Before we continue on, part one in our exercise of love can be found here. Now then:

6. Jim Thome’s 600th

(photo via Weeks101)

There are two things that baseball fans love: one are tiny, gritty players who struggle to hit the ball out of the infield and who constantly dive around in the dirt. The other are big beefy players with forearms the size of melon-swallowing pythons who can, no joke, seriously, hit the ball to the moon. Thome, despite his overwhelming kindness and likability, remains firmly in the second class.

With his socks pulled high and a quality of pants-blousing that belongs to another era, Thome finally surpassed the 600 home run mark on August 15th as a member of the Twins. It’s a fitting benchmark for the beef-fed Midwestern giant who is the baseball equivalent of Paul Bunyan, traveling from city to city to chop down trees and knock out dingers. In deference to his immense and frightening smile, the Twins even shipped Thome back to Cleveland for what was thought to be a victory lap, but Thome has decided for one more go around. He’s signed on with the Phillies to reminisce the early 2000s like when garage rock was king and That 80s Show was bound to be a hit.

Though there’s no DH in the NL, perhaps Thome can add some stretching to his pre-game routine and play third base regularly for the first time since 1996, one game last year excluded:

(screen grab by Jeff Sullivan)

5. Casey McGehee Keeps His Promise

(Photo by EC_Mike)

McGehee’s run as the Brewer’s third baseman may have ended after the acquisition of Jerry Hairston, but he still managed one of the most touching moments in 2011. Schmaltzy movies always see a famed slugger promise to knock out a home run for a sick child, but the former gold prospector did those films three times better. After meeting Clatyon Wollner, an 8-year-old with Craniosynostosis, he was asked to hit a home run, which McGehee bargained it down to “not screwing anything up.” Once the game started though, McGehee caught fire, blasting three home runs against the Cardinals on August 3rd. It was strange timing for McGehee who came into the game with only five home runs on the season, making the feat only more impressive.

McGehee started the game with a two-run home run in the first, another two-run shot in the third, and he finished his barrage with a solo shot in the seventh on his way to a 3-for-4 day with five RBI, apparently enjoying Edwin Jackson’s style of pitching as all three came off the Cardinals starter. Enjoy video footage here.

No word on whether other players were angered with McGehee for raising the bar for their own charitable offerings.

4. Justin Verlander and the Excellent, Stupendous, Very Good Year



Just like Icarus and his flight towards the sun, man was never meant to hurl 100 mph fastballs or back breaking curves. It’s why so many arms blow out and the few that manage to do it tend to pitch in one inning bursts. But then again, Justin Verlander is a frightening marvel of a man. Tall and lanky, Verlander averaged 95 mph on his fastball, somehow pumping them up to over 100 mph when he needed the extra punch late in games. Verlander topped six innings and 100 pitches in every start in 2011, a streak of work(horse)manship not commonly seen in today’s game, though Old Hoss Radbourn would still be disappointed. Taken all together, Verlander finished at 24-5, the most victories since Randy Johnson accomplished the same in 2002, with 251 innings, 250 strikeouts, a 2.40 ERA, and a 170 ERA+, en route to becoming the first Cy Young and MVP winner since Dennis Eckersley did it in 1992. It was the type of season that elevated him to where only comparisons to the past, and not to his current peers, would suffice.

(Screengrab via Mighty Flynn)

Verlander was even able to achieve near perfection, spinning a no-hitter against the Blue Jays on May 7. Needing only 108 pitches to accomplish the task, Verlander walked one, struck out four, and generally made the Blue Jays look foolish. Crazier still, it wasn’t even Verlander’s most impressive start as rated by Game Score. That would come on June 14th when Verlander gave up two hits, a walk, and struck out twelve Indians, good for a 94 on Bill James’ scale. Oh, and then there was that little twelve start winning streak that Verlander rattled off between July 21st and September 18th.

