happened, the police official said. The swimmers also could not say what time the events o

Is there life after Hector Santiago trade rumors? There is ...Is there a place we can all turn after spending every waking second worrying about where Andrew Cashner would finish out the season? There is...Is there anything more meaningful in our lives than memorizing the teams on Jonathan Lucroys no-trade list? There is.Trust me.I just dug myself out of an eight-foot pile of trade rumors and noticed something. Back on the field, weve got quite a fun list of players who are well on their way to doing stuff that either has never been done, hasnt been done since Harry Truman was president or has only been done by living legends. And here we were all too consumed by Trade Deadline Daily to notice.Heres just some of the stuff youve been missing:TROUT FISHINGIm not going to argue that Mike Trout is underrated. Im not that demented. But heres what I think I can make an excellent case for: Were taking Mike Trouts greatness for granted. And its time to stop ho-humming this guy right now. Got it?Maybe this will get your attention. Whos leading the American League in Wins Above Replacement, as calculated by both baseball-reference.com and Fangraphs? Cmon. Who do you think is leading it -- Aaron Hicks? Its the best player in baseball, of course.Its Trout season because every season is Trout season nowadays. He led the league in WAR last year. And the year before that. And the year before that. And the year before that. Want to count those up? Go ahead. Ill wait.If you counted correctly, youll recognize this would make FIVE seasons in a row. And if you dont recall anyone else doing that, I can now reveal the reason for that. Maybe its because the last man to do it was a dude named George H. Bambino Ruth.The Babe led the AL in Wins Above Replacement six years in a row, from 1926-31. Not that he knew it at the time, of course, since he was way too busy eating cheeseburgers to grasp the true significance of modern metrics.But baseball-reference now tells us hes the only position player in history to lead any league in WAR at least five years in a row. (Walter Johnson also did it as a pitcher, from 1912-16.) So think about this, ladies and gentlemen. If Mike Trout keeps on doing what he always does for another couple of months, the entire list of hitters who have achieved this feat will consist of A) him and B) the greatest player who ever lived. Try taking THAT for granted.ALTUVE JOINS THE SHORT LIST Life is too short. But apparently, you cant say that about Jose Altuve. He may stand a mere 5 feet, 6 inches tall, officially speaking. But hes doing things that only the big boys are supposed to do.Lets start with this: He looks like a popular choice at the moment to win the AL MVP award, those Mike Trout WAR numbers above notwithstanding. And perhaps youre asking yourself: Hey, self. Has anybody that short ever won an MVP trophy before?Well, were stuck with using official heights. So unless you can sneak up behind Dustin Pedroia with a tape measure, hes still 5-foot-7, according to the powers that be. Which means that only one player as short as Altuve has ever been an MVP before. And no, were not talking about Rafael Belliard.Its the legendary 5-foot-6 Phil Rizzuto, who was the AL MVP in 1950, in much simpler times. (By which I mean Ted Williams had an OPS 244 points higher than Rizzuto but finished 21st. Because it was 1950.)Back to Altuve, however. What makes him such a compelling MVP candidate? Oh, lots of stuff. But for starters, heres a short selection of other potential Jose Altuve feats:Could lead his league in stolen bases and slugging (currently 2nd in each). Last guy to do that: Willie Mays, in 1957.Could lead his league in this nearly impossible daily double -- slugging and singles. The only player to do that since Ty Cobb retired: Stan Musial, in 1946.Could lead his league in all three of those categories -- slugging, singles and steals. The only man ever to do that: Cobb (in 1907, 09 and 11).Theres lots more, naturally. But you get the idea. Jose Altuve: way more fun than your average trade rumor.EXTRA CREDIT FOR WAINOAdam Wainwright doesnt stop at first. And we love that about him. He may cover first. He may toss an occasional pickoff throw to first. But when he hits a baseball in his other life, you can trust us on this: He aint stopping at first base.Wainwright has seven hits in 42 at-bats this year. See if you can figure out what they all have in common: Triple, double, homer, double, double, double, homer.Not a single in the bunch. Wainwright hasnt hit one of those since Sept. 17, 2014. And that leaves him in position to make a pretty crazy brand of history. All he has to do is keep avoiding stopping at first.How many players in the history of baseball have gotten this many extra-base hits in a season but zero singles? That would be none. The record is five, by Dixie Howell (1954) and Rick Wrona (1994).This just in, however: We should mention that Braves utility man Brandon Snyder is currently up to six extra-base hits without a single, so he could mess this all