The last month of the 2024 season wrapped up with all the pomp and craziness you might expect. Records were broken, dreams were shattered, heroes were anointed, and, as we speak, one wild card race is still up in the air. But still, 98% of today's events are just running out the clock. One last go of things. For one team, it's a last game representing a city. For some, it could be the end of long, prosperous careers. But as we wrap up this season, we must also wrap up September, and cover the wild events that happened this month.
First, let's take a look back at the 5 Bold Predictions I made for September 2024:
1. Jacob deGrom finally appears and goes 'hey, what'd I miss?' Essentially. He's been pretty good in September starts, despite some conservative usage.
2. Even though it doesn't look like it right now, a wild card race comes with a great deal of last-second suspense. UM. YEAH. BOTH SIDES. The Twins being yoinked out with two days remaining were the ones who got out easy.
3. The A's farewell to Oakland is met with some avoidable controversy. To me, John Fisher posting, right before the final home series of the year, 'we tried our best', was this. You did not try your best. If you'd have tried your best the A's would be staying in Oakland.
4. One last rookie preview of 2025 for the road. Between Rhett Lowder, Luisangel Acuna, Kumar Rocker, Kevin Alcantara, Caden Dana and Jackson Jobe, take your pick.
5. Judge beats his prior mark. Didn't happen. But he pretty much did in terms of the statistical categories that truly matter. Besides homers, I mean. I think on so many standpoints he topped his 2022 season.
Now, let's go over 5 Things That Happened in September 2024 that No One Could Have Predicted
1. THE TIGERS COME OUT OF NOWHERE. I saw the Tigers getting good all of the sudden, and I just kinda figured they'd slow down. Like when you see a car in the passing lane in your rearview and think they'll cool off only to see them zoom past you on the way to a long park on the shoulder. The Tigers, at the end of August, gained some serious momentum, thanks to preexisting runs by stars Skubal and Greene, and now sharpening runs by Kerry Carpenter, Parker Meadows and Jace Jung. And now, because this team didn't let up at all in September, they've nabbed a playoff spot, and will likely be facing the Astros in a wild card series. And isn't that a David/Goliath matchup. The team that always wins vs. the team that hasn't won in over a decade. You know who I'll be rooting for.
2. Shohei Ohtani makes his own club. I think everybody kinda knew that Ohtani would do some cool things this season, but I don't think anybody guessed he'd steal 50+ bases while also hitting 50+ homers. I remember last year, we were all going nuts about Ronald Acuna's 40/70 season, and let's be clear, that's also extremely impressive and hard to do. But a career DH having his best base-stealing year while rehabbing from Tommy John is...unheard of. Remember, Jasson Dominguez recovered from Tommy John this year and he had a sort of slow return to glory. Ohtani, due to just his sheer ability, couldn't even let a Tommy John year stop him from being better than anybody. And that deserves respect.
3. The Orioles' undignified finish to the season. I kinda figured the Orioles would be the team holding onto the AL East at the end of the season, but they're thankful they still made the playoffs. Even with the momentum they had heading into the last two months, a combination of injuries, slumps, bad matchups and burnout has left the Orioles barely holding together as they ready to face the Royals. They at least have Gunnar Henderson, Colton Cowser, Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander in a good place, but Rutschman's gone cold, the majority of the pitching is either hurt or struggling, and recent series haven't gone very well. It could all be a hiccup before a legendary run, but it's extremely worrying.
4. Emmanuel Clase stays virtually hitless. If the last two games continue this pace, Emmanuel Clase will finish the season with a 0.61 ERA, a 0.655 WHIP, a career high in saves and one of the best seasons by a reliever in recent memory. I know Skubal probably has the Cy Young, but that's the more conventional pick. Clase only has 10 runs, and 5 earned runs, in 73 innings of work. He's also the main reason it's been so difficult to score runs against the Guardians after the sixth inning. I think Clase was the most important pitcher in the AL this year, just for that. But y'know...Skubal was pretty good too I guess.
5. The Nationals end the season infuriating everyone. If the Abrams thing hadn't happen, this team would have seamlessly transitioned to a much better 2025. They have a fuller rotation [which won't include Patrick Corbin], a better outfield of prospects, some MLB-ready young stars, and some great stretch moments. But then C.J. Abrams stays out at a casino, doesn't bet on sports and just plays cards, and management decides he has to end the season in the minors. Just to teach him a lesson. This is the kind of stuff I don't like, and this is why the player/owner relationship is in such trouble, because these people think they can just stick to decorum shit and play by old rules, and the players wanna do what they want. I really hope this doesn't damage Abrams' career like Tony LaRussa ended Yermin Mercedes' for hitting a home run with a big lead.
And on the other end of that, 5 Things That Happened in September 2024 That Lots of People Could Have Predicted:
1. The White Sox set the bar for awfulness. At this rate, with no stars, all too many scrubs, and this amount of complete patheticness, they were gonna outdo the '62 Mets. The '62 Mets at least had Casey Stengel, Duke Snider, Richie Ashburn and people who actually know a thing or two about baseball greatness. The White Sox this year had...a lot of people who really couldn't cut it. Over and over again. No bullpen, barely enough for a rotation, so many low averages and an interim manager who couldn't solve the problem. Next year will be better solely because I don't see how it can get any worse.
2. Skenes finishes the season with an exclamation point. Finishing your rookie season with a 1.96 ERA is one thing. Doing it with a final start against the Yankees, including Judge and Soto? That's superhuman. And that is what Paul Skenes felt like this season. Even if the Pirates weren't always there to bail him out, he was so hard to hit, and effortlessly elusive this season. Hopefully it's the start of a fantastic career. At the very least it's a message to Bob Nutting that he needs to actually build a team around this guy.
3. The Mariners can't finish the job. The 'we can't hit' narrative was either gonna lead to a triumphant comeback or an upsetting anticlimax, and we got the latter. Even with Arozarena and Turner surging, and the return of Julio Rodriguez's dominance, the Mariners wasted a season of one of the best rotations they've had since 2003. And judging by Miller and Castillo getting hurt at the end of it, they'll be lucky if they get all five to be that healthy all of next season.
4. Even without a playoff ticket, the Red Sox still finish strong. I think the way you sum up the Sox this season is through Brayan Bello. All this promise for Brayan Bello this season, after what he did in 2023, and this year for the majority of it he's just kinda okay. 4/5 ERA for most of the season. And then you look at his stats at the end of the year and he wasn't all that bad. A 4.50 ERA, but a 14-8 record with 153 Ks. He stayed healthy the whole year, and with Crawford and Houck made for a very nice three piece at the head of the rotation. Not...pristine, but still a good year. The Sox are gonna finish around .500, but with the stuff that Tanner Houck, Triston Casas, Jarren Duran, Rafael Devers and Wilyer Abreu gave them this season, they should still be proud.
5. The NL Central Scrum was a red herring. All of this buildup over if the Cubs, Pirates, Reds or Cardinals were gonna squeeze into a wild card spot, and it ends up being none of them. The Cubs got really close, thanks to an excellent September run, but those midseason losses were enough to keep them from really capitalizing on it. The Cardinals also came close, but there were too many internal issues, especially with Marmol's management, that kept them from being great. And the Pirates and Reds full on collapsed to end the year. It made for some exciting baseball while it was happening, but it didn't really amount to much else.
Now, here are my picks for the 5 Most Valuable Players of September 2024:
2. Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
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