Good morning, this is Dan Gartland. The Yankees overall are still not very confident, but Aaron Judge is unstoppable.
Today at SI:AM:
🥊 Backyard brawl is back
👴 The Story Behind Pujols’ Resurrection
🏈 Why Keeping Jimmy G Hurts Tra Lance
If you’re reading this at SI.com, you can sign up to receive this free newsletter in your inbox every weekday at SI.com/newsletters.
61 is within reach
Aaron Judge I am seriously working on Roger Maris American League Home Run Record after hitting him 51st place of last night’s season in Anaheim.
In the fourth inning of the Yankees’ 7–4 win over the Angels, the judges took Mike Mayers deep to right center after a right-hander put a fastball above the plate. It was his second home run in many nights after hitting on Monday in his 50th. 10th player in MLB history Having multiple 50-home run seasons.
With 32 games remaining, he has not allowed 10 home runs to Maris’ 61. Let’s do some math. Judges are averaging 1 home run per 10.9 plate appearances this season. At this rate, he would need 109 plate appearances to tie with Maris. He’s averaging 4.4 plate appearances per game this season. With his 32 games remaining, if he plays in each of his remaining games, he will have 141 at-bats. At least it should be more than enough to bind Maris. In fact, if Judge achieved his 141 at-bats, he would only need to hit a home run against Maris, averaging every 14.1 at-bats. This is a speed he is 29% slower than what he has already achieved this season.
As the judges move closer and closer to Maris’ mark, the inevitable debate Whether 61 home runs is a ‘real’ baseball recordNo player hit 60 during the PED test era. In fact, since 2010, only four players, excluding judges, have hit 50. We thank Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa for their unique and impressive season.
Judges currently leads the majors in home runs, RBIs, runs scored, slugging percentage, OPS and total bases. He also leads the AL in walks. (The judge is 76 miles behind MLB leader Juan Soto, his 112.) While playing mostly in center field, he’s hitting like Bonds For the first time in his career, he was 6’7″, 282 pounds and 30!
But what makes Judge’s season most noteworthy may be how far ahead of his peers he is. NL Home Run His Leader Kyle His Schwarber at-bats are pretty low at 36. He’s only nine players in the major leagues (including Judge’s teammate Anthony Rizzo) to hit 30 so far this season.
Judge has been a threat ever since he hit an AL-best 52 home runs in his first full season in 2017 (Marlin Giancarlo Stanton then led all players that year with 59). In his first three his seasons, Judges ranked lowest in the league in strikeout percentage, but over the past two years he has slashed his K significantly, going from 31.5% in 1977 to 31.5% this year. Dropped strikeout rate to 25.2%.
His improvements are also coming at just the right time. Judge is set to become a free agent this winter after turning down a contract extension offer before the season. If he can break Maris’ record, Might be so Earn him a few extra bucks.
the best sports illustrated
In today’s Daily Cover, Ross DeLanger celebrates the return of one of my favorite college football rivalries, West Virginia and Pitt’s backyard brawl.
Every chapter of Brawl featured heroes and battle scars larger than 13–9. The 100-year-old series returns Thursday night to evoke college football’s rich heritage, graceful glitz and, for some, a painful history. As it has been for years, it comes into the game with a special peculiarity. No major college football program has ever won more games without winning a national championship. Fifteen years ago, on a cold night in Morgantown, the Mountaineers missed their last chance of fate.
Conor Orr claims the Niners’ decision to hang on to Jimmy Garoppolo could hurt Trey Lance. After, we analyze Albert Pujols’ surprising comeback. … On the eve of the college football season, Kevin Hanson has the NFL’s Mock Draft.
Around the world of sports
Naomi Osaka and defending champion Emma Radukhanu lost in the singles first round of the US Open. … The commander to turn Brian Robinson Jr. back just days after he was shot in an attempted robbery made the team’s first 53-man roster. …his British Open champion Cameron Smith has headlined the latest list of defectors to LIV Golf. … Avi Creditor has a list of teams and players to watch as the European football transfer window closes tomorrow. … Jon Gruden says he wants another chance in the NFL after last year’s email scandal.
