The Playoffs Are Upon Us!

        Today the first games of the postseason start. Thus, I will carry on with my yearly tradition of postseason predictions. 

    It was an interesting final day of the regular season this year, with two pairs of AL teams fighting for the division and a pair of NL teams fighting for the last playoff spot in their division. All in all, the bracket ends up looking like this:

     Adding the extra playoff teams makes the postseason longer and lets teams have a shot at making the world series while just barely over .500, but since I can't change that, I don't really care that much.

    There are a few wildcard series that look exciting (I'm especially eyeing the Yankees and Red Sox).

    

    Without further ado, I'll jump right into my predictions. I don't want this post to take five years to read.

WILDCARD SERIES

3. Guardians vs. 6. Tigers

    A couple months into the season I genuinely felt that the Tigers would be the American League team to go to the world series. However, towards the end of the year the club really cooled down, dropping pretty much every Tarik Skubal gem for the last month of the season.

    As of two or three weeks ago I didn't think the Guardians had a shot to make the postseason, but they performed exactly the opposite of the Tigers and went off to ultimately win the division. They may be hot, but I still question their offensive output.

    Perhaps I may be a little bit biased, but I think the Tigers are going to come out on top in this series 

2-1. I think that might be a bad prediction, but the Tigers are more fun in my opinion.

4. Yankees vs. 5. Red Sox

    The Yankees have the offense to go to the World Series. I don't think many would deny that. They have five players with 25+ home runs in the regular season, including that Aaron Judge fellow everybody's talking about. Their pitching staff could use a little bit of work, but the offense could very well make up for that.
    I didn't realize that the Red Sox were headed into the postseason until Sunday, but it's a pleasant revelation. They have a good lineup, one of the best pitchers heading their rotation (taking nothing away from Max Fried), and a closer who gave us a heart attack when pitching for the Rangers in the playoffs, but had a 1.17 ERA in the regular season.

    I was thinking about giving the Yankees the sweep here, but I really think Garrett Crochet is going to win his start. Thus, I give the Yanks the series in three games.

    Now moving on to the National League:

3. Dodgers vs. 6. Reds

    The Dodgers won the World Series last season, and spent more money than most people will ever have on stacking their team even more for the 2025 season. But somehow they didn't look quite so good, due to guys like Roki Sasaki not performing up to expectation, and off years from Mookie Betts and Tommy Edman. Of course they still have a good shot to win it all, but I'm less confident than I was last season. 

    The Reds are a fun team to watch. They have a few exciting superstars in Elly De La Cruz and Hunter Greene, and pitchers Andrew Abbott and Emilio Pagan have really stepped up when the team needed them to. However, I'm not really sure they'll be able to handle the mighty Dodgers.

    I think Los Angeles is probably going to sweep this one.

4. Cubs vs. 5. Padres

    Of all the NL postseason teams, these are the two I'd be rooting for, so it's a shame that one needs to be eliminated in the first round. 

    I really like the team the Cubs have put together this year. They're extremely strong defensively, and have good bats across their lineup. I think the team's weakest component is their streaky starting staff. With the exception of soon-to-be Rookie of the Year Cade Horton, the starters have been a bit inconsistent. Sometimes they're on, and sometimes....not so much.

    The Padres only hit 152 home runs as a team this season, which seems a little bit uncharacteristic for them. They had some offensive struggles, but star Jackson Merrill has been heating up the last month or so of the season, and could be a force in the postseason. Their pitching staff is quite good too, with a 3.64 season ERA,

    This should be a fun series, but I have the Cubs squeaking out a three game series win.

    I'll move on briefly to the Division and Championship series.

DIVISION SERIES

1. Blue Jays vs. 4 Yankees

    The Blue Jays really surprised me this year, with a good record, mostly supplied by their offense. Kevin Gausman had a great season, but the team as a whole pitched to a 4.19 ERA. I'm not sure that pitching staff will be able to contain the Yankees.

    I have the Yankees winning this one in 4 games.

2. Mariners vs. 6. Tigers
    The Mariners are the hottest team in baseball right now, with an uncharacteristic and surprising good offense to complement a solid pitching staff. MVP contender Cal Raleigh heads an offense which hit 238 home runs, and he will be very fun to watch in the playoffs.

    I believe that the Mariners will take this series in 5 games.

1. Brewers vs, 4. Cubs
    The Brewers had another good season, winning 97 games, good for best in the MLB. They have a great pitching staff and a speedy lineup capable of both limiting runs and scoring them. 

