It’s been two days since Baseball Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson passed away at the age of 65. One of his best friends in the game, former big leaguer Dave Stewart, can’t believe the Man of Steal has gone to the other side.
The last time Stewart saw Henderson was in late October at the Reggie Jackson Softball Classic at the Oakland Coliseum. Henderson was in great spirits and enjoying the event in his hometown. As Stewart puts it, he never saw Henderson have a bad day away from the game of baseball. Henderson loved life.
“My parents were 93 and 103 when they passed and it’s a lot easier to accept. That’s more than a full life. But 65 [years of age], that’s a little bit harder pill to swallow,” Stewart said via telephone. “I woke up this morning and I’m still feeling the same way. … On top of that, [Henderson] didn’t seem like the person we would have this conversation about this soon.”
Black Ace Dave Stewart & Rickey Henderson’s Friendship Dates Back To High School
The friendship between Stewart and Henderson goes as far back as high school in Oakland. Stewart was 15 and Henderson was a year younger competing against one another in the Babe Ruth league. The latter had dreams of playing football, but he was talked out of playing that sport and concentrated on baseball. His mother, Bobbie, didn’t want to see him get hurt on the gridiron. On the baseball field, Henderson had the speed, Stewart remembered, but he was a work in progress.
“He was a really good football athlete at that time. His baseball skills were decent. When he was playing baseball at the time, you could see he was a raw, but very confident individual for as long as I’ve known him,” Stewart said. “… Rickey in high school was physically more developed than most kids his age. So you could see where he was going and what he would be. The rest of it was just really mature? Will he put everything together and become a Major League player?”
Henderson ended up becoming a Hall of Fame Player. He played in the show for 25 years and became the greatest leadoff hitter in history. He is the all-time leader in stolen bases [1,406], runs scored [2,295] and leadoff homers [81]. Let’s not forget that Henderson’s plate discipline was off the charts. He ended up with a .401 on-base percentage.
Peak Rickey Henderson: The 1980s and Early 90s
Henderson was at his peak in the 1980s and early ‘90s. From 1980-91, Henderson was a 10-time all-star and led the American League in stolen bases every year except for 1987. He won the American League Championship MVP in 1989 and the A.L. MVP a year later. Henderson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009.
Stewart and Henderson accomplished a lot as teammates, winning the World Series title in 1989 and ‘93 with the A’s and Blue Jays, respectively. Stewart loved the fact that they were able to win it all in their hometown with Stewart winning the World Series MVP.
“The Oakland win was more to our hearts. We grew up in the bay – Oakland,” Stewart said. “We both grew up watching the Giants because the [Athletics were not around at first]. Who would have thought that we would be playing each other in the World Series. … It was more than baseball for us. It was love of the city and making our families proud.”
Dave Stewart Says Rickey Henderson Was A Great Family Man
When he thinks about Henderson, the first thing that comes to Stewart’s mind is not baseball related; it’s the great family man he was off the field.
“The father that he was to his children. The husband that he was to his wife, Pamela. The son he was to mother, Bobbie. I had a chance to witness it firsthand – the kindness, the tenderness with his daughters,” Stewart said. “He respected Bobbie. He respected what she said. The things that she said meant something to him. He wanted to make sure that he pleased her. He was a tremendous father, husband and son.”
Yankee Stadium, NY — From a pure fan perspective, this World Series has been a dud. Game 1 in Los Angeles was a classic, but Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand slam crushed the hearts of Yankees fans and stole the thunder from the vaunted Bronx Bombers bats.
World Series Brings Highest Viewership Since 2017
Two games later and the LA Dodgers, MLBbro manager Dave Roberts and star player Mookie Betts are on the verge of winning the franchise’s second World Series since 2020. It’s the matchup everyone wanted and despite the one-sided results, the series is averaging 14.55 million viewers, the best numbers since 2017.
As far as the MLBbros are concerned, it was a win-win situation. There’s a combined seven MLBbros on World Series rosters this season. The Yankees have five with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Jazz Chisholm, Trent Grisham and Stro Show. The LA Dodgers have Mookie Betts, ace Black Jack Flaherty and Roberts is leading the way. It’s been years since we have had that kind of melanated representation.
Giancarlo Stanton has six homers in 12 games this postseason as Aaron Judge has suffered through a treacherous stretch that laid waste to his dreams of leading the Yankees to the promised land this season. But Playoff Stanton’s been front and center. According to former WFAN radio legend and avid Yankees fan Mike Francesca, appearing on Mad Dog Russo’s radio show, Stanton has already solidified his Hall of Fame status with 429 career homers and 17 more in the postseason.
Jazz Chisholm is batting .167 in these playoffs, but he is getting his first taste of NY Yankees playoff life. If he sticks around, he will be competing for something every season and will get his chance to shine on the big stage.
