Over at Hall of Very Good, you can see my latest “Wisdom and Links”, including an… unconventional look at stuff that will happen this postseason.
The Latest over at Hall of Very Good: What’ll happen this postseason
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MVPs of the final weekend of the 2014 Season (Sept. 26-28)
The MVPs of the weekend were Doug Fister, Eduardo Escobar, and, of course, the no-hit throwing Jordan Zimmermann.
The FINAL STANDINGS of the MVP of Yesterday for 2014 are under the jump. As you can see, Clayton Kershaw won the overall title with eight MVPs of Yesterday. The highest of position players was Giancarlo Stanton, with five. The highest AL player was Corey Kluber, while the highest AL position player was Mike Trout, with four.
MVP of Yesterday (Sept. 25, 2014): Gio Gonzalez
Lost in the Jeter last night was that, elsewhere, Gio Gonzalez of the Nationals struck out 12 in seven innings pitched while giving up just one hit. So, with all apologies to the Captain and his flare for the dramatic, Gio Gonzalez is the MVP of Yesterday.
Standings, as always… AFTER THE JUMP:
I called it.
When I wrote this, it was 5-2 Yankees with one out in the top of the 9th:
Bizarre Baseball Culture: Cal Ripken orders the 2001 Yankees to Save The World
In Bizarre Baseball Culture, I take a look at some of the more unusual places where baseball has reared it’s head in pop culture and fiction.
Wolverine of the X-Men has a habit of appearing in comics he technically isn’t supposed to be in, simply because he’s popular. Well, Cal Ripken is the Wolverine of Baseball Comic Books. He’s joined forces with Batman, led the Shortstop Squad, and been the subject of a bio-comic. Also, like Wolverine, Cal Ripken seemed to be able to recover from any injury, no matter how severe. But, it’s the first similarity that I’m focusing on, because, in the comic I will be looking at today, Cal Ripken appears in a story about the 2001 New York Yankees being Superheroes.
Let that sink in. The New York Yankees, in a comic that they themselves ordered and gave away, still had Cal Ripken in their comic and had him on the cover too.
Entitled “Championship Challenge” and given out September 28, 2001, it stars, as you can see, four of the greatest stars the Yankees had that season. Mariano Rivera! Tino Martinez! Jorge Posada! And, of course, the Once and Future Captain, Derek Jeter himself. But, of course, we also see Cal RIpken on the cover, letting everybody know that the Iron Man will be there! With such Ultimate Sports Force stalwarts as Rick Licht writing and Brian Kong doing the art, this was partially made as part of the Ripken farewell celebration, and it becomes even more obvious when you realize that originally Ripken’s final series would have been at Yankee Stadium if not for the schedule reshuffling that MLB did after the 9/11 attacks.
Anyway, go below the jump to read about the story:
MVP of Yesterday (September 24, 2014): Clayton Kershaw… yet again
Clayton Kershaw was actually tied with Mark Buerhle for WAR yesterday, pitching-wise, but there is also the small matter that KERSHAW TRIPLED IN A RUN. I repeat, a pitcher TRIPLED IN A RUN. He also made a cool behind-the-back catch and laid down a sweet sac bunt, too.
So, yes, yet again, Clayton Kershaw is the MVP of Yesterday. He’s almost certainly going to win it for the season.
Standings, as ever, after the jump:
The Best Derek Jeter Content of the Baseball Continuum
Derek Jeter is retiring, in case you haven’t heard 2222222222 times already. So, to honor the Yankee Captain and perhaps get some extra hits, here is my best Derek Jeter content:
- Shortstop Squad, in which Derek Jeter joins forces with Cal Ripken, Barry Larkin, and Alex Rodriguez to fight a giant monster.
- A look at an early Jeter scouting report
- The time Mark Wahlberg shot Derek Jeter (don’t worry, it was for a movie)
- And, over at Hall of Very Good, my wake for the Captain of the Yankees.
But, that isn’t it! Because later this week, I bring you a Bizarre Baseball Culture that features Jeter! Get psyched!
Plenty of Movement in Sept. 24’s post-European Championship Continuum Baseball Rankings
The European Baseball Championships are over, and were won by the Netherlands. So it’s time for a new round of the Continuum Baseball Rankings! Go to that link for an explanation about them.
This takes into account both the overall results of the tournament as well as head-to-head matchups during it.
Anyway, there was plenty of movement in the rankings because of the tournament. The Dutch, for example, are once again in fifth place, overtaking Taiwan/Taipei. The biggest jump was made by the Belgians, however, who as I predicted earlier have begun to move up the ladder, jumping from 55 to 50. The biggest drop came for Great Britain, which went from 24th to 27th as a result of their play at the European Championships.
It won’t be too long before yet another update of the Rankings, as the Asian Games baseball competition is going on right now- although it should be noted that that will only take into account results for teams that sent professional players or their closest national equivalent.
Go below the jump to see the rankings:
MVP of Yesterday (Sept. 23, 2014): David Price
David Price did everything right for most of the game yesterday for the Tigers. But then he was left in too long and gave up 3 earned runs, causing the game to get tied up. The Tigers won in the bottom of the ninth.
Still, despite the 9th inning issues for Price, I’m giving him the MVP of Yesterday.
Standings, as ever, under the jump:
MVP of Yesterday (Sept. 22, 2014): Michael Pineda
The MVP of Yesterday was a close race between a few good pitchers, but ultimately, I’ll give it to Michael Pineda, who gave up just one hit and a walk to the Orioles over 7.1 innings, striking out eight.
Standings, as ever, after the jump:
The Baseball Continuum 