Daily Archives: November 3, 2017
Springer, Verlander, Morton and Kershaw owned the World Series
Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle, Lindsey Wasson/Getty Images North America, Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images, Harry How/Getty Images
It may seem strange, seeing Clayton Kershaw on this list. But as it turned out, despite his disastrous Game 5, Clayton Kershaw was tied with the highest WOWS total for a pitcher in the 2017 World Series.
Sure George Springer makes sense. He hit 5 homers and took the World Series MVP trophy. Yeah Charlie Morton makes sense. He was dominant as a starter in Game 4 and pitched 4 brilliant innings out of the bullpen to clinch Game 7. And Justin Verlander pitched well enough to win both Games 2 and 6.
But Morton’s WOWs total was 1 1/2 because of the bullpen meltdown in Game 4. And Verlander took the hard luck loss in Game 6, which also made his WOWs total 1 1/2.
And Kershaw was brilliant in Game 1 and pitched 4 shutout innings in relief in Game 7, earning him a 1 1/2 total.
So while Kershaw continues to lick his wounds and listen to how he is a post season failure, in at least one metric, he was a solid contributor.
This October, Kershaw was 3-0 with a 3.82 ERA. That includes the homers he let up in his victory over the Diamondbacks and his 4th and 5th inning meltdowns in Game 5 of the World Series.
Remember he threw 7 innings, allowing 3 hits, 1 run, no walks and 11 strikeouts in Game 1, seemingly putting his post season woes to rest.
They will stick around another year, but maybe he had a better October than his Game 5 would let on.
Let’s look at the final tally.
Final WOWS Totals MLB 2017
Hitters ‘WOWS’ MLB 2017,
George Springer – Astros 3 1/2, Cody Bellinger – Dodgers 1 1/2, Alex Bregman – Astros 1, Yuli Gurriel – Astros 1, Joc Pederson – Dodgers 1, Chris Taylor – Dodgers 1, Justin Turner – Dodgers 1, Corey Seager – Dodgers 1/2,
Pitchers ‘WOWS’ MLB 2016,
Justin Verlander – Astros 1 1/2, Clayton Kershaw – Dodgers 1 1/2, Charlie Morton – Astros 1 1/2, Kenley Jansen – Dodgers 1, Joe Musgrove – Astros 1, Brad Peacock – Astros 1, Alex Wood – Dodgers 1, Dallas Keuchel – Astros 1/2, Kenta Maeda – Dodgers 1/2,
Justin Verlander and Jose Altuve Owned October (Final #WOO Tally and Results)
Jim Ruymen – UPI
The World Series is over. The Houston Astros have their first ever title in franchise history. And it is appropriate that the two players with the highest WOO (Who Owns October) score would be heroes for Houston.
Mapping the entire post season, Justin Verlander won a game in the Division Series as a starter and another as a reliever over Boston, clinched the ALCS MVP by dominating the Yankees and pitched well in the World Series over the Dodgers.
Meanwhile Altuve homered 3 times in the opening game of the Division Series and finished the 4 game defeat of Boston with a .533 average and an OPS of 1.765. His slugging continued in the ALCS with 3 homers, a .974 OPS and big plays against the Yankees.
His stats in the World Series were not as robust but he still homered twice, including a dramatic 3 run game tying shot in the wild Game 5 victory and drove in 6 runs in the 7 game series.
While Verlander and Altuve got the highest totals, they were by no means the only October heroes.
Verlander’s 4 1/2 WOO total beat out Clayton Kershaw’s 3 1/2 and Kenley Jansen’s 3.
Altuve’s final of 4 barely beat Aaron Judge, who had 3 1/2 despite not even playing in the World Series. George Springer, who took the World Series MVP and Justin Turner, who had a huge post season, also had 3 1/2, barely behind Altuve’s total.
Looking back at the final tally is odd because it encompasses the entire post season. So yes, Trevor Story of the Rockies and Brian Dozier of the Twins are on there from their Wild Card Game losses. There are Yankee, Red Sox and Nationals players with a WOO total who saw their managers let go before the October tallies were done.
