This moment summarized the whole season. Which is why I had it immortalized on my wall. Thanks Rip!I can't stop watching this.
Nice! Yeah, I keep coming back to it as a pretty good explainer for the entire season.The year of the Mook!
This moment summarized the whole season. Which is why I had it immortalized on my wall. Thanks Rip!
Ok, I don't have it yet, but when I do, it'll look damn good up on my wall.
Thanks for the kind words. Here's a time lapse video of the drawing being created:This moment summarized the whole season. Which is why I had it immortalized on my wall. Thanks Rip!
Ok, I don't have it yet, but when I do, it'll look damn good up on my wall.
Pastel pornThanks for the kind words. Here's a time lapse video of the drawing being created:
Congrats, Mookie!
What a great moment. "I'm telling ya, it's time to party!"I can't stop watching this.
I totally should have let you post that here but I got too excited!Thanks for the kind words. Here's a time lapse video of the drawing being created:
Congrats, Mookie!
I can understand JD over Mookie. If a writer really likes clutch hitting and RBI, JD was the guy. It's kind of dumb, but whatever. I don't understand Trout over Mookie. Mookie did all the same things Trout does as well or better than him this year. Maybe the writer was super into IBB fueled OBP.Looks like Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star Telegram voted Trout-Betts, which I'd call defensible, and Dave Campbell, the Twins beat writer for AP voted JDM-Betts. Also defensible.
JDM got two 2nd place votes, Bregman one, Jose Ramirez one, and Trout 24. Good job, everybody.
This is my favorite AB of 2018. Mookie's shouting at the dugout after that bomb was the icing. He is just a joy to watch play baseball and deserves every award and dollar he gets for what he has done thus far.I can't stop watching this.
So much emotion for a game in July. It was unforgettable. I'm sure it had an impact on the team.This is my favorite AB of 2018. Mookie's shouting at the dugout after that bomb was the icing. He is just a joy to watch play baseball and deserves every award and dollar he gets for what he has done thus far.
A reminder that WAR isn't a stat, it's a concept/framework. Yaz is #3 on the rWAR list, but “just” #20 on the fWAR list.And Yaz is #3 on the all-time season WAR list - wow!
That is one of the most amazing things I ever watched. Happ made about 7 exceptional pitches, and the homer was a good pitch too.I can't stop watching this.
If you ever have 5 free minutes and want to put yourself in a better mood, keep picking out individual fans behind home plate and watch their reactions when Mookie hits it (at about 8:09). For many of them the camera cuts away just after the moment of realization and it's a joy to watch.I can't stop watching this.
I always try to identify all of the players on those BBREF collage pages by their pics. That’s the first time I’ve been able to get them all. Honus Wagner was the only one that was a bit tough. Good company for Mookie all right.The photos at the top of this page should end all debate:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/WAR_bat_season.shtml
Pretty good company.
I've been thinking about this. Without looking at the WAR list, because I think that's boring, how does Mookie's season rank in the annals of Red Sox history?Congratulations to Mookie on one of the greatest individual seasons in Red Sox history, nicely complementing the greatest season in team history!!
A good list. I'd have to put Yaz 67 and Williams 46 at the top since both seasons led teams that broke generation-long WS droughts, and both are at or near the top in objective value as well.I've been thinking about this. Without looking at the WAR list, because I think that's boring, how does Mookie's season rank in the annals of Red Sox history?
Competitors would be:
Yaz triple crown in 1967
Ted triple crown in 1942 (or .406 in 1941 (or 46 or 47, I guess - he was pretty good))
Clemens in 1986 (or 1990? Forgot how amazing that season was for him)
Pedro in 1999 (I know 2000 is better by ERA+, but I'm partial to 1999, given the playoff performance)
Rice in 1978
Tris Speaker in 1912 (I dunno; B-Ref really likes that season, but I didn't see it with my own eyes, ya know)
Maybe even Jacoby in 2011?
Mookie's gotta be 1, 2, or 3, I think.
I knew he had some great seasons, and legitimately deserved the MVP in 91, even if the Orioles only won 67 games, but I never realized Ripken had that good of a season by WAR. Amazing what you can learn from jumping down bref rabbit holes. Question, though. Who would lose a series between the 1991 orioles and the 2018 orioles, if the 1991 Orioles didn't have Ripken (and the 2018 Orioles didn't have Machado at all).The photos at the top of this page should end all debate:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/WAR_bat_season.shtml
Pretty good company.