up. Then again, Wainwright is scheduled to pitch against the Braves on Sunday. So he just needs to serve up a little base hit to left for his good friend Brandon Snyder, and thatll take care of that threat.In fact, here at August History Watch World Headquarters, were counting on it. How cool would it be for a pitcher to hold an all-time extra-base-hit record? Correct answer: Super cool.CHRIS ARCHER: LOST IN KSIf youre just looking at the old loss column, you might think Chris Archer is having a disastrous year down in Tampa Bay because, well, youve probably been trained to think that about pitchers who are 5-15.But take a look at another column on the stat sheet -- the old strikeout column -- and you might have to rethink all that. Because whos leading the American League in strikeouts? Yessir. That very same Chris Archer.I bet youd guess thats tough to do, huh? -- to lead your league in both strikeouts and losses? Well, youd be one fine guesser. The American League has been around for 116 seasons now. And only one pitcher has ever led it in both those departments in the same year.That would be the one, the only, Nolan Ryan, who had an even nuttier season in 1976, when he not only led the AL in losses (18) and strikeouts (327), but also in shutouts (seven). And -- shocker alert -- nobody else has done that in any league. (This kind of sums up Ryans whole career, but thats enough Nolan Ryan commentary for one day.)Now normally, its never a bad thing to find yourself in a club that only Nolan Ryan has ever joined. But we might have to make an exception for this particular club. Even if losses are overrated and strikeouts are underrated, the Lead the League in Ls and Ks Club is one thats barely worth rating at all.THERES AN O IN TROTFinally, whos leading the American League in home runs? Its gotta be a big bopper for those Baltimore Orioles, right? Because some Oriole or other leads the league in home runs every year.This year, its Mark Trumbos turn. But last year, it was Chris Davis turn. And the year before that, it was yet another Oriole (Nelson Cruz). And the year before that, Davis was your designated Orioles home run champ.So this could make four seasons in a row. And if youre thinking that almost never happens, youre getting the hang of this.Only one AL team in the live ball era has ever done it. And it would be -- guess who? -- the New York Babe Ruths. The Yankees once produced the AL home run leader NINE years in a row, from 1923-31. But that almost wasnt fair because the Babe spent some of those years hitting more homers than the average TEAM. He led the league outright five years in a row (1926-30), tied Lou Gehrig in 1931, also led in 1923 and 24, and let another Yankee (Bob Meusel) win in 1925.Over in the NL, its been done twice in the live ball era, but not in over a half century. The Giants had five straight winners from 1961-65 (three by Willie Mays, one by Orlando Cepeda, plus a Willie McCovey tie for the lead in 1963). And the Pittsburgh Ralph Kiners won seven years in a row, from 1946-52, with Kiner winning four of those outright and tying for the lead three other years.But if Trumbo can win this title all by himself, it would mean wed have just two instances in history in which one team produced four straight outright home run champs. One would be these Orioles. The other would be the franchise formerly known as The Babe.Hey, the Bambino grew up in Baltimore, remember. So this would no doubt be his favorite August History Watch tidbit of them all ... as soon as he finished off one more cheeseburger. Adidas Ultra Boost Clearance Sale . And when it opened, every player was at his stall. Thats a sure sign that a team is in a slump and is searching for answers. "Its embarrassing to be at home and play the way we did," said defenceman Josh Gorges. Vapormax Plus China . JOHNS, N. http://www.brandshoescheaponline.com/wholesale-air-max-china.html . Mitch Holmberg added a goal and three assists. Connor Chartier also scored for the Chiefs (3-0-0). Luke Harrison spoiled Garrett Hughsons shutout bid with a power-play goal at 13:17 of the third period. The Spokane goaltender finished with 28 saves, including a Brandon Fushimi penalty shot in the second period that would have tied the game 1-1. Balenciaga Triple s Cheap . Aside from the trilogy main event title fight, there are a number of intriguing matchups in the heavyweight, welterweight and lightweight divisions. Discount Air Force Ones . It says Pocklingtons lawyer filed the appeal Friday in a California court. CTV Edmonton also says Pocklington gave a $100,000 cash deposit as part of the conditions of his bail, and that he will be out on bail until his appeal is heard. RIO DE JANEIRO -- A Brazilian judge ordered Wednesday that the passports of American swimmers Ryan Lochte and Jimmy Feigen be seized, confining them to the country as authorities investigate their claim they were robbed at gunpoint during the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.Steve Lochte told The Associated Press by phone that his gold-medal-winning son called him Tuesday after arriving back in the United