Hello Fans,
The regular season has wound itself all the way down. Monday night’s battle between Tampa Bay, the victor, and Texas determined the second place A.L. Wild Card winner. Tampa faces Cleveland next in an actual post-season game. The game with Texas counted as a regular season game, number 163. Who knows how many fantasy leagues and real life contract bonuses were possibly affected by that!? That’s how MLB always has been, and the new post-season format increases the likeliness of it happening. If you’re wondering why it’s called a ‘playoff’ game despite counting as an extension of the regular season, it’s because in the days of no League Championship Series, let alone Division Series and Wild Card games, there was a three game playoff to determine who captured the pennant and advanced to the World Series (see Bobby Thomson, 1951). Well, on Sunday, as the majority of teams were completing the last series of this regular season, there were several farewells to players we’ve watched for many seasons and playoffs and been awed by for nearly two decades. Here are some small details on their last games.
Todd Helton: The Colorado Rockies lifer and first-sacker played his last home game before the weekend. Fittingly, he hit a solo shot, double, and had a sacrifice fly for a nice three RBI game to bid adieu. Former Tennessee college football teammate, Peyton Manning, was there for the ceremony too. Sadly, he did not get the Teddy Ballgame fortune of hitting a homer in his last ever at-bat as he struck out, but at least he went down swinging, literally in the ninth inning of a 2-1 loss to Arizona. However, Helton had a great career. In just 17 years, he hit 369 HRs, 592 2Bs, maintained a .316 average, batted in 1,406 runs, went to five all-star games, and won four Silver Sluggers and three Gold Gloves. He also had more hits with 2,519 in just 2,247 games. Plus, he walked more times (1,335) than he struck out (1,175) and only struck out 100 times in a season once (104 in 2001). I think his value as a Hall of Fame candidate will only increase with time.
Andy Pettitte: The active leader in wins pitched his last game in Houston, a handful of miles from his hometown. What a fortunate, as 2013 was the first year this was even possible, and fitting touch for a guy who has shown great dedication throughout his career. Pettitte’s 256 wins are impressive against just 153 losses, providing a remarkable .626 winning percentage and indicative of his consistency and talent and also the teams’ performances too. His 2,448 strikeouts rank 36th all-time. If that doesn’t impress, then his total of only 1,031 walks should as his ‘K’ to ‘BB’ ratio pushes 2.5. He played through and after one of the most offensive eras ever and maintained a sub-four ERA at 3.85 despite facing the rugged lineups of the A.L. East for 15 of his 18 seasons. He also has the most post-season wins all-time at 19, including 4 in the ’09 championship season. There are many reasons why he should get in the Hall someday, but there also plenty why it will be a long while if he ever does. They are Johnson, Maddux, Glavine, Martinez, and Smoltz. His contemporaries truly dominated the same era in which he pitched and to historically significant levels also.
Mariano Rivera: Where do you start with this most dominant performer? Better yet, how do you end talking about his stats? Read on, I think I know a good way. Hint: It involves two absolute Legends of Legends and their both fielders. If Metallica’s Enter Sandman had been written after Rivera started breaking bats and forcing even switch hitters to bat righty against his nasty cutter, frontman James Hetfield surely would have had to answer to inquiries of whether he was a fan of Mo. Everyone knows he has the most saves ever at 652, but he also holds the record of finishing 952 games, regardless of outcome. Talk about Sandman! His career WHIP is what every fantasy baseball owner dreams of for just one season: a tidy and ridiculously paltry 1.000. He went to 13 All-Star games, had a 4.10 K/BB ratio, and made people think of Trevor Hoffman, the first man to 600 saves, as an after thought. That’s not fair, but that’s how it is and he’ll still go to C-town too someday. OK, this is my close out for THE closer: I love the fact that a respected and admirable person, not just player, was the last man to wear Jackie Robinson’s forever retired #42 AND 42 is how many post-season saves Mo had. There is one legend, now here is the other. Even though Helton finished more like Casey at the Bat than he did Teddy Ballgame, Mo did finish like Teddy. Well, in a way. Even though we saw Mo in the dugout in Houston for the last series, he didn’t appear in a game. That’s just like Ted Williams because prior to hitting that last homer on his very last swing, he had already determined that he was not going to New York for the last series of the season. Again, fitting for a fellow Legend of Legends to finish in the hometown uniform. “Shh-shh, shh-shh, shh-shh!, whispered Hetfield.
Later Fans.