Month: October 2022

Few Major League Baseball franchises have the type of rich history and tradition as the Los Angeles Dodgers. Dating back to their days in Brooklyn, the Dodgers have been a storied franchise with a lot of success and names that would become legendary in America’s pastime.

With the hundreds upon hundreds of those that have worn a Dodgers jersey, though, which ones are indeed the greatest of all time? Here are our picks for the top five Dodgers in franchise history, though not all of them were actually players on the team.

1. Sandy Koufax

Sandy Koufax was nicknamed “The Left Arm of God” for good reason. Starting his career in 1955 when the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn, Koufax took a little bit of time to find his footing as an all-time great. By the time he reached his mid-20s, Koufax had already been in the league for a long time and the 1960s was when he reached his potential.

Koufax became an All-Star for the first time in 1961, posting an 18-13 record with a 3.52 earned run average. He would make the All-Star Team every year for the remainder of his career while also racking up three Cy Young Award wins and was the National League’s Most Valuable Player in 1963. If it weren’t for arthritis in his throwing arm, Koufax could’ve kept going for years.

2. Jackie Robinson

You can’t tell the story of Major League Baseball without mentioning Jackie Robinson, who broke the league’s color barrier. Robinson was already an established star of the Negro Leagues during the mid-1940s and made his way to the Dodgers in 1947 where he won the National League Rookie of the Year Award.

Robinson spent all 10 of his Major League seasons with the Dodgers before their move to Los Angeles. During his career, he posted a .311 batting average with 137 home runs, 734 runs batted in, and 200 stolen bases to go along with his seven All-Star nods and 1949 Most Valuable Player Award.

3. Clayton Kershaw

By far the youngest player on the list, Clayotn Kershaw was one of those pitchers that were almost Major League ready coming out of high school in 2006. The Dodgers drafted him 7th overall that year, with Kershaw making his MLB debut in 2008. Kershaw became a staple for the Dodgers, and by his fourth season, he won a Cy Young Award for the first time thanks to a 21-5 record and 2.28 earned run average.

Kershaw’s impact on the Dodgers can’t be understated, as he helped the team win their first World Series since 1988 while matching Koufax’s performance of three Cy Youngs and an MVP Award, doing so in 2014.

4. Don Drysdale

The final of the three pitchers on the list is Don Drysdale, who spent his entire 14-season career in Major League Baseball with the Dodgers, making the move to Los Angeles with the team after his second season. Drysdale had an instant impact on the team as a teenager and then became dominant in his 20s.

Over the course of his career, Drysdale pitched an incredible 3,432 innings with a record of 209-166 and an ERA of 2.95. Drysdale was named to the NL All-Star Team nine times, winning three World Series and one Cy Young Award. Like Koufax, he retired at the top of his game due to injury issues.

5. Vin Scully

What would a list of the greatest Dodgers be without mentioning the team’s voice for so long, Vin Scully? Scully served as the play-by-play voice of the Dodgers all the way back in 1950 when the team was playing in Brooklyn and remained in the broadcast booth through the 2016 season.

Scully is an icon, not just for the Dodgers, but for baseball in general. He called several World Series games nationally and was a recipient of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick Award, a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star, and even the Presidential Medal of Freedom before passing away in 2022 at the age of 94.

There are few sports that care about the history and tradition of their trophies quite like hockey, particularly the NHL. Each year, the team and individual awards are handed out in front of a national audience, with many of them subject to public debate. Some of the trophies handed out date back to the early part of the 20th century, but which ones are the oldest? Here are the five longest-running individual NHL awards.

5. Art Ross Trophy

The first trophy on the list is the Art Ross Trophy, which was first handed out after the 1947-48 NHL season. While the other trophies on the list are completely subjective and at the whim of hockey writers, general managers, and executives, the Art Ross Trophy is given to the player who scores the most points (goals and assists combined) in a season.

Elmer Lach of the Montreal Canadiens won the first Art Ross Trophy, but there’s one name that became synonymous with the trophy: Wayne Gretzky. “The Great One” took home the Art Ross a whopping 10 times during his career, surpassing the six times that Mario Lemieux and Gordie Howe won. Other notable multiple-time winners include Jaromir Jagr, Connor McDavid, and Phil Esposito.

