October baseball means it’s awards season at Foul Play-by-Play, so throughout the 2019 World Series and offseason we’ll announce the winners of the inaugural Foul Play-by-Play Baseball Awards and explain the awards they’ve won and why. Since everything we do around here is a bit foul in nature, our annual awards are no exception. Most any fan knows the best players, pitchers, and rookies in each league. We instead award those heroes of sport whose accomplishments and obstacles they’ve overcome most mirror the path of heroes (and villains) from classic literature and cinema. You likely know who the MVPs, Cy Youngs, and Rookies of the Year will be. But who in Major League Baseball (MLB) overcame the worst luck and health despite having no exceptional skills except an exceptional anger and clutch hitting? Who’s dying hardest in MLB? Who’s the John McClane of baseball?
Sure, Officer McClane is hard to kill, but his near-death experiences in the Die Hard films always start with bad luck and pile it on from there. McClane overcomes that luck to not only survive, but drive enemies crazy with his innate ability to upset their plans regardless of the many injuries sustained in doing so. By the end of every Die Hard film, McClane’s injuries exemplify how hard it is to kill John McClane. But what baseball statistics, occurrences, and personal traits best exemplify John McClane, and how do we decide the winner of the 2019 MLB Die Hard Award?
2019 MLB Die Hard Award Eligibility Requirements
Specifically and statistically speaking, baseball’s John McClane has:
- bad luck in the form of a batting average on balls in play (BABIP) at or near MLB-worst, and
- an injury that diminishes at least one of his above-average skills.
- He has a well-rounded skill set but isn’t exceptional at anything.
- He is a pressure player who produces in the clutch, and
- has an attitude exuding that confidence in his clutchness. These are the Foul Play-by-Play awards after all.
The John McClane of baseball gets more unlucky and more unhealthy as the season progresses, yet he’s unwavering and surprisingly effective despite this. The McClane of baseball is a pressure player who comes through in the clutch and is more resourceful than he is athletic. He’s obviously an overachieving grinder who accepts and adapts to what the game gives and takes.
And the 2019 MLB Die Hard Award goes to…
Brett Gardner, OF, New York Yankees
The Foul Play-by-Play 2019 MLB Die Hard Award winner even looks a little like John McClane.
This year’s winner of Foul Play-by-Play’s inaugural award for being the John McClane of baseball is the Yankees’ veteran outfielder and John McClane look-alike, Brett Gardner. Despite his advanced age (35) and a July knee injury likely slowing his still surprising speed and defensive agility, Gardner adapted to the plot twists, sprains, and bruises of the Yankees’ injury-plagued 2019 season to have a career year. His performance should bring him good luck in free agency this offseason, but it was the bad luck that made him a nominee for the 2019 MLB Die Hard Award.
Bruce Willis as John McClane in “Live Free or Die Hard” looking a lot like a slightly older, stronger, and meaner Brett Gardner. I bet Bruce could hit some dingers whether the balls are juiced or not.
Gardner’s bad luck included the 13th-worst batting average on balls in play in 2019 (.265) and the likely lost step or two running the bases and playing the outfield due to the knee injury and later a toe injury. Fast men plus leg injuries divided by 162 games equals slower men. But Gardner managed to make up for it by logging a career best slugging percentage of .503, almost doubling his flyball percentage from 2018. That adaptation was common amongst players in 2019, and paired with the alleged introduction of “juiced balls,” it resulted in a record number of home runs (671 more than the previous record of 6,105 set in 2017) and strikeouts (42,823) in an MLB season. More than a quarter of all at-bats were strikeouts for the first time ever, while 2019 saw a 21.3 percent increase in dingers from 2018. So it shouldn’t surprise you that 35-year-old Brett Gardner hit seven more homers than he ever had (28), and with 103 fewer at-bats than it took to hit 21.
The veteran was also clutch, finishing 2019 tied (with Gio Urshela) for the team lead with 13 hits late in games that were close. Gardner’s two stolen bases in those tight spots also put him in a tie for best on the team, and his seven runs scored late in close games only trailed Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres, who each scored eight clutch runs.
Gardner’s contributions to the contending Yankees weren’t limited to his suddenly slugging bat, either. Despite being as old as Bruce Willis in Die Hard 2, Gardner started more than three times as many games in center field (94) as he did in 2018 (29) due to injuries to Aaron Hicks and Cameron Maybin. And he wasn’t bad. He was basically a replacement-level defender in center field for 820 innings, which is pretty impactful given his offensive production. He contributed four wins above a replacement-level player (4.0 WAR) over 141 games. That’s tied for 66th amongst all MLB players with the likes of American League Batting Champion Tim Anderson. just ahead of his clutch teammate Torres (3.9 WAR).
The Minnesota Twins’ Max Kepler, another nominee for the 2019 MLB Die Hard Award, filled in for the injured Byron Buxton in center field for 459 innings. Despite playing fewer innings, Kepler saved five more runs than Gardner on defense based on Baseball Info Solutions (BIS), but relative to a replacement-level player over the course of 1,200 innings, Gardner actually rated better in center using Total Zone Total Fielding, which shouldn’t be surprising given his experience playing the position. Kepler, thanks to a slightly higher slugging percentage than Gardner’s (.519) and many more home runs (36), managed to match Gardner’s 4.0 WAR in just 134 games. Kepler was even responsible for two walkoff wins for the Twins and had worse luck than Gardner with injuries and on balls put in play. So why is Kepler not our 2019 MLB Die Hard Award winner? Well, it came down to attitude.
Brett Gardner earned Foul Play-by-Play’s 2019 MLB Die Hard Award for fulfilling the foul attitude aspect of being baseball’s John McClane, which fellow nominee Albert Pujols also lacked. Gardner’s now award-winning attitude has a recorded history that could serve as the trailer for Yankees Die Hard, the action-packed, thrill ride that literally blows the roof off the dugout at New Yankee Stadium and makes baseball anything but boring. After being called out on strikes in the first of two games against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 18, Gardner attacked the Yankees’ dugout walls and roof with his bat.
His manager, Aaron Boone, channeled John McClane even better than Gardner, ultimately resulting in his ejection and now famous phrase describing his hitters as “fucking savages,” which a fan is responsible for uncovering. It’s a fitting description for the brutalizing Bronx Bombers (and their fans, according to Tyler Duffey and, later, Josh Reddick), so “Savages in the Box” became the all-too-obvious rallying cry of Yankees fans in 2019. At least they accept their savagery but maybe they shouldn’t wear it as a badge of honor. Just don’t throw that badge onto the playing surface or into the bullpen. That has to stop. Maybe the John McClane of baseball can do something about this if he returns to New York. Heckle the players all you want but don’t treat the cathedral that is New Yankee Stadium like a trash can. And don’t make people go to work covered in beer. Even bartenders wouldn’t want to show up for work already smelling like work.
Brett Gardner’s game is indeed savagely. He plays angry and likes to swing his club like a caveman when he fails or thinks the umpire has failed him. He’s done real damage to the Yankees’ dugout and to himself. He threw his helmet into the hat rack after flying out at the plate. But his helmet had had enough abuse that particular day, redirecting itself right back to its source and busting the lip of the habitual equipment abuser. But Gardner is as stubborn as John McClane. He’s still throwing his helmet into the ground but he might be demolishing a different dugout next season. Remember, he’s a free agent. But seeing him in another uniform would be like watching someone other than Bruce Willis try to play John McClane in a Die Hard reboot. You’d hate him for leaving the franchise and not letting you love to hate him as a Yankee.
