Robinson Cano and "King" Felix Hernandez? Right, Cano's batting .249. with a .287 on-base percentage. Meanwhile, Hernandez -- who is 29 and has still never seen a postseason game except on television, so he's no king -- is having another great season, but he can only pitch 1 game out of every 5.

And remember Jesus Montero, whom the Yankees gave up for the oft-injured Michael Pineda? Lots of people (I'm not naming names) thought that was a horrible trade. Now, Pineda is 1 of the 5 best pitchers in the American League, while Montero has made 27 major league plate appearances in 2014 and '15 combined. His weight and his attitude have been issues.

If Pineda is 1 of the 5 best pitchers in the AL, so might be Masahiro Tanaka, who started for the Yankees last night. He pitched 7 innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks, striking out 7. The 3 runs came on a pair of home runs by Kyle Seager. Tanaka was not brilliant, but he was effective.

The game was tied 3-3 when Hiro threw his last pitch. They scored single runs in the 2nd, on a home run by Chris Young (his 11th of the season); in the 4th, on a double by Young and a single by Chase Headley; and in the 5th, on a single by Alex Rodriguez, a walk by Mark Teixeira, and a single by Brian McCann.

With 1 out in the bottom of the 7th, A-Rod came up, and crushed a home run to to the opposite field. It was his 19th of the season, and the 678th of his career. (That's 36 behind Babe Ruth, 77 behind Hank Aaron, and 84 behind Barry Bonds. I don't know if taking a year and change off helped him, but passing the Babe and threatening Hank and Barry is still within the realm of possibility.)

Dellin Betances pitched a perfect 8th, and Andrew Miller a scoreless 9th. Yankees 4, Mariners 3. WP: Tanaka (6-3). SV: Miller (19). LP: Joe Beimel (0-1).

The series continues today, with with Pineda starting against Hisashi Iwakuma and his 5.22 ERA. Sunday's starters haven't been announced, so the Yankees may end up avoiding "King" Felix.

*

Many people have complained about various aspects to Yankee Stadium II. But the lights work better than at Nationals Park in Washington (3 power outages resulted in last night's game being suspended), and the lack of the dome still leaves it better off than Chase Field in Phoenix (the retractable roof leaked last night, which sounds odd those of us not used to hearing about rain in Arizona).

And All-Star Game MVP Mike Trout kept up his hot hitting by launching a walkoff homer for the Whatever They're Calling Themselves This Season Angels of Anaheim.

Come, Michael. Come to the Light Side of the Force.

Yankees Sweep Angels, Have Won 6 Straight; Steve Pritko, 1920-2015

The team known officially as the Los Angeles Angels (1961-65), the California Angels (1966-96), the Anaheim Angels (1997-2004) and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2005-present) has been, on this blog (2007-present), been mocked for these name changes.

Sometimes, I call them the Whatever They're Calling Themselves This Season Angels of Anaheim. Other times, I indulge my seemingly disparate (unless you watched Deep Space Nine) loves of baseball and Star Trek by calling themselves the Los Angeles Angels of Katella Boulevard, Anaheim, Orange County, California, Western Time Zone, United States of America, North America, Western Hemisphere, Earth, Sector 001, United Federation of Planets, Alpha Quadrant, Milky Way Galaxy, Known Universe.

This weekend, they came to Yankee Stadium II to take on the Bronx once-again Bombers. The Friday night game was a slugfest, and both Yankee starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi and his opposite number Jered Weaver failed to close out the 6th inning.

Garrett Jones singled in the top of the 2nd, and the much-maligned Stephen Drew hit a home run to make it 2-0 Yankees. In the 3rd, Brett Gardner singled, and Mark Teixeira, who (sorry, people who are really fed up with John Sterling by now) has really been on the mark this season (so much so that Mike Lupica, who hates the Yankees more than anyone in New York media due to his New England and Red Sox roots, went out of his way to praise Teix in his Sunday Daily News column this weekend), sent another Teix Message, his 17th of the season, making it 4-0. In the 5th, Gardner tripled, and Alex Rodriguez singled him home. 5-0 Yankees.

