Quick recap of the rules, adapted from Jonah Keri's teams entry in his BestCoolest columns:
The team has to have been good, and I have to remember watching them. So, as above, that's 1992 on. But rather than just making it a list of the 10 best teams of the last 24 seasons, I want to focus on teams that I enjoyed watching for some reason or another. In part 1A, I talked about the 2004 Boston Red Sox, 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks, 2015 Toronto Blue Jays, 1999 New York Mets, and 2001 Seattle Mariners. The Red Sox and Diamondbacks were teams that I only really followed for 1 series or so in the playoffs, but with great delight, and both won the World Series in those seasons. The Jays, Mets and Mariners were teams that had good seasons and fun playoff runs, but ultimately lost in their respective League Championship Series round in year. In part 1B, I talked about the Giants of 2010, 2012, and 2014. Starring Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey, and a cast of other fun characters, the Giants have been my favourite (alone or tied) franchise of just about the last decade. A lot of their players will end up on the "modern" half of my favourite players list, which will come next. In this part, I'll be focused on the teams that got me started with my love of baseball (and who will populate a good portion of my "older" half of the favourite players list). It's throwback time. 2d. 1992 Toronto Blue Jays The first team I followed, they get bumped to a second place tie because my memories of the next year are stronger, but this group helped build the foundation. And while I didn't watch much of them live, I've watched that video linked above without exaggeration probably 30 or more times. There are likely to be fewer overall links in the next two, just owing to their age, but if you have an hour to spare and love nostalgia, 90's hairdos on fans in the stands, and the Blue Jays, click on the link at this title and the next one. The Jays came into the 1992 season with a strong recent history. They had won the American League East in 1991 and 1989, and won at least 85 games every year since 1983, including a team record 99 in 1985. They had a good mix of young and veteran players in the lineup.
In the ALCS, they would face the Oakland Athletics, who had won the American League pennant each year from 1988-1990, beating the Blue Jays in 1989 on the way to winning the World Series. The Athletics had star power in Bash Brothers Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco and leadoff hitter extraordinaire Rickey Henderson, and strong pitching from Mike Moore, Dave Stewart, Bob Welch, and Dennis Eckersley, among others. Eckersley would win the Cy Young Award and the American League MVP that year thanks to his 51 saves and 1.91 ERA, though looking back with advanced metrics would show that to be suspect choices on both fronts. In game 1, Morris got the ball against Dave Stewart. He was roughed up in the second inning, as McGwire and Terry Steinbach went deep against him to give the A's a 3-0 lead. The Jays would answer with solo home runs from Borders in the 5th and Winfield in the 6th, and then a run-scoring single from Olerud in the 8th. Morris would come back out for the 9th inning, and gave up a leadoff homer to Harold Baines. He would complete the game, but the Jays were shut down in the bottom of the 9th and took the loss 4-3. In game 2, Cone would face Mike Moore, who gave up a 2 run homer to Kelly Gruber in the 5th inning to give the Jays a 2-0 lead. The Jays would add a run in the 7th, and Cone came out after allowing a leadoff triple in the 9th, which would then score Oakland's only run before Tom Henke closed the door on a 3-1 victory. Game 3 starter Juan Guzman had earned the only Jays victory in the 1991 playoffs, and would go 6 strong innings, allowing just 2 runs, as home runs from Maldonado and Alomar helped the Jays to a 3-2 lead. After Manny Lee tripled in 2 runs in the 7th, the A's would get 2 back against Duane Ward in the bottom of the inning, but the Jays countered with another run in the 8th. The A's answered back in the bottom of the 8th with one more to draw to 6-5, but the Blue Jays would score a final run in the top of the 9th before Tom Henke completed his 5-out save to finish a 7-5 victory. In game 4, Jack Morris would get hit hard, leaving after 3.1 innings with the Jays trailing 5-1. Todd Stottlemyre would go 3.2 innings and allow just one more, but the Jays trailed 6-1 going into the 8th inning. After an Alomar single against starter Bob Welch, the A's turned to the bullpen, but Jeff Parrett would give up back-to-back singles to bring the Jays a run closer. In came Eckersley, who the Jays greeted with 2 more hits to come closer at 6-4, but he would get the next three hitters to end the inning. On to the 9th, and after Devon White led off with a single, Alomar would take Eckersley deep to tie the game a 6. The two teams would battle into the 11th, when Pat Borders brought home Derek Bell with a sacrifice fly, and the Jays would take the game 7-6, leading the series now 3 games to 1. Game 5 saw David Cone come back on short rest, and this combined with Morris' game 5 performance probably helped Cito Gaston's decision to go back to a 4-man rotation, as Cone was rocked for 6 runs in 4 innings including a Ruben Sierra home run. The Jays would score just twice against Dave Stewart, who pitched a complete game for a 6-2 Oakland victory. Back in Toronto, Juan Guzman would get the ball for game 6. Guzman would strike out 8 over 7 innings of 1-run ball and the Jays would chase starter Mike Moore in the bottom of the 3rd after scoring their 6th run of the game. They would cruise to a 9-2 victory, and the first World Series that would include games outside the US. Roberto Alomar would win series MVP with a .423 average, 2 home runs, and 5 stolen bases. The World Series would match the Jays up with the now two-time reigning National League Champion Atlanta Braves. The Braves had the top pitching staff in the National League, featuring 26-year-old Tom Glavine (20-8, 2.76 ERA), 25-year-old John Smoltz (15-12, 2.85 ERA, and an NL-high 215 strikeouts), and 22-year-old Steve Avery (11-11, 3.20 ERA). They had also led the NL in home runs and slugging, and scored the third most runs in the league. Jack Morris would get the ball for the Jays in game 1, and he had shut the Braves out for 10 innings in their most recent World Series game, number 7 in 1991. When Joe Carter homered against Glavine in the 4th, Braves fans had to be feeling a little bit nervous. But, to quote the World Series film "...fame, and scoreless innings streaks, are fleeting." In the 6th inning, Morris would falter, giving up a 3-run home run to catcher Damon Berryhill. Glavine would finish the game allowing only 4 hits overall, as the Braves took a 3-1 victory. In game 2, David Cone would return to the mound, facing off against John Smoltz. Cone would struggle somewhat, giving up 5 hits, 5 walks, 4 stolen bases, and 4 runs in 4.1 innings. Smoltz would pitch well, coming out in the 8th after the Jays narrowed the score to 4-3. In the top of the 9th inning, closer Jeff Reardon allowed a walk to pinch hitter Derek Bell before backup catcher Ed Sprague rocked him for a pinch-hit, go ahead home run. Tom Henke would close out the game in the bottom of the 9th as Kelly Gruber poked the Braves fans with a mock tomahawk chop. Game 3 featured the first World Series game on non-American soil. The Jays sent young fireballer Juan Guzman to the mound against young lefty Steve Avery, and both pitchers were locked in early. Through the first 3 innings, each team managed just 1 hit, and both pitchers were looking very good. In the top of the 4th inning, Guzman gave up back-to-back singles to Deion Sanders and Terry Pendleton, bringing David Justice to the plate. Justice would hit the ball deep to center field, where Devon White made a leaping catch against the wall. Pendleton had been running, but Sanders returned to second base, crossing Pendleton, making him the second out of the inning. Gruber tried to run down Sanders, but just missed the tag according to the umpires, losing a chance at an amazing triple play. Joe Carter would then make the Braves regret the miscue in the bottom of the 4th with a home run off of Avery to give the Jays a 1-0 lead. Guzman would hold the Braves scoreless until the top of the 6th, when Justice would knock in Sanders with a single to tie the game at 1. In the top of the 8th, with Guzman still in the game, the Braves would take the lead after an error by Kelly Gruber allowed Otis Nixon to reach and he was knocked in 4 batters later by Lonnie Smith. Gruber, who hadn't had a hit in the playoffs since game 2 of the ALCS, would lead off the bottom of the 8th with one of just 2 hits he would pick up in the World Series, tying the game with a long home run off of Steve Avery. (By the way, if you're thinking that starting pitchers were left in a lot longer in the early 90's than the last couple of years, you're absolutely right). After Duane Ward held the Braves scoreless in the 9th, Jimy Williams, who had replaced Bobby Cox after he was thrown from the game in the top of the 9th following a close strikeout, throw-out double play, would get very busy in the bottom of the 9th. Avery would come back out and allow a leadoff single to Roberto Alomar. Cox brought in right-hander Mark Wohlers to face Joe Carter, but after Alomar immediately stole second base, Wohlers would intentionally walk Carter. Dave Winfield dropped down a sacrifice bunt (sigh), and Cox would bring out left-hander Mike Stanton to face the left-handed hitting John Olerud. The Jays brought in game 2 hero Ed Sprague, but he was intentionally walked to load the bases. Closer Jeff Reardon, who had allowed the game-winning home run in game 2, would come in to face Candy Maldonado, who had struggled against Reardon in his career. This time, on an 0-2 pitch, the Candy-man would lift a Reardon pitch over Otis Nixon's head in center field for a walk-off single. On to game 4, where the Jays would bring out left-hander Jimmy Key to face Braves ace Tom Glavine. Key would pitch extremely well, allowing just 1 run on 5 hits over 7.2 innings. Glavine would complete the game again, but this time took only 8 innings to do so, as a 3rd inning Pat Borders home run and a 7th inning Devon White single gave the Jays a 2-1 victory, and a 3 games to 1 series lead. It was another low-scoring game, as Glavine allowed 10 baserunners over 8 innings, and Key allowed just 5 in his time on the mound. The combined score through 4 games had the Jays scoring 11 runs, and the Braves with 10. The Jays would come in to game 5 with a chance to win the series. Their ace in name Jack Morris had the ball against John Smoltz, and the Jays were hoping that his last 3 postseason starts were not a harbinger. Morris gave up a run in the first on a double by Terry Pendleton, but the Jays would get it back in the second when Pat Borders hit a double of his own off of Smoltz to bring Olerud home. In the top of the 4th, David Justice would lead off with a home run against Morris, but Borders would knock in Olerud again in the bottom of the 4th to tie the game back up. Morris would start the top of the 5th off well enough, getting a strikeout and a groundout before giving up a single to Otis Nixon. A stolen base and an RBI single by Deion Sanders gave the Braves a 3-2 lead, but there were still two outs. After Terry Pendleton hit a ground-rule double, the hot-hitting Justice was intentionally walked to face the "ice-cold Lonnie Smith". Morris would get the count to 1-2 before throwing what would be his last pitch of the postseason, as Smith turned his offering around for a grand slam, giving the Braves a 7-2 lead, and ultimately a 7-2 victory in the highest scoring game of the series. Game 6 was back in Atlanta, and David Cone would face Steve Avery. Cone would pitch well, allowing just 1 run over 6 innings, while Avery was pulled after 4 innings, having allowed 2 runs including a home run by Maldonado. The Jays bullpen would get the ball to Tom Henke in the 9th, where the Braves would stage a rally to tie the game at 2. Neither team scored in the 10th, but in the top of the 11th, the Jays would put two men on for Dave Winfield, facing Charlie Leibrandt with a chance at the lead, and Winfield would line a double into left field, bringing both runners home. In the bottom of the 11th, Jimmy Key would come back out, having picked up 2 outs in the 10th. After a single and an error put two runners on, a bunt and a groundout would bring one runner home, bringing Otis Nixon to the plate with a runner on 3rd and 2 outs. The young Mike Timlin would come out to face Nixon, and when Nixon dropped down a bunt, Timlin would jump on it and just throw him out at 1st, where Joe Carter started jumping in celebration after making the catch. The Jays had climbed the summit, and the Braves would have to wait at least one more year for their title (three years, as it turned out). The Series MVP went to Pat Borders, who had hit just .242 during the season, but hit .318 with one home run in the ALCS, and .450 with a home run and 3 doubles in the World Series. Now all they had to do was try to win it all again... 1. 1993 Toronto Blue Jays (see the whole season story here) In 1993 the Jays came back strong, having won 2 straight division titles plus the '92 World Series. The cast of characters had some new faces, and some maturing returning players.
