"When we got hot, a lot of it was our ninth-place hitter setting the table," La Russa said about last season.
Jake Arrieta's first no-hitter set him apart.
Perhaps losing a no-hitter set the tone for the season.
Even if Roberts does not reach 60 doubles, he made baseball history on Sept. 29 by hitting his 56th double of the season, which broke Lance Berkman's record for doubles by a switch-hitter, set in 2001.
The White Sox, whose hitters set a franchise record for strikeouts last season, pursued Keppinger aggressively after he hit.325 for Tampa Bay.
They had two extreme problems to fix: their hitters set a record for strikeouts in a season, and their bullpen was by far the worst in the majors.
Bonds's first homer also broke the National League record for homers by left-handed hitters, set by Johnny Mize with the New York Giants in 1947.
But with the Yankees ahead by 2-1, boteamsamscheduleded for a day off on Monday and three consecutive right-handed hitters set to follow Henderson, Yankees Manager Joe Torre was going for the kill.
Schuster, who did not throw a no-hitter in his first three years of high school, is two shy of the national prep record of six consecutive no-hitters set by Chris Taranto in Mississippi in 1961 and equaled by Tom Engle in Ohio in 1989.
The South Koreans would have avoided Japan's best hitter and set up a force play at any base.