4. Calder Memorial Trophy

Frank Calder was the NHL’s first-ever president, and the award given out to the league’s best rookie is named after him. The Calder Memorial Trophy was first handed out following the 1936-37 NHL season and the age range between the oldest and youngest to win the award is quite staggering, especially in the trophy’s early years.

At 25 years old, Carl Voss of the Detroit Red Wings won the first Calder Trophy, while the 1940s saw a trio of 19-year-olds and a 27-year-old win. Four 18-year-olds have won the Calder Trophy, with Bobby Orr, Dale Hawerchuk, Tom Barrasso, and Nathan MacKinnon setting the bar.

3. Vezina Trophy

Major League Baseball has the Cy Young Award that’s given out to the best pitcher each year, a position that rarely gets an MVP Award. Hockey has a similar setup where goaltenders get their own award, with the Vezina Trophy handed to the league’s top goalie of the season. Named after longtime Canadiens goalie Georges Vezina, the award dates back to the 1926-27 NHL season.

George Hainsworth of the Canadiens won the Vezina Trophy the first three times it was given out. Bill Durnan became the first man to win the Vezina six times, but his record wouldn’t last long. In 1969, Jacques Plante won his seventh award while playing with the St. Louis Blues. Dominik Hasek is the only other goalie to win the award six times.

2. Lady Byng Memorial Trophy

The NHL is the only one of the big four sports leagues in North America where one of the major awards is given out to the person who showed the most sportsmanship while also being exceptional as a player. The second oldest individual trophy, the Lady Byng is given to one gentleman each year and is named after the wife of former Canadian Governor General Viscount Byng.

Frank Nighbor won the first two Lady Byng Trophies that were handed out, and many of the players that have won the title have done so multiple times. Frank Boucher of the New York Rangers won the award seven times while Wayne Gretzky, Red Kelly, and Pavel Datsyuk won the title four times.

1. Hart Memorial Trophy

While other professional sports leagues in North America simply call it the “most valuable player” award, the NHL recognizes the MVP via the Hart Memorial Trophy. Cecil Hart, who coached the Montreal Canadiens from 1926 until 1939, is the namesake for the trophy after his father gave it to the league.

The Hart Trophy was awarded for the first time in 1924, given to Frank Nighbor of the Ottawa Senators. Many eventual Hall of Fame players have won the Hart Trophy, including Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzky, and Mario Lemieux. Only two players who won the trophy prior to 2000 didn’t go on to be elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame (Al Rollins and Tommy Anderson).

Being the general manager of a professional football team can be a pretty thankless job. When the team is doing well, almost nobody knows your name. When the team is struggling, though, and the coach is already fired, all eyes are on you as the next to be on the chopping block. After all, the general manager puts together the roster, including the coaches.

While GMs tend to come and go rather quickly, there is a handful that became mainstays for a franchise over the course of multiple decades. Which ones have stood out as the best in NFL history, though? Here are our picks for the five best general managers who were able to command the war room with ease.

1. Bill Polian

While some would argue that Bill Polian doesn’t belong on the list, it’s impossible to leave off a man that has won the NFL’s Executive of the Year Award six times. Polian started as a scout with the Kansas City Chiefs before spending time as an executive in the Canadian Football League and USFL.

Polian returned to the NFL with the Buffalo Bills front office, with the team reaching four consecutive Super Bowls. Polian then became the first GM in Carolina Panthers history, with the team reaching the NFC Championship in their second season. Polian moved on to the Indianapolis Colts, drafting Peyton Manning, putting a good team around him, and winning a Super Bowl during his 13 years in the front office.

2. George Young

Along with Polian, George Young has racked up a lot of Executive of the Year Awards, taking home a total of five during his career. A former NFL player himself, Young was a coach before jumping into the executive chair in 1975 with the Miami Dolphins. Young helped form the Dolphins in the later part of the decade before becoming the New York Giants GM.

Young spent 18 years with the Giants in that position, building a roster that won two Super Bowls. The Giants started to decline a bit in the mid-1990s, so Young retired and worked for the league office until his death in 2001.

3. Kevin Colbert

Building a team after the implementation of the salary cap hasn’t been easy for any GM, but for more than 20 years, Kevin Colbert made it look easy. Colbert had been with the scouting departments in both Miami and Detroit during the 1980s and 1990s before becoming Director of Football Operations for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2000.