Their pitching staff featured some new faces, including some young blood.
In the ALCS, they would match up with the Chicago White Sox, who featured MVP and future Hall of Famer Frank Thomas and American League Cy Young Award winner Jack McDowell led the American League's top pitching staff with 3 excellent pitchers under 23 years old in Alex Fernandez, Wilson Alvarez, and Jason Bere. In game 1, Guzman and McDowell would face off, and the first 3 innings were well pitched, as the Jays went into the top of the 4th with the score tied at 0. McDowell would start to struggle against the Jays lineup, as Ed Sprague knocked in 2 runs with a triple. Guzman would would give the lead back in the bottom of the 4th as the White Sox scored 3 runs after an error, a walk and a pair of hits. In the top of the 5th, the top of the order would get to McDowell, as hits from White, Carter, Olerud and Molitor put the Jays in front 5-3. McDowell would stay in the game until the 7th inning, coming out after a 2-run home run by Molitor before back-to-back singles by Fernandez and Sprague. Guzman would get the win despite walking 8 White Sox in 6 innings as the Jays would take game 1 by a 7-3 score. Game 2 starter Dave Stewart came into the game 6-0 in his ALCS career, including 3 wins against Toronto in 1989 and 1992. Facing Alex Fernandez, both teams would score 1 run in the first inning before the pitchers settled in to a groove. In the 4th, Fernandez was bitten by the bottom of the Jays order, as 2-out singles by Tony Fernandez and Pat Borders would give the Jays a 3-1 lead. Stewart would roll until the 6th inning when he loaded the bases with none out, escaping with no runs allowed after a shallow fly ball to center, a popup, and a groundout which he would run to first base himself. The Jays bullpen would shut the White Sox down for the last 3 innings, picking up a 3-1 victory and improving Stewart's record to 7-0 in the ALCS. In game 3, the Jays would struggle against lefthander Wilson Alvarez, who would allow just 1 run in 9 innings. Pat Hentgen would struggle, allowing 6 runs in 3 innings as the Jays lost 6-1. In game 4, Jason Bere was chased after 2.1 innings, and the Jays would end up with 4 runs. Todd Stottlemyre, however, would get rocked by the White Sox including 2 home runs, one of which was by Lance Johnson, who hadn't homered in 579 regular season plate appearances. The Jays would drop the game 7-4 to tie the series at 2 games to 2. The White Sox came into game 5 hoping that McDowell could improve on his game 1 performance, but he would be taken out after 2.1 innings after the Jays scored runs in each of the first 3 innings. Guzman would turn his performance up a notch, giving up just 3 hits and one run through 7 innings with 6 strikeouts on the way to a 5-3 victory. In game 6, Stewart would outduel Fernandez again, going 7.1 innings of 2-run ball to win the series for the Jays to improve to 8-0 in his LCS career and win MVP of the series. Duane Ward would finish the series with his second save, though he had struggled in 4 games, allowing 4 hits, 4 walks and 3 runs in 4.2 innings. The Jays opponent this year would be the worst-to-first Philadelphia Phillies, who had beaten the heavily favoured Atlanta Braves in the LCS behind Curt Schilling, Mitch Williams, Lenny Dykstra, Darren Daulton and others. The Phillies were a wild bunch with beards and mullets, and had managed to beat the 104-win Braves, preventing them from avenging their 1992 World Series loss. Game 1 featured Phillies ace Curt Schilling against Jays fireballer Juan Guzman. Schilling had been NLCS MVP and would make a career of excellent playoff pitching including with the number 9 and 10 teams on this list. Guzman would struggle in the first, giving up 2 runs around 3 strikeouts. In the 2nd, Schilling would find out how dangerous the Jays lineup could be, as Carter, Olerud and Molitor would single and score 2 runs for the Jays to tie the game. Both teams would score in the third to keep the game tied, and then another run each in the 5th including a huge home run by Devon White. In the bottom of the 6th, the Jays would take the lead for good on an upper deck home run by John Olerud. Schilling would remain in the game to start the 7th, but singles by Borders and Henderson would be followed by doubles from White and Alomar to give the Jays an 8-4 lead, ultimately leading to an 8-5 victory for the Jays. In game 2, the Jays would face another tough left-hander, with Dave Stewart facing off against Terry Mulholland. Stewart would struggle in the 5th, as the Phillies would score 2 runs on two walks and two singles followed by a 3-run homer by Jim Eisenreich. The Jays would score 2 in the 5th on a Joe Carter home run, plus one more in the 6th. Lenny Dykstra would add to the Phillies' lead with a home run in the 7th off of lefty Tony Castillo, and the Jays would ultimately drop the game by a 6-4 score. In game 3, the Phillies would put another lefty on the mound in Danny Jackson. The Jays would decide to play Molitor at first base in place of John Olerud, planning to sit Molitor for the next game (though they would ultimately decide to play Molitor at third base in games 4 and 5). Molitor would make the decision look good right away with a two-run triple in the first as the Jays jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first inning. He would homer in the third to increase the lead to 4-0. After each team scored in the 6th, the Jays would score 3 times in the 7th to increase their lead to 8-1. They would add 2 more runs in the 9th, as Molitor finished with 3 hits, 3 runs, and 3 driven in in a 10-3 victory for the Jays. Game 4 featured both teams' 4th starters, as Todd Stottlemyre faced Tommy Greene. With both Olerud and Molitor in the lineup, the Jays lineup would batter Greene for 3 runs in the first inning. Stottlemyre would give the lead back and more, as a bases-loaded triple by Milt Thompson gave the Phillies a 4-3 lead. After Stottlemyre started the top of the second by somehow drawing a walk against Greene, he would be thrown out in a baserunning miscue that left him bloodied, but he stayed in the game. He returned the favour in the bottom of the 2nd by allowing a single to Greene, but Lenny Dykstra would make him pay with a 2-run homer to give the Phillies a 6-3 lead. In the third, the Jays chased Greene from the game with a walk and three straight hits, ultimately scoring 4 runs to take the lead again 7-6. Now facing Al Leiter, the Phillies would tie the game in the 4th before scoring 5 times in the 5th on home runs by Dykstra and Darren Daulton to go up 12-7. The Jays would score twice in the top of the 6th to pull to 12-9, but the Phillies would score runs in the 6th and 7th to increase their lead to 14-9. In the 8th, the Jays would start the inning with the middle of their order, as singles by Carter and Olerud followed by a Molitor double got the score to 14-10. Phillies closer Mitch Williams would come in and allow a single to Tony Fernandez and a walk to Borders before striking out Ed Sprague for the second out. The score was 14-11 as Rickey Henderson came to the plate with the bases loaded. A single by Henderson and a triple by White would give the Jays the lead for the last time, as the 9th inning was the only scoreless inning of the game. The Jays had won a wild, rain-filled 15-14 game, the most combined runs in a playoff game until the Red Sox beat Cleveland 23-7 in a 1999 Division Series game. In game 5, both teams brought exhausted bullpens in, with Jim Fregosi threatening to ride Schilling "until his arm fell off". Schilling would dominate the Jays, shutting them out on 5 hits over 147 pitches. Guzman would pitch well, allowing 2 runs in 7 innings, but Schilling could not be denied, and the series would return to Toronto for game 6, giving the Jays a chance to win the World Series on their home field. In game 6, the Jays offense woke up against Mulholland in the first, as hits by Molitor, Olerud and Alomar plus a sacrifice fly from Joe Carter staked them to an early 3-0 lead. The two pitchers settled down until the 4th inning, when both teams scored runs to increase the score to 4-1. After Molitor homered in the 5th, Stewart entered the 7th with a 5-1 lead. A walk, a single, and a 3-run home run from Lenny Dykstra would chase Stewart and trim the Jays lead to 5-4. Reliever Danny Cox came in, but was unable to stop the bleeding, as three singles and a walk chased him and tied the game before Al Leiter would come in and allow the go ahead run on a sacrifice fly. The Jays would go quietly in the 7th inning, but 2 walks and a hit batter in the 8th would send them to the 9th inning with the top of the order due up. The Phillies brought in mercurial closer Mitch Williams, who had saved 43 games in the regular season, but had blown 2 saves in the NLCS plus the wild finish in game 4. Williams would walk Rickey Henderson to lead the inning off, but then retired Devon White on a fly ball to left. Paul Molitor would then single for his third hit of the game, putting runners on first and second with one out. Molitor would win series MVP after after hitting .500 with 2 doubles, 2 triples, and 2 home runs, scoring 10 runs and driving in 8 with a .500/.571/1.000 batting line as the Jays would end up with 45 runs in the series. Joe Carter stepped to the plate, in a moment that would become legend. After Williams worked the count to 2-2, Williams would throw a pitch low and in, that Carter would turn on. "Well hit down the left field line" became "Touch 'em all Joe, you'll never hit a bigger home run in your life!" For just the second time in history, the World Series ended on a walk-off home run, as Joe Carter leaped and celebrated around the bases, part of the final play of the World Series for the second year in a row. The Jays were back-to-back champions, the whole country celebrated, and I was hooked. It is almost hard to imagine another team capturing the imagination of an entire nation like the Jays did in the early 90's. They were the first team to draw 4 million fans, which they managed in 1991, 1992 and 1993. A taste of that passion was rekindled in 2015 as they finally made their way back to the playoffs for the first time since that epic run. With some sustained winning, they could be a cultural giant again. I'll remember every big moment from those World Series highlight videos for years, having watched them over and over again, almost feeling like I was at every one of the games. For a young fan there's a lot to be said for watching an exciting, winning team. Here's hoping that the Jays build on last year's momentum and build a whole new generations of kids loving baseball again. Next in this series, I'll write about a bunch of my favourite players from 1992-2003, including several of the key players from these Blue Jays teams. I'll probably throw up a links post again too, as Spring Training is approaching fast!
