Great job with the updates, guys! It was Baez's third career platinum sombrero. I have never thought about moving to NYC In my whole life, but having Baez and Joey Magic Hands in the same city makes it a little tempting.

Baez took the lead back from Chapman last night and is up to 141 for the season and on pace for 211.
I'm really going to be pissed if he and Captain Rooster miss out on the record because they each missed a couple of games due to the trades.

Those 5 whiffs allowed Baez to pass George Brett in career strikeouts. That took 8 seasons. Brett played for 21.

I know he's an all-time great, and Baez is .... not, but these numbers are still eye popping.

Brett: 10,349 at bats, 908 strikeouts (8.7% strikeout rate)
Baez : 3,095 at bats, 910 strikeouts. (29.4% strikeout rate)

If Baez stayed on that pace for Brett's # of at-bats, he would finish with more than 3,000.

And next time you want to smoke your friends in a trivia contest, Brett is the answer to - who is the only MLBer to win a batting title in 3 different decades - 1976, 1980, 1990.

So here we are on the second Sunday of August, the season 2/3rds complete, and three champions rising above the rest in the quest to lead the majors in strikeouts. It reminds me a lot of the Big Three from Avengers: Endgame going out to fight Thanos, assuming Thanos was a 78-MPH curveball in the dirt.

First, we have Javier Baez, the Thor of the bunch. He has his very own version of Mjolnir. A bat that not only has the power of striking out 144 times in 367 at-bats, but also prevents him from taking a walk. He's got just 17 this year. As Rafael Ramirez once said, "You don't walk off the island." Side note, Rafael Ramirez was my dad's favorite player because once at a game he got a hit in the 12th inning to end it, and let my dad rush outside the Astrodome to smoke a cigarette after he had gone 4 hours without one. He called Rafael "Babe" for the rest of his playing days with the Astros as a result.

Then there's Matt Chapman, clearly Iron Man because he hasn't been hurt and he hasn't been traded this year. He's resilient, powerful, and he lives and plays in California, like Mr. Stark. He's also at 144 strikeouts at this point in the season.

Finally, there's this thread's namesake - Joey Gallo, the definitive Captain America of Major League Baseball. Cap's a simple guy - a man out of time who lives for freedom, milkshakes (vanilla), and wiping the floor with Hydra's ass. Just like Joey, a man who doesn't have time for your fancy "runners in scoring position" or"sacrifice flys" - all he wants to do is hit home runs, draw walks, and strikeout as much as possible - 141 times now, despite that damn trade that cost him THREE games.

Here's how the boys are looking as the season heads down the stretch:

Javier Odinson: On pace for 208 strikes outs and 25 walks. Hitting ,179 in August with 11 strikeouts in 28 at-bats.

Metal Man Chapman: On pace for 210 strikeouts and hitting .215. On pace for very crappy 20 home runs and 73 RBI. Hit .180 in July with 34 strikeouts in 89 at-bats. Has struck out 10 times in 21 at-bats in August. Has struck out 20 times in 41 at-bats vs. the Astros this year.

Captain Gallmerica: On pace for 206 strikeouts. Going full-on Rob Deer with paces of 38 HR but only 85 RBI. Hit .167 in Jul with 30 strikeouts in 66 at-bats. Has a sub-.100 batting average agaisnt Baltimore, Colorado, Miami, and the Yankees this year.

On the all-time chart, Justin Upton is up to 1,934 strikeouts, just two shy of Willie Stargell for 8th all time.
Miguel Cabrera is at 1,897, leaving him 4 shy of Mike Cameron for 12th. Really? Mike Cameron?

Baez is tied for 432nd with Mariano Duncan and Felipe Lopez. Next on his kill list is the unlikely trio of Jose Offerman, Jose Reyes, and Aaaron Rowand.

Joey Jo Jo Shabadoo is tied for 561st with Wally Post. In the next week he'll likely pass Barry Larkin and Trevor Story, Story once had a lot of expectations to be one of the worst striker outers of all time but he is averaging fewer than 1 whiff per game this year, and Joey is about to put him out to pasture.

These posts are the highlight of TA for me. Both entertaining and educational. Keep up the good work, Bib.

Another whiff for Joseph K. Gallo! One away from tying Baez and Chapman!

About 50 games to go.

Chapman 146
Baez 144
Gallo 143

It might not be the race we deserve, but it's the race we're getting.

You think that Rangers dork will be back in here defending Gallo's honor now that he's a yankee?

Carlo4 said:

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Fat Bib Fortuna said:

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Great job with the updates, guys! It was Baez's third career platinum sombrero. I have never thought about moving to NYC In my whole life, but having Baez and Joey Magic Hands in the same city makes it a little tempting.

Baez took the lead back from Chapman last night and is up to 141 for the season and on pace for 211.
I'm really going to be pissed if he and Captain Rooster miss out on the record because they each missed a couple of games due to the trades.

Those 5 whiffs allowed Baez to pass George Brett in career strikeouts. That took 8 seasons. Brett played for 21.

I know he's an all-time great, and Baez is .... not, but these numbers are still eye popping.

Brett: 10,349 at bats, 908 strikeouts (8.7% strikeout rate)
Baez : 3,095 at bats, 910 strikeouts. (29.4% strikeout rate)

If Baez stayed on that pace for Brett's # of at-bats, he would finish with more than 3,000.