I could keep going all day, but I would be remiss the greatest highlight of the season. That being when Verlander hotfooted Don Kelly:

3. Derek Jeter’s 3,000th hit

(Photo by Keith Allison)

Say what you will about Derek Jeter, that his cool eyes and calm demeanor have no actual impact on the game, that he in no way deserves his many gold glove awards, and that maybe he should think twice about the gifts he supplies to his overnight guests, the fact of the matter is that Jeter is a legitimate first ballot Hall of Famer whenever his career does end. Despite his defensive deficiencies, Jeter is still the 8th best shortstop as ranked by wWAR and even as Jeter’s skills erode, he managed to finish 9th in OPS among qualified shortstops in 2011. Sure, it’s not the heady days of his early career, but for a 37-year-old, that’s not too shabby.

As Jeter approached his 3,000th hit though, he found himself scuffling, entering play on July 9th hitting .257 with a .649 OPS which, if he finished the season with those numbers, would easily be the lowest of his career. But as the Yankees took on the Tampa Bay Rays and their emerging ace, David Price, Jeter rewarded the Yankee Stadium crowd with a 3,000th hit to remember. Jeter went 5-for-5 that day, recording the big round number on a third inning home run off of David Price, joining Wade Boggs as the only other member of the 3,000 hit club to reach the mark on homers. Jeter even threw in a stolen base and a caught stealing to round out the box score.

Here are a few of the other places that Jeter ranks:

1st Yankee to reach 3,000 hits

4th youngest player to 3,000 hits

4th shortstop to 3,000 hits

20th all-time in hits

28th player with 3,000 hits

The story only improved as the man who caught Derek Jeter’s home run ball, Christian Lopez, eagerly returned the ball to Jeter despite massive student loan debt. When the Yankees showered him in gifts as a thank you and the IRS came calling, multiple companies stepped forward, allowing the team, fans, and sponsors to continue bathing in Jeter’s limelight.

2. Game 6

A World Series that goes seven games is rare enough, but when it features a contest like Game 6, it’s elevated to an instant classic. Though the first few innings were filled with errors and miscues, precluding this game from the top spot, the play from the sixth inning on is reason alone to purchase the entire boxed set and just skip to the good parts.

I’ll leave the FanGraphs Win Probablity Graph for you to gander at:

You see all those peaks and valleys? Much like how every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings, every spike and drop saw hundreds of people suffer from coronary episodes in the greater St. Louis and Arlington regions.

To highlight the sheer insanity of the game, we must remember that:

Nick Punto walked to tie the game

Adrian Beltre and Mike Napoli hit back-to-back home runs to retake the lead

Ian Kinsler singled in another run to extend the lead to 7-4

Allen Craig hit a solo home run

Hometown boy David Freese hit a two-run triple with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the ninth…

That should have been caught

Injured Josh Hamilton hit a two-run home run in extra innings

Ryan Theriot hit an RBI groundout to cut the lead

Lance Berkman hit an RBI single to tie the game

David Freese, batting again, hit a walk-off home run

God, deciding that this game is final proof that chaos reigns supreme, rewrites Universe’s bylaws.

(Note: Last point up for debate among leading scholars and theologians.)

For all the vim and vigor this game inspired, Rangers fans will surely point out that in an alternate universe, none of this would have ever happened:

(via Reddit)

But it did and we’re the better for it. Mostly because of this call from the BBC.

1. Game 162

If you’ve ever wanted a brief peek into the brutal symbiotic connection shared between happiness and despair, success and utter failure, look no further than the final game of the regular season. Never before had the final day been so dire, with four teams locked in a death struggle, and had it taken place just ten years ago, before the advent of MLB.tv or Twitter, it wouldn’t have been nearly as enjoyable. Can you imagine having to wait for the next morning’s Sportscenter for highlights or having to pick up the newspaper to peruse box scores as you learned about the Braves and Red Sox complete and total collapse? Perhaps I’m being melodramatic, but if you spent September 28th alternating between your TV, Twitter, and sending mass texts that read, “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?” you know how special the night was.