Dave Roberts & Mookie Betts Building MLBbro Hall of Fame Legacies
Dave Roberts and Mookie Betts’ legacies will benefit most by closing out the NY Yankees sooner rather than later.
Roberts will become the second Black manager in history to win two World Series titles, joining Cito Gaston. Mookie Betts will win his third World Series title and second since Boston discarded him after he won an MVP and brought them a championship.
Mookie is batting .291 with four homers and 14 RBI in these playoffs. He’s been typically sensational with the glove and could win World Series MVP. He surely would deserve team MVP for the way he held down the shortstop position, graciously accepted Shohei Ohtani into the fold, even if his own popularity suffered, returned from his wrist injury and proceeded to be the MVP caliber leader he’s always been.
Boston hasn’t come close to a World Series since Mookie was shipped out after the 2019 season. The LA Dodgers have been perennial contenders, and it appears as if they are going to breakthrough with another title. Now we can stop all of the discussion about whether or not Dave Roberts is the guy to lead the Dodgers. All he does is win.
Everyone knows the LA Dodgers would rather close out the World Series back home in Game 6 in front of the fans. Major League Baseball probably wants that scenario as well. The entire Yankees organization wants to avoid a sweep at this point and Aaron Judge probably wants to extend the series as long as he can to get more chances to redeem himself.
MLBbros Will Make More Noise Before World Series Ends
There’s still much at stake for all the MLBbros. Will Marcus Stroman get a chance to make an appearance? The usually raucous Yankee Stadium crowd didn’t have much to get excited about before Alex Verdugo hit a two-run blast late that gave the pinstripes some hope to avoid a sweep in Game 4.
Regardless of how this shakes out, the MLBbros are continuing to edge their names in the history of baseball, among the elite to ever do it at their position. Shohei Ohtani’s presence on the LA Dodgers and his impact on MLB and his 54-59 season definitely helped elevate the media hype surrounding the team. He will walk away with his third MVP award this year (won in 2021 and 2023 with LA Angles) and join the legendary MLBbro Frank Robinson as the only players to win MVP in both leagues.
Before coming to the Big Apple, Giancarlo Stanton made his MLB debut for the Florida Marlins back in 2010 and he went by another name.
The behemoth of a man is best known for launching monstrous home runs out of stadiums with exit velocities that would break a radar gun. But if you ask the casual fan what Stanton’s’ original name was, many of them would have to use a lifeline.
Why The Name Change?
Stanton, whose full name is Giancarlo Cruz Michael Stanton went by Mike during his adolescence because educators and classmates alike couldn’t pronounce his surname.
He continued to go by Mike in his stint in the Minor Leagues as well as the first two seasons in the show before eventually returning to Giancarlo at the start of the 2012 season.
When he informed the media and fans alike that he was going with his birth name going forward, it was a shock to his parents. Stanton felt it was time to be an adult. As Stanton left his childish name behind, he realized how important it was to him and his family and decided to reembrace his birth name.
The man wasn’t ashamed of his first name as he had Giancarlo stitched and embroidered on all his equipment ranging from bats, gloves, and everything in between.
How Did The Name Come About?
Born to Parents Michael Stanton of Irish descent and Jacinta Garay of African-American and Puerto Rican ancestry, Stanton’s parents fell in love with Italian movies and names that accompanied them and decided to give their son an Italian forename.
Originally Garay wanted to name her youngest son Fidel after the Cuban Prime Minister!
If Stanton thought he was having a hard time with teammates and coaches butchering Giancarlo, Fidel would have gotten it even worse. Can you imagine playing in Florida around the sizeable Cuban population with that name?
The Yankees slugger has grown up with various names. He responds to Cruz when he is around his mother or Mike when he is around his father. The Yankees organization and the fanatics surrounding the team hope he responds to a championship as they believe the name Giancarlo has a RING to it.
Check out the man with many names as the Yankees begin their quest for a 28th World Championship tonight with a seve-game series against the La Dodgers.
As the postseason is upon us, the regular season awards will be rolling in.
MLBbros, shortstop Masyn Winn and second baseman Marcus Semien are Gold Glove finalists. Semien had another stellar season, competing in every game and recording an OAA of (+19) for the year.
Second Baseman Marcus Semien, Texas Rangers
Semien is the most durable player in the Majors and his fielding stats show how important he is on the defensive end. Semien led the Rangers for the year with 389 assists and 77 double plays, also making him the most productive second baseman in the AL West.
Semien has never received a Gold Glove, but he is a two-time All-Star with a pair of AL Silver Slugger awards. If Semien can edge out second basemen,Andrés Giménez of the Guardians, and Nicky Lopez of the White Sox, this will be his first and well-deserved Gold Glove.