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Quick recap of the rules, adapted from Jonah Keri's teams entry in his BestCoolest columns:
The team has to have been good, and I have to remember watching them. So, as above, that's 1992 on. But rather than just making it a list of the 10 best teams of the last 24 seasons, I want to focus on teams that I enjoyed watching for some reason or another. In part 1A, I talked about the 2004 Boston Red Sox, 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks, 2015 Toronto Blue Jays, 1999 New York Mets, and 2001 Seattle Mariners. The Red Sox and Diamondbacks were teams that I only really followed for 1 series or so in the playoffs, but with great delight, and both won the World Series in those seasons. The Jays, Mets and Mariners were teams that had good seasons and fun playoff runs, but ultimately lost in their respective League Championship Series round in year. In this part, I'll be focusing on 3 teams that won it all. I've gone with a 4-way tie for number 2, and 3 of those teams were the same franchise, which will be the focus of this entry. The other tie and number 1 are also from the same (but different than this one) franchise. I went with the split because otherwise this was going to turn into a near 10,000 word entry. 2a. 2010 San Francisco Giants I spent 1992 to 2005 pretty closely following whichever team John Olerud was on, though I wasn't particularly cheering for his team in late 2004. After he retired, I became slightly team agnostic for a couple of years. He'll feature in the favourite players list and in one of those longer profiles. However, sometime in 2007 my curiousity and interest were piqued by a young pitcher on the San Francisco Giants. Tim Lincecum's tornado windup and electric stuff were amazing to watch, and I got hooked. This led me to adopting the Giants as one of my favourite teams, and they have remained there ever since, even though Lincecum has struggled over the last couple of years. He will also feature in the favourite players list and the longer profiles. In 2007, their first year with manager Bruce Bochy, the Giants struggled to a 71-91 record, but with the 23-year-old Lincecum joining the 22-year-old Matt Cain in the rotation, Giants fans were getting a peak at the future. The 2008 season was only marginally better at 72-90, but Lincecum exploded, winning his first of back-to-back Cy Young awards. In 2009, they improved significantly to 88-74, but still fell a bit short of the playoffs. In 2010, everything came together. The Giants made it to the All Star break at 45-41, but now featured 23-year-old rookie Buster Posey behind the plate, 23-year-old Pablo Sandoval at third base, 25-year-old Matt Cain, 26-year-old Tim Lincecum, and 27-year-0ld Jonathan Sanchez. Just a couple of weeks before the break, they also called up 20-year-old Madison Bumgarner to fill out their rotation. The team was red-hot in July, going 20-8, but then stumbled in August to 13-15 behind an 0-5 record with a 7.84 ERA from Lincecum. He and the team would rebound in a big way down the stretch, as the Giants finished September and early October with a 19-10 record, and Lincecum went 5-1 with a 1.94 ERA and 52 strikeouts in just under 42 innings. The Giants would win the National League West with a 92-70 record, behind the best pitching staff in the league. With the third youngest average age in the NL among their pitchers, the Giants were first in ERA, hits allowed and strikeouts, and third in FIP and home runs allowed. Their opponents in the first round were the wild-card winning Atlanta Braves, with a fine pitching staff of their own. Game 1 featured Braves starter Derek Lowe against two-time defending Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum. Lowe came out after 5.1 innings, having allowed 1 run, and 1 run was all the Giants would get. It ended being more than enough though, as Lincecum dominated the Braves. After allowing a double to leadoff the game, Lincecum would set down the next 9 Braves before allowing a leadoff walk in the 4th inning. He then retired 10 straight before allowing his second and final hit in the 7th inning. The Braves wouldn't get another baserunner, as Lincecum finished with a complete game, 14-strikeout masterpiece. The brilliant Joe Posnanski wrote about Lincecum and Roy Halladay, who had thrown a no-hitter in his playoff debut the night before, noting that, by game score, Lincecum was even more impressive than Halladay. In the second inning, Lincecum would strike out the side as Braves hitters swung and missed 9 times in the inning. The whole series ended up being 1-run games, as Matt Cain went 6.2 innings of 1-run ball in game 2, only to see his bullpen ultimately lose the game for him in 11 innings, as the Giants dropped their only game of the series by a 5-4 score. In game 3, Jonathan Sanchez pitched brilliantly, leaving after 11 strikeouts in 7.1 innings. The bullpen would blow the lead, but ultimately the Giants would win 3-2 in 9 innings. And in game 4, the rookie Madison Bumgarner gave the Giants 6 innings of 2-run ball to send the Giants to a 3-2 victory and a series win. The Giants moved on to the NLCS, facing the 2-time defending National League champion Philadelphia Phillies and their new ace, Roy Halladay, fresh off of his no-hitter in the Division Series. They followed him with Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels, and Joe Blanton. In Game 1, Lincecum and Halladay faced off, in what would turn out to be the 10th matchup of multiple Cy Young Award winners in a playoff game. In the top of the third inning, Cody Ross got to Halladay with a solo home run. Carlos Ruiz would lead off the bottom of the inning with a home run of his own. The two pitchers would hold on until the 6th inning, when the Giants scored 3 runs in the top and the Phillies answered with 2 runs in the bottom. Halladay and Lincecum would each go 7 innings, leaving with a 4-3 Giants lead, and eventually a victory by that score. In game 2, Jonathan Sanchez faced Roy Oswalt, but was not quite as successful as in the previous round, allowing 3 runs through 6 innings. The Giants bullpen would allow 3 more, and behind Oswalt's 8 innings of 1-run pitching, the Phillies took a 6-1 victory. Game 3 featured Matt Cain, who continued his postseason excellence, shutting out the Phillies for 7 innings en route to a 3-0 victory. In game 4, the rookie Bumgarner would struggle somewhat, allowing 3 runs in 4.2 innings, but he was backed up by his offense and a faltering Phillies bullpen as the Giants slipped by 6-5 on a walkoff sacrifice fly by Juan Uribe. Game 5 featured a Halladay-Lincecum rematch, and this time Doc prevailed, as Lincecum's 3 runs in 7 innings were one too many, and the Giants dropped the game by a 4-2 score. Game 6 became an all hands on deck game, as Sanchez lasted just 2 innings, and the Giants brought in both Bumgarner and Lincecum out of the bullpen. They would take the lead in the 8th on a Juan Uribe home run, taking the game 3-2 and the series 4-2. Cody Ross would be named series MVP after going 7 for 20 with 3 doubles and 3 home runs. In the World Series, the Giants faced the Texas Rangers, and Cliff Lee, who came into the series with a 7-0 playoff record, including a 1.26 ERA and 77 strikeouts to just 7 walks in 64.1 innings in his playoff career which spanned the 2009-2010 playoffs so far. When the Rangers scored a run each in the first and second innings, things were looking tough for the Giants. But Lee's postseason dominance came to an end as the Giants scored 2 runs to tie it in the 3rd inning, then 6 times in the 5th inning including a 3-run home run by Juan Uribe right after Lee was pulled. The hits would keep coming as the Giants ended up with an 11-7 victory. In game 2, Matt Cain was brilliant again, going 7.2 shutout innings to end his 2010 postseason run with an ERA of 0.00 in 3 starts. The Giants would score just twice in the first 7 innings, but then exploded with 7 runs in the bottom of the 8th en route to a 9-0 victory. In game 3, Jonathan Sanchez struggled again as the Giants lost 4-2 in Texas. Game 4 began Madison Bumgarner's World Series legend, which would culminate 2 entries from here. He went 8 shutout innings, and backed up by a pair of 2-run home runs, the Giants would win 4-0 to take a 3-1 series lead. On to game 5, where Cliff Lee would take the mound once more against Tim Lincecum, with the Giants having a chance to take the series before it went back to San Francisco. Both starters were brilliant through 6 innings, holding their opponents scoreless with just 3 baserunners each. In the top of the 7th, with 2 men on and 2 out, the hero of the 1997 World Series stepped to the plate, and Edgar Renteria delivered. The Giants had a 3-0 lead. Lincecum would allow 1 back in the bottom of the 7th, but ended up going 8 innings, striking out 10, and turning the game over to dominant closer Brian Wilson, who struck out Nelson Cruz for the final out of the series, capping off a masterful game and a brilliant postseason run for the Giants. Wilson and his growing beard had become a fan favourite as the team advanced through the playoffs. The series MVP would go to Renteria, who had hit .412 with 2 home runs in the 5 games. It was the first championship for the Giants in San Francisco, and the first for the franchise since 1954. It started off a fantastic run of success for the team and an incredible embrace by the fans. 2b. 2012 San Francisco Giants Two years later, the Giants were back in the playoffs, this time with a different look. The 2010 team had finished 9th in the NL in runs scored, but 2nd in runs allowed, riding their brilliant pitching to a championship. The 2012 team finish 6th in runs scored behind NL MVP Buster Posey and the Brandons Belt at first base and Crawford at shortstop, plus new addition Hunter Pence in right field. They had added Marco Scutaro during the season to play second base, and he had hit .362/.385/.473 over the final two months of the season, helping spark the team. They did lose