After a second injury-shortened season in a row sapped Andres Galarraga of his power, the free agent joined the Colorado Rockies on this day in béisbol, November 16, 1992 — and then wound up winning the 1993 NL batting title. After seven solid years with the Montreal Expos, the popular Venezuelan first baseman was traded to the Cardinals before the 1992 season but missed nearly 70 games due to a hit-by-pitch wrist injury after just three games with his new team. He hit only 10 home runs with a .243 average. But Galarraga, a three-time Gold Glove winner nicknamed “The

The recent great debate over who deserved the 2025 American League MVP Award more — Aaron Judge or Cal Raleigh — was nothing compared to how the baseball universe wrangled over whether the first Triple Crown winner in nearly five decades had a better year than a flashy five-tool rookie with dominant sabermetric statistics. On this day in béisbol, November 15, 2012, tradition won out over the growing use of advanced metrics to measure a player’s overall performance when veteran Miguel Cabrera was named the AL’s Most Valuable Player over Mike Trout, that season’s sensational Rookie of the Year Award

“Fernandomania” continued into baseball’s awards season in 1981 as mega-popular Dodgers phenom Fernando Valenzuela won the NL Cy Young Award on the heels of taking home Rookie of the Year honors and a Silver Slugger on this day in béisbol, November 11. The 20-year-old Mexican native quickly became a fan favorite during the strike-shortened season as he went 13-7 with a 2.48 ERA while hurling 8 shutouts with 180 strikeouts, best in the majors. He was the first rookie to win a Cy Young, and the first pitcher to win both a Rookie of the Year and a Cy Young

Guardians second baseman Andres Gimenez was named the 2023 Platinum Glove winner in the American League, while Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. won the award for being the NL’s best overall fielder on this day in béisbol, November 10. Gimenez, of Venezuela, earned the top prize for fielding excellence in the same year he won his second career Gold Glove. He also had a solid year at the plate, belting 15 homers, driving in 62 runs and stealing 30 bases while splitting time at shortstop. Tatis, who began his career at shortstop before moving to right, also won a

Edwin Diaz has no doubt caused plenty of anxiety attacks among Mets fans over the years, considering his roller-coaster career as an elite closer interspersed with some rough years as an unreliable reliever where no lead seemed safe while he was on the mound. But on this day in béisbol, November 6, 2022, New York rewarded the then-28-year-old Diaz with a five-year, $102 million contract that was the highest amount ever for a reliever. Diaz, from Naguabo, Puerto Rico, was coming off an all-star season in ’22, when he placed ninth in Cy Young voting with 32 saves, a career-low

The Houston Astros’ young stars Jordan Alvarez and Jeremy Peña gave out-of-this-world performances on this day in béisbol, November 5, 2022 to win Game 6 of the World Series against the Phillies. Alvarez hit a 3-run homer in the 6th that scored Peña and veteran Jose Altuve, giving Houston its second championship in six years. But it was Peña, with 10 hits in the 6 games against Philadelphia for a .400 average, who was named World Series MVP. The 24-year-old Dominican rookie, son of former infielder Geronimo Peña, also won the ALCS MVP award after going 6-for-18 (.333) with 2

Luis Gonzalez accomplished the near-impossible on this day in béisbol, November 4, 2001 when the Arizona Diamondbacks left fielder hit a game-winning bloop in the bottom of the 9th off Mariano Rivera to steal World Series Game 7 from the Yankees. Rivera was protecting a one-run lead when the usually unflappable closer gave up two runs, one of them due to his own costly throwing error. With two men on and the game now tied, Gonzalez blooped a single over a drawn-in infield to wrap up one of the most thrilling World Series in MLB history. The loss deprived the

A year after the Yankees’ Derek Jeter won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1996, the American League East had another young star-in-the-making shortstop take home the trophy. Nomar Garciaparra of the Boston Red Sox was deemed the AL’s best newcomer on this day in béisbol, November 3, 1997 after a strong season in which he led the AL in hits with 209, swatted 30 homers, knocked in 98 runs and stole 22 bases — nearly one-third of the team’s total. He also led the league in triples (11), putouts and double plays turned. Garciaparra’s eye-opening first year followed