ALDS: George Springer

Oh, hey there, George Springer. Welcome back to MLBoyfriend. I forgot how good you are in the postseason.

Today, Spinger was definitely in his October form. He may have struck out at your first two at bats, but he more than made up for it with two home runs.



Springer now has the most postseason home runs in the Astros franchise history.

2017 MLB Award Winners

Major League Baseball's 2017 awards have all been announced, and my MLBoyfriends had a very good showing.

Week 6: Buster Posey
Silver Slugger (Catcher, NL)

Week 10, Week 15 & Rookie of the Year: Aaron Judge
Rookie of the Year (AL), Silver Slugger (Outfield, AL), Players Choice Outstanding Rookie (AL)

Week 14 & World Series MVP: George Springer
World Series MVP

Week 16: Nolan Arenado
Silver Slugger (Third Base, NL), Golden Glove (Third Base, NL), & Players Choice Majestic Always Game Award

Week 17: Eric Hosmer
Silver Slugger (First Base, AL) & Golden Glove (First Base, AL)

Week 19: Brian Dozier
Golden Glove (Second Base, AL)

Week 21: Byron Buxton

Defensive Player of the Year (Center Field), Best Overall Defensive Player, Golden Glove (Center Field, AL), Platinum Glove (AL)

Week 22: Anthony Rizzo
Roberto Clemente Award (recognizing those who best represent the game through positive contributions on and off the field, including sportsmanship and community involvement), Players Choice Man of the Year

Congratulations to all my MLB-Award-Winning MLBoyfriends! You've done me proud.

World Series MVP: George Springer

Some may say I'm taking the easy route in choosing the player who won the Willie Mays World Series Most Valuable Player Award to also win the MLBoyfriend World Series Most Valuable Player Award. But, George Springer definitely deserves both titles.

As ESPN pointed out:

Springer was an easy choice for the Willie Mays World Series Most Valuable Player Award, after hitting .379 (11-for-29) with five home runs and seven RBIs. His eight extra-base hits were the most ever in a World Series, and he is the first player to homer in four straight games within a single World Series...

Springer tied the record for most home runs in a single World Series--only two other players, Reggie Jackson and Chase Utley, have hit five.

All of this is even more impressive considering Springer had been in a slump during the playoffs.

This is a guy who hit .100 without a single extra-base hit in eight postseason games, striking out four times in Game 1 of the World Series, only to come back and hit .478 the final six games. --USA Today

Springer's performance somewhat mirrors the rise of the Houston Astros--a team that went from losing 111 games just four years ago to the best team in baseball today.

Misters October 2017

The regular season may be over, but many of my 2017 MLBoyfriends are still playing baseball. Here are my picks that made it to the postseason.

Week 1: Miguel Sano
Get ready to see a lot of Twins in this post.

Week 3: Bryce Harper
Bryce and his famous hair return to the playoffs.

Week 5: Ryan Zimmerman
It's always a pleasure to see Ryan at the plate.

Week 7: J.D. Martinez
Ditto for J.D.--although I could do without the hideous Diamondbacks uniform.
UPDATE 3/26/19: I wrote this before J.D. Martinez posted something very problematic on social media that is in direct opposition to my values. He has a right to express political opinions, but words have consequences. In this case the consequence is that I no longer think he's hot--in fact, he's the opposite of hot. NRA propaganda is deal breaker for me.

Week 8: Ervin Santana
It was still only May, and I already picked my second Minnesota player.

Week 10 and Week 14: Aaron Judge
Considering the season he's had and that he's a Yankee, it's kind of surprising I only named Aaron my MLBoyfriend twice this year.

Week 14: George Springer
This year, I will make an exception to my rule of always rooting against teams from Texas. #HoustonStrong

Week 16: Nolan Arenado
Everything seems to be in order here.

Week 19: Brian Dozier & Week 21: Byron Buxton
It just makes sense that I would take notice of Twins players. I do live in Minnesota after all. Plus, the Twins are pretty adorable.

Week 22: Anthony Rizzo
Speaking of adorable...

Week 23: Didi Gregorius
Didi proving, once again, that the Yankee pinstripes are the best sports uniform ever.

Week 24: The Minnesota Twins September 12 Starting Line Up
Then, there was that time I picked nine Twins to be my MLBoyfriend in one week. What can I say? They had a great game. Minnie and Paul did this a lot that night.

Week 25: José Quintana
Do the Cubs have the best smiles in baseball? I think so. (See also Anthony Rizzo above.)

CONGRATS TO ALL MY MLBOYFRIENDS WHO HAVE MADE IT TO THE PLAYOFFS!Unfortunately, some of them won't make it far into the postseason. Either the Yankees or the Twins will be eliminated right away in the one-game American League Wild Card Playoff--which is sort of breaking my heart. Still, it's something special to play baseball in October.

2017 All-Stars

Lest you think this blog is a beauty contest, I'll have you know that eight of my fourteen 2017 MLBoyfriends were selected for this year's All-Star Game. That gives me a .571 win record which would be good enough to have the lead in four of the six divisions in the MLB right now.

And the 2017 All-Star MLBoyfriends are...

Week 1: Miguel Sano

Sano took 2nd place in the 2017 Home Run Derby.

Bonus picture: Sano with teammate, fellow All-Star and former MLBoyfriend, Santana.

Week 3: Bryce Harper

Harper and his wonderful hair are making their 5th All-Star Game appearance.

Week 5: Ryan Zimmerman

It's been a long and sometimes difficult 8 years since Zimmerman's only other All-Star Game.

Week 6: Buster Posey

Posey--the epitome of a C.Y.D.*--with his daughter at the 2016 All-Star Game.

Week 8: Erwin Santana

Santana is a rarity--the first Minnesota Twins starting pitcher at the All-Star Game in a decade.

Bonus picture: Santana with teammate, fellow All-Star and former MLBoyfriend, Sano.

Week 10: Aaron Judge

Judge wins the Home Run Derby in his rookie year.

Week 13: Joey Votto

Votto will soon be buying a donkey for teammate and fellow All-Star Zack Cozart--for real.

Week 14: George Springer

Springer & Carlos Correa, 2 of the 6(!) Astros--a franchise record--going to the All-Star Game.

Congratulations to all my All-Star MLBoyfriends!

PS: For what it's worth, eight of my 2016 MLBoyfriends were selected for the 2017 All-Star rosters. Congrats to Bryce Harper (again), Michael Conforto, Robinson Canó, Max Scherzer, Buster Posey (again), José Altuve, Yu Darvish, & Gary Sanchez!

*Cute Young Dad

Week 14: George Springer

I guess I can't pretend like the Houston Astros aren't really, really good forever--as much as I'd like to. They are going into the All-Star break with 60 wins and are a whopping 16.5 games ahead in the American League West. A team doing that well clearly has a lot of great players on it--including one of my MLBoyfriends from 2016, José Altuve. George Springer is possibly the best Astro of all this season.

If George Springer has been red hot this season, last week, he was on fire. He had a .577 batting average and a 1.625 OPS with three home runs, twelve runs, nine RBIs and two stolen bases (his only two of the season).

As if being arguably the best player on arguably the best team in baseball wasn't enough enough to become my MLBoyfriend, George Springer also has this going for him...