Coming into the day, the Red Sox and Rays were tied at 90-71 while the Braves and Cardinals were tied at 89-72. Each team would advance with a victory and a loss for their league partner, while if each lost or won, there would be a one-game playoff the next day. Despite the Red Sox and Braves blowing 8.5 and 9 game leads down the stretch, they were still largely in control of the outcome.

The day started with the Cardinals easily finishing off the Astros 8-0 behind a two-hit complete game from Chris Carpenter, ensuring that they would live to see another evening and putting the pressure on the Braves to win their game against the Phillies.

For the Braves, things were looking good until the 9th inning as they held onto a 3-2 lead and saw their closer, soon-to-be Rookie of the Year winner Craig Kimbrel, come on to pitch. But Kimbrel, who had been fading down the stretch, handed back the lead after giving up a single, striking out a batter, walking two, and then allowing the game-tying sacrifice fly. The Braves were lucky to even earn a chance at extra innings as the Phillies left the bases loaded.

Naturally the two teams went scoreless until the top of the thirteenth when Philadelphia would win on a bloop single, just a little dinky bloop single, the type of bloop single that had never hurt a fly before, off the bat of Hunter Pence.

Frighteningly enough, this moment had been prophesied by Pence on September 18th when he told Buster Olney:

“I don’t hit bloopers, I melt faces.”

One team down, the Cards were in.

In the American League, things were looking good for the Red Sox as the Rays promptly fell behind 7-0 to the Yankees despite David Price taking the hill. Into the bottom of the 8th, the Yankee lead held until the Rays were able to push six runs across against Boone Logan and Luis Alaya bringing Dan “.108” Johnson to the plate in the 9th. Down by one, Johnson assured his status as future trivia answer as he homered off of Cory Wade, sending the game to extra innings.

Even then, the Red Sox were still in control, leading the Orioles 3-2 when Jonathan Papelbon came in to close the bottom of the ninth. Outside of any pitcher named Mariano Rivera, Papelbon was about as automatic as they come, compiling 147 saves and a 9.2 WAR since 2008 compared to Rivera’s 160 and 9.4. But with the rules of the natural world no longer applicable, and after striking out the first two men in the inning to increase the Red Sox chance of winning to 95%, all hell broke loose. First, Chris Davis doubled followed by the game-tying ground ruler by Nolan Reimold. And, in perfect summation of the Red Sox season, Robert Andino hit a sinking liner that dropped just in front of the disappointing, Barry Allen-esque Carl Crawford to give the Orioles the game.

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Boston would only have a few minutes to reflect on their sadness and find themselves uncomfortably rooting for the Yankees when Evan Longoria sent the Red Sox home for the winter with a walk-off home run against Scott Proctor (this being the same Proctor who ended the 19 inning affair against the Pirates as a member of the Braves only a few short months before.) In a few frenzied hours, the entire postseason field had shifted and there would be no game 163 offered to the masses. The Rays and the Cardinals were in.

Since a simple Fangraphs chart wouldn’t properly express how bonkers this night was, enjoy my own personal Emotional Status chart:

It was a magical night of baseball, one that could not be replicated if replayed by a million monkeys playing baseball with typewriters. Perhaps I’m mixing my metaphors. One study even said that the chance of the Red Sox losing and the Rays winning was 1 in 278 million. Even a gambling man who likes long odds would probably put his money elsewhere, like on the reanimated corpse of Honus Wagner returning to win a few batting titles.

Even though baseball can’t possibly offer us the same thrills next season, 2012 will find a new way to inspire, amuse, and entertain us. Already too many moments had to be left out of this list like Nyjer Morgan’s flying of a kite or Nelson Cruz’s walk off grand slam in the ALCS, but baseball’s joy comes in its relentless forward motion. There are contests to be played every night, totaling 2,340 regular season games, and new bizarre and electrifying moments will soon be here to wash out the memories of last season. Spring is coming.