Who are the best players in baseball since the last time LeBron James missed the NBA Finals, way back in 2010?
Many MLB fans are likely aware that the Cleveland LeBron Jameses are facing the Golden State Steph Curries in the NBA Finals for the fourth year in a row. The series starts today. It’s kind of a big deal, especially for LeBron James, who is participating in his eighth consecutive NBA Finals. In baseball terms, this stretch of championship battles is reminiscent of the Dodgers—Yankees battles in the 1950s.
The Dodgers and Yankees never played each other in four straight World Series, but they came close. In the five years from 1952 to 1956, the Dodgers and Yankees matched up four times.
The only year during that stretch in which the Dodgers failed to make the series was 1954 when the New York Giants bested them by five games in the National League. The Dodgers still won 92 games that year, but it wasn’t enough.
As for LeBron James, much is being made of his personal stranglehold on a spot in the NBA Finals. He helped the Miami Heat make it four years in a row from 2011 to 2014 and has led the Cleveland Cavaliers to the finals the last four years.
Around the Internet, you’ve likely seen articles about how the world has changed since LeBron James last failed to lead his team to the NBA Finals. The last time a team without LeBron played for the title was in 2010.
In the summer of 2010, LeBron “took his talents to South Beach” and some people have never forgiven him, not only for leaving Cleveland but also for announcing it the way he (and ESPN) chose to announce it.
That year, Apple released the iPhone 4 and the iPad. The most recent iPhone is the iPhone X, which you would think means there have been five (or V) other iPhones, but that’s not correct. For some reason, they went right from the iPhone 8 to the iPhone X. No one knows what happened to the iPhone 9.
That was also the year that Instagram launched, and millions of women across the world perfected the duck face look. The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 wouldn’t be released for another three years. Vuvuzelas were about to invade World Cup stadiums across the world, eardrums be damned.
The last time LeBron James was NOT in the NBA Finals, Justin Bieber was a huge star. Now we’re all wondering what Shane Bieber (no relation) will do in his major league debut on Thursday.
Too bad Cleveland isn’t playing in a National League park where Shane Bieber could walk up to the plate with “Baby, baby, baby…” blaring over the loudspeakers.
The baseball world has changed a bit since the last time LeBron James was NOT in the NBA Finals. In 2010, 9.4 percent of fly balls went over the fence for home runs. This year, 12.5 percent of fly balls are leaving the yard.
Along with the increase in home runs has come an increase in strikeouts, from 18.5 percent in 2010 to 22.4 percent this year. Of course, the more things change, the more they stay the same. All MLB pitchers combined had a 4.08 ERA in 2010, and they have a 4.08 ERA right now. Go figure.
As LeBron James embarks on his journey to defeat the Golden State Warriors, let’s look back at the last eight years in MLB. Specifically, who are the best players at each position since the last time LeBron James was NOT in the NBA Finals?