[joshuaaaaaa]

Note, this topic is a direct continuation of the topic entitled Triple Crown Winner

In 2015, Joey McKinley did what he seems to do every year, hitting well for average, and not having his power kick in until mid-May. When it did kick in, it came with a vengeance, and McKinley rapidly climbed up the triple crown ladder. His best month was August, where he hit .402, with 21 HR and 39 RBI. This vaulted him to the top in all three categories. McKinley had big leads in homeruns and average, and was in a three way dogfight for 1st place in RBIs with his teammate Mark Teixeira and Tampa Bay's Gilbert Dierking. As it turned out, fate took a shot at a third triple crown out of McKinley's hand, as was hit in the face and suffered a bruised cheekbone with two weeks to go in the season.

McKinley's final stats for the season and updated stats for his career are as follows:

2015 Career
G: 149 1,302
AB: 566 4,730
H: 209 1,611
2B: 26 166
3B: 1 39
HR: 50 337
RBI: 135 966
R: 132 1,013
K: 153 1,085
BB: 102 879
SB: 8 81
CS: 6 45
AVG: .369 .341
OBP: .472 .444
SLG: .684 .606

All this and he's only 29! He's signed to a contract for $11,173,100 through 2021, when he'll be 35 years old. Conservatively assuming 200 hits, 40 HR and 125 RBI/year through the rest of the contract, at age 35 he'd have 2,811 hits, 577 HR and 1,716 RBIs with at least 2 productive years left, and possibly as many as seven (players seem to age at either 37 or 42 in this league). If he keeps hitting closer to 50 HR per year, he could have 637 HR by age 35, and possibly 800 or more by the time he retires. I'll keep updating.

Oh, by the way, despite missing the last two weeks of the season, McKinley won the batting crown with his .369 average, way ahead of second place Luis Fazio of Oakland, who was at .339. He was also first in HR, with Amos Ruano of KC in second with 43. McKinley finished fifth in RBIs, behind Dierking (153), Teixeira (149), Miguel Avilla of Tampa Bay (140) and Ruano (136).

As for me, I took over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and after a rough start to the season, the team really came together and started playing good baseball. Basically, they pounded the opposition into submission, as the pitching is average at best. The team was led by RF Frank Robards (.295/41/115), LF Dierking (.318/40/153), 1B Carols Reyes (.287/37/119) and C Avilla (.303/33/140). Reyes had one amazing stat. In 658 AB, he struck out only 21 times. Robards was almost as good, striking out 26 times in 576 AB. Robards walked more than Reyes and was second on the team with a .403 OBP (Avilla led the team at .419).

The pitching was led by Felix Diaz (15-6, 4.17), who, unfortunately, suffered a season-ending injury in mid-September and will be unavailable for the playoffs, mid-season acquisition Jeffrey Harkey (17-12, 4.87) and Bobby Sanchez (12-6, 5.43).

The team finished at 92-70, winning the wild card, and is playing my former team, the Baltimore Orioles (96-66) in the first round of the playoffs. The Devil Rays went 4-11 against the O's in the regular season, so it could be a rough series. Despite the good performance, fan support is only at 31, and I had to lower ticket prices to $7 to get an average attendance of $30. We'll see if the good season boosts the fan base or loyalty for next season.