Comebacks

This weekend THC watched the Angels come from down 10-6 in the top of the 9th to score five runs to beat the Rangers (while watching the game on Spanish language TV - now that was exciting!) and then Max Scherzer striking out nine Mets in a row on the way to his no-hitter.  A nice way to end the season.

Before we plunge into the playoffs, here's a tip of the hat to two older players who had their troubles early in the season but finished strong.

39-year old David Ortiz looked awful early in the season and THC thought he might be washed up.  On June 9, a third of the way into the season, he was hitting .219 with a miserable OPS of .670.  Here's his entire line:

G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
52	196	43	12	0	6	21	23	35	219	297	372	670

 
Something kicked in at that point.  Over the next month (through July 10) his average didn't improve much but his home run stroke and patience at the plate came back:

G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
52	196	43	12	0	6	21	23	35	219	297	372	670
27	95	23	2	0	9	22	19	18	242	368	547	915

And from then until the end of the season he hit better than anyone in the league:

G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
52	196	43	12	0	6	21	23	35	219	297	372	670
27	95	23	2	0	9	22	19	18	242	368	547	915
67	232	78	23	0	22	65	35	42	329	415	705	1.120

Papi ended up with 37 homers (including his 500th), a OPS of .913 and finishing in the top ten in the AL in doubles, homers, RBIs, slugging and OPS.

This isn't the first time Big Papi has looked finished.  In 2009 he hit .238 and looked even worse.  His body type reminded me of Mo Vaughan and others who had flamed out in their early thirties.  Instead he's had a remarkable revival and is now a certain Hall of Famer.

And lets not forget the post-season record.  He's performed better across the board in October than during the regular season and even more so after getting warmed up in his first couple of series with the Twins and then with the Red Sox in 2003.  Here are his stats from 2004 on (which includes hitting .455 in three World Series):

G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
61	219	70	16	2	15	48	52	46	320	450	617	1.067

Adrian Beltre, the third baseman for the Texas Rangers, is three years younger than Ortiz but has actually played more games since becoming a regular just after turning 19.  He's one of the best fielding third baseman in baseball history and a pretty decent hitter who was very inconsistent season to season early in his career but became a consistent .300 hitter as he reached his 30s.

He was injured early this season and started off slowly.  On July 7 here is what his batting line looked like:

G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
65	262	64	11	2	6	21	12	29	244	279	370	649

After that he caught fire helping the Rangers to come from 8 games down to win their division:

G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
65	262	64	11	2	6	21	12	29	244	279	370	649
78	305	99	21	2	12	62	29	35	325	380	525	905

Beltre ends the season with 2,767 hits and looks well positioned to get number 3,000 in June or July of 2017.

Of course at this age, how you end one season is no guarantee of performance the following year so let's just enjoy the moment.