Give Credit Where Credit is Due

It is no secret that being flamboyant, outspoken, or controversial will make you the center of attention in the media. It is the public equivalent of nice guys finishing last. That being said just by being associated wth this site I am as guilty as the next person. Everyday I watch, listen, or read every sports media outlet like a high school girl looking for the latest gossip and dirt. I started thinking about that a lot today which led me to think of who my “favorite” baseball player is. The kind of question that was so simple when I was a kid. Now I have a hundred different explanations and reasons for my choices, most of which ends going over some many variables as to make it difficult to widdle a list down to 10 or even 20. These days I’ve realized that my soap box stance of keeping the sanctity of the game has seemed hypocritical at times while other times it simply was. Consider the following beliefs or statements that I have made whether on this site or during debates off the record:
• I believe in Tradition of Baseball, that some things are sacred and that it is the closest thing to pure sport that you can get.
• I watch the AL, like the DH, and think that a great offense is the best defense
• (It is no secret that I am a Cleveland Sports Fan) I would want to play for my home team at whatever cost
• It is not a question of whether I would sell out or not it is just a matter of when.

I can go on and on and I am not a great prophet of baseball, or of keeping it pure. I know that if I played I would not be so humble nor would I be winning any morality contests. I picture myself as Willy May Hays always swinging for the fences, and trust me it would take someone like Lou Brown to keep me in check. That being said I think that it is time to give credit where credit is due. I give credit to those to who keep the ideals alive, and have eluded being hypocritical in their “love for the game”.

This takes me back to my previous statement about it being so much easier to pick my favorite player when I was a kid. I had two posters on my wall: Kenny Lofton and Ken Griffrey Jr. Growing up I had a million arguments with my pops over who was the best modern era baseball player of all time: Bonds or Griffey. He wrote it off as me being young, but maybe it was because I was not jaded yet. I saw the game as a game, and I recognized who was the best, who played the hardest, and who had all of the qualities that I wanted to have. Lets run down some reasons as to why Griffey always has and always will be my favorite player and my choice in a debate for the best of all time:

First Off What Griffey Has Accomplished on Paper (Currently in 19th Season):
Career: .289, 597 HR (6th all Time, 1st Among Active Players), 2593 H, 1719 RBIS, 1561 R.
Gold Gloves: 10
All Star: 13
MVP: 1

What Could Have Been:
Taking away the 38 games he has played so far in 2008 he has averaged nearly 132 games a year in his 18 years. This includes 95’ where he played in only 72 games, 94 and 01 he only played in 111, and 02-04 combined he played in 203 games. Now this may not sound like much, and yes his career game average might appear to be counterproductive in my argument. The thing is that the type of injuries that took him out of these games is what is key. In 02-04 his injuries were all season ending injuries. He had broken wrists, including the infamous diving play in the wall(see pic) to make a catch. He played his heart out, and didn’t exhibit a lot of the normal wear and tear injuries that sidelined a lot of players these days. One of the biggest stats this effected was his homerun production, which is always at the forefront of debate because well chiks dig the long ball.
1993: 45, 1994: 40, 1995: 17 in 72 games, 1996: 49, 1997: 56 (5 away from the record in the year when McGuire hit 58), 1998: 56 (Again 5 away in the year McGuire/Sosa had their epic chase), 1999: 48, 2000: 40. Next comes 4 years in which he has shortened seasons due to injury. Take away 95 due to injury and he was averaging 47 homeruns over those 7 healthy seasons. If we take into account the 5 seasons of 01-04 and say he averaged 40 HR a year he would be sitting at 797 not 597 and have absolutely crushed the all time record. Even looking at Griffey as 39 year old ball player in what would be his twilight years he has averaged 30 HRs over his last three seasons.

Take that seven year span and look at his hit numbers. He average 166 hits a season over that period. Strictly looking at averages for projection and arguments sake he would have another 830 hits or so. That would give him 3424 for his career and passing Carl Yastrzemski to be 6th on the all time hit list.

The numbers are projections and what could have been are seemingly meaningless debates are made of, but what about the intangibles that he displayed. After the 1999 season Griffey asked to be traded. This was at the end of his hot streak that I have been using. During the middle of negotiations for a contract extension with the Mariners that would have earned him $148 million over eight years, instead he expressed his desire to be traded to the Reds so that he could be closer to his father. He wanted to wear his number, and be close to what really mattered. The Reds subsequently offered him 112.5 million over 9 years. Now this is not a sympathy situation by any means, but he did take a substantial pay cut as far as a top professional athlete is concerned.

Flash forward to May of 2008 and the Mariners are trying to establish a connection with Junior in hopes of a return. He has openly stated that he would not try to extend his career by hitting in the DH spot. His stance is that if he can’t play in the field anymore than he is too old to play. I love the homerun, I love the DH, I have for love Griffey, but I don’t know how a person could not respect what he has done for this game. He is soft spoken, humble, can never be accused of not playing hard every day, and has never been associated with performance enhancers. Talk about athletes being role models, well then he should be the poster child for it. He literally was for me. Even if the rest of the world has forgotten about Griffey, I haven’t, and will continue to acknowledge him as one of the best players to even play the game.

4Real Out....
More after the jump...

