Yankees' Derek Jeter, Rockies' Larry Walker Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

Derek Jeter

Former New York Yankee shortstop, Derek Jeter, and outfielder Larry Walker were both elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame Tuesday night, though their paths to glory could not have been more different.

Jeter, now the CEO of the Miami Marlins, received all but one first place vote in his first time on the ballot. Walker got 76.6% of the votes on his 10th and final try, making the grade by a mere 10 votes. Walker joins former Cubs' pitcher Ferguson Jenkins as the only other Canadian-born member of the Hall.

Jeter played every season of his 20-year career - from 1995 though 2014 - with the New York Yankees, during which the Bronx Bombers won five World Series, reaching the playoffs in all but four seasons. Jeter won various awards including Rookie of the Year (1995), All-Star game MVP, World Series MVP (2009), and five gold gloves.

During his run, Jeter had 3465 hits in 11195 at-bats for a .310 regular season average.Jeter socked 260 home runs, drove in 1311, and scored 1923 times. He swiped 358 bases and finished with an on-base percentage of .377.

For all his accomplishments, Jeter never won a batting title nor a regular season MVP award, finishing second in 2006, and third in the voting in both 1998 and 2009. His base hits total of 3465 is sixth all-time, trailing only Pete Rose, Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, and Tris Speaker.

Larry Walker

Walker, a five time All-Star, played 17 seasons starting in 1989, six of them with the Montreal Expos, nine full seasons with the Colorado Rockies, and part of 2004 with the St. Louis Cardinals, with whom he finished his career in 2005.

A prolific hitter, Walker had 2160 hits in 6907 at-bats for a lifetime .313 regular season batting average. He led the National League in batting three times, hitting .363 in 1998, .379 in 1999, and .350 in 2001. He earned the NL MVP award in a season in which he did not win the batting title. In 1997, he batted .366 and led the league with 49 home runs, 409 total bases, a .452 on-base percentage, .720 slugging, and 1.172 OPS.

Walker's post-season play was limited to just three seasons, two with the Cardinals (2004 and 2005) and one with the Rockies (1995). His best performance was in 2004, when the Cardinals were swept by the Red Sox. Walker batted .357 (5-for-14) with two doubles, two homers, and three RBI.

Induction to the Hall will be made official on July 26 at Cooperstown, NY along with catcher Ted Simmons and former players' association head Marvin Miller, who were voted in last month by the Hall's Modern Era Committee.

MLB Pitchers, Catchers, Full Squad Reporting Dates

Baseball season isn't as far away as some people might think.

The Sporting News has information on reporting dates for all MLB teams, broken down by dates for pitchers and catchers, and then, full squad.

All major league teams will have pitchers and catchers report on either February 12 or 13, and full squads have their first scheduled practices on either the 17th or 18th.

The Royals and Rangers will open the exhibition season with the first spring training game, played February 21st at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona. That game starts the Cactus League schedule.

Florida's Grapefruit League opens the following day with eight games on the slate.

World Series Game Seven: Howie Kendrick Lifts Nationals to World Series Title Over Houston

Players of the Day for Wednesday, October 30, 2019

World Series Game Seven

Washington Nationals 6 Houston Astros 2

Kendrick's 2-run homer
gave Washington the lead.

America's pastime has a new champion.

50 years in the making, the Washington Nationals captured the first World Series in franchise history, coming from behind for a 6-2 game seven victory at Houston.

In an historic series that saw the road team win every game, the Nationals teed off on the Astros' relief staff, scoring all of their runs in the final three innings.

Zack Greinke had kept the Nationals at bay for the first six innings - blanking them on one hit - but, when Anthony Rendon cut the lead to 2-1 with his second series home run, and Greinke followed by walking the next batter, Juan Soto, manager AJ Hinch opted for the usually-reliable right arm of Will Harris.

