Abreu's 4-RBI Friday revives three-peat bid
Don't count out Jose Abreu just yet.
Before the White Sox game Friday against the Detroit Tigers, his bid to lead the American League in runs batted in for a third consecutive season appeared to be over.
Then Abreu knocked in four runs to fuel an 8-1 victory. That lifted his total to 117, four shy of what Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez has accumulated entering Saturday's games.
The performance, which included Abreu's attaining the 30-homer milestone for the fifth time in his career, ended a season-worst eight-game RBI drought for the first baseman. Four times in 2021 he has gone seven straight games without an RBI - three times before the end of June.
Clearly, he gets his ribbies in batches. Until the final out is recorded in Game 162 Sunday, Abreu should still be considered very much in the RBI crown running.
As noted six weeks ago - when Abreu's RBI title pursuit was one of the statistical subplots highlighted in this column - the last American Leaguer to be RBI champ three straight times was Cecil Fielder of the Tigers (1990-1992). In the NL, the last player to do it was the Reds' George Foster (1976-1978).
Hendriks' dazzling combo
With 111 strikeouts and only seven walks, Sox closer Liam Hendriks has an astounding ratio of nearly 16 whiffs for every walk issued. The norm is roughly two strikeouts for every walk; the all-time seasonal record is 11.6 Ks-per-walk, by Phil Hughes of the 2014 Minnesota Twins.
Though Hendriks does not have enough innings to qualify for this mark, his combo of power and precision stands up historically with some of Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley's most dominant seasons.
In 1989 and '90 combined, while playing for Sox manager Tony La Russa on the Oakland A's, Eckersley had 128 strikeouts and seven walks, for a ratio of 18.3 Ks per walk.
Ohtani's quest takes a walk
Speaking of walks: Over a recent three-game stretch, the Angels' Shohei Ohtani was walked 11 times (four times intentionally), matching a Major League record that Bryce Harper set in 2016. Through Friday, Ohtani's 92 walks were third in the AL. Not getting many good pitches to hit lately has hampered his chances of reclaiming the home run lead that he had for most of the season.
Ohtani had 45 home runs through Friday, but only three have come since Sept. 1. And since the All-Star break, his home run rate has been cut in half (12 in 231 at bats, once every 19 ABs). At the break, when Ohtani served as the AL's starting pitcher in the All-Star Game, he had 33 homers in 301 at-bats (a homer every nine at-bats).
Heading into Saturday, Ohtani trails Perez (48) and Toronto's Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (46) in homers. His eight triples, however, lead the AL.
Happy 77th, Tony
Happy 77th birthday to Sox manager Tony La Russa, who celebrates the milestone Monday. Exactly half his life ago (April 4, 1983), the Sox lost their season opener to Texas, 5-3. With La Russa at the helm as Sox skipper, that squad stumbled to a 16-24 start.
The Sox went on to win the AL Central Division with 99 wins before being bounced by the Baltimore Orioles, 3 games to 1, in the AL Championship Series.
Interestingly, on the day La Russa was born, Game 1 of the only all-St. Louis World Series in history was played. The AL pennant-winning Browns edged the Cardinals, 2-1. The Cards went on to win in six games - and to be managed by La Russa over a half-century later.
• Matt Baron supplements his baseball brainpower with Retrosheet.org for research.