Oh my goodness - are you all as tired of the cold weather as I am? Well Spring Training for Major League Baseball is just around the corner (pitchers and catchers report to camp starting February 17!), so warmer temperatures should soon follow (I hope!). What do we have to look forward to in the 2016 baseball season? Plenty!
- For starters, David Wright only needs 18 more home runs to pass Darryl Strawberry as the New York Mets' all-time home run leader. I followed the Mets back in Strawberry's day, but I'm OK with Wright passing him - Wright is a quiet yet consistent player - let's just hope none of those home runs come against the Nationals.
- Also worthy of note this season is Ichiro Suzuki, who is only 65 hits away from reaching 3000 MLB hits (he already reached that milestone if you count the hits he got while playing professionally in Japan). Everyone loves Ichiro (including me), so hey - go for it.
- Speaking of old guys, Albert Pujols and David Ortiz are very close to reaching the 500 home run/600 doubles club (joining Barry Bonds and Hank Aaron). Pujols needs 17 more doubles (doable), and poor "Papi" needs 16 (not so doable). But it's Ortiz's last season, so he'll enjoy all the attention and gifts he'll receive when he visits each city one last time even if he's too slow to steal any bases.
- And as much as I don't like Alex Rodriguez, I have to mention that he only needs 13 more home runs to reach 700. Whatever. On a brighter note, my man Miguel Cabrera only needs 8 doubles to reach 500. There's that.
- And what about the switch hitters? Well Carlos Beltrán (392) and Mike Teixeira (394) are looking to become only the fourth and fifth switch hitters to reach 400 home runs. Any idea who the other 3 are? Some guy named Mickey Mantle, a former Oriole by the name of Eddie Murray, and cutie-patootie Chipper Jones - not too shabby of a list, huh?
- What is WRONG with me - I still haven't mentioned any catchers! Well Yadier Molina (if he can stay healthy) will break the record for most games caught by a Cardinal. But "Yadi" is still recovering from thumb surgery, so we'll have to see how many times he can get behind the plate. Getting old, Yadi!
- And of course there's this year's Hall of Fame inductees - Mike Piazza and Ken Griffey, Jr - who will have their jersey numbers retired by the Mets and Mariners respectively. I was never a big Piazza fan, but you just couldn't help but love Griffey - his smile, his dedication, his commitment to the fans and the game. Cooperstown will be lucky to have him.
- As far as the young guys, last year's AL Rookie of the Year, Carlos Correa, needs 36 more home runs to pass A-Rod as the hitter with the most home runs at short stop at the age of 21 or younger. Yes, it's an obscure statistic, but since Correa is Puerto Rican, I had to mention it.
- Finally, it's important to note that the Dodgers' veteran broadcaster Vin Scully will be retiring for real at the end of this season. Scully has significantly cut back on the games that he does (home games only), but he is truly a broadcasting legend who will be deeply missed by Dodger fans (I'm not going to miss him, because I don't get Dodger home games in my neck of the woods).
Then there are the questions surrounding the upcoming season:
- Will the Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton have his first 40-home run season ever? (I hope not!)
- Will the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw have his third career sub-2.00 ERA season? The last pitcher to do that was Sandy Koufax, and that was a LONG time ago!
- Will Nolan Arenado win his fourth Gold Glove award? If so, he would be the first player since Ichiro to do so in his first 4 years in the Majors.
- Will the Chicago Cubs have their first 100-win season since 1935? I hope so!
- Will the National's Bryce Harper (last season's NL MVP) win the Triple Crown? I highly doubt it, because RBIs have been hard to come by for the Nationals, but it will be fun to watch him try. Let's hope he stays healthy and continues to grow up (he matured nicely this past season, so hopefully the tantrum days are long past).
- Will my husband and I visit more ballparks this season? Well we're at least going to Philadelphia, so there's that. My quest to visit all 30 ballparks is taking way longer than expected!
So there you have it - plenty to look forward to this baseball season, which means I'll have a lot to blog about throughout the upcoming months. Stay tuned, and for the love of Pete, get rid of all this snow!
