December 13, 2023

Erik Reyes

TOP 15 MLB FEEL-GOOD Moments No Fan Could Hate!!

December 13, 2023

Erik Reyes

Throughout the rich history of Major League Baseball, there have been many incredible moments on the field, which have typically made one set of fans extremely happy, while the opposing set of fans have to deal with enormous disappointment and heartbreak. However, every once in a while, a truly amazing and emotional moment occurs that nearly every baseball fan has to appreciate and feel at least some positive energy about. Even fans of the opposing team look back and feel good about some of the moments we’ll talk about today and that is definitely a rare occurrence. Sometimes it’s an amazing player comeback and others are unscripted emotional and cinematic moments that follow a terrible tragedy. Game winning home runs and World Series victories will not be included on this list as obviously, opposing fans wouldn’t feel good about those moments, so while you’re welcome to let me know some moments I should’ve included, keep in mind I’m trying to include only moments that basically every baseball fan can appreciate. So, I won’t be including Kirk Gibson’s incredible 1988 walk-off home run, because obviously it wasn’t so great for A’s fans to lose a World Series game. Also, there were a few extremely sad moments that I almost added but ultimately felt were more emotional and sad than feel-good, so those will be included on another video of the most emotional moments. Now, let’s get into some moments that only a bitter & depressed fan could possibly be angry about – so in other words - lot of fans will be angry. Let’s discuss my Top 15 Feel Good Moments in MLB History. But before we get into the main list, I had to include one honorable mention.

Honorable Mention – Oh Breaks The All-Time Record: I didn’t put on the main list because it’s not technically an MLB moment. However, an entire country celebrated this special moment as Japanese superstar Saduharu Oh crushed his 756th home run, surpassing Hank Aaron’ s 755. Although it was not a Major League record, it was considered a World Lifetime Home Run Record, and for the people of Japan, it was an incredibly emotional moment.

15: Bote Hits an Ultimate Slam:

Infielder David Bote played baseball at Neosho County Community College in Kansas and may have only been noticed because scouts were so interested in his teammate, pitcher Matt Strahm. Bote was taken in the 6th Round of the 2012 Draft by the Cubs and spent 7 years in the Minor Leagues, hoping to someday get a chance to play in the show. It finally happened in 2018 and on August 12th, he got the chance to take a situational at bat most players only dream of – bottom of the 9th, bases loaded, down by 3 runs. It was a pinch-hit appearance and Bote had 2 strikes on him, when he connected.

He became just the 2nd player to ever hit a pinch hit grand slam to win a game 4-3.

14. Adam Greenberg Gets an Official At Bat:

In 2002, Adam Greenberg was drafted by the Chicago Cubs and worked his way through the minor leagues, getting promoted in 2005. It looked like he had a bright future as a big leaguer – that is, until the first pitch he ever saw in the Majors hit him in the back of the head. He suffered a severe concussion, and spent the rest of the year on the D.L. Greenberg suffered from vertigo, headaches, nausea, double vision and dizziness. He returned to the minor leagues in 2006 but his numbers fell and after stints in the Dodgers, Angels and Royals minor league systems, he ended up in the independent leagues. After 4 years with the Bridgeport Bluefish, it was becoming clear that Greenberg would never get back to the big leagues.

That is, until the Miami Marlins, the team Greenberg was facing when he was hit in the head, signed him to a one-day contract in order to give him a chance to have a proper MLB at bat, which he had earned way back in 2005 but never got. It was a great gesture by the Marlins, although I never understood why they chose to give him the at bat against the practically unhittable R.A. Dickey, who was baffling even the greatest MLB hitters at that time. Other than that one weird detail, it was awesome to see Greenberg get a real MLB at bat.

Unfortunately, he struck out 3 pitches, and R.A. Dickey won the Cy Award and led the league in strikeouts. But at least Greenberg got his official MLB at bat.

13. Duane Kuiper Goes Deep:

Now known as one of the best voices in baseball as the San Francisco Giants play-by-play announcer, Duane Kuiper was once a solid ballplayer and hit .271 in 3,379 MLB at bats, while being known as an outstanding defender at second base. One downside in his game, however, is that he had virtually no power. In all those at bats, he went deep precisely one time and fortunately, he did it on a National ABC Broadcast so we have the clip to prove it.

12. Bartolo Does The Impossible:

Fan-favorite Bartolo Colon pitched for 21 years in the big leagues, winning a Cy Young, striking out over 2,500 batters and earning a spot on the upcoming Hall of Fame Ballot. He wasn’t a great hitter though, with a career .084 average. However, his most viewed video on YouTube will likely always be his first and only MLB home run, which he hit at the age of 42. The call by Gary Cohen was tremendous and this is definitely a moment every baseball fan can appreciate.

11. Daniel Camarena – The Unlikeliest Hero:

While that Bartolo Colon moment was certainly special, another pitcher hit an even unlikelier shot. A relatively unknown relief pitcher named Daniel Camarena was having a nice season with the El Paso Chihuahuas in 2021 and the Padres called him up. On July 8th, 2021, the Padres were getting pounded by the Nationals with Max Scherzer on the mound. It was 8-2 and Camarena was put in the game to burn some innings and save the bullpen. At this time, the DH rule had not yet been instituted in the NL, so when it was his turn to hit, Camarena had to pick up a bat. Basically accepting defeat and wanting to preserve the bullpen for future games, manager Jayce Tingler had Camarena bat despite the bases being loaded. Against Max Scherzer, Camarena shocked the baseball world.

The reaction by Camarena’s brother was absolutely priceless.

10. The Splendid Splinter’s Final At Bat:

After the 1959 season, it looked like the great Ted Williams might have been just about washed up at age 41. Nevertheless, he came back for the 1960 season and showed he still had it, hitting hitting .316 with power. So, it came as a surprise when he announced his plan to retire at the end of the season with only a 2 days left. On September 28th, 1960, Ted Williams stepped up to plate in the bottom of the 8th inning, with every fan realizing this was likely his last MLB at bat. As usual, he rose to the occasion.

Ted characteristically did not tip his cap to the fans or come back out of the dugout for a curtain call. But the fans went crazy anyway and it was an amazing moment to cap off an incredible Hall of Fame career for one of the best to ever play.

9. McGwire Tops Maris

Admittedly, this moment has not aged well and due to the steroid scandal and McGwire’s admitted use of PEDs, this is not a feel-good moment for many fans anymore. However, back in 1998, the entire country was caught up in two players chasing Roger Maris’ single season home run record of 61. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were making headlines and helping save baseball in the aftermath of the 1994 player strike. Newer, younger fans became huge baseball fans and old, bitter fans came back to the game. Eventually, McGwire took the home run lead and tied the record. Then, on September 8th, 1998, with the whole baseball world watching, McGwire connected for the record.

The atmosphere was absolutely next-level and even the opposing team’s infielders congratulated McGwire as he circled the bases. He ended the season with an incredible 70 home runs, which was eventually broken by Barry Bonds, with much less national fanfare. The infielders didn’t seem to give a crap as he rounded the bases. Now, both players careers and numbers are considered tainted and many people still considered Roger Maris the single season home run leader – that is, until Aaron Judge passed him in 2022. So, if you don’t like the McGwire entry on this list, you can replace it with this one.

8. Babe Ruth’s 3 Home Runs:

When it comes to a true baseball legend and the most common answer to the greatest of all time, the name Babe Ruth comes to mind immediately. For about 20 years, he dominated the league and did things once thought to be impossible. However, after the 1934 season, it looked like The Babe’s hard and fast living had finally caught up with him and the Yankees decided to release him. He signed with the Boston Braves and was a ghost of his former self. By late May, the 40-year old was hitting under .200 and contemplating retirement. Then, on May 25th, 1935, Ruth suddenly turned back the clock at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, crushing not 1, not 2 but 3 home runs. Each went farther than the one before, with the 3rd completely leaving the stadium. There there is no video footage of this event, so we don’t know the reaction of the crowd, but I always imagine the Pittsburgh fans coming to their feet and applauding as it was portrayed in the movie The Babe, which was surely exaggerated for cinematic effect. In the movie, the Babe walks off the field after the 3rd home run to never play again. That would’ve been truly epic, but in reality he played in 5 more games, without another hit. Those 3 bombs were the last 3 of his illustrious career.

7. Dave Dravecky’s Comeback:

In 1988, Dave Dravecky was a solid lefty in the San Francisco Giants rotation when a cancerous tumor was found in his pitching arm. This rare and aggressive tumor was positioned on his left deltoid muscle, a muscle needed to throw a baseball. Half the muscle was removed along with a huge portion of Dravecky’s arm in an October 1988 surgery. Doctors advised him he would never pitch again. But Dravecky was determined and went through an incredibly fast rehab that took him from not being able to lift a 1 lb. dumbbell to pitching again by 1989. Doctors urged him to wait until at least 1990, but Dravecky felt ready to pitch and was sent to the minors on rehab ,where he incredibly threw 3 complete games. He made his MLB return on August 10th, 1989, and there was magic in the air as he pitched 8 innings, defeating the Reds 4-3, despite the doctors prediction that he would lose 95% of the use of his left arm.

Sadly, he broke his arm during the following start and the cancer returned, leading to a necessary amputation. Fortunately, the cancer did not return after that and he went on to become a great motivational speaker.

6. Jeter’s Last Home At Bat
Before the 2014 season, the 20-year MLB veteran and future Hall-of-Famer Derek Jeter announced he would be retiring at the end of the season. He didn’t leave the game without some big final moments, including a 2-for-2 performance in the All Star Game, where he received two standing ovations. The final home game of his career came on September 25th and he had a chance to walk it off. To no one’s surprise, he came through.

This was an amazing feel-good moment and even most Red Sox fans can respect it. In fact, Jeter wasn’t done with the dramatics and in the last at bat of his career, in Boston, he came up with an infield RBI single.

5. Aaron Hits #715

By the early 1970’s, the already legendary Hank Aaron was steadily approaching 700 career home runs. Fans and the media began to hype up the possibility that he could break the once unbreakable record of 714 home runs set by none other than Babe Ruth. He had a chance to break the record during the 1973 season and thousands of letters from fans poured in every week, requiring the Braves to hire an extra secretary to sort through them. Sadly, not all the letter were positive and Aaron received lots of hate mail that included death threats and racist remarks. As the pressure was mounting, Aaron just wanted to get it over with. He also received lots of support in response to the hate and bigotry. Aaron finished the 1973 season one home run short of the record. Then, in 1974, the Braves opened the year in Cincinnati, where he tied the record.

Back home in Atlanta, on April 8th, 1974, in front of 53,775 fans, Hank Aaron hit one of the greatest home runs of all time, becoming the home run king.

Vin Scully was able to describe perfectly the moment, in which there was no evident signs of hate or racism and Hank Aaron was finally able to smile.

4. Ripken Breaks an Unbreakable Record

In 1982, a young player named Cal Ripken Jr. became the everyday shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles. He hit 28 homers and won the Rookie of the Year award, playing in 160 games. Little did anybody know at the time that he would go on to break what must have been considered an absolutely unbreakable record. Lou Gehrig had played in 2,130 consecutive games and no one had ever come close to this number. But Ripken was also an iron-man and year after year, he didn’t miss a single game, while making the All Star Game every year and even winning an MVP. He suffered injuries, but played through them, including a sprained left ankle in 1985 and 1993 knee injury. In 1994, baseball fans were ready to walk away from the game after a Player strike canceled the entire postseason including the World Series. But on September 6th, 1995, Cal Ripken Jr. helped heal the National Pasttime in one of the greatest moments in MLB history as he broke the once unbreakable record when the game became official after the bottom of the 5th inning.

The 22-minute standing ovation and elaborate ceremony after the game might have been a little much to some fans, but if a record ever deserved it, it was this one – Ripken played in 2,131 consecutive games, an unfathomable number, and he wasn’t done there. He eventually played in 2,632 consecutive games, and it wasn’t an injury that kept him out. He asked to be removed from the lineup on September 21st, 1998 and did not get into the game, deciding for himself it was time to end the streak. I’m pretty sure his record will be safe for the foreseeable future.

3. Jackie Robinson’s Debut:

I debated whether to include this moment since at the time it happened, in the mid-40’s, I’m sure many fans didn’t feel good about this at all. However, I decided to disregard their feelings as this is a moment that should have been celebrated across the landscape of not just baseball but the entire country. This was Jackie Robinson making his Major League Baseball debut, breaking the color barrier and eliminating the evil Gentleman’s Agreement. Fortunately, I believe the vast majority of baseball fans can now look back and appreciate this as a truly great moment in the history of not just MLB but the entire nation. It’s sad that baseball was ever segregated in the first place, but Jackie Robinson was the right man to change that, and his debut should have been a moment celebrated with just as much intensity as any on this list in my opinion, even if that wasn’t the reality way back in 1947.

2. The Post 9/11 Presidential First Pitch

Although there was very little to feel good about on 9/11/2001, there was some very emotional feel-good moments during the aftermath as the country became more united than it had been in a long time and certainly more united than it is now. In the immediate aftermath, MLB cancelled all its games. The following Saturday after 9/11, the games restarted and baseball turned out to be a powerful source of healing for many Americans. The New York Yankees eventually made it to the World Series to face the Diamondbacks and despite recommendations that President Bush only show up to the games in Arizona due to safety concerns, he vetoed that idea and appeared at Yankee Stadium, electrifying the crowd. As some one in the military at the time who was deployed to Iraq to search for weapons of mass destruction that we never found, W. Bush is certainly not one of my favorite presidents. But regardless of mine or any one’s personal opinions on the man, there’s no doubt that the moment he stepped out on the field of Old Yankee Stadium to throw out the first pitch, walked straight to the top of the mound ignoring the second rubber, wearing a bullet-proof vest with an FDNY sweater and threw an absolute perfect strike over home plate had to be one of the most badass presidential and baseball moments of all time.

Then, he walked off like a boss to a standing ovation. It was a chills-inducing moment that would’ve been rejected in a Hollywood Script for being too unrealistic.

1. The Post 9/11 Home Run

Coming in at #1 on this list of feel-good MLB moments goes back again to 2001, 10 days after the terror attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. The first sporting event to take place in the city since that terrible day would be a Major League Baseball contest between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves.

Still shaken by the attacks, people had the chance to find some refuge in baseball, but this would be anything but a typical game. The Mets wore first-responder caps and this game was difficult for even the announcers, who didn’t want to get too excited about anything baseball-related, but also had to call the game to the best of their ability. For any one alive at this time, you remember how insignificant sporting events suddenly felt like in light of what had happened. But the game went on, and baseball rose to occasion as Mike Piazza stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the 8th inning with a man on base down 2-1.

It turned out to be a game winning shot as the Mets went on to win it 3-2. It was a moment that helped lift up a city and nation in mourning, and even Braves fans and players understood the importance of this moment and the game. “You never like to lose,” said Braves pitcher Greg Maddux. “But that was one that pretty easy to accept.”

And that will do it for today’s video on some feel-good moments that I hope nearly every baseball fan can appreciate, even if it came at the expense of their favorite team. I’m sure there are hundreds of other amazing moments that all fans can look back on and feel good about, so feel free to put more in the comments section down below. I know I’m going to hear about big dramatic World Series home runs and whatnot, but as I said earlier, this list is about general feel-good moments that every one can enjoy watching. I’m sure Red Sox fans don’t want to see Buckner’s error for the 5 millionth time. I hope every one has a fantastic day; hit that thumbs up and subscribe button and we’ll talk to you in the next video.

