The All-Time Home State MLB Standings (And Champion) 4/27/16

Hey baseball fans!

I recently saw this website that had the starting fielders, if the all-time greats of the game played for their home states. As I read this site (which you can access by clicking here), I thought to myself, "What would happen if these super-teams played each other in a 162-game season?" Well, I'm going to answer that question in this post. I've organized the 25 teams mentioned in the article into five divisions of five teams and predicted how each state would do based on the team listed in the article. So, without further ado, here are the All-Time Home State MLB Standings.

Northeast: 
Pennsylvania 99-63
Maryland 93-69
New York 89-73
New Jersey 86-76
Massachusetts 70-92

Southeast:
Alabama 102-60
Arkansas 85-77
Georgia 84-78
Florida 80-82
North Carolina 75-87

Midwest:
Ohio 95-67
Illinois 90-72
Minnesota 81-81
Michigan 73-89
Indiana 67-95

South:
West Virginia 85-77
Nebraska 83-79
Virginia 82-80
Oklahoma 81-81
Missouri 77-85

West:
California 104-58
Texas 93-69
Washington 80-82
Canada 75-87
Oregon 69-93

Now it's time for the playoffs! The All-Time Home State MLB Playoffs will function like half of the regular MLB format. The five seed will play the four seed in a Wild Card round of one game and the winner of that game will face the number one seed in the best-of-five semi-finals. In the other semi-final, the two and three seeds will play and in the finals, the winners of the two semi-final series will face off in a best-of-seven series. The winner of the finals will be declared the champion.

Wild Card Round: 
Ohio beats West Virginia

Semi-Finals:
California beats Ohio in a sweep
Alabama beats Pennsylvania in five games

Finals: 
Alabama beats California in seven games

ALABAMA WINS!!!!!!

So why do I think that Alabama would win this league's championship? It's simple: Willie Mays and Hank Aaron. Enough said. 

Do you agree with my predictions? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below. Thanks for reading this post and I hope you enjoy it. Check back soon for more of "all the buzz on what wuzz."

Some Very Punny Hall of Fame Surnames 4/20/16

Hey baseball fans!

The MLB season is officially under way and baseball's home run leader so far is a rookie for the Colorado Rockies named Trevor Story. When I saw Story's home run numbers skyrocket, I could already envision all of the puns that Rockies fans could make when he hits one out of the park, like "It's Story time!" or "Boy, do I have a Story for you!" But what if all Hall of Famers had punny surnames? Well, I've come up with some pretty good ones. Take a look!

Original Name: George Herman "Babe" Ruth

Punny Name: George Herman "Babe" Kingsley

Why? Ruth was the all-time home run king for a very long time and I'm sure actor Ben Kingsley would be more than happy to share his last name with one of the all-time greats in baseball history.

Original Name: Hank Aaron

Punny Name: Hank Hammerschmidt

Why? For those of you non-House of Cards fans, Tom Hammerschmidt is a journalist on the Netflix political drama and was casually nicknamed "The Hammer." Wouldn't you know it that Hank Aaron's nickname was "Hammerin' Hank?"

Original Name: Willie Mays

Punny Name: Willie Smiles

Why? It is impossible to find a video of "The Say Hey Kid" not smiling. Also, with this new name, people could say, "He's all Smiles."

Original Name: Stan Musial

Punny Name: Stan Mann

Why? His nickname was Stan the Man. Take out the "the" and the new punny name works. 

Original Name: Randy Johnson

Punny Name: Randy Rocket

Why? He's got a rocket for an arm, so I think this name fits. 

Original Name: Dennis Eckersley

Punny Name: Dennis Clutch

Why? You have to be able to pitch in the clutch in order to be one of the greatest closers of all time, which is exactly what Eck did for his entire career. Fans would say, "He's so clutch!"

Honorable Mention: Vin Scully

Punny Name: Vin Angel

Why? He's been a broadcaster in the city of angels since 1958 and if I could use one word to describe Scully's voice for broadcasting, it would be heavenly. 

What other names can you come up with? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below. Thanks for reading this post and I hope you enjoyed it. Check back soon for more of "all the buzz on what wuzz."

The New York Football Yankees 4/13/16

Hey baseball fans!

Besides baseball, I am a very big football fan and I've always wondered where some of the greatest Yankees of all time would play on the football field. In today's post, I'm going to create a Yankees football team. If you'd like me to do this with other teams, let me know in the comments section.

