Latest news with #Cooperstown
Associated Press
11-06-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
This Date in Baseball - Alex Rodriguez ties Lou Gehrig's record by hitting his 23rd grand slam
June 12 1922 — Hub Pruett struck out Babe Ruth three consecutive times, and the St. Louis Browns beat the New York Yankees 7-1. 1928 — Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees had two triples and two homers in a 15-7 victory over the Chicago White Sox. 1939 — The Baseball Hall of Fame was dedicated at Cooperstown, N.Y. 1954 — Milwaukee's Jim Wilson pitched the year's only no-hitter, blanking the Philadelphia Phillies 2-0. 1957 — Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals broke the National League record for endurance when he played in his 823rd consecutive game. The previous mark was established in 1937 by Pirates first baseman Gus Suhr. 1959 — The San Francisco Giant's Mike McCormick tossed a 3-0, five-inning no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies. Richie Ashburn singled in the top of the sixth for the Phillies, but the hit didn't count because the game was stopped by rain. 1962 — In Milwaukee's 15-2 rout of Los Angeles at County Stadium, the Aaron brothers both homer in the same game with Tommie connecting in the bottom of the eighth after his older brother Hank had hit one out in the second. 1970 — Dock Ellis of the Pittsburgh Pirates hurled a 2-0 no-hitter in the first game of a doubleheader against the San Diego Padres. Ellis walked eight and hit a batter, and Willie Stargell hit two homers. 1981 — Thirteen games were canceled due to the players' strike. 1997 — After 126 years, baseball broke its tradition and played interleague games. The San Francisco beat the Texas Rangers 4-3. 1999 — Cal Ripken went 6-for-6, homering twice and driving in six runs as the Baltimore Orioles scored the most runs in franchise history with a 22-1 rout of the Atlanta Braves. 2006 — Jason Grimsley was suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball, less than a week after federal agents raided his home during an investigation into performance-enhancing drugs. 2007 — Justin Verlander pitched a no-hitter to lead the Detroit Tigers over the Milwaukee Brewers 4-0. Verlander struck out a career-high 12, walked four and benefited from several stellar defensive plays. 2009 — Chicago right fielder Milton Bradley had a bad day at Wrigley Field. Bradley lost Jason Kubel's pop-up in the sun for a single, couldn't catch Michael Cuddyer's RBI bloop double, made a baserunning blunder and, most egregiously, flipped the ball into the stands after catching Mauer's one-out sac fly. 2009 — New York Mets second baseman Luis Castillo dropped Alex Rodriguez's lazy popup with two outs in the ninth inning as two runs scored, helping the Yankees escape with a wild 9-8 victory over the Mets. 2010 — Daniel Nava hit the first pitch he saw as a big leaguer for a grand slam — only the second player to do it — leading the Boston Red Sox to a 10-2 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies. Nava connected on a fastball from Joe Blanton in the second inning. Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a slam on the first pitch he saw Sept. 2, 2006, for Cleveland against Texas. 2011 — Realignment is on the table again as Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association are in discussions to renew the collective bargaining agreement, which expires on December 11th. One of the options being discussed would see one team moving from the National League to the American League to create two 15-team leagues, with the Houston Astros the likeliest candidate for a move. 2012 — Alex Rodriguez ties Lou Gehrig's record by hitting his 23rd career grand slam. 2016 — Sam Cohen put UC Santa Barbara into its first College World Series with a pinch-hit grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 4-3 victory over second-seeded Louisville 4-3 in the Super Regionals. 2017 — Royce Lewis, a high school shortstop from California, is selected first overall by the Minnesota Twins in the 2017 amateur draft. 2018 — Tigers 1B Miguel Cabrera suffers a season-ending injury when he tears a biceps tendon while swinging at pitch in the 3rd inning of a game against the Twins. He had already missed all but one game of May with a hamstring injury. _____
Fox News
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Alex Rodriguez has bittersweet reaction to Pete Rose's Hall of Fame eligibility