Colbert remained with the organization all the way up to his retirement after the 2022 NFL Draft. Colbert didn’t receive a lot of fanfare as he kept franchise stability, drafting the likes of Antonio Brown, T.J. Watt, James Conner, and Troy Polamalu, just to name a few.

4. Ozzie Newsome

A former NFL great as a tight end with the Cleveland Browns, Ozzie Newsome joined the franchise’s front office in 1991 and stuck with them when the team moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens. Eventually, Newsome would be promoted all the way up to General Manager in 2002.

Newsome’s Ravens won two Super Bowls before he retired in 2018, but not before drafting several Hall of Famers. These picks included Ray Lewis, Jonathan Ogden, and Ed Reed. In his final draft, Newsome selected eventual MVP winner Lamar Jackson.

5. Bill Belicheck

One of the reasons that Bill Belicheck left the New York Jets almost immediately after taking the job is because the New England Patriots were willing to give him roster control in 2000. Though some call his work as a GM “overrated” and say that it was truly Tom Brady that won him all of those Super Bowls, Belichick did make a ton of good roster moves.

Belichick was able to revive the career of Randy Moss, who many thought was done for after his time in Oakland. He also signed the likes of Rodney Harrison, Mike Vrabel, and Stephon Gilmore. Add in amazing draft picks like Rob Gronkowski, Asante Samuel, and Devin McCourty and it’s clear that Belichick knows what he’s doing.

Athletes: 13

Congressmen: 4

Reagan Cabinet Members: 2

Judges: 1

Israeli Billionaire That Endorsed Him: 1

Elvis: 1

Only four men in the history of Major League Baseball have been able to reach the 700 career home run milestone, showing just how rare of an achievement it is. For context, the fourth-ever perfect game, which is considered to be one of the rarest feats in Major League Baseball, happened all the way back in 1956.

Babe Ruth was the first to hit 700 home runs, finishing his career with 714. He was surpassed by Hank Aaron, who hit his 700th in 1973 and finished with 755. Barry Bonds became the third member in September 2004, finishing as the all-time leader with 762. In 2022, Albert Pujols became the fourth member, finishing his career with 703.

Before Pujols’s 700th home run left the playing field, many were wondering when the next 700 home run hitter would come around. People turned their attention to the young stars while also seeing if veterans were on pace to even get close. The truth is, we may not see another 700-home run hitter for several decades. That’s because there are some major factors that come into play, and let’s take a look at how a player can project into the 700 club.

Longevity

There’s one thing that the four members of the 700 home run club all have in common. All of them played 22 seasons with the exception of Hank Aaron…who played 23. With that in mind, it seems to be a requirement to play 22 seasons, because even the top eight all-time spots all belong to players with 22 or 23 seasons under their belts. Sammy Sosa sits in ninth place and had 18 seasons.

It’s not enough to just play all of those seasons, as players also have to stay healthy. Bonds only had one season where he played in fewer than 102 games. Even then, he was already 40 years old. Aaron didn’t miss significant time until his final season at 42 years old. Pujols and Ruth struggled multiple times with playing in full seasons but also had seasons where they missed almost no games.

Consistency

A player can play for 22 seasons, but even averaging 30 home runs per year (which is amazing), would only get a player to 660 home runs instead of 700. Since we’ve set the requirement of playing 22 seasons, a batter would have to slug an average of 31.8 home runs.

That means a player that has an injury-filled season and only hit 12 home runs would have to cancel it out by hitting 52 home runs in a healthy season. A more realistic pace would be 32 home runs over the course of 20 seasons as long as they’re healthy. The more 50+ home run seasons a player can rack up at a young age, the better their chances are. Someone with a great chance for 700 would already have needed at least 200 by the time they finish their age-25 season.

Outside Factors

Let’s say that a player stays healthy for 22 seasons and is averaging over 30 home runs per year. Unfortunately, there are some other factors that can come into play that knocks players off of their pace. There could be a labor stoppage like we saw in 1994, a global war (which took the primes of several legendary players), or even a pandemic like in 2020. After all, many thought Pujols wouldn’t get to 700 because of the shortened season in 2020.