    Even though the Brewers have quite a good team this year, I'm going a little bit risky with my predictions and guessing the Cubs taking this one in 5 games.

2. Phillies vs. 3. Dodgers

    The Phillies were one game behind the Brewers, with 96 wins on the season. They have an impressive pitching staff and good offense all throughout the lineup. Obviously, not having Zack Wheeler available hurts, but a rotation featuring Christopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo, Ranger Suarez, and Aaron Nola (though he had an off-season) is still mighty impressive.

    I think the Phils are going to take the series in 5 games and eliminate the Dodgers.

CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

2. Mariners vs. 4. Yankees

    I think the Mariners are going to continue their hot streak into the playoffs, and I believe they're going to make their first World Series appearance in franchise history, taking the Yankees in the full 7 games.

2. Phillies vs. 4. Cubs
    I love the Cubs and am rooting for them to win the World Series, but I don't think they'll be able to take down the Phillies. Philadelphia has a combination of great pitching and batting, and will defeat the Cubs in 6 games.

WORLD SERIES

    Thus, I predict a Phillies vs. Mariners World Series. I think that the Phillies will end up defeating the Mariners in 6 games and win their third championship.

    

    

    What predictions do y'all hold for the postseason this year, and who are you rooting to win it all? Hopefully we have an exciting month of baseball to come.

    This post was kinda long and had no baseball cards, which is kinda like, the point of the blog, Don't worry, I have some cards I traded for with some siblings (including some PC needs) that will be featured on my next post. Until then, good luck to your teams, have a great week, and happy collecting!

Fall Classic Games 3 - 5: Freddie Kills...But So Do Errors

     Let's face it; we all know what happened in these games. Right? Let me just make sure I'm not wrong. Anyway, I've lost my train of thought, so these are my takeaways from each game. (Warning: This post is going have an extremely different feel to it.) Buckle up y'all.

    This time, I didn't watch any of game three, due to being places at the time of the game. I watched a lot of game four. But, I watched all of the fifth game, and had a very mixed experience with that one. 

Game 3: Game 3 of the good ol' World Series was a story of Freddie Freeman. Again. If you're a Dodgers fan, you must be really happy. If not, then you're probably not too happy. Clarke Schmidt pitched a little bit less than idealy, and Aaron Judge continued to be confuddled by the Dodger pitching staff. The Dodgers ended up winning 4-2, and had a chance to sweep on Tuesday.

Game 4: Freddie Freeman. Yet again. Coming into the game, Freddie had the highest slugging percentage in World Series history at .853, and when he went yard in the first inning, extended his Fall Classic home run streak to six games, also a record. The tide turned when, of all people, Anthony Volpe hit a grand slam to make the game 5-2 in favor of New York (that kid has talent). Gleyber and Austin Wells also hit homers. And Aaron Judge finally got a hit, which happened to be off of Brent Honeywell Jr. who was actively getting shellacked. Maybe that heats things up for the next game(s)? Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that fans assaulted Mookie Betts to take the ball out of his glove. They got in trouble.

Game 5: I wrote this one while actively watching the game, which is why it's longer and more detailed. In the first inning, I totally called a rejuvenated Aaron Judge two-run bomb. When he stepped in the box I said, 'Here comes the Judge tank,' and he did it first pitch. Jazz went yard the very next at-bat, and totally showed up Jack Flaherty. Moving on to the fifth inning, Yanks up 5-0.
    Alright, I don't care who it is, no major league team can ever make that many errors and mental mistakes in one inning. Between dropped flies, throwing errors, and missing covering first base, the Yankees gave the Dodgers 5 free runs (and I mean free: 0 earned runs) to tie the game. I hate errors. Watching them hurts. Nonetheless, Gerrit Cole ended up going 6 2/3 innings in 108 pitches. The statline is definitely an interesting one with 5 unearned runs (cringe), but at least he left with a 6-5 lead. 
    After the ninth inning, I gotta tell you two words: errors kill. This could have been a 6-2 game, but instead, it's 7-6. I'm not trying to bag on the Yankees, believe me. I was rooting for them. But that fifth inning was really painful. 
    On the bright side, Freddie didn't hit a homer this game. So the streak ends.

    

    I donned my 2023 Rangers World Series hat for the ninth inning of game five, knowing that it could my last day of the Rangers being reigning champs. It's kind of sad what happened to them this season, but I know they can, and believe they will make it up next year and have a postseason run. However, that's a conversation for another day. For now, the Dodgers are the champions. And I thought it was gonna be the Padres......