November 2, 2023

Erik Reyes

mlb, npb, japanese baseball

The Top 10 JAPANESE MLB Players OF ALL TIME

November 2, 2023

Erik Reyes

mlb, npb, japanese baseball

Although baseball is known as America’s National Pasttime, it has also gained massive popularity in other countries, including Japan, where baseball is the most popular spectator sport. It was introduced to the country back in the 1870’s by educator Horace Wilson, who was hired by the Japanese government to assist in the modernization of the Japanese Education System. He thought the students could use more physical exercise and taught them the sport of baseball. They loved it and by the 1920’s, professional baseball was established in Japan. When America sent some of their superstars like Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx and Lou Gehrig to Japan to play in an exhibition game against the Japanese All-Star Team, the sport took off to the heights and eventually, the Nippon Professional Baseball League was formed, which continues to produce amazing players today – players that are so talented, that Major League Baseball teams often tap into that talent by bringing players to the west to play in the big leagues. Just this season, Masataka Yoshida was one of the best rookies in the game, hitting .286 with 15 homers for Boston. The first Japanese player to ever don a big league uniform was Masanori Murakami, who made his debut in 1964 for the San Francisco Giants. Murakami did not have overpowering stuff but kept hitters off-balance by returning the next pitch almost immediately after receiving the ball back from the catcher. In two big league seasons, he went 5–1 with 9 saves and a respectable 3.43 ERA in 54 appearances. So far, at least 67 players have come over from Japan to play in the Major Leagues and while not all are great, some went on to have extremely successful big league careers and at least a couple are destined for a future in Cooperstown. Today, we’ll be ranking the Top 10 Japanese players – who were also Japanese born and raised - to ever play Major League Baseball.

10. Kenta Maeda

To start off today’s list, we have an active player who could definitely end up much higher when all is said and done. Kenta Maeda was one of the best pitchers in Japan back in 2010 when he went 15-8 with a 2.21 ERA, becoming the youngest pitcher in Japanese Baseball history to win the pitching Triple Crown. He took home the Sawamura Award as the league’s best pitcher that season then won it again in 2015. In January of 2016, Maeda signed an 8-year $25 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers and made his big league debut on April 6th, 2016, throwing 6 shutout innings and picking up the win. Not only that, he also went deep, hitting a home run in his second big league at bat. He ended up going 16-11 that season with a 3.48 ERA, finishing 3rd in the Rookie of the Year voting. He was a solid arm for LA for 4 years, going 47-35 before being traded to the Twins, where he dominated in the Covid-shorted 2020 season, going 6-1 with a 2.7 ERA and 10.8 strikeout per 9 ratio, finishing 2nd in the Cy Young Voting. Since then, some injury issues and Tommy John surgery have slowed him down but Maeda has had an impressive 7-year big league career and should be a valuable free agent during the upcoming off-season.

9. Hisashi Iwakuma

Starting pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma started his pro career in 2000 with the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes. By 2002, he was a regular in the starting rotation and had his breakout year in 2003, going 15-10 with a 3.45 ERA, leading the league with 11 complete games. In 2004, he broke a record by starting the season with 12 straight wins. He started the NPB All Star Game and represented Japan in the 2004 Athens Olympics. He had his best season in Japan in 2008 when he went 21-4 with a 1.87 ERA, grabbing the attention of several MLB teams, including the Seattle Mariners, who signed him prior to the 2012 season. He started his debut MLB season as a reliever but was quickly added to the rotation and in 2013, he went 14-6 with a 2.66 ERA, He made the All Star team and finished 3rd in the Cy Young Voting. He continued to be a solid rotation arm for the next 3 seasons and in 2015 became the second Japanese pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the big leagues. In 2017, a shoulder injury limited him to just 6 starts and he returned to Japan the following season. His overall numbers are still impressive – a 63-39 record with a 3.42 ERA.

8. Masahiro Tanaka

Tanaka was Japanese High School phenom in the mid-2000s, striking out a national High School record of 423 batters. He made his professional debut in 2007 with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and tied a record for the fastest NPB pitcher to reach 100 career strikeouts based on innings pitched. On the season, he struck out 9.5 batters per 9 innings and threw 4 complete games including a shutout. By 2013, he was the best pitcher in Japan and had an utterly dominant season, going 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA. He was heavily scouted by MLB teams and several were in the running to land Tanaka during the 2013-14 offseason. The lucky team ended up being the New York Yankees, who signed Tanaka to a 7-year $155 million deal. He made the All Star Team in his first big league season and went 13-5 with a 2.77 ERA, throwing a complete game shutout against the crosstown rival Mets. He continued to be a solid arm in the rotation, often serving as the team’s ace. Although he had some injury issues and was never as dominant as he was in Japan, Tanaka ended up going 78-46 with a 3.74 ERA. He was also largely dominant in the postseason, although the Yankees never won a championship during his time in New York. He returned to Japan after the 2020 season, but had a great 7-year MLB career as New York Yankee.

7. Hiroki Kuroda

Kuroda’s pro career goes back to 1996 when he joined to Hiroshima Toyo Carp as a 2nd round draft pick. His status with the team improved with each year until he became the Opening Day Starter in 2003. In 2006, he went 13-6 with a 1.85 ERA and showed interest in pitching for an MLB team. He stayed with the Carp for 2007 but after the season announced his intention to move to the states and he signed a 3-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He threw 7 strong in his first start against the Padres, allowing just 1 run and picking up the win. From there, he became a model of consistency, never completely dominating but consistently giving the Dodgers quality starts. He was named the Opening Day starter in 2009 but battled injuries throughout the year including a line drive off the side of his head. In free agency, he signed with the Yankees and went 16-11 with a 3.32 ERA and 2 shutouts in 2012. In 2013, he led the league with a 2.63 ERA at the All-Star break but was snubbed for the All Star Team. He was a pitcher who, through his career, even while in Japan, was known for getting poor run support. Largely for this

reason, his final MLB record was 79-79 but he had a solid 3.45 ERA and never had a season with an ERA above 3.76. He was one of the most consistent MLB starters in the game throughout his 7-year big league career.

6. Koji Uehara

Coming in at #6 is Koji Uehara, one of the greatest strike throwers in the history of MLB. He was originally drafted by the Yomiuri Giants in 1998 and won 15 consecutive games in his 1999, breaking a rookie record. In 2002, he got his first chance to face Major Leaguers in the Major League Baseball Japan All-Star Series and struck out Barry Bonds three straight times. He showed interest in coming to pitch in America and in January of 2009, at the age of 34, Uehara signed a 2-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles. He threw 5 strong in his debut, picking up a win against the Rangers. He only started 12 games that season, going 2-4 with a 4.05 ERA but then moved to the bullpen in 2010 and had a great season with a 2.86 ERA with 55 strikeouts in 44 inning, walking a mere 5 batters. He became a premiere bullpen arm, dominating with the O’s in 2011, leading to a trade to the Rangers, who went on to win the AL Championship. In 2012, he had a 1.75 ERA and walked just 3 batters in 36 innings. His stuff was so dominant, the Boston Red Sox signed him to be their closer and in 2013, he was downright filthy with a 1.09 ERA, 101 strikeouts, 21 saves and a ridiculous 9 walks. He received MVP and Cy Young Votes. Uehara went on to win the ALCS MVP and closed out the final game of the World Series. His career 7.33 Strikeout per walk ratio is the best in Major League history for a pitcher with at least 100 innings pitched. In 2018, he returned to Japan, but his 9-year run in the big leagues was incredibly impressive and Uehara’s career MLB numbers include a 2.66 ERA, 572 strikeouts and just 78 walks.

5. Hideo Nomo

Moving into the top 5, we have the famous Hideo Nomo, who became the first Japanese-born player to play in the Majors since Murakami in 1965. His famous tornado delivery baffled hitters both in Japan and the United States. He pitched in the NPB for just 5 years for the Buffaloes, throwing 13 shutouts and completing most of his games, becoming a superstar in Japan. A contract dispute with the club led to Nomo’s retirement from the NPB and he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers to play Major League Baseball. I remember watching his debut game live against the San Francisco Giants on May 2nd, 1995 when Nomo threw 5 scoreless innings, allowing just 1 hit. That game is memorable as it went 15 innings, with no runs being scored until the top of the 15th when the Dodgers scored 3 runs, but the Giants, with 2 outs and nobody on, made an improbable comeback win. Despite the Giants victory, Nomo was incredibly impressive and went on to lead the league with 236 strikeouts. He made the All Star Team and took home Rookie of the Year honors. Nomo became an instant sensation, leading to Nomomania, similar to Fernandomania of the early 80’s. In 1996, he shocked the baseball world by throwing a no-hitter at hitter-friendly Coors Field in Denver and to this day, he is the only pitcher to ever accomplish the feat. Unfortunately, Nomo had his struggles and was traded to the Mets then released in 1998 after a rough season. Then, with the Red Sox on April 4th, 2001, he suddenly found his stuff, throwing another no-hitter in his first start with Boston. It was the first no-no in the history of Camden Yards and the earliest on the calendar ever thrown. He returned to the Dodgers in 2002 and went 16-6 with a 3.39 ERA. In 2003, he had his last good season, with 16-13 record and 3.09 ERA. After that, injuries and under performance led to the end of his career after short stints with the Rays and Royals. While Nomo had an up-and-down career, he was a pioneer is coming over to the states and inspiring several other players on this list to do the same. He also had a great MLB career, with a 123-109 record and 4.24 ERA. He was elected to the Japanese Hall of Fame in 2014.

4. Hideki Matsui

In a list dominated by pitchers, we finally have a position player and it’s Hideki Matsui, AKA Godzilla, who from 1993 to 2002 was one of the biggest baseball superstars in Japan for the Yomiuri Giants. He hit at least 34 home runs per season for 7 straight years, maxing out at 50 in 2002. He was also an incredibly patient and natural hitter and his OPS was usually near if not over 1.000. The 9-time All Star and 3-time Central League MVP was heavily scouted by MLB teams. In 2001, he turned down what would’ve been a record $64 million contract from Yomiuri, and instead signed with the New York Yankees after the 2002 season. It was a 3 year, $21 million deal. He was an instant success, playing in every single game, hitting .287 with 106 RBIs, making the All-Star team and finishing 2nd in the Rookie of the Year voting, a controversial decision as most believed Matsui was the clear best rookie. He became the first Japanese player to hit a World Series home run, although the Yankees lost to the Marlins. In 2004, he was even better, crushing 31 homers and driving in 108. From 2003 to 2005, he was an iron man, missing zero games. In November of ‘05, he signed a 4-year $52 million extension. He hit 28 bombs in 2009, helping the Yankees make the playoffs and then completely tore it up in the Fall Classic, going 8 for 13 with 3 bombs, taking home World Series MVP honors. He joined Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig as the only players to hit over .500 in the World Series while also hitting 3 home runs. He signed with the Angels for 2010 and crushed 21 bombs with a .274 average and .361 on-base-percentage. He finished his career with the A’s in 2011 and Rays in 2012 before signing a one-day contract to retire as a New York Yankee. He was elected to the Japanese Hall of Fame in 2018 and when combining both his Japanese and MLB careers, he is one of the greats of all time.

3. Yu Darvish

In the early 2000’s, Yu Darvish was already getting attention from MLB teams while he was still pitching in High School. He signed with the Nippon Ham Fighters and started his pro career in 2005. He quickly became a star in the league and from 2007 to 2011 – 5 straight seasons – he never finished a season with an ERA under 1.88. After the 2011 seasons, MLB teams had a limited time to send in their offers for the star pitcher and the Texas Rangers made an offer that couldn’t be refused. Darvish ended up signing for $60 million to play in Texas. He had a stellar rookie season, going 16-9 with a 3.9 ERA, making the All Star Team and finishing 3rd for the Rookie of the Year. In 2013, Darvish led the league with 277 strikeouts and finished 2nd in the Cy Young voting, becoming an absolute MLB superstar. He made 3 straight All Star teams but missed 2015 due to Tommy John Surgery. In 2017, the Rangers traded Darvish to the Dodgers, where he pitched well in the NLDS and NLCS, but struggled greatly in the World Series, when the Dodgers lost to the Astros. This was remembered when the Astros Sign Stealing scandal became public in 2019, but Darvish refused to blame the Astros for his poor performance. Darvish went on to pitch for the Cubs where he struggled with injuries until 2020, when he 8-3 in the COVID-shortened season with a 2.01 ERA, leading the league in wins and finishing 2nd for the Cy Young. He signed with the Padres for 2021 and has been a solid piece of their rotation eversince, In 2023, he surpassed Hideo Nomo to become MLB’s Japanese-born leader all-time in strikeouts. Darvish is signed with the Padres through 2029 but it will be a tall task to ever surpass the next two legends.

2. Shohei Ohtani

Another active player and the best and most popular superstar in the game today, comes in at #2 and it’s Shohei Ohtani. He was identified early in his baseball career as an elite two-way player who could end up being a professional hitter or pitcher or perhaps both. He was already hitting 99 MPH on the radar gun in High School and got the attention of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who became his top choice to play for when entering the pros. Instead, he stayed in Japan to play for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters after the Dodgers were hesitant to let him pitch and hit at a high level. By 2015, he was one of the best pitchers in the league although his offense hadn’t yet reached its potential. He hit just .202 with 5 homers, but then in 2016, his bat exploded with 22 bombs and a .322 batting average. He continued to pitch at an elite level as well and by 2017 was ready to make the move to MLB. He signed a deal with the Los Angeles Angels, who intended to let him try to be a two-way player. In his rookie year of 2018, he hit .285 with 22 bombs and also started 10 games as pitcher, striking out 63 batters in 51.2 innings with a 3.31 ERA. He won the Rookie of the Year Award, but couldn’t pitch the following season due to Tommy John Surgery. He still helped his team with the bat and by 2021, was fully healthy and had a tremendous season, crushing 46 bombs while also going 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA, taking home the MVP and becoming a bonafide MLB superstar. In 2022, his pitching went to a new level as he started a career high 28 games and went 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA and also smashed 34 bombs. He was doing things no other MLB player had ever done and then in 2023, led the league in 43 homers, a .412 on-base percentage, 1.066 OPS while going 10-5 with a 3.34 ERA, and is basically a lock for second MVP Award. By the time his career is over, he may take the crown as the greatest Japanese-born MLB player ever – and could even enter into the conversation as the greatest of all time, as the only other player to hit or pitch at such a level was the legendary Babe Ruth.

