The Amazins are still Strugglin’

55. Cody Bellinger is a homerun masher and he was throughout this season and his past two, but somehow they put him in 55^th place. He is versatile in the field, he could play right field, first base and has a cannon for an arm. He’s first in homers in MLB, first in runs and first in total bases. This guy likes the XBH but can also hit singles and for average (he’s second in MLB in that category). He and his sweet home run swing aren’t all hits, he improved on his batter’s eye over his career and he’s on pace for his career high in walks (99), which smokes his previous record of 69 that broke his record of 64. Remember, he only came on the scene two and a half years ago and he already has 98 homers and he’s going to break 100 and all MLB fans and associates think that he’s going to win MVP. I think he should be in the 10s, around 13 or 14.

54. All-Star Whit Merrifield is next, he’s a 1930s type player, I’m sorry Royals fans, maybe you agree with me, maybe not, but he is. Only 12 homers this year, a .316 batting average and 15 steals (last season he had 45, leading the majors). For Merrifield, people think he doesn’t hit extra-base-hits, but no, he has 207 total bases, leading the AL and he has 47 XBHs. Last year, he beat out Jose Altuve for most hits in MLB, this year, he’s also leading this year by 7 hits, beating Boston’s Rafael Devers. Though the Royals’ playoff chances are very slim, Whit is doing everything to keep them alive. For a little guy like him, he has a .511 slugging % and he’s getting career highs in almost all batting categories. His batter’s eye isn’t too shabby, he’s not on pace to set a career high there but 32 walks isn’t too bad. I think he should be in the late 30s to mid-40s.

53. Kyle Hendricks is next and he has a few good games, like throwing a complete game shutout with only 89 pitches and then he completely bombs the next game. The 6-year veteran won an ERA title with a 2.13 ERA in 2016, but this year he has 3.46 ERA. He always pitches a lot of innings and this year he already has about 100 innings which isn’t that much this year but in past years he was around 200 innings. He gives up about a hit per inning and what’s crazy is that he only gave up 39 earned runs. He’s 7-7 and he gives up a mediocre amount of homers, 12, his strikeout numbers aren’t too appealing but it’s acceptable, he strikes out 21% of his batter’s, eh. He’s somewhat dependable to give you a good game, like starting the World Series (I’m not saying they’ll make it) or a playoff game but no Cy Young for him in his career. I think he’s good where he is.

52. Veteran journeyman Justin Upton is next. This guy actually knows that his skill level does not supply 35 bombs, 100+ RBIs and stealing 15 or so bags and so does the rest of MLB and the fans and the coaches. He’s only played 20 games this year, which produced 74 ABs. He gets a hit in about a fourth of his plate appearances but this year isn’t looking so good for the left fielder. He has 4 homers and 8 RBIs this season and only 1 stolen base. He was the most amazing in his years in Atlanta and San Diego, the face of the franchise for both teams. Over that stint, 82 dingers, 253 RBIs, 35 bags, 256 runs scored and a .262 batting average, not too bad. Last season was probably his last good one, 30 homers, 85 RBIs, 80 runs and a .257 average. His batter’s eye is actually pretty good, 706 walks over 13 years is about 54 walks a year, not the best but certainly not the worst. I think he should go up to the mid-60s.

51. Gary Sanchez is next. The power hitting catcher only knows how to do…… power hitting! When he came to the big leagues 4 years ago, he hit 20 homers and everyone thought that he would be the new face of the franchise, but then, the Yanks threw a wallet at their problems (as usual) and the problems got solved so Gary Sanchez didn’t go exactly unnoticed but he kind of faded into the crowd. Then, next year, he hits 33 homers, drives in 90 and gets 131 hits and the Yankees slowly start noticing the flaws of Gary Sanchez. He is a well below-average defender but a well above average offensive player, there’s no one to match him this year in the Silver Slugger chase but he’s never going to win a Gold Glove. He strikes out too much, but nowadays, players either hit the ball out of the playing field or whiff. Sanchez is the only good catcher that the Yankees have and they will stick with him all because of his offense. I think he should be in the mid-40s.

IN OTHER NEWS, Pete Alonso won the Home Run Derby, Jake deGrom pitched a 1-2-3 scoreless inning and Jeff McNeil got his at-bat with a wrong name on the board but he made a catch in the outfield. The AL wins again, I personally thought that the NL would win because of the abundance of hitters and power hitters, but, no. The Mets were on a 4-game win streak, but in the 16^th, Alonso hits a go-ahead dinger and then in the bottom of the inning rookie Chris Mazza gives up two runs for the Giants win.

