It blows my mind sometimes that many of you—some who have graduated from college and have started careers and family—cannot remember the 1994 strike. For me, it happened at a particularly good time, since it was a time in my life that I was so busy that I didn’t really have time to miss baseball.
Also, I was tempted to use an old photo of Gleyber Torres in a Myrtle Beach Pelicans uniform, but I thought that would just start a pointless argument.
- It’s been 25 years since baseball stopped. There were many, many articles on the anniversary of the strike, including this one on these very pages.
- Hardball Talk did a nice four-part overview of the strike, starting with the causes of the strike which also serves as a great, short history of the labor movement in baseball up until 1994.
- Next there’s a quick look at the 1994 season before the strike and what was lost.
- When the strike ended in early 1995, there were several players who never returned, either by their choice or the collective decision of 28 front offices. Of course, the most famous player who never returned was an incredibly raw but promising minor leaguer for the Chicago White Sox.
- And Hardball Talk finishes with a look at the players who crossed the picket line in 1995 (and of course, the big impact this had on the video game MVP Baseball 2005, still the greatest baseball video game ever.)
- If you’ve got a subscription to The Athletic, you can read an oral history of the 1994-95 labor negotiations.
- Hannah Keyser is one of those who are too young to remember the ‘94 strike, but she was able to find some fans who swore they’d never watch baseball again and have kept their word to this day.
- Flash forward 25 years and players are hitting a lot of home runs. In fact so many that several teams could have a player who will set a new single-season franchise home run record. No one on the Cubs is hitting 67 this year.
- Yankees infielder Gleyber Torres set a single-season record (since 1969) for most home runs against one team with 13 versus the Orioles this year.
- If you’re an Orioles fan, there’s nothing you can do but laugh. So Matt Bonesteel turned the home run call of Orioles play-by-play broadcaster Gary Thorne of every Torres home run into a 13-stanza poem.
- You’re probably sick of Reds outfielder Aristides Aquino by now, but if you’re not, Dayn Perry has a look at this rookie who set a record for home runs to start a career.
- Neil Paine notes that in the history of baseball, no one has never seen the kind of offensive production by players under the age of 30 as we have now. He also ironically notes that while the overall level of production from players is getting younger, baseball is getting more and more pitching production from pitchers older than 30. Not at record levels, but at levels not seen in many years.
- Of course, when Mike Trout is under 30, that kind of puts a weight on the scales. Travis Sawchik looks at how Trout’s strategy of (usually) taking the first pitch of an at-bat is successful for him.
- Mariners infielder Kyle Seager hit three home runs against Detroit last night, but the third home run needed a bit of help from Tigers outfielders Niko Goodrum and Brandon Dixon.
- Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt is red-hot now after a slow start to the season and Ben Clemens tries to figure out why.
- The Phillies fired their hitting coach, former Cubs hitting coach John Mallee, and gave the job to their 75-year-old former manager Charlie Manuel. Hey, he’s still seven years younger than Mets pitching coach Phil Regan.
- Bob Nightengale thinks there’s still room in the game for the old-school experience of Manuel.
- Tom Verducci takes a look at the first seasons of Bryce Harper and Manny Machado after signing their big new contracts with their new teams.
- Richard Justice has one pleasant surprise for each MLB team. Hey, Rowan Wick is getting some national attention!
- The Astros have a problem. Their problem is that they have so much talent that they can’t possibly hang on to all of it. Gabe Lacques looks at all the former Astros who are thriving elsewhere after not being able to stick with Houston’s major league roster.
- Isaac Levy-Rubinett examines the incredible season that Astros ace Gerrit Cole is having and how only Randy Johnson can compare to Cole at the moment.
- Cole’s former team, the Pirates, have completely collapsed after the All-Star Break and Ben Clemens examines why and how rare this kind of a collapse is.
- David Schoenfield doesn’t believe the problems the Yankees are having with their starting rotation means that they can’t still win the World Series.
- Wallace Matthews notes that the Yankees are winning not because of all their high-paid stars (although they have enough of them) but because of all the bargain salaried players who are out-producing the big-contract guys.
- Michael Baumann looks at the changes that Rangers pitcher Lance Lynn has made to turn him into the best pitcher in the game this season, according to Baumann. I’d still take Cole over Lynn, even if Lynn’s FIP is slightly better.
- Tom Verducci profiles Dodgers rookie Walker Buehler, whom Verducci believes will be the next great pitching ace.
- Buster Olney looks at the decision that Phillies pitcher Jake Arrieta has to make between having bone spur surgery now or trying to tough it out and finish the season, despite several ineffective games. (ESPN+ sub. req.) Arrieta’s contract makes the decision even more complicated.
- Rays manager Kevin Cash pulled starter Ryan Yarbrough after 8 2⁄3 innings of a shutout and Tony Wolfe examines the decision and how rare it was.
- Brewers pitcher Brent Suter is missing this entire season after Tommy John surgery, so he’s spending his free time working to improve the environment. When he’s not doing his rehab work, of course.
- Former Cubs pitcher James Russell is thriving down in the Mexican League as he tries to pitch his way back to the majors. Russell has transformed himself into a starter and he’s been the best one in Mexico this year. He also talks about the challenges of pitching in that league. Mexico City is 2,000 feet higher in elevation than Denver. (Russell pitches for Tijuana, but there are road games.)
- Alex Rodriguez had $500,000 worth of jewelry and electronics stolen from his rental car outside of Oracle Park.
- Daniel R. Epstein has a short history of women’s baseball. It’s a lot more than just A League of Their Own,
- Finally, when travelling across the country to play baseball, players sometimes have some free time in a city and look for something to keep themselves occupied until it’s time to show up at the ballpark. For Nationals infielder Howie Kendrick, he takes photographs of the people and sights of the cities he visits. Sometimes he photographs his teammates. Also, he’s pretty good at it so you should take a look.
And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.