As he continues his annual preview series, Will Leitch identifies a player from each division who could take home an MVP, Cy Young or Rookie of the Year Award this season, as well as a possible Manager of the Year candidate.
Satchel Paige was 59 years old – or something close to it – when he walked off a Major League mound for the last time. In the ballpark that day, giving the legend a standing ovation, was a 9-year-old Rick Sutcliffe. “It might have been the moment I fell in love with baseball,” he recalled recently.
Last season, Joe Ayrault gave each of his players a buffalo nickel and challenged them to face adversity head on. Weeks later, they gave him the same message as he left the team to seek treatment.
Marlins shortstop Xavier Edwards spent the offseason with aspiring ballplayers in South Florida, striving to be a role model for young Black athletes just like his father, Jovon, has been for him.