In 2005, Bobby Abreu had an uncharacteristic performance in March and April. He only hit .260/.371/.341. The numbers weren’t bad, but not up to Abreu’s usual standard.
Then, on May 9, his fiancee, Alicia Machado was filmed having sex with a castmate on the Chilean realty show, La Granja. Abreu immediately broke it off with Machado when the video came out.
At that point, Abreu began an assault on National League pitching. In May, he hit .396/.535/.792. He cooled off a little in June, but not by much. In the Home Run Derby, he hit 41 total home runs, setting a new record (it has since been broken).
Was Abreu’s newfound vim a direct consequence of Machado’s actions? We’ll never know. But I do find it interesting how closely these events dovetailed.