Former Socialist, Former Republican, Former Contributor to The American Spectator, Former Resident of Canada, Back in Boston Area After Stints in New York City & Atlanta, Current Mustache Wearer & Aficionado of Baseball, Bowling in All Its Forms, Cats, Music & Healthy Living
Goldschmidt, 37, has spent his entire 14-year MLB career in the NL. He spent 8 seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the past six seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals.
An 8th round draft pick of the D'Backs in 2009, Goldschmidt made his MLB debut in 2011. His breakthrough season came in 2013 when he finished runner up in NL MVP balloting to Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen. Goldschmidt led the NL in HR (36), RBI (125), SLG (.551), OPS (.962) and OPS + (160) and would win the first of his four Gold Gloves, his first of five Silver Sluggers as well as the first of his seven NL All-Star Team selections. Goldschmidt would finish runner up in NL MVP balloting again in 2015 this time to Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper. In 2017, Goldschmidt would finish 3rd in NL MVP balloting behind winner Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins and Cincinnati Reds slugger Joey Votto.
The D'Backs would trade Goldschmidt to the Cardinals prior to the 2019 season. In 2022, Goldschmidt earned the elusive NL MVP leading the Senior Circuit in SLG (.578), OPS (.981) and OPS + (177) while batting .317 with 35 HR and 115 RBI.
Goldschmidt's production has fallen off since his MVP season, however. In 2024, Goldschmidt hit a career low .245 with 22 HR and 65 RBI - his worst RBI total since his rookie season. Still, that is infinitely better than how Anthony Rizzo was doing at the plate. But in a lineup with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Volpe along with the newly acquired Cody Bellinger, Goldschmidt has a chance to rebound in 2025.
Goldschmidt enters 2025 having played in 1928 games collecting 2056 hits for a lifetime batting average of .289 with 362 HR and 1187 RBI. He has been a very durable player during his career. Aside from the COVID shortened 2020 season, Goldschmidt has played fewer than 145 games only once in his career. In 2014, Goldschmidt's season came to an end in early August when he fractured his left hand. Barring any bad luck, the Yankees can expect to get a good 150 games out of Goldschmidt in 2025.
Outfielder Max Kepler, who has played his entire professional baseball career in the Minnesota Twins organization, is now a member of the Philadelphia Phillies.
The German born Kepler, 31, signed with the Twins back in 2009 and reached the big-league club at the tail end of the 2015 season. His best overall season came in 2019 when he hit .252 with a career best 36 HR and 90 RBI. Kepler's offensive output has been inconsistent since then. In 2023, Kepler belted 24 HR with 66 RBI, but this past season fell to only 8 HR and 42 RBI.
It could either be the case that Kepler simply needed a change of scenery or that he is amid a decline as a big-league player. In 10 seasons with the Twins at the big-league level, Kepler played 1,072 games collecting 893 hits for a lifetime batting average of .237 with 161 HR and 508 RBI.
Whatever he does going forward, Kepler does have the distinction of being the best German born player to wear a big league uniform.
Rickey Henderson was in a class all his own. He is best remembered as MLB's all-time stolen bases leader finishing his career with 1406. Henderson had nearly 500 more stolen bases than Lou Brock had been baseball's all-time stolen bases king from 1974 to 1991 finishing his career with 938 thefts. Yet this only scratches the surface.
Born in the back seat of an Oldsmobile in Chicago, Henderson lived in Arkansas before his family moved to Oakland when he was 7. It was in Oakland where Henderson to come into his own excelling in sports - baseball, football, basketball and track. Although Henderson was highly sought after to play college football, his mother persuaded him to play baseball due to longevity.
Henderson's adopted hometown Oakland A's picked him in the fourth round of the 1976 MLB draft. He would make his MLB debut during the 1979 season when he was only 20 years old. It was in 1980 when Henderson put the league on notice with 100 stolen bases playing under the tutelage of Billy Martin earning the first of AL All-Star Team selections. Henderson would lead the AL in steals every season during the 1980's except for 1987 when Seattle Mariners second baseman Harold Reynolds was atop the leaderboard.
During the strike shortened 1981 season, Henderson finished runner in AL MVP in balloting to Milwaukee Brewers closer Rollie Fingers - himself an A's legend. After reaching the post-season in 1981, the A's would regress in 1982. But Henderson didn't as he set an MLB single season record with 130 stolen bases surpassing 118 stolen bases by Lou Brock in 1974.