    It comes as no surprise to anybody that Freddie Freeman wins the World Series MVP. An enormous walk-off homer in game one followed by three more in the next three games makes for an obvious choice. But, since I've posted cards of him in a bunch of posts these last days, I'm afraid it's time for Walker Buehler and Tommy Edman.

I'm afraid I got nothing special for these guys, just base cards from years past

    You know what Gerrit Cole, you can get a feature on this post too. You're a work horse. You deserve it.

    Though I wasn't exactly rooting for the Dodgers to win, I am kind of glad that the series is over, because I was starting to get sick of writing these game recaps. After I wrote the first one I was going to keep on though, even though these wore fairly boring to write, and probably boring to read. I have a few decent posts in my queue to be released into the world in the near future.

   

    Post Script:
    Tomorrow's post will mark my third in as many days, which I don't typically like to do, but the post tomorrow is one I really want to do, and it can only be done tomorrow. You'll get it when you see it. Anyway, thank you for reading, have a great rest of the week, and happy collecting!

Fall Classic Games 1 & 2: Freddie for MVP

    Alas, I'm a dirty liar. It's baseball. I watched it. Most of it. I watched the entire first game of the World Series, and then most of the second game. Here are my personal recaps from them.

    

    The first game was a tale of (in my opinion) bad managerial decisions and a suffering bullpen. Nestor Cortes hadn't pitched in 37 days. That's typically the way it goes, I guess. I jokingly mentioned the intentional walk of Mookie Betts, and then it actually happened.

    I call it anticlimactic that the Yankees went through the free pass of Mookie, because Freddie Freeman deposited the very next pitch into the right field pavilion. Dang it. It was the first walk-off grand slam in (at the time) 696 World Series games.

    It also stinks that Juan Soto didn't have the best game on his birthday. You win some, you lose some.

    I had even less hope for the Yankees in Game 2. Carlos Rodon had been decent in the regular season, but he wasn't an ace. Yoshi Yamamoto is getting overpaid for a reason. He shut down the offense of the Yankees for 6 1/3 innings, his only blunder being a Juan Soto home run. Meanwhile, Tommy Edman went yard, and I called the second Freddie tank. After all Freeman's been through this year between his son's scary illness and the ankle injury, I'm kinda glad he's doing what he's been good at for so long.

    I left sometime in the fourth or fifth inning to practice dancing Footloose (I don't even know why I mention this), and came back somewhere in the last three innings. I saw Shohei get hurt attempting to steal second, which was a little bit frightening (hope he's alright). After a scoreless inning out of Mark Leiter Jr, the score was 4-1 in favor of the Dodgers, going into the ninth inning.

    Then Blake Treinen came on again, and instantly got himself into trouble. Juan Soto (who hit a homer earlier in the game), singled and then reached second on a wild pitch. Aaron Judge struck out again for the first out before a really weird Stanton RBI single off of third base. A Chisholm single followed, and then one of those classic Anthony Rizzo 'this pitch is inside so I'm gonna be on first base' plate appearances. This loaded the bases for Anthony Volpe. 

    Let me just say that I've never been more disappointed in a player when I have very little rooting interest in a game. That strike three pitch was so outside that I don't think he could have hit it with a 39 1/2 foot pole.

    And now, for the most anticlimactic portion of the game: Blake Treinen is pulled and Alex Vesia comes in to shut the door. Down to their last out, with the bases loaded, the Yankees send Jose Trevino to pinch-hit for Austin Wells. 

    He flies out on the first pitch, and that was all she wrote. 4-2 Dodgers.

    I know I said that I wasn't going to watch most of the World Series, but since it was on antenna, I was unable to hold back. Sure I was rooting against both these teams, I won't deny that. There is a ton of star-power in this series, which is definitely appealing. But the main reason for my watching is this: it's baseball. Whether or not you like the teams, this is the championship for this whole year of baseball. The rules may be less than ideal, and same with the teams, but this is the game that I've been with since I was in diapers. 

    So, I watched it. I will probably continue to watch most of it. But, maybe we can have the Rangers in the World Series next year for that adrenaline boost and the rooting interests. Please?

    Thanks for reading my very poorly written recaps, have a great start to the week, and happy collecting!

Well, we got a world series....

     Don't get me wrong, this is a clash of the titans; one seed on one seed, team y team. But, alas, I was rooting against both these guys. Apologies to the numerous Yankees and Dodgers fans out there; I come in peace. But ay caramba, couldn't the Tigers at least have made it?

