Sportsman of the Week Ending 11/2/2025

A World Series for the ages.  The matchup between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers had it all.  Back and forth wins.  Heroes stepping up from obscurity.  Extra innings. Walk off wins.  Close plays.  And a pitcher who won 3 of the 4 games for his team.  Yoshinobu Yamamoto took the ball in Game 2 with his team facing a potential debilitating 2-0 deficit and he took the ball.  For 9 innings.  Just 4 hits.  First complete game since 2015 as the Dodgers won.  Then he took the ball in Game 6.  One loss away from losing the series to the Jays.  6 innings of 1 run baseball.  Dodger win  Then THE NEXT DAY as an epic Game 7 was unfolding he took the ball with the game tied 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded, one out.  Got out of it.  Two more innings.  And he won his third game.  Hero wore a cape.  And was a worthy World Series MVP and the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 8/22/2021

There may not be a more appropriate 500th Sportsman of the Week than to look to a man who hit his 500th Home Run this week.  You can't make this up.  Miguel Cabrera etched his name next to baseball elite when he clobbered his milestone home run.  He was a hero in 2003 when he emerged as a post season phenom in securing a world Series for the Florida Marlins, and now he puts another stamp on his Cooperstown passport in getting 500 home runs.  Cabrera clobbered number 500 against Toronto Blue Jays hurler Steven Matz in a game in which the Tigers won in a resurgent season as they rebuild.  Next up. 3000 hits hoping to become the (Aaron, Mays, Palmeiro, Murray, Rodriguez, Pujols, and two of those have some PED issues.)

Sportsman of the Week Ending 9/2/2019

Legends are dominant, and our Sportsman of the Week was dominant again.  For the third time.  Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros joined elite company in pitching the third no-hitter of his career.  The first was 12 years prior, but the 36 year old seems to be getting better with age. Verlander flummoxed the Toronto Blue Jays for only a handful of hard hit balls and just one walk to go with 14 strikeouts.  And did we mention no hits?  Also no runs.  There was drama, as the Astros entered the ninth inning tied as they had yet to cross the plate as well.  But rookie Abraham Toro launched a 2-run home run in the Top of the 9th to turn the attention back to Verlander.  And he delivered.  He may be pitching the best of his future Hall-of-Fame career and he is undoubtedly the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 8/26/2018

Hitting home runs is hard so they say.  But our Sportsman of the Week seemed to have no problem doing just that this week.  Six games in a row.  Seven home runs total.  Toronto Blue Jays slugger Kendrys Morales went on a tear with at least one home run per game every game played this week.  The Jays went 5-1 against NL playoff contending Philadelphia Phillies along with the struggling Baltimore Orioles.  Overall, Morales went 11-23, 6 HR with 12 RBI.  The Jays are not in postseason contention, but they certainly have a franchise memory and the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 5/13/2018

As the weather heats up, so is major league baseball.  And no pitcher was hotter for nine innings than the Seattle Mariners James Paxton who threw the 2018 baseball season's second no hitter in a 99 pitch gem to shut down the potent Toronto Blue Jays.  Toronto as in Canada, and Paxton is Canadian, born in British Columbia.  Paxton has always shown dominant stuff, but has seemingly had to navigate injuries and inconsistency which has kept him from being elite.  But no longer.  Paxton retired the last 16 hitters (17 outs including a double play) and it looked like the Jays could have played 18 innings without getting to him.  He joins the elite no hitter fraternity and only the second Canadian to do so.  He's the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/30/2017

The dog days of summer are usually associated with baseball.  On the weekend of the National Baseball Hall of Fame induction, a rarity within the sport indeed occurred.  It's one thing to get a walk off grand slam home run once in a career.  Let alone twice.  The same week.  Against all odds, the Toronto Blue Jays Steve Pearce did just that.  The career .255 hitter with fewer than 100 HR teed off twice in ... days, once off Liam Hendricks of the Oakland A's, then off of Bud Norris of the Los Angeles Angels.  The second being more dramatic in that his team was trailing by 3 runs, and it capped off a 7 run ninth inning rally for an 11-10 Blue Jays win.  For the week, Pearce was but 5-26, but add two doubles to the two grand slams and he wins our Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 10/25/2015

The Kansas City Royals are rolling this postseason, and their leadoff hitter is a big reason why.  Alcides Escobar could not be kept off base in the American League Championship Series.  For the last week, he was 8/16 plus a HBP edging his on-base percentage north of .500.  Throw in 4 RBI and 4 runs scored and he was essentially involved in two runs per game for his team.  Throw in some gold glove caliber defense, and the ALCS MVP is a big reason that the Kansas City Royals are poised to win their first World Series in 30 years, and maybe one of several in the next decade.

Sportsman of the Week Ending 8/9/2015

Major League Baseball is in crunch time, and some teams are beginning to look like contenders.  One of those teams is the Toronto Blue Jays.  And their MVP candidate Josh Donaldson.  In what is becoming more and more of an absolute steal, the Jays got their slugger in the offseason via trade.  This week, Donaldson went 10-26 with 5 HR and 2 2B.  The best stat was that the Blue Jays went 7-0.  Sweeping the Wild Card contending Minnesota Twins and American League East division leading New York Yankees (in the Bronx).  Playing well is one thing, leading your team to big wins is another.  All of the above adds up to Josh Donaldson being our Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 6/1/2014

When the name of Mickey Mantle is bantered about in terms of hitting performance, you're talking about a serious stretch of baseball.  And the Toronto Blue Jays are playing that good of baseball of late, surging to the American League East lead by 4 games.  Led by slugger 1B/DH Edwin Encarnacion, who went off this week for 10-24, with five HR and 10 RBI. In a week.  The Jays went 5-2.  For the month of May, Encarnacion hit 16 bombs, tying Mantle for the homers in May.  Certainly worthy of Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!