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All Star Break Record Breakers: Hitters

by jakemintz

The baseball season is 6 months long. The baseball season is mostly during the summer. We call the All Star Game “The Mid-Summer’s Classic.” According to all of these points the All Star Game must be the halfway point of the baseball season.

There have been some great performances over the first half of the year, but what could happen in the second half is even more extraordinary. Check that, what will happen in the second half. You see, when a player has a certain amount of stats in the first half (and they usually do), you can always double that amount to find out what that player will have over the course of the year. Its a really good sabermetric strategy and it always always works. Here are a few hitters who could will shatter records:

Chris Davis

First Half Stat: 37 Home Runs

Will Finish The Year With: 74 Home Runs

Math Involved: Multiply by 2

Significance: Chris Davis will break the Home Run record set by Barry Bonds in 2001. A record that some thought would live forever. Hopefully he continues not to blink.

James Loney

First Half Stat: 96 games played

Will Finish The Year With: 192 games played

Math Involved: 96 + 96 = 192

Significance: The current record for most games played in a season is 165 set by Maury Wills in 1962. Loney is on pace to absolutely shatter that number. And you thought he had no value…

Miguel Cabrera

First Half Stat: .365 Batting Average

Will Finish The Year With: .730 Batting Average

Math Involved: (132/362) + (132/362)

Significance: No one has hit .400 since Ted Williams hit .401 in 1941. No one has hit .500, .600, or .700 since ever. The current record holder for the highest batting average in a season is Hugh Duffy, who hit .440 in 1894. Thats insane. And just think, Miggy will top that by at least 300 points. Spectacular.

Pitchers coming later.

Jason Giambi Over Time

by jakemintz

Unspecified Relative: “Jason Giambi is still playing baseball?”

Me: “Yeah. He’s DHing for the Indians this year. He could have been the Rockies coach.”

Relative: “Isn’t he like 43?”

Me: “Yeah, he’s old. He also loves strip clubs.”

Relative: “Cool. Let’s go eat dinner.”

Me: “Sounds good. I like dinner.”

Like most people, Jason Giambi has aged. He has gotten older on a yearly basis since birth. These are pictures that chronicle said journey from adorable Alaskan Sweetheart to A’s A-Hole to Skanky Yankee to Old Dude. 

1990

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Dad Goes Yard: A Baseball Journey

by jakemintz

“Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.” – Sandlot.

Every baseball career is, at some point, supposed to come to an end. For my dad, that year was 1978. After his senior year on the JFK High School varsity baseball team, he knew that he would probably never step back onto the diamond for a competitive game of ball. He knew it was time to hang em up and focus on things he was way better at. It turns out that Richard Mintz’s career wasn’t over that fateful day in 1978. He would have one last moment in the sun.

Hall of Fame Bound

I play for a baseball team called the Tenleytown Brewers. We play in an adult wood bat baseball league in the Washington DC Area. We have a roster of about 15 guys, but most nights we usually scrape by with nine dudes. The teams we play consist of guys trying to hold on to their dreams, which is equally depressing as it is entertaining. Last night was Saturday night, and considering that the majority of our roster is made up of guys in their early to mid 20’s who had better things to be doing on a Saturday night, we were short a player.

I called our coach, RJ, who also happens to be our third baseman and relief pitcher, to see if my dad would be needed to fill in as our ninth guy. He texted back: “We. Need. Richard.” So I gave dad the biggest pair of baseball pants I could find and we hopped in the car and drove out to McLean, VA.

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