ALDS: Josh Donaldson

Congratulations to Josh Donaldson. He has the double honor of being my first postseason MLBoyfriend and the first repeat winner of the title.

Josh Donaldson is clearly happy with his second go-round as my MLBoyfriend.

Even though I have not once but twice named Texas Rangers as my MLBoyfriend, they are my second-most hated team in baseball. (FYI: The Boston Red Sox are clearly the my #1 most hated team, I am a big enough man to give one of them the title.) I was clearly rooting for the delightful Blue Jays to beat the Rangers. Naturally, I was thrilled when Toronto swept Texas in three games--especially because it was Donaldson who delivered the walk-off run in a dramatic fashion.


There were many Blue Jays who contributed to the sweep of the Ranger and that I as candidates for my MLBoyfriend. José Bautista had one home run, scored three runs and had four RBIs in the series. He also showed some class after his home run with a subdued bat drop as opposed to his epic bat flip that sparked a massive brawl between the Blue Jays and the Rangers early in the season. Also, Bautista is definitely looks handsome on the field.

José Bautista

Some might say that Edwin Encarnación was Toronto's MVP in the series--and there is a good case to be made for him with his two home runs, four runs and six RBIs. He showed a bit more bravado after his home runs than Bautista did, and that's okay with me.

Edwin Encarnación celebrates his homer.

Josh Donaldson had a very good series as well even if he didn't hit any of the Blue Jays ten home runs in the three games. He went 4 for 4 with two runs and two RBIs in the first game. The double he hit to get himself into scoring position in the 10th inning of the final game was awfully impressive. Then, he clinched his place as my MLBoyfriend when he dove home to clinch the series win.

Misters October

Fifteen of my MLBoyfriends made it into the postseason. This gives us a great opportunity to take another look at them.

Week 2: Eduardo Núñez, San Francisco Giants
The first entry on this list is bittersweet. I chose Eduardo Núñez as my MLBoyfriend when he was with the Minnesota Twins. As a Twin, he was the best player on a terrible team--but it's my hometown team and they have a special place in my heart. In July, he was traded to the Giants where he has been a very good player on a very good team. Even though he's not on San Francisco's wild card play-in game roster, the move definitely gave Núñez a shot at some postseason play.

Week 3: Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals
Here's hoping Bryce Harper will be bringing his best hair game to the postseason.

Week 4: Michael Conforto, New York Mets
Michael Conforto's season has been a bit of a roller coaster, but his towards the end earned him a spot on the Mets playoff roster.

Week 6: Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals
Max Scherzer is the Nats' go-to starter--as witnessed by the fact that he will be pitching in their first game of the postseason.

Week 7: Jackie Bradley Jr., Boston Red Sox
The fact that I chose Jackie Bradley Jr. as my MLBoyfriend despite my longstanding hatred of the Boston Red Sox is a testament to his talent. However, my personal good feelings towards him have a limit, and I hope not to see him on the field for very long in October. Of course, I'd be more than happy to see him elsewhere.

Week 8: Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants
Congratulations, to Buster Posey for joining the 1,000 Hits Club on September 27th--and doing it in style with a home run.

Week 9: Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco Giants
It's no surprise Madison Bumgarner is pitching in the Giants Wild Card play-in game against the Mets. His pitching has outstanding in October.

Week 12: Josh Donaldson, Toronto Blue Jays
Since I'm a posting after the playoffs have begun, we've already gotten to see Josh Donaldson perform in the postseason--and he was a key contributor to the Blue Jays 11th inning defeat of the Orioles.

Week 13: Danny Espinosa, Washington Nationals
Another player with an inconsistent season at the plate, veteran Danny Espinosa comes into the postseason having just broken a cold streak--and is hoping to keep the hitting going in October.

Week 15: Jacob deGrom, New York Mets
Unfortunately, Jacob deGrom underwent surgery in September and will not be able to pitch for the Mets in the playoffs. We look forward to seeing his famous locks back on the mound in 2017.

Week 19: Yu Darvish, Texas Rangers
Yu Darvish won the last game of the regular season in an impressive showing--a quality start with twelve strikeouts and giving up only one run in six innings. Unfortunately, I simply cannot route for his team, the hateful Texas Rangers. Sorry, Boo.

Week 20: Kris Bryant, Chicago Cubs
It's been 112 years since the Cubs win a World Series--which is a really long time--but they are the favorites to win this year. Kris Bryant--a very strong candidate for the National League MVP--is a key player in the Cubs quest to break The Curse of the Billy Goat.

Week 23: Trea Turner, Washington Nationals
Trea Turner inspired my favorite sports headline of the past week: Nobody puts baby-faced Trea Turner in a corner. Not anymore. Could he be the missing piece the Nationals needed to make it into their first World Series? Quite possibly.

