Commissioner Robert Manfred, Masyn Winn, Jordan Hicks and MLB Legends Unveil MLB Together Legacy With A.G. Gaston Boys & Girls Club In Birmingham

Commissioner Robert Manfred, Masyn Winn, Jordan Hicks and MLB Legends Unveil MLB Together Legacy With A.G. Gaston Boys & Girls Club In Birmingham

MLB Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. was joined by Masyn Winn and Kyle Gibson from the St. Louis Cardinals and Jordan Hicks from the San Francisco Giants, along with a host of other MLB Legends, as they unveiled the MLB Together Legacy of a new Freight Farms hydroponic farm for the kids to grow vegetables that will be used at the A.G. Gaston Boys & Girls Club as well as donated to the local community in need.

The event took place on June 20th as part of the celebration of the Negro Leagues at Rickwood Field game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Francisco Giants. Also, as part of the celebration of the life of MLBbro legend Willie Mays who passed away on June 18th.

 

Who Was In Attendance? 

 

Commissioner of Baseball Robert D. Manfred, Jr.

April Brown – Senior Vice President, Social Responsibility, Major League Baseball

Larry Baer – President & Chief Executive Officer, San Francisco Giants

Stacy Blackmon – Vice President of Metro Services, Director of Organizational Development, Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Michael Hall – Vice President, Community Relations, St. Louis Cardinals; Executive Director, Cardinals Care

Jordan Hicks – San Francisco Giants pitcher

 

Masyn Winn – St. Louis Cardinals shortstop

Kyle Gibson – St. Louis Cardinals pitcher

Oli Marmol – St. Louis Cardinals manager

Randy Winn & Jeffrey Leonard – Giants Alumni

Xavier Scruggs – Cardinals alumnus

CC Sabathia – Special Assistant to the Commissioner; Six-time MLB All-Star; A.L. Cy Young Award Winner; World Series Champion; Bay Area native

Albert Pujols – Special Assistant to the Commissioner; 11-time MLB All-Star; N.L. Rookie of the Year; Three-time N.L. MVP; Two-time World Series Champion

Ryan Howard – Commissioner’s Ambassador Program; Three-time MLB All-Star; N.L. Rookie of the Year; N.L. MVP; World Series Champion; St. Louis native

Jimmy Rollins – Commissioner’s Ambassador Program; Three-time MLB All-Star; N.L. MVP; World Series Champion; Bay Area native

Dexter Fowler – Commissioner’s Ambassador Program; 2016 MLB All-Star World Series Champion; Cardinals outfielder (2017-2020)

Adam Jones – Commissioner’s Ambassador Program; Five-time MLB All-Star

Justin Upton – Commissioner’s Ambassador Program; Four-time MLB All-Star

Michael Bourn – Commissioner’s Ambassador Program; Two-time MLB All-Star

Chris Young – Commissioner’s Ambassador Program; 2010 MLB All-Star; MLB Network analyst

LaTroy Hawkins – Commissioner’s Ambassador Program; Giants pitcher (2005)

 

 

MLBbro.com Staff Playoff Predictions (Divisional Round) | Agree?

MLBbro.com Staff Playoff Predictions (Divisional Round) | Agree?

As we do every year at this time, the staff at MLBbro.com has made its annual postseason predictions.

 

Our Panel: Rob Parker, JR Gamble, Mark Gray, David Grubb, Malik Wright, Dante Miles, Ronald Agers, Gary Sheffield Jr., Rachel Hill, Jaelen Gilkey, Kevin Moore

 

After the sudden completion of the Wild Card round, here’s how our crew’s predictions have panned out so far.

 

Staffers Record
Gary Sheffield Jr. 4-0
Rob Parker, David Grubb 3-1
JR Gamble, Rachel Hill, Kevin Moore, Malik Wright 2-2
Ronald Agers, Dante Miles 1-3
Mark Gray, Jaelen Gilkey 0-4

 

The divisional round of the postseason begins on Saturday, with two upsets in the wild card round reshaping the brackets. Only three of our panelists (Gamble, Sheffield, Miles) correctly picked the Diamondbacks to advance to the second round. In the other series, six staffers selected the Rangers to knock off the Rays. 

 

With berths in the League Championship Series on the line, the stakes are higher, and the series are longer. So here are our picks for who wins and in how many games.

 

American League Divisional Series

 

Minnesota Twins (3) vs Houston Astros (2)

Season series: Twins 4-2

The Minnesota Twins are on a roll. Since September 1 they are 21-10 (.677), including their two-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Their pitching staff surrendered just one run in the two games, with 19 strikeouts and only five walks. Royce Lewis (.333, 2 HR, 3R, 3RBI) had a record-tying performance in game one with home runs in each of his first two postseason at-bats. 

