Bochy takes fourth World Series

Bruce Bochy, who came out of retirement this season, won his fourth World Series last night as the Texas Rangers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games. Bochy, 68, led the San Francisco Giants to World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014 and the San Diego Padres to the National League pennant in 1998. Only three managers have won more World Series: Casey Stengel and Joe McCarthy with seven and Connie Mack with five. The Rangers (90-72) made the playoffs as a wild card team, then beat the Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles and the Houston Astros to reach the series.
— Kevin Brewer

The Bruce Bochy All-Star team >>

                             hr   rbi    avg    slg
 c Buster Posey, 2012        24   103   .336   .549
1b Ryan Klesko, 2001         30   113   .286   .539
2b Marcus Semien, 2023       29   100   .276   .478
3b Ken Caminiti, 1996        40   130   .326   .621
ss Corey Seager, 2023        33    96   .327   .623
lf Greg Vaughn, 1998         50   119   .272   .597
cf Steve Finley, 1996        30    95   .298   .531
rf Tony Gwynn, 1997          17   119   .372   .547

                             w-l    era    ip    so
sp Kevin Brown, 1998        18-7   2.38   257   257
sp Tim Lincecum, 2009       15-7   2.48   225   261
sp Madison Bumgarner, 2014  18-10  2.98   217   219
sp Jake Peavy, 2005         13-7   2.88   203   216
sp Matt Cain, 2009          14-8   2.89   217   171
rp Trevor Hoffman, 1998      4-2   1.48   53 saves

2023 AL All-Star team

Has any player ever missed the last month of the season and won the MVP award?

Shohei Ohtani should.

The Angels designated hitter-pitcher dominated the American League again. Ohtani hit .304/.412/.654 with a league-leading 44 home runs and 102 runs. On the mound, he was 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA in 23 starts. He suffered an oblique strain on Sept. 3.

Ohtani is sui generis. He is unprecedented. He is my AL Player of the Year.

The Baltimore Orioles, with a league-best 101 wins, and the Tampa Bay Rays each placed three players on the AL All-Star team. The Rangers added two players and manager Bruce Bochy.
— Kevin Brewer

2023 NL All-Star team

Blake Snell (14-9, 2.25), who led the league in pitching bWAR and ERA, is my pick as National League Pitcher of the Year. The Padres left-hander was 10-2 with a 1.35 ERA in his final 16 starts.

Snell is one of three Padres players on the NL All-Star team, along with left fielder Juan Soto and second baseman Ha-Seong Kim.

Atlanta also placed three players on the team, including Player of the Year Ronald Acuna Jr., who had 41 home runs and 73 stolen bases, posting the best power/speed number of all time. He also led the league in runs, hits and on-base percentage.

Mookie Betts, who played right field, second base and third base for the Dodgers, was a close second.
— Kevin Brewer