When a front office orchestrates a major blockbuster trade for a reigning award-winner, they are deliberately aiming for an exceptional, almost rare achievement. In December 2020, the San Diego Padres did exactly that by making a large deal involving multiple prospects with the Tampa Bay Rays to acquire left-handed starter Blake Snell. Known for his fastball and a sharp mix of breaking pitches that earned him the American League Cy Young Award in 2018, Snell was welcomed in Southern California with high expectations. Although his early time there was marked by inconsistency and mechanical issues, it eventually culminated in one of the most dominant single-season pitching performances in modern baseball history.

To be equitable, his 2021 introductory campaign with the Padres was notably challenging, marked by shorter innings and inconsistent command. Snell endeavored to establish a consistent rhythm in his new milieu, often grappling with his delivery, ultimately finishing the summer with a 4.20 ERA and a 1.322 WHIP across 27 starts. Despite these mechanical difficulties, his innate ability to induce swings and misses persisted unequivocally, as evidenced by his accumulation of 170 strikeouts in merely 128.2 innings of play.

The 2022 schedule showed a steady, middle-ground progression as he settled into his surroundings. Though his traditional 8–10 record didn't turn heads, he flashed elite frontline capabilities in the second half, lowering his ERA to a sharp 3.38 and striking out 171 batters over 128 frames, helping anchor a deeper postseason run.

The third year was what they paid for. While he issued a major-league-leading 99 walks, his skill in deep counts and his unhittable stuff allowed him to eliminate traffic on the bases. He finished with a 14–9 record, leading the league with a stunning 2.25 ERA, a formidable 182 ERA+, and just 5.8 hits allowed per nine innings. He also achieved a personal best with 234 strikeouts, ending the summer by allowing only 2 earned runs over his last 23 innings. His command in tough situations earned him widespread national recognition, and Snell won the 2023 National League Cy Young Award. By securing this trophy, he joined an elite group of just seven pitchers in baseball history who have won this award in both leagues.

The Padres would make the playoffs in 2024, but did so without Snell, who left the club for their NL West rival, San Francisco, in free agency.  In San Diego, he had a 30–29 record, 575 strikeouts in 436.2 innings, and a sharp 3.22 ERA across 83 career starts.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the top 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out, and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our post-2023 revision of our top 50 Pittsburgh Pirates.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball, we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in Major League Baseball.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles that are not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, the Pirates got off to a good start but were unable to hold that momentum, and they again missed the playoffs.  There were no new entrants but one small elevation.

As always, we present our top five, which saw no changes:

1. Honus Wagner

2. Roberto Clemente

3. Paul Waner

4. Arky Vaughan

5. Willie Stargell

You can find the entire list here.

The only change was the returning Andrew McCutchen, who went up one spot to #11.

We thank you for your continued support of our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.

The world of professional wrestling lost a legendary, albeit cantankerous figure in Ole Anderson, who passed away at 81.

Born Alan Rogowski, Anderson made his professional debut in the late 60s, and it did not take long for him to make his way to the Carolinas, where he adopted the Ole Anderson name as the kayfabe brother of Lars and Gene Anderson, the latter of whom he had a regular tag team with. They won multiple tag team titles, and Ole also established himself as a singles star. As Anderson gained knowledge, he took over as the booker in both Jim Crockett Promotions and Georgia Championship Wrestling. When Jack and Jerry Brisco sold their interest in GCW to Vince McMahon, Anderson created the Championship Wrestling from Georgia.

Ole's promotion would merge with JCP, and Anderson remained a fixture. He gained a new tag team partner (and kayfabe brother) in Arn Anderson, and they would later form the Four Horseman with Ric Flair and Tully Blanchard. Ole entered semi-retirement in 1987 when he was kicked out of the group.

He returned to reform the group with Flair, Arn, Barry Windham, and Sid Vicious, but was used as the mouthpiece for the group for a short time before he went backstage as a booker. He would leave the promotion for good in 1994.

Anderson was as intelligent as he was curmudgeonly and was one of the few who legitimately did not care whether you liked him. He was one of the better bookers of his era, and though not all of his ideas worked (Black Scorpion), he was undoubtedly creative.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the fans, friends, and family of Ole Anderson.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our post 2023 revision of our top 50 Philadelphia Phillies.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in Major League Baseball.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, the Phillies had another great year, advancing to the NLCS.  This good year by the team saw two new entrants in the Top 50.

As always, we present our top five, which saw no changes:

1. Mike Schmidt

2. Robin Roberts

3. Steve Carlton

4. Ed Delahanty

5. Pete Alexander

You can find the entire list here.

Pitcher, Aaron Nola, was unable to move up from #23, and remains in that spot.

The new entrants were Pitcher, Zack Wheeler and former MVP, Bryce Harper, who enter at #39 and #45 respectively.

We thank you for your continued support for our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.