 

Now, he and the rest of the Twins get to take on the champs. The Twins did win the season series, but the Astros have advanced to at least the ALCS in each of the past six years. We’re riding with the Astros, but we don’t think it will be an easy win.

 

Panel’s pick: Astros in 5

 

Texas Rangers (5) vs Baltimore Orioles (1)

Season series: 3-3

Well, the Baltimore Orioles won 101 games during the regular season. They’ve only done that three times in the last 50 years (1979, 1980). Baltimore scored 800 runs for the first time in 20 years. They also had a top five pitching staff.

 

The Rangers have bludgeoned their way into the playoffs and into the second round. Texas tied the Twins for the American League lead in home runs (233), and led the AL in batting average, runs scored, OBP, Slugging, and OPS. Texas shot down the Blue Jays by scoring 11 runs in two games. The big surprise was their pitching, which held Toronto to a single run in the series.

 

It was close, but in the end we believe that the Orioles will get past the Rangers and into the ALCS for the first time since 2014.

 

Panel’s pick: Orioles in 4

 

National League Divisional Series

 

Arizona Diamondbacks (6) vs Los Angeles Dodgers (2)

Season series: Dodgers 8-5


Arizona stumbled into the playoffs losing its final four games of the regular season. They were outscored by their opponents, but here they are taking on the juggernaut that is the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Diamondbacks got contributions from just about everyone in their lineup in beating the Brewers. 

 

This series is between divisional opponents, and LA dominated the series. They have the better offense, the better defense, a deeper pitching staff, the more experienced manager, and the mission of “World Series or Bust.”

 

We’ll give the D-Backs enough credit to earn a gentleman’s sweep.

 

Panel’s pick: Dodgers in 4

 

Philadelphia Phillies (4) vs Atlanta Braves (1)

Season series: Braves 8-5


This series might be the best of the entire postseason. These NL East rivals are the last two representatives for the National League in the World Series. They played each other seven times in the month of September, with the Braves edging out the Phillies four games to three.

 

They were only three runs apart in those games, with three of them going to extra innings. 

 

The only shame is this series is best-of-five instead of best-of-seven. 

 

Ronald Acuna missed the playoffs last year, and this season he’s the likely MVP. He’s the headliner on an offense that launched 307 home runs into the stands and scored 947 runs. That would be enough to deal with for most teams, but the Braves are above average on the mound and in the field as well. 

 

Philly comes in winners of 10 of their last 13 games and aren’t afraid of Atlanta. The Phillies should push the Braves to their limit, but ultimately Atlanta will emerge victorious. 

 

Panel’s pick: Braves in 5

 

MLBbro.com Staff World Series Predictions

MLBbro.com Staff World Series Predictions

As we do every year at this time, the staff at MLBbro.com has made its annual postseason predictions.

 

With the matchups for the Division and League Championship Series still yet to be determined, our panel of 11 contributors made its selections based on the current field of teams while only selecting winners for the Wild Card Series.

 

MLBbro.com will update its picks for the following rounds as the field gets narrowed.

 

Our Panel:

Rob Parker

JR Gamble

Mark Gray

David Grubb

Malik Wright

Dante Miles

Ronald Agers

Gary Sheffield Jr.

Rachel Hill

Jaelen Gilkey

Kevin Moore

 

 

American League Wild Card

Toronto Blue Jays (6) at Minnesota Twins (3)

Season series: 3-3

This is one of the most evenly matched series in the postseason, based on the regular season results between these two teams. Toronto finished in third place in the AL East, arguably the toughest division in the American League.

 

Three teams from that division made the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Twins won the AL Central for the third time in the last five years. Both teams have endured long droughts when it comes to winning in the playoffs.

The Twins haven’t won a playoff game since 2004 or a playoff series since 2002. Toronto is also making its third postseason appearance in five seasons.

However, the Jays haven’t won a playoff series of their own since 2016. Going by the voting of our panel, we expect the Blue Jays to move on while the Twins’ suffering continues for at least another year.

 

Panel’s pick: Toronto (7 votes to 4)

Blue Jays: Moore, Gamble, Agers, Miles, Gray, Gilkey, Wright

Twins: Grubb, Parker, Sheffield, Hill

 

Texas Rangers (5) at Tampa Bay Rays (4)

Season series: Texas 4-2

After failing to produce a winning season in their first decade of existence, the Tampa Bay Rays have become one fo the most consistent winners in baseball. Since 2008 the Rays have been to the playoffs nine times, including two World Series appearances (2008, 2020).

After getting off to a historic start this season, the Rays cooled down considerably down the stretch, losing their grip on the top spot in the AL East and falling to the fourth seed. The Rangers had to fight until the final week of the season to clinch a playoff spot.

