The 2023 season has so far been a bad time for a very good player. Nolan Arenado, the Cardinals’ superstar third-baseman, has been in an uncharacteristic and extended slump all year — made all the more glaring by the fact St. Louis is off to one of its worst starts ever. Arenado has fallen short of his typical MVP-like performances on both offense and defense. He’s had seven straight years (not including the pandemic shortened 2020 season) with at least 30 home runs and 100 RBIs, and he’s won 10 straight Gold Gloves — one for every year he’s been

The Los Angeles Dodgers paid tribute to the life and career one of their most popular players on April 29, honoring Manny Mota with an induction into the team’s Legends of Dodger Baseball during a special night at the ballpark that came complete with a Mota bobblehead giveaway for fans. Mota was more than just one of L.A.’s best players during the dozen seasons he spent with the team from 1969-1980 (plus a one-game appearance in 1982 at age 44, two years after he officially retired). The Santo Domingo native has also been a coach, Spanish-language broadcaster and goodwill ambassador

To call Mike Cuellar one of the greatest pitchers in Baltimore Orioles history is saying a lot, considering how the Birds’ powerful pitching staff was the backbone of the team’s American League dominance in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. The native of Las Villas, Cuba, was a force on the mound during his era despite a slow start to his major league career, however. He made his debut with the Cincinnati Reds in 1959 at age 22, then spent the next four years floundering in the minors. A trade to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964 — Cuellar was

It’s been a while since Edwin Encarnacion took his parrot for a walk, and baseball hasn't been the same. The Dominican slugger was known for his big bat — 424 career homers, with nearly 1,300 RBI — but it was the home run trot he adapted late in his career that really endeared him to fans. Encarnacion would circle the bases with one arm up at shoulder height, as if he had an imaginary parrot perched on his arm. The gimmick started in 2012, when the then-Toronto Blue Jays masher hit a grand slam, and continued until he retired in

Jose Cruz wasn’t a big slugger or run producer, but over a 19-year major league career, 13 of them with the Houston Astros, the Arroyo, Puerto Rico native was renowned for his consistent hitting, solid defense, and excellent base-running skills, making him one of the best all-around players of his era and a fan favorite when players from Puerto Rico were a rarity. Affectionately known as "Cheo," Cruz began his career with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1970, but it was with the Astros that he made his mark. He played in Houston from 1975 to 1987 and was a

It’s almost a shame Aaron Judge had a once-in-a-lifetime season in 2022. The Yankee right-fielder’s quest to break the AL single-season home run record — while vying for a rare triple crown — completely overshadowed the accomplishments of Luis Arraez. The then-Twins infielder hit .316, enough to win the American League batting title — and prevent Judge, the runner-up with .311, from achieving the first triple crown since Miguel Cabrera in 2012. Hitting .300 in 2022 was typical for Arraez, who has reached that mark in three of his first four years, good for a .317 career average in an