But in the end, Verlander and Altuve were good representatives of owning October. They certainly led Houston to the greatest baseball moment in the city’s history.
A complete description of the rules can be found HERE.
Final WOO Totals MLB 2017
Hitters ‘WOO’ MLB 2017,
Jose Altuve – Astros 4, Aaron Judge – Yankees 3 1/2, George Springer – Astros 3 1/2, Justin Turner – Dodgers 3 1/2, Cody Bellinger – Dodgers 2 1/2, Alex Bregman – Astros 2 1/2, Yuli Gurriel – Astros 2 1/2, Greg Bird – Yankees 2, Carlos Correa – Astros 2, Chris Taylor – Dodgers 2, Jay Bruce – Indians 1 1/2, Kris Bryant – Cubs 1 1/2, Anthony Rizzo – Cubs 1 1/2, Gary Sanchez – Yankees 1 1/2, Michael Taylor – Nationals 1 1/2, Ryan Zimmerman – Nationals 1 1/2, Javier Baez – Cubs 1, Willson Contreras – Cubs 1, Logan Forsythe – Dodgers 1, Brett Gardner – Yankees 1, Yan Gomes – Indians 1, Didi Gregorius – Yankees 1, Enrique Hernandez – Dodgers 1, Ketel Marte – Diamondbacks 1, Joc Pederson – Dodgers 1, Yasiel Puig – Dodgers 1, Hanley Ramirez – Red Sox 1, Albert Almora Jr. – Yankees 1/2, Andrew Benitendi – Red Sox 1/2, Starlin Castro – Yankees 1/2, Daniel Descalso – Diamondbacks 1/2, Brian Dozier – Twins 1/2, Todd Frazier – Yankees 1/2, Paul Goldschmidt – Diamondbacks 1/2, Jason Kipnis – Indians 1/2, Sandy Leon – Red Sox 1/2, J. D. Martinez – Diamondbacks 1/2, Addison Russell – Cubs 1/2, Carlos Santana – Indians 1/2, Kyle Schwarber – Cubs 1/2, Corey Seager – Dodgers 1/2, Trevor Story – Rockies 1/2, Christian Vazquez – Red Sox 1/2, Ben Zobrist – Cubs 1/2,
Pitchers ‘WOO’ MLB 2017,
Justin Verlander – Astros 4 1/2, Clayton Kershaw – Dodgers 3 1/2, Kenley Jansen – Dodgers 3, Charlie Morton – Astros 2 1/2, David Robertson – Yankees 2 1/2, Masahiro Tanaka – Yankees 2 1/2, Yu Darvish – Dodgers 2, Dallas Keuchel – Astros 2, Sean Doolittle – Nationals 1 1/2, David Price – Red Sox 1 1/2, Stephen Strasburg – Nationals 1 1/2, Jake Arrieta – Cubs 1, Trevor Bauer – Indians 1, Archie Bradley – Diamondbacks 1, Wade Davis – Cubs 1, Ken Giles – Astros 1, Sonny Gray – Yankees 1, Kyle Hendricks – Cubs 1, Jon Lester – Cubs 1, Brandon Morrow – Dodgers 1, Joe Musgrove – Astros 1, Brad Peacock – Astros 1, Jose Quintana – Cubs 1, Robbie Ray – Diamondbacks 1, CC Sabathia – Yankees 1, Josh Tomlin – Indians 1, Alex Wood – Dodgers 1, Carlos Carrasco – Indians 1/2, Brian Duensing – Cubs 1/2, Carl Edwards Jr – Cubs 1/2, Jaime Garcia – Yankees 1/2, Zack Godley – Diamondbacks 1/2, Chad Green – Yankees 1/2, Tommy Kahnle – Yankees 1/2, Kenta Maeda – Dodgers 1/2, Collin McHugh – Astros 1/2, Lance McCullers Jr – Astros 1/2, Andrew Miller – Indians 1/2, Chris Rusin – Rockies 1/2, Chris Sale – Red Sox 1/2, Max Scherzer – Nationals 1/2,
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