Pete Rose may finally be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2028. December 2027 is the first time MLB's all-time hits leader will officially be considered for a plaque in Cooperstown after Major League Baseball announced last month that those on the game's ineligible list are taken off after they die. The Hall ruled in 1991 that it would follow MLB's ineligible list and not consider anyone on it. Now that Rose is off, he is eligible for induction through the Hall's Classic Era Committee, which does not meet for another 2½ years. If and when Rose gets in, he will not be there to celebrate it. He died in September at the age of 83. For Alex Rodriguez, who has a compelling Cooperstown case of his own, it's bittersweet. "It makes me happy and sad at the same time because Pete was such a friend, and I know that his heart ached a lot because he wasn't in," Rodriguez, who worked with Rose at FOX, said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital. "I wish more than anything that that could have been done while he was alive. "You know, I always say that eulogies should be done when you're living, not when you're dead, because some of the nicest things about people are never heard by the principal. But, you know, hopefully his family enjoys it, and I know that he's somewhere watching it. And I hope that he's happy and proud. We are, certainly." The former New York Yankees star, though, isn't focused on whether the argument for Rose would eventually help his own cause, considering his performance-enhancing drug involvement. "It's not my argument to fight. I'm just trying to do the best I can with my life and the back nine of my life and trying to do things the right way. I've learned from my mistakes. I've moved on. I hope to get in one day, but, again, I think I'll let other people fight that fight for me," he said. Rose admitted to gambling in 2004 after years of claiming his innocence. He died in September and predicted 10 days before his death he would not make the Hall of Fame until after he died, if at all. It was determined that Rose gambled on the Reds, only to win, while he was both a manager and a player. It was reported more recently, though, that Rose also gambled on baseball before he became a manager. He was ruled ineligible in 1989 and was never reinstated while he was alive despite numerous attempts. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
New York Post
09-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
DJ LeMahieu in a battle with time that could be nearing Yankees breaking point
Access the Yankees beat like never before Don't miss Greg Joyce's text messages from The Bronx and beyond — he's giving Sports+ subscribers the inside buzz on the Yankees. Sign Up Now DJ LeMahieu is not a Hall of Famer. But his credentials — notably, four Gold Gloves, three All-Star appearances, two batting titles and a pair of top four AL MVP finishes — will land him on the Cooperstown ballot five years after his career concludes. And while that is not immortality, it is a great accomplishment, signaling a career in the top 10 percent all time. Advertisement He has that. And respect. To play with LeMahieu — at LSU, with the Rockies or the Yankees — is to know how fiercely dedicated he is to his craft, and what a good, serious teammate he has been. 'From the second he showed up here [in 2019] and he wasn't even a starting player and ended up leading us to the playoffs playing any position without saying a word,' Aaron Judge said. 'He has always been on the top of that list [of admired teammates] in this clubhouse' 'He is a quiet leader,' hitting coach James Rowson said. 'He doesn't say a lot, but he says a lot by how he goes about his business.'
New York Times
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
MLB All-Quarter Century Team: How the readers voted — with several close calls
The polls have closed. The winners are plotting their agendas. The losers are drafting their concessions. With 100 percent of precincts reporting and more than 12,000 votes tallied, The Athletic is ready to call the MLB All-Quarter Century Team for the following players who have dominated the 2000s: Jose Altuve. Adrián Beltré. Barry Bonds. Trevor Hoffman. Derek Jeter. Randy Johnson. Clayton Kershaw. Pedro Martinez. Shohei Ohtani. Buster Posey. Albert Pujols. Mariano Rivera. Max Scherzer. Ichiro Suzuki. Mike Trout. Justin Verlander. Advertisement That's 14 Cy Young awards, 18 MVP awards and 20 World Series championships since the end of the 1990s. That's 1,064 victories, 1,253 saves, 2,822 home runs, 19,761 hits and countless moments that will play in our memories forever. Some of those folks already have a plaque in Cooperstown. The rest will be there soon. And Bonds — well, he's got a place here, anyway. Pretty much the same thing, don't you think? Enough preamble. Let's get to it! Here's a look at the voting results, position by position, for our readers' team of the quarter century. Miguel Cabrera wasn't just any hitter. He's one of only three players in history with 500 homers, 3,000 hits and a .300 career average. The others? Hank Aaron and Willie Mays — and neither of those guys won a Triple Crown, as Cabrera did in 2012. For Albert Pujols to win so decisively, then, is