 

This should be an incredible matchup between the two teams with the most runs and highest run-differentials in the American League.

Tampa and Texas have combined to outscore their opponents by 360 runs. In a narrow vote, the Rangers earned our pick.

 

Panel’s pick: Texas (6 votes to 5)

Rangers: Hill, Wright, Sheffield, Moore, Parker, Grubb

Rays: Gilkey, Gray, Miles, Agers, Gamble

 

National League Wild Card

Arizona Diamondbacks (6) at Milwaukee Brewers (3)

Season series: Arizona 4-2

 

This is a series between a teams that’s been here before and a team that isn’t supposed to be here at all. The Milwaukee Brewers have yet to get over the hump since falling one game short of the World Series in 2018, but they have played October baseball in five of the last six seasons.

Milwaukee took the NL Central crown for the third time in that span, holding off the second place Chicago Cubs by nine games.

Arizona came into the season overshadowed by the expectations for the Padres and Giants, yet strung together enough wins to be one of only two teams in the playoffs with a negative run differential (Miami).

Despite the Diamondbacks’ improbable run to the postseason, we’re going with the Brew Crew to advance.

 

Panel’s pick: Milwaukee (8 votes to 3)

Brewers: Parker, Moore, Agers, Gray, Grubb, Gilkey, Wright, Hill

Diamondbacks: Gamble, Sheffield, Miles

 

Miami Marlins (5) at Philadelphia Phillies (4)

Season series: Miami 7-6

 

Things did not start smoothly for the defending NL Champions, as they were just 25-30 at the end of May. Once they got healthy, the Phillies were once again one of the best teams in baseball. From June through the end of the regular season, Philadelphia posted a 65-42 record.

The Phillies have relied on their offense all season long, and they’ll need to continue to score runs to put away the pesky Miami Marlins.

Miami finished with a winning record for only the second time since 2010 by somehow going 17-9 in September while outscoring their opponents by a total of three runs.

One-run games were huge for the Marlins all-season; they went 33-13 in those games. That could be great preparation for the tense playoff atmosphere they’re about to enter. For our money though, we’re taking the Fightin’ Phils to advance.

 

Panel’s pick: Philadelphia (7 votes to 4)

Phillies: Agers, Parker, Gamble, Sheffield, Wright, Grubb, Moore

Marlins: Miles, Gray, Hill, Gilkey

 

American League Champion

 

Picking the AL Champion was really a two-horse race between the upstart Baltimore Orioles and the defending World Series Champions, the Houston Astros. In a narrow win, our panel thinks the Astros will get back to the Fall Classic for the sixth time in franchise history, and the fifth time in the last seven seasons.

 

Panel’s pick: Houston (5 votes)

Astros: Grubb, Moore, Agers, Sheffield, Gray

Orioles: Gamble, Miles, Gilkey, Hill

Rangers: Parker, Wright

 

 

National League Champion

 

It seems like the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers are on a collision course. The Dodgers have won the NL pennant three times since 2017, but only have one World Championship to show for it.

The Braves won the World Series in 2021, but were upset by the Phillies last season in the Division series. These may be the two best teams in baseball, with great offenses and tremendous pitching. This year, we’re giving the edge to Atlanta.

 

Panel’s pick: Atlanta (8 votes)

Braves: Grubb, Parker, Agers, Sheffield, Miles, Gray, Wright, Hill

Dodgers: Moore, Gamble, Gilkey

 

World Series Champion

Five different teams earned votes from our panel to claim the Commissioner’s Trophy: Atlanta, Baltimore, Houston, Los Angeles, and Texas.

But, like they have all season, the Atlanta Braves separated themselves from the pack.

They are this year’s MLBbro.com choice to win their fifth World Championship. If they do, hopefully this time they’ll take a little more time rolling through downtown Atlanta during their victory parade.

 

Panel’s pick: Atlanta (6 votes)

Braves: Parker, Grubb, Sheffield, Agers, Hill, Miles

Orioles: Gamble

Astros: Gray

Dodgers: Moore, Gilkey

Rangers: Wright

Two Leagues. No Divisions. Make It Happen

Two Leagues. No Divisions. Make It Happen

Major League Baseball hasn’t been afraid recently to change things up in order to make the game more appealing for fans. 

 

That’s unusual to see in a sport that prides itself on protecting and projecting its history. It’s also necessary as the sports landscape gets more and more crowded. Beyond that, our attention is as divided as ever with the multitude of multimedia outlets at our disposal.

 

So what does any of that have to do with baseball?

 

Well, there’s another change that could have a dramatic impact on the game, maintain interest, and also reflect baseball’s past.

