MLB Off-Topic

[Madden08PCgmr]

The Mariners are going to retire Randy Johnson's 51 uniform number in 2026.

When I first heard that, I wondered why it took so long, then I instantly remembered that Ichiro Suzuki also had the same number.

They didn't part on the best terms.

He had a back issue which management thought would linger for the rest of his career. Randy leveraged that to force his way out of town... then promptly goes out and wins 4 consecutive Cy's

.. the honor is well deserved and long overdue. Very much like Junior; no Randy, no 1995, Mariners leave Seattle.

[DrJones]

I didn't know that Ichiro was getting his retired as well, much less beforehand. I also didn't know they have ever retired a same number twice before.

Good to know.

It's rare, but it's happened before. The Cubs have retired #31 for both Greg Maddux and Fergie Jenkins, for example. The Expos managed to retire 4 numbers before moving to Washington, and two of them were #10! (The Hawk and Le Grand Orange)

[Blzer]

Ron Washington will remain on medical leave for the remainder of the 2025 season, and Ray Montgomery will manage the Angels in the interim.

I do hope he's okay. It's been an honor having him in the clubhouse long as we had!

[countryboy]

Dave Parker passed away today


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[Majingir]

Dave Parker passed away today


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1 month away from his HOF induction!

[Majingir]

Only 10 more Bobby Bonilla days left!

[Ghost Of The Year]

Only 10 more Bobby Bonilla days left!

I love Bobby Bonilla Day, it feels good knowing Bernie Madoff at least made one persons life better.

[l3ulvl]

Javy Baez going from bum on a terrible contract to all star starter is really cool

edit: also, first player in MLB history to start an ASG at SS, 2B, and OF

[DrJones]

Now that Kershaw finally got his 3000th K, we're probably looking at a long wait for the next "traditional" individual milestone.

3000 Strikeouts

# of Players: 20
Active Players in 3000 K Club: Justin Verlander (2019), Max Scherzer (2021), Clayton Kershaw (2025)
Next in Line: Chris Sale (age 36, 2528 K); Gerrit Cole (age 34, 2251 K)
Thoughts: If they can stay somewhat healthy, both will make it (Sale by the end of 2027 if everything goes right), but it's a pretty big if. Might be a long, long time (if ever) before someone else joins them, though.

300 Wins

# of Players: 24
Active Players in 300 W Club: None
Most Recent: Randy Johnson (2009)
Next in Line: Nobody
Thoughts: This party's over. Verlander has an excellent chance of being the last 250-game winner. Here are the current active wins leaders after Verlander (262), Scherzer (216), and Kershaw (216):
Cole 153 W
Sale 143 W
Charlie Morton (age 41, 142 W)
Sonny Gray (age 35, 119 W)
Bleak stuff.

500 Home Runs

# of Players: 28
Active Players in 500 HR Club: None
Most Recent: Miguel Cabrera (2021)
Next in Line: Giancarlo Stanton (age 35, 430 HR)
Thoughts: Stanton needs 3 semi-healthy seasons to reach 500, seems dicey. Here are the active leaders after him:
Mike Trout (age 33, 391 HR) - 500 seemed inevitable 5 years ago, now not so much
Paul Goldschmidt (age 37, 370 HR) - nah
Manny Machado (age 32, 355 HR) - safer bet than Stanton or Trout
Freddie Freeman (age 35, 353 HR) - better shot at 3000 hits
Nolan Arenado (age 34, 351 HR) - probably not unless he goes back to Colorado
Thoughts: There should be plenty of new members over the next 5-10 years - Machado, Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper, Shohei Ohtani, etc.

3000 Hits

# of Players: 33
Active Players in 3000 H club: None
Most Recent: Cabrera (2022)
Next in Line: Freeman (age 35, 2355 H); Jose Altuve (age 35, 2317 H) - barring catastrophic injury, both are gonna get there eventually
Thoughts: Machado, Xander Boegarts, Harper, Mike Castellanos (!!), Trout, Mookie Betts, Christian Yelich, Jose Ramirez, and Francisco Lindor are all 31-33 years old and in the 1500-2000 hit range, so a couple of them will probably make it somewhere down the road.

EDIT: Decent chance that Verlander, Kershaw, and Scherzer all retire at the end of the year. If so, it'll be the 1st time there were no active members in any of the 4 milestone clubs since early in the 1978 season.

[l3ulvl]

yeah hits, HRs, and Ks will continue forever, but wins? unless the qualifications of what counts as a win change, that's done

fun stat I heard Kurkjian throw out, Skubal has an outside shot at having more wins than walks. He's at 10 wins and 14 walks, so it's definitely a long shot, hasn't happened since Saberhagen in '94, and nobody else since pre 1920

[countryboy]

Former White Sox pitcher Bobby Jenks passed away


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[Majingir]

Michael Kay last week said the Jays aren't a first place team.

Jays swept the Yankees and moved in to first place.

Now Kay has a response to everyone bringing up his comments

https://twitter.com/YESNetwork/status/1941903538277249524?s=19

[Ghost Of The Year]

Javy Baez going from bum on a terrible contract to all star starter is really cool

edit: also, first player in MLB history to start an ASG at SS, 2B, and OF

Baez's three-position all star starts is nice but its still well short of Charlie Hustle and his all star starts at 3 different infield pisitions, and his all star starts at 2 different outfield positions.

[Blzer]

They're wearing their team uniforms at this year's ASG, correct?

Thank goodness, if so.

[Majingir]

Original Blue Jays ace Jim Clancy passes away at age 69.

Didn't get called up to the team until July in the franchises first year, but would play 12 seasons for the team including an all star appearance.

Despite some bad seasons for the franchise, he was a top 10 pitcher in the AL in the early to mid 80s, and is one of only 2 pitchers in the MLB since 1980 to have started at least 40 games (for anyone wondering, no pitcher in the majors has even started more than 37 games since 1990, a sign of the times).

For reference, you'd need to have a 4 man rotation the entire season to get 40 games. No way we'll ever see that again right?