a powerful commentary on his resume. He's second to Aaron on the career list for RBIs and total bases. He's the only player in history with 700 homers, 3,000 hits and multiple championships. And he was a titan of October, with a .995 OPS, an MVP award (2004 NLCS) and a three-homer game in the 2011 World Series. Of course, Pujols was at his best with the Cardinals, posting only 12.6 WAR (Baseball Reference) in the 10 years after leaving in December 2011. But while Cabrera's late-career fade wasn't quite as long, it was much worse: .262/.329/.381 in his final seven seasons, for minus-2.5 WAR. And Pujols left on a high, with a triumphant encore in 2022 that secured his spot in the pantheon of greats. Down-ballot surprise: Joey Votto got more votes than Paul Goldschmidt and Todd Helton — combined! Helton's in Cooperstown. Goldschmidt has more homers, RBIs, stolen bases and WAR than Votto, and is currently staging a revival with a humble little outfit known as the New York Yankees. But the people love Votto, an on-base force with a wit to match who seems certain to join Helton — and probably Goldschmidt, too — in the Hall of Fame. No broadcasting family has seen more second-base stardom in the 2000s than Harry and Todd Kalas. Harry — the late, great voice of the Phillies — narrated Chase Utley's rise in Philadelphia. His son, Todd, has called most of Jose Altuve's career as TV play-by-play man for the Houston Astros. The readers chose Altuve, a three-time batting champion with a .305 career average and nearly 2,300 hits — some 400 more than Utley, who batted .275 and has the edge in WAR (64.6 to 52.7), homers and RBIs. It's a tough call, but here's Altuve's winning case: 'He's on his way to a Hall of Fame career, and 3,000 hits is certainly in his scope,' Todd Kalas said. 'He has over 100 games played in the postseason, and only Manny Ramirez has more postseason home runs. Altuve has been a big part of the golden era of Astros baseball, one of the leaders on the team, and it's hard to imagine all of those years of success without him. Even this year, he decided to play left field to help the team as much as possible. He's a selfless player who wants to win more than anything. 'All those factors lead me to believe that the fans got this one right,' Kalas continued, 'but Dad would probably still say: 'Chase Utley, you are the man!'' Down-ballot surprise: Robinson Canó over Dustin Pedroia In the second decade of this quarter century (2010 to 2019), nobody had more hits than Robinson Canó, with 1,695. But the number that seems more likely to define him is 2, as in his career suspensions for performance-enhancing drugs. Even so, Canó easily outpaced Dustin Pedroia in the voting (1,708 to 1,334), despite Pedroia's clean reputation and his advantage in MVPs, championships, Gold Gloves, on-base percentage and stolen bases. When the 1990s ended, Derek Jeter had already won three World Series championship rings. Then he started the 2000s by winning the MVP award in the All-Star Game and the World Series in the same season. Francisco Lindor, meanwhile, was 16 years old. He's made up ground quickly, and actually has more WAR in this quarter century than Jeter (51.2 to 47.9), primarily because of his superior glovework and a slightly better OPS (.817 to .806). But Jeter earned this emphatic victory by hitting .307 in the 2000s (33 points higher than Lindor), with six 200-hit seasons, nine 100-run seasons, nine .300 seasons — and two more World Series titles. Advertisement Down-ballot surprise: Lindor tripled Jimmy Rollins' vote total Jimmy Rollins somehow hasn't topped 18 percent in his four years on the Hall of Fame ballot — and readers of The Athletic seem just as dismissive. Rollins is one of only two shortstops with 850 extra-base hits and 450 stolen bases; the other is Honus Wagner. Yet Rollins finished third here, far behind Lindor, who thumped him in total votes, 2,777 to 905. First, his Minnesota Timberwolves fell just short of the NBA Finals. Now Alex Rodriguez finishes just shy of making The Athletic's All-Quarter Century Team. While many of his statistics dwarfed Adrian Beltré's in the 2000s — a .935 to .824 edge in OPS, a 548 to 455 edge in home runs, an 11 to 4 edge in All-Star nods — Rodriguez lost in a narrow vote to the Hall of Famer. His multiple dalliances with performance-enhancing drugs certainly didn't help. That said, the winner has no reason to apologize: Beltré actually had the exact same WAR total as Rodriguez in the 2000s, right down to the decimal point — 89.7. Down-ballot surprise: Scott Rolen finished 7th of 8. Third base is the least represented defensive position in the Hall of Fame, with just 19 members. But from the looks of it, that could change soon. Rolen has a spot in Cooperstown, but finished behind three active third basemen: Nolan Arenado, José Ramírez and Manny Machado. If you