After two more seasons in Oakland, the A's would trade Henderson to the New York Yankees in a six-player deal. The trade would reunite Henderson with Billy Martin. In 1985, Henderson finished third in AL MVP balloting behind Yankees teammate Don Mattingly (who won the award) and Kansas City Royals legend George Brett. Henderson led the AL in steals with 80 and runs scored with 146 as the Yankees fell one game short to the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East.
While Henderson was productive in a Yankee uniform, they would never reach the post-season during his tenure in the Bronx. In the middle of the 1989 season, the Yankees returned Henderson to Oakland and he proved to be the spark plug they needed to get over the hump. Henderson earned ALCS MVP honors against the Blue Jays and would win the first of two World Series rings. In 1990, Henderson won his lone AL MVP leading the Junior Circuit in stolen bases (65), runs scored (119) and OBP (.439). Henderson would reach his second consecutive World Series appearance but the A's would be swept in four games by the Cincinnati Reds.
In 1991, Henderson would surpass Brock on MLB's all-time stolen base list when he swept his 939th career base on May 1st of that year against the Yankees. During an acceptance speech, Henderson said, "Lou Brock was a symbol of great base stealing. But today, I am the greatest of all-time." Coming from anyone else, it might have come across as arrogant and disrespectful. But Rickey was simply stating a fact which he could back up. Henderson would lead the AL with 58 that season. It was the 11th time in his career he would lead the AL in stolen bases.
The A's would send Henderson to the Blue Jays during the trade deadline in 1993 and earn his second World Series ring. The trade amounted to a loan as he would return to the A's for his third stint spending two more seasons in his adopted hometown. In 1996, Henderson would join the San Diego Padres where he helped the team make its first post-season appearance since winning the NL pennant in 1984. Henderson would split the 1997 season between the Padres and Anaheim Angels before returning to Oakland for the fourth and final time in 1998. Henderson would enjoy a renaissance season in 1998 leading the AL in stolen bases for the 12th and final time with 66 bags. He also led the AL in walks that season with 118. Not a bad encore for a 39-year-old.
Henderson would spend 1999 with the New York Mets while splitting the 2000 season with the Mets and Seattle Mariners making the post-season both years. In 2001, Henderson would return to the Padres for his second stint surpassing Ty Cobb as MLB's all-time leader in runs scored while collecting his 3,000th hit on the final day of the regular season. In 2002, I would get to see Henderson play in a Boston Red Sox uniform before he finished his big-league career with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2003 at the age of 44.
In 24 MLB seasons, Henderson was not only MLB's all-time leader in stolen bases with 1406 but MLB's all-time leader in runs scored with 2295. In 3081 games, Henderson collected 3055 hits for a lifetime batting average of .279 with 297 HR and 1115 RBI. Of his 297 HR, 81 of those bombs led off a game.
Rickey Henderson played for 9 teams but will forever be identified with the Oakland A's. With apologies to the greats on the A's World Series championship teams from 1972-1974, Rickey Henderson is the greatest to wear an Oakland uniform. His passing truly cements the death of the A's in Oakland. R.I.P.
Yesterday, free agent first baseman Christian Walker signed a 3-year, $60 million contract with the Houston Astros.
Walker, 33, has ten years of MLB service. A fourth-round draft pick of the Baltimore Orioles in 2012, Walker had cups of coffee with the O's in 2014 and 2015. In 2017, Walker bounced around the waiver wire with the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds before landing with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
However, it would not be until 2019 that Walker got a chance to show what he could do when the D'Backs traded Paul Goldschmidt to the St. Louis Cardinals. In 2019, Walker hit .259 with 29 HR and 73 RBI. Walker would struggle in 2021 when the team lost 110 games but has enjoyed three consecutive productive seasons between 2022 and 2024 winning three Gold Gloves batting .250 belting 95 HR with 291 RBI. Walker also got a taste of World Series play as the D'Backs won the NL pennant in 2023.
Of course, none of it is true and all of it is defamatory which is precisely the point.
When one says Jewish are promoting hatred against whites what is actually being said is the old blood and soil argument that Jews aren't white and therefore deserve everything that is coming to them.
And Elon agrees.
When the richest man in the world openly promotes anti-Semitism at a time when anti-Semitism is already surging, he is throwing gasoline onto the fire.
The one difference between his praise of Carlson's conversation with Sachs is that Musk is now serving President-elect Trump under the auspices of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. If Musk is making these statements while working for the incoming Trump Administration, then it is reasonable to ask if Musk's views of Israel also represent Trump's views.
The Cubs practically gave Bellinger away after signing him to 3-year contract extension worth $80 million.
