With the Giants owning the even years of the early 2010’s, the odd years remained up for grabs by anyone and everyone. Luckily for fans in St. Louis, David Freese decided to etch his name in history as a clutch postseason hero. Hitting a whopping .545 against Milwaukee in the National League Championship Series, and then followed it up with a .348 average against Texas in the World Series. When Cardinals’ fans think of 2011, you cannot forget about Freese’s contributions.
1.) Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers: Combined 71 Home Runs and 231 RBIs
Milwaukee had their dynamic power duo really put it all together in 2011, and it led to their first National League Central Division crown and 96 wins. They both hit for tremendous power, drove in tons of runs and hit for high batting averages. You could always pitch around one, but then you are going to have to face the other, which could lead to disaster if you were a National League pitcher. The heart of the Brewers order was finally silenced by the eventual World Series Champion Cardinals in the NLCS.
2.) Adam Dunn, Chicago White Sox: .159 Batting Average and 177 Strikeouts
Dunn was never a contact hitter, that much was for sure. He never hit higher than .267, which is not a bad batting average, but is certainly not winning any batting titles. During his tenure on the Reds and Nationals, Dunn managed to remain respectable, while mashing home runs at a very high clip. That all fell apart when he moved to the American League. Dunn not only struck out 177 times, which equaled out to about 43% of his at bats, but he also watched hit batting average plummet 100 points off of his career high. Dunn would bounce back in 2012 with more power at least, but his average would never get above .219 again.
3.) Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers: 24 Wins
Just one year removed from King Felix winning the Cy Young with 13 wins, Verlander nearly doubles him up (and also brings home more hardware). Verlander was the 2011 Cy Young winner in the American League, and also the MVP, beating out Jacoby Ellsbury from Boston. Verlander also made history with his 24 wins, being the most in baseball since 2002 with Randy Johnson, and a number that has not been reached since. Verlander, who is still active in present day, was and is truly one of the greatest pitchers in the history of baseball.
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