 

In 1969, expansion resulted in the creation of Eastern and Western divisions in each league and the invention of the League Championship Series. Since then the wild card (1994), the divisional series (1995), the wild card game (2012), have brought us to where we are today…a system that works, but could be better.

 

The Proposal

 

It’s time to go back to the future. 

 

Let’s keep the two-league format. There’s no need to get rid of that. It works. There’s no discussion about realignment.

 

What baseball needs to do is get rid of divisions. And shorten the season. Slightly.

 

The divisional format and the unbalanced schedule are both no longer needed and don’t help determine the best teams in either league. 

 

If baseball decided to go to a format where the teams in each league played eight games against intraleague opponents (112 total games) and three games against all 15 interleague opponents (45 total games) which would create a 157-game regular season schedule. 

 

Baseball could still maintain the one-game tiebreaker, if necessary. 

 

Intraleague games would be broken into two, four-game, home and away series. The interleague opponents would alternate hosting their home series each year.

 

The top six teams from each league would then make the playoffs, allowing for the top two teams to receive a bye.

 

There would be a four-team, three-game, wild card round. That would be followed by a seven-game divisional series, a seven-game championship series, and ultimately the World Series.

 

The Reasoning

 

This modest proposal improves baseball’s regular season by protecting it from the fluctuations within divisions.

 

Teams wouldn’t fatten themselves up against weaker divisional opponents or have to face losing out on a playoff spot simply because a division champion has to go to the postseason.

 

It’s more fair. It’s impossible to completely level the playing field in sports, but making the schedule more uniform is one way of doing that (It could also make assessing award winners a bit easier, but that’s a side benefit).

 

The six best teams from each making the playoffs. No debate. No discussion.

 

We live in a world where divisional banners don’t mean anything at all. Coaches don’t keep their jobs for winning the division. Fans don’t buy tickets in the hopes of winning the division. The storied franchises in sports don’t even hang division banners.

 

The culture of American sport is centered on championships. For better or for worse. Embracing that would allow baseball to continue its connection to the past while improving the sport for the future.

 

Two Leagues. No Divisions. Make It Happen

Making The Case For Mookie Betts As National League MVP

Since coming to the National League in 2020, Mookie Betts’ impact has been undeniable. He’s a three-time All-Star, Golden Glove, and Silver Slugger award winner. It’s time we give credit where credit is due. Betts’ performance this season has been nothing short of remarkable, making a strong case for him to be named the National League MVP.

 

That would make him just the second player in Major League Baseball history to accomplish that feat, joining the late Frank Robinson in that exclusive club.

 

With him in the lineup, the Los Angeles Dodgers are 82-51 (.617). Without him just 5-4 (.555). Betts has brought his play to a new level of excitement and skill this season. His offensive dominance, stellar defensive skills, and base-running prowess have all contributed to the Dodgers holding a comfortable 13-game lead in the National League West. 

 

 

It’s not just his individual statistics that set him apart; it’s the way he elevates the game for everyone around him.

 

Betts’ batting average and on-base percentage speak for themselves. He consistently finds ways to get on base, putting pressure on opposing teams and creating opportunities for his teammates. His ability to hit for average and get on base sets him apart from his peers as a weapon at the top of L.A.’s lineup.

 

Betts’ power at the plate cannot be overlooked either. He has delivered a career-high 38 home runs and is approaching 80 total extra-base hits and 100 RBI, showing his ability to both produce runs and drive in his teammates. His power combined with his ability to get on base makes him a force to be reckoned with in the batter’s box.

 

He ranks in the top five in the NL in batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS and runs scored. 

 

So, not only does Betts excel at getting on base and hitting for power, but he’s also really, really good at driving in runs and scoring them himself. He can quite literally do any and everything with the bat in his hands or on the basepaths.

 

His versatility extends to the defensive side of the field too. He’s played 8 games at shortstop, 26 games at second base, 63 in right field, and 36 with some combination of the three.

 

Betts’ defensive skills in the outfield are unparalleled. He consistently makes highlight-reel catches, diving to make crucial plays and robbing opponents of hits.

 

He covers ground effortlessly, making difficult plays look routine. Additionally, his arm discourages opponents from taking extra bases and can make the throws from the warning track or deep in the hole.

 

 

Whatever the stats, Mookie is going to be near the top or standing alone at the summit. 

 

Mookie Betts is the total package, and one of the most recognizable faces in the game today. 

 

His work ethic and dedication to the game set the tone for his teammates. Betts’ relentless pursuit of perfection inspires others to push themselves harder and strive for greatness.

 

Yes, there are other players having their own great seasons. But when you combine the statistical dominance with his overall impact on a first place team, it becomes clear that he should be the 2023 National League Most Valuable Player.