June 2023 always will belong to the Braves, Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani and Jonathan Vero. You’re likely familiar with the first two; Vero is a French firefighter who apparently has a taste for danger and a lot of free time. On June 29, he set Guinness World Records for fastest 100-meter dash (17 seconds) and longest run (893 feet) with body ablaze with fire and without oxygen (he was wearing a protective suit).
Insert “French fry” joke here.
The hot streaks of Vero and Ohtani (who in June hit 15 home runs while batting .394 and also struck out 37 batters in 30-1/3 innings with a 3.26 ERA) can be addressed another time. But what of the Braves, who tore through June with a 21-4 record and churned out historically unique offensive production? (As reported by Justin Toscano, they became the first major-league team since 1901 to hit .307 with a .944 OPS and 61 home runs in a single month.)
