Sports
MLB Third Basemen Don’t Hit for Power Anymore: Epidemic on Display During MLB Playoffs Game 1
On a night when the baseball playoffs put fans to sleep—literally in Atlanta, where their beloved Braves played until almost 11 p.m. and still never scored—we search for run-producing answers.
Start the postseason basically five minutes after the regular season ends, and thus make it difficult for ace pitchers to be ready for Game 1?
Uh, we’ve got Cole Ragans and Michael King on Line 1… that didn’t work.
So we ask: What did the good old days of baseball playoffs have that we’re missing today?
Well, that’s easy. They had George Brett, Brooks Robinson, Paul Molitor, David Wright, Miguel Cabrera and Chipper Jones manning the same position at which their franchises trotted out Maikel Garcia, Ramon Urias, Joey Ortiz, Matt Vientos, Matt Vierling and Gio Urshela on Tuesday.
Whatever happened to Mike Schmidt, Adrian Beltre and Alex Rodriguez? Later this week, we’ll find out they’ve turned into Alec Bohm, Max Muncy and Jazz Chisholm, Jr.
We’re just 27 outs into the baseball games that really matter, so hasty conclusions are a dime a dozen. But what we saw Tuesday is something that’s been trending for years:
Apparently power-hitting third basemen have become punters.
Hey, don’t discount the notion.
Legend has it that when Vince Lombardi visited the California home of his former ballboy, Bud Levitas, almost 60 years ago, the legendary coach saw his pal’s grandson tossing a baseball with a friend out front of the house.
“You want to be a professional athlete someday?” Lombardi asked.
“Yes, sir,” 5-year-old Bobby Melvin proudly responded.
“Then you should learn to punt a football.”
Melvin kicked a few spirals, but found it boring. So he became a major-league catcher and now serves as manager of the San Francisco Giants.
If history were to repeat itself today, with Melvin doing the visiting and the late Lombardi’s great, great grandson not recognizing the famous skipper, here’s how the conversation likely would unfold.
“You want to be a professional athlete someday?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then learn how to play third base.”
The baseball playoffs opened with eight teams fielding eight third basemen. Free tickets to the Mike Schmidt Museum to anyone who could name even six of them.
Two looked familiar: Alex Bregman and Manny Machado.
Then there were uniforms inscribed Vierling, Garcia, Urias, Vientos, Ortiz and Urshela.
As a group, third basemen went 7-for-27 in their playoff openers. That’s not terrible (.259).
But this is: one extra-base hit (a double), one walk, three runs and three RBIs.
Take away Vientos—the Mets have an old-school third baseman and they scored eight runs; imagine that—and you have a bunch of guys who should have been pinch-hit for, as one (Urias) was with the game on the line in the ninth.
Pete Rose is rolling over in his grave… and he’s not even buried yet.
To be honest: not a whole lot was expected. Garcia and Ortiz batted last. Urias hit seventh and Urshela was slotted eighth.
While the corporate minds of baseball try to figure out how baseball turned into soccer, the answer stared them in the face Tuesday.
Third baseman can’t hit anymore.
It’s shocking, and it’s an epidemic.
How powerless has this position gotten?
The leading home run hitter among third basemen on 11 different teams hit fewer than 10 this season. And not just on the White Sox.
The Yankees, whose A-Rod once hit 52 homers as a third baseman in 2007, barely reached the threshold. They were led by Chisholm’s 10.
Tyler Nevin, whose dad Phil had 41 homers as a third baseman for the Padres in 2001, led the A’s with four.
The Nationals sent 619 third basemen to the plate this season. They combined for seven homers, no one with more than three.
Schmidt once hit four IN ONE GAME. So did Graig Nettles and Bob Horner.
As a whole, National League third basemen hit .243 with 294 homers this season. That was better than their American League counterparts, who hit .241 with 274 homers.
I guess we should blame Fernando Tatis.
In 1999, he was one of six third basemen who hit 30 or more homers and one of 10 who hit .299 or better.
On Jan. 2 that year, Fernando had a son. He named him Junior… and sent him out to play shortstop.
NL third basemen hit 391 homers in 1999. In the next decade, they failed to reach even 350 three different times, then six more times in the 2010’s.
In the AL, third basemen hit .265 or better seven times in the decade of the 00’s, then just once in the 10’s.
The A-Rod era had turned into B-Inge error.
And post-pandemic… Well, we caught a good glimpse of it Tuesday. NL third baseman have hit 350 or more homers once. AL third basemen have yet to hit .265 or better.