like Gold Gloves, longevity and the ability to communicate with pitchers the way Robert Redford whispered to horses, Yadier Molina's your guy. If you liked Silver Sluggers, concentrated greatness and World Series titles, Buster Posey's your pick. Our readers were basically split, with Posey edging Molina by only 57 votes. The championship edge was slim — three for Posey, two for Molina — but Posey earned it, with the Giants beating the Cardinals twice in the NLCS. Down-ballot surprise: Salvador Perez got twice as many votes as Jorge Posada. Here's another example of why New York bias is a myth. Perez has played his entire career in Kansas City. Posada was a career Yankee. Perez's career slash line: .266/.302/.455. Posada's career slash line: .273/.374/.474. Posada has a big edge in WAR and championships. But Perez was a World Series MVP in 2015, owns five Gold Gloves (Posada has none), recently passed Posada in career homers — and crushed him in votes here, 563 to 288. The next time you wonder why Barry Bonds has never been elected to the Hall of Fame, remember this: 75 percent, the threshold for enshrinement via the writers' ballot, is a huge number. Even here, in an election with no clause for character, integrity and sportsmanship, Bonds couldn't amass three-quarters of the vote. To recap, Bonds essentially broke the sport in the first eight years of the 2000s, winning four MVP awards while slashing .322/.517/.724. Of the 356 players with at least 4,000 plate appearances in the 2000s, Bonds' 1.241 OPS is by far the best — the runner-up, Aaron Judge, is at 1.022. Down-ballot surprise: Lance Berkman, the forgotten superstar Let's pause for a moment to hail our fifth-place finisher, Lance Berkman. In the 2000s, Berkman hit .294 with a .407 on-base percentage, .539 slugging percentage and 362 home runs. Only one player can match him in all four categories: Mike Trout. Berkman also hit .410 in two World Series and saved the Cardinals from elimination when they were down to their last strike in the wildest October game of the era. Criminally overlooked. We all know that Mike Trout has spent far too much of the 2020s on the injured list. But while he's largely been out of sight — he's back now from a knee injury — Trout was front of mind for our voters. His 9,451 votes were the most of any position player in the poll. That's appropriate. From his 2012 Rookie of the Year season through 2019, Trout averaged 9 WAR per year, with a .308/.422/.587 slash line. He won three MVP awards and was runner-up four times, the definition of dominance in his prime. Down-ballot surprise: Andruw Jones at less than 5 percent While Andruw Jones started wowing us in the 1996 World Series, most of his achievements have come in this century. He's the only player in the 2000s with 350 home runs and eight Gold Gloves (though Nolan Arenado is close to joining him), and while Trout is the obvious winner here, Jones received just 4.8 percent of the votes. In 2009, the ninth of his 10 seasons with 200 hits, Ichiro Suzuki gave this all-time great quote to Brad Lefton of The New York Times: 'Chicks who dig home runs aren't the ones who appeal to me. I think there's sexiness in infield hits because they require technique. I'd rather impress the chicks with my technique than with my brute strength. Then, every now and then, just to show I can do that, too, I might flirt a little by hitting one out.' Aaron Judge is flirting with .400 now, showing that even a generational slugger can be a skilled technician. But Suzuki's appeal is as strong as ever, and he narrowly edged the brawny Bronx Bomber. Down-ballot surprise: Only 19 votes for Giancarlo Stanton! Speaking of hulking Yankees, Giancarlo Stanton amassed just 19 votes. He's no Suzuki or Judge, obviously, and he's missed all season with elbow injuries. But Stanton is the majors' active leader in home runs, and only four players in the 2000s can match him in both homers (429) and OPS (.871) — Pujols, A-Rod, Ortiz and Cabrera. They all got a lot more than 19 votes. David Ortiz hit 531 home runs in the 2000s. He broke a fabled curse, won three championships and made it to Cooperstown on his first try. He even had a bridge named after him in Boston. Yet he's still not our readers' pick for best DH of the 2000s, thanks to that Shohei Ohtani guy. As stupendous as Big Papi was, he didn't win an MVP award. Ohtani's won three. He stole 16 bases in 17 seasons. Ohtani stole 59 last year, while also bashing 54 homers. His career OPS, a mighty .937, still falls a bit short of Ohtani's, .952. (And Ortiz didn't pitch, either.) So congrats to Ohtani, who can add this prestigious honor to the many others he's collected in a career like no other. Down-ballot surprise: No love for Edwin Encarnación. Edwin Encarnación finished last among our eight candidates, with less than 1 percent of the vote, but what a