The one that surprised me the most was Rico Petrocelli’s 10 WAR year in 1969. He’s tied with Ripken (1984,) Hornsby (1922,) Lajoie (1906,) Speaker (1915)and Bryce Harper (2015.)I knew he had some great seasons, and legitimately deserved the MVP in 91, even if the Orioles only won 67 games, but I never realized Ripken had that good of a season by WAR. Amazing what you can learn from jumping down bref rabbit holes. Question, though. Who would lose a series between the 1991 orioles and the 2018 orioles, if the 1991 Orioles didn't have Ripken (and the 2018 Orioles didn't have Machado at all).
That's beyond interesting, that's kinda crazy. Also that you used to be ineligible if you had won one before and in 1929 they decided to drop the award in the AL. WTF?I posted this on social media last night and thought that it was interesting:
In the 1930s: Jimmie Foxx won the MVP
40s: Ted Williams (x2)
50s: Jackie Jensen
60s: Carl Yastrzemski
70s: Fred Lynn and Jim Rice
80s: Roger Clemens
90s: Mo Vaughn
00s: Dustin Pedroia
10s: Mookie Betts
No other MLB team has had an MVP per decade streak like the Boston Red Sox. Further, if the Sox had an MVP in the 1920s, the streak would reach 11 decades in a row because Tris Speaker won the award in the 1910s.
A story about the early history of the MVP/Chalmers Award was just posted yesterday.That's beyond interesting, that's kinda crazy. Also that you used to be ineligible if you had won one before and in 1929 they decided to drop the award in the AL. WTF?
That you, that was an extremely interesting read.A story about the early history of the MVP/Chalmers Award was just posted yesterday.
https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/re-examining-the-chalmers-award/
If Harry Frazee hadn’t sold Babe Ruth down the river, there’s your Red Sox 20s MVP.I posted this on social media last night and thought that it was interesting:
In the 1930s: Jimmie Foxx won the MVP
40s: Ted Williams (x2)
50s: Jackie Jensen
60s: Carl Yastrzemski
70s: Fred Lynn and Jim Rice
80s: Roger Clemens
90s: Mo Vaughn
00s: Dustin Pedroia
10s: Mookie Betts
No other MLB team has had an MVP per decade streak like the Boston Red Sox. Further, if the Sox had an MVP in the 1920s, the streak would reach 11 decades in a row because Tris Speaker won the award in the 1910s.
No matter what people may have told you, there's been a lot of great baseball players at Fenway Park for a long time.
The question for SoSH is, how would you rank those MVP seasons in order of greatness?
Give me Ted’s .406 season in 1941. How many of us will ever see another .400 season? Never say never, but, I don’t think I will. 1941 was Ted’s best offensive WAR season too. For some reason, his fielding was worse in 1941 than in 1946 (switch from RF to LF?).A good list. I'd have to put Yaz 67 and Williams 46 at the top since both seasons led teams that broke generation-long WS droughts, and both are at or near the top in objective value as well.
After that, Mookie 2018 and Spoke 1912, probably in that order.
While we're talking 1912, Smoky Joe Wood's season belongs in there somewhere: 344 innings, 1.91 ERA, 35 complete games, 10 shutouts. Utterly dominant, very much in the same vein as Pedro 1999-2000 and Clemens 1990.
I didn't know that we could indirectly thank Ty Cobb for the current MVP award switching from strictly batting average to overall performance, the addition of a character component, and the writers in each city voting. All these things we argue about are barely changed for the last 100 years.That you, that was an extremely interesting read.
My favorites were the changeup Mookie sqibbed in the dirt and the one he just barely got the very end of the bat on. It's a game of millimeters...That is one of the most amazing things I ever watched. Happ made about 7 exceptional pitches, and the homer was a good pitch too.
A good list. I'd have to put Yaz 67 and Williams 46 at the top since both seasons led teams that broke generation-long WS droughts, and both are at or near the top in objective value as well.
After that, Mookie 2018 and Spoke 1912, probably in that order.
While we're talking 1912, Smoky Joe Wood's season belongs in there somewhere: 344 innings, 1.91 ERA, 35 complete games, 10 shutouts. Utterly dominant, very much in the same vein as Pedro 1999-2000 and Clemens 1990.
You have some talent, son!Thanks for the kind words. Here's a time lapse video of the drawing being created:
Congrats, Mookie!