Odd Thoughts

MLB Report

Leaving the playoff discussion behind, I do have four players to highlight. First, Albert Pujols has vaulted himself back into Triple Crown contention, by hitting two home runs tonight, giving him 41 on the season, and a 1-homer lead on the slumping Barry Bonds. I still feel that a Triple Crown is unlikely, but I'd love to see him do it.

Greg Maddux needs only one more win to extend his streak to 16 consecutive seasons with 15 or more wins. With his streak currently at 15 he is one of only two players to ever do that; the other is Cy Young. He would be the only pitcher to do it 16 times. Maddux currently has 287 career wins, which is second among active players (behind Clemens) and ties him with Bert Blyleven for 24th on the all-time list.

Also in the consecutive season streak category, Rafael Palmeiro became only the second player in history to have nine straight seasons with at least 30 home runs and 100 RBI's (Jimmie Foxx is the other - he did it 12 straight years). Raffy needs two more homers to make it a 35/100 streak for nine years. He currently has 523 career homers, which is 12th on the list. The next person ahead of him is Foxx, who had 534.

Finally, Eric Gagne set a record by saving 55 consecutive games without a blown save. The streak is still active and should continue as long as Deacon's fantasy team needs it. I do feel that Gagne is the runaway NL Cy Young Award winner for this season due to his stellar performance and the lack of a strong contender to throw against him. Here's my breakdown: Russ Ortiz currently has 19 wins and will likely lead the NL in that category, but his 3.82 ERA is nothing special. His win total is high because he pitches in front of the big bats of the Braves. Jason Schmidt of the Giants and Mark Prior of the Cubs have both had outstanding seasons, but at 14 and 15 wins respectively, their remarkable ERAs and strikeout totals are likely to be ignored by the writers. Dennis Eckersley was the last reliever to win the Cy Young when he did so in 1992 with a record of 7 and 1, 51 saves, 93 strikeouts in 80 innings, and a 1.91 ERA. Eck was also the AL MVP that year. Gagne is 2 and 3 with 50 saves, a 1.32 ERA, and an astounding 126 strikeouts in only 74 innings. Mariano Rivera has been great in the recent past, but I don't think we've seen a closer in since Goose Gossage that has been (at least the last two years) as phenomenal as Gagne.