Week 3: Bryce Harper

There are many reasons Bryce Harper won the title of my MLBoyfriend in the third week of play. Three of them are home runs. On Wednesday, April 19, he hit two against Atlanta's ace pitcher Julio Teheran. The second of those was a grand slam. Then, on Friday, April 21, Harper hit a dinger off a pitch by Matt Harvey of the Mets--a pitcher Harper had had 30 at bats against with only hit and zero home runs to show for it.

It wasn't just home runs. Harper was hitting everything last week. His batting average was an insane .550 and an OPS of 1.867. He scored ten runs, the most of any player last week, and had seven RBIs. Of course the center piece of this week was the aforementioned two-home-run game against Atlanta. Harper went four for four in that game making it possibly the best game of his career. (He also played some very good defense in that game.) Being Bryce Harper, he also managed to look pretty good doing all that base running.

Of course, no Bryce Harper post would be complete without a picture of one of his famous celebratory hair flips. Fortunately, there's an excellent one from last week.

Week 2: James Paxton

Given the number of outstanding pitching performances last week, it was clear a pitcher would be named my #MLBoyfriend today. There were a number of excellent candidates with not just one but two wins in the last seven days: Wily Peralta of Milwaukee Brewers is now 3-0 for the season after getting two wins last week; Colorado Rockies' rookie Antonio Senzatela's second win completed a sweep of the San Francisco Giants; Detroit Tiger Matthew Boyd gave up only one earned run in twelve innings over two outings; and Michael Pineda of the New York Yankees is finally "starting to realize his potential" with two impressive wins. Above all these great aces, one stood out, so...

Congratulations to James Paxton of the Seattle Mariners. You are my new MLBoyfriend.

On Monday, April 10th, Paxton dominated the Houston Astros in the Mariners' home opener. He went seven innings throwing eight strikeouts and giving up just four hits, two walks and no runs.

Then, on Saturday, April 15th, Paxton had an even more impressive outing against the Texas Rangers. He pitched eight full innings with nine strikeouts, and just two hits and one walk. Again he gave up no runs.

That's right, over fifteen innings in the second week of play, James Paxton had two quality starts, two wins, a phenomenally low WHIP of 0.60, and a 0.00 ERA--it doesn't get much better than that. Oh wait it does get better, because if we count Paxton's outing in the first week of play, his ERA is still 0.00. He's thrown three shut-outs in his first three appearances of the season.

Week 1: Miguel Sano

In a lifetime of going to the ballpark, I had never see a baseball game on opening day of the season. That changed this year when I went to Target Field on April 3rd to see the Minnesota Twins play the Kansas City Royals.

In that very first game, Miguel Sano took the lead in the competition to become my first MLBoyfriend of 2017 when he hit a solo home run that put the Twins on the board.

Seeing a home run in person is always exciting--but a home run for my hometown team on opening day is probably the best path into my heart. Just that dinger might have been enough to clinch the title, but Sano went on to have a great week with a .350 batting average, 1.308 OPS, 7 runs, 8 RBIs, and 2 home runs--the first on opening day and then a two-run homer on the last day of the week.

It's a long season--and it's a marathon, not a sprint--but, everyone's surprise, the Twins are off to a great start with five wins and just one loss at the end of the first week putting them on top of the American League's Central Division. Miguel Sano's performance at the plate has been a big part of the Twin's great start out of the blocks.

2017 Opening Day!

The 2017 Major League Baseball season has finally begun. 

Check out this space every Monday when I announce my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Also, this year I'd love to expand this blog. If anyone wants to make a guest post, please contact me. I'd be happy to host your MLBoyfriend musings and pics here. The criteria for selection:

1. The player should have done something special on the field. It could be a single play or a solid performance over a stretch of time.
2. Please do a quick Google search and make sure the player doesn't have any problematic issues. Domestic violence and sexual assault are automatic disqualifiers.
3. Of course it doesn't hurt if they are easy on the eyes.

Speaking of a great player who always provides good pictures to post... Let's check in on what the only two-time winner of the MLBoyfriend title, Josh Donaldson, has been up to on Instagram (@tos_bor20) this spring. (Be sure to click on the first post to watch the video.)

