Sammy Sosa of the Cubs leads the National League in homers with 21. If Sosa finishes the season with the NL home run crown, he would become only the 10th player in major-league history to win a Most Valuable Player Award one year without leading the league in homers then lead the league the following year. Sosa finished second to Mark McGwire in the home run race last season. The nine non-homer champ MVPs who led the league in homers the next year were:
Player MVP Year Next Year
(HRs) (HRs)
Jimmie Foxx 1938 (50) 1939 (35)
Ted Williams 1946 (38) 1947 (32)
Joe DiMaggio 1947 (20) 1948 (39)
Willie Mays 1954 (41) 1955 (51)
Mickey Mantle 1957 (34) 1958 (42)
Ernie Banks 1959 (45) 1960 (41)
Roger Maris* 1960 (39) 1961 (61)
Dale Murphy 1983 (36) 1984 (36)
Barry Bonds* 1992 (34) 1993 (46)
(* won back-to-back MVP Awards)
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DEJA VU
Pedro Martinez of the Boston Red Sox struck out 16 Atlanta Braves on June 4, a career high. Those were the most whiffs inflicted on the Braves in a game since Pedro’s brother, Ramon, struck out 18 Braves exactly nine years earlier on June 4, 1990.
A SIMPLE PLAN
Atlanta Brave ace Greg Maddux has struggled this season going 5-3 with a 4.65 ERA through Thursday. Over the past 10 years, Maddux never has posted an ERA higher than 3.46 for a full season. Based on his 10-year average, Maddux will pitch approximately 147 more innings this season. He could allow no more than 47 earned runs over such a stretch to achieve a 3.50 ERA at season’s end.
TEXAS-STYLE RIBS
Juan Gonzalez of the Texas Rangers needs one RBI to become the seventh major-leaguer to drive in 1,000 runs in fewer than 1,200 games. Through Friday, the Rangers outfielder had played in 1,156 games and had driven in 999 runs. Jimmie Foxx recorded the most in 1,200 games with 1,158. The six players who reached 1,000 in fewer than 1,200 were:
Player RBIs at 1,200 Games
Jimmie Foxx 1,158
Ted Williams 1,146
Al Simmons 1,081
Joe DiMaggio 1,081
Lou Gehrig 1,079
Hank Greenberg 1,026
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