Bryce Harper

This year, I've been trying to feature new faces here. Sometimes, however, I can't help but give a shout out to an old favorite. Bryce Harper made it very easy to pick him this week.

Harper had 12 hits in 23 at-bats giving him an impressive .522 average. He scored 6 runs and had 10 RBI. He had 3 home runs including one inside-the-park which is always fun to watch.

No Bryce Harper post would be complete without some admiration of his flowing locks. Fortunately, his helmet came off as he was rounding the bases for his inside-the-park home run. So, there are lots of pictures of his glorious mane.

Congratulations, Bryce Harper! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Julio Rodriguez

Julio Rodriguez was named the American League Player of Week for last week--and with good reason. 

From Wednesday, August 16th, to Saturday, August 19th, Rodiriguez set the MLB record for the most hits scored in 4 consecutive games--with 17! He also set a record for the Seattle Mariners franchise by hitting 10 hits in 10 at-bats. Here's the last 4 hits that set those records.

Rodiriguez ended the week with an astonishing .568 average with 21 hits in 37 at-bats. He had 4 doubles, 2 home runs, 7 runs, 12 RBI!, and 6 stolen bases!!

Congratulations, Julio Rodriguez! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.

Michael Lorenzen

Michael Lorenzen threw a no-hitter on Wednesday, August 9th. However, a no-no does not guarantee an MLBoyfried title. Lorenzen only struck out 5 batters during the game, and the rest of the outs were made by the excellent fielding of his Phillies teammates.

There are two facts about Lorenzen's performance that secured the MLBoyfriend title for him. First, instead of standard cleats, he was wearing Vans. They did have cleats added to them, but other than that they were just regular, white Vans.

This is the only time a star athlete and I have had the same taste in shoes. I own 3 pairs of Vans including this super cute pair I was wearing earlier today.

Lorenzen's Vans--despite being less being less snazzy than mine--are headed to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

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The second fact about Lorenzen's no-hitter that caught my attention is kind of mind blowing. Lorenzen graduated from Fullerton High School in California. That school has had three other graduates go on to become major league pitchers: Walter Johnson, Steve Busby, and Mike Warren. All three of those pitchers threw a no-hitter during their careers. (Busby actually threw 2 no-no's for the Kansas City Royals.) Lorenzen's no-no means Fullerton High is now 4-for-4. Very impressive.

Finally, the Instagram algorithm clearly wanted me to pick Lorenzen this week. Here are just a few of the posts it suggested for me. (By the way, sorry/not sorry about the repeat images of Lorenzen's backside. Is it possible to embed an Instagram post with something other than the first slide showing up?)

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Congratulations, Michael Lorenzen! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week. Also, thank you for giving me a reason to post one of my favorite things in the world--pictures of a pitcher and catcher celebrating after a no-hitter.

Joe Mauer

It's an MLBoyfriend first! A retired player wins the title. As always, I looked at the top players of the week, but as I thought about it, the highlight of the week in baseball for me was Joe Mauer being inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall Of Fame.

A quick look at some of the stats and achievements that got Mauer into the Twins Hall of Fame:

• Career batting stats: .306 average, .388 OBP, 2123 hits, 143 home runs.
• 2009 American League MVP--with 99% of the vote.
• The only catcher to win the American League batting title--and he won it three times.
• 3 Golden Gloves, 5 Silver Sluggers, and 6 All-Star Games.

Of course, the fact that Joe is from St. Paul and spent all 15 years of his career with the Minnesota Twins made him a shoe-in for this honor.

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In addition to all the honors listed above, Joe Mauer has won the MLBoyfriend title 3 times on his own--and once in group effort. Let's take a look at a couple of the pics from his wins during his playing days.

August 8, 2016:
Joe Mauer's 1st MLBoyfriend title.

October 1, 2018:
Joe Mauer's last win as a player.

While I wasn't at Target Field for his induction into the Hall Of Fame, I was there the night the Twins retired Joe Mauer's number.

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Congratulations, Joe Mauer! You are my MLBoyfriend of the week.