1. Ichiro Suzuki

But for now, with Ohtani only having played 6 years of Major League Baseball, the #1 slot has to go to none other than Ichiro Suzuki, who played an incredible 19 years in the Major Leagues despite not making his big league debut until the age of 27. Counting his career in Japan, he played 28 professional seasons. Ichiro made his professional debut in 1992 for the Orix Bluewave but didn’t have his breakout season until 1994 when he hit .385 – a Pacific League Record - with 29 stolen bases, becoming an instant superstar. He had an unorthodox swing called the pendulum, in which he shifts his weight forward while swinging the bat. During his career in Japan, he won 7 straight batting titles and 3 straight MVPs. His manager suggested that he put the name “Ichiro” on the back of his jersey instead of the family name “Suzuki,” which is one of the most common last names in Japan. This led to him being referred to simply as “Ichiro,” and this custom followed him to the United States when Ichiro signed with the Seattle Mariners in 2001. He was the first Japanese-born position player in the big leagues. Whether he could make the transition or not was answered immediately as Ichiro led the league with a .350 batting average, 242 hits, and 52 stolen bases, easily taking home both the Rookie of the Year and MVP Awards, joining Fred Lynn as the only two MLB players to win both awards in the same year. He helped lead the Mariners to tie an MLB record with 116 wins on the season then hit .600 in the ALDS. He became the hands-down best hitter in baseball, accumulating over 200 hits for 10 consecutive seasons. He also broke the single season hit record with 262 in 2004. He made 10 straight All Star Teams and also played near flawless defense, winning 10 Gold Gloves. He didn’t slow down until his late 30’s and in 2012, the M’s traded him to the Yankees, where he got a hit in his first 12 games, tying a Yankee record. He hit .322 for New York, leading to a fresh 2-year contract. He went on to play 3 seasons for the Miami Marlins before returning to the Mariners to finish out an incredible career. Ichiro will easily be elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2025, becoming the first Japanese-born player in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The only question is whether or not it will be unanimous.

October 22, 2023

Erik Reyes

TOP 10 MLB SCANDALS Of All Time - Bribery, Gambling, Cheating, Collusion!!

October 22, 2023

Erik Reyes

Throughout the 130 year plus history of Major League Baseball, there has been no shortage of epic moments on the field, historic come-from-behind wins, larger than life heroes and a rich history that would make any die-hard baseball fan proud of their favorite sport. Unfortunately, on the other side of the coin, there have also been many dark and embarrassing times for the game of baseball, going all the way back to the beginning. Gambling, cheating, bribery, collusion and drugs have all found their way into Major League Baseball in the form of massive scandals that put a black eye on the sport every time. Today, we’ll be counting down 10 of the biggest scandals in MLB history – scandals that took over the newspapers to the point that no one cared about the scores or actual games. Some of these scandals threatened to absolutely destroy the popularity of the sport.

#10 Steinbrenner Seeks Dirt

One of the most famous owners in MLB history, George Steinbrenner, was no stranger to controversy or scandal. He was the principal owner and managing partner of the New York Yankees from 1973 until his death in 2010. He is remembered for his constant meddling with the on-field team along with the repeated firing and re-hiring of manager Billy Martin. Steinbrenner was the one who instituted the military style grooming code with the Yankees, forbidding any facial hair except neatly trimmed mustaches. This led to major controversy when star first baseman Don Mattingly refused to shave and was benched. When Goose Gossage was ordered to cut off his beard, he left a hugely exaggerated mustache as a joke, but it became his signature look.

The biggest scandal involving Steinbrenner, however, has to be a situation with his star outfielder, Dave Winfield. After the 1980 season, Steinbrenner signed Winfield to a massive 10-year $23 million contract. Winfield made 8 straight All Star Teams as a Yankee, but hit poorly in the 1981 World Series, going 1 for 22. He also struggled down the stretch in 1985 and the Yankees failed to make the playoffs. Steinbrenner called him out, saying “Where is Reggie Jackson? We need a Mr. October or a Mr. September. Winfield is Mr. May.” But, the scandal goes deeper than just trash talking.

Towards the end of the contract, Steinbrenner tried to trade Winfield, but Winfield had veto rights and vetoed every attempted trade. Winfield had also sued Steinbrenner for not contributing to his foundation as agreed upon in the contract. When things seemingly couldn’t get any uglier, Steinbrenner paid a gambler, Howard Spira, $40,000 to dig up dirt on Dave Winfield and his foundation. Spira owed $100,000 to bookies with connections to the mob and took the $40 grand to help with his debt. Spira told Steinbrenner that he discovered that Winfield has been squandering the foundation’s money improperly. So, now the Yankees, behind Steinbrenner, threatened to sue Winfield for “misappropriation and misuse of funds.”

When word got to the commissioner Fay Vincent that Steinbrenner paid a gambler with mob ties $40,000 to dig up dirt on one of his players, he banned him from the Yankees day-to-day operations for life. He was re-instated two years later on the condition that he drop the lawsuits he filed against Vincent. Meanwhile, Dave Winfield finally accepted a trade to the Angles and Howard Spira ended up in prison for trying to extort $110,000 from Steinbrenner. Dave Winfield eventually made it to the Hall of Fame and decided on the plaque he would be wearing a San Diego Padres cap.

#9 Biogenesis

By the 2010s, it seemed the steroid era was a thing of the past. That is, until a new scandal broke out in 2013 known as the biogenesis scandal. Several MLB players were accused of using performance enhancing drugs – PED’s – in the form of human growth hormone. They reportedly got the drugs from a clinic called Biogenesis of America. This information began to leak out in January of 2013 when the Miami New Times obtained records from a disgruntled former employee who hadn’t received his backpay. Several massive superstars were mentioned, including Melky Cabrera, Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun and Nelson Cruz. Cabrera had already been suspended for a failed test in 2012. Major League Baseball wanted more information and sued the owner of the clinic, Anthony Bosch. In exchange for having his name removed from the lawsuit, he agreed to cooperate and in July of 2013,with documents and proof in hand, MLB began to drop the hammer.

Ryan Braun, after failing a steroid test in 2011 but avoiding suspension due to a technicality in the handling of the sample, gave a 12-minute speech about the power of truth, integrity and honor, saying that he would bet his life that he never put an illegal substance in his body. In July of 2013, he was suspended for the remainder of the season and postseason for taking PEDs obtained from Biogenesis. When presented with the evidence, he admitted his guilt and apologized for embarrassing his supporters. On August 5th, Alex Rodriguez was suspended as well but decided to appeal, allowing him to play through the 2013 season. In 2014, his suspension was upheld and he missed the entire 2014 season. A-Rod also point-blank denied that he ever used steroids. He received a longer than standard suspension for being a multi-time offender as he had failed a steroid test in 2006 as well as for his attempts to cover up his actions and obstruct an official investigation. Twelve other players were also suspended included Nelson Cruz, Everth Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta. A new record was set with 13 simultaneous MLB suspensions.

#8 1980’s Owner Collusion

In October of 1984, a new MLB commissioner by the name of Peter Ueberroth sent out a message to every MLB team that he thought it was not smart to sign players to long-term contracts. The message was heard loud and clear and the owners and front offices all agreed to avoid them, creating a massive collusion scandal that went on for a number of years.

The problem started to become evident after the 1985 season when free agents had trouble finding any teams that wanted them for any decent amount of money. The 1984 postseason hero for the Detroit Tigers, Kirk Gibson, had just hit .287 with 29 home runs and should’ve been one of the hottest names in free agency. Instead, no one wanted him. Phil Niekro was one of the most reliable starters in the game. No one wanted him. Of the 35 free agents that offseason, only 4 switched teams – and none were paid anything serious. Agents and players knew something was going on and filed a grievance .

After the 1986 season, things got even worse. Superstar outfielder Andre Dawson didn’t want to play on the artificial turf in Montreal anymore, but somehow couldn’t find one team that would offer him a decent salary. The 6-time gold glove rookie-of-the year power hitter was one of the best players in the game and no one wanted him. He eventually had to take a pay cut to sign with the Chicago Cubs. Meanwhile, all the other star free agents including Jack Morris, Tim Raines and Ron Guidry had to re-sign with their previous clubs. Salaries were plummeting across Major League Baseball. The player’s association filed a second grievance.

The collusion was blatant and beyond obvious. This didn’t slow the owners down, though, and they continued to find ways to collude using an “information bank” to share information on contract offers so no team would overpay. A third grievance was filed. An arbitrator who looked into the 1st grievance ruled that the owners had violated the CBA by conspiring to restrict player movement. He ordered the owners to pay $10.5 million in damages to the players. The free agents who had to sign with their previous clubs got a free chance to offer their services to any team without losing their current contracts, which led to Kirk Gibson signing with the Dodgers. The MLBPA also won the second grievance and this time, owners had to pay $38 million with more “new look” free agents getting an opportunity to switch teams. The third grievance estimated the damages at $64.5 million. In 1990, a final settlement on all three cases was reached and the owners had to pay the players $280 million. Unfortunately, there have been more accusations of collusion since then and owners will likely continue to do whatever they can to put as much money in their own pockets as possible.

#7 The Houston Astros Cheating Scandal

In 2017, just two months after Hurricane Harvey struck Texas and devastated the city of Houston, the Houston Astros won the World Series in 7 games against the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was an amazing story not only due to the hurricane but also the Astros were one of the worst teams in baseball only a few years prior. They had done an amazing job of developing stars like Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve and George Springer. Then, more than two years later, in November of 2019, the entire baseball world exploded in drama with an article written in The Athletic by Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drelich, detailing the methods the Astros used to steal signs during the 2017 season – and these methods involved the use of electronics, a big no-no in baseball. Stealing signs has been part of the game for more than 100 years, but using electronics to do it is considered cheating.

The whistleblower in the case was a pitcher named Mike Fiers, who pitched for Houston in 2017. He explained that a video camera was placed in the center field seats to record the opposing catcher’s signs. The recording was fed into a monitor behind the dugout where Astros personnel – sometimes players themselves – would decipher the signs and bang on a trash can to signal to the batter what pitch was coming next. With this knowledge, the YouTuber known as “Jomboy” was able to break down a moment in a White Sox Astros game where the trash can banging can be clearly heard. The White Sox pitcher also heard it and realized exactly what was happening. He called time out and had a meeting with the catcher to change the signs.

MLB performed an investigation and determined that the sign-stealing took place in 2017 and 2018, but could not find evidence of any wrongdoing in 2019. Apparently in 2018, after teams were onto them about the trash can banging, they found an alternate method to notify hitters of the incoming pitch, but determined it was ineffective and gave up. The culprits named included bench coach Alex Cora, who worked with several players including veteran Carlos Beltran, to create the system. It was determined that manager A.J. Hinch did not approve of the monitor and even destroyed it on two occasions. Nevertheless, he never banned it or got rid of it completely. As the 2020 season neared, baseball fans were livid and it was going to extremely interesting to see how Astros games would play out on the road – but as it turned out no fans were allowed in the stands during the Covid-shortened 2020 season. By 2021, fans still booed but some of the anger had subsided.

In the aftermath, several firings and suspensions took place. The Astros immediately fired GM Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch. Alex Cora, who was the Red Sox Manager, agreed to part ways with Boston. Carlos Beltran, who had recently been hired as manager of the New York Mets, was fired before managing a single game. Hinch and Cora were suspended for the 2020 seasons and had been fired anyway. Both returned to baseball afterwards, Hinch as manager of the Tigers and Cora was re-hired as manager of the Red Sox. The Astros were fined $5 million and were forced to forfeit their first and second round draft picks in 2020 and 2021. The players were given immunity in exchange for their truthful testimony, which angered many baseball fans. The Astros players gave apologies at Spring Training in 2020 but it did little to calm the situation. Even players from other teams were being vocal about the scandal, with Cody Bellinger saying that Altuve stole the MVP Award from Aaron Judge. Correa defended his teammate, saying Altuve wanted no part of the sign-stealing and would get mad if they banged a trash can while he was at bat. Mike Trout said he lost some respect for those guys.

A couple months after the Astros scandal broke, it was revealed the the Boston Red Sox, who beat the Dodgers in the 2018 World Series, used the video replay room to steal signs during the 2018 season. Alex Cora was their manager at the time. It was deemed “more limited in scope and impact” than the Astros sign-stealing. Only one person, J.T. Watkins, a member of the club’s scouting staff, was punished for transmitting information on the opposing team’s signs during in-game play using the video room.

#6 The Banning of Pete Rose

The cardinal sin for some one involved directly in Major League Baseball is betting on a baseball game, especially if there is direct involvement in said game. Any player, coach or manager who does it will be banned for life. The fact that this happened is not so shocking – but who it happened to that is – the Hit King Pete Rose, who retired after 1986 as baseball’s all-time leader with 4,256 hits and 3,562 games played. He was known as Charlie Hustle, one of the hardest working players of all time – some one who always gave 110% every single day.

He became manager of the Reds in 1984 while he was still a player, and continued to manage after his playing career. It was no secret that he was a gambler, but at first there was only suspicions that he was betting on baseball. In February of 1989, Commissioner Peter Ueberroth met with Rose to discuss those suspicions. Rose denied betting on baseball, but evidence started piling up that said the opposite. The IRS had seized betting slips with the name of Pete Rose on them, his handwriting, his fingerprints and they showed he was betting up to $10,000 per day on baseball.

Investigator John Dowd prepared a report, known as the “Dowd Report” and submitted it to the new commissioner Bart Giamatti in May of 1989. It contained proof that Rose bet on at least 52 Cincinnati Reds games in 1987. Giamatti confronted Rose with the evidence and Rose agreed to accept a lifetime ban with both signing a document confirming the ban, with the condition that Rose would still not admit to any wrongdoing and that he would be able to appeal the ban after one year. Bart may have given him the impression that he would be willing to lift the ban at that time. It was not meant to be as Bart Giamatti passed away in September of 1989 of a heart attack.

The downward sprial of Pete Rose continued as the was sentenced to five months in prison in 1990 for falsifying tax records. Then, in 1991, the National Baseball Hall of Fame decided that any player banned from the game would also be ineligible for the Hall of Fame, which destroyed Pete Rose chances of ever being a Hall of Famer. Rose continued to deny he ever bet on baseball until finally, he came clean in 2004 with his autobiography My Prison Without Bars. Pete Rose has continued to submit applications for reinstatement every few years, but the commissioner, whoever it may be, has continued to deny them. Rob Manfred is the most recent to turn down Rose, saying that "In short, Mr. Rose has not presented credible evidence of a reconfigured life." Pete Rose is now 82 years old and if he is ever inducted into the Hall of Fame, he likely won’t be around to witness it.

#5 The Pittsburgh Drug Trials

In 1979, the Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series, led by superstars like Willie Stargell, Dave Parker, Bill Madlock and Dock Ellis. By 1985, however, the team hit hard times, losing 104 and finishing in last place. This was the least of their problems, however. During the early to mid 80’s, freelance photographer Dale Shiffman and, believe it or not, the Pirate Parrot – were working together to help operate a drug ring around the city of Pittsburgh. Okay, it was actually the man inside the costume – Kevin Koch. They supplied not only random drug addicts with cocaine, but also the Pirates themselves and Shiffman estimated that about 2/3rds of the 25-man roster were on coke. Their man connection on the team was Pirates pitcher Rod Scurry, who had pitched with the Pirates since 1980.

During the 1984 season, FBI agents were onto the Pirates and began to interview Scurry. They compiled a list of drug dealers and players who bought the drugs from them. They interviewed more players to help extend the list, offering immunity to the players if they agreed to testify against the dealers. Seven dealers and distributors were ultimately charged including Shiffman and the Philadelphia Phillies caterer, Curtis Strong, who provided more than just food and beverage. Through multiple trials, all 7 would be charged and convicted. It turned out that the number of players purchasing cocaine extended much further than just the Pirates and many huge names showed up in court to testify.

