Josh Donaldson hasn’t had a sub-5.0 WAR season since he became a full-time big-leaguer in 2013. He earned MVP votes all five of those seasons and won the award in 2015. He’s a three-time all-star and a two-time Silver Slugger. He’s second only to Mike Trout among hitters in WAR since 2013—the second best position […]
Justin Verlander is the best story of the MLB season so far. The move to the Astros last summer turned out to be a breath of fresh air for the ace, who may be pitching the best he’s ever pitched in his life. He currently leads MLB with a 1.05 ERA and a 0.71 WHIP. […]
Justin Verlander had 45 minutes to make one of the biggest decisions of his life. After debating a trade for months, the Tigers had agreed to give up their star pitcher to the Astros in exchange for a handful of prospects just hours before the August 31 waiver-trade deadline. Both teams would get what they […]
Let’s begin with a statement from the MLB Players Association on February 6. “Pitchers and catchers will report to camps in Florida and Arizona in one week,” MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark wrote. “A record number of talented free agents remain unemployed in an industry where revenues and franchise values are at record highs.” Six […]
It was the winter of 2013 and infielder Justin Turner saw a call from New York Mets GM Sandy Alderson on his cell phone as he was headed to a Players Association meeting. As Turner told Jayson Stark in the latest episode of Stadium’s Baseball Stories, the call left him stunned. “I had to stop […]
It doesn’t seem like Max Scherzer is afraid of anything — or anyone, for that matter. But despite his otherworldly success over the last decade, there still one player who he never wants to see walking up to the plate. “I was going to ask you your hitter that you hate to face, but looking […]
When Max Scherzer erupts on the mound, screaming obscenities into his glove, covering his mouth so the television cameras won’t accommodate the lip-readers, one has to wonder: Who is he yelling at? Is it the opposing hitters, the ones who’ve reached base fewer than once per inning in Scherzer’s three-plus seasons in Washington? Is it […]
Orioles manager Buck Showalter shared some interesting baseball jargon in the latest episode of Stadium's Baseball Stories. This prompted us to dive into some of the other unorthodox baseball terms found throughout the game's history.
It seems like Buck Showalter is always on the hot seat. He may be in the final year of his contract as the Baltimore Orioles’ manager, but the job stability talk hasn’t fazed Showalter, who has maintained that everything comes down to accountability. “This is an accountable world we live in,” he told Jayson Stark […]
The postseason hasn’t gone Terry Francona’s way for the last two years. To say the least. After blowing a 3-1 series lead in the 2016 World Series against the Cubs, the Indians officially took over the longest championship drought in MLB, which now stands at 70 years. They followed that up with yet another disappointing […]
It’s safe to say that Giancarlo Stanton has never had a teammate like Aaron Judge. At 6-foot-7 and 282 pounds, Judge could conceivably blend in better on a basketball court than a baseball diamond. You can’t tell just by looking at him — his steely-eyed glare, gap-toothed grin, small crouch and slight leg kick seem […]
Mark McGwire said Giancarlo Stanton could hit 70 home runs in a season. What does Stanton think? We dig into his response, Barry Bonds' home run record, and the other most unbreakable records in sports.
Every race has a finish line. That’s how it works. The 1998 home run race had a finish line, and it was 62. Whoever hit their 62nd home run first won the race to break Roger Maris’ single-season home run record. But after Mark McGwire crossed that finish line, a line no man had crossed […]
Mark McGwire believes that Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge both have the potential to break Barry Bonds' home run record. He discusses on the premiere of Baseball Stories.
Mark McGwire discusses the home run record and his use of PEDs during the premiere episode of Baseball Stories with Jayson Stark. "I didn't need to use them," says McGwire.