Lopez had a .500 batting average (highest in MLB) and a 1.536 batting average with 4 doubles, 1 triple and 3 home runs. He scored 7 runs and batted in 7. He also had one stolen base.
In addition to being hot at the plate, Lopez is just plain hot. That helped earn him an honor bigger than being an All-Star or Player of the Week: being featured here on MLBoyfriend.
Congratulations, Otto Lopez! You are my MLBoyfriend of the Week.
Honorable Mention
If Dansby Swanson hadn't won the last MLBoyfriend title, he probably would have this week. He had a .409 batting average and a 1.545 OPS. He the most home runs in Major League Baseball with 5 and tied for the second most RBIs with 11. Over the past two weeks, Swanson had 26 RBIs in just 10 games--a feat no player has accomplished since Joe DiMaggio did it in 1939.
Click through the post below for more on Dansby Swanson's incredible 2-week (and counting) hot streak.
It's kind of shocking that Dansby Swanson has never won the MLBoyfriend title. He has been featured on this site once--but that was as part of my 2022 All-Star Game Red Carpet coverage. At that time, I noted that Swanson had been "runner up" MLBoyfriend multiple times that season--and I'm sure I've considered him many times in the years since then.
Last week, Swanson put up some MLBoyfriend worthy stats. He had a .250 batting average and .920 OPS with 7 hits--including 1 double, 1 triple and 3 home runs. He scored 5 runs.
He is the only pitcher in MLB history to win World Series games in three decades (the 1960's, 1970's and 1980's). He remains the youngest pitcher ever to throw a complete game shut out in the World Series for his 1966 win. He won 3 World Series rings (1966, 1970 and 1983).
He won 3 American League Cy Young Awards (1973, 1975 and 1976).
In 19 seasons, he never allowed even one grand slam or back-to-back home runs.
Now, let's see just a few of Palmer's print ads that were everywhere in the late '70s and early '80s.
Palmer also starred in television commercials for Jockey.
Finally, even though it's not super sexy, I couldn't pass up sharing this little snippet of Jim Palmer's appearance in a Jockey corporate training video. It literally could not be more '80s if it tried.
Congratulations, Jim Palmer! You are my Retro-MLBoyfriend of the Week.
PS: Seven years ago, I made a post titled "My Ethical MLBoyfriend" in which I said I would try to do due dillegence and not name give anyone the title of MLBoyfriend if (among other reasons) he had horrible politics. Needless to say, I was nervous about naming a man born in 1945, but if Jim Palmer has gone totally MAGA, he has hidden it well. He did criticize Biden's boarder/immigration policy in a social media post; however, many centrists also questioned those policies. He also once poked fun at Trump (and himself) saying, "I've named myself the Donald Trump of broadcasters where as long as they don't fact-check me, I'm fine." So... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
For the second week in a row, a player for the Milwaukee Brewers has won the MLBoyfriend title. It's not that surprising since they are a very good team--their .623 record is the 3rd best in all of Major League Baseball.
Also, Jackson Chourio is overdue on being named my MLBoyfriend--although at age 22 and in his 2nd MLB season, he can't be long overdue. Chourio was a runner-up one week in his rookie year, but lost out to another rookie named Jackson, Jackson Merrill.
Last week, Chourio had a .448 batting average and 1.418 OPS. He scored 8 runs and batted in 10. He also hit 5 home runs over 5 consecutive games.
When Brice Turang walked up to bat on Monday, June 1st, surely he was hoping to end his week-long slump. His last hit had been on Sunday, May 24th, and since then, he had gone 0-for-21 at the plate.
This would kick off an excellent week for Turang. He ended up with a .407 batting average and 1.262 OPS. He hit 2 home runs, scored 6 runs and had 8 RBIs.
Congratulations, Brice Turang! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.
"They can't ever say now that a gay man can't play in the majors, because I'm a gay man and I made it." --Glenn Burke
In the 157 years of professional baseball, only two players have come out as gay, Glenn Burke and Billy Bean; however, neither came out publicly until after they retired. Since Burke came out first, I'm honoring him as my first GAY Retro-MLBoyfriend. (Maybe next year, Billy!)
Billy Bean actually made a pretty nice video tribute to Glenn Burke, but it's a little to MLB-corporate branded. So, I'm going with this dishier tribute. (You didn't hear it from me, but the name of the "coach" mentioned in this video might rhyme with Lommy Tasorda.)
Whether or not Glenn Burke gave the first high-five is disputed. However, it is clear that it was a spontaneous action between Burke and Dusty Baker, and it seems to be the first on national television. Certainly, the fact the LA Dodger adopted it as their celebration is what caused it to spread like wild fire through sports.