    

    I think I'll be rooting for the Yankees on this one, for the same reason I was rooting for the Mets before; for the sake of a friend who's a die-hard fan.    

    Well, hopefully this will at least be an entertaining series. Both of these team like to hit homers. I don't know, but it may come down to which team provides the most longball. My money's on a Dodgers World Series, but considering that I was wrong on most of my predictions for the playoffs, the Yankees are probably going to win. 

    

    If any of my readers are fans of either of these teams, good luck to you and your squads. As for me, maybe next year the Rangers will make a rebound or the Tigers or Giants will do something interesting (yes, believe it or not, it wasn't long ago when I was a hard-core Giants fan; not expecting much from then).

    Y'all have a great start to the week, happy World Series, and happy collecting! 

Okay, now here we go

     That doubleheader between the Braves and Mets was ridiculous. In an attempt to save Chris Sale and Max Fried, Spencer Schwellenbach got the ball for the Braves against Tylor Megill of the Mets. 

    Schwellenbach threw a gem; he went 7+ innings, giving up just four hits and a run (inherited runner) while punching out 5. He left the game  in the eighth inning with a 3-0 lead, only to see that dashed in one of the most embarrassing relief performance I've ever seen. The Atlanta pen gave up five runs in the inning, plus the lone inherited runner from Schwellebach scored. That man needs a raise.

    Then the team came back, scoring four in the bottom of the eighth inning. Pierce Johnson came on in the top of the ninth with a 7-6 lead before giving up a single to Starling Marte and a bomb to Francisco Lindor, and the Braves would fall 8-7. 

    So now the Mets are in the playoffs, and there's no point starting Sean Manaea or Luis Severino in the second game. So they started Joey Lucchesi, junkballer and inventer of the 'churve'. Meanwhile, the Braves needed to fill in for Chris Sale, who was dealing with back spasms. Grant Holmes came to hill, and excelled, firing four scoreless innings. The Braves won 3-0, and Reynaldo Lopez got a hold, something you'd expect from last year, but not 2024.

    Now that that's through, we have the seeds for the National League, and I can complete my predictions. And you know how I said yesterday that this post would be shorter? Well, I unintentionally lied, but here we are. Let's take a look at the seedings, shall we?

1: Los Angeles Dodgers
2: Philadelphia Phillies
3: Milwaukee Brewers
4: San Diego Padres
5: Atlanta Braves
6: New York Mets

    The Dodgers and Phillies will be getting the byes.

Brewers vs. Mets

    I'll start with the third division winner. The Brewers have a decent offense. Obviously the loss of Christian Yelich hurts, but nonetheless the team is slashing .248/.326/.403 (5th, 3rd and 7th in the league respectively). The power numbers aren't amazing, but the offense is definitely there. As far as pitching is concerned, they are second in the league with a 3.65 ERA. Though they don't really have any aces, the Brew Crew is having solid seasons out of Freddy Peralta (3.68) and Tobias Myers (3.00). Colin Rea has been good for the most part, and Aaron Civale has a 3.53 ERA since coming over at the trade deadline. What may be the story for the Brewers this season, and possibly what saves them in the postseason, is the relief staff. Trevor Megill (brother of Tylor), Jared Koenig, Joel Payamps and Devin Williams have all been very good, and there are some hidden treasures that can be used across October. None of this even talks of the elite defense of the team, which will surely come in handy.

    Now for the Mets. They are just a good team. They aren't outstanding at anything. The offense is good - fourth most in the league in home runs at 207 - but their collective slash line is .246/.319/.415, which is a little bit better than the Brewers. The pitching staff has a 3.96 ERA, with no exceptional starters at the head, the best being Sean Manaea, who sits at a 12-6 record and 3.47 ERA. But I don't know that I trust the 4.44 ERA of 2023 and 4.96 mark of 2022. I guess we need to see. Their bullpen is very mediocre. Edwin Diaz and Reed Garret are having decent years out of the pen, but all in all it's not great.

    Based on this analysis, I think I'm going to have to guess the Brewers moving on. I think they have a team built well enough to potentially win the World Series, although with the star power of some of these teams, I'm not entirely sure how likely that is.