near batting champion Melky Cabrera to a PED suspension, but did not end up missing him come playoff time. They would fall to 5th in runs allowed, but their adjusted ERA+ of 96 showed that they were a slightly below average run prevention team who played in a great park. Tim Lincecum struggled to the worst season of his career, finishing 10-15 with a 5.18 ERA, though his FIP of 4.18 suggested some bad luck had haunted him. This theme would continue over the next few years. This year's ace was Matt Cain, and with a strong number two in Madison Bumgarner, a second strong showing from Ryan Vogelsong after being out of the major leagues from 2007-2010, and one of Barry Zito's best years in a Giants uniform, the Giants would end up moving Lincecum to the bullpen for all but one game in the playoffs. The bullpen still featured holdovers Sergio Romo, Santiago Casilla, Jeremy Affeldt, and Javier Lopez, but Brian Wilson had been lost to Tommy John surgery after pitching in just 2 games at the beginning of the season. Like the 2010 team, the Giants hit the All Star Break with a lackluster record at 46-40, and then picked up somewhat through the end of July to a 56-47 record. After adding Pence and Scutaro for the trading deadline, they would heat up 38-21 down the stretch. Having finished with a 94-68 record, the Giants would match up against the 97-65 Cincinnati Reds, with the first 2 games in San Francisco, and the last 3 scheduled for Cincinnati. This format had been used in the first three years of the Division Series in 1995-1997, but was scrapped until 2012 when it was brought back because of scheduling conflicts. It has not been used since. The Reds would be a tough matchup, as they had been the best run prevention team in the National League behind the strong pitching of Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos, Homer Bailey, and Bronson Arroyo, plus young fireballer Aroldis Chapman in the bullpen. In game 1, Johnny Cueto left in the first inning with a back injury, but the Reds would score 3 runs against Matt Cain and end up rolling to a 5-2 victory. Game 2 fell apart for the Giants when the Reds took a 4-0 lead after 4 innings. The Giants brought in Lincecum for his first appearance out of the bullpen since the 2010 NLCS, and he rewarded them with 2 scoreless innings. The rest of the bullpen would struggle in the 8th, giving up 5 more runs on the way to a 9-0 Giants loss. Down 2 games to none with the last 3 games in Cincinnati looked very bleak for the Giants. Game 3 would be a pitching battle, as the Reds and Giants each scored once by the third inning, and then not again through 9 innings. In the 10th, the Giants broke through on a pair of singles, a passed ball, and an error, giving them a 2-1 lead that Sergio Romo would close out in the bottom of the inning. Game 4 saw Lincecum go 4.1 innings out of the bullpen to help preserve a close game until Pablo Sandoval put things out of reach for good in the 7th inning with a huge home run. Game 5 was a tight affair for the first 4 innings as Latos and Cain traded zeros back and forth. The Giants scored twice in the top of the 5th before loading the bases for Buster Posey, and on a 2-2 count, Posey delivered a grand slam, creating one of the great catcher reaction gif's of all time. The Giants would hold on for a 6-4 victory, and a brilliant come back from being down 2 games to none that were part of what gave me hope following the Blue Jays last year. Hunter Pence would gain fame for his inspirational speeches that started after going down 2-0 to the Reds, which he delivered before every game through the rest of the playoffs. In the NLCS, the Giants would face the defending World Champion St. Louis Cardinals. In game 1, the ball went to Bumgarner, who struggled again, continuing a worrying trend. His velocity had been down in September and his ERA had been up at 5.47, and he was beaten up in the Division Series. He would last just 3.2 innings in this game, leaving with a 6-0 deficit. The Giants would get 4 back, and saw another 2 scoreless innings from Lincecum out of the bullpen, but lost by a 6-4 score. Game 2 put Ryan Vogelsong on the mound, and after the teams traded runs in the first and second innings, he settled in and finished with 7 innings of 1-run pitching. The Giants would score 4 runs in the 4th thanks to a misplay of a Marco Scutaro single with the bases loading allowing all 3 baserunners to score. They finished the game with a 7-1 victory as the series moved back to San Francisco. In game 3, Matt Cain would pitch fairly well, but the Giants bats went cold, and they last 3-1. In game 4, the Giants gave the ball to Tim Lincecum for what would be his only postseason start in an effort to give Bumgarner some extra rest and see if he might show some of the magic he'd shown out of the bullpen so far. He gave up 2 runs right away in the first inning, but then settled down through the next 3 innings, before allowing 2 more runs in the 5th inning and being pulled with the Giants down 4-1. The Cardinals would tack on 4 more runs before the Giants hit a 2-run home run in the 9th, but it was too little, too late, and they fell 8-3, now trailing 3 games to 1 in the series. Running out of options, they gave the ball to Barry Zito. After putting together a fine 7-year run with the Oakland Athletics, the Giants had signed Zito to a 7-year, $120 million contract prior to the 2007 season, and he had struggled mightily through most of it, even being left off of the postseason roster entirely during the 2010 run. The 2012 season had been superficially his best in a Giants uniform, as he went 15-8 with a 4.15 ERA, but with only 0.2 WAR. He had struggled in his Division Series start, giving up 2 runs in 2.2 innings in the game where Lincecum gave the Giants 4.1 innings. With the season on the line, Zito was brilliant, and after escaping a bases-loaded jam in the second inning, finished with 7.2 innings of shutout ball as the Giants left St. Louis with a 5-0 victory, and two games to play at home. Game 6 brought back Ryan Vogelsong, and he managed to be even better than in game 2. He would strike out 9 over 7 innings of 1-run pitching, and the Giants would score 5 runs in the first 2 innings, adding one more in the 8th to send them to game 7 with a 6-1 victory. Game 7 had Matt Cain back on the mound, and he delivered 5.2 innings of shutout ball, which was more than enough when the Giants scored 6 runs in the first 3 innings en the way to a 9-0 victory, and another series comeback. Marco Scutaro would be named series MVP after hitting .500 with an LCS record-tying 14 hits and an iconic shot of him enjoying the game 7 rain in the 9th inning. In game 1 of the World Series, the Giants would face Tigers ace Justin Verlander, who was 78-31 with a 2.95 ERA over the past 4 seasons, and 3-0 with 2 runs allowed in the first two rounds of 2012. The Giants sent Zito back to the mound, and for a second straight start, he pitched very well, giving up just 1 run in 5.2 innings. Meanwhile, Verlander, who had given up a bases loaded triple to Pablo Sandoval in the All Star Game, helping the National League earn home field advantage in the World Series, found himself unable to deal with Sandoval again, as Sandoval would homer twice against Verlander and a third time against reliever Al Alburquerque. This combined with 5 strikeouts from Tim Lincecum in 2.1 innings of relief would send the Giants on their way to an 8-3 victory. In game 2 the Giants would score only 2 runs, but Madison Bumgarner came back strong from his extra rest, throwing 7 shutout innings and continuing his scoreless streak in the World Series. In game 3, Anibal Sanchez would hold the Giants to 2 runs again, but 5.2 scoreless innings from Vogelsong and an additional 2.1 scoreless from Lincecum gave the Giants another 2-0 win and a 3-0 series lead. In game 4, Matt Cain and Max Scherzer would face off with the Giants hoping to close the series out. Cain would go 7 strong innings and with a home run from Buster Posey and strong relief from Jeremy Affeldt, the Giants would go to the 10th inning against Phil Coke, who had struck out the side in the 9th. This time, LCS MVP Marco Scutaro would come through again, and Sergio Romo would finish off the Tigers, freezing Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera to strike out the side. The Giants had come out on top for the second time in three years, with their pitching-dominant team morphing into a more balanced team. Pablo Sandoval would win series MVP after hitting .500 over the series and tying a Giants record for hits in a postseason. 