Tim Raines said he kept a vial of cocaine in his back pocket during games; hence why he would always slide headfirst. Keith Hernandez estimated that about 40% of players were on cocaine. Pirates players who testified included Dave Parker, Dale Berra, Rod Scurry, Lee Mazzilli, Lee Lacy and John Milner.

There were some other huge names as well such as Vida Blue, Alan Wiggins, Jeffrey Leonard, and Lonnie Smith, who had publicly struggled with a cocaine addiction in prior years. The entire thing was a media sensation and rocked the baseball world. Commissioner Peter Ueberroth suspended 11 players, but they were commuted in exchange for fines and community service. Seven of them were considered long-time drug users and had to donate 10% of their salary to drug-abuse programs along with 100 hours of community service. By 1987, Ueberroth declared MLB to be drug-free and several of the players involved in the scandal had a sudden rejuvenation in their careers including Lonnie Smith, Dave Parker and Keith Hernandez. Others continued to struggle with drugs as Rod Scurry died of a cocaine-related heart attack in 1992 at the age of 36. Alan Wiggins died in 1991 at age 32 after contracting AIDS due to his drug use.

#4 The 1994 Strike

Although a work-stoppage might not be considered a scandal, the way things went down in 1994 almost destroyed the entire game as for the first time in 90 years, there would be no World Series. It was not known if fans would ever forgive the players for walking out over monetary reasons, despite the minimum MLB salary being in the six figure range, while minor leaguers who were paid less than minimum wage, continued to play on. No other American major professional sports league had ever lost an entire postseason due to a labor dispute.

After the previously discussed collusion scandals of the 1980’s, the relationship between owners and players was at an all time low entering into the 1990’s. The owners were continuing to do whatever they could to keep payroll low and when colluding to do so backfired, they decided to try something else – a salary cap. The previous Collective Bargaining Agreement between players and owners expired on December 31st, 1993 and now, owners not only wanted to put a cap on player salary but also wanted teams to share local broadcasting revenues to increase equity among all teams including those in smaller markets. At this time, Fay Vincent was no longer commissioner since the owners forced him out after he supported the decisions in the collusion grievances and said publicly that they had stolen $280 million from the players. Bud Selig, who was one of the owners during the collusion scandal, was acting commissioner at the time and did not do much to help the two sides come to a compromise.

The owners offered a proposal in June of 1994 that enforced a salary cap, eliminated salary arbitration, and allowed owners the right to keep a four or five year player simply by matching the best offer from another club. The executive director of the MLB Player’s Association was Donald Fehr, and had no trust in Selig or the owners. He rejected the offer and told the owners if they weren’t ready to get serious quickly, the players would go on strike. The owners only doubled-down, now withholding $7.8 million worth of pension and benefit money that was previously agreed to go to the players. A strike date was set for August 12th, 1994.

A few proposals went back and forth but neither side was willing to agree and when the strike date came, players walked out and the MLB season game to an abrupt halt. The Yankees were going to finally get back to the postseason for the first time since 1981 – it would have been the first postseason appearance for Don Mattingly. The Montreal Expos were 74-40, having their best season of all time and were looking to win their first World Series. Tony Gwynn had a chance to be the first player since Ted Williams to hit .400. And Matt Williams of the Giants was on a pace to threaten Roger Maris’ single season record of 61 home runs. All of that was out the window as the strike continued and on September 14th, Bud Selig officially canceled the remainder of the season and postseason, including the World Series.

The offseason came and went with no agreement and things got really ridiculous when Bud Selig declared the season would be played anyway – with replacement players. 1995 Spring Training was like no other as random baseball players showed up to replace true MLB talent. Some, like Kevin Millar, went on to play MLB later but would never be allowed in the MLBPA. Any current or former MLB players lost their membership with the union for crossing the picket line. An agreement was never really reached but on April 2nd, 1995, a judge issued an injunction stating that the players and owners would be bound to the terms of the previous expired agreement until a new one can be reached. And so, the players returned to action for a shortened 144-game season. But, the question was, would the fans ever come back? Which leads us to...

#3 BALCO & The Mitchell Report

Major League Baseball had survived a lot, but whether it could survive the 1994 strike was a huge question mark going into the 1995 season. As it turned out, many fans did come back, although attendance dropped about 20%. But there’s nothing like a great baseball story to bring fans back as Cal Ripken Jr. broke Lou Gehrig’s seemingly unbreakable record by playing in an astonishing 2,131 consecutive games. In 1996, something interesting started happening as the long ball became more common than ever. An MLB record 4,962 home runs occurred in 1996, with Mark McGwire crushing 52 and typically light-hitting Brady Anderson smashing 50. Seventeen players hit at least 40 bombs. And that was just the beginning.

In 1998, for the first time in MLB history, over 5,000 home runs were hit as Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa captured the attention of the nation, going back and forth in a battle towards history. Both were on a pace to break Roger Maris’ record of a 61 homers and it was McGwire who set the record with #62 on September 8th. Sosa ended up with 66 bombs while McGwire crushed an unbelievable 70. 3 years later, Barry Bonds shattered that record with an absolutely video-gamish 73 home runs – at the age of 37, despite being walked 177 times.

Where were all these home runs coming from? The answer started to become clear during the mid-2000’s. Jose Canseco wrote a tell-all book called “Juiced” about his experiences with steroids during his MLB career. He named names such as Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Ivan Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez and Jason Giambi. Also, a nutrition center called BALCO was identified as having distributed steroids among many star players including Giambi and Bonds. A congressional hearing was held in which Mark McGwire famously dodged every question, saying he did not want to talk about the past. Rafael Palmeiro wagged his finger, saying he had never used steroids. On August 1st of 2005, he tested positive for PEDs and was suspended 10 games.

Only after all the pressure from Congress did the MLBPA and Commissioner begin to apply stricter regulations regarding steroids. Books began to be published regarding Bonds and Roger Clemens among others, such as Game of Shadows, which described how Bonds’ trainer Greg Anderson provided PEDs to Bonds and other athletes. Bonds said during a grand jury testimony he only used a clear cream that he thought was to treat arthritis. George J. Mitchell led an investigation into steroid use in MLB and released what is known as the “Mitchell Report” in December of 2007. 89 former and current players were named including Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite, Miguel Tejada and Eric Gagne. He included recommendations for MLB in order to curtail the use of steroids in the game.

Around this time, federal investigators decided to go after Barry Bonds and charged him with 4 counts of perjury and 1 of obstruction of justice. The trial did not take place until 2011 and Bonds was found guilty of obstructing justice and sentenced to 30 days house arrest. In 2015, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the conviction, saying that nothing Bonds said was material to an investigation.

The entire steroid scandal of the mid-2000’s did serious damage to the game. Shoe-in future Hall-of-Famers like Palmeiro, McGwire, Bonds, Sosa and Clemens among others have been snubbed due to their steroid connections. As of right now, the National Baseball Hall of Fame not only does not have a plaque for the Hit King Pete Rose, but is also missing one for the all-time MLB home run leader in Bonds as well as one for one the greatest pitchers of all time in Roger Clemens. It’s almost impossible to discuss baseball statistics or records without getting in an argument regarding steroids. The steroid era has clouded the entire landscape of baseball in a negative way and the effects continue to be felt, especially because the steroid scandals are not even completely in the past and can always pop up again, as proven by the more recent Biogensis scandal.

#2. The 1919 “Black Sox”

In 1919, the Cincinnati Reds won the World Series 5 games to 3 in a best of 9 contest against the Chicago White Sox. It was a major upset as the White Sox were heavily favored but uncharacteristically played poorly and sloppy in multiple games. As it turns out, there was an explanation for that.

The White Sox players had a strong dislike for their owner Charles Comiskey, who they considered cheap. He had a reputation for underpaying his players even though some more modern research papers indicate he wasn’t any worse than the other owners; in fact the White Sox were one of the highest paid teams in baseball. Nevertheless, the players felt underpaid and underappreciated and they played at a time before the union, so they had no way of voluntarily switching teams or bargaining for better pay. The clubhouse was also divided between the more clean and straight players led by Ivy-League graduate Eddie Collins and the more scrappy, tough and rough players led by 1st baseman Chick Gandil. It was this second group that began to discuss the possibility of throwing games for money.

In September of 1919, Gandil met up with bookmaker and gambler Joseph J. Sullivan to discuss payment for throwing the 1919 World Series. A figure of $80,000 was reached. On the 21st, several other White Sox players joined Gandil in a meeting for more information in order to determine if they were willing to go through with it. These players included star pitchers Eddie Cicotte and Lefty Williams along with one of their better hitters, Buck Weaver. They were concerned that it would be tough to throw the series with future Hall of Fame pitcher Red Faber as the ace of the rotation as he was with the clean group and would not be in on the fix. Then, a case of the flu hit Faber and it was announced he would miss the entire series. The fix was officially on.

As money poured in on the underdog Cincinnati Reds, gamblers already had an idea that the series was fixed. Cicotte’s stuff was intentionally off and he gave up 6 runs before being taken out in the 4th inning. The offense produced just 6 singles and the Sox lost 9-1. Lefty Williams started Game 2 and suddenly lost his control, walking 6 batters and allowing 4 runs. They lost again 4-2. Rookie Dickey Kerr, who was not in on the fix, threw a shutout for the White Sox in Game 3. But they lost again in Game 4 with Eddie Cicotte back on the mound, although he threw much better this time. Lefty Williams was lit up again in Game 5 and the White Sox were down in the series 4 games to 1. As the series continued, the gamblers refused to pay previously agreed upon payments after losses, causing the 8 players in on the fix to starting trying. The White Sox won Games 6 and 7 but now gamblers were threatening violence against the players and their families if they did not go through with the fix. Lefty Williams started Game 8 and pitched poorly again. The White Sox lost the game and the series.

Rumors swirled regarding the White Sox throwing the 1919 World Series and in 1920, 8 players and 5 gamblers were charged with conspiring to defraud the public. Eddie Cicotte admitted to accepting a $10,000 bribe before Game 1, famously saying, “I did it for the wife and kiddies.” A jury acquitted the men in 1921, but MLB’s first commissioner, Kennasaw Mountain Landis, suspended them for life anyway with the statement

“Regardless of the verdict of juries, no player that throws a ball game, no player that entertains proposals or promises to throw a game, no player that sits in a conference with a bunch of crooked players and gamblers where the ways and means of throwing games are discussed, and does not promptly tell his club about it, will ever again play professional baseball.”

Among the banned players was the great Shoeless Joe Jackson, who confessed to having accepted $5,000 from Lefty Williams. However, he never met or spoke with gamblers and was not part of the meetings. Jackson claimed he gave it his all in the series and the extent of his involvement has been debated ever since. Regardless, he is one of the “8 Men Out” and, like Pete Rose, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and others mentioned in this video, has never been given a plaque in the Hall of Fame despite being one of the greatest players of his time.

#1. The “Gentleman's Agreement”

Although the “Gentlemen’s Agreement” is not your typical scandal since it lasted 55 years and there was no public outcry about it, there certainly should have been one. The agreement was basically an unwritten law – a gentleman's agreement – that no team would sign a black player. Before about 1887, teams could sign whoever they wanted to and several black players were in the minors and at least 3 played in the majors, including Moses Fleetwood Walker, who hit .263 in 42 games for the Toledo Blue Stockings.

In the late 1880’s, owners got together and agreed that they none of them would ever sign, draft or scout a black player. It was created a de facto segregation as black players now had no place to play professional baseball and had to create their own leagues where hundreds of extremely talented players who could have lent their skills to a Major League Team, played ball. Rube Foster founded the Negro National League in 1920, marking the start of these leagues which produced stars like Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Satchel Paige and so many others who played in the Negro Leagues as the gentleman’s agreement continued throughout the first half of the 20th century.

Even as over a million black soldiers served their country in World War II, they were banned from playing in the country’s National Pastime. Eventually Branch Rickey, part owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, signed Jackie Robinson to play for the Dodgers organization. When he was promoted to the majors on April 15th, 1947, the color barrier was officially broken and Robinson became the first African American in the 20th century to play Major League Baseball. Even then, he faced bigotry and hatred from teammates, opposing players, umpires and fans. Robinson thrived anyway and had a Hall of Fame career, helping to lead the way to the Civil Rights movement and a future for Major League baseball players of all races and nationalities.

October 14, 2023

Erik Reyes

mlb, major league baseball

TOP 10 FAMOUS Celebrities Who PLAYED PRO BASEBALL - #1 Is A HUGE HOLLYWOOD ACTOR!!

October 9, 2023

Erik Reyes

mlb, milb

Over the history of the game, there have been thousands of different minor league baseball teams each full of players with a dream of someday making it to the Major Leagues. The vast majority of those players, even though they already beat the odds to make it to the pros, will never make it to The Show. After their minor league careers, most go on to work a normal job or go back to school to finish their degree. Some stay near the game and get into coaching, scouting, or even umpiring. And of course, some stay in the entertainment or sports industry and find success, becoming hugely famous. Most of their fans have no idea that they were once pro baseball players. In today’s video, we’ll be looking at 10 former professional baseball players who went on to become huge celebrities, only not as a baseball player. The only players eligible for this list had to play pro baseball before they were famous. So, we’re not talking about Garth Brooks, Billy Crystal or Tom Selleck getting a celebrity Spring Training appearance. Nor an already famous athlete deciding to switch to baseball like Michael Jordan or Tim Tebow. Also, players who became famous playing baseball who went on to have acting careers like Wes Parker and Nick Swisher don’t count. Today’s video is composed of celebrities who were unknown when they played in the minors and then went on to become famous through a different path. I’ll rank them based on how famous they became after their baseball careers.

#10 Scott Patterson – Actor

Most famous for his roles as Luke in Gilmore Girls and Peter Strahm in the Saw Franchise, Scott Patterson was once a pitcher at Rutgers who was drafted in the 1st Round of the 1980 MLB Secondary Draft by the Atlanta Braves. In 1981, he showed incredible talent, going 14-8 with a 3.23 ERA between Single and Double A. At one point, he won 13 consecutive games and had won two Minor League Player of the Month Awards. He was traded to the Yankees to start the 1983 season and pitched well enough to be added to the 40-man roster, but he was never promoted to the big leagues. At one point, the Rangers took him in the Rule 5 Draft but he was sent back to the Yankees before the end of Spring Training. In 1985, he went 12-4 with a 2.36 ERA, but the Yankees never called him up. He retired after 1986 season, having made four minor league All Star Teams. Patterson took up acting and used his baseball talent to help land a role in Little Big League, in which he portrayed pitcher Scott McGrevey. From there, he picked up guest roles in Seinfeld, Will & Grace, 90210, and many other TV Shows in addition to his many movie roles.