Padres vs. Braves

    Starting with the offense of the Padres. They have the highest batting average in the National League at .263, and that's ridiculous! They also have the most hits in the league (1456), a .324 OBP (5th) and .420 slugging percentage (4th). Assuming that the team is going with a four man rotation in the playoffs, they'll be starting either Michael King, Dylan Cease, Yu Darvish or Joe Musgrove every game, which is likely the best starting rotation in the National League (for the playoffs). The Padres bullpen is also solid, with guys like Robert Suarez, Tanner Scott, Adrian Morejon, Jeremiah Estrada and Jason Adam all having great years. Amazing what this team has been able to accomplish without Juan Soto or Josh Hader who left after last year.

    The Braves just barely got into the playoffs, but managed to grab the fifth seed anyway. The team has been plagued by injuries all year, losing Spencer Strider after just nine innings and two starts, losing Ronald Acuna Jr, Ozzie Albies (who is back with the club) and Austin Riley. Nonetheless, the offense has been decent, hitting 213 home runs, which is second in the league, and slashing ..243/.309/.415. And you know how I said the Padres may have the best postseason rotation in the NL? Well, I may have lied actually. The Braves as a team have the best ERA in the National League (tied best in the MLB) at 3.49, and the top four starters are Chris Sale, Max Fried, Reynaldo Lopez and Spencer Schwellenbach, all of whom are having really good years. But Chris Sale may be out the whole of the Wild Card series due to back spasms, and so Charlie Morton may see a few starts in this his last big-league season.

    These teams seem to be fairly well matched. Honestly, I think the loss of Chris Sale may be the decider in this series. It also hurts that the Braves need to play today when they had a doubleheader yesterday, which quite possibly rends Joe Jimenez and Raisel Iglesias out for today, and Spencer Schwellenbach out. I think that might be what kills them. I think the Padres take this one.

    Assuming that all of my predictions are correct, we would have matchups in the NLDS of:

    Dodgers vs. Padres

    Phillies vs. Brewers

Dodgers vs. Padres

    I've already gone over the Padres, so I'll just analyze the Dodgers in this one. The Dodgers have the most homers in the NL at 233, and the best slash line at .258/.335/.446. This is definitely an extremely scary offense headed by Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, and Mookie Betts. Their pitching staff is their weak point, and this is due to injuries by Tyler Glasnow, Gavin Stone and Clayton Kershaw. Right now it looks like their four man rotation would consist of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Walker Buehler, Jack Flaherty and Landon Knack, which is rather unimpressive. Walker Buehler has been straight-up bad, which comes as a bit of a surprise to me, and Knack has less than 70 big-league innings. Obviously Flaherty and Yamamoto are very good. Though they don't have a closer set in stone, the team has plenty of options for late inning work between Michael Kopech, Evan Phillips, Alex Vesia, Blake Treinen and Daniel Hudson.

    Something that bugs me is that the Dodgers can never seem to bring it all together in the postseason. Maybe Shohei can change that, but I don't know. The Padres have a team that could beat the Dodgers; in fact, I think they'd have the best shot of it of all the NL playoff squads. They beat the team last year in the NLDS too. I think the pitching injuries might do the Dodgers in, and I would guess that the Padres take the series (maybe now would be a good time to mention that all opinions are property of me?).

Phillies vs. Brewers

    Again, I've already been over the Brewers. The Phillies have one of the best offenses in the league, with a team slash of .257/.325/.425. They have Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Alec Bohm, who are all having good years. The Phils have 198 home runs, fifth in the league. The team is fourth in the league with a 3.85 ERA, and the four man rotation of the team would be Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Christopher Sanchez and Ranger Suarez, another very good rotation. Their bullpen is decent. Jeff Hoffman, Orion Kerkering, Matt Strahm and Calos Estevez have been good all year, but Jose Alvarez and Jose Ruiz have been inconsistent. 

    Though I really like what the Brewers bring to the table, I think that both the offense and rotation of Philadelphia are going to beat them in the series.

NLCS: Phillies vs. Padres

    Didn't these teams meet last year? Both of these teams play very well together, and have very similar strengths. The ERAs of the two teams are almost identical, and the offenses have their strengths. I like the bullpen of the Padres more, though the Phillies also have a good pen. I think I'm going to guess the Padres on this one. I think that they have the team to beat the odds and take out both the Dodgers and Phillies.

World Series: Yankees vs. Padres

    If all of my predictions are correct (well, I guess not all of the have to be correct), the Yankees will be facing off with the Padres in the World Series. The Yankees would have the home field advantage. I like the top five or six in the Yankees lineup, though last three are a bit of a weak link. I like the rotation and bullpen of the Padres staff, but it will be difficult for any team to contain Judge and Soto. This is gutsy, but I think I'm going to predict a Padres World Series. The team is clutch, have a very good pitching staff, and I think will be able to contain most of the Yankees lineup (of course with the exceptions of Judge and Soto).