There was a time when Bellinger was arguably the best offensive player in MLB.
The son of former MLB pitcher Clay Bellinger, the younger Bellinger was a 4th round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2013. In 2017, Bellinger earned NL Rookie of the Year honors. In 2019, Bellinger won NL MVP honors hitting .305 with 47 HR and 115 RBI while also earning a Silver Slugger and a Gold Glove.
But by 2021, injuries caught up to Bellinger. Calf, hamstring and rib injuries limited Bellinger to 95 games in which he hit a paltry .165 with 10 HR and 36 RBI. While healthy for most of the 2022 season, Bellinger didn't get much better hitting .210 with 19 HR and 68 RBI. One could make a case that he had some decent production, but it was quite a fall from where he had been. The Dodgers simply gave up on Bellinger.
Bellinger would sign with the Cubs prior to the 2023 season and rebounded significantly hitting nearly 100 points higher at .307 along with 26 HR and 97 RBI as well as a career high 20 stolen bases earning a second Silver Slugger while finishing 10th in NL MVP balloting. For good measure, Bellinger was also named 2023 NL Comeback Player of the Year. Unfortunately, Bellinger took a step back in 2024 hitting .266 with 18 HR and 78 RBI. Bellinger could have opted out of his contract but decided to stay. At which point, the Cubs decided Bellinger had to go.
Bellinger enters 2025 with 942 hits in 1,005 games for a lifetime batting average of .259 with 196 HR and 597 RBI. In joining the Yankees, Bellinger, 29, succeeds Juan Soto. Soto is now the player Bellinger was five years ago. Yet I think Bellinger can be that player again. Bellinger is going to see a lot of good pitches hitting behind Aaron Judge and will enjoy the short right field porch in Yankee Stadium.
Who knows? If there is a Yankees-Dodgers rematch in the 2025 World Series perhaps it will be Bellinger who tips the scales in favor of the Bronx Bombers.
Freeland has been Trudeau's most trusted lieutenant having served as Deputy Prime Minister since 2019 and Finance Minister since 2020. She previously served as Canada's Minister of International Trade from 2015 to 2017 and Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2017 to 2019.
Her resignation came the morning she was deliver an economic statement to Canada's House of Commons. But as her resignation letter revealed, Trudeau informed her she was being relieved of her duty as Minister of Finance and to be reassigned to another (presumably lesser) portfolio. Freeland wrote in part:
Upon reflection, I have concluded that the only honest and viable path is for me to resign from the cabinet.
To be effective, a Minister must speak on behalf of the Prime Minister and with his full confidence. In making your decision, you made clear that I no longer credibly enjoy that confidence and possess the authority that comes with it.
For the past number of weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada.
Our country today faces a grave challenge. The incoming administration in the United States is pursuing a policy of aggressive economic nationalism, including a threat of 25 per cent tariffs.
We need to take that threat extremely seriously. That means keeping our fiscal powder dry today, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war. That means eschewing costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford and which make Canadians doubt that we recognize the gravity of the moment.
That means pushing back against 'America First' economic nationalism with a determined effort to fight for capital and investment and the jobs they bring. That means working in good faith and humility with the premiers of the provinces and territories of our great and diverse country, and building a true Team Canada response.
I know Canadians would recognize and respect such an approach. They know when we are working for them, and they equally know when we are focused on ourselves. Inevitably, our time in government will come to an end. But how we deal with the threat our country currently faces will define us for a generation, and perhaps longer. Canada will win if we are strong, smart, and united.
Freeland's announcement caught everyone in Ottawa off guard and now faced with the gravity of the situation, Trudeau is weighing all options including resignation. After all, the Liberals have a minority parliament and the opposition NDP and Bloc Quebecois along with angry Liberal MPs could join the Tories in bringing down the government. Resignation might be Trudeau's only option to save face.
Should Trudeau resign then Freeland would be a natural successor. In which case Freeland could be Kamala Harris to Trudeau's Joe Biden, and this has not been lost on some observers. Though I doubt the Liberals would want the same outcome.
However, in this scenario, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre becomes Donald Trump and, unlike here, Trump is not popular in Canada. If Freeland can convince Canadians that Poilievre would be Trump's puppet then perhaps the Liberals would have a chance. But the odds are very long. Not only do the Tories have a 2:1 lead over the Liberals (44%-21%), the Liberals are in a tie with the NDP which could give the NDP an opportunity to supplant the Liberals as Canada's main center-left political party. Should Trudeau resign and Freeland (or anyone else) succeed him, the Canadian election is still Poilievre's to lose.