Quarterback: Lou Gehrig
Why? Gehrig isn't known for his arm, but his leadership is unparalleled in not only Yankee history, but also baseball history. He would be the best two-minute drill quarterback ever because of his calm attitude and his strong management skills. And he played football at Columbia.

Running Back: Joe DiMaggio
Why? DiMaggio would glide across the field as a RB. His speed and elusiveness would easily get him 1,000+ yards a season.

Wide Receiver: Mickey Mantle
Why? He's basically a clone of DiMaggio, but his catching ability is just a little better than The Yankee Clipper. He would be hampered by injuries, but when he's healthy, he would be a star.

Tight End: Dave Winfield
Why? He's a 6'6" Gold Glove outfielder. Enough said.

Offensive Lineman: Jorge Posada
Why? There aren't many "offensive lineman-big" Yankees, but Posada is a catcher, a position that requires the ability to block the plate, much like how an OL must block the quarterback. Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra would be in the conversation if they weighed over 200 pounds.

Defensive Lineman: Babe Ruth
Why? Ruth was pretty big, powerful, and wild. Even if he didn't sack the quarterback at all, he would draw so much attention from opposing offensive lines because of his reputation that his fellow defensive linemen would breeze past the offensive line.

Linebacker: Bernie Williams
Why? Linebackers need to be quick, have tackling ability, and lead the defense at its core. What better person to choose than Williams, who was a powerful, agile staple in the Yankees outfield for 16 seasons?

Cornerback: Willie Randolph
Why? Cornerbacks don't have to be so tall; they just need to be fast. Randolph is 5'11", which is around the quintessential height for a CB, and was one of the greatest base stealers in Yankee history.

Safety: Derek Jeter
Why? Jeter was fast and aggressive when he played at shortstop, two qualities that are very necessary to be a Hall of Fame-worthy safety. His leadership skills would also benefit him a lot.

Do you agree with my picks? Let me know in the comments section below. Thanks for reading this post and I hope you enjoyed it. Check back soon for more of "all the buzz on what wuzz."

And if you'd like to read up some more on the Yankees, please check out my book on baseball history, Amazing Aaron to Zero Zippers, which has a whole chapter on them. And all of my proceeds go to charity!! [Just click on the book name and it'll take you right to its page on Amazon.]

My Award Predictions for the 2016 MLB Season 4/7/16

Hey baseball fans!

The 2016 MLB regular season has officially started, which means it's time for my predictions for the major award winners for the 2016 MLB campaign.

AL MVP: Mike Trout, Angels
Why? He might not be on the best team in his division, but Trout has the numbers to be an MVP. In my opinion, Trout's incredible stats will lead the Los Angeles Angels to a playoff spot, whether that be one of the two Wild Card spots or the AL West crown. I can see him batting over .300 with 40+ homers and 120+ RBIs.

NL MVP: Andrew McCutchen, Pirates
Why? One of the best all-around players in baseball, McCutchen should have a great, MVP-worthy 2016 season for two reasons. First, he's the best outfielder out of the three outfielders that comprise arguably the best outfield in baseball (Cutch, Gregory Polanco, and Starling Marte). Second, he's part of such a formidable lineup that even if he doesn't lead the league in home runs, his RBIs, runs scored, batting average, and walks should all be up this year.

AL Cy Young Award: Felix Hernandez, Mariners
Why? King Felix has consistently been a Cy Young candidate over the past couple of seasons, but hasn't gotten the run support to back him up. Now, with Robinson Cano having an awesome Spring Training and start to the season, as long as King Felix continues to perform like he has in the past, he should be a Cy Young Award finalist and, most likely, the winner of the award.

NL Cy Young Award: Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers
Why? It's plain and simple: he's Clayton Kershaw. He's the best pitcher in baseball. Period. And it doesn't look like he's slowing down any time soon.

AL Rookie of the Year: Byung-Ho Park, Twins
Why? Park, a designated hitter from Korea signed by the Twins this past offseason, is an experienced, slugging Korean superstar who hit 50+ home runs the last two season in the Korean Baseball Organization. If those stats don't translate into MLB stardom, then I don't know what will.

NL Rookie of the Year: Corey Seager, Dodgers
Why? Seager played in 27 games last season for LA and batted .337, which is not half bad. He has the MLB experience and the fans in Chavez Ravine love him, so he should do pretty well in 2016.

Do you agree with my picks? Let me know your thought in the comments section below. Thanks for reading this post and I hope you enjoyed it. Check back soon for more of "all the buzz on what wuzz."