And next time you want to smoke your friends in a trivia contest, Brett is the answer to - who is the only MLBer to win a batting title in 3 different decades - 1976, 1980, 1990.

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anyone ever gone 0-6 with 6ks in a game? Is that a uranium sombrero?

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Yes 8 times but it took extra innings each time. It's a titanium/double platinum sombrero.

BREAKING NEWS:Joey Gallo has struck out for a third time tonight vs. KC and RETAKEN THE LEAD in the Major League Baseball strikeout race!

As of 9:30 p.m. CDT

Gallo 147
Chapman 146
Baez 144

Chapman has 0 whiffs tonight but the A's are headed for extra innings vs. Cleveland.
Baez didn't play today and the Mets game was suspended due to weather
The Yankees trail 5-4 in the 7th, meaning he might have an outside shot at the sombrero.

Chapman no Ks and 2 walks...what in the world? It'll have to go a few extra to get to him.

Joey's got his pace back up to 211.

The air smells sweeter, the birds are chirping outside Yankee Stadium ... no wait, those are rats, and Joey Gallo wakes up this morning with the strikeout lead for the first time since June 4.

The updated projections:


Joey Stormcrow: 211 strikeouts, .214 average

Matt Chapman: 209 strikeouts, .212 average

Javier Baez: 203 strikeouts, 24 walks in 520 at-bats

And an extended shoutout to Eugenio Suarez of the Reds. He's fallen off the strikeout chase a bit, sitting 4th at 138 and on pace for 196, but he is still hitting just .173 on the year, is on pace to have 98 hits in 566 at-bats, and is down dead last in the entire majors in WAR at -2.5. He's still 5 points ahead of Chris Davis's 2018 mark for the worst batting average ever in a season with at least 520 plate appearances, but give it time.

On the all-time list, Joey rocketed up to #560 yesterday with 816 career strikeouts. His next victims include Mike Lowell, Barry Larkin, and the man who was a game within the game, Milton Bradley.

Deep Thoughts with Fat Big Fortuna


If strikeouts were hits, Joey Gallo would be batting .414.

Fat Bib Fortuna said:

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Deep Thoughts with Fat Big Fortuna


If strikeouts were hits, Joey Gallo would be batting .414.

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Let's take this a step further

By this measure Ted Williams batted .059 in 1941.

Both are All-Stars.

Corporal Punishment said:

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Fat Bib Fortuna said:

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Deep Thoughts with Fat Big Fortuna


If strikeouts were hits, Joey Gallo would be batting .414.

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Let's take this a step further

By this measure Ted Williams batted .059 in 1941.

Both are All-Stars.

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And another step forward, in 1995, Tony Gwynn batted .028 in 1995 - 15 strikeouts in 535 at-bats.

Part of a 5-year run where his "real" batting averages were .358, .394, .368, .353, .372.

In his 12 games wearing pinstripes Jo Jo Rabbit is slashing .156/.283/.311 with 22Ks in 45 ABs. If the first digit of your OPS is a 5 that's not good.

I wonder if there was a 30 day return policy on that trade?

ETA Javier Baez isn't any better. In 10 games with the Mets He's slashing .171/.216/.343 with 14 K in 35 ABs.

Both are sporting a sterling -0.1 WAR. That's spectacular. But both take a back seat to Mr Suarez who has managed to somehow accumulate 454 PAs this year while slashing .174/.260/.343 and a -0.7 WAR. He's hit 22 HR and driven in 68 this year and managed to be worth negative value. That takes some doing.

Joey Thunderfist failed to strikeout last night, dropping him into a tie for first with Chapman at 147. Baez is at 145

Since the trade, the Yankees are 10-3 with Captain Rooster driving the bus.

Rangers are 4-8, which is actually worse than they were already. According to ESPN's power rankings,

Texas has tanked at the plate without Joey Gallo, producing less power while compiling an AL-low .173 batting average over the past seven days.

You take away Joey's .215 average, and the team just folds.

Thread favorite Chris Davis has officially retired.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/32008255/baltimore-orioles-chris-davis-retires-citing-hip-injury

He will finish with 1,852 Ks good for a current standing of 17th all time.

For his career, that's an astonishing 212 Ks/162 game avg.

Chrundle the Great said:

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Thread favorite Chris Davis has officially retired.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/32008255/baltimore-orioles-chris-davis-retires-citing-hip-injury

He will finish with 1,852 Ks good for a current standing of 17th all time.

For his career, that's an astonishing 212 Ks/162 game avg.

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An all-timer. Guy had seasons where he hit 53 and 47 home runs, and got so bad he couldn't even start for the Orioles.

Compilation of him striking out looking.



Breaking his 0 for 54 streak.



Trying to fight his own manager after the manager told him he sucked in the field almost as much as at the plate.




And in happier times, Chris Davis beating Alabama (I know it's not the same guy)

Corporal Punishment said:

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Chris Davis was a Joey Gallo prototype.

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If the Rangers hadn't decided to trade Davis for 36-year old Koji Uehara at the deadline in 2011, Davis and Gallo could have been teammates. Those two together would have been like twin angels singing in a heavenly choir of swings and misses, or just standing there watching a 93-MPH fastball go straight down the pipe.

It paid off for the Rangers, of course. Uehara went on to have an ERA of:

Infinity against Tampa in the ALDS
13.50 against Detroit in the ALCS - Man who feels old right now that 10 years ago the ALCS was the Rangers and Tigers?
And then didn't pitch in the legendary WS loss to the Cardinals.