So Who’s Next?

With all of these factors in mind, is there anybody that has a realistic chance of getting to 700 career home runs again? There were many that pointed to the likes of Aaron Judge, especially following his 62 home run season. However, Judge had already hit 30 years old at that point, essentially making him a massive long shot. If the next member of the 700 club isn’t Mike Trout, Juan Soto or Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., it could be a very, very long time until there’s a new member. 

As one of the Original Six franchises in the NHL, the Toronto Maple Leafs naturally have one of the largest fanbases and are under the biggest microscope for any Canadian team. Over the years, the Leafs have made some great trades, while also making some moves that didn’t work out at all. With a very long history to pick from, what were the biggest trades in franchise history? Let’s break down the five biggest trades the Leafs have made.

Phil Gets His Ring(s)

Phil Kessel had come up with the Boston Bruins but entered his prime with the Maple Leafs when he was acquired in 2009. In his six seasons with Toronto, Kessel put up 394 points in 446 games as one of the team’s top scoring threats. With the franchise struggling, they decided that a prime Kessel was ripe for trade bait to help the rebuild.

The result was Kessel being traded (along with Tim Erixon, Tyler Biggs and a 2016 2nd round pick) to Pittsburgh in exchange for Kasperi Kapanen, Scott Harrington, Nick Spaling and two draft picks. The draft picks ended up not being much while the players Toronto acquired didn’t have an impact. Kessel, on the other hand, played four seasons with Pittsburgh where he won two Stanley Cups and put up 303 points in 328 games.

No Niedermayer

At the beginning of the 1989-90 season, the Maple Leafs traded away their 1991 first round draft choice to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for veteran defenseman Tom Kurvers. Kurvers started his career with Montreal before moving to Buffalo and then New Jersey where he was a fine player, but not great.

The move didn’t help the Maple Leafs at all, as they were one of the worst teams in the NHL and only got 89 games out of Kurver before sending him to Vancouver. Meanwhile, that first round pick became the third overall in the 1991 NHL Draft, which the Devils used to select Scott Niedermayer. Niedermayer would end up having a Hall of Fame career with a Norris Trophy, four All-Star Team selections and four Stanley Cup wins.

The Tuukka Mistake

In 2005, the Maple Leafs drafted Finnish goaltender Tuukka Rask, the top rated goalie prospect from Europe, with the 21st overall pick. However, the Leafs felt like they already had their “goalie of the future” with Justin Pogge. With that, they sent Rask to the Boston Bruins before he played an NHL game, acquiring Andrew Raycroft to be their goalie until Pogge was ready.

Raycroft spent just two seasons in Toronto, posting a records of 39-34-14 before signing with teh Colorado Avalanche in 2008. Rask, on the other hand, became a staple in Boston for many years, winning a Vezina Trophy to go along with his multiple All-Star nods. Perhaps Rask could’ve been the one to get the Leafs over the hump during the 2010s.

Sundin Comes To Toronto

Mats Sundin was a quick star with the Quebec Nordiques after making his debut in the 1990-91 season. After four years with the team, though, the Maple Leafs came calling and acquired the eventual Hall of Famer along with Garth Butcher, Todd Warriner and a first round pick. In return, they sent Wendel Clark, Sylvain Lefebvre, Landon Wilson, and a first round pick to Quebec.

Sundin spent 13 total seasons in Toronto, putting up 987 points in 981 games. Though he didn’t win a Stanley Cup, Sundin was the biggest star for the Leafs, becoming a franchise legend in the process.

The 1992 Calgary Blockbuster

By January 2, 1992, Doug Gilmour was already one of the best defensemen in the NHL after spending several seasons with St. Louis and Calgary. Then GIlmour was involved in the biggest trade in NHL history at the time with 10 players involved. Gilmour was acquired by the Maple Leafs along with Jamie Macoun, Kent Manderville, Ric Nattress, Rick Wamsley. 

Meanwhile, the Flames acquired Craig Berube, Alexander Godynyuk, Gary Leeman, Michel Petit, and Jeff Reese. Of course, Gilmour was the centerpiece of the trade, spending seven different seasons in Toronto during his Hall of Fame career. Gilmour posted 452 points in 393 games, winning a Selke Trophy in the process.