Designated Hitter or Pitcher?

Baseball is back. The new season will start in July. Meanwhile, new sets of baseball cards are available. Topps big league is one of the cheaper sets and very accessible for fans. However, it’s very hard to get an autographed baseball card in a box since it’s not guaranteed. But, some big league inserts are with cool designs.

80 Games

Only 60 games in a season seem to be too short and it is not the baseball season that we usually know. However, a 60-game season could create some excitement and some teams could be the dark horses to be playoff contenders. It will be very interesting since fans also love to see underdogs make some impacts.

60 Games

Baseball is back. The negotiation between the MLB and the MLBPA finally came to a conclusion. However, the negotiation did not go smoothly. There are so many disputes between the two parties. But baseball will be back in July. It’s going to be a short season. As some media reported, a 60-game season will be implemented. It’s not the regular baseball season we expected, but at least we have baseball and it may create something unexpected.

What can’t Trout hit?

“With the 25^th selection in the first round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim select Michael Trout.” Bud Selig announced in the 2009 MLB draft. Two years later, Mike Trout made it to the big league. Mike Trout’s MLB debut was on July 8^th, 2011, against the Seattle Mariners, he went 0-for-3. In the 3-game series, Trout was 1-for-9, collecting his first career hit in the second game of the series.

If Ryu can?

Hyun-Jin Ryu signed a 4-year contract with the Blue Jays last December. He led the Majors with a 2.32 ERA in 2019 and finished 2nd in the National League Cy Young voting. He was actually a Cy Young award favorite for most of the 2019 season, until he struggled in the late August and early September.

2 RBIs

It was early March 2015. I was sitting on the seat at the Charlotte Sports Park, Florida, watching a spring training game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays. Spring in Florida is always nice, it’s even better when there is baseball. Baseball’s return this year is still unknown, however, the sound of that spring training game became vivid again for me.

Keston Hiura’s High Number

Topps Heritage High Number, for me, is series 2 or update series of Topps Heritage. It’s a cool brand for fans, particularly those who like throwback design. There are 24 packs in a hobby box, one hit per box, however, the hit is most likely a relic card. If you would like to get an autograph, it might be better to consider other brands or you have to be really lucky.

Some ideas: Bases Created Average (BCA) TOP 50

Santana drew 108 walks and hit 34 home runs in 2019

In the previous article, I briefly explained Total Bases Created (TBC) and Bases Created Average (BCA) and listed players that ranked top 10 in the 2019 season. This time, I listed the top 50 players on Bases Created Average (BCA) in the last season.

Some ideas: Total Bases Created

In baseball, total bases refer to the number of bases gained by a batter through his hits. Only bases attained from hits count. I was thinking about a question. When a hitter is at bat, how many bases should we expect that he would reach each time?

Round 6 to Round 10

Merrifield was drafted by the Royals in 2010

MLB draft will take place on June 10–11, 2020. Compared to the 2019 MLB draft, the 2020 MLB draft will be shortened to only 5 rounds. A shorter draft means that fewer prospects will be selected. There were 1217 players selected in the 2019 draft. This year, there will be a total of only 160 picks.

Priceless adjustments

David Price was the first overall pick in the 2007 MLB draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He made his major league debut on September 14, 2008, against the Yankees. Since then, Price has earned 150 wins and he’s a five-time all-star. Also, he threw 1981 strikeouts. If baseball does return in 2020, it’s highly possible that Price will reach the 2000-strikeout milestone.

My first MLB ticket

It was in late 2007. I don’t really remember the exact date it was. I found a cool restaurant in southern Taiwan and its name was "Cooperstown". It was a restaurant with lots of baseball collections. There were game-used bats, gloves, autographed baseballs, magazines and so on. I was truly amused by the large numbers of collections when I came in the restaurant. As a baseball fan, it was really a dream place.

From Batting Leader to Bomber

DJ LeMahieu started his career at the Chicago Cubs, making his MLB debut on May 30, 2011. He was traded to the Rockies in December 2011. In the 7 seasons with the Rockies, he was selected to the All-Star game twice (2015 & 2017) and won the batting title in 2016, hitting .348. However, he was not a home run hitter and collected only 49 homers when he played for the Rockies.