    Well, that'll do it for my playoff predictions. I have the Padres winning it, but I also have a whole bunch of upsets. Let me know what y'all think and who you predict to win it all. I'll get back to my regular posts soon; I have a lot to do with the blog, but the playoffs are enveloping me a little bit. 

    Y'all have a great week, good luck to your teams, and happy collecting!

   

     I would also like to mention the deaths of Pete Rose and the other celebrities (and all) who passed away this week. I don't want to draw away from this with the advent of the 2024 playoffs. May they rest in peace. 

A Pocket Full of Poseys

     Buster Posey was kind of the name of the Giants from 2010 all the way through his last season in 2021. He was an extremely talented ball player, and this fact showed across his entire career. He'll be on the Hall of Fame ballot in 2026, and I must ask these questions; should he get in, will he get in, and when will he get in? (A spoiler; most of the time, my cards and photos are gonna be off by a year or two.) 

     

Posey's last base card, as shown on my blog bat-around post

    Gerald Dempsey 'Buster' Posey III debuted in 2009 after an amazing minor league stint in which he batted .327 in 125 games. In '09, Posey batted .118 in 17 at-bats. He was shipped back to the minors for a brief while. 

    Down at the farm in 2010, Posey needed just 47 games (.349/.442/.552 slash line) to gain another look at the big-league level. He took off. In his 108-game rookie campaign, the Buster belted 18 home runs and batted .305, not only winning the Rookie of the Year award, but also helping the Giants to their first World Series victory ever in San Francisco. The hot 23-year old catcher batted cleanup in the postseason and thrived (.288 batting average in the 2010 postseason).

    2011 was an interesting, and rather painful season for Buster. He played in only 45 games this year. In the twelfth inning in a game against the Marlins, Scott Cousins slid into Posey and both fractured his fibula and tore some ligaments in the catcher's ankle. The footage of this is a bit painful to watch in itself. Of course, Posey was out for the rest of the season, and the Giants would miss out on the postseason. Posey's injury did merit a rule change however, commonly known as the Buster Posey rule. You can find MLB's definition of the rule here, but in short, a baserunner can't go out of his way to run into the catcher, or collide with a catcher when the runner could have slid to avoid said collision. A violation of the rule results in the runner being out and a dead ball. Definitely a good rule. I'm sure plenty of injuries to both catcher and baserunner have been spared due to the rule change.

    Posey was back in 2012, and I think it's an understatement to say that there was some uncertainty with the 25-year old backstop. He was a rising superstar coming off a potentially career-devastating injury. But he seemed to be fine. Posey raked in 2012, winning the batting title at a .336 mark, belting 24 homers, driving in 103, and leading the Giants to their second World Series title in three years. Buster won the MVP award, getting 422 vote points and a 94% share of the vote. He also made his first of seven All-Star appearances and won a Silver Slugger award. 

    They say 13 is bad luck. Posey only hit 15 home runs in 2013 and drove in a respectable 72, but not the 103 of the year before. He couldn't complain too much though; he batted .294 and was an All-Star again, playing in as many games as he did the year before. It was bad luck for his team though, as they fell to 76-86 after winning it all the year before.

    2014 was a great year for Buster. Not only did he manage 147 games (just one off of the two last seasons), but he put up the second-best offensive year of his career. Posey slashed .311/.364/.490 with 22 bombs and 89 RBI. This landed Posey another Silver Slugger award, and he finished sixth in MVP voting, as the Giants would go on to win another World Series; three in five years. 

    2015 was another great year for the catcher who had quickly become the face of the franchise. He batted .318 with 19 home runs, winning another Silver Slugger and finishing ninth in the MVP voting. He was an All-Star for the third time in his career. He only struck out 52 times in 150 games this year; good for an 8.4% strikeout rate. Buster never struck out much, but this is getting ridiculous!

    2016 showed another All-Star season. Buster batted .288 with 14 homers and 80 RBIs. He stole a career-high six bases that year and also came home with the Gold Glove. The Giants would make the postseason for the last time until 2021 this year. Now something about my cards; the Bunt 16 Posey card is one of my favorite cards in my whole collection, hence the reason I threw off the cycle of one card followed by one photo. I wanted the card to match with the year, you know, for sentimental reasons.