On Harris' second pitch, 36-year-old Howie Kendrick connected, launching a curving fly to left that eventually banged off the foul pole screen for a two-run homer. Just like that, in the blink of an eye, the Nationals had taken the lead and the momentum of game seven would never swing back to the home team.

In the eighth, Soto singled home Adam Eaton, and Eaton drove in a pair of runs in the top of the ninth to put the game away. While the Nationals were pulling away, the Astros were flailing fruitlessly at pitches from Patrick Corbin, who came on in the sixth in relief of Max Scherzer, delivering three scoreless innings on two hits, fanning three. Daniel Hudson struck out two in a perfect ninth to finish the job and bring the first title to Washington since the franchise was formed as the Montreal Expos in 1969.

Strasburg: MVP award

Moving from Montreal to Washington in 2005, the Nationals had come close before but never reached the World Series. In their first appearance, they made good, despite taking seven games to do so.

The last time a team based in the nation's capitol won a World Series was 1924, when the Washington Senators defeated John McGraw's New York Giants, four games to three.

Stephen Strasburg, who won two games in the series, was awarded Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors.

And so, another baseball season ends. After all the balls and strikes, hits, runs, errors, balks, homers and strikeouts, the final two teams battled through seven games, eventually deciding the champion by that slim a margin. Kudos to the Houston Astros, who led the majors with 107 wins, but the trophy goes to the Nationals, the team that never gave up, never quit, and eventually earned the game's ultimate reward.

Baseball takes a break for the winter, but it returns on February 22, when these same two teams - who share a practice facility in West Palm Beach, Florida - play an exhibition game.

Until then, rest up and get ready. The boys of summer will be back before you know it.

World Series Game Six: Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon Lead Nationals to Game Six Victory

Players of the Day for Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Strasburg: 8 1/3 IP, 2R, 7K

World Series, Game 6

Washington Nationals 7 Houston Astros 2

There will be a game seven.

Stephen Strasburg, who has been nothing short of brilliant throughout the regular season, playoffs and World Series, allowed two runs in the first inning, but shut down the Astros over the next seven innings en route to a 7-2 victory by the visiting Nationals, the sixth straight game in which the visitors have emerged victorious.

After being told in the dugout by teammates that he may have been tipping off his pitches with his gloved hand, Strasberg changed his delivery slightly and the results spoke loudly. He set down the Astros in order in the second and third innings, issued two walks in the fourth but didn't give up another hit until Josh Reddick singled in the fifth, followed by George Springer's double that left men on second and third with one out.

Strasburg struck out Jose Altuve and induced a pop out from Michael Brantley to end the threat. After Alex Bregman reached on a single to open the sixth, Strasburg was untouched, retiring the next ten batters in order before giving way to Sean Doolittle with one gone in the Astros' ninth. Strasburg threw 104 pitches and struck out seven.

Rendon: 5 RBI in Game 6

While Strasburg dealt hitless offerings to the assembled Astros, his counterpart, Justin Verlander, was having the same problems that plagued him in his five previous World Series losses. Getting behind on batters able to identify hittable pitches on positive counts led to a run in the first when Anthony Rendon drove in Trea Turner from third and solo homers by Adam Eaton and Juan Soto in the fifth. With the Nationals up, 3-2, Verlander was done after five innings, eventually handed his sixth World Series loss without a win as the Nationals piled on in the late innings.

Strasburg is 5-0 with a 1.98 ERA this post-season and 2-0 in the World Series, picking up the win in games two and six.

Anthony Rendon was an unstoppable force down the stretch, socking a two-run homer in the seventh and a two-run double in the ninth, finishing with five of Washington's seven RBIs.

Washington winning their third game at Houston means that home field advantage has, for the most part, been eliminated from the 2019 World Series. No home team has won a single game.

Game seven is Wednesday night, at Houston, with Zack Greinke on the mound for the Astros and Max Scherzer starting for the Nationals. Game time is 8:07 pm ET.