#9 Shaq Thompson – Football Player

A former football and baseball High School star is current Carolina Panthers linebacker Shaq Thompson. Thompson attended Grant Union High in Sacramento, California and was named Delta Valley League MVP for his performance on the gridiron. But he also a standout baseball player and was drafted in the 18th Round of the 2012 MLB Draft. He signed to play for the Red Sox organization for a $100,000 bonus and was assigned to the Rookie Ball Gulf Coast League Red Sox, where he found out very quickly that baseball was not the sport for him. Thompson went an incredible 0 for 39 with 37 strikeouts in 13 games, leading to his immediate and permanent retirement from the game. However, it was not the end of his professional sports career as Thompson enrolled at the University of Washington, where he was named a first team All-American and considered one of the best defensive players in College Football. The Panthers selected him in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft and quickly signed him to a four year, $8.8 million contract with $7.7 million guaranteed. He has been a starter for Carolina ever since, although he’s likely to miss all of 2023 due to to a fractured fibula.

#8 Bert Convy – Game Show Host

Remembered as the host of Game Shows such as Super Password and Win, Lose or Draw, Bert Convy was part of the entertainment industry for 35 years. He was also a respected actor who had guest roles in Perry Mason, Hawaii Five-O and The Mary Tyler Moore Show among many others. Before he hit it big in Hollywood, however, Bert Convy was a stand-out athlete there as a student at North Hollywood High School. At just 17 years, he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies to enter their Minor League System as an outfielder. In 1952 for the Salina Blue Jays in Kansas and the Miami Eagles in Oklahoma, he hit .225 with 3 doubles, 2 triples and 11 RBIs. It wasn’t great, but it sure beats Shaq Thompson’s performance. Still, the Phillies released him and Convy went on to attend the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. He began his entertainment career as a singer with 1950’s vocal-band The Cheers before landing several roles in television shows, leading to his appearances on various game shows such as What’s My Line and Match Game. Soon, he became the host of multiple game shows, eventually forming a production company with Bert Reynolds during the 80’s, which helped launch Win, Lose, or Draw, which Convy hosted for the first two seasons. He also stared in several movies and even directed one – the 1986 comedy Weekend Warriors.

#7 Mario Cuomo – Politician

Remembered as the long-time governor of New York City and front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president in 1988 and 1992, Mario Cuomo, in a prior life, was also an excellent baseball player at both St. John’s Preparatory School and St. John’s University in New York. The former outfielder was so good, in fact, that the Pittsburgh Pirates offered him a $2,000 bonus in 1952 to play for their organization. He bonus helped him to purchase an engagement ring for his wife. Through his first 81 games with the Brunswick Pirates, Cuomo showed serious potential, hitting .244 with an outstanding on-base percentage of .383. He had driven in 26 runs with a professional home run on his resume when a pitch struck him on the head. These were the days before helmets and Cuomo was seriously injured, spending 6 days in the hospital. He decided to retire from the game, returning to St. John’s for his degree. He then attended Law School and became a full-time lawyer before being named New York Secretary of State in 1974 by the governor-elect Hugh Carey. Cuomo became the 52nd Governor of New York in 1983 and held the office through 1994. Cuomo remained a baseball fan throughout his entire life.

#6 Chuck Connors - Actor

Coming in at #6 is an actor who has stared in well over 50 films throughout a long and successful acting career – Chuck Connors, who not only played in the minors before his acting career took off, but he is the only person on this list to have actually made it to the big leagues. And to take it a step further, he also made it to the NBA. The man who lived not one, not two but three wild and unlikely dreams, was born in Brookyln in 1921 and grew up a huge Brooklyn Dodgers fan. He ended up as a star baseball and basketball player in High School and accepted a scholarship to play both at Seton Hall University in New Jersey. The Brooklyn Dodgers offered him a contract after two years and Connors couldn’t resist the opportunity. Unfortunately, he played in only 11 games in the minors in 1940 before being released. After missing the 1941 season, he signed with the Yankees for the 1942 season and hit .264 with 5 home runs, showing serious promise until his career was interrupted by World War II. Following the War, Connors tried to enter pro basketball – and succeeded, joining the Rochester Royals, now known as the Sacramento Kings. He was part of their one and only championship run in 1946, before joining the newly formed Boston Celtics. He also resumed his baseball career and found himself back with the Dodgers organization and this time, he played well year after year, making it to Triple-A in 1949. He hit .319 with 20 home runs and 108 RBIs, earning a call-up to the Show, where he was allowed just one at bat. He continued to rake in the minors but did not earn another opportunity in the bigs until 1951, when he hit .239 with 2 homers for the Chicago Cubs. Connors retired after the 1952 season and pursued a career in acting. He was quickly signed by MGM to star as a police captain in a film called Pat and Mike. From there, his career took off quickly and Connors has stared in several classics including Old Yeller, The Big Country, Move Over Darling, and Airplane II. He perhaps most famously played the lead role of Lucas McCain for 5 seasons on the hit show The Rifleman.

#5 Charley Pride – Country Music Star

With 52 Top-10 Hits on the Billboard Hot Country Chart and a Grammy for “Best Country Vocal Performance”, Charley Pride is without a doubt one of the most famous celebrities to have played minor league ball. Before he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000, Pride had a dream of becoming a Major League baseball player. In 1953, he signed a contract with the New York Yankees as a pitcher and entered into their minor league system to play for the Boise Yankees in the Class C Pioneer League. Unfortunately, an injury caused him to lose some zip on his fastball and he ended up getting demoted to the Yankees Class D team in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. After being released from the Yankees organization, Pride went on to play in the Negro Leagues with the Louisville Clippers, but was traded, along with another teammate, to the Birmingham Black Barons in exchange for the Black Barons Team Bus. That’s right, Pride was traded for a bus. In 1956, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, but continued his baseball career after his service time, entering into the Reds organization in 1960, where had a 3.86 ERA in 3 appearances for the Missoula Timberjacks. Even during his baseball career, Pride was known as a great singer and recorded a few songs here and there. But when he made the full-time switch to music, his career took off and with the recommendation of Chet Atkins, Pride signed with RCA Records, releasing his first single “The Snakes Crawl At Night” in 1966. His third single, “Just Between You & Me,” reached #9 on the Hot Country Songs Chart and from there, the rest is history.

#4 Russell Wilson – Football Player

Another multi-sport athlete, Russell Wilson was an all-region, all-district and all-state football player at Collegiate School in Richmond, Virginia. He went on to play at North Carolina State, where he became the starting quarterback, showing immense talent. He also hit .306 for the baseball team with 9 steals and 3 homers. His talent for baseball was solid but his professional future seemed to be with football. Still, the Rockies drafted him in 4th Round of the 2010 Draft. They believed his athletic ability and work-ethic could get him to the big leagues and Wilson agreed. He hit .230 with 2 homers in 30 games for the Tri-City Dust Devils. But he wasn’t giving up his football career – Wilson wanted to play both at a high level. He continued to play football at NC State, and led the ACC in passing yards per game and total offensive yards per game in 2010. In early 2011, much to the disappointment of his football coaches, he announced he would be attending Spring Training to continue his professional baseball career. In 61 games, he hit just .228 with 3 homers although he showed a strong knowledge of the strike zone, working 35 walks. Wilson decided to retire from baseball and transferred to Wisconsin, where he led the Badgers to a Big Ten Championship before being drafted into the NFL by the Seattle Seahawks. He became a star NFL quarterback, leading his team to a Superbowl Championship and making 9 Pro Bowls and counting. He was traded to the Denver Broncos in 2022 and after the season signed a five-year, $245 million extension.

#3 John Elway – Football Player

One of the most famous names in professional football – the Hall of Famer and Broncos legend John Elway – began his pro sports career as a baseball player. He was initially drafted out of High School by the Kansas City Royals in the 18th Round, but decided to attend Stanford, where he played both football and baseball. He was a fantastic quarterback for The Cardinal, but the team never made a Bowl Game during his time there, although they appeared to have clinched one in 1982 when Elway drove his team down the field with seconds on the clock, setting up his kicker for what appeared to be the winning field goal. Unfortunately, there was still 4 seconds left and Cal somehow, with no time left, were able to miraculously avoid tackles while lateraling and pitching the ball all over as they scored the winning touchdown in one of the most controversial and insane plays in college football history. Elway was then selected in the 2nd Round of 1981 MLB Draft, ahead of future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. He signed for $150,000 to enter into the minors and played in 42 games for the Low A Oneonta Yankees. Elway showed amazing promise, hitting .318 with 4 homers and 25 RBIs, striking out just 25 times in 185 plate appearances. Yankees scout Gary Hughes said that if he had stuck with baseball, “the sky was the limit.. he would’ve been off the charts.” Then, in 1983, he was drafted by the Baltimore Colts in the 1st Round of the NFL Draft. Elway made clear he did not want to play in Baltimore and demanded a trade or he would continue his baseball career full-time. The Colts eventually obliged, trading him to Denver, where Elway would play his entire 16-year NFL Career, winning two Superbowls and an NFL MVP in 1987.

#2 The Macho-Man Randy Savage – Pro Wrestler

Randy Poffo - AKA “Macho Man” Randy Savage

Even casual wrestling fans have heard of the great Macho-Man Randy Savage and his trademark flying elbow. Little do most wresting fans know, however, Randy Savage was once Randy Poffo, an 18-year old baseball player who signed with the St. Louis Cardinals as a catcher out of High School in 1971. Poffo was converted to an outfielder and hit well in rookie ball, with a .286 average and .420 on-base-percentage. In 1973 with the Class A Orangeburg Cardinals, he hit .250 with a couple homers but knew how to work walks and limit strikeouts. He would’ve likely been a more serious prospect in the analytical age. As it was, he ended up in the Reds organization for his final season, 1974, when he hit just .232 over 131 games with Tampa. He did hit 9 home runs with 66 RBIs and a .304 on-base percentage, showing true talent for the game of baseball, although not enough to make him believe he could reach the big leagues. Randy Poffo had already started his wrestling career during the offseason of 1973 and now, he could focus on it full-time under the character, “The Spider,” similar to Spider-Man. Later, he used his real name but was told that the name “Poffo” didn’t fit some one like himself who wrestled like a savage. So, he changed it to Randy Savage and after becoming popular in some smaller leagues, Vince McMahon signed him to wrestle in the WWF in 1985. The fans loved him even when he was supposed to be a heel – AKA a bad guy – and with Miss Elizabeth as his manager and significant other, Randy Savage became one of the most famous and popular wrestlers of all time.

#1 Kurt Russell – Actor

Coming in at #1 on today’s list is the world-famous actor Kurt Russell, who was born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1951. His family relocated to Southern California when he was a child, which gave him some early opportunities in Hollywood. He appeared in several Disney movies during the late 60’s and early 70’s such as The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, Charley and the Angels and Superdad. But, he was also a fantastic baseball player both in Little League and High School. His father, Bing, had also played pro baseball in the late 40’s and Kurt Russell, signed by the California Angels out of High School, would get the opportunity to do the same. The switch-hitting second baseman hit .285 in Low-A for the Bend Rainbows in 1971. The in ‘72 he hit .325 for the Walla Walla Islanders. He went on a tear in 6 games at the Double-A level in 1972, going 9 for 16 with a home run. It looked like he might be on a track to the big leagues when he tore his rotator cuff during a double-play attempt when the incoming runner slid in hard and late. He tried to come back, but could no longer throw properly and his baseball career was over. Now, as an adult, he returned to acting and as it turned out, he was a star-in-the-making. He was nominated for an Emmy for his performance in the TV film Elvis and started to snag major roles in various films. He provided the voice as the adult Copper in The Fox and the Hound and stared in too many movies to list, but some include Big Trouble In Little China, The Thing, Backdraft, Tombstone, Captain Ron and Overboard. He also landed the lead role as “Snake” in Escape From New York and the sequel Escape From L.A. and has been a huge Hollywood star for 6 decades and counting.

August 16, 2023

Erik Reyes

mlb

Top 10 STUPIDEST & SISSIEST "Unwritten Rules" of Major League Baseball

August 16, 2023

Erik Reyes

mlb

If you’re the type that gets your feelings hurt very easily and tends to get overly angry or sad when losing at sports, and you need your opponents to go easy you, you might want to consider a career as a Major League Baseball player, where there are actual unwritten rules to make sure that you never get your feelings hurt, and in today’s video we’ll be counting down the Top 10 Sissiest Unwritten Rules of Major League Baseball, created only to make sure that feelings are kept unhurt, because 20-40 year old men can be very emotional. They’re like children actually - you have to be very careful not to hurt the other teams feelings, otherwise, do you know what happens? They throw a baseball at you as hard as they can. Yes, if you break one of these rules, they’ll go ahead and throw a hard object at you at speeds approaching 100 miles per hour. Then, you must retaliate and throw a baseball back at them. Then, everybody runs on the field and fights each other. So, without further ado, let’s go ahead and jump right into some of the most ridiculous and sissy unwritten rules in Major League Baseball.

#10 No Crying in Baseball

I had to start with the most ironic and hypocritical rule of all – there’s no crying in baseball. Well, literally anyway – you’re not supposed to actually shed tears, but you can certainly cry. And players do all the time, in fact, that’s what this whole video is about. They cry over the other team scoring too many runs, cry over hitters admiring a home run or flipping their bat, they even cry over bunts during multiple situations. Imagine getting mad because your opponent bunts. Anyway, let’s continue the list.

#9 Don’t Rub The Area you Were Hit-by-a-Pitch

Okay, this is another one makes the list because of the pure hypocrisy. Let me get this straight, if you get hit by a 99 MPH fastball and touch or rub the area to get a bit of relief from the pain, you’re a sissy and seen as weak… but if you score 6 or 7 runs and then keep trying to score more by stealing or bunting to extend the lead – you are a big meanie and it hurts our feelings!! I’ll tell you this, if I get hit by a pitch and it hurts and want to rub it a little, I’m rubbing it. That’s a lot less weak than getting mad over my opponent trying too hard because I have no confidence and feel like the game’s already over.

#8 No Stepping on the Pitcher’s Mound
I can kind of understand this one and how if would be annoying for pitchers to have all the players just running over the mound in between innings. So, it comes in as one the least sissiest unwritten rules. Still, if a player ever does cut across the mound while jogging to and from the dugout, a pitcher might completely over-react to another human being having the nerve to step on their mound. Here’s Dallas Braden after Alex Rodriguez took a short cut back to the dugout, crossing over the mound while jogging back the dugout after being throw out during a double play.

#7 Don’t Admire a Home Run

I’m putting this one at #7 because there can be times a player can go a little too far – I do think just standing there and watching it without moving is a bit much – like, you can run now - but in general if a hitter wants to enjoy the moment, celebrate a little, even pimp the homer a little, so what? The score is the score regardless – celebrating doesn’t change that and pitchers are allowed to celebrate, pump their fists, scream in happiness after a big strikeout – so why can’t a hitter do the same after a big home run? Because it’s an unwritten rule, so you better get moving or the pitcher might have something to say. In the case of the legendary Madison Bumgarner, the unwritten rules are even more strict – don’t you dare swing too hard.

#6 No Swinging 3-0 With a Big Lead

Wait, what? Yes, if your team is leading big in a Major League Baseball game and you have a 3-0 count, even if you don’t get a take sign, you’re supposed to take the pitch. Because if you hit a home run, you might hurt some feelings and your own manager might call you out. This happened to Yermin Mercedes when he homered on a 3-0 pitch while his team had a comfortable lead. Tony La Russa was so upset, he said if it were up to him, he’d send up three relief pitchers to hit and make easy outs for the other team. But, does this rule apply to pitchers too? So, if a team has a big lead, do they have to throw a nice slow pitch right down the middle during an 0-2 count or do you still try to strike the hitter out? I’ve never heard of a pitching having to give a hitter an easy pitch, so it doesn’t apply to pitchers, just hitters.