career. He hit 424 home runs with an .846 OPS. The only guys who can match those numbers in the 2000s: Pujols, Rodriguez, Ortiz, Cabrera and Stanton, as mentioned above, plus Nelson Cruz and Adam Dunn. And among those sluggers, only Pujols had fewer strikeouts than Encarnación. (Next five: Roy Halladay, 46.7; Zack Greinke, 22.3; Jacob deGrom, 20.0; CC Sabathia, 17.1; Félix Hernández, 15.2) This was a tough one, in a way, because Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez both have Cy Young awards that start with '19' and '20'. They starred in the World Series in the 2000s and posted winning percentages over .600 in this quarter century. All-time legends, for sure. But, man oh man, what about Roy Halladay? The Hall of Famer had a lot more starts than the others and sure did make the most of them: 194-98 with a 3.36 ERA, two Cy Youngs, a perfect game, a playoff no-hitter and 65 complete games — 26 more than the next-closest pitcher (Liván Hernández). Quite a legacy, even without the nod here. Advertisement Down-ballot surprise: Tim Lincecum got 400-plus more votes than Johan Santana. Sometimes the WAR machine malfunctions. Look at Lincecum and Santana. Both won two Cy Young awards. Both led their league in strikeouts for three consecutive seasons. Santana made 284 career starts, Lincecum 270. Both were finished before their 34th birthday. Would you believe that Lincecum compiled just 19.5 career WAR, while Santana had 51.7? It's true. Santana had better control, prevented runs more effectively and worked about 350 more innings. But Lincecum — a three-time World Series champion — had a much stronger impact on our readers, with 1,243 votes to Santana's 820. (Next two: Billy Wagner, 23.1; Aroldis Chapman, 20.4) How about that? A Yankee and a Padre. You were expecting maybe Jonathan Albaladejo and Jeremy Fikac? MLB named its reliever of the year awards after Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman. They're the only guys with 500 career saves — and both topped 600! They didn't do it all in this quarter century, of course, but both had an unmistakable aura and our readers picked up on it. Down-ballot surprise: Craig Kimbrel got nearly 500 more votes than Kenley Jansen. The most similar player in baseball history to Craig Kimbrel, according to Baseball Reference, is Kenly Jansen. The most similar player in baseball history to Kenley Jansen? Craig Kimbrel, naturally. They both reached the majors in 2010. Their ERAs and strikeout totals are nearly identical. They've both pitched for the Braves, Dodgers and Red Sox (among other teams). Jansen has more career saves (458 to 440), and might become the last pitcher to reach 500. Yet it's Kimbrel — currently in the minors with Atlanta — who resonated more with our readers, with 1,468 votes to Jansen's 941. (Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Photos: Elsa, Nick Laham, Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
USA Today
25-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
MLB's best comeback story? Jacob deGrom looks like the Cy Young winner he was
NEW YORK — He was once the best pitcher on the planet, the modern-day Sandy Koufax, only for injuries to cruelly disrupt his path to Cooperstown. Another was the hottest free-agent pitcher in baseball, helping lead the Washington Nationals to their first World Series championship, only to become a financial burden who was kept around simply because of the hefty contract commitment. The other was a career journeyman, who had not pitched in the big leagues since 2021, and was sitting home last summer believing his career was over. Today, Jacob deGrom is pitching like a Cy Young winner again. Patrick Corbin, ignored all winter this time around in free agency, has become the Texas Rangers' lifesaver, preventing them from drowning in the AL West. And Drew Pomeranz, acquired by the Chicago Cubs simply as a flier hoping to see if he could be a serviceable lefty in a beleaguered bullpen, has become a force. These three veteran pitchers, each who will be celebrating their 36th and 37th birthdays this year, exemplify the beauty of baseball as three of the best comeback stories of the 2025 season, celebrating the Memorial Day mile post marker this weekend. DeGrom, who turns 37 in June, was under the bright lights once again in New York this week when he dominated the Yankees for seven innings. DeGrom, who has missed most of the past two seasons recovering from his second Tommy John surgery, is 4-1 with a 2.33 ERA in his first 10 starts, and regained his title as one of the nastiest pitchers on the planet. The right-hander who signed a five-year, $185 million contract with the Rangers in December 2022, finally is feeling like himself again, showing the baseball world that when healthy no one is better. He has pitched seven innings in back-to-back starts for the first time since joining the Rangers, and has permitted two or fewer runs in seven consecutive outings. 