2c. 2014 San Francisco Giants (here too) After the 2010 championship, the Giants had fallen to 86-76 in 2011, missing the playoffs as injuries, including Buster Posey's broken leg, cost them important games through the season. In 2013, they had stumbled to 76-86, losing more players to injury and continued ineffectiveness from Tim Lincecum, a major stumble from Matt Cain, and the worst and final season from Barry Zito. In 2014 the Giants got off to a red-hot start, going 37-20 through the end of May. They would be frustrated as the season went on, losing Matt Cain to injury and seeing ineffectiveness from Sergio Romo in the bullpen. Lincecum, who would throw a no-hitter for the second year in a row, would struggle as the season went on, and end up in the bullpen. Tim Hudson, who hit mid-June with a 7-2 record and a 1.81 ERA, would stumble badly, going 2-11 the rest of the way and nearly doubling his overall ERA. They would add Jake Peavy at the trade deadline, and he was excellent in San Francisco, pitching to a 2.17 ERA in 12 starts down the stretch. The Giants would go 51-54 from June 1st through the end of the season, only making the playoffs because of the addition of a second wild card, where they faced the Pittsburgh Pirates. This year's edition of the Giants was a middle of the pack pitching team, finishing 7th in the NL in ERA, but they were a stronger hitting team, as they finished 5th in the league in runs scored, with strong offense from rookie Joe Panik, who came up part way into the season, and contributions from Hunter Pence, new addition Mike Morse, and Buster Posey and Brandons Crawford and Belt, when the latter was not injured. The Pirates would face off against the Giants now undisputed ace, Madison Bumgarner, who had just turned 25 but was coming off an 18-win season, his 4th straight with at least 200 innings pitched, and memory of his dominance in the World Series adding to his strong pitching down the stretch, as he had gone 6-2 after August 1st, allowing 3 runs or fewer in 9 of 10 starts.. When Brandon Crawford broke a scoreless tie in the 4th with a grand slam, adding to other Brandon (Belt) reaching base 4 times and driving in 3 runs, the Giants were on their way. As it turned out, the first run was more than enough, as Bumgarner dominated the Pirates, throwing a complete game, 4-hit, 10-strikeout shutout. Was this going to be another case of "Even Year Magic"? In the Division Series, the Giants would face the Washington Nationals, and in game 1, Jake Peavy pitched an excellent game, shutting the Nationals out for 5.2 innings. Hunter Strickland would give up two home runs in the 7th inning, but the Giants held on for a 3-2 victory. In game 2, Tim Hudson and Ryan Zimmermann would go toe-to-toe, as Hudson allowed just one run in 7.1 innings, but Zimmermann made it into the 9th with a shutout intact. After allowing a 2-out walk, the Nationals would pull Zimmermann for closer Drew Storen, who promptly allowed a single and an RBI double to allow the Giants to tie the game. Yusmeiro Petit came out to pitch in the bottom of the 12th, and would hold the Nationals scoreless for an amazing 6 innings out of the bullpen, helping cap off a year when he had set a record by retiring 46 consecutive batters at one point during the season. In the top of the 18th inning, against starting pitcher Tanner Roark, Brandon Belt finally gave the Giants just enough extra offense, with a huge solo home run that would give them an epic 2-1 victory, and send them home with a 2-0 series lead. In game 3, a 7-inning, 3-run performance by Madison Bumgarner would not be enough, as the Giants offense stayed quiet in a 4-1 loss. Game 4 sent Ryan Vogelsong to the mound, and he delivered a strong performance, allowing 1 run over 5.2 innings. In a close game, the Giants would score what would be the series-winning run on a bases-loaded wild pitch, allowing the Giants to advance to the NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals, a 2012 rematch. Madison Bumgarner would take the mound again, looking to make up for his loss in the NLDS, and would shut the Cards down for 7.2 innings, as 3 early runs against St. Louis ace Adam Wainwright would hold up for a 3-0 victory. In game 2, the Cardinals used 4 solo home runs to pull out a 5-4 victory, as 3 different Giants relievers gave up blasts that would lead to the loss. Game 3 starter Tim Hudson would pitch into the 7th inning, leaving with the game tied 4-4. After two unsuccessful bunt attempts, Juan Perez would swing away in the 10th for a single before another bunt attempt by Gregor Blanco turned into a walk-off throwing error. In game 4, after both starters were knocked out early, Yusmeiro Petit came back for another brilliant relief outing, this time shutting out the Cardinals for 3 innings. Buster Posey would drive in 3 runs and Santiago Casilla would shut the door in the 9th for a 6-4 victory. In game 5, Madison Bumgarner would excel again, going 8 strong innings and leaving with the game tied. In the bottom of the 9th, starter Michael Wacha, who had missed much of the season, was brought in to face literally Travis Ishikawa, who sent the Giants to the World Series with an amazing 3-run walkoff home run. Bumgarner was named NLCS MVP after allowing 3 runs in 15.2 innings over 2 starts for the Giants. In the World Series, the Giants would face the upstart Kansas City Royals, who had turned an amazing Wild Card game into a brilliant, unexpected, and thus far undefeated run to the World Series. The Royals were full of confidence, having swept Mike Trout's Angels and the slugging Baltimore Orioles. In game 1, the Royals would run straight into the buzzsaw that was Madison Bumgarner and the Giants. Before Bumgarner even took the mound, Hunter Pence took James Shields deep, staking Bumgarner to a 3-0 lead without a single pitch thrown. Bumgarner would keep the Royals off balance all night, going 7 innings. He would finally allow his first career World Series run in his third such start, but that was all the Royals would get as they dropped the game by a 7-1 score. Game 2 saw the Giants start off with a bang again, as Gregor Blanco would lead the game off with a solo home run. The Royals would tied it in the bottom of the first, then take the lead 2-1 in the second before the Giants tied it again in the 4th. The score held at 2-2 until the 6th, when the Royals would tag the Giants bullpen for 5 runs including 2 baserunners that Jake Peavy had put on, ultimately leading to a 7-2 loss. Game 3 starter Tim Hudson allowed a run in the first inning, and then 2 more in the 6th that would ultimately be the difference as the Giants got just 2 back in the bottom of the 6th and ended up dropping the game by a 3-2 score. The Royals were regaining confidence as the series went to game 4 with the Giants down 2 games to 1. When Ryan Vogelsong was chased in the 3rd inning after allowing 4 runs on 7 hits, the Giants looked to be in trouble. After the Giants got two back in the 5th to tie the game at 4-4, the offense woke up further, scoring 3 runs off of Brandon Finnegan in the 6th and 4 more in the 7th to take an 11-4 lead that would hold up as an 11-4 victory, tying the series with Madison Bumgarner coming back for game 5. James Shields would improve on his game 1 performance, allowing just 2 runs through 6 innings, but Bumgarner improved on his as well, finishing with a 4-hit shutout as he lowered his career World Series ERA to a microscopic 0.29 to go with a 4-0 record. He was also up to 47.2 innings pitched in a single postseason, just behind Curt Schilling's 48.1 innings in 2001. The Royals only solace was that he was probably done for the World Series, as there were just two games left. Game 6 was back in Kansas City, and the Royals wasted no time getting to starter Jake Peavy, as he was chased after getting just 4 outs, ultimately charged with 5 runs in what would turn into 10-0 loss. The stage was set for game 7. The Royals had their dominant bullpen ready to go at a moment's notice, and Madison Bumgarner had told reporters the night before that he was available for "maybe 200" pitches. After scoring 2 runs in the second inning against starter Jeremy Guthrie, the Giants would allow 2 runs in the bottom of the inning before pulling Tim Hudson from the game, having recorded just 5 outs. Jeremy Affeldt would come into the game, pitching 2.1 innings of scoreless relief. Guthrie was allowed to start the 4th inning, only being pulled after giving up back to back singles and a flyball out. Flamethrowing Kelvin Herrera would come in to try to neutralize slugger Mike Morse, but Morse would fight off a 99 mph fastball for an RBI single into right field. In the bottom of the 5th inning, with the Giants clinging to a 3-2 lead, Madison Bumgarner came jogging out of the bullpen. A pall settled over the Royals fans, as the 3-2 deficit started to feel more like 30-2. After giving up a leadoff single, in the 5th, Bumgarner would settle down and retire the next three hitters. The 6th inning came, and Bumgarner cruised through the Royals 4-5-6 hitters. In the bottom of the 7th, the Royals would go quietly again, and then Bumgarner went through the top 3 hitters in the order in the 8th inning. On came the 9th, and Bumgarner came out for a 5th inning. After getting the first two hitters, he faced Alex Gordon. Gordon lined a single into left field that was badly misplayed by Gregor Blanco. As Gordon flew around second base, fans wondered if he might try for an inside the park home run. At the last minute, he was held by the third base coach, bringing up Salvador Perez, who had the only World Series run scored against Bumgarner in his career, with a game 1 solo home run. As an aside, it was written about many times, but from all available angles, it appears that if Gordon had tried to go home, Brandon Crawford, who has maybe the second best shortstop arm in baseball behind Andrelton Simmons, would probably have thrown him out by at least 30 feet. Bumgarner got Perez to a 2-2 count, and then Perez popped the ball into foul territory, where Pablo Sandoval caught the ball and collapsed in some mixture of joy and exhaustion, giving the Giants their third title in 5 years, leading to discussions of a dynasty. Bumgarner would be named World Series MVP, as his brilliant 52.1 postseason innings capped off an excellent season, lowering his career World Series ERA to 0.25, and ultimately leading to a Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year for 2014. The Giants built 3 world champion teams using an exceptional coaching and development staff, keeping many of the same players through 2 or all 3 championship teams. In particular:
The Giants have been probably my favourite franchise for the nearly the last decade. But the team that started it all waits in the last two entries, and has been coming back into my range of focus over the last couple of years as well. That's coming in the next part. While waiting for the new season (and partially mentioned as an idea before), I had an idea, partly inspired by Jonah Keri's "BestCoolest" series where he highlights some of his favourite teams, batters, and pitchers. I started following baseball in 1992, becoming a Blue Jays fan at a young age. My favourite teams have changed over the years, and I've always like individual players for their stories, their playing styles, or their outrageous statistics (and sometimes all of the above). Given that, I'm planning to do the following posts over the next little while.