SS Masyn Winn, St. Louis Cardinals
In the National League, rookie shortstop Masyn Winn has been phenomenal all year. It doesn’t matter if it’s his clutch ability behind the plate or his speed on the base pads, he can do it all. Most notably his defense at shortstop.
In 2023 Winn made his debut and appeared in 37 games. This year he proved himself in spring training and was named starting shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals.
How Are Gold Glove Winners Selected?
On the defensive side, Winn only had 18 errors in 143 games played. This shows ball security and a key playmaker on the defensive side. At 22, Winn has great accuracy and arm strength that pretty much throws out anybody down the line. Winn is also in the running for NL Rookie of the Year, winning both Rookie of the Year and Gold Glove can solidify his arrival as one of the game’s premier shortstops.
To determine the winners at the nine standard positions, the 30 MLB managers and up to six coaches from each team vote from a pool of players in their league, excluding players from their own team. These votes comprise 75% of the selection total, with the SABR Defensive Index counting for the other 25%.
Both of these infielders will need some luck, as they are going up against some elite competition at their respective positions. With a little help from the voters, we can be looking at history.
With only three days left in the MLB regular season the American League Wild Card race is still crowded.
The American League Central Division has been a surprisingly competitive division this year, with all of the young teams in the division taking a major leap. In the final months leading to the end of the season the Detroit Tigers have come on strong and placed themselves in a great position for October baseball.
The Minnesota Twins’ playoff hopes are fading away after an 8-6 loss to the Miami Marlins on Thursday.
Minny stands three games out of the final wildcard spot with three games remaining against Wild Card leader Baltimore.
And for that to happen they must rely on the MLBbro pairing of Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis.
Byron Buxton has been the most important t piece of the Twins’ success for years. Constant battles against injuries have always limited his ability to help the team and this year has been no different, but he is available when it matters most this year.
Buxton homered on Wednesday night and helped the team to an 8-3 win, but he will need to come up big in the last three games of the season.
The Orioles have already clinched a playoff spot so the Twins should be hungrier and more assertive in their matchup. He will need his MLBbro teammate to do the same.
Royce Lewis, the utility stud for the Minnesota Twins, is in an absolute slump. With a batting average under .220 in September, and only one home run all month he has been disappointing in the stretch run.
However, if he can come up clutch in this final series then he can make u for it in October. If Lewis can’t contribute then the Twins will not have a chance at October baseball, something that is what the team has been striving for.
The MLBbro has battled with his own injuries this year but he is healthy now, and if he does not deliver now there will be no later for this season.
Minnesota fans are optimistic that Lewis and Buxton will come up big at home. A sweep would be great, but they should aim to at minimum win the three-game series to bolster their postseason hopes.
It’s only happened once, but could it happen again?
Last Thursday, two-way great Shohei Ohtani made history when he acquired 50 home runs and 50 home runs. While the mark is still incredibly hard for any normal hitter to get to, it’s not as impossible as it was before with bigger bases.
Which MLBbro Can Hit 50 Homers and Steal 50 Bases?
Still, it requires one of baseball’s greatest players, with 50 home runs only being accomplished seven times in the last decade.
Aaron Judge
If it were to happen, it’d likely be Aaron Judge. The issue that arises is Judge’s career-high in stolen bases was at 16. He’s also over 280 pounds. Another candidate exists right on Judge’s team, though.
Jazz Chisholm
Bro-star Jazz Chisholm Jr. is up to a career-highs of 38 stolen bases and 23 home runs with his new team. Chisholm was traded from the Marlins and has gotten better in New York. Chisholm sits at just 26 years old and is improving, creating excitement for a potential big year in the future.
James Wood
If one goes looking for the youngest pool of talent, one player has the prototype to get it done if he develops as expected — Nationals rookie James Wood.
Wood stands at 6-foot-7, 234 pounds, but he’s been putting the wood to the ball since his call up, batting .266 as well as stealing 14 bases in 74 games.
His bag-swiping ability was apparent from day one, even though he missed the bag on his first attempt. Wood is just 22 and could easily be in the 97th percentile of either category eventually.
Wood’s teammate, C.J. Abrams has shown the ability to fill up the stat sheets, but has struggled lately, and after being discovered at the casino at 8am on a game day, he was even sent down to the minors by a very unhappy GM, Mike Rizzo. Still, he’s one of the better young players in the league and took 47 bags in 2023.
If he’s able to get some pop in the bat, he could see a monumental season, but it’s unlikely.
It’s worth remembering that Ohtani will go down as one of the greatest players to ever exist and the mark isn’t easy to catch. But it isn’t unrealistic because once a standard is set, others will try to eclipse it. Why not a Bro?
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