'It's almost like catching a video game,' Rangers catcher Kyle Higashioka says. 'Just put the glove up there and that's where the ball goes and it's like 100 mph. He's incredible.' DeGrom, who has not made more than 15 starts since 2019, when he won his second consecutive Cy Young award while yielding a 2.05 ERA and striking out 11.2 batters per nine, is reminding everyone what we've been missing. If he stayed healthy, he'd be a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame. Now, with only 88 career victories and 1,425 innings, he'd need to dominate until he's 40 just to generate a debate. He hopes to stay healthy as he relies on his curveball and changeup rather than just throwing the fastball and slider past everyone. 'You can't live with the what-ifs,' deGrom says. 'I never really thought about it, because every time I took the ball, the goal was to win. I still take it that way. I was younger at that time and felt like I could do it. Now it's trying to be smart and continue pitching for quite a while. 'The main thing is the mental thing. You want to be out there competing. The goal was to always pitch as much as I could, take the ball as many times as I could. And when you don't, you feel like a real letdown. We love playing this game. And when you're going to miss that much time, it's tough." Says Rangers manager Bruce Bochy: 'I'm just really happy for him. I know he was getting tired of sitting on the sidelines. And now he's back healthy. It's exciting to see one of the best pitchers ever back in the game.'' Drew Pomeranz: Retirement can wait Pomeranz, who turns 37 in November, was home mowing the yard, playing golf and bored out of his mind last summer. He decided to give it one last shot when the Seattle Mariners came calling in November, offering a minor-league contract. He was still at Class AAA Tacoma in April when he believed he deserved a promotion. So, he exercised an upward mobility clause in his contract requiring the Mariners to either promote him or try trading him to a team willing to put him on their big-league team. The Cubs and Craig Counsell – who managed Pomeranz in MIlwaukee – gave him a call. Pomeranz, who last pitched in the majors in 2021 with the San Diego Padres, has become invaluable for the Cubs, pitching 11 ⅓ shutout innings while yielding just four hits. 'When I pitched in my first game back," Pomeranz tells USA TODAY Sports, 'you wouldn't believe how many text messages I got from people saying, 'Is that you? I thought you retired.' It's been pretty surreal being back. 'You have such a different perspective when something is taken away from you. There are so many times I thought this day would never happen again. I basically retired last year. I would get so close to being back in the big leagues, but then I'd get knocked down again. It sucks. You start to count out yourself out, to be honest." Pomeranz went home, played a lot of golf, and then it hit him. He's 36 years old. Why not keep trying? 'You start thinking about things when you're not playing," Pomeranz says. 'It's like you have the rest of your life to do other things, right? Our window in sports is so small. It's not like other jobs when you can work until you're 60. I mean, it's just not just the compensation but this is what we've done since we were nine years old. It's hard to find something like this outside of this field. There's nothing like just being here." Now, here he is, throwing in the low 90s again, dominating on the mound, and playing for a marquee franchise that's emerged as one of the finest teams in baseball. 'I mean, it just doesn't feel real," Pomeranz says. 'I've been dreaming about this moment for years. It's toigh to keep pushing through mentally, physically, all of it, especially when over and over again, nothing is working. 'Now, just being healthy in the big leagues, throwing as hard as I can, and having this kind of success, it's really a dream come true." Patrick Corbin: Fresh start Corbin, who turns 36 in July, was 14-7 with a 3.25 ERA over 202 innings in the first year of his six-year, $140 million contract. He pitched 10 innings in three games in the 2019 World Series. Yet, he was never again the same. He went 33-70 with a 5.62 ERA the next five seasons, yielding a .300 batting average. He led the league in losses the past three seasons, and was kept around simply because no one was interested in trading for him. He still kept taking the ball, never complained, and pitched 180 innings while trying to help out the young Nationals pitching staff. When he hit free agency and the winter dragged on, no one would have been surprised if he called it quits. Corbin says he never considered retirement, working out all winter in Florida. He drew early interest from Atlanta and the Yankees, and some teams wanted him to pitch in relief before the Rangers signed him on March 18 for $1.1 million after pitchers Jon Gray and Cody Brown went down. 