2025 MLB Season Thread

you'd have thought they might have started walking Schwarber at some point

Love Schwarber. Has anyone ever come to the plate with 4 HRs already in the game? I seem to remember, yes, a couple times. He just popped out.

Years ago we were playing poker in Cincinnati, I think the Argosy then. Good room, semi-Vegas style. Me and another baseball trivia buff were in the game. I slyly raised the subject of 4 HR games, because I knew he knew the exhaustive list, as did I. I kept saying, "No, I think there is one more." I bet him a green chip with him chomping at the bit to bet more. But I kept it friendly, which we laughed about later when he paid me.

For earlier that night, Mark Whitten had hit 4 homers against the Reds in Cincinnati. Beautiful.

Reminds me of a beautiful Billy Walters story around these parts. His golf foursome traveled around playing tons of courses. One day Billly bet a playing partner which hole the maintenance shed was on on this course. Dude was sure. Billy wasn't cool about it like I was; he was cutthroat. Billy won the exorbitant bet. He had bought the course and moved the shed since the previous season.

Woah, I was just thinking Ohtani is going for his 3rd straight homer crown but he's lost ground lately and now Schwarber suddenly 4 ahead.

Ohtani's been considered a lock by most to get the MVP this year, which is kind of odd considering he's a .275 hitting DH that doesn't lead the league in home runs anymore. Prior to his last start his pitching war was 0. And the Dodgers have massively underperformed, especially in the 2nd half. And he already has 3 MVPs, and the voters traditionally find ways to give it to new guys. If you're a Bonds or Trout you probably deserved 1 or 2 that you didn't get. I still think Ohtani getting the MVP is going to depend on how he pitches in his remaining starts. If it goes poorly or he gets reinjured, maybe someone new gets it this year.

I watched the Delgado 4 homer game.

Shawn Green and Mark Whiten were also former Blue Jays.

Shawn Green retired at age 34 with 2003 career hits. Not sure why he was in a hurry to leave baseball, but I think most players in his shoes would've wanted to see if they could still be a star (he had regressed to a league average kind of player his last 2 years).

Well, I guess I'm going to sweat Soto all the way to 2500 walks, except I'll be dead first. Never done that one before, sweating a guys walks from early on in his career, but I'm irresistibly drawn to great stats. I realize, the O/U on his walks is more like 2K. But he could take a run at Bonds. It could even be the Covid season that costs him the record. I don't know what is more fun than tracking guys from early in their career who look like they could mount an assault on the record books years hence: Mays, Aaron, Rose, Murray, Brock, Rickey, A-Rod, Griffey, McGwire, Manny, Pujols. No not Ruth and Cobb. 😀

You won't believe this, you won't believe this, you won't believe this ... but ...

I've done that since I was a child too.

I'd notice that Ruben Sierra (993 hits by age 25) or whoever was off to a fast start. Is this finally a guy who will challenge Pete Rose?

Arod, Pujols, and Mike Trout are the 3 guys who really started their careers fast, like they were going to maybe set some records.

Wasn't Green a bit of a suspect for roids? Just freaky pop and then a sudden demise right at the right time. Look at the timing of his explosion and then demise. I'm sure you have. In 2003 an established 40 and 50 HR man had a month high of 3 until the last month of the season, getting full ABs. Smells like a roid adjustment. And like you say and with salaries skyrocketing he just walks from the game pretty young?

he was -500 last time i checked so if you truly believe in this you can easily profit betting several other candidates

agree strongly with SRM, Pedro is by far the greatest pitcher ever and gets short changed too often due to lacking longevity

The 4th Phillie to have 4 HRs in a game. What's crazy to me is that Mike Schmidt's 4 HR game is close in years to Chuck Klein's game than Schwarber's.

I remember Whiten's. I was a Cleveland fan growing up. He played for both the them and the Phillies at one point. Too bad he didn't do it with either of those teams. I was at a Phils game in 1995 against the Dodgers. Whiten playing RF for the Phils and Mondesi for the Dodgers. At the time probably the most impressive arms I had seen in a game at the same position.

Considering how many guys have had 4 in a game now, it's surprising that 5 has still never been done.

Schwarber vs a guy throwing lollipops I actually have to root against it.

I also am leaning Pedro, but my point was that it was close. People forget how good Randy Johnson was. I think there are several reasons for that. First, he was never a young phenom. He wasn't even a competent pitcher until he was 26. He wasn't a great pitcher until he was 29, and his best years incredibly were from age 35 to 38. Second, his best years were for a small market team (Arizona).

For the purpose of comparing WAR, it doesn't matter that Pedro was pitching against DHs or that Bob Gibson pitched in a more pitcher-friendly era. WAR takes the offensive environment into account by league and also accounts for park factors. It is intended to be a context neutral stat.

Johnson had 4 consecutive CY Young's for Arizona, and with one injury year in between, he was the leading NL WAR pitcher 5 times in 6 years. His playoff performance with Schilling that brought a title to Arizona was in there too. That peak is right up there with anybody's.

1417 strikeouts in that 4 year CY run.

It's interesting how many non-legends like Mark Whiten have hit 4 HRs in a single game. Bob Horner is another example.

Like a lot of players from the 1980s, Horner looks doughy, but he had one of the greatest swings of his era. No wasted motion at all. When I was a kid, Horner's swing was the one that I tried to emulate. Although Horner did not compile amazing career stats, that was partly because of owner collusion in the era, which resulted in him leaving in his late 20s to go play in Japan for more money. He is one of a small handful of players never to play a day in the minor leagues. And of those players who went straight to the majors, he probably had the most successful rookie year.

Right. That's my point. I started this conversation by putting Pedro's peak above any pitcher in the modern era. But that's definitely a judgment call because Unit's peak was also amazing.

1. Randy Johnson

I recall left handed hitters not doing so well against him.

FFS his nickname was THE BIG UNIT
If John Wick was a movie series back then he could've been the master villain, he looked that scary and intimidating just naturally.

Including the post season in 2001 Randy Johnson was 26-7 in 296 innings with 419 strikeouts. CY Young and WS MVP.

He was also the 2nd to last pitcher to reach 4000 innings pitched. A lot of people might struggle to guess who the last guy was.

And the last guy to reach 300 wins, probably ever.

Moyer?

I was guessing Verlander but he is well short. It has to be Moyer if he got there after Randy Johnson.

Warren Spahn?

Maddux won 15 or more games in 17 consecutive seasons. There is no chance that will ever happen again.

And he's the last guy to throw 5000 innings. Only 3 active pitchers have even half that many.

And yes Spahn has the most wins among pitchers who played something resembling modern baseball.

I never realized quite how amazing Maddux and Clemens win totals were. Pretty much everyone above them is from the dead ball days.

This is pretty cool.