Oh, and if you’re supposed to take it easy on a position player pitching – why? There are plenty of relief pitchers in the bullpen, especially nowadays with the runner on 2nd rule preventing long extra inning games. So, your team chose to give up and put in a position player and then the hitter is supposed to just get out on purpose and not do their best when this is their job, and their job performance is available for every one to see in the form of statistics which could effect their job status or next contract? I don’t think so, every hitter should do their best every at bat regardless of the count or who is pitching.

#5 Don’t Steal a Base when Leading By Too Many Runs

Not quite as stupid as the one after this, but if a runner at first base tries to steal second while leading by 6 or 7 runs or more, it is actually considered breaking the unwritten rules. You can’t try to get in scoring position to add some extra insurance, because apparently the other team has already given up and considers themselves helpless – they could never possibly catch up even though such comebacks have happened before and will happen again. So, I would think that by continuing to push and try to score, it shows respect for the opposing team and their capability to catch up. By not trying, it says – hey, ya’ll are so bad, we don’t even need to steal or try anymore – ya’ll have no chance anyway. Apparently, that’s less disrespectful than actually giving it your all and never counting your opponent out.

#4 Don’t Bunt When Leading by Too Many Runs

This one is even stupider – if you bunt for a hit while leading by too many runs, the other team gets upset. You’re scared of a bunt now? Ok, we’ll just swing away and hit more home runs. A bunt is not a guaranteed hit, and if you can’t defend it properly, that’s your problem. Just throw out the batter, or don’t – it’s not like they can keep bunting over and over. Why would a team be offended by a bunt? The hitter is simply doing their job and trying to get on base and yes, run up the score, to minimize the chance of blowing the lead. If you don’t like it, get some people out – your’e a major league baseball team with Major league pitchers, right? But even if you don’t steal or bunt, even scoring more runs and increasing your lead and be considered “Disrespectful.” You actually have to start taking more pitches, taking short leads, play station to station baseball, don’t try to score on a single from second – just go to third and stay there. Because, after all, there’s no need to score more – the other team sucks anyway and will never catch up. They even agree with that – which is why they’ll get mad if you run up the score too much.

#3 Don't swing at the first pitch if the last two hitters hit home runs.

Why? Because the hitter might actually hit a third home run? And what seems to be the problem?? If you can’t avoid allowing a home run to three straight batters, you might want to think about a career change. Here’s the deal – every hitter in the lineup has a contract that’s going to end, a career they want to continue, and a baseball card full of stats on the back. Every team is in a playoff hunt, at least for a large portion of the season, and trying to win as many games as possible. Every hitter has to take the approach that most helps them and their team, end of story. If two hitters just went deep, I’m going to be up there looking for something to hit and if comes on the first pitch, so be it.

#2 You Offend Us – We Throw a Baseball At You

I know this one will be an unpopular opinion, but Imagine if this happened in another sport. In the NBA, if you get upset you throw the basketball at the opposing player as hard as you can – it’s just a part of the game. In golf, Tiger Woods feels disrespected because Phil Mickelson showed too much flare during a swing – so he throws the golf ball at him as hard as he can, giving him a nice bruise. People would think he went insane. In baseball, it’s completely normal – if offended, you simply hit the batter on purpose, and most fans from what I can tell think this is a precious part of the game. In my opinion, it’s ridiculous and dangerous as if the pitcher misses his target, which they’re known to do, a serious injury could occur. Even if they do hit their target, they are intentionally physically harming another batter with a hard object – you know, in legal terms, something known as “assault” and technically, since at least one player, Ray Chapman, has died from getting hit by a pitch in the past, it could be considered “assault with a deadly weapon.” And it just makes the other team retaliate and do the same thing. Pitchers have been known to throw at batter who simply have done their job well. If a hitter smashes a couple homers, especially if he shows any emotion or doesn’t run out of the box immediately, he’s at risk of getting hit by a pitch – even if it takes years like in the case of Hunter Strickland and Bryce Harper. In that case, a huge brawl ensued when Strickland hit Harper more than 2 years after Harper hit a couple playoff bombs against him and the Giants’ Michael Morse ended up with a career-ending concussion in the dust up. Earlier this season, Ian Happ of the Cubs accidentally hit Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras with his backswing – he immediately apologized and the former teammates hugged. It was an obvious accident but that didn’t stop Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas from intentionally beaning him then getting pissed when he got tossed. Of course you got tossed – you obviously just intentionally hit a guy. Yeah, you not only give the opposing team a free baserunner but you risk ejection and you invite one of your own players to get hit by a pitch, leading to a possible brawl and serious injuries. But hey, it’s just part of the game.

#1 Don’t Bunt to Break up a No-Hitter

My #1 sissiest rule of all makes the least sense to me, because you actually have to try not to hurt the other team’s feelings while you’re the one getting your ass kicked. So, let me get this straight. If I’m an MLB hitter and my team is getting annihilated by a pitcher whose stuff is working like never before, I’m not allowed to get creative and try to bunt my way on to get something going and try to eventually score a run – because God-Forbid I actually do my job and get on base to break up the no-hitter. First of all, if bunting for a hit were so much easier than swinging for one, everybody would be bunting all the time. Second of all, this is Major League Baseball, teams are trying to get into the playoffs, and you have to find a way to win the game – I don’t care if the pitcher has a perfect game going in the 9th inning, if the game is still close, I want my team to try whatever they can to get a runner on base and try to win the game, because after all, you play to win the game.

And that does it for my Top 10 sissiest rules – some of them I understand to some extent, but I thought I’d have some fun with week’s countdown and talk about these ridiculous unwritten rules, many of which really are absolutely pathetic. Let me know what you think, however – I’m sure this will be an unpopular list and many will defend the great unwritten rules of the game – but these are just some of my thoughts, put yours down below.

August 7, 2023

Erik Reyes

mlb, major league baseball

Top 15 Managers in MLB HISTORY...

August 7, 2023

Erik Reyes

mlb, major league baseball

Welcome to another Humm Baby Baseball countdown and today we’ll be countdown my top 15 Managers in MLB History. This is a very tough ranking as it’s not always clear who is most responsible for great teams – is Miller Huggins the reason the ‘27 Yankees were so good? Or maybe it had a little something to do with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig among other great players. Well, for that example, the Yankees struggled before Huggins and then struggled again after – even with Ruth and Gerhig still in the lineup. While managers can only be great if they have great ballplayers to work with, a poor manager will still lose more games than they win even with great players. Knowing how to manage a bunch of MLB players with huge personalities and egos as well as keeping a team motivated through a long grueling MLB season are as important as knowing when to pinch hit, when to make a pitching change and what order to put the lineup in. The best managers are the ones who can stick around for decades, keep the team chemistry positive, help lead their teams to multiple championships and simply bring out the best in their players. Some one who is not a natural leader probably won’t last long at being an MLB Manager. So, here we go with my Top 15 MLB managers of all time – considering their win-loss record, championships, longevity as well as what their players had to say about them. Before we get into the Top 15, here are 5 honorable mentions..

Honorable Mentions

Terry Francona

He is currently approaching 2,000 career wins as the manager of the Cleveland Guardians and has proven himself to be one of the greatest manager of all time. Tito had an average at best start to his managerial career with the Phillies but got a second opportunity with the Red Sox in 2004 and led the team to a World Series ring, breaking the Curse of the Bambino . He led the team to a 2nd World Series title in 2007 and finished his Red Sox managerial career with a 744-552 record before heading to Cleveland where he has won 4 division titles and one pennant along with three manager of the year awards.

Earl Weaver

Weaver is 6th all time with a .583 winning percentage as manager of the Baltimore Orioles for 17 seasons. He didn’t quite reach 1,500 wins much less 2,000 which is why he didn’t make the main list but Weaver was an early version of the modern day manager – he believed in pitching, defense and the three-run home run. He wasn’t as focused on small ball and his strategy paid off as Weaver led the Orioles to 4 American League pennants and a World Series Championship in 1984. And he was notorious for his epic rants and meltdowns when the umpiring was not on point.

Lou Piniella

With over 1,800 wins, Piniella definitely deserves a mention. He is a two-time manager of the year award winner and led the Mariners to a franchise record 116 win season in 2001. Sweet Lou was hired as manager of the Reds in 1990 and took them to the World Series, where they swept the A’s. He managed of 21 seasons all told with 7 playoff appearances, managing the M’s, Reds, Yankees, Devil Rays and Cubs.

Jim Leyland

Another name I just couldn’t find room for in the Top 15, Leyland is one of the few managers to win a pennant in both the N.L and A.L. - and he was the skipper for the Marlins when they won their first World Series in 1997. He led the powerful early 90’s Pirates teams to 3 straight N.L. East titles although they couldn’t get past the NLCS. He repeated that with Detroit, winning 3 straight A.L. Central titles but failed to win it all, although his Tigers did reach the World Series in 2012, but were swept by the Giants. Overall, Leyland was a tough but fair manager who won over 1,700 games along with 3 manager of the year awards.

Bill McKechnie

A former deadball era player, Bill McKenchie was one of the early great managers of the game and would’ve been close to #1 on this list 100 years ago. Known as “Deacon” for his quiet & unassuming demeanor and regular participation in the church choir, McKechnie became the first manager to win a World Series with two separate teams – the Reds and the Pirates. He is 16th all time in Wins and also led his teams to 4 pennants. He was the manager of the Boston Braves in 1935 when Babe Ruth played his final season, a terrible season all around as Ruth lasted only a month before retiring and the Braves lost 115 games. Overall, McKechnie still had a great managerial career with a .524 winning percentage.

Now, let’s get into the Top 15.

15. Bucky Harris

At the young age of 27, Bucky Harris was hired by the Senators to be a player-manager and he led the team to a World Series Championship. He picked up the nickname “The Boy Wonder.” Harris went on to manage 29 seasons, the 4th most in MLB history, wining 2,158 games along with three pennants and two World Series. He won the second title with the Yankees in 1947. He was one of the earliest managers to deploy relief pitchers on a regular basis, not expecting every starter to pitch all nine innings. He was also a great player’s manager, which likely stemmed from managing guys older than he was at the start of his managerial career. “If you can’t play for Bucky, you don’t belong in the major leagues,” said Joe DiMaggio. His won-loss percentage was just .493 and he was fired multiple times, which is normal for most long-time managers. Still, Bucky Harris had a managerial career that got him into the Hall of Fame.

14. Tommy Lasorda

With 1,599 wins, Tommy Lasorda didn’t quite reach 2,000 but no one can deny he is an absolute legend. He managed the Los Angeles Dodgers for 20 years from 1976 to 1996, with an amazing ability to get the most of his young talent. During his tenure, nine Dodger rookies won the Rookie of the Year Award. Lasorda’s managerial career started off with back-to-back NL Championships in ‘77 and ‘78. He had a career .526 win/loss percentage, four pennants and two World Series rings – one in 1981 and the other in 1988. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame a year after his retirement and in 2000 he managed the U.S. Olympic Baseball Team to a gold medal. He is in the Top 5 All-Time MLB Managers for the longest tenure with the same team – 21 years as the Dodgers manager and then went on to become Vice President of the team. All told, as a player, manager and front office executive, Lasorda spent over 70 years as a part of the Dodgers organization. According to Orel Hershiser,when playing under Lasorda “Every day was do or die. There was no small day in Tommy Lasorda’s life.”

13. Leo Durocher

One of the most larger-than-life characters in baseball history, Leo Durocher won over 2,000 games as manager of the Dodgers, Giants, Cubs and Astros. His fiery personality and banter with the umps, front office and MLB Executives led to his nickname – “The Lip.” However, despite the controversies, he knew how to manage and in 1941, he led the Dodgers to their first pennant in 21 years. Later, he left to manage the rival Giants and led them to an almost impossible 13 ½ game comeback in late 1951, leading to the famous Bobby Thomson Shot Heard ‘Round The World. Later, his Giants swept the Indians in the ‘54 World Series. He retired with the second most wins in National League managerial history. Based on the amount of years he managed, only one World Series title is a little low, but with overall winning percentage of .540 and over 2,000 wins, Durocher is definitely one of the best managers in MLB history.

12. Dusty Baker

Coming in at #11 is the great Dusty Baker, who beats out Durocher after winning his first World Series title in 2022 with the Houston Astros. Baker now has 2,149 wins - 8th all time – and also has a .540 winning percentage. He has won the Manager of the Year award three times including his debut managerial season in 1993 when he led the San Francisco Giants to 103 wins, but due to the lack of a Wild Card that year, the Giants missed out on the playoffs because the Atlanta Braves won 104. From 2008 to 2013, he managed the Reds and they made their first 3 postseason appearances since 1995. In fact, Baker took every team he managed to the postseason at least once – the Giants, Cubs, Reds, Nationals and Astros. The players he manages have only positive things to say about Baker, who will go down as one of the greatest managers ever.

11. Bruce Bochy

Even before leading the San Francisco Giants to three World Series Rings in 5 years, Bruce Bochy was a great manager for the Padres, leading them to four division titles in 12 years, many of which he had to manage a very young team in a rebuilding process. He won over 900 games with the Padres then over 900 with the Giants, becoming the only manager to win at least 900 games with two separate teams. During the 2010, 2012 and 2014 seasons, he led the Giants to a World Series ring each run despite being underdogs in every single playoff series. This even-year streak ended in 2016 when the Giants lost to the Cubs in the NLDS. Bochy eventually retired but then returned in 2023 to manage the Texas Rangers and, as of this recording, he has led the team to a 59-42 record to lead the American League West. Bochy has 2,062 wins and counting and has improved his career win-loss percentage to .499, still just short of .500, which is the only reason he comes in this low. Based on his performance in Texas, however, he could be moving up very quickly.

10. Casey Stengel

Coming in at #10 is the legendary Casey Stengel, who led the Yankees to the World Series 10 times in 12 years, although obviously guys like Joe Dimaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford may have had a little something to do with it as well. Before he took over the Yankees, Stengel managed the Brookyln Dodgers and Boston Braves, never finishing above 5th place and at the end of his career, he managed a terrible New York Mets expansion team, losing over 100 games each year. Neverthless, his time with the Yankees can’t be ignored and he led several powerhouse Yankee teams to the Fall Classic, winning an unprecedented five consecutive World Championships. In total he led the Yankees to 7 World Titles and 10 A.L. Pennants. Unfortunately, when not managing those stacked Yankee teams, he has a .397 winning percentage, which is why he comes in a little lower than you might have expected. Incredibly, his years with the Yankees still bump his overall percentage up to .508 and when combined with his colorful personality and legendary quotes, Stengel still belongs in the Top 10.

