baseball
Sabermetric analysis of all things baseball - on-and-off the field. Barry Bonds fan club.
Cal Raleigh should have been AL MVP (Opinion)
Yesterday evening, New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge won his second consecutive and his 3rd American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award overall. The voting was close this season with Judge receiving 17 of the 30 first-place votes and Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh (Big Dumper is the nickname) receiving the other 13 first-place votes.
By Adrian Holman3 months ago in Unbalanced
John Jay Charges up the Hill at Bowdoin
Photos from both Bowdoin runs in Wappinger Falls are at the bottom of the article. On Saturday October 18, the annual Bowdoin Park Invitation rolled around in Wappinger Falls, and John Jay was there to run the hilly trek. But the cross country race wasn’t the only thing annual about the storied event.
By Rich Monetti3 months ago in Unbalanced
Somers Makes a Good Run at Bowdoin Park
See Big Red and Bowdoin Runs Below On Saturday October 18, Somers traveled north to traverse Bowdoin State Park, and the scenic beauty was hard to miss. Aidan See, on the other hand, took a different view. "I didn't really notice it," the Tusker admitted. The hills were another matter, though.
By Rich Monetti3 months ago in Unbalanced
Best MLB Managers of the Last 25 Years
A Major League Baseball team is never complete without a manager. I've gone over the best World Series games, best quarter century team, and players over the last 25 years in previous stories. I'll have links below to those stories down below in case you missed reading them. In this story, I'll highlight some of my favorite managers since the year 2000. I'll only highlight managers between the years 2000-2024.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 3 months ago in Unbalanced
Final Thoughts About the 2025 MLB Postseason
The 2025 MLB Postseason should've been called the Dodgers and Shohei Ohtani Lovefest, because those were the center of attention, selfishly overshadowing other teams who deserved to be highlighted more. There were some teams who truly deserved to be in the playoffs and others who I felt weren't October Ready. The Postseason isn't supposed to be about one specific player or team. Everyone deserves to be acknowledged and recognized for their performances. I blamed and accused MLB and these major networks for being heavily biased towards a single team and player.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 3 months ago in Unbalanced
Wesley's Favorite Forgotten Texas Rangers Players
2026 will mark 25 years as a Texas Rangers fan for me. Since 2001, I've enjoyed watching many Rangers players by attending my first game in person and on watching them on TV. For the following list, I'll be highlighting a few of my favorite players who you might know by name, either in passing or vaguely, but never heard of them in years. The following are not in any particular order. So, players like Hank Blalock and Yu Darvish will not be on this list, since we're already familiar with them. If you don't see a forgotten Rangers player that you loved on this list or if you have more than one player, please comment down below. Now, on to the list.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 3 months ago in Unbalanced
What Canadian Pride Looks Like for a Dodgers Fan After a Grueling World Series Win Against the Toronto Blue Jays
Canadians love their sports, and with only one MLB franchise, the Toronto Blue Jays have become Canada’s team. Baseball fanatics and casual patriots alike flooded the streets, the sports bars, and Rogers Centre this October to celebrate their team’s first advance to the World Series since their 1993 win against the Philadelphia Phillies. To viewers north of the border, the breakthrough in their 32-year string of losses was not just a success in baseball, but a statement of Canadian unity and perseverance against American teams in an ongoing cultural, national, and even political fight between the two countries. Despite the majority of us feeling this way, what does it mean for a proud Canadian cheering for the Dodgers this year?
By Sophia Conn3 months ago in Unbalanced
Thoughts About the Release of the 2026 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot
Last year, I shared my thoughts about the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. There was a plethora of players that I recognized, and Ichiro was one of them. He eventually got inducted into Cooperstown, making him the first Asian-born player to do so. Major League Baseball recently revealed the candidates for the 2026 Baseball Hall of Fame. Shown above are eight players on the ballot, but two of those players aren't deserving of being on it: Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. It makes me give MLB and the Baseball Hall of Fame committee the huge side-eye. Why these two cheaters, because that's what they were, are on the ballot baffles me. I don't care how good they were as players. We shouldn't praise those who used performance enhancing drugs to gain an advantage and the "Everyone else was doing it, too" excuse doesn't hold up and it's a weak argument. Just because someone took PEDs, doesn't mean that it was right and it's acceptable now. That's why rules regarding the use of performance enhancing drugs exist today. I've said the same thing last year when Alex Rodríguez appeared on the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, but unfortunately, he wasn't selected to be inducted this past July. Baseball fans like me still care about the integrity of the game. There are plenty of players and even managers who were well-respected but still aren't in the Hall. One example being Atlanta Braves great Andruw Jones. I've seen his name pop up a lot in the comment sections of many baseball videos and videos about the Braves. I believe that he should've appeared on this ballot over Bonds and Clemens. Six months ago, Commissioner Rob Manfred lifted the lifetime bans of Pete Rose and 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson, among other players. Both men will be eligible for the Classic Baseball Era Committee as early as December 2027. However, it's not a guarantee that they'll be inducted into Cooperstown. The reaction to this news was mixed.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 3 months ago in Unbalanced
The Year the Toronto Blue Jays (Almost) Won the World Series
We are family!! A full 48 hours has passed since the third out in the bottom of the eleventh inning of game seven in the 2025 World Series of baseball between the heavily favored Los Angeles Dodgers and our favourite Toronto Blue Jays. The game spelled the end of the Blue Jays magical 2025 Major League Baseball season. As an aside, that third out also put an end to the Los Angeles Dodger’s season, and an end to the Major League baseball season in general. That "end" however, did mark the beginning of some bright things to come in future editions of the Toronto Blue Jays.
By John Oliver Smith3 months ago in Unbalanced
Oh What a Night! The First of November 2023
Baseball in November is a rare occurrence, especially a team taking a single game to win a World Series title. However, it adds more excitement to the game. Question: Where were you on the evening of November 1, 2023? If you were either a Texas Rangers or Arizona Diamondbacks fan, most likely, your attention was on Game 5 of the World Series. This past Saturday was the two-year anniversary of the Texas Rangers capturing their first World Series title in franchise history. To celebrate it, I watched the aforementioned game again. Two years ago, I didn't have access to any sports apps where I could watch the games on TV, resulting in me being unable to watch any Postseason games and the first three games of the World Series. Luckily, I was able to watch games four and five. When baseball fans think of the World Series, the teams that come in mind are the Red Sox, Yankees, and Dodgers. No one expected the Rangers and Diamondbacks, two small market teams, to reach the Fall Classic.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 3 months ago in Unbalanced
The Hatred Is Real, Y'all
The 2025 World Series has come to a close and now, it's the dreaded offseason. We're already missing baseball and are in a deep depression. At least we have Spring Training to look forward to in February. Recently, I've made my predictions on who will win their divisions and clinch Wild Card berths in 2026. I'll have links to those stories down below. I'll be comparing my pick to what FanGraphs has predicted sometime before the regular season begins, so be on the lookout for that whenever that story is published on here.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 3 months ago in Unbalanced
Oklahoma vs Tennessee: A Clash of Titans in College Football 2025
A Clash Worth Waiting For College football fans are buzzing as the Oklahoma Sooners face the Tennessee Volunteers in what promises to be one of the most thrilling matchups of the 2025 season. This meeting isn’t just another Saturday game—it’s a battle of pride, history, and playoff ambitions.
By KAMRAN AHMAD3 months ago in Unbalanced