A 5-0 lead, especially at home, should not be blown. But in the top of the 6th, Eovaldi walked the bases loaded with just 1 out, and, naturally, Yankee manager Joe Girardi panicked. He brought in Chasen Shreve, who got out of it with only 1 run coming home.

Brian McCann led off the bottom of the 6th with a double, and came home on Didi Gregorius' sacrifice fly. Then Drew hit another home run, giving him 7 on the season, to make it 7-1. A single by Chris Young got a run home in the 7th, making it 8-1, seemingly putting the game out of reach.

But these are the 2015 New York Yankees, proving Yankee Legend Yogi Berra right: "In baseball, you don't know nothin'."

Jacob Lindgren pitched a scoreless 8th, and Girardi probably should have left him in. Instead, Girardi figures, "Hell, even that fucking moron Esmil Rogers isn't pathetic and incompetent enough to blow a 7-run lead in the 9th inning at home."

Rogers faced 5 batters: Single, double, RBI single, wild pitch and then walk, RBI single. Now, it's 8-3.

Girardi now knew he had a fire on his hands, and had to put it out. He called in Dellin Betances, instead of realizing that there was no game yesterday and closer Andrew Miller was fresh. Betances allowed a 2-RBI single, a walk to load the bases, and a bases-loaded walk, making it 8-6. And ther's still nobody out!

Betances got a strikeout, then allowed a run on a force play -- the 1st earned run he'd allowed all season. Now it was Yankees 8, Angels 7, with 1 out to go, with the tying run on 3rd, and the potential winning run on 1st.

Carlos Perez, batting over .300, was sent up to pinch-hit. I mentioned Star Trek before. This was more of a Star Wars moment: "I've got a bad feeling about this!"

Betances struck him out. Ballgame over, Yankees win, theeeeeeee Yankees win. Whew.

You know how I say, "I don't care what happens, as long as the Yankees win"? Well, I was wrong: Don't ever do that again.

WP: Eovaldi (5-1). SV: Betances (2). LP: Weaver (4-5).

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"Okay, Yankees," you may have been thinking, "that's enough fooling around. Last night, you scored 8 runs, and it was just barely enough. Tonight, I want to see 8 or more runs and have it be much more than enough."

Adam Warren wasn't great, but he pitched into the 7th, allowing just 2 runs. Plenty of reason for the Yankee bats to score 8 runs again, and cruise to victory.

There were 2 straight innings at Yankee Stadium that featured a team scoring 6 runs: The Angels in the 9th on Friday night, and the Yankees in the 1st on Saturday night. (Okay, there was the top of the 1st, in which the Angels didn't score. Don't mess up a nice narrative.)

Gardner led off with a walk. Chase Headley beat out an infield single. A-Rod walked to load the bases with nobody out. When that happens, you expect an inning where a lot of runs are scored. But, having seen the Yankees of October 2012 to May 2015, you've learned that you can't count on this.

This time, we got it. Teix got Gardner home with a sac fly. A wild pitch got Headley home. McCann hit one out, his 9th of the season. Carlos Beltran started it all over again with a single. Gregorius singled. Drew got on via a fielder's choice that was successfully challenged by Girardi, preventing an out. Ramon Flores struck out, but Gardner singled home Beltran to make it 6-0.

The Yankees later got runs home on an RBI single by Beltran in the 2nd, and a bases-loaded walk by Teixeira in the 8th. Girardi trusted Justin Wilson to get the last out in the 7th, and all of them in the 8th. Then, deciding not to trust Rogers with a 6-run lead in the 9th at home, gave the ball to former (and hopefully not future) starter Chris Capuano, who got through the 9th unscathed.

Yankees 8, Angels 2. WP: Warren (4-4). No save. LP: Grant Richard (4-5).