In 2021, NL third basemen hit 357 homers with a .249 average. This year: 294 and .243.
That year in the AL, third basemen hit 311 homers with a .248 average. This year: 274 and .241.
Move over, Mario Mendoza. A .201 average with 3.3 home runs has become a third baseman’s Carter Kieboom Line.
Five guys with 100 or more plate appearances as a third baseman landed below the Kieboom Line this season. Throw in another 11 if you lower the minimum plate appearances to 50.
Has there ever been a guy with a more misleading name?
Maybe that’s why baseball’s brass is so confused.
Sports
A'ja Wilson has no shortage of motivation after Aces' early exit in '24
Oct 1, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson (22) and New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (30) during game two of the 2024 WNBA Semi-finals at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images LAS VEGAS — Entering her eighth season in the WNBA, Las Vegas Aces superstar A’ja Wilson is poised to build on what was arguably the most dominant individual campaign in league history.
Wilson joined Cynthia Cooper (1997) as the second player in league history to win a unanimous MVP award and joined an exclusive club as the fourth player to win the award three times. She averaged 26.9 points and 11.9 rebounds per game last season and set the all-time single-season mark for points (1,021) and rebounds (451).
Unfortunately for Las Vegas, injuries and fatigue from their two previous championship runs mounted and resulted in the team’s worst regular-season record (27-13) since 2019. The Aces’ three-peat hopes ended with a 76-62 home loss to the New York Liberty to drop their semifinal series 3-1.
It’s that loss on her home floor that served as Wilson’s motivation this offseason.
“Losing sucks, especially on your home court,” Wilson said “It still kind of burns a little bit, but I’ve used that as fuel to help my teammates understand how hard it is to win in this league. Yes, we can celebrate the two championships. They were great. But for us to move forward, we have to understand how hard this league is and value the basketball and the little things. I think that’s what we lacked last season, so we’re going to make sure that we can show up better than we did.”
While the Aces appeared to be on top of the world heading into their potential three-peat campaign in 2024, the reality inside the locker room was that both the internal and external pressure to win another championship had become suffocating. A common theme across media day was the fact that the team feels less pressure entering the 2025 season, a sentiment Wilson shared as the unquestioned leader of the team.
“(Three-peat talks) obviously impacted us, because it’s like, y’all think we don’t want to win? We’re trying as well,” Wilson said.
“I would definitely say it’s refreshing this year. I feel like this is one of my only years where it feels like there’s no weight. There’s a lot of weight to be defending champs. It’s a lot of weight to be trying to win one. We don’t have that. We actually have a clean slate to really dial into getting back to who we are culturally, like, in our system and everything.”
Leading the Aces back to the top of the mountain for a third time in four years is one of a few historically significant achievements Wilson can collect this upcoming season. Wilson could also become the first four-time MVP in league history, though the meaning of that is something she hasn’t quite allowed herself to ponder yet.
“I haven’t given it much thought, but it would be a blessing to have my name in that conversation,” Wilson said. “Every year, I try to be better than I was the year before just to give myself a chance in this league. Because the league is getting better. We’re growing. At this point, you just want to maintain your stamina. You want to maintain your mental, all of that, because the season gets hard. I can’t think too much about that just yet, but I’m definitely going to try to be better than I was last year.”
As Aces coach Becky Hammon put it, fans can expect to see an even better version of Wilson this season.
“What I see is, she went and got better,” Hammon said. “Which is hard to do when you’re already the best, but it speaks to her work ethic, her desire and her mindset this whole offseason. We talked a lot this offseason. She’s a busy lady, but I can tell you what she always does is her workouts. She’s always getting her workouts in. That comes first and foremost, she never gets her priorities jumbled up.”
When Hammon was asked what a player like Wilson would possibly need to improve after last season’s campaign, the coach did not feel like revealing too much.
“There was (something for Wilson to improve), and she did,” Hammon said. “I’m not going to tell you what it was. Actually, there were two things.”
–Will Despart, Field Level Media
Sports
Jacob Wilson joins Aaron Judge in spotlight for Yankees-A's series
May 5, 2025; West Sacramento, California, USA; Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson (5) throws to first for an out against the Seattle Mariners during the seventh inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images The top two hitters in the majors square off Friday night when the New York Yankees face the Athletics in the opener of a three-game series in Sacramento, Calif.