Week 24: Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles
Unfortunately, Baltimore is already eliminated, so we won't be seeing any more of Adam Jones in October. After the game, he showed his heart in calling out a Toronto fan who threw a full beer at fellow Oriole, Hyun Soo Kim, saying "That's as pathetic as it gets." He's a class act.

Week 25: Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers
Elvis Andrus just had the best season of his career; however, I'm hoping his postseason is a repeat of last year (see Yu Darvish, above). While my hatred of the Rangers may be somewhat irrational, I also can't help still liking Elvis.

Thanks to all my MLBoyfriends for a great inaugural season of this blog. Congratulations to the fourteen who made it into the playoffs. Keep an eye out as I will be naming more MLBoyfriends as -the postseason progresses--culminating with my very own Mr. October.

Week 26: Dee Gordon

Dee Gordon secured the title of my MLBoyfriend Monday night when he hit a lead-off home run in the bottom of the first inning.



Gordon's teammate, pitcher José Fernández, had died just the day before in a boating accident. 

Dee Gordon with José Fernández

The Florida Marlins held a tribut to Fernández prior to the game, and then Gordon honored him in the best way possible. Gordon said of the home run:

“I ain’t never hit a ball that far, even in BP. I told the boys, ‘If you all don’t believe in God, you better start.’ For that to happen today, we had some help.”

Week 25: Elvis Andrus

I had to overlook my hatred of the odious Texas Rangers in making my choice this week. Fortunately for Elvis Andrus his fabulous first name helped me say, "I can pick a Ranger, and 'That's All Right.'"

Last week, Andrus had his competition "All Shook Up" with his .412 batting average and 1.474 OPS, His three home runs, five runs, five RBIs and two stolen bases made him the Rangers' "Good Luck Charm". With a performance like that as the season draws to a close, "It's Now Or Never" to name him my MLBoyfriend.

The Rangers clinched the AL West on Friday night, and Andrus celebrated with "A Little Less Conversation" and a little more action by hitting two home runs in one game for the first time in his career. Andrus will get a chance to "Shake, Rattle & Roll" some more in the playoffs in October.

Week 24: Adam Jones

Adam Jones is having a good year with 27 home runs and a respectable .277 batting average. The Baltimore Orioles are in a tight race for a postseason spot, and Jones' performance is an important if under-appreciated asset to the team. While his batting stats were not the greatest last week, Jones distinguished himself off the field. On Tuesday, September 13th, USA Today published an interview with Jones in which he discussed Colin Kaepernick's National Anthem protests which had begun to spread throughout the NFL. Of Kaepernick, he said:

"He believes in what he believes in, and as a man of faith, as an American who has rights, who am I to say he’s wrong? Kaepernick is not disrespecting the military. He’s not disrespecting people who they’re fighting. What he’s doing is showing that he doesn’t like the social injustice that the flag represents."

Jones then explained that the protests are unlikely to spread to MLB because, "Baseball is a white man's game."

The whole USA Today interview is worth your time, so GO READ THE WHOLE THING.

Jones followed up that interview with an ESPN interview.
UPDATE: Unfortunately the original ESPN interview is no longer available to be posted. You can see it here. In it's place, I have put this interview with Jones after a racist attack he faced at an away game after his USA Today interview.



With those two interviews, Adam Jones clinched the title of my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Week 23: Trea Turner

Yes, Trea Turner is absolutely adorable.

However, it takes a lot more than being Tiger Beat material to become my MLBoyfriend. Last week, Turner put up the numbers to win the title: a .400 batting average, 1.238 OPS, 3 home runs, 5 runs, and 8 RBIs.

On Friday, September 9, Turner had two home runs including a walk-off in the Nationals win against the Phillies.

Week 22: Mike Trout

Mike Trout has been a candidate for my MLBoyfriend almost every week this season--if for no other reason than I just wanted to use this picture.

Last week, he put up the numbers to earn the title. Last week, Trout had a staggering .556 batting average and 1.986 OPS with three home runs, eight runs and six RBIs. He even managed to steal a base. Very impressive numbers for a guy who has slumped in August in the past.

Unfortunately, there was some bad news for Trout last week. He was involved in a car accident on Wednesday in which a a woman was injured. I do not believe in lowering the bar for basic human behavior for athletes or other celebrities. That said, it seems this is not the type of tabloid story we are unfortunately used to with athletes. Trout rushed to help the injured person, cooperated fully with police on the scene and showed no signs of intoxication. Again, none of this is admirable per se; however, when I first saw just the headlines--especially the one in the New York Post--I was afraid it would be a deal-breaker. After "researching" the case (i.e., Googling "Mike Trout car accident"), this doesn't disqualify hm from being my MLBoyfriend. He had the day after the accident off, and was quickly back in form--hitting a home run at his first at bat on Friday.