One of the Angel runs came on a home run by Mike Trout, his 15th of the season. This week, Bob Costas taped an interview in Monument Park with David Mantle. In it, Mickey's son and caretaker of his legacy says that Trout, the 23-year-old superstar center fielder from Millville, Cumberland County, South Jersey, is the closest thing to the Mick that he's seen since: "He's got a great swing. He can run, and then he's a good fielder," adding, "He almost even smiles like Dad."

He's certainly doing a better job as a big-market center fielder than the aging, declining Beltran is. Some people on social media were telling general manager Brian Cashman words to the effect of, "Come on, he's already right here in Yankee Stadium, make the deal!"

I'm not sure who they think the Angels are going to take in a trade for Trout. You see, it just doesn't work this way.

These people are like the Arsenal fans who want manager Arsene Wenger to sign Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema because Olivier Giroud isn't good enough -- even though Wenger has had chances to sign Benzema before, and Giroud now starts ahead of Benzema for the France national team. True, there may be a lot of Yankee Fans with more sense than Cashman, but few understand how these deals work as well as he does, and none of these Arsenal "supporters" know as much about soccer as either Wenger or France manager Laurent Blanc.

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Yesterday afternoon, CC Sabathia took the hill, and, once again, it looked like the Big Fella needed to hang up his cleats. He struck out Erick Aybar to open the game, then allowed back-to-back home runs to Trout, who could well be on his way to the Hall of Fame, and Albert Pujols, who almost certainly is (unless he gets proven to be a PED user, but so far he hasn't been credibly charged). The Yankees trailed 2-0 before they even got to bat, and some people were ready to bury CC as a player.

CC then got through the next 5 2/3 innings with no runs, only 3 hits, just 1 walk. The man is a professional, and he's got some pride. He will not go gently into retirement's good night.

Did I say he is a professional? He got into a profanity-laced tirade with umpire Dan Bellino at the end of the 6th, apparently angry over Bellino squeezing him on the strike zone, and got ejected. Girardi went out to defend CC to Bellino, and Bellino ejected him, too.

No, CC is definitely not going gently.

At any rate, after those 1st inning Angel homers, it was all Yankees the rest of the way. C.J. Wilson, a Yankee nemesis from the 2010 American League Championship Series with the Texas Rangers, kept the Yankees at bay until the 3rd, when rookie Jose Pirela led off with a double, and scored on a flyout by John Ryan Murphy and a groundout by Gregorius. Chris Young hit a big fly to lead off the 5th (his 7th of the season), and then Murphy and Gregorius singled, before Gardner pulled one down the right-field line for a short-porch homer, his 5th dinger of the season.

Where were you when Jose Pirela hit his 1st major league home run? I was in East Brunswick, New Jersey, waiting for a bus. I wish I'd been at Yankee Stadium II instead. He hit it off Wilson in the 7th, a long drive to left-center, to forge the final score.

Wilson pitched a scoreless 7th, Betances a scoreless 8th, and Miller, needing the work even though it wasn't a save situation, a scoreless 9th.

Yankees 6, Angels 2. WP: Sabathia (3-7). No save. LP: Wilson (3-5).

The attendance, 43,178 people who chose to come to Yankee Stadium II instead of going to Coney Island, the Rockaways, City Island, or any of the Long Island or Jersey Shore beaches.

And Yankee broadcaster Michael Kay will love this: The time of the game, an exceptionally manageable 2 hours and 20 minutes! A Yankee win, good hitting, good pitching, a big crowd and beautiful weather in he greatest city in the world, That, to borrow an old phrase from that other baseball team in New York, is baseball like it ought to be.

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Here's how things stand for the Yankees:

We are 10 weeks into a 26-week Major League Baseball season. The Yankees, having won 6 straight, are 32-25, with a winning percentage of .561. Over a full 162 games, that would work out to a record of 91-71. As I've said a few times, the average number of wins of the 2nd place team in the AL Eastern Division, from the start of the Divisional Play Era in 1969 onward, has been 92 wins, thus 93 wins is usually enough to win the Division. A 91-win pace suggests that the Yankees won't win the AL East this season.