The Trade Deadline is coming up but as we’re 12 days away, not much action is going around the majors, I hope the Mets get a decent hitter and a bullpen piece; we need Van Waganen to be really aggressive. The rest of baseball isn’t going to be that hot in trading, not too many big name free agents next year to trade but everyone likes a big trade. Aaron Boone got really heated yesterday when he thought the ump missed a call and he just exploded, he said that “My guys are savages!” Yes that is true, the red hot Yanks are real savages, they mow down every team in sight and hit homers to flatten their opponents some more. Chris Sale had a nice outing after a very, very rocky start to the season, he blanked them with only allowing 2 hits over 6 frames striking out 12 and walking only 2. Sale is 4-9 this year (again, the very poor start to the season) with a 4.95 ERA and 160 Ks. What really sucks about the Trade Deadline is that Zack Wheeler suffered the biggest shoulder impingement of his career, so, I don’t know why the Mets didn’t trade him before and this will certainly worsen his trade value. Brad Hand isn’t talked about as much as he should be. He is probably the most unhittable closer in baseball because of his filthy, dirty stuff, curveball, slider, changeup all really nasty and last night, he got the save, which is 1^st in the AL, second in baseball behind San Diego’s Kirby Yates. He has 60 Ks in 39.1 IP and a 2.29 ERA which is very good. The NL MVP race is heating up by a lot, Cody Bellinger and Christian Yelich are head to head in this one, they both hit dingers, they’re both fast but I think Yelich is going to win it.

What Makes a Team Great?

OK, in addition to runs?

Bad team chemistry can make a team fall apart, even for a team with 20 MVPs on it.

However, good team chemistry can help a team in any sport win a championship even a bad team. You need a little skill to win some games, ok, your team needs a lot but team chemistry is the dark horse in the bag of elements that experts believe creates a championship-caliber team.

Here’s what some pros have said about teamwork in sports:

“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime.” – Babe Ruth, even though he wasn’t the friendliest teammate to play with.

“The secret is to work less as individuals and more as a team. As a coach, I play not my eleven best, but my best eleven.” – Legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne.

“Teamwork is what the Green Bay Packers were all about. They didn't do it for individual glory. They did it because they loved one another.” – World famous NFL coach Vince Lombardi.

To have good team chemistry you must have a captain, eg. David Wright, a sparkplug, eg. Jose Altuve, and a coach who promotes good vibes (I know I sound like a flower child) and brotherhood, eg. Casey Stengel who said, “Finding good players is easy, getting them to play as a team is another story.” No kidding, look at the 1962 Mets, 40-120.

I know this from personal experience. Last year, in Little League, we had sluggers up and down the lineup, great fielders, fast runners, but 6 or 7 of those guys put everyone down for the smallest errors, leaving the other 4 of us in our own world. We only had 5 wins in a 16-game season.

This year, we had a good season, only 1, 2, 3 and 4 in the batting order produced, who were our catcher (me), pitcher, shortstop and first baseman. They were our pitching staff, but we had great chemistry and we won 9 or 10 games.

Team chemistry is better than talent because if you have a whole team of moderate players, and they make a few mistakes, strong team chemistry will pick them up, give them confidence and good vibes (Don’t tell me, I sound like a flower child again, I know) will project the team into winning.

The 2015 New York Yankees had bad team chemistry. A little stroll down memory lane: Babe Ruth and his Yankee teammates, (but mostly him) had absolutely horrible chemistry, Alex Rodriguez was suspended for allegedly using drugs, which worsened the spirits of the clubhouse in 2014 that carried on to the next year. What’s more, the 2015 Yanks were without their captain and great shortstop, Derek Jeter, for the first time in 20 years. You would look to Alex to fill the role, he sort of did, but no one ever compares to DJ. Also, they came in the 2015 season with sky-high hopes, Yankee fans were hoping the 27-time champs would make it 28 (like they do every year), but they only made it to the Wild Card game, ultimately losing to the Astros.

Winning is the thing that improves or fixes team chemistry and GMs usually fiddle with team chemistry because they don’t understand how important it is for their players to get along. If someone gets traded away, that makes the player sad and the whole team plays half-heartedly. If the team chemistry is bad from the beginning and the players are angry at each other, that’s the worst. Then you just pray for the best.

All in all, I think team chemistry is a very important virtue in the clubhouse and that certainly improves how the team performs.