'I don't know if it was really to prove myself," Corbin says. 'I still have always felt like I could be a starter in this league. I think it was just kind of going somewhere new and just getting a fresh start." He stepped into the rotation April 8 and is still there, going 3-3 with a 3.59 ERA in eight starts. The Rangers' superb defense has been ideal for Corbin's arsenal pitching to contact. 'Having [Rangers pitching coach Mike] Maddux here, and some new eyes look at me too," Corbin says, 'you kind of get that confidence back again and the conviction behind everything and just go out there and compete. …. 'Maybe a change of scenery was for the best." Certainly, it comes at an ideal time for the Rangers who badly needed to plug holes in the rotation, and with the way he's pitching, he could remain longer than anyone possibly envisioned. 'When we lose two starters like we did, we signed him to just kind of fill the gap a little bit," Bochy says. 'He's done more than that. He's been pitching as well as the rest of the guys." Around the basepaths – The Chicago Cubs remain the favorite to host the 2027 All-Star Game, but MLB executives insist that no decision has been made. The Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles are firmly in the mix, with all three teams expected to host the All-Star Game from 2027-2029. – The New York Yankees are convinced that Juan Soto was ready to re-sign with them on Dec. 11. He asked for a bit more time, was going to discuss it with his family during lunch, and the next thing they knew he was signing with the Mets after being persuaded by family members. – Teams who inquired on veteran reliever David Robertson during the winter say he was seeking a one-year, $15 million deal. He has no plans to sign with a team now unless he receives a strong offer. – The Texas Rangers are seriously considering trying Kumar Rocker as their closer when he returns off the IL. He has been out since April 24 with a shoulder impingement, but the Rangers believe that his fastball-slider combo could be lethal in the pen. – Team USA officials are getting flooded with requests from players and their agents to play in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. The biggest problem won't be getting the star players, rather which players will be left off the roster. Kansas City Royals All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. has shown a deep desire to return after playing in 2023. – The Marlins, Pirates, Rays, Royals and Athletics received the most revenue-sharing money in 2024. – Teams are scrambling to bolster their bullpens with the influx of injuries around baseball. The top targets: Kyle Finnegan of the Nationals; Felix Bautista, Seranthony Dominguez and Gregory Soto of the Orioles; David Bednar and Dennis Santana of the Pirates and Anthony Bender of the Marlins. – The Dodgers have committed more than $740 million the past two winters on seven free-agent pitchers. Only two are healthy: starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto and closer Tanner Scott. 'Everything from my brain is about what we can do," Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations, told reporters. 'It's like a game of Whack-a-Mole, and things keep popping up, and we're doing the best we can to hit them down and keep our guys in a good spot to win as many games as we can." – The Yankees are aggressively searching for a right-handed bat, preferably a third baseman, while also looking for another starter. – The Chicago Cubs' offense has been insanely good, scoring a major-league leading 306 runs. They're scored at least four runs in an inning 25 times this year, the most by a Cubs' team since 1887, and in double digits 11 times, the most since 1898 through 51 games. – Sometimes, you get lucky. When the Mets acquired All-Star shortstop Javy Baez from the Cubs on July 30, 2021, the Cubs wanted prized pitching prospect Matt Allan in return. The Mets instead settled on outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who was considered their sixth-best prospect. Allan, battling injuries, is pitching these days at Class A Brooklyn. Crow-Armstrong, is playing like an MVP candidate in Chicago, with 14 homers, 40 RBIs, eight stolen bases, nine doubles and three triples in his last 34 games. He's on pace to hit 44 homers and drive in 143 runs this season while stealing 44 bases. The Cubs tried signing Crow-Armstrong to an extension guaranteeing about $65 million and have now watched his price-tag skyrocket. – Remember when Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson was sent to the minors last season? He now has 13 homers, 40 RBI and a .886 OPS. He's on pace to hit 41 homers with 125 RBIs. – The Athletics