9. Miller Huggins

Huggins began his managerial career during the final four years of his playing career with the St. Louis Cardinals. He was credited with helping fix a young Rogers Hornsby’s batting stance. In 1918, he took over a struggling New York Yankees team and helped turn them into champions, leading them to three World Series rings. He was a master at the fundamentals and drilled these principals into the minds of his players. He was also instrumental in several trades and transactions that helped build the Yankee juggernauts of the 1920’s, even though many of his trades were unpopular at the time. He was a great motivator and knew how to handle big personalities. “He was the only man who knew how to keep me in line,” said Babe Ruth. He took the Yankees to the World Series in 1926, ‘27 and ‘28, winning it all in ‘27 and ‘28. He passed away before the end of the season in 1929. Even with Ruth, Gerhig, Tony Lazzeri and other greats, the Yanks finished in 3rd place in 1930. Even though he won just 1,413 games due to his death at just 51 years old, Huggins had a career .555 winning percentage with 6 pennants and 3 world titles.

8. Connie Mack

Imagine a manger from the 1960’s still managing today. That would equal 7 decades of managing Major League Baseball – something only one man has ever done. Connie Mack started out his managerial career in the 1890’s and his final season was 1950, totaling 7 separate decades. He managed for a total of 53 years, including 50 with the Philadelphia Athletics. Because of the sheer number of games he managed, Mack easily comes in at #1 all-time in wins with 3,731. The downside is he’s also #1 in loses with 3,948. Still, Mack is an all-time legend, famous for wearing his trademark business suit standing tall in the A’s dugout for 50 years. He led them through 2 dynasties which included 9 pennants and 5 World Series titles. He was also manager through a few rough patches which might have resulted in a firing had he not been a partial owner of the team. At one point, the A’s had 10 consecutive losing seasons. As a manger, he was easy-going but did demand his players follow a code of conduct, making sure his players composed themselves as professionals on and off the field and demanded that they judge others as an individuals and never on the basis of race or religion. He managed until the age of 87. Overall, Connie Mack is very hard to rank because he has a losing record but he did win his share of games and championships and is certainly #1 as far as longevity.

7. Joe Torre
After an 18-year playing career that included an MVP and 252 home runs, Joe Torre went on to manage five different teams for nearly 30 years, winning a 5th best all time 2,326 games. His first managerial stint did not go too well with the Mets and after five losing seasons from ‘77 to ‘81, he was fired. Things went better in Atlanta in 1982 when he took the Braves to the playoffs for the first time since 1969. Unfortunately, after finishing in 2nd in ‘83 then 3rd in ‘84, he was fired, moving to the broadcast booth for a few years until the Cardinals hired him as manager in 1990. He never made the playoffs and was fired midway through the ‘95 seasons. It was at this point that the Yankees made the surprising choice to hire him to the dismay of most Yankee fans. He had never won a playoff game in 14 years as manager. As it turned out, he hit his stride in New York and won the Manager of the Year Award in 1996, kicking off a Yankee Dynasty that included 12 consecutive postseason berths and 4 World Series Championships in 5 years. He led the Yankees to 6 pennants in 8 years and 10 AL East Championships in 12 years. He finished his managerial career with the Dodgers, winning the N.L. West in 2 out of 3 seasons. Although it’s true he didn’t become a winning manager until he had a stacked roster, he did a great job of handling the big personalities along with the high pressure media and fans of New York.

“He’s a great manager,” said former Yankees third baseman Scott Brosius. “There is more to it than who to pitch and play. It’s managing people, the press… and Joe does that all great. Players follow the tone set by the manager, and Joe is the calming influence of this team.”

Despite his early struggles with the Mets, Braves and Cards, he finished his career with a .538 winning percentage.

6. Walter Alston

He might be the only Hall of Famer who struck out in his only career MLB at bat. That’s because, of course, Walter Alston was inducted for his managing career with the The Dodgers, who had never won a World Series Championship until Alston came on board. Once the quiet and unknown Alston took over the team in 1954, improvements were immediate and in 1955, the Dodgers won it all. They returned to the Fall Classic in 1956, losing in 7 games to the Yankees. Year after year, the Dodgers brought him back on a one-year contract and he ended managing the team for 23 seasons, in both Brookyln and Los Angeles. He led the Dodgers to seven pennants and their first four World Series titles – the majority of their seven overall rings. Even after the retirement of Sandy Koufax in 1966, the Dodgers stayed competitive, wining at least 85 games in each of Alston’s final 8 seasons as manager, leaving the franchise is great shape for his replacement Tommy Lasorda. He won over 2,000 games and had an excellent .558 winning percentage. Alston had an easy-going and calm demeanor, never yelling at or embarrassing his players.

"Walt treats his players like men," said former Dodgers outfielder Dixie Walker. "If he feels a player isn't doing his best he doesn't fine him or cuss him out or sit down and talk with him. He just won't play him anymore."

The strategy seemed to pay off for Walter Alston, who was instrumental in making the Dodgers a top quality franchise they continue to be known as today.

5. Bobby Cox

Bobby Cox is one of just four MLB managers with over 2,500 wins and he was at the helm for the Atlanta Braves teams of the 90’s and 2000’s, leading them to 14 consecutive division titles. Unfortunately, they won just 1 World Series in 1995, which is why he doesn’t come in even higher. He started out as a manager in the Yankees minor league system before the Braves hired him in 1978. He made some improvements to the poor Braves teams of the late 70’s and early 80’s but was eventually fired before moving on the manage the Blue Jays, who had just finished dead last in 1981. He turned the team around, improving year after year until finishing in 1st place in 1985. He returned to the Braves as General Manager in 1986 but when no manager could get the job done on the field, he hired himself as manager in 1990 and took another last place team to the playoffs in 1991, this time all the way to the World Series, where the Braves lost in extra innings in Game 7 to the Twins in one of the greatest Fall Classics of all time. Known as a players manager, Cox treated his players with respect while instilling a winning attitude.

“He was the single greatest influence on me as a player, in terms of teaching the game, respecting the game, carrying yourself the right way on and off the field,” said former Braves pitcher Tom Glavine.

Cox also has a big league record 158 ejections, creating entertainment for the crowd while defending his players.

4. Sparky Anderson

Sparky Anderson managed for 26 consecutive seasons, first with the Reds from 1970 to ‘78 and then from 1979 to 1995 with the Detroit Tigers, compiling an impressive .545 winning percentage and 2,194 total wins. Before starting his managerial career in Cincinnati, the Reds were a good team, winning around 85 to 90 wins per season until Sparky arrived and immediately propelled them to a franchise record 102 wins in his first season. The Big Red Machine made the playoffs in 4 of his first 5 seasons there and won it all in ‘75 and ‘76. They re-broke that franchise record of 102 wins with 106 in 1975. In fact The Reds, who’ve been around since 1869, have won over 100 games in a season just 3 times – all 3 with Sparky as manager. He is hands down the best manager in Reds history, but was mysteriously fired after the 1978 season in which the Reds won 92 games and finished in 2nd place, just 2 ½ games out of 1st. The Tigers immediately began negotiating a deal to hire Anderson despite having already hired a new manager, Less Moss. They fired Moss 1/3rd into his first season after a deal was struck with Sparky, not for under performance but simply because they had gotten Sparky. The Tigers quickly improved as a team and won it all in 1984, which is still their most recent World Series championship. Sparky Anderson posted a winning record in 19 of his first 20 seasons as manager and other than managing some horrible 1990’s Tigers teams, his resume is absolutely stellar.

"He was great at handling great players. He knew the guys to slap and he knew the guys to kiss,' said Bill Gullickson, former Tigers pitcher.

Anderson retired after the 1995 season and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000.

Tony La Russa as manager of the Oakland A’s

3. Tony La Russa

La Russa has managed an MLB team in 6 separate decades and is second all-time in wins behind Connie Mack with 2,902 wins. He won over 50% of his games with every team he’s managed – the White Sox, A’s and Cardinals and has a career .536 winning percentage with a 70-58 postseason record. He started out as a minor league manager in the White Sox system before landing the job at the big league level in 1979. From there, the White Sox slowly improved, eventually winning 99 games in 1983, winning the A.L. West. He then headed to Oakland in 1987 to try to improve another struggling team who had finished with a losing record for 7 straight years. He got them to .500 in ‘87 then a World Series in 1988. In ‘89, they won it all, sweeping the Giants in the Battle of the Bay World Series. The A’s won 3 straight A.L. Championships under La Russa, who later managed several great Cardinals teams, leading them to two World Championships – one in 2006 and another in 2011. The Cards finished in 1st place under La Russa 7 times and made the postseason 9 times. He later came out of retirement in 2021, returning to the White Sox, who finished in 1st place in the A.L. Central. Unfortunately, his last tenure with the Sox didn’t go completely smoothly and there were some controversial moments for La Russa, such as calling out his own player for hitting a home run in garbage time with a 3-0 count and a decision to intentionally walk a batter with a 1-2 count. He retired permanently following the 2022 season with 6 pennants, 3 World Series rings and despite the controversies towards the end, is one of the greatest managers in the history of the A’s, Cardinals and MLB in general.

2. John McGraw.

I wanted to go with the great Giants manager John Mcgraw at #1, but he fell just barely short. McGraw managed in 5 different decades and 2 different centuries, beginning his managerial career in 1899 as a 26-year old player-manager of the 19th century Baltimore Orioles franchise. He was one of the most aggressive managers of all time, with one goal in mind – winning at all costs. He loved to steal, hit and run and put the pressure on the opponent. His leadership skills were immediately evident with the Orioles and one year with the Cardinals and after his move to the Giants in 1901, he became one of the greatest managers in the game, turning the Giants into an absolute powerhouse, winning 106 games in 1904, winning the pennant but not playing the World Series because McGraw and the Giants ownership believed the A.L. to be an inferior league. After winning 105 games in 1905, McGraw and the Giants played this time against the Philadelphia Athletics, winning it 4 games to 1. He led the Giants to 3 straight pennants from 1911 to 1913, back-to-back World Series titles in ‘21 and ‘22 and a total of 10 pennants and 3 World Series Championships. McGraw is third all-time with 2,763 wins but his winning percentage of .586 is higher than both and better than any manager with over 2,500 wins. His leadership skills are undeniable and McGraw is in contention as a the greatest manager ever.

1. Joe McCarthy

However, I had to go with Joe McCarthy at #1. Although he comes in 9th all time with 2,125 wins, no manager could claim a better winning percentage - an incredible .615. In fact, Joe McCarthy never had a losing season in his 26-year managerial career. "Never a day went by when you didn't learn something from Joe McCarthy,” said Yankee great Joe DiMaggio. He started out as the manager of the Cubs and took them to the World Series in 1929. William Wrigley Sr., in one of the worst moves of his professional life, fired McCarthy partway through 1930, blaming him for losing the ‘29 series. In 1931, McCarthy was hired by the Yankees, who had only won 3 World Series titles despite getting Babe Ruth in 1920. Under McCarthy, the Yanks went on an absolutely incredible tear, winning eight A.L. pennants and seven World Series rings in 12 years, including four straight appearances in the Fall Classic. He used a low-key approach, rarely arguing with umpires and staying in the dugout for most of the game, even when making a pitching change. He wore no number on his jersey, but had the heart of a teacher, knew how to develop talent and how to handle big personalities like Babe Ruth, who was not a huge fan of McCarthy since the Bambino wanted to be manager. McCarthy won the Manager of the Year award the first year of its existence and went on to win two more. He finished his career managing the Red Sox to 96 wins in 1948 and 1949 before resigning midway through the 1950 season. Overall, he was a winner everywhere he went and based on the resume, the fact that he never had a losing season and has the best winning percentage with over 2,100 wins, I had to put McCarthy at #1.

June 27, 2023

Erik Reyes

mlb

Ranking ALL 28 MLB City-Connect Uniforms WORST to BEST Including PITTSBURGH PIRATES

June 27, 2023

Erik Reyes

mlb

Welcome back to the Humm Baby Baseball Channel and today we’ll be ranking all 28 of the City Connect Uniforms that have been unveiled so far from worst to best.

Wost: The Los Angeles Dodgers (Original Design)

I can hear it now – bro, that’s just cuz you’re a Giants fan. Absolutely. But, seriously, the all blue look just doesn’t do it for me; they look like pajamas on first glance. Also, the text on the cap is too much putting the entire team name on there, it doesn’t even say LA for Los Angeles. It’s cool that the front of the jersey says Los Dodgers, but overall, there’s not much unique about it – you can barely notice the spray paint effect on the sleeves and I get they didn’t wanna stray too far the classic Dodger look. Los Angeles is a city with so much going on; it’s crazy they couldn’t do a little more with their City Connects – I genuinely think these city connects are the worst to come out so far.

#28 The Detroit Tigers

At first glance, I just thought this one looked pretty ugly and reminded me of some of the wacky minor league uniforms during random promotions where they wear a wild looking uniform for one game then auction them off autographed for fans to buy. Of course, they were going to go with a motor city theme, but the tire tracks are a bit much. There’s only dark blue and black, and it could’ve used some hot orange somewhere to make it pop a little more. It just looks cringe to me as a jersey, but many of these city connects don’t have the best jerseys but the cap makes up for it. In this case, this cap literally just says “Detroit” in the most plain font available. I can’t even imagine how this got approved. I can literally make the same cap in 10 seconds on Photoshop Elements.

#27 The Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles decided to go super-simplistic with their City Connect Design and the first thing I thought of when I saw this was the old 19th century jerseys that had nothing but the city name across the chest. The Orioles City Connects do have a colorful mosaic design on the inside – you know, the part that you can’t see. There are lots of abstract explanations to explain all the meaning behind this design, but ultimately, it’s just too plain. I like the attempt to go old school style, but that’s for Turn-Back-the-Clocks games – the City Connect should represent what is exciting and vibrant about the city. I don’t hate the uniforms in isolation but as a City Connect Jersey, it falls short.

#26 The Chicago Cubs

These uniforms are somewhat similar to the Dodgers in the all blue look, but the overall look pops a little better with the navy blue and light blue contrast. It works much better than the Dodgers look. Wrigleyville across the chest is cool and the logo that symbolizes the north, south and main branches of the Chicago River. There’s representation for all the neighborhoods of the city and overall it’s a cool look but like the Orioles, a little too simple although they did more than the O’s. The cap has a simple C with a star in the middle and looks pretty cool as well. Overall, though, I don’t love these unis and they come in at #18.

#25 The St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are a very traditional team that almost didn’t even participate in the City Connect Program. Ultimately, they decided to go for it – sort of. The only real issue with this uniform is it looks like a Spring Training uniform. They stuck with the same color scheme and traditional looking logo with the birds perched on the bat, except now it says “The Lou,” a nickname for St. Louis and in the U.K… the bathroom. They did, for the first time, use red as the primary color. The STL is nothing special although it’s a decent logo for the cap. The Cardinals decided to keep things simple, and that’s okay, but for a City Connect, I’d prefer something a little more bold.

#24 The Kansas City Royals

These ones have a similar color scheme to the Cubs, dark blue against light blue – but I like the white trim and white pants to go with it better than the all blue look. The navy blue represents several teams from the past in KC – the Athletics, Moncarchs and Blue Sox among others. And the KC logo is a cool design and the number styling is a reference to the city’s art deco architecture but overall it does come across as fairly simple and plain. Obviously, that can be a good thing; you don’t want to do too much but overall, this one is so-so, just better than the Cubs.