    Posey made his third straight All-Star appearance and fifth career appearance in 2017. He batted a monster .320, though he only hit 12 home runs in 140 games. Nonetheless, his impressive .320/.400/.462 slash line was enough to get him his fourth Silver Slugger award. He tied his career in high in steals with 6 too.

    The Giants catcher was an All-Star yet again in 2018, though he only played in 105 games. He had a solid, though not very Posey-like campaign in which he slashed .284/.359/.382 with just 5 home runs and 41 RBIs. 

    2019 saw me starting fantasy baseball. And let me say that I had minimal baseball knowledge (let's just say that I drafted Dylan Cozens in the third round, if y'all even know who he is). But I did draft Posey first overall. Heck, he was my favorite player, what can I say? Posey legitimately struggled in 2019 though, slashing just .257/.320/.368 with 7 home runs. He missed out on the All-Star Game and his team missed out on the playoffs. 

    Man, I just love Buster. Posey opted out of the 2020 season. He and his wife had just adopted premature twin girls and didn't want to take a risk with both the health concerns of the nation and the babies. It's really a wonderful instance of getting your priorities straight. 

    Alas, Buster's last season was in 2021. I drafted him first overall again for his last year. He did not disappoint whatsoever. In fact, he over-achieved. After taking the year off, Posey only started about two-thirds of the games in 2021, playing 113 overall. He batted .304 with 18 home runs and a .304/.390/.499 slash line. This season won Posey his seventh All-Star Game appearance and a fifth Silver Slugger award. The Giants were the best team in the MLB, with a record of 107-55 on the year. Though they would bow out in the NLDS, it was still a very amazing end to a very amazing career, an career which pained me to see an end. Ever since I paid attention to baseball and really gathered what it was, Posey was there performing for me. He was really the only player I knew for so long.

    In the last game he ever played in the big-leagues, Game 5 of the NLDS, Posey would do this on a 3-0 count:

    This home run would give the Giants a 2-0 lead over their rivals, which they could not keep. Made me go berserk at the time though, so that was cool.

    In my eyes, Posey is a sure-fire Hall-of-Famer. Considering he is my all-time favorite player I may have a little bit of bias. Both his offense and defense certainly seem worthy of the Hall, but the only problem is that his career was so short. Posey played only twelve seasons, including the 17 AB year in 2009.

    In 1371 regular season games, the catcher racked up 1500 hits, 158 home runs, 729 RBI, and a .302/.372/.460 slash line. He has a very nice resume of awards helping his case, including 7 All-Star selections, 5 Silver Slugger Awards, 3 World Series championships, a Rookie of the Year Award, an MVP award, and a Gold Glove. This doesn't even count his two Comeback Player of the Year Awards (2012 and 2021), his 2012 Hank Aaron Award, his two Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Awards (2015 and 2016) and his 2019 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award.

    All of these awards are nice, and could help him in his Hall-of-Fame case, as well as the rule change named after him, which may be a big factor in his chances. But what do y'all think? Buster will be on his first Hall-of-Fame ballot in December of 2026. I would personally vote him in, although it's not up to me, and short careers don't tend to bode too well with the sports writers. All I can do is hope and wait.

    But while I'm waiting, y'all have a good one and happy collecting! (I had so many more cards of him that I could not find for this post. I think I posted at least one of the others before though)

    Adieu Buster Posey, adieu.

To be Posted on July 27

     Today is pitching great Max Scherzer's birthday. Today, Mad Max turns forty and is officially old; just kidding (though for a major leaguer....)

    Scherzer was drafted 11th overall in the 2006 June Amateur Draft by the Diamondbacks. He would debut with Arizona two years later and post a 3.05 ERA in just over 56 innings.

    In 2010 Scherzer moved over to the Tigers. He pitched five years in Detroit, accumulating an 82-35 record and 3.52 ERA. He won the Cy Young award in 2013, and his team came up just short in winning the World Series in 2012. 

    Max Scherzer signed in free agency with the Washington Nationals in January of 2015. He would go on to play 6 2/3 seasons with Washington, in that time grabbing 92 wins and an ERA of 2.80. He won back-to-back Cy Young awards in 2016 and 2017, and his first World Series ring in 2019, helping the Nats to their first ever Fall Classic victory.

    At the trade deadline in 2021, Scherzer was shipped off to the Los Angeles Dodgers, where in 11 regular season starts, Max went 7-0 with a 1.98 ERA. In the 2021 NLDS, he acquired his first-ever save, striking out Giants' Wilmer Flores on an atrocious call to end the game.

