- Since 1998, no team with the best regular season record in baseball has won the World Series.
- This Maurice Clarett situation just keeps getting more and more bizarre. We have all heard the gist of his latest problems, which include a hatchet, but did you also know that he supposedly took a swig of Grey Goose right in front of the police just for the fun of it? What about the fact prosecutors are now saying Clarett was arrested near the home of a witness in his robbery trial? Unreal, this story will get beaten to death yet still be underrated in my book.
- Justin Morneau is the first Twin to slug 30 homers in a season since 1987. He also has entered himself into the MVP race. Since April ended, he’s hit .349 and since June 1, his slugging percentage is a ridiculous .702. The 101 RBI don’t hurt either.
- Jonny Gomes, on the other hand, is on the opposite spectrum. After an April that saw him hit .305, he’s hit a paltry .182 ever since. His post All-Star break numbers are especially brutal, which has seen him go 5-for-77, an .065 clip.
- When Randy Johnson struck out the first hitter he faced Wednesday, he ended a streak of 52 consecutive hitters without a strikeout, the longest such streak of his career.
- Aubrey Huff went 14 straight games without an RBI. He has nine in his last three.
- I’m not one to make steroid accusations; in fact, I care less about them than most, but if you saw Andruw Jones’ recent broken bat home run to dead center field, you know what I’m talking about.
- The proverbial rookie wall is seemingly arriving for this year’s crop all at once. Jonathan Papelbon has blown two straight saves, more than doubling his ERA in the process. Francisco Liriano gave up a career-high 10 hits in his most recent outing, which saw him leave with a sore elbow and forearm. If he returns this year at all, consider it an upset. Speaking of injuries derailing strong seasons, fellow rookie Justin Verlander had to skip his last start because of fatigue in his pitching arm. If that’s not enough, phenom Jered Weaver has a 4.97 ERA over his last three starts. Meanwhile, Cole Hamels, who has largely disappointed in his rookie campaign, has a 2.24 ERA over his last three starts and a brilliant 43/8 K/BB ratio over his previous 31 1/3 innings.
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