Daily Baseball Update: 5/18

Historical Individual Seasons: Willie Mays 1954

Stat Line: 41 HR, 110 RBI, .345 AVG, 8 SB.  Age 23.

In my opinion, Willie Mays is the greatest player of all time, and this was one of his all time greatest seasons, though he did have many more that could be argued were as good.  Entering the season at just 22 years old and with 155 games under his belt, Mays had a lackluster career line: 24 home runs, 91 RBI, .266 average, and 11 stolen bases in two seasons, one of which was full.  Then, in 1954, he hit 41 home runs, drove in 110, and batted .345 to win the NL MVP Award and send the New York Giants to the World Series Championship.  He scored 119 runs, tripled 13 times, and finished with an OPS of 1.078.  Playing in the All Star Game for the first time, he registered a single off of Bob Keegan, who was on his way to a 16-9, 3.09 ERA season for the White Sox that year.  His .345 average and .667 slugging percentage led the major leagues in a time when baseball was truly at its height.  In the World Series against the Indians, Mays did okay at the plate, going 4-14 (.286 AVG) with three RBI and a stolen base.  However, it was in the field that he really made a name for himself.  In Game 1 at the Polo Grounds, the score was tied 2-2 in the eighth inning with runners on first and second with no outs, when Vic Wertz stepped to the plate for Cleveland.  He crushed the ball about 420 feet to deep center, which would be a home run at any current major league ballpark except Minute Maid Park in Houston, but Mays tracked it down from short center field to make the most famous catch in history, rightly named "The Catch".  Despite being more than 420 feet from home plate (imagine being on the center field hill at the Astros' stadium), Mays was able to turn around and hold the runner from second base, Larry Doby, from getting past third base.  No runs scored that inning and the Giants went on to win in ten innings.

News

Nationals first baseman Adam LaRoche extended his hitting streak to 14 games.

Astros were the first team to 30 losses.

Game Scores

Nationals (23-19) beat the Padres (18-23) 6-5 (10 innings).

Red Sox (25-17) beat the Twins (18-20) 3-2 (10 innings).

Yankees (26-16) beat the Blue Jays (17-25) 5-0.

Phillies (20-22) beat the Reds (25-17) 5-3.

Braves (23-18) beat the Dodgers (17-23) 8-5.

Rays (21-20) beat the Orioles (23-18) 12-10.

Mets (16-23) beat the Cubs (17-24) 3-2.

Tigers (23-17) beat the Rangers (27-15) 2-1.

Top Scorer: Rays beat the Orioles 12-10.

Standings

AL East: Yankees (26-16, .619 WPCT).  AL Central: Indians and Tigers (23-17, .575).  AL West: Rangers (27-15, .643).

NL East: Braves (23-18, .561).  NL Central: Cardinals (27-14, .659).  NL West: Diamondbacks and Giants (24-18, .571).

AL Wild Cards: Red Sox (25-17, .595) and Indians/Tigers (23-17, .575).  NL Wild Cards: Reds and Pirates (25-17, .595).

Bottom Team: Marlins and Astros (11-31, .262).  Longest W Streak: White Sox and Pirates, 4 games.  Longest L Streak: Marlins, 6 games.

League Leaders

Offensive: AVG: Miguel Cabrera (Tigers), .376 (62-165).  Home runs: Justin Upton (Braves), 14.  RBI: Miguel Cabrera, 42.  Stolen bases: Everth Cabrera (Padres) and Jean Segura (Brewers), 14.

Pitching: Wins: Yu Darvish (Rangers), Jordan Zimmermann (Nationals), and Matt Moore (Rays), 7.  K's: Yu Darvish, 86.  ERA: Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers), 1.40 (64.1 innings, 10 earned runs).  Saves: Jason Grilli (Pirates) and Mariano Rivera (Yankees), 16.

Top Performers

Offensive: Paul Goldschmidt (Diamondbacks): 4-5, double, 2 home runs (12), 4 RBI, 4 runs, AVG up .016 from .322 to .338, hitting streak to 4 games (10-16, .625 AVG).

Pitching: Hiroki Kuroda (Yankees): Win (6-2), 8 shutout innings, 2 hits, 1 walk, 5 K's (39), ERA drop: 0.32 runs from 2.31 to 1.99. 

Worst Pitching Performance: Jason Hammel (Orioles): Loss (5-2), 4.2 innings, 7 earned runs, 10 hits, 2 walks, 4 K's (36), ERA jump: 0.79 runs from 4.93 to 5.72.

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Teams followed in this update: Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers

If your team is not included, please leave a comment.

HR: home runs.  RBI: runs batted in.  AVG: batting average.  SB: stolen bases.  ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched.  K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage

Zack Silverman