#23 The Los Angeles Dodgers (2024 Design)

Coming up next is the Dodgers new and much improved City-Connects, which are still nothing spectacular but for me an obvious improvement. They maintain the tradition Dodger colors and feel, but use a font that pays homage to the Dodgers original stadium after the move to the west coast, L.A. Memorial Coliseum. The cap is miles better with the interlocking D and LA logos together as one, instead of putting “Los Dodgers” which looked like too many letters to be on the front of a cap. I like the number being a different shade of blue and overall, these look nice, but they’re also nothing mindblowing. But The Dodgers did well to keep it simple while improving the previous design.

#22 New York Mets

Coming in at #22 is the New York Mets, another new reveal this season, and this one took me aback a bit because it looked more like a Yankees uniform than a Mets one. Also, the amount of gray looks a little plain at first sight. However, there are some purple accents representing the 7 line that runs to City Field. I definitely expected the jerseys to say “Queens” instead of “NYC.” After checking them out in a game, though, I have to say overall these look pretty cool. There are lots of features to connect to all of New York City. The pattern of the stripes is cool and I really love the cap with the Queensboro Bridge. Maybe they could’ve used more purple or something to make them pop a little more, but they are definitely not terrible.

#21 The Los Angeles Angels

Next up is the Los Angeles Angels, who went with a surf themed look for their City Connects, which at least represents something about the city. I like the surf-style font across the front but overall, they didn’t take any huge risks. The colors are similar to their normal colors and really, it’s just Angels uniforms with a surf-style feel. The number in the diamond looks cool along with the stripes on the sleeve but overall, despite the overall clean look, nothing really pops too much so this uniform comes in at #21.

#20 Cleveland Guardians

Next up is the Cleveland Guardians, who stuck with the same color scheme for the most part. The “CLE” on the front looks pretty cool with the home plate style lettering that is also used on the name on the back. There are several little details that add an interesting touch, but don’t really effect the overall look except the sandstone pattern, which is nice. The socks have the Guardian Statues but are only visible for players who show their socks, which is not the majority. The cap looks like a normal Cleveland Guardians cap to a non-Guardians fan. If I saw it in their team store, I wouldn’t know it was anything special. Overall, this is a solid look, but it’s also too similar to their regular uniform, although it’s different enough and better than a Spring Training uniform.

#19 The Pittsburgh Pirates

So the newest City Connect uniform comes in a little low, but I really do like the look – because I like the Pirates normal uniforms. This one seems like a cool alternate uniform you might see in Spring Training. It also reminds me of the Salt Lake Bees Triple-A team. However, there is a little more to it than meets the eye; there’s a Three Rivers logo to symbolize the intersection of the three rivers – and a checkered pattern that looks pretty cool although it’s subtle. The font of the PGH across the front looks cool and is patterned after the circular grates in the pillars of the Robert Clemente Bridge. It also has a look representative of the Steel City overall. It’s not a huge departure from their normal colors and look, but overall looks pretty clean.

#18 The Milwaukee Brewers

Moving to #18, we have the Milwaukee Brewers who took a light blue look inspired by the flag of Milwaukee, the summer skies of Milwaukee along with its grilling culture and Lake Michigan. The colors are basically the same as their normal uniform but I look like the look. The cap has the airport designation and the jersey says Brew Crew, the team’s nickname which is pretty cool although I still think every city connect should say the city name somewhere other than the cap or a nickname of the city, not the team. Overall, it’s a clean look but nothing incredibly awesome in my opinion so it comes in fairly low but not near the very bottom.

#17 The Seattle Mariners

At #17 I have the Mariners, whose City Connects seem to be getting pretty solid reception but for me, I don’t find them absolutely spectacular although they definitely look pretty cool. I don’t know the black pants completely work with the blue and yellow – the overall combo looks alright. The jersey took inspiration from or, more accurately, is the same jersey as the old Seattle Pilots with the lowercase Seattle on the front. This is cool but I didn’t think the idea of the City Connect was just to wear throwback jerseys. The trident is a cool Mariners look but again – a logo we already know. So, although this overall look is sweet; I don’t rank it too high as a City Connect because there wasn’t much original or new about it but again, it’s not a bad look overall.

#16 Minnesota Twins

This one definitely gets credit for taking a big swing, but I can’t say it’s a home run. It’s not a strikeout either, though, as it does look somewhat cool with the ripple waves and tribute to the state of Minnesota and its 10,000 lakes, which it blatantly says on the side of the cap. I think the waves could’ve been a little more subtle though. I like the yellow trim and MN logo looks pretty cool as well. The logo on the front of the cap looks pretty sick and the bottom of the brim has a depth map of Lake Minnetonka, a nice touch as well. What hurts it for me most is the blue pants; I would’ve preferred just plain white pants. Overall, this one is pretty slick though.

#15 The Washington Nationals

Coming up next is another City Connect that got a lot of praise – that of the Washington Nationals, whose City Connect uniforms focus on the cherry blossom trees of D.C. and overall look pretty good I must admit. The District of Columbia flag is on the sleeve and socks and I like the WSH graphic across the chest. I am a little surprised they didn’t go for more of a patriotic look being in the national’s capital, but they do that more so with their normal uniforms so it also makes sense that they would focus more on the city itself rather than the nation. I just think overall they look a little plain with so much gray and not much color other than the cherry blossoms, so that’s why it doesn’t get ranked a little higher but I do like them.

#14 The San Francisco Giants

I admit I was not a huge fan of these city connects at first and in fact, I still have some problems with them, but the Giants have jumped all the way up to #11 because I have grown to love seeing these jerseys. Yes, they have grown on me some and I genuinely like the orange and white no black look now, but more importantly, as a Giants fan, they seem to play great baseball in these babies and won 8 of their first 9 games in the City Connects and are currently 22-7 in them. So, it’s no surprise they’ve grown on me – they really do pop and look fantastic; they took a big risk going away from the orange and black while not going too deep into left field by bringing in a new color like green or purple or something which would have been a disaster. The fact that there’s no SF or San Francisco anywhere is weird and we get the Gatorade G instead. The fog effect is cool but there’s so much iconic about San Francisco that wasn’t incorporated so overall they were a disappointment but they’ve definitely grown on me for multiple reasons.

#13 The Atlanta Braves

Next up is the Atlanta Braves City Connects, which only get ranked this high because I love the look of the 1970’s Atlanta Braves uniforms, invoking images of Hank Aaron smashing his 715th career home run, becoming MLB’s Home Run King. The problem, of course, is that they already wear an alternate uniform that looks like this, so the City Connects definitely played it safe. It’s just an alternate style to the already alternate uniform. Still, I like how it says “The A” instead of just “A” on the front and the uniform of course pops and looks awesome, it’s just nothing entirely new. I lived in Georgia back in 2001 and 2002, when the Braves played at Turner Field and loved visiting Atlanta, with the amazing street art, the shops on Peachtree Street, and so many parks and forests around the city. I love Hammerin’ Hank and the look of these but it’s weird the Braves didn’t do much more to represent the City of Atlanta in their City Connects. I fully expected them to have a Peach color and have all sorts of references to the city, but that’s not what we got.

#12 The Boston Red Sox

Speaking of a major departure from the classic uniforms, the Boston Red Sox get the award for the biggest guts of any team by going all out in their City Connect design, becoming the first MLB team to wear a uniform with the main colors being a yellow and blue – with no red at all. Traditionalists mostly hated this uniform and I don’t absolutely love it but I gotta respect the decision to really go for it. I love the addition of the Boston Marathon bib on the sleeve, the stenciled Boston logo on the front, the contrast of the yellow, white and blue, and the bright look that no one could possibly miss. Even the casual sports fan who doesn’t watch much baseball would immediately notice these if the game was on and ask – what team is that?? They’d be shocked to find out it’s the Boston Red Sox.

#11 The Houston Astros

As a space buff myself, I love the direction the Astros took going full Space City other than the full astronaut suit which might have impeded their ability to play baseball. The sleeves have a pattern reminiscent of star charts and the font on the front is just like that of NASA, except it says SPACE CITY. The cap has an awesome logo inspired by NASA Mission Control and the Astros have the best all blue look even though I still don’t love the blue pants but here, it works much better than it does for the Dodgers or Cubs. The Astros City Connects are really awesome overall in my opinion, even though the fan reception was understandably mixed, but again, I love studying space exploration and for a short time in my childhood, I wanted to be an astronaut but sort of changed my mind after being traumatized watching the Challenger disaster live on TV.

#10 Philadelphia Phillies

Just cracking the top 10 for me is probably one of the most controversial City Connects, because the Phillies definitely went bold and different, which I have to give props for. The question is, do they work? The caps are definitely awesome and most fans seem to agree with that. As for the jerseys, I think they look incredible with the bright blue fading to black and yellow accents. The colors represent the city’s flag, and I also love the font that is similar to early historical documents from the early capital of the U.S. From the waist up, I think these look amazing, but I’m not sure about the black pants with the yellow stripe. Overall, these are pretty awesome in my opinion although Phillies fans don’t seem to love them so much from what I can tell.

#9 The Texas Rangers

One of the newer City Connects unveiled on April 21st, the day Texas won its independence from Mexico, this uniform pays homage to old baseball teams in Dallas and Fort Worth while also celebrating the bringing of Major League Baseball to Arlington. The 4-21 date is shown on the uniform, but overall, these have gotten not the best reception but I personally think they look pretty freaking awesome. I thought they were black, white and red, but it turns out the dark color is actually midnight blue, which a friend pointed out to me. Still, these are unique, I like the spur style TX, the rope braid along the pants, which are dark to contrast the light jersey - the opposite of the norm but works good here in my opinion, but again, the fans seem to hate them, so I think I’m in the minority. I liked them enough to buy the City Connect Corey Seager bobblehead and I’m hoping to buy the rest of the collection later on. I would definitely wear the cap too as frequent visitor to the state of Texas, where my family used to live before the move to California, so overall I’m a fan of these and they come in at #9.

#8 The San Diego Padres

Up next is a look I expected from the Miami Marlins, but the Marlins did them one better – literally because they’ll be next in the ranking. But as for the Padres, they probably went as radical as any team besides maybe the Red Sox with these wild uniforms that I have to admit are pretty kick-ass, highlighting the beautiful pink-and-yellow sunsets of San Diego while paying respect to the local culture of Tijuana and Baja California along with the artwork of San Diego. The color scheme does bring reminders of the old Taco Bell, the Miami Heat alternate uniform and Miami Vice, which again is why I sort of expected these for the Marlins, but these colors also fit the local culture of San Diego, and it turned out I liked the Marlins uniforms even more, but these are still really cool and the Pads come in at #8.

#7 Tampa Bay Rays

Next is another 2024 new release, the Tampa Bay Rays City Connects, which are almost everything I would’ve hoped for, especially the neon glow-in-the-dark style green highlights. The faded in the sun style texture is awesome and I love the Tampa Bay font with the flames on the front, although it does seem a little thin with its borders and since its main color is about the same color as the rest of the jersey, it doesn’t pop all that much. The number on the back has the same issue, although I might need to see them in person to know for sure. I usually don’t like colored pants, but the dark style actually looks pretty good in this case. The cap is also absolutely sick and I might order one for myself. Overall, these are fantastic, and my second favorite of the new 2024 releases.

#6 The Miami Marlins

Paying homage to the Cuban Sugar Kings – a former Reds Triple A affiliate that played in Cuba - which makes sense due to the large Cuban population of Miami – these uniforms straight up pop. The Marlins went with a bright-red pinstriped look with a light blue cap. I love the color scheme here and the vivid look overall. Social Media seemed to love these and I can’t disagree – the colors really fit the city of Miami, while keeping some of the colors of the team but changing which is the most prominent. The number pops out in white with the blue trim and these are super cool unis overall and they just make the Top 5.

#5 Toronto Blue Jays

Which leads us to my actual favorite new release, the Toronto Blue Jays City Connects, which use the all black look with red and blue highlights. With the red long sleeve shirt underneath, these things absolutely pop and look really impressive to me, reminding me of a lively lit-up city at midnight. It has a vibrant feel with the Toronto skyline across the front in blue over black just beneath the Toronto logo in red. It reflects the blue of Lake Ontario as well. The cap is fire as well, and this overall look really blew me away and I’m surprised its not getting the best reception from some of the comments I’ve seen. The black pants works in this one to complete the overall look and with the red belt and undershirt, this look is absolutely amazing. The only complaint might be that the name of the back can be hard to read at a distance and the red on Toronto could be a little more vivid to help it pop a little more, but overall I love these City Connects.

#4 The Colorado Rockies

Coming in all the way up at #4 is another hot take because I’ve seen a lot of negative reactions to the City Connects of the Colorado Rockies but I gotta be honest – I really like these uniforms even though some criticize them as looking like college or High School unis, the point of the City Connect isn’t to look like your regular everyday professional uniform – they’re supposed to be extra creative, unique and maybe a little crazy while representing the city – or in this case, the state - the team plays in. The classic green color represents the pine trees and mountains of the state with some white snow on the top of course and the colors also match the state license plate. They also went bold with their look like the Red Sox and Padres, which is appreciated. The hat and circle logo are also pretty cool with some red representing the soil and gold for the sunshine. I don’t know how I feel about the green pants but I like how it is the same color as the mountains on the jersey making them look tall and epic so overall these are pretty awesome to me and they come in very high at #4

#3 The Arizona Diamondbacks

Coming in at #3 is a City Connect that is relatively simple but somehow really works for me. A tribute to the Sonoran Desert and local Hispanic population, the Arizona Diamondbacks goldish sand colored City Connects are still one of my favorites. This one doesn’t say Phoenix or Arizona but it does have the Arizona flag on the sleeve and says Serpientes, Spanish for Snakes with the snake S along with the standard Arizona logo on the cap but over the sand color it looks really nice. The touch of the red number completes the look. When players like Zack Galen add a little more such as this snakeskin belt, I like it even more. Overall, this desert look just looks fantastic and is very representative of the state of Arizona so it gets ranked very high at #3.

#2 The Chicago White Sox

My original #1 on my first ranking was the White Sox and I still really love these City Connects although now they land at the #2 spot. I love the choice to say Southside with the Gothic font, a tribute to the architecture of Chicago. The fans seemed to love them and they sold out quickly. The uniform finds a way make a big departure from the classic uniform while being creative and different yet still maintaining the classic colors of the team. They were the first team to go away from the white pants and for them, unlike some others, that strategy completely paid off and the all black look with pinstripes looks phenomenal. Even the Nike swoosh looks cool on these because it pops with the white and gray trim. Overall, these are simply fire and I love the White Sox City Connect uniforms.

#1 The Cincinnati Reds

But coming in at #1 is the City Connect uniforms of the Cincinnati Reds – a surprising pick probably but I’ve always loved the combination of red and black, especially with black is the dominant color and that’s exactly what these uniforms bring – an all black look with red highlights and the classic C logo but revamped to represent the continuing growth and change in the city of Cincinnati. The uniform also has a patch with the city's motto "Juncta Juvant," which is Latin for "Strength in Unity," and includes a buckeye leaf as a reference to the state of Ohio. Other than that, there aren’t a ton of references to Cincinnati but I’ve never been there and not sure what Cincinnati is famous for other than producing Steven Spielberg which is greatly appreciated. So, I guess that’s a valid criticism but I think this look so awesome and there is just enough references to Cincinnati and Ohio that I still put it at #1 as my favorite City Connect Uniform.