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Chicago Cubs: The unstoppable duo reborn
The duo of Dernier and Sandberg was unstoppable in 1984, as the temperature of fans rose sensing they had a winning team on their hands. Fans and opposing teams watched in disbelief as the ‘Daily Double’ pushed themselves and others around the bases in offensive heaven that year. Sometimes it just takes a certain pairing, at a certain time in their careers and producing at a certain level to go beyond and win it all. It’s almost like lining up the stars perfectly to bring about a manifest destiny… if you believe in that sort of thing.
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Either way, there is no denying something special may about to be happen again. The similarity between these players is remarkable and it’s almost like the ‘Daily Double’ has been reborn. Here’s how the numbers line up:
In 1984, Dernier was playing his fifth season in the league. This is the first weird coincidence, as I am using Bryant’s 2019 stats from last season, Bryant’s fifth season as well. If Bryant is going to lead off the season like Dernier did in 1984, Bryant would have to be fast. Dernier stole 45 bases in 1984 and Bryant stole only four last season and just 34 in his whole career. In 1984, Dernier had 536 at-bats pretty similar to Bryant’s 543 last season.
For the 1984 campaign, Dernier had 149 hits, 94 runs, three home runs, 26 doubles, five triples and 63 walks. That gave Dernier a .278 BA with a .356 OBP, .362 SLG and .718 OPS. Last season, Bryant, by comparison, had a very similar 153 hits, 108 runs, 35 doubles and one triple. The big difference is that Bryant hit 28 more home runs last season than Dernier did in 1984. But look how close the stats are between Bryant last season and Dernier: Bryant had a .282 BA and a .382 OBP. Bryant’s big swings for all those home runs can’t be ignored though and he blows Dernier away with a .521 SLG and .900 OPS.
In his 1984 season, Sandberg had 200 hits scoring 114 runs for the Cubs. He hit 19 home runs, 19 triples and 36 doubles. The superstar second baseman pushed the speedy Dernier around the bases picking up 84 RBI that season. Sandberg’s 1984 numbers included a .314 BA, .367 OBP, .520 SLG and .887 OPS.