Top five…
… baseball moments from last night:
Five. O’Neil Cruz’s insanely strong throw in double play.
Four. Nolan Arenado’s concentrated grounder hits base and second his accurate jump throw.
3. Dodgers prospect James Outman (what a baseball name!) hits for the cycle 2nd time in 4 games.
2. Referee Adrian Johnson hot mic moment.
1. A long quest for a young Nationals fan pass the ball.
SIQ
On this day in 1903, which New York Giants pitcher won both ends of his third doubleheader that month?
- Christy Mathewson
- luther taylor
- Jack Cronin
- Joe McGuinity
Yesterday’s SIQ: Which future Hall of Famer made the record-breaking 33rd double play of the season on August 30, 1984?
- Cal Ripken Jr.
- Gary Carter
- Eddie Murray
- Jim Rice
answer: Jim rice. He ended up making 36 double plays that season, which remains a single-season record. The record was previously held by another talented Red Sox outfielder, Jackie Jensen, who had 32 double plays in 1954.
mash the rice tons double play during his 16-year career. He led the majors in that category for his four consecutive seasons from 1982 to his 85, with an annual average of 32.75 in between. But that stretch was also his one of the best of his career. In ’83, he led the AL with 39 home runs, led the majors with 126 RBI, and finished fourth in MVP voting. is shown, as posted in 2010 beyond the box score In summary, Rice’s tendency to ground in double plays has taken a toll on his team, reducing his career WAR by 4.5.
Rice is tied for eighth on the list of all-time grounded double plays. Rice played 16 seasons in the majors. Every other player in the top 10 has at least 20 he played. Career his leader is Albert Pujols in his 22 seasons where he had 423 double plays in 12,944 plate appearances. This is his one double play for every 30.6 plate appearances he has. Meanwhile, Rice had 315 double plays in 9,058 plate appearances, or grounded once every 28.8 at-bats. This is more often than any other player who has ranked in the top 30 of his career leaderboard.
Rice, who has nothing to Hall of Fame catcher Ernie Lombardi, had 261 double plays at a rate of one in every 24.3 at-bats. This is the worst percentage among players with 63 or more career GIDPs.
From the Vault: August 31, 2009
Bob Martin/Sports Illustrated
In 2009, Usain Bolt was on top of the world. His phenomenal performances at the previous year’s Beijing Olympics (100m and he won the 200m, setting new world records in both events) made him a global superstar. But at the 2009 World Championships, he raised the bar.
Bolt’s times in Beijing (100m 9.69s, 200m 19.30s) were otherworldly. But then at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Bolt again dominated both events, setting new world records. It was an incredible achievement, wrote Tim Layden:
The entire competition was contested in the long shadow of the bolt. His 100 or 200 alone would stand among a handful of his performances as the best singles in the history of athletics, and Bob his Beamon’s still incomprehensible record at the 1968 Olympics. The setting long jump tops that list. At the same stadium where Jesse Owens won four gold medals before Hitler in 1936, white German youths painted Bolt’s name on their chests and hoisted the Jamaican flag. In the United States, which has been relegated to a lesser-known position, the Bolt has been prominently featured not only on SportsCenter, but also on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Like no track and field athlete since Carl Lewis, he straddles mainstream sports and popular culture and looks far more regal. With his signature Lightning pose of his Bolt, post-race celebrations, world his truck, and acting like his stage is Kingston’s dance his club, Bolt infuses joy into the process. In his country, crime almost ceases when he escapes.
However, Leyden reluctantly pointed out the elephant in the room. Bolt’s times were so impressive that it was natural to wonder if he was on performance-enhancing drugs. It seems unfair, but sprinting is a sport where top competitors are too often exposed as cheaters. Tim Montgomery and Justin Gatlin set a new world record in the 100m after being suspended for doping violations. The sport’s recent history has invited skepticism, especially when Bolt was well ahead of his competitors. But Bolt was clean, and he became the biggest track star of his generation.
See more SI’Archives and images from the vault.si.com.
sports illustrated may receive compensation for some of the links to products and services on this website.