I've followed Jonah Keri's primary rules in his teams post: namely, the team has to have been good, and I have to remember watching them. So, as above, that's 1992 on. But rather than just making it a list of the 10 best teams of the last 24 seasons, I want to focus on teams that I enjoyed watching for some reason or another. 10. 2004 Boston Red Sox This was a team that I really followed for one playoff series, and for most baseball fans, it will be obvious which one. This may give you a hint that I have not been a Yankees fan during most of my time following baseball. I admit that I did cheer for the Yankees in the 1996 World Series, mostly because two of their primary starting pitchers were ex-Toronto Blue Jays (David Cone and Jimmy Key), and at the time I still saw the Atlanta Braves as "opponents" from the 1992 World Series. In retrospect (and not long after), I got to really enjoying the Braves pitchers, a couple of who will make appearances in the next post. But back to 2004. Boston sports were a lot different back then, and a little easier to root for if you weren't from the Boston area. The Patriots had won 2 of the last 3 Super Bowls, but the Red Sox hadn't won a championship in 86 years, the Bruins hadn't won a Stanley Cup in 32 years, and the Celtics hadn't won in 18 years. Of course, since then, the Patriots went to 4 more Super Bowls, winning 2 of them, the Red Sox won 3 World Series, and the Bruins and Celtics each added one. The last 15 years have been a heck of a time for Boston, in retrospect. At the time, though, the Yankees had won 4 of the last 8 World Series, and played in 2 others. They were the big-money villain of the MLB, and had been the hammer to Boston's nail several times, including the infamous Grady Little game in 2003. When the Yankees beat an injured Curt Schilling in game 1, slipped by Pedro Martinez in game 2, and then thrashed the Red Sox 19-8 in game 3 of the ALCS, things looked exceptionally dire. It looked worse when the Yankees took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the 9th in game 4 with their seemingly unbeatable closer, Mariano Rivera, on the mound. Boston entered that inning with a 23% chance of winning, which probably seemed very high given the circumstances. What happened next is legend. After Kevin Millar drew a walk against Rivera, pinch-runner Dave Roberts immediately stole second base and scored on a single by Bill Mueller. The held on until the 12th inning, when David Ortiz started building his playoff legend with a 2-run walkoff home run at 1:22am. Later that evening, the teams met again for game 5. The Yankees took a 2 run lead into the bottom of the 8th, but a leadoff home run from Ortiz, followed by a walk and a single chased Tom Gordon and brought in Rivera again. This time the tying run scored immediately on a sacrifice fly, and the teams battled into the 14th inning. Cue Ortiz again, with 2 men on and 2 out, he delivered, ending a game that took just under 6 hours to complete. Game 6 saw Curt Schilling come back to the mound, with a sewn together ankle. And Schilling was dominant. He went 7 innings, allowing 1 run, and helped the Red Sox win a close game to get to game 7. For those hoping for another close game, this game was a bit of a disappointment. However, for Red Sox fans, it probably felt good to slay the dragon quickly. And a 6-0 lead after 2 innings, which increased to 8-1 after 4 innings, did just that. The World Series was a bit of a letdown afterwards, as the Red Sox quickly swept the St. Louis Cardinals, but for their fans, it was huge. For me, the drama of the ALCS and the satisfaction of the outcome was enough to get this team to number 10 on this list. 9. 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks The reasons for this entry are pretty similar to number 10, but without the tortured franchise history. Because, frankly, the Diamondbacks had no history. They were in just their 4th season of existence, and their purple-pinstriped vests were an... interesting sartorial choice. In fact, the franchise liked the look so much that they ditched it completely just 6 years later, changing the colours, logos, and even the general wording of the team name (which, please fix that). My reasons for cheering for the Diamondbacks were two-fold. First of all, the Yankees had won 4 of the last 5 World Series, and second of all, they had ruined the 116-win season of the number 7 team on this list, the Seattle Mariners, in the ALCS. But a bit more on that later. Unlike the Red Sox, the Diamondbacks came into this series with a very real chance of winning. And the reason was primarily two men: Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson. The numbers were a little terrifying. Regular Season Schilling - 22-6, 2.98 ERA, 256.2 IP, 293 K, 1.075 WHIP, 7.51 K/BB, 8.8 rWAR Johnson - 21-6, 2.49 ERA, 249.2 IP, 372 K, 1.009 WHIP, 5.24 K/BB, 10.0 rWAR Playoffs (first two rounds) Schilling - 3-0, 0.67 ERA, 27.0 IP, 3 CG, 30 K, 13 H, 4 BB Johnson - 2-1, 1.88 ERA, 24.0 IP, 1 CG, 28 K, 16 H, 5 BB The Diamondbacks decided to set up their rotation to have Schilling start up to 3 times in the World Series, giving him games 1, 4, and 7, and Johnson in games 2 and 6. Games 1 and 2 went exactly to plan for Arizona. Schilling went 7 innings in a 9-1 victory in game 1, and Johnson threw a shutout in a 4-0 victory in game 2. Game 3 featured a tight pitching performance between Brian Anderson and Roger Clemens, but the Yankees took the game 2-1 at home. Games 4 and 5 featured tough extra inning losses for Arizona behind blown saves from closer Byung-Hyun Kim despite 7 more innings of 1-run ball from Schilling in game 4. The series moved back to Arizona for game 6, and Randy Johnson provided 7 innings of strong 2-run pitching, but it was barely needed as Arizona scored 15 times in the first 4 innings and cruised to a victory. Game 7 brought Schilling back for his third start of the series, and 6th start of the playoffs overall. He would set a single-playoff innings record that would stand until 2014, and held the Yankees to 1 run through the first 7 innings opposite Roger Clemens. He came back out for the top of the 8th, but allowed a leadoff home run to Alfonso Soriano to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead. After he got an out, and Miguel Batista got a second out, Randy Johnson was brought in and ended up giving his team 4 outs to get them to the bottom of the 9th as Mariano Rivera came back out for a second inning. And then Rivera had a rare unraveling. After a leadoff single by Mark Grace, Damian Miller put down a bunt and Rivera couldn't make the force at 2nd, putting two men on. A second bunt was unsuccessful as the lead runner was thrown out at third, but then Tony Womack doubled to bring in the tying run, and Craig Counsell was hit by a pitch. This brought up Luis Gonzalez, and he got just enough. It was an exciting end to a tense World Series, but as with the previous entry, it was really the only time that I closely followed this franchise. By the way, the final playoff numbers for Johnson + Schilling: 11 GS + 1 relief game, 9-1, 89.2 IP, 13 ER, 1.30 ERA, 50 H, 14 BB, 103 K, 0.714 WHIP, 10.3 K/9 8. 2015 Toronto Blue Jays Spoiler alert: The next three entries did not win the World Series. In fact, none of them made it to the final round of the playoffs. But they were tremendously fun to follow. I started this blog just before the Blue Jays started their first playoff appearance in 22 years, and though the ending felt disappointing, it was an exciting season and a fun playoff run to the end. The Jays were a trendy pick to make the playoffs after some big additions before the 2013 season, and fell very flat, finishing with just 74 wins. People were slightly hopeful going into 2014, and the Jays improved by 9 games, but still finished well out of the playoffs. On July 28 of 2015, the Jays lost 3-2 to the Philadelphia Phillies to fall to 50-51 on the season. That day, they traded Jose Reyes, Miguel Castro, and two minor leaguers and added Troy Tulowitzki and LaTroy Hawkins, signaling that they were going to raise the stakes on their season. Two days later, they raised the stakes and traded for David Price, and then added Mark Lowe and Ben Revere in separate transactions on July 31, plus Cliff Pennington on August 8. They won their last 3 games in July, entering August at 53-51, then went 21-6 in August, plus 18-9 in September before a slight stumble in the last week of the season took them to a 93-69 finish, and an American League East title. I covered their team in some detail in October, but they went into their first round matchup with the Texas Rangers as heavy favourites, but stumbled out of the gate, losing the first two games at home before winning two straight games in Texas, and then famously winning game 5 in explosive fashion after a wild 7th inning. This set them up for an ALCS matchup with the Kansas City Royals, who had finished 2 games ahead of the Jays after their stumble at the end of the season, giving them home field advantage. I can't say for sure that the series would have turned out differently if the roles had been reversed, but it is a slight question for Jays fans who felt that the season ended prematurely. I covered this in some agonizing detail last October, but the Jays (and everybody, ultimately) fell to the Royals when they either failed to put them away, or failed to come through on offense. This team was a lot of Canada's reintroduction to playoff baseball, and hopefully it will help build a new generation of fans, as I really got hooked on baseball at a young age when the Jays won their back-to-back World Series in the early 90s. It was a fun team, full of characters and character. Fans of other teams didn't always like the emotion that Jays players displayed, but I like a team that looks like they're having fun playing and cares about the outcome. This group might have jumped a couple of levels if they had managed to win a championship, but I will remember them as one of my favourite single season teams in a while. 6a. 1999 New York Mets While I'll go into this in some more detail further down this list and in a future entry, my first favourite player in baseball was John Olerud, who was a key member of the back-to-back World Champion Blue Jays. When he was traded away to the New York Mets after the Jays suffered through 2 poor seasons in 1995 and 1996, I shifted my focus to New York for the 1997 to 1999 seasons. The Jays mistakenly thought that Olerud's best days were behind him, and he rewarded the Mets with three excellent seasons before moving on to Seattle. I chose the 1999 version of the Mets to represent that group of teams mostly to fulfill the "Good" portion of the criteria listed above. While the Mets played pretty well in 1997 and 1998, winning 88 games both years, they also missed the playoffs both years. In 1999, when they added third baseman Robin Ventura to solidify the infield, things really came together. Led by what some were calling "The Best Infield Ever?", the Mets infielders were worth 81 runs defensively, and by Baseball-Reference, totaled just over 21 WAR combined. That combined with another excellent season from slugging catcher Mike Piazza and ageless wonder Rickey Henderson, who put together a .315/.423/.466 slash line at age 40, and the Mets finished the season at 96-66 to tie the Cincinnati Reds for the wild card after winning the last game of the season on a wild pitch. This set up a one-game playoff with Cincinnati, and Al Leiter was brilliant, throwing a 2-hit shutout to help the Mets advance. In the Division Series, they faced the Arizona Diamondbacks, who had won 100 games in just their second season, and featured ace Randy Johnson. Johnson struggled a bit in game 1, however, giving up a 1st inning home run to Edgardo Alfonzo, and a rare home run to a left-handed hitter when Olerud took him deep in the 3rd inning. The Mets would end up winning game 1 by a score of 8-4. The Diamondbacks came back and took game 2 by a 7-1 score, but when the series moved to New York, the Mets cruised to a 9-2 victory in game 3, setting up a dramatic game 4. The Mets took a 2-1 lead into the top of the 8th before the Diamondbacks scored twice in the top of the inning. They tied the game on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 8th, and both teams were held scoreless in the 9th inning. In the bottom of the 10th inning, Todd Pratt came up with 1 out and nobody on, and took Matt Mantei deep to center field, letting the Mets win the series in a walkoff. In the NLCS, the Mets faced their nemesis, the Atlanta Braves. The Mets had gone 3-9 against the Braves in each of the last two seasons, and the Braves were in the middle of a run of 14 consecutive division titles. Game 1 saw Greg Maddux handle the Mets in a 4-2 victory for the Braves, and game 2 went no better as Kevin Millwood took care of the Mets on the way to a 4-3 Braves victory. In game 3, things went from bad to worse for the Mets as Tom Glavine shut them down completely, leading to a 1-0 Braves victory, and putting them on the brink of elimination. In game 4, the Mets had to face 1998 Cy Young award winner and annual playoff star John Smoltz. Rick Reed was able to match zeros with Smoltz through the top of the 6th before Olerud gave the Mets their first lead since game 2 and only the second of the series with a solo home run off of Smoltz. In the top of the 8th, with Reed having allowed just one single all game, Brian Jordan and Ryan Klesko broke the tie and took the lead on back-to-back home runs to start the inning. Things looked dire for the Mets going into the bottom of the 8th with Smoltz still pitching before a leadoff single and a failed bunt chased Smoltz. Mike Remlinger came in and got a strikeout but then gave up a walk. Lefty John Rocker was brought in to face Olerud, a seeming advantage for the Braves as Rocker had chewed up lefties all year long. After a double steal by Roger Cedeno and Melvin Mora, Olerud came through again with a 2-run single to center field, which would hold up for a 3-2 