It’s no surprise to see Yankees star Aaron Judge off to a superb start after winning American League MVP honors last season. He has a major league-best .400 batting average and entered Thursday’s play tied for the big-league lead with 12 homers and 34 RBIs.
But who had Athletics rookie Jacob Wilson ranking second in the majors at .357 as the season nears the quarter pole? Wilson has played in just 64 career games and quickly has solidified himself as a future All-Star, perhaps even this season.
Sharing the marquee board with Judge seems quite surreal for the 23-year-old shortstop who was the No. 6 overall pick of the 2023 draft.
“It’s a great feeling, for sure,” Wilson said of his name being mentioned with Judge. “Obviously, everybody has seen what he is doing. It’s pretty incredible watching him do his thing on a daily basis. To be up there with him is pretty cool for me.
“I’m excited to play against him this week and see what it looks like in person.”
Wilson had his first career four-hit game during Wednesday’s 6-5 home loss against the Seattle Mariners and has six multi-hit outings in the past eight games. He went 8-for-14 with one game-winning hit in the three-game series against the Mariners and is 16-for-34 (.471) with four walks during the eight-game stretch.
The hot hitting led to Athletics manager Mark Kotsay moving Wilson to the leadoff spot on Wednesday. Kotsay indicated Wilson may be sticking at the top of the lineup.
“I think you’ll see Jacob up there now,” Kotsay said. “Jacob’s earned it. … Jacob has shown enough over the last week. He’s walking and taking pitches, and, obviously, swinging the bat really well.”
Judge arrives in Sacramento in the midst of a four-game funk in which he is 2-for-15.
The two-time MVP just went 1-for-10 in a three-game home series against the San Diego Padres, but the one hit was a homer.
Judge grew up 50 miles south of Sacramento in Linden and starred for Linden High but wasn’t highly sought by major league teams. The then-Oakland Athletics selected him in the 31st round in 2010.
Judge instead went the college route and starred for Fresno State. He was chosen in the first round (32nd overall) by the Yankees in the 2013 draft.
Trent Grisham was one of the heroes of Wednesday’s 4-3, 10-inning win over the Padres. He hit a tying two-run pinch-hit homer in the eighth inning.
Grisham had two homers and five RBIs in the series against the Padres — one of his former teams — and already has 10 long balls in just 89 at-bats. He hit just nine last season in 179 at-bats.
“I’m having fun with the guys, I would say that more than anything,” Grisham said. “The clubhouse is really good in here, led by Cap (Judge). So, I would say the guys have been the most enjoyable part.”
New York is starting right-hander Will Warren (1-2, 5.65 ERA) in Friday’s series opener. Right-hander Osvaldo Bido (2-2, 4.71) will be on the mound for the Athletics.
Warren, 25, struck out a career-high eight in 4 2/3 innings while losing to the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday. He gave up five runs (three earned) and seven hits. Warren hasn’t previously faced the Athletics.
Bido, 29, received a no-decision against the Miami Marlins last Saturday when he gave up four runs on three hits over five innings. He is winless (0-1) over his last three starts. Bido hasn’t faced the Yankees.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao coming out of retirement
Aug 21, 2021; Las Vegas, Nevada; Manny Pacquiao (right) fights Yordenis Ugas in a world welterweight championship bout at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao plans to end his retirement and return to the ring on July 19 against Mario Barrios in Las Vegas, ESPN reported Thursday.
Pacquiao, 46, will be fighting for the first time since losing a unanimous decision to Yordenis Ugas in 2021.
The fight will be for Barrios’ WBC welterweight championship belt. Barrios turns 30 on May 18.
Pacquiao is an eight-division champion who is slated to be inducted into the boxing Hall of Fame in June. He reportedly will formally announce his return to boxing next week. The report stated that Pacquiao has been cleared to compete by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
In recent years, Pacquiao has been focusing on his political career in the Philippines.
The boxer nicknamed “PacMan” has a 62-8-2 record with 39 knockouts during his career. He won his first major title — the WBC flyweight crown — at age 19 in 1998.
Pacquiao was 54-3-2 prior to turning 33 and 8-5 afterward. One of those losses was to Floyd Mayweather Jr. via unanimous decision in 2015, a bout that reportedly drew nearly $400 million in pay-per-view sales.
Barrios (29-2-1, 18 knockouts) fought to a 12-round, split-decision draw against Abel Ramos last November. This will be his third defense since winning the title by beating Ugas in 2023.
–Field Level Media
A'ja Wilson has no shortage of motivation after Aces' early exit in '24
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