The Baseball Buffet for 10/16/2025

Issue #425

The goal with The Baseball Buffet series is to provide the best daily dose of relevant baseball info in a smart-brevity format (mostly short bullets, getting to the point, with quick analysis/insights.) Think of it like what baseball fans of a certain age would look forward to in their morning newspaper’s sports section each day!

⚾ Welcome! ⚾

The 203rd day of the season featured game three of the ALCS:

• TOR 13, SEA 4 - Things initially looked good for the Mariners once again, as Julio Rodríguez connected for a 2-run HR in the bottom of the first inning. But Shane Bieber settled in after that (6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K), and the Blue Jays’ bats came alive in the third inning to score five runs, powered in part by a 2-run HR by Andrés Giménez. George Kirby gave up eight runs overall (4 IP, 8 H, 8 ER, 2 BB, 4 K), including solo homers by George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
  
  Toronto tallied 18 hits, including four by Guerrero and three each by Springer and Giménez. Alejandro Kirk was also 2-4 with a walk and a 3-run HR, and Addison Barger added a late HR too. Randy Arozarena and Cal Raleigh hit back-to-back solo HR in the eighth inning, but that only gave the Mariners some positive energy going into game four today.

Active Leaders

Here are the active career leaders for batting average, with a minimum of 3,000 plate appearances:

• .317 - Luis Arraez

• .303 - Jose Altuve

• .300 - Freddie Freeman (technically .2996)

• .297 - Trea Turner

• .294 - Bo Bichette

• .294 - Mike Trout

• .294 - Aaron Judge

• .290 - Mookie Betts

• .290 - Yandy Díaz

Are there any players who are approaching 3,000 plate appearances and also have a .290+ career average? Yes, two guys: Yordan Alvarez at .297 with 2,867 PA and Bobby Witt Jr. at .290 with 2,722 PA.

Today’s Trivia Question

Sticking with a batting average theme, the highest single-season batting average so far in the 21st century has been .372. Interestingly, three players have hit .372 since the year 2000… can you name them?

On this day in baseball history…

Here is what stands out to me for this day in baseball history. Unless otherwise noted, the descriptions are from baseball-reference.com.

📅 On October 16…

• 1909: The Pirates win the World Series led by rookie Babe Adams. The Pittsburgh Pirates win the World Series as rookie pitcher Babe Adams registers his third victory of the Series by beating the Detroit Tigers, 8-0, in Game 7.

• 1969: The “Miracle Mets” capture the championship. “The New York Mets win their fourth straight game from the Baltimore Orioles with a 5-3 triumph behind pitcher Jerry Koosman, who throws a five-hitter, to take the World Series in five games. In the 3rd inning, Baltimore takes a 3-0 advantage after home runs by pitcher Dave McNally and outfielder Frank Robinson. After a strong argument by Mets manager Gil Hodges in the bottom of the 6th inning, Cleon Jones is awarded first base when shoe polish on the ball proves he was hit by a pitch, and Jones scores on a home run by Donn Clendenon. An inning later, Al Weis ties the game, 3-3, with a solo home run, and in the 8th, Ron Swoboda's double and two Baltimore errors give New York two more runs and the World Championship. Clendenon is named Series MVP.”

• 1983: Eddie Murray and Scott McGregor lead the Orioles to the championship. “Eddie Murray hits two home runs and Scott McGregor pitches a five-hitter to give the Baltimore Orioles a 5-0 victory, its fourth straight over the Philadelphia Phillies, to give the Orioles the World Series championship in five games. Baltimore catcher Rick Dempsey, who hit .385 with four doubles and a home run, is named the Series MVP.’

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

Goose Goslin (1900)

• Hall of Famer

• 18-year major league career, spanning from 1921-1938, mostly as a LF with the Senators, but also spending some time with the Tigers and Browns

• He had modest power, hitting 20+ HR three times, but was a consistent run producer with 100+ RBI in 11 seasons. He led the AL with 129 RBI in 1924, and then had career highs of 37 HR and 138 RBI in 1930.

• Won an AL batting title with a .379 mark in 1928, and also led the AL in triples with 18 in 1923 and 20 in 1925.

