MLB Showdown Obsession

 Before baseball came to Toronto, there was another city that laid claim to baseball's first Canadian team. Tragically, the Montreal Expos don't exist anymore. The franchise moved to DC and became the Nationals, and while the Nats took the teams legacy and division titles, they decided to forget about any retired numbers. The NHLs Montreal Canadians have more respect for the four Expos immortals than the former team does. (I'm aware that 3 of the 4 cards here have an inaccurate Expos logo. Will fix ASAP when the bot allows their original logo in the proper card formats...it's all a bit complicated) #8 - Gary Carter Gary Carter began his Hall of Fame career in Montreal and spent 12 years accumulating all 3 Gold Gloves, 3 of 5 Silver Sluggers and 9 of 11 all star nominations. When elected to the Hall of Fame, he took pride in becoming the first member to enter wearing an Expos hat. #10 - Rusty Staub Daniel "Rusty" Staub became the 1st big name in Expos history w...

 When you're on the ballot for the Hall of Fame, and have to take things on a year to year basis, your odds of getting the 75% vote result may depend on a few factors aside from the general opinion the BBWAA member's opinion of your stats. Is there someone in their final year of eligibility? Is there some new name on the ballot that's a can't miss pick? Both those scenarios will hurt your chances. But if it's an off year with no big names coming in or going out, you may find a few extra writers who can justify putting your name on their list and use those logistics to get into the Hall. 1976 was such a year. Phil Rizzuto was destined for the Hall of Fame, but he wasn't going to get the writer's support in his final attempt on the BBWAA ballot, and the new names to choose from were pretty meh, so Robin Roberts and Bob Lemon both enjoyed the exact same boost in votes, allowing them both to clinch enshrinement. The other committee's didn't slack off thi...

 In 1941, Joe DiMaggio put together one of the most untouchable records in baseball history. Starting on May 15, he began a 56 game hitting streak that not only captured the attention of the sports world, but it rallied a slumping Yankees team to go on to win the pennant and ultimately the World Series. It was such an accomplishment, that it overshadowed Ted Williams and his .402 BA to win the MVP award. What begins today is a lookback to not only DiMaggio's hit streak game by game, but the individual pitchers that he and the Yankees victimized. Game 0 May 14, 1941 Indians: 4 Yankees: 1 Dimaggio: 0-3 Before any streak can begin, DiMaggio needs to go hitless. Mel Harder would go on to contribute to Joe's streak, but on this day, he held down the fort, walking DiMaggio at one point but keeping him out of the hit column. ********************* Game 1 May 15, 1941 White Sox: 13 Yankees: 1 DiMaggio: 1-4, RBI The Yankees got spanked on this day, with Eddie Smith going the distance and...

 Texas baseball had recently seen success, but for the longest time it had a less prestigious track record. The Astros in the 80s struggled to win the NL West and when they did they'd always get checked in the NLCS while the Rangers never sniffed the playoffs, and before that neither team stood much of a chance. In the 90s, both teams became contenders, but teams like the Yankees and Braves proved to be too overpowered for them. In the 2000s, the Astros finally clinched a pennant but failed in the World Series while the Rangers slipped back into obscurity. The Rangers themselves finally won pennants in 2010 and 2011, but both times were on the wrong end of the fall classic result. Finally in 2017, the Astros put Texas on top of the baseball world, but their cheating scandal put a huge asterisk on all their accomplishments. What Texas needed was a clean title to brag about. In 2023, the Astros were reigning champions, but nobody was accepting it as clean. The Rangers went into the s...