States and told him he was going to pick up his car and buy a new wallet to replace the one that he said was stolen during the robbery.Im just happy hes safe, the elder Lochte said. It was an unfortunate experience for him and the other three. I dont know what all the controversy is. They were basically taken out of the taxi and robbed. The main thing is hes very lucky that hes safe and that all they got was his cash and wallet.The elder Lochte said his sons Olympic credentials and cell phone werent taken during the incident early Sunday morning. He said he was sure Ryan had his passport or he would not have been allowed to board a plane.Feigens whereabouts could not immediately be confirmed, though he told the San Antonio Express-News he was still in Brazil.The office of Judge Keyla Blank confirmed the order to seize their passports in a statement Wednesday.The U.S. Olympic Committee said police went to the athletes village Wednesday morning to try to collect the passports, but the swim team had already moved out. Spokesman Patrick Sandusky declined to say whether Lochte and Feigen were still in the country.As part of our standard security protocol, we do not make athlete travel plans public and therefore cannot confirm the athletes current location, Sandusky said. We will continue to cooperate with Brazilian authorities.The U.S. State Department issued a statement Wednesday encouraging those involved to cooperate with Brazilian law enforcement.Lochte and three of his teammates say they were robbed at gunpoint in a taxi Sunday morning as they returned to the athletes village from a party, several hours after the last Olympic swimming events were held.Police have found little evidence so far to support their accounts, and say the swimmers were unable to provide key details in police interviews.Why would anybody fabricate anything? Steve Lochte said. Its just ridiculous.A police official with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that police cannot find their taxi driver or witnesses to the robbery. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.Lochtes attorney, Jeff Ostrow, has said there is no question the robbery happened.?My opinion is they are trying to use Ryans situation to use as a scapegoat to show that things down there are not as bad as it looks, Ostrow told ESPN on Wednesday. These types of things have happened with other people, like thee New Zealand athlete, but they dont take half the interest they do with Ryan.ddddddddddddIf they dont like the level of the detail that theyve gotten from the statement ... then call me and we can give them more. Ryan is the victim here. You take one of the Brazilian authorities and put a gun to their head on a random street in America in the middle of the night and I guarantee they wouldnt be absolutely accurate with all the details.They can do and say whatever they want down there. The fact remains they were robbed at gunpoint.According to statements from Lochte and the USOC, the swimmers were returning to the athletes village by taxi after a night out at the French Olympic teams hospitality house in the Rodrigo de Freitas area in the citys upscale south zone.Traveling with Lochte and 26-year-old Feigen were 21-year-old Gunnar Bentz and 20-year-old Jack Conger. Lochte swam in two events at the Rio Games, winning gold in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay. He is a 12-time Olympic medalist.Bentzs father, Steve Bentz, declined comment when reached by the AP.The group did not call police, authorities said, and officers began investigating once they saw media reports in which Lochtes mother spoke about the robbery. Police interviewed Lochte and one other swimmer, who said they had been intoxicated and could not remember what type and color of taxi they rode in or where the robbery happened, the police official said. The swimmers also could not say what time the events occurred.Later in the day, Lochte described the incident to NBCs Today show.We got pulled over, in the taxi, and these guys came out with a badge, a police badge, no lights, no nothing, just a police badge, and they pulled us over, Lochte said. They pulled out their guns, they told the other swimmers to get down on the ground -- they got down on the ground. I refused, I was like, We didnt do anything wrong, so -- Im not getting down on the ground.And then the guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead and he said, Get down, and I put my hands up, I was like, Whatever. He took our money, he took my wallet -- he left my cellphone, he left my credentials.Word of the robbery initially created confusion between Olympic and U.S. officials. An International Olympic Committee spokesman at first said reports of the robbery were absolutely not true, then reversed himself, apologized and said he was relying on initial information from the USOC that was wrong.Lochte told USA Today Sports that he and his teammates didnt initially tell the U.S. Olympic officials about the robbery because we were afraid wed get in trouble.Information from ESPNs Wayne Drehs and The Associated Press was used in this report. ' ' '