    Max signed in free agency with the Mets for the 2022 season. He pitched the full season there, going 11-5 with a 2.29 ERA in 23 starts. He was 37 at the time.

    Max had a 4.01 ERA in 19 starts before being traded to the Rangers in 2023 for Luisangel Acuna (brother of Ronald Acuna Jr). He would go on to win a second World Series and help Texas to their first championship in 60+ years of existence. So far in 2024, Mad Max has a 2-3 record and 3.57 ERA in seven starts.

    There is talk of Scherzer being traded yet again this season with the struggles of the Rangers. We'll see soon enough.

   

   Fun fact, did you know that this 2024 Topps Max Scherzer card is an error card? See for yourself:

    It says Max was acquired by the Rangers from a trade with the Rangers. Subtle mistake.

    So happy birthday Max Scherzer! And congrats, for on his last start Scherzer struck out career batter 3400. He is now tenth all time on the K list. 

    And as for all of you, thanks for reading, have a great weekend and happy collecting!

    

    P.S. And Max has two different colored eyes. His right eye is blue and his left brown. I'm sure you've noticed this, but it's interesting nonetheless. And broadcasters love mentioning it too.

Remember that one Friday in 2021?

     October 29th, 2021 was a Friday. What happened in baseball that day? The Atlanta Braves defeated the Houston Astros 2-0 in game 3 of the World Series. Ian Anderson got the win for the champion Braves, going 5 scoreless and no-hit innings with three walks and four strikeouts. The Astros ended up getting only two hits all game, and game 3 put the Astros up in the series 2-1. 

    I remember the game well. I was rooting so hard for the Braves to win the series, and they won pretty convincingly to prove they're the real deal. They've been awesome ever since, winning 101 games in '22 and 104 in 2023, but can't beat the Phillies in the postseason (sigh). They are currently lined up to win only 95 games in 2024, due in part to injuries to their starting rotation and Ronald Acuna Jr. 

    Enough with that (although I could live in Braves land for the duration of a really long post) Now I must continue sifting through the 2021 binder and finish it. 

    Up to this time, I had forgotten to sprinkle trade bait into the mix. I'll make sure to do that sometime. Just like in fantasy baseball, I love trading.

    And this first card features a player from the team the Braves defeated in the 2021 Fall Classic:

    Not gonna lie; not a fan of the 1986 Topps design. In the 2021 World Series, Correa hit 6-for-23 (.261) with zero home runs and four RBI. This was pretty good considering the team slashed .224/.298/.299 as a whole and averaged just over three runs per game. 2021 was Correa's last season with the Astros; he has been playing with the Minnesota Twins ever since.

    Man, I loved Javy Baez, most especially when he was playing with the Cubs. He brought energy, defense and a strong bat to a Cubs team that looked really good, and won it all in 2016 (for some reason I was rooting for the Indians to win. What was I thinking?!). Unfortunately, Baez's last effective season was 2021, when he slashed .265/.319/.494 with 31 home runs, split between the Cubs and the Mets. He's been awful ever since for the Tigers.

    Corey Seager's awesome. You can't get past that fact. It was driving me insane when he was raking for the Dodgers. I didn't really like this card, because he wasn't in the field or anything, but standing next to a car. BOOOOOORING! What I neglected was the fact that Seager's holding one of his (two!) World Series MVP awards. Seager slashed .400/.556/.700 with 2 home runs, five RBI and seven runs in six Fall Classic games. I personally like it better when he's mashing for the Rangers in the World Series, but that's just me.

    And here's another guy raking for the Dodgers. In the 2020 World Series, Mookie slugged .577 and stole four bases. I wonder if he'll make the Hall of Fame, with the whole Red Sox scandal and everything. What do y'all think?

    I believe this is the third card featuring the 1965 Topps design that I've posted on, but this one is most probably my favorite out of all of them. I can't get over how young Acuna looks. He debuted and won the Rookie of the Year award at age 20! In 2021 he was playing his age 23 season. He's 26 this season, and has already been around for seven years, which is incredible to imagine. Unfortunately though, his '24 campaign has come to a close due to a torn ACL in his left knee. This makes a torn ACL in both of his legs now, which may affect the rest of his career. Yikes. I hope the recovery goes well, and good luck Braves. You may need it now with the losses of Strider and now Acuna for the rest of the season.

    I've got only one post left for the 2021 binder before I can move on to 2022. As always, thank you for reading, have a great weekend and Happy Collecting!