MLB Showdown Obsession

 Opening Day is a wonderful time of year. Barring any issues from Spring Training, it's the best chance for a team to put their best foot forward for their lineup before things like "scheduled off days" or general wear and tear make Managers shake things up from time to time. Teams will be able to debut a new acquisition or rookie at a position or remind fans of the superstar they have holding down their spot. It stands to reason that there will be some year to year turnover at a position when a team has to move on from a long standing superstar, but when the yearly change approaches almost 20 years of a new face every season, it becomes quite noticeable, such as it became when the Giants had to replace Barry Bonds. 2007 was the final season of the...notable career of one Barry Bonds. He didn't retire, but the Giants opted to let him become a free agent. While the Giants weren't interested in an aging Bonds in the field, they didn't exactly have a backup at th...

 It was a combination of timing and my Yankee fandom that the first perfect game I ever witnessed was David Wells in 1998. Legend has it that David was out drinking all night before his start and rolled up to Yankee Stadium on the afternoon of May 17 hungover. Sober or not, he was absolutely dealing against the visiting Minnesota Twins as the Yankees cruised to a 4-0 win. Wells needed 120 pitches to put the Twins down 27 straight, striking out 11 and only going to a 3-ball count four times. The game allowed the Yankees franchise to become the 2nd to have multiple perfect game pitchers, with Wells joining Don Larsen to match the Cleveland Naps/Indians perfect duo of Addie Joss and Len Barker . The tie would last barely over a year before the Yankees would break it with Davis Cone's own perfect game. The perfect game was part of an unbelievable season for Wells, who would win 18 games that year, start the all star game for the American League and become the ace and #1 option for th...

 There is little more that's nerve wracking for a Hall of Fame hopeful than being on the bubble on your final year of eligibility. It also happens to be your best bet to make the cut. Voters will usually ignore some guys on the ballot to give love to those final year names as their way to show love, and if you get enough of those guys, your usually lackluster turnout in voting might get enough of a boost to get that coveted 75%. One extreme example is Vic Raschi in 1975, who usually lived at a mere 1 or 2% of voting, ballooning to just over 10% in his final ballot. Far from what was needed but a nice example of the kind of support a man can get when voters only have one more chance to show respect. An example of a successful push is Ralph Kiner who in his later votes had been reliably in the high 50s-low 60s. For his 15th and final opportunity, reluctant voters were finally giving him the votes and he barely hit the threshold at 75.2%, one single vote over the requirement. As for t...

 It's that wonderful time, again. The World Baseball Classic begins as it seems Japan looks to prove they're better than all the other countries. As the 2026 edition gets started, let's take a moment to look back to 2023 where something truly unique went down... On March 13, 2023, round 1 (called the group stage this year) was continuing in Pool D as Israel faced off against Puerto Rico at LoanDepot Park (Home of the Miami Marlins). Advancement to Round 2 was still very much up in the air with Israel at 1-0 and Puerto Rico 1-1, but on this day Puerto Rico made a statement as their pitching staff combined to toss a "perfect game". Why wasn't it a proper perfect game? WBC rules got in the way in multiple ways. Back in 2017, Marcus Stroman was playing for the United States as he took a no-hitter into the 8th inning during the finals against Puerto Rico. He was able to do that because the rules had fewer limitations on pitchers during the championship round. Round...