• Received down-ballot AL MVP votes in eight seasons

• Overall had 248 HR, 176 SB, 2,735 hits, 1,482 runs, 1,612 RBI, a .316/.387/.500 slash line, and a 128 OPS+

Bryce Harper (1992)

• Drafted number one overall in 2010 by the Washington Nationals

• Has had a 14-year major league career so far, starting by winning the NL Rookie of the Year Award in 2012 after batting .270 with 22 HR, 18 SB, and 98 runs

• Has hit 20+ HR in 11 seasons, with a high of 42 in 2015, leading the league. He also led the NL with 118 runs that year, hit .330, and took home his first of two NL MVP Awards.

• Eight-time All-Star

• Was primarily a RF before shifting to DH and most recently 1B for the past two seasons with the Phillies

• So far has 363 HR, 152 SB, 1,154 runs, 1,051 RBI, a .280/.387/.519 slash line, and a 142 OPS+

Tim McCarver (1941)

• 21-year major league career, spanning from 1959-1980, mostly as a catcher with the Cardinals and Phillies

• Two-time All-Star, including in 1966 when he led the NL with 13 triples

• Had a great World Series in 1964 against the Yankees in his age-22 season, going 11-23 (.478) with a HR, triple, and double

• Overall had a .271/.337/.388 slash line and a 102 OPS+

• After his playing career, was a television color commentator with Fox Sports and several other networks. Called 23 World Series as well as 20 All-Star Games, earning three Emmy Awards along the way.

Kevin McReynolds (1959)

• Drafted in the first-round (6th overall) by the Padres in 1981

• Hit 20+ HR six times, with 25+ HR and 90+ RBI each year from 1986-1988

• Started as a CF, and later shifted to LF, and was among the league leaders in various defensive statistics in several seasons

• Overall had 211 HR, a .265/328/.447 slash line, and a 115 OPS+

In addition to Bryce Harper, another currently active player who was born on October 16 is CIN Noelvi Marté.

Today’s Matchups

Today we have game three of the NLCS and game 4 of the ALCS (pitching stats are from the regular season):

• MIL vs. LAD at 6:08pm ET - The series has shifted to Los Angeles, with the Dodgers leading 2-0. LA will go with Tyler Glasnow (3.19 ERA, 106 K In 90.1 IP), while as of the time of this writing the Brewers have not announced a starter. That perhaps indicates they will go with a bullpen-day strategy, or at least an opener and then look to get several innings from a typical starter, such as Jose Quintana or Jacob Misiorowski.

• TOR vs. SEA at 8:08pm ET - Toronto came back strong in game 3, but are still down two games to one. Veteran Max Scherzer (5.19 ERA, 82 K in 85 IP) will try to help them even the series, and the Mariners will counter with Luis Castillo (3.54 ERA, 162 K in 180.2 IP).

⚾ Enjoy the games today! ⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

The three players who won batting titles with a .372 average in the 21st century have been Ichiro Suzuki (AL, 2004), Todd Helton (NL, 2000), and Nomar Garciaparra (AL, 2000). Here is the top-10 batting averages since 2000, amongst those qualified (502 or more plate appearances), and excluding the short 2020 season:

• .372 - Todd Helton (2000)

• .372 - Nomar Garciaparra (2000)

• .372 - Ichiro Suzuki (2004)

• .370 - Barry Bonds (2002)

• .365 - Joe Mauer (2009)

• .364 - Chipper Jones (2008)

• .363 - Magglio Ordóñez (2007)

• .362 - Barry Bonds (2004)

• .359 - Josh Hamilton (2010)

• .359 - Albert Pujols (2008)

Next after these ten is Todd Helton again, the highest non-league leader, who hit .358 in 2003, one point behind Pujols in the NL.

Good Reads

Here I am providing one or more links to baseball articles I’ve enjoyed recently, whether by writers at MLB.com or elsewhere.

• Most intriguing storylines for tonight's double-dip LCS action, by Will Leitch at MLB, 10/15/2025

• Here are all the Gold Glove Award finalists, by Brian Murphy, Manny Randhawa, and Theo DeRosa at MLB, 10/15/2025

See recent issues of The Baseball Buffet for more recent good reads!

Did you know? I wrote a 600+ page book with the same title as this newsletter/blog? Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports. It is available at Amazon and most other major booksellers.

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