win after Armando Benitez shut down the Braves in the top of the 9th. Game 5 brought Greg Maddux back. This time, the Mets wasted no time in taking the lead, when Olerud took Maddux deep for a 2-run home run in the bottom of the 1st inning. The Braves would get the runs back in the top of the 4th before the teams settled into a scoreless groove that took them all the way to the 15th inning. In the top of the 15th, the Braves scored a go-ahead run on a triple by Keith Lockhart. In the bottom of the inning the Mets put the first two hitters on with a single and a walk before sacrificing them over to 2nd and 3rd. An intentional walk to Olerud loaded the bases with one out, and an unintentional walk to Todd Pratt tied the game at 3, bringing up Robin Ventura. Ventura would finish his career with a line of .340/.376/.676 with the bases loaded, including 18 grand slam home runs, good for a tie for 5th all time. Ventura took pitcher Kevin McGlinchy deep for what would eventually be called a grand slam single as he was mobbed so thoroughly after passing first base that he never finished rounding the bases. In game 6, the series was back in Atlanta. Al Leiter was pulled in the first inning after allowing 5 runs without getting a single out. In the 6th, the Mets scored 3 times to pull closer at 5-3, but the Braves would score twice in the bottom of the inning to lead 7-3. In the top of the 7th, a double by Rickey Henderson scored one, then a single by Olerud scored another, before Mike Piazza tied the game at 7 with a home run. The Mets took an 8-7 lead in the top of the 8th, but the Braves tied it in the bottom of the 8th. That held to the 10th inning, where the Mets took a 9-8 lead against John Rocker. The Braves, however, tied the game back up in the bottom of the inning. In the bottom of the 11th, the Mets run finally ended when the Braves won 10-9 on a walkoff walk. This was John Olerud's last game in a Mets uniform, and his next franchise is the second part of the tie for 6th place 6b. 2001 Seattle Mariners After the 1999 season, Olerud went home to Seattle, where he would play until mid-2004. Fun fact (if you're not a Yankees fan): Olerud went to the Yankees in 2004, and was their starting first baseman in the playoffs. He was injured in game 3 of the ALCS, and the Yankees would not win another game (as previously documented). I chose the 2001 Mariners to represent this 3 and a half year run, as it was by far the most successful. The Mariners won over 90 games in 2000, 2002, and 2003, but just missed the playoffs in 2002 and 2003. In 2001, they had come off consecutive seasons of losing future Hall of Fame pitcher Randy Johnson, future Hall of Fame center fielder Ken Griffey Jr, and future Hall of Famer (if not for all of the scandals) Alex Rodriguez. The Oakland Athletics had an incredible season, winning 102 games. The Mariners would win the American League West by 14 games. Behind Rookie of the Year and MVP Ichiro Suzuki, and standout performances from Bret Boone, Mike Cameron, John Olerud, and Edgar Martinez, the Mariners exploded to a 20-5 record in April, and would not win less than 2/3 of their games in any calendar month. They rolled into the All Star Break at 63-24, and in front of Seattle fans, 8 Mariners would represent the American League in a 4-1 victory, including DH Edgar Martinez, 1B John Olerud, 2B Bret Boone, CF Mike Cameron, RF Ichiro Suzuki, SP Freddy Garcia, RP Jeff Nelson, and RP Kazuhiro Sazaki. In the second half, they would "slump" all the way to 53-22 in the second half, finishing with 116 wins, tied for the most all time in a season. They clinched the division with their 106th win on September 9, and after a hiatus following the events of 9-11, they earned their 116th win on October 6th against $254MM former Mariner Alex Rodriguez. Unfortunately one of the most memorable baseball moments of their season was blowing a 12-run lead in an August game against Cleveland. And if you remember entry number 9 up above, their season ended earlier than hoped. The Mariners faced those same Indians in the Division Series, and immediately struggled against then-young Bartolo Colon, losing game 1 by a 5-0 score. They came back and won game 2 by a 5-1 score to take the series back to Cleveland. The potent Cleveland offense destroyed the Mariners pitching staff in game 3 as the Indians won by a 17-2 score. Game 4 went better as the Mariners won 6-2, scoring all 6 runs in the 7th to 9th innings. They finally closed out the Indians in game 5, as a solid performance from Jamie Moyer got them a 3-1 victory and sent them through to the ALCS against the Yankees. Against the Yankees, the Mariners lack of a dominant ace pitcher came back to bite them, as they lost game 1 by a 4-2 score at home, then game 2 by a 3-2 score. The Mariners offense would wake up in game 3, as home runs from Olerud, Jay Buhner, and Bret Boone would give them a 14-3 victory. Closer Kaz Sazaki would falter in game 4, as the Mariners lost 3-1 on a walkoff home run by Alfonso Soriano. The series would end in game 5 in New York, as Seattle was blown out by a 12-3 score. They have not been back to the playoffs since. The team played well the next two seasons, but in the one wild card model, they missed the playoffs both years, before things fell apart and they let Olerud go during the 2004 season. This definitely ended up as a "what might have been" season given their extraordinary success in the regular season, but it was a fun run to follow. I had planned to do all 10 teams in this entry, but at nearly 4000 words already, I decided it might be best to split it here. The top 5 teams will come next. I hope this series is as fun to read as it has been to write and reminisce about so far. By request of Joel, let's try to pick out an interesting feature of each MLB stadium. For purely physical dimension information of the ballparks, click here. For no particular reason, I'm going by division, just to put in separators. For information about park factors, check these out, and then I won't rehash too much.
Started with all AL stadiums in Part 1, now lets go with the NL gang. The AL group may have gotten a little "fact-heavy", so this one may be a little shorter in the hopes of having more interesting facts. National League East New York Mets (Citi Field) - Part of a grand New York, New York double opening in 2009 (Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium were both replaced that year), the exterior was built to evoke memories of old Ebbets Field, but did bring along one of the few beloved parts of Shea Stadium - the Home Run Big Apple. Washington Nationals (Nationals Park) - Nationals Park is a harder one to find anything interesting about without just punching in facts. On parkfactors.com, they note "The park has generic dimensions (337-377-402-370-335) and no special on-field elements" as well as being neutral for offense. The most interesting thing about Nationals Park is probably watching Bryce Harper play. Seriously, check him out. He's 22 and having one of the all-time seasons, living up to his SI cover at age 16. Philadelphia Phillies (Citizens Bank Park) - The Bank has been one of the most homer-happy stadiums in the league since it opened, though not for any particularly odd physical dimensions. It has a neon Liberty Bell that lights up and "rings" when the home team goes yard. Beyond this, it is yet another retro modern classic new build. Unfortunately for the local fans, the home 9 have been pretty dreadful the last couple of years, but that comes off of being a dominant team for about 5 years, so it's just your typical rebuild cycle that most non-Yankees and non-Cardinals fans have to deal with. Miami Marlins (Marlins Park) - This is the current newest stadium in the league, and was met with derision when it first opened, along with the teams brand new colours and all-new lineup (featuring Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle...). The team was torn up by spendthrift owner Jeffrey Loria when they didn't immediately win (and I mean immediately, they started the rebuild mid-season). They feature a bizarre home run statue that many mock, though some people have said that it's actually pretty fun and artistic in person. Seriously though, take a good long look at that. It gets active... Oh, and there's also an aquarium behind home plate. Atlanta Braves (Turner Field) - Lets not spend too long on this field. Though it's less than 20 years old (it opened for the Atlanta Olympics), owners managed to convince local taxpayers to help fund a brand new stadium that is full of problems already. Quote from the great Grant Brisbee "The new Braves ballpark is a political shitstorm and a mockery of the democratic process." There are other small issues, including the fact that the main parking will be across a freeway from a stadium, and that the proposed pedestrian bridge to the stadium won't be ready when the stadium opens in 2017, and currently may never be opened. This just in (not at all just in), taxpayers funding stadiums is a terrible idea. National League Central St. Louis Cardinals (Busch Stadium) - Besides being home to the self-noted "Best Fans in Baseball", Busch is much like most of the new retro stadiums. You can see the famed "Gateway Arch" in the background, but the fans are generally watching the field, since the home team has been one of the consistently best teams in baseball for a long time. Chicago Cubs (Wrigley Field) - The second oldest stadium in the league, pretty much all fans are familiar with the famed ivy-covered outfield walls. The single-level outfield bleachers and the North-side neighbourhood location also let fans see in from the rooftops of neighbouring buildings. Traditionalists love the stadium, but many note that the amenities and facilities are badly lacking at this point (it is over 100 years old). Despite its age, it is not as old as the Cubs' last World Series title, but the lovable losers always seem to draw fans to the homey atmosphere. Pittsburgh Pirates (PNC Park) - A frequent top mention for most scenic stadium (along with upcoming AT&T), it also joints AT&T as having water near enough to the stadium to be reachable by home runs, though much less often than in San Francisco. Besides the Home Run Derby in 2006, only two players have reached the river on the fly, though a few have hit it after a bounce or two (and one home run landed in a boat). Milwaukee Brewers (Miller Park) - The house that Bud built (Selig, not Weiser), features a big yellow slide that their mascot Bernie goes down when the Brewers hit a home run (and on Mother's Day 2014, he went down with "his mother"...). Games also feature a "Sausage Race", and in 2003, Pirates player Randall Simon knocked down the Italian Sausage with a blow to the head (of the sausage only, Wikipedia assures us that the runner herself was not hit), and in the fall, the hot dog was taken down as well. The Polish Sausage stopped and helped them up so that all sausages could finish the race. Sometimes I have to work for the humour, but this is all just fact, my friends. There have since been a number of parodies, which I won't recap here, just check the Wiki link. Cincinnati Reds (Great American Ball Park) - Another waterfront stadium (it actually replaced Riverfront stadium), it is a little tougher to reach on the fly, as only one has ever gotten there. Beyond that, it has a (getting not-that-exciting) home run statue which gets lit up often (it is an extreme home run park). National League West Los Angeles Dodgers (Dodger Stadium) - The oldest stadium besides Wrigley and Fenway, it's still seen as a jewel thanks to the scenic locale. Vin Scully has been calling home runs there since it opened (and longer than that - he's finishing his 66th season now, and ready for one more next year). It's main features are mostly in its history, since it has hosted 8 World Series and a number of Cy Young winners (though that might be due largely to its offense-deadening ocean atmosphere). San Francisco Giants (AT&T Park) - Possibly the crown jewel of all the stadiums, AT&T sits on McCovey Cove and is very reachable by powerful left-handed hitters, though overall it is the hardest stadium in the league for hitters. 104 home runs have reached the water on the fly, 35 by one Barry Bonds. Nobody yet has hit the glove though. Colorado Rockies (Coors Field) - Hoping to mitigate the offense-heavy thin-air atmosphere a mile above sea level, the Rockies made the second-largest outfield in the league. Home runs still fly out of the yard though, and so do doubles and triples into the gaps. They have even taken to putting balls into a humidor to try to deaden them a bit, but it still plays to the hitters more than any park in the league by a wide margin. This is the park where pitchers' careers go to die. See Neagle, Denny (though for other reasons than just pitching), and Hampton, Mike among many others. Arizona Diamondbacks (Chase Field) - The second retractable roof stadium built, this one is primarily to keep the fans cool in the Arizona heat rather than protection from rain. If the roof and air conditioning still aren't keeping you cool, you can also relax in the pool just past the center field wall. Just watch out for long fly balls. San Diego Padres (Petco Park) - Last but not least. But not best either. The stadium, like the team, kind of moves along relatively unnoticed. Petco is a nice park that shows off the San Diego skyline well, and integrates an old warehouse like Camden. Like the other west coast stadiums, the heavy ocean air wreaks havoc on hitters, but does well for the pitching staff. Alright, that was all for now. I've gotten some more requests already, so thanks for reading, and check back in a few days maybe for more. By request of Joel, let's try to pick out an interesting feature of each MLB stadium. For purely physical dimension information of the ballparks, click here. For no particular reason, I'm going by division, just to put in separators. For information about park factors, check these out, and then I won't rehash too much.