If you don't know this feeling, then you are missing out. #MLB @bluejays

A post shared by Josh Donaldson (@tos_bor20) on Mar 8, 2017 at 1:10pm PST

Spring training game✅ @neweracap photo shoot ✅ Who is ready for opening day? It's about that time!!☔️☔️

A post shared by Josh Donaldson (@tos_bor20) on Mar 22, 2017 at 4:00pm PDT

Eyes on the prize, so the vision doesn't get blurry. #MLB #Openingday

A post shared by Josh Donaldson (@tos_bor20) on Apr 2, 2017 at 6:55pm PDT

I'm not sure I'm sold on Josh's blond dye job. Lucky for him, while a player's hair is considered in my deliberations, it is not a determining factor--so Josh Donaldson still has a shot at winning the MLBoyfriend title in 2017.

And now, it's up to the players to impress me. PLAY BALL!

2016 MLBoyfriend Award Winners

Congratulations to my MLBoyfriends who won MLB awards for the 2016. Of course, no award is more coveted than that of MLBoyfriend, but the seven of you picked up some pretty nice things for your trophy cases.

Kris Bryant: National League MVP and the Hank Aaron Award (NL).

Mike Trout: American League MVP and a Silver Slugger Award.

Max Scherzer: National League Cy Young Award.

José Altuve: Silver Slugger Award and Player of the Year (Sporting News Players Choice Award).

Anthony Rizzo: Defensive Player of the Year (First Base), Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Awards.

Josh Donaldson: In addition to being the only player named as my MLBoyfriend twice, Silver Slugger Award.

Buster Posey: Gold Glove Award.

CONGRATS TO YOU ALL AGAIN! You all had great seasons in 2016. Don't rest on your laurels though. 2017 will be a tabula rasa for both MLB awards and my MLBoyfriend.

Pennant Winner: Anthony Rizzo

The Chicago first baseman claims his long overdue award as my MLBoyfriend as the Cubs head to the World Series for the first time since 1945.

There were several times during the regular season Rizzo that I considered giving Rizzo the title. He put up some impressive numbers with a very good .292 batting average and an even more impressive .928 OPS including 43 doubles, 4 triples, and 32 home runs. Also, he plays for one of my family's favorite teams, the long-suffering and now powerful Cubs.  With all that and some other qualities I look for in MLBoyfriends, Rizzo seemed like a lock to win it sooner or later.

I took it for granted that he would win in the postseason, so I delayed almost too long. To say Rizzo's October got off to a shaky start is an understatement. In the National League Division Series, he had a pathetic .067 batting average and a sad .176 on base percentage. Then, things went from bad to worse as the Conference Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers began. In the first two games he went 0 for 8, and the only reason his on base for those two games wasn't .000 is that he managed to draw one walk. He didn't get his first hit of the series until Game 3, but still underperformend in the game. Things were looking bad for the Cubs and for Rizzo's chances of becoming my MLBoyfriend.

Then came Game 4. Rizzo and the rest of the Cubs bats not only woke up, but dominated. Rizzo batted in 3 three of the Cubs 10 runs with a solo homer and well-placed single with the bases loaded. In a nice bit of baseball lore, Rizzo broke his slump and hit the homer by borrowing a teammate's bat.

Rizzo started off strong in Game 5 with an RBI double in the first inning. A bunt in the seventh gave him another hit.

NLDS: Conor Gillapsie

My newest MLBoyfriend's season has ended, but as I looked back over the National League's playoffs so far, it was clear that Conor Gillapsie was the one who found a spot in my heart.

Like many baseball fans, Gillapsie caught my attention in the NL Wild Card Game. While past MLBoyfriend winner Madison Baumgarner pitched a humdinger of a game that night--giving up just four hits and no runs in nine full innings--it was Gillapsie's three-run home run in the top of the ninth that scored the winning runs for the Giants.

Current and former MLBoyfriends Gillapsie and Bumgarner bond
after their Wild Card Game win. Also, gratuitous gun show.

It was, as they say, a Cinderella story. Gillapsie was not a star player for the Giants. In fact, he was only in the line up because heavy-hitter Eduardo Núñez (another MLBoyfriend) was injured. In October, anything can happen, and a bench player ended the Mets season in one at bat.

Gillapsie's homer that gave the Giants the Wild Card slot.