But the Division is as weak as it's ever been. The Yankees are in 1st place, a game and a half ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays, 2 in the All-Important Loss Column. The Toronto Blue Jays are 3 back, but 5 in the loss column. The despised Boston Red Sox are 4 back, 6 in the loss column. And the defending Division Champion Baltimore Orioles are dead last, 4 back, but only 5 in the loss column. The O's have a game in hand on the Yanks, while the Yanks have a game in hand on the Sox, Jays and Rays.

If the current Major League Baseball standings hold to the end of the season, the Playoffs would be as follows:

The defending AL Champion Kansas City Royals would host the AL Wild Card play-in game against the Rays, and would then face the resurgent Minnesota Twins in the AL Division Series, while the Yankees would face the surprising Houston Astros, who have the best record in the AL despite finishing with over 100 losses in each of the last 4 seasons. (The Yankees and Astros have both made the Playoffs in 1980, '81, '97, '98, '99, 2001, '04 and '05, but, because the Astros were in the National League until recently, and have won just 1 Pennant in their history, they've never played each other in the postseason.)

The defending World Champion San Francisco Giants would host the NL Wild Card play-in game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, with the winner facing the St. Louis Cardinals, while the Los Angeles Dodgers would have the home-field advantage against the Mets.

The Mets are currently 31-27, and in spite of injuries and weak bats remain atop the NL East, leading the Washington Nationals by half a game (even in the loss column), the Atlanta Braves by 3 (2), the Miami Marlins by 6 1/2 (6), and the Philadelphia Phillies by 9 (9). Nevertheless, if the Mets were in the AL East with the same record, they'd be a game and a half behind the Yankees, the Yanks' 2-out-of-3 against The Other Team in The Bronx making that difference. The Mets were touted by many to be better than the Yankees this season, and they just aren't, especially now that their best player, David Wright, is apparently out for the season with a back problem.

The Yankees have tonight off. Tomorrow night, the Nationals come in, matching the 2 games that they took from the Yankees in Washington last month. With 2 games here. Tomorrow night, there will be a corker of a pitching matchup, between Masahiro Tanaka and former Detroit Tiger and Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer. On Wednesday afternoon, the Yanks will start Nathan Eovaldi, while the Nats have not yet decided on a starting pitcher.

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Steve Pritko died on June 6, in Gardena, California, at the age of 94. Born on December 21, 1920 in Northampton, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley, he played what we would now call tight end and defensive end in the era of "two-platoon football."

He played for Villanova, and was drafted by the Giants in 1943, but was traded to the Cleveland Rams. That's right, the Rams were founded in Cleveland in 1936. In 1945, led by Hall of Fame quarterback Bob Waterfield, the Rams won the NFL Championship, beating the Washington Redskins, 15-14 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. It hurt the 'Skins that their own Hall of Fame signal-caller, Slingin' Sammy Baugh, got hurt in the 2nd quarter.

But the Rams' attendance was so bad over the course of their existence in Cleveland that owner Dan Reeves (no relation to the later football coach of the same name) moved his titlists to Los Angeles. The following season, the All-America Football Conference would place the Browns in Cleveland, and a new legend was born. (It would not be until 1948, in Los Angeles, that Rams player and graphic artist Jim Benton first painted horns on his helmet, thus inventing the helmet logo.)

Steve Pritko, NFL Champion

Pritko later returned to the Big Apple with the hapless 1949 New York Bulldogs, and closed his career with the Green Bay Packers in 1950. He was the last surviving player from the 1945 NFL Champion Cleveland Rams -- the team that won "Super Bowl -XXI," if you prefer.

UPDATE: Pritko was cremated, so there is no gravesite.