American League East Toronto Blue Jays (Skydome) - Start with the "team of the North", or whatever they're going with these days. Until this year, it was hard to remember that they had been the first team to hit 4 million fans in a season (which they did 1991-1993). But the fans do appear when the team is playing well, and their average attendance is up to 9th in the league so far. As far as the most unique feature of the Skydome (yes, lets keep calling it that), being the first stadium with a retractable roof. They are also one of only two stadiums now that don't have natural grass, though they're working on shortening that list to one. Tampa Bay Rays (Tropicana Field) - By most accounts the worst stadium in the league... there are a few interesting tidbits about it. Physically, at one point they did have a cutout in the left field wall. According to JP Morosi the team decided in 2007 that providing more opportunities for home run robberies for star left fielder Carl Crawford would be fun for the fans. And at that point, they hadn't provided much fun for the fans. It is visible in some pictures, though hard to specifically find in a search. Other tidbits include - the only stadium left with a non-retractable roof; the only other stadium with artificial turf, and at 31,042, by far the smallest seating capacity of any of the 30 stadiums (though Wikipedia notes that including the tarp covered seats, it can seat 42,735). New York Yankees (Yankee Stadium) - It is a little less unique now that they opened a new version in 2009. Some of its features include Monument Park (which was basically brought over from the old stadium. Checking out the physical dimension link from above, you can notice that their right field wall is way shorter than pretty much the other 29 stadia. Apparently from 2012-2014 an absurd 40% of left-handed hitters' fly balls went for home runs. Let's move on. Baltimore Orioles (Oriole Park at Camden Yards) - Camden was the first of the new "retro" fields built, which opened in 1992. Skydome had seemed like the hot new thing in 1989 with the retractable roof, but since then there has been a much more frequent move towards the more "classic" look. It is kind of the original hipster stadium. That being said, it is a better look than the Skydome. In terms of unique features, what comes up most often is probably the old warehouse beyond the right field bleachers. Integrating features of the city and skyline into the stadium in some way became popular with some of the new stadiums that came after this. And Ken Griffey Jr enjoyed it at the 1993 Home Run Derby. Boston Red Sox (Fenway Park) - A lot to pick from. The outfield alone gives a lot of quirks. It has the highest wall of all the stadiums (the famous Green Monster in left field) as well as the shortest wall of all the stadiums (the right field corner by Pesky Pole). It has the shortest left field line (310'), shortest right field line (302'), and shortest center field (390' - though it does jut out just right of center). All in all, the smallest fair territory of all the parks. That and it's the oldest stadium in the league, having opened in 1912. American League Central Kansas City Royals (Kauffman Stadium) - Kauffman has the largest fair territory of all the parks, which has been covered over the last year or two by the best outfield defense in the league. Of course, it's probably more famous for the fountains beyond left-center field. It was the last stadium that opened before Toronto's Skydome, with a surprisingly long 16-year gap between the two. For reference, in the 16 years after Skydome opened, 17 new stadiums opened (Tampa Bay, Chicago (White Sox), Baltimore, Cleveland, Texas, Colorado, Atlanta, Arizona, Seattle, Houston, Detroit, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, San Diego, Philadelphia). Minnesota Twins (Target Field) - The second newest park in the league doesn't have a lot of history, but does include one of the higher outfield walls (23' high in right field) which also has flower boxes on the top of that particular wall. The stadium it replaced was definitely quirky, but that's not what we're here for. They did put in a cool old-fashioned looking neon sign out beyond the wall. Detroit Tigers (Comerica Park) - Another new-ish stadium that replaced a fairly quirky classic. They do have some fun Tiger statues outside and along with many of the "modern retro" builds, do a good job of integrating the city skyline into the background. They also added a KC-like fountain in the outfield to go off when the home team hits a home run. Cleveland Indians (Progressive Field) - Another faux-retro stadium from the mid 1990's, then-Jacobs Field opened as the Indians started to actually play extremely well after a long period of mediocrity (which reached such depths that the movie Major League was focused on this franchise). In a data quirk, Wikipedia denotes Progressive as a Retro Modern stadium vs the Retro Classic that is Camden Yards. There are, in fact, 9 Retro Moderns, 12 Retro Classics, 3 Multipurpose, 1 Modern Retro Modern, 1 Modern Retro Classic, 1 Modern, 1 Contemporary, and 2 Jewel Box stadiums. Beyond that ballparksofbaseball.com notes that this is the only stadium with an associated retired number - 455, for the number of consecutive sellouts they had here from 1995-2001, a span that saw the Indians hit the playoffs 6 out of 7 years and lose twice in the World Series. This had ended a postseason drought of 41 years, so Jays fans don't have much to complain about yet. Chicago White Sox (U.S. Cellular Field) - The above noted "Modern Retro Classic" stadium opened after Skydome and the Trop, but before the explosion of new fields began. It's a bit of a non-descript park, which was criticized for not being in the style of the retro moderns/classics when Camden opened a year later. It seems to straddle the line of the old cookie-cutter bowl stadiums and the newer multi-dimensional stadiums. Due likely to the Windy City in which it resides, The Cell has ended up being one of the most extreme hitters parks in the league that isn't a mile above sea level. American League West Houston Astros (Minute Maid Park) - The Juice Box (nee Enron Field -- oops) replaced the "Eighth Wonder of the World" as the Astrodome was known. Leaving aside its birth name, Minute Maid features a number of physical quirks. Built at the site of an old train station, the left field wall beyond the grandstand features train tracks where a train rolls across the tracks for Astros home runs. The left field "Crawford Box" is the second shortest distance from home plate of any left field wall (315') after Fenway, but center field features the longest distance at 436' from home plate. Along with this distance, there is a 20 degree incline called Tal's Hill in center field with a flagpole in play. Texas Rangers (Globe Life Park in Arlington) - As much a hitters park as the Cell, Globe Life is affected by the hot, thin Texas air and has caused trouble for pitchers since it opened the same year as Progressive Field. Right field features a low-hanging covered grandstand in the style of old Tiger Stadium. The outside of the stadium features a brick architecture and is the only enclosed "retro" ballpark, with a 4-story office complex partially surrounding the field. Los Angeles Angels (Angel Stadium of Anaheim) - Angel Stadium is the 4th oldest stadium in the majors, with the 3 oldest all being seen as "true classics" (Fenway, Wrigley, Dodger). A big stadium with heavy coastal air, it is one of the most extreme pitchers parks in the league. It features a giant halo'd A outside the stadium and a rock pile and hedge garden beyond the outfield wall. Oakland Athletics (O.Co Coliseum) - Open as long as Angel Stadium, this still-multipurpose stadium is starting to come apart due to aging and sharing with the Raiders and their fans. Due to small crowds, huge swaths of seats are tarped off, reducing the seating to the second smallest capacity in the league at 35,067. With these seats open, O.Co would have the second largest capacity in the league at just under 56,000. Actively sharing the stadium with the NFL leads to some interesting views during September (and occasionally October) football games. "1st down, safe at second base". Oakland is attempting to build a new stadium in San Jose, but has been battling the Giants for territorial rights for several years. Seattle Mariners (Safeco Field) - Safeco has been the second toughest pitchers park in the league over recent years, which prompted changes to the physical dimensions of the field to try to help hitters out a bit. Unfortunately there isn't much to be done to help the heavy sea air in Seattle. Playing in the rainy Northwest demanded a retractable roof, to prevent frequent rainouts, though unlike the Skydome, the ballpark is covered but not enclosed. Alright, I was going to do all 30 in one post, but this is already at over 1600 words, so lets break it into the two leagues. |
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Greg JacksonA baseball fan in general. Interested in statistics and analytics. Usually follow the Giants and Blue Jays, fan of all MLB in general. |