Slugger Carlos Lee became the highest paid player in Astros history when he signed a six-year, $100 million deal on this day in béisbol, November 24, 2006. Lee, an outfielder-first baseman, spent his first five years with the White Sox, where he averaged more than 25 home runs a year. The Panama native remained a
The Minnesota Twins were coming off a disappointing second-place finish in 1966, a year after winning the American League pennant, when the team turned to another young player with Latin American roots to juice up the lineup. Rod Carew, born in Panama and raised in upper Manhattan since he was a teen, won Rookie of
Mike Lowell turned a solid season capped by a World Series MVP award into a $37.5 million three-year contract with the Red Sox on this day in béisbol, November 20, 2007. The Gold Glove third baseman turned down several better offers to remain in Boston, where he hit 21 homers, drove in 120 runs and
Sammy Sosa may have lost the single-season home run record race to Mark McGwire in 1998, but on this day in béisbol, November 19, the Chicago Cubs slugger beat the Cardinals first baseman for National League MVP. Sosa slammed 66 homers to McGwire’s MLB-best 70 in a thrilling competition that captivated the nation and was
One dozen new Hall of Fame candidates joined 15 returning players from last year on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s 2026 ballot unveiled Monday. The spotlight once again falls on outfielders Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones, both of whom enter the voting with the strongest odds of hearing their names called in January. Beltrán
Blue Jays slugger George Bell was named the American League MVP on this day in béisbol, November 17, 1987 after what turned out to be his peak season in Toronto. The 27-year-old left fielder swatted 47 home runs with a .308 average, and led the AL in RBI (134) and totals bases (389) though the