are on track for groundbreaking on their new Las Vegas stadium in June, and insist everything is set to play at their new 33,000-seat ballpark in 2028. – If the Orioles change managers again in the offseason, the leading candidate will be Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty, who played six years for the Orioles and nearly landed the Padres' manager gig two years ago. – The Chicago Cubs, who tried to sign outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong to an extension guaranteeing about $65 million, have now watched his price-tag skyrocket. – All-Star shortstops Javier Baez and Trevor Story each signed six-year, $140 million contracts in the winter of 2021, and their numbers are eerily similar with the exception of Baez being much more durable. Story has slashed .231/.290/.382 with 27 homers and 111 RBI in 211 games. Baez has slashed .228/.269/.358 with 38 homers and 192 RBI in 401 games. Tigers fans were calling for Baez to be released a year ago, now Red Sox fans want Story gone. – Yes, that's 78-year-old Gene Lamont wearing a Pirates uniform for the first time since he was fired as manager in 2000, serving as Don Kelly's de facto bench coach. He hadn't worn a uniform with any team since 20217. – The Chicago White Sox are letting the world know that Pope Leo XIV is their own with a mural on a pillar in the lower concourse down the third-base line at their ballpark. The seat he had during Game 1 of the 2005 World Series – Section 140, Row 19, Seat 2 – will be commemorated this summer. – That is former pizza deliveryman Colton Gordon now in the starting rotation for the Houston Astros. He delivered pizzas five hours a night for Clematis Pizza in downtown West Palm Beach, Florida while recovering from Tommy John surgery in 2021. – Yankees reliever Devin Williams says it took time to adjust going from Milwaukee to New York, where he was 0-2 with a 11.25 ERA when he lost his closer's job. He's getting back to being the same dominant reliever he was in Milwaukee, permitting no more than one hit in his last 11 games, yielding a 0.97 ERA. 'I'm really enjoying the city now, and getting used to everything," said Williams, who lives in Manhattan and has loved visiting museums on his off-days. – Remember the days slugger Kyle Schwarber struggled against left-handed pitchers and would even be benched? He had a slash line of .188/.328/.430 against lefties in 2023. These days, he's slashing .317/.456/.794 against lefties. – The Arizona Diamondbacks are 234-4 in games in their franchise history when they score at least 11 runs. Three of those defeats have come in a four-week span. – The Phillies believed they were getting a good pitcher when they acquired starter Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins in the offseason, but who could have imagined that he'd be 5-0 with a 1.95 ERA through 10 starts? 'It's been a struggle at times in my career but I think a little change of scenery at times is great," Luzardo told reporters after his last start. 'Just a breath of fresh air being around a good group of guys here. Nothing against the places I've been, it's just a little different here." – A year ago, Padres GM A.J. Preller found a bargain by signing Jurickson Profar to a one-year, $1 millioon contract. He hit .280 with 24 homers and 85 RBI and made the All-Star team. This year, Preller's steal is Gavin Sheets, who is hitting .283 with six home runs and a .464 slugging percentage. – The Seattle Mariners are about to get the band back together with the return of George Kirby, and Bryce Miller and Logan Gilbert expected to soon follow. Certainly, with the fourth-best offense in the league, they have the potential to pull away from the pack in the AL West. – Future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera, 42, retired after the 2023 season but he can't stay away, announcing that he will play this winter for the Tigres de Aragua in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. He last played in Venezuela in 2007-08. 'He wants to play, he wants to coach," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told reporters. 'He's going to be good at either, but I think it's really cool that he recognizes his place in baseball history and is willing to contribute so much in Venezuela, but also here with the Tigers.'' – Fabulous seeing former Texas Rangers All-Star outfielder Nelson Cruz visiting the Rangers clubhouse at Yankee Stadium. He says his family is slowly starting to heal from the tragedy in Santo Domingo that killed 235 people, including his sister, Nelsy, when the roof at a popular nightclub collapsed. – Rest in peace Jim Henneman, a fixture in the Baltimore Orioles press box who covered more Orioles' home games than any sportswriter since their arrival in 1954, and a friend to so many writers. Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale
