ANGELS: Mike Trout Trout is still only 29 and under contract with the Angels through the 2030 season, but he's already the club's best player ever and its all-time leader in Wins Above Replacement by a sizable margin. The three-time AL MVP and eight-time All-Star has racked up 73.6 WAR, which is over 20 WAR more than the next-highest Angels position player or pitcher, according to Baseball Reference. Left-hander Chuck Finley is second with 52 WAR, while the second-highest position player is Jim Fregosi with 45.9 WAR. Trout could end up with more total WAR with the Angels than Fregosi and Finley combined. ASTROS: Craig Biggio The first player to wear an Astros cap on his plaque in the Hall of Fame when he was inducted in 2015, Biggio holds club records for games played (2,850), at-bats (10,876), runs (1,844), hits (3,060), extra-base hits (1,104) and doubles (668). He's a seven-time All-Star, won five Silver Sluggers (at catcher and second base) and four Gold Gloves. He hit 291 home runs, stole 414 bases and posted a .281 average. On June 28, 2007, Biggio became the 27th player in Major League history to reach the 3,000-hit plateau. ATHLETICS: Rickey Henderson Perhaps the greatest leadoff hitter the game has ever seen, no athlete is more revered in Oakland than Rickey. A 10-time All-Star with the A's, Henderson holds the franchise record for position player bWAR (72.7), runs (1,270), walks (1,227) and stolen bases (867). Known as the "Man of Steal," Henderson led the AL in stolen bases 12 times. Nine of those seasons came playing for Oakland, including an astonishing 130 swiped bags in 1982, which remains the Major League single-season record. The Oakland native was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009 and remains a mainstay in the A's clubhouse, often suiting up in full uniform to take part in pregame drills with the team. The A's honored their organization's greatest player by naming the Oakland Coliseum playing surface Rickey Henderson Field in 2017. MARINERS: Ken Griffey Jr. It's impossible to think of the Mariners' history without having the image of Griffey and his backwards cap and ear-to-ear grin come to mind. "The Kid" broke in with the Mariners as a precocious 19-year-old in 1989 and went on to 10 consecutive AL All-Star selections and 10 straight Gold Glove Awards in center field as one of MLB's greatest players of the '90s. Griffey returned to Seattle to close out his career after nine seasons in Cincinnati and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2016 as the first player to wear the Mariners cap on his plaque in Cooperstown. RANGERS: Iván Rodríguez Pudge made his Major League debut on June 20, 1991, at the age of 19. He played in 88 games that year, hit .264 and threw out 49% of attempted base-stealers. He spent the next 10 seasons as the best catcher in baseball. Rodríguez won 10 straight Gold Gloves, was named to 10 straight All-Star Games and was the 1999 AL MVP. He reached the big leagues on his defensive ability but ended up hitting .304/.341/.488 during his 13 years with the Rangers. NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST BRAVES: Hank Aaron When Aaron ended his 23-year career in 1976, he owned more offensive records than any other player in Major League history. He still holds the records for most RBIs and extra-base hits. His home run mark was topped by Barry Bonds, but Aaron will always be remembered as the man who broke Babe Ruth's "unbreakable" home run record. If you did not count any of Aaron's 755 career homers, he would still have more than 3,000 hits. The iconic Hall of Famer debuted for the 1954 Milwaukee Braves, who won a World Series during his 1957 NL MVP season. MARLINS: Giancarlo Stanton Stanton made his MLB debut at age 20 in 2010 and became the Marlins' all-time-leading slugger, pacing the franchise in home runs (267) and RBIs (672). Injuries hampered his Marlins tenure, but when he had his completely healthy season in 2017, he was a force. In 159 games, Stanton led the Majors in home runs with 59 and RBIs with 132, and he became the only player in franchise history to win the NL MVP Award. In 2014, Stanton's 37 homers also topped the NL, and he was runner-up to Clayton Kershaw in the MVP voting. Stanton's 34.6 FanGraphs WAR is the highest of any player in Marlins history. METS: Tom Seaver No one looms larger than Seaver, a near-unanimous first-ballot Hall of Famer who remains the Mets' all-time leader in ERA, wins, complete games, shutouts, innings, strikeouts, Wins Above Replacement and more. All of those records have stood for more than 40 years; some will never be broken. Until Mike Piazza entered the Hall of Fame in 2016, Seaver was the only player in Cooperstown with a Mets cap on his plaque. He is not just the greatest Met of all time, or one of the best pitchers the game has ever seen, but one of the greatest players in Major League history. NATIONALS: Vladimir Guerrero Looking at the franchise from its time in Montreal to Washington, the Hall of Famer Guerrero stands out. The outfielder played the first half of his star-studded career with the Expos, and his performances still are untouched today. Among all players in franchise history, Vlad has the best batting average (.323), slugging percentage (.588), OPS (.978) and at-bats per home run (16.1). Guerrero ranks second in home runs (234) and OPS+ (148), as well as third in triples (34). He was named to four consecutive All-Star teams and won Silver Slugger Awards in 1999, 2000 and '02. PHILLIES: Mike Schmidt Schmidt not only is the greatest Phillies player in franchise history, he is arguably the greatest third baseman in baseball history. He ranks first among third basemen in home runs (548) and is tied for third in RBIs (1,595). Among third basemen with 7,500 or more plate appearances, Schmidt ranks second in slugging percentage (.527) and OPS (.908) and fifth in on-base percentage (.380). He won the NL MVP Award in 1980, '81 and '86. He made 12 NL All-Star teams. He won 10 Gold Gloves. He won six Silver Slugger Awards. He won World Series MVP honors in 1980, helping the Phillies win their first title in franchise history. NL CENTRAL BREWERS: Robin Yount Yount likes to say his career was all about longevity, but that understates the greatness of a player who broke into the big leagues at age 18 and played all 20 seasons in Milwaukee. He won the AL MVP Award at two different positions -- shortstop in 1982 and center field in 1989 -- and his 1,731 hits in the 1980s led all of baseball. In 1992, on the same day Brewers owner Bud Selig was named MLB commissioner, Yount became the third-youngest player ever to reach 3,000 hits. "Extraordinary talent," said fellow Hall of Famer Ted Simmons. CARDINALS: Stan Musial Musial is one of the game's undisputed greats, and he played his entire 22-year career with the Cardinals. The outfielder and first baseman won three MVP Awards and finished second four other times. Musial won seven batting titles and led the league in runs five times, hits six times, doubles eight times, triples five times, RBIs twice, total bases six times and OPS seven times. He was a 24-time All-Star and a three-time World Series winner. He hit a career .331/.417/.559 and accumulated 128.3 WAR. Musial's No. 6 was the first number the Cardinals retired, and he became a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1969. CUBS: Ernie Banks There can only be one "Mr. Cub," and that is a nickname Banks earned during his 19 Major League seasons, which were spent entirely with the North Siders. When Banks made his debut on Sept. 17, 1953, he became the first Black player in Cubs history. He went on to win back-to-back NL MVP Awards (1958-59) and made 14 All-Star teams. Banks owns the club records for games played, at-bats, total bases and extra-base hits, and he was the leader in home runs (512) until he was surpassed by Sammy Sosa. Banks was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 1977 and his famous catchphrase, "Let's play two," is a fixture in the baseball lexicon.
He joined a list of first-ballot Hall of Famers and will one day get “the call” of his own. But in the meantime, there is still plenty of work to do and that was evident Thursday. Kershaw was sharp and kept the D-backs off balance with a steady stream of fastballs and breaking balls all night. He was dominant at times and did not allow a hit for 5 2/3 innings until Christian Walker reached on an infield single. In the end, Kershaw struck out eight and moved into the 39th spot on the all-time strikeouts list with 2,505, according to Elias. He departed the game with a 2-0 lead after six innings on a memorable night in Los Angeles. Kershaw reached the 2,500-strikeout mark in his 353rd career game, behind only Randy Johnson (313), Ryan (338) and Max Scherzer (344). The tall Texan struck out Kole Calhoun swinging and Walker looking in the first inning for the 2,498th and 2,499th strikeouts of his career. “It's obviously a huge honor and I'm thankful that I've been able to be here long enough to do it,” Kershaw said. “And hopefully, I can keep going.” Kershaw had help. The Dodgers tacked on two runs in the seventh and another run in the eighth to extend the lead. The victory was the club's fifth in a row and 10th in a row at home. The Dodgers have won 18 of their last 21 games. “We're doing it in all sorts of different ways, which is really cool,” Kershaw said. “I mean you saw last night when we just grinded it out until the very end, getting some big hits. Tonight was kind of the same deal kind. We were just waiting for that breakout there in the later innings, so, it's a lot of guys stepping up.” It's already been quite a year for the veteran left-hander. He is 5-1 with a 1.50 ERA with 41 strikeouts in six starts this season. The win was the 174th of his career and he is closing in on the fourth spot in that category. Only Don Sutton (233), Don Drysdale (209), Dazzy Vance (190) and Brickyard Kennedy (177) have more wins in franchise history. Every MLB franchise has its icons. But these players are the icons of the icons. Here's the greatest player in franchise history for all 30 MLB teams, as assembled by the MLB.com staff. AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST BLUE JAYS: Roberto Alomar The Hall of Fame second baseman came to the Blue Jays as part of the biggest trade in the franchise's history, when the Blue Jays sent the great Tony Fernandez and Fred McGriff to the Padres for Alomar and Joe Carter. Alomar is rivaled by other icons like Roy Halladay and Dave Stieb, but he still holds the title of the greatest Blue Jay in the minds of many fans because his five years cover the club's proudest moments -- including Toronto's back-to-back World Series championships in 1992 and '93. In each of Alomar's five years in Toronto, he was named to the AL All-Star team and collected a Gold Glove Award. ORIOLES: Cal Ripken Jr. This might be the toughest decision for any franchise. Cal Ripken Jr., one of the greatest shortstops to ever live? Or his idol, Brooks Robinson, another lifelong Oriole and one of the greatest third basemen to ever live? Ripken gets the slight nod because he amassed nearly 20 more Wins Above Replacement ... and because of timing: This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of him becoming baseball's Iron Man. He was the Baltimore-area kid who starred for his hometown team, redefined his position and remains one of the most iconic, beloved, durable and productive players in MLB history. RAYS: Evan Longoria Longoria is the best player in Rays franchise history, and it's not particularly close. The three-time All-Star leads the organization in at-bats (5,450), home runs (261), runs scored (780), RBIs (892), games played (1,435), doubles (339), walks (569), sacrifice flies (76), extra-base hits (618) and total bases (2,630). If that's not enough, Longoria also ranks second in slugging percentage (.483) and hits (1,471). The moment Longoria announces his retirement, his No. 3 jersey will be hanging from the rafters at Tropicana Field. RED SOX: Ted Williams The Splendid Splinter was an iconic hitting machine who played his entire career for the Red Sox and put up spectacular numbers (.344/.482/.634, 521 homers, 1,839 RBIs) that would have been even better had he not missed three full seasons and large chunks of two others serving his country as a fighter pilot. Williams is still the last player to hit .400 in a season, going 6-for-8 in the final two games to reach .406 in 1941. The final at-bat Williams ever had was also the stuff of legend, as he clocked a home run at Fenway Park. No. 9 had a career WAR of 121.9, the 11th best in history for a position player. YANKEES: Babe Ruth The most celebrated character of his time, Ruth is described on his Hall of Fame plaque as the "greatest drawing card in the history of baseball." Fans flocked for glimpses of the Great Bambino, the game's first great slugger, who remains the benchmark by which all other superstars are judged. Ruth changed the game following his acquisition by the Yankees prior to the 1920 season. Converted to a full-time outfielder, Ruth hit 54 homers that season, more than any other AL team. He won 12 home run titles, smacking 60 in 1927, and he walloped 714 career homers -- a record that stood until 1974. AL CENTRAL INDIANS: Bob Feller Though Tris Speaker, Nap Lajoie or Lou Boudreau would all have acceptable arguments to get this title, Feller has quite the convincing case himself. Feller is the Tribe's all-time leader in wins (266), strikeouts (2,581), starts (484), complete games (279) and innings pitched (3,827). He led the AL in wins six times and strikeouts seven times. The righty set club single-season records for strikeouts (348), innings (371 1/3), shutouts (10) and complete games (36) in 1946. Feller pitched a franchise-record three no-hitters and 12 one-hitters and was a first-ballot Hall of Famer by an overwhelming margin in 1962. ROYALS: George Brett The franchise's only Hall of Famer, Brett has the Royals' club career mark in virtually every offensive category -- from hits (3,154) to doubles (665) to triples (137) to home runs (317). Brett played his entire 21-year career with Kansas City, winning one Most Valuable Player Award and one Gold Glove Award while appearing in 13 All-Star Games. TIGERS: Ty Cobb The plaque positioned outside the administrative entrance at Comerica Park calls Cobb the "Greatest Tiger of All / A Genius in Spikes." Nearly a century after Cobb's playing days, and 57 years after the plaque debuted at Tiger Stadium, the case still holds. Though Cobb played most of his career in a far different game during the Deadball Era, his numbers have stood the test of time, from a .366 batting average to 4,189 career hits. Cobb's 149.3 fWAR ranks fourth all time behind Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds and Willie Mays. TWINS: Kirby Puckett Harmon Killebrew was the epitome of every value the Twins stand for and the franchise's home run king, but Puckett was the emotional leader, fan favorite and Hall of Famer who led the Twins to the only two World Series championships in club history in 1987 and '91. During a 12-year career -- all with the Twins -- Puckett was a 10-time All-Star and clubbed 2,304 hits, including 207 homers, to go with a batting title, six Gold Glove Awards in center field and six Silver Slugger Awards. WHITE SOX: Frank Thomas Thomas' nickname, the Big Hurt, indicated what he consistently did to the baseball and opposing pitchers trying to retire him. The Hall of Famer and the team's top pick in the 1989 Draft tops the White Sox with 448 home runs and 1,465 RBIs, not to mention his .995 career OPS and 1,327 runs scored. Over 16 seasons playing for the White Sox, Thomas emerged at No. 1 for the franchise in nine separate statistical categories and was top-five in 14. Thomas won two MVP Awards and four Silver Sluggers.
The relentless Dodgers marked the two-thirds point of the season Friday night by launching five home runs in a 10-6 comeback win over their favorite opponent, the Rockies, at Dodger Stadium. The first team in MLB to reach 30 wins, Los Angeles matched its best 40-game start in franchise history while extending its win streak to six. Home runs by AJ Pollock, Joc Pederson and Mookie Betts in a five-run eighth inning turned the game around after the Dodgers had fallen behind in the top of the frame on a Kevin Pillar grand slam. Will Smith homered in a three-run seventh and Max Muncy slugged a solo shot in the first. “Just an explosion,” said Pollock, who also had a pinch-hit homer Thursday night. “We always feel like we're in it. Up and down the lineup, we've got guys that can do damage and put pressure on the other team. It's fun. You show up at the ballpark and even when you're down, you expect to win.” The Dodgers are 30-10, matching their starts in 1888, 1955 and 1977. They have an 11-game home win streak, are 4-0 against Colorado this year, have won 24 of their past 28 games against the Rockies and have won 17 of the past 18 meetings between the two teams in L.A. Considering their loaded roster -- with Betts bearing down on another MVP Award and A-list supporting co-stars everywhere -- no wonder the Dodgers have won 30 of 40. It's a wonder how they've lost 10. “I'd be hard-pressed to find a team that was better equipped to do what we do,” manager Dave Roberts said. Rookie starter Dustin May kept Los Angeles in the game early while locked in a duel with Colorado right-hander Antonio Senzatela. In 5 2/3 innings, May allowed two runs, coming on solo home runs to Raimel Tapia, who went deep to lead off the game, and Sam Hilliard, who also homered off May two weeks ago. Pairing his 100-mph fastball with a slurve instead of a cutter, May struck out five with a walk.The Dodgers, who currently own the No. 1 seed in the National League, will use September for postseason roster tryouts. That includes determining who will be the third starter in a best-of-three Wild Card Series, joining Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler. May, who is competing with Julio Urías and Tony Gonsolin, has the raw tools, and on Friday, he flashed pitchability. “I'm very excited about his ability to make adjustments during the middle of a big league season. It's tough,” Roberts said. “To tighten that breaking ball and not make it so loopy, he's done that. Today, he showed he could get it to swing and miss, to get it over for a strike. I think he even threw it to get back into a count when down, 2-1. Really fun to watch.” May, who turns 23 on Sunday, has not allowed more than two runs in any of his eight starts this season, and he hasn't allowed more than three earned runs in any of his first 12 career starts. According to STATS, LLC, that is the second-longest streak to begin a career in Dodgers history, trailing only Pedro Astacio, who allowed three or fewer earned runs in each of his first 13 starts from 1992-93. Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux was every expert's pick to be the National League Rookie of the Year Award winner in 2020, but with the season nearly two-thirds over he's hitting .118. What happened? What didn't? He was late to Summer Camp, arrived with complicated hitting mechanics and didn't make the Opening Day roster cut. He worked for a month at the alternate training site and was recalled last week, but instead of a promotional reward, it's a runway for Lux to show he deserves to make the postseason roster cut. Expectations are through the roof for the No. 2 prospect in the game, according to MLB Pipeline. But Lux downplays that as a reason for his struggles. “Sure, whenever you're expected to do good when you come up, you're expected to perform and everybody's held to that standard,” Lux said on Friday. “I saw that last year, so, coming into this year, I knew what to expect. I don't think there's any added pressure. It's just getting comfortable, going and playing and baseball is baseball at the end of the day.” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Lux has looked passive at the plate, taking too many strikes and leading to seven strikeouts in 17 at-bats. “I don't think it's physical,” Roberts said. “I think there's still an adjustment as far as the late ramp-up for him. He comes in and guys are already in the season, so he's catching up to speed, certainly not easy. I just want him to be himself and everything will take care of itself.” Roberts said the expectations Lux faced “plays into it a lot.” “Gavin might say 'No' to the question, but it's got to impact it to some point,” Roberts said. “I can't imagine the expectations that have been placed on him. All he can do is be himself and help us win games.” Lux said he heard Roberts and is already changing his mental approach. “My swing feels like it's in a lot better place. Maybe the results aren't showing up right now, but been putting in a lot of work and try to stay locked in,” Lux said. “When I'm good, I'm aggressive in the zone and I trust my eyes to tell me if it's a ball or a strike. When I'm rolling, I'm in the batter's box saying ‘Yes, yes, yes, no,' instead of ‘No, no, no, yes.'” Lux is a native of Kenosha, Wis., where the police shooting of Jacob Blake and resulting protests have brought continued attention to social injustice. Lux said he's planning to hold a fundraiser and intends to get involved in the community during the offseason. “I'm going to be down in the community,” Lux said. “If you live in Kenosha, you're affected by it. The uptown area, the downtown area, everybody was affected.” Lux on fellow prospects While at the USC alternate training site, Lux said he was most impressed with the club's first-round Draft picks of the past two years: Third baseman Kody Hoese -- ranked as the Dodgers No. 5 prospect -- and right-handed pitcher Bobby Miller (No. 9). “Kody Hoese can really, really, really hit,” Lux said. “I felt like every day he was hitting a ball off the wall or shooting a double the other way. Bobby Miller came in, he was like 95 [mph], 98, hard slider, changeup. Pretty much all the new drafted pitchers were 95, 96 with good breaking balls. Shout-out to our scouting staff. Those guys were impressive coming right out of the Draft.” There's little doubt the Hall of Fame will come calling for Clayton Kershaw. As is customary, the game's chroniclers in Cooperstown reach out to a player for a game-used jersey or hat or cleats when history is made. On Thursday night, Kershaw added to his growing collection at the New York museum in a 5-1 victory over the D-backs when he struck out Nick Ahmed for the first out of the 2nd inning to become the third-youngest pitcher in MLB history to strike out 2,500 batters. Only Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan (31 years, 101 days) and Walter Johnson (31 years, 197 days) accomplished the feat at a younger age. Kershaw (32 years, 168 days) passed Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez, who did it at 32 years, 221 days. He is the fifth pitcher to reach 2,500 career strikeouts by his age-32 season behind Ryan, Johnson, Martinez and Hall of Famer Tom Seaver, who did it at 32 years, 287 days. “I don't ever want to discredit any of the stuff that's happening because it is cool. It really is,” Kershaw said. “It's just hard for me to think about it, honestly, or wrap my head around being associated with names like that and getting to see your name on different types of leaderboards. It's just hard to grasp really.”