The Baseball Blind Auditions Welcome Two New Members, Show Two The Door

The blind auditions continue today with two more exciting head to head matchups. All of the participants are eligible and well deserving and were great baseball talents in their careers. In the head to head matchups, one will be welcomed to the next round, and one will be shown the door. All are vying for a prize that looks something like this…

With a busy docket of 2 head to head matchups, let’s jump right into it, shall we???

HK played nearly 15 seasons with 4 Major League Baseball clubs. From what I can remember, HK was a utility type player who moved around the infield defensively, could DH, and play some outfield. HK collected nearly 1800 hits all while batting a respectable .292 for his career. HK is a World Series winner and won an NLCS MVP award.
DM played 12 seasons with 4 Major League Baseball clubs. DM is best known for one club, the club he had the most productive years with. Playing mostly 2nd base, DM was a multi-year All-Star and Silver Slugger award winner. His .296 career average in over 5300 at bats produced over 1500 hits, including over 370 doubles. DM played in one World Series, on a losing team, despite winning the NLCS MVP in that year.

Like their peers in the contest, both HK and DM are deserving to be considered. HK was a tough out and reliable player for years. DM was a force in any lineup he was present in. By a close margin, I am going with DM on this one. DM moves onto the next round.

Okay, let’s take a nature break and enjoy this view of fall on a pond…

Ready to go? Great, here is matchup 2 for the day:

NM played 15 seasons with 2 Major League Baseball clubs. NM is widely known for his many, many years with one club in particular. NM was an All-Star, a Gold Glove winner, and a Silver Slugger award winner. A career .288 hitter, NM collected over 2300 hits, including a whopping 500 plus doubles. His fielding percentage as a right fielder is statistically the best of all-time. NM did not play in the World Series for either of his MLB teams.
HP played 14 seasons with 4 Major League Baseball clubs. HP was a multi year All-Star and multi-year World Series champion. HP collected nearly 1800 hits, nearly 250 home runs on a career batting average of .279. HP slugged at least 20 doubles 9 times in his 14 year career.

This matchup was eye-opening for me in terms of NM. I didn’t realize how productive a hitter and fielder he was. HP was a great player on some great teams and was an integral part of 2 World Series Championship teams. This is a razor close one here, but because of NM’s defensive wizardry, I am going to lean toward him. NM wins this round and moves onto the next round.

Okay, let’s recap the winners so far:

All for today folks, we will pick this contest up again in the very near future. Until then, have an awesome day.