MLB Stadium Rankings

It is an Opening Day Extravaganza and I couldn’t be more excited. Every year this weekend makes me remember everything that I love about baseball, but lately there has been a lot of things going on that have changed the way in which the tradition of the game is upheld. One of the biggest things any of my friends who aren’t big baseball fans have against the game is its pace, that it is too slow to watch on TV. This only got me defensive and the wheels turning on Ball Park Atmosphere and everything that goes with it. I have visited a lot of Ball Parks and I’ll try to quickly rundown the categories I put them in when visiting or in the case that I haven’t the image that they portray. Also since it is so difficult to keep up with name changes I added those in as well.

(In No Particular Order Within Tiers)

Tier 1: Historical, Iconic, Deep Rooted in Tradition a.k.a Renovation and Preservation over New Construction

Chicago Cubs: Weeghman Park (1914-1920) Wrigley Field (1920-Soon To Be Renamed)

Boston Red Sox: Fenway Park (1912- Present)

New York Yankees: Yankee Stadium (1923- 2008)

Tier 2: Modern Stadiums with Vintage Feel a.k.a They gave Young Fans the Atmosphere for building Tradition

Baltimore Orioles: Oriole Park at “Camden Yards” (92- Present)

Cleveland Indians: Jacobs Field (94-2008) Now Progressive Field

San Francisco Giants: Pac Bell Park (2000-03) SBC Park (04-05) :AT & T Park: 05- Present

San Diego Padres: PetCo Park (2004-Present)

Philadelphia Phillies: Citizens Bank Ballpark (04- Present)

Tier 3: Modern Era Stadiums a.k.a Nice Cause It is New

Milwaukee Brewers: Miller Park (01- Present)

Detroit Tigers: Comerica Park (2000-Present) Note: Did not Make Tier 2 because of Tiger Stadiums History.

Arizona Diamond Backs: Bank One Ball Park (98-05): Chase Field (05-Present)

Chicago White Sox: Comiskey Park II (91-03): U.S Cellular Field ( 03-Present)

Cincinnati Reds: Great American Ball Park (03-Present)

Houston Astros: Enron Field (2000-2002): Astros Field (February 2002- July 2002): Minute Maid Field (02-Present)


Washington Nationals: Nationals Park (08- Present)

Seattle Mariners: SafeCo Field (99-Present)

Tier 4: A Good Place to Watch A Game a.k.a Used to Be State of the Art a.k.a Mid 90’s Cookie Cutter Stadium

Colorado Rockies: Coors Field (95- Present)

Toronto Blue Jays: The Sky Dome (89-05) : Rogers Centre (05-Present)

Atlanta Braves: Centennial Olympic Park (96): Turner Field (97-Present)

Kansas City Royals: Royals Stadium (73-93): Ewing M. Kauffman Stadium (93-Present)

Texas Rangers: Rangers Ball Park in Arlington (94-Present)

Tier 5: I’ve Been There So I Can Mark it Off The List a.ka. I was In The Neighborhood

Tampa Bay Devil Ray (Now Tampa Bay Rays) : Florida Suncoast Dome (90-93): Thunderdome: (93-96) : Tropicana Field When Rays Entered the League (1998-Present)Oakland Athletics:

Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (68-98): Network Associates Coliseum (98-04): McAfee Coliseum (04-Present)

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Anaheim Stadium (1966-1997):
Edison International Field of Anaheim (1998-2003): Angel Stadium of Anaheim (03-Present)

Los Angels Dodgers: Dodgers Stadium (62- Present)

Tier 6: Knock This Down It’s Embarrassing Everyone a.k.a I think the City Forgot About You a.k.a Baseball? I thought this was a Football Stadium

Minnesota Twins: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (82- Present)

Florida Marlins: Dolphin Stadium (1987): Joe Robbie Stadium (1987-1996): Pro Player Park (1996) : Pro Player Stadium (1996-2005) :Dolphins Stadium (2005-Present)


Candlestick Park (3Com Park at Candlestick Point/ San Francisco Stadium at Candle Stick Point/ Monster Park): Ok so maybe they haven’t knocked it down, but their baseball team got knocked up to Tier Two.

Qualcomm Stadium ( San Diego Stadium/ Jack Murphy Stadium) : Same Situation As Giants

Tier 7: You’re Closing Your Stadium : 2009 Will See You in Tier 2 or 3

New York Mets: Shea Stadium (64-68)

I know that the Yankees are building a new stadum as well and they will also drop to Tier 2 or 3, but Yankee Stadium held a much higher prestige than Shea Stadium ever did.

You have input? Don’t Think Your Team Deserved their Tier? Let Me Know….

4Real Out….
More after the jump...

Hall of Fame Debates

Well with the unfortunate return to work so too come more updates. To those of you who stopped by over the last week and a half and wondered why there were so few updates, I apologize, life got in the way. BC hit Phoenix, Ahwatukee, and Vegas, and 4Real spent time in Believeland and Portugal. Whereas I was in Tucson for most of the time, but was otherwise consumed by moving, the future in-laws visiting, and the Holidays.Cooperstown season is upon us (votes released January 8th) and it’s time for a quick update.

Everyone keeps saying that Roger Clemens will be the first test of the Mitchell Report’s impact on the Hall of Fame. I disagree I think it will come a lot sooner, say next week when Chuck Knoblauch is or isn’t elected in. If you read a column on this site by some idiot, here, saying that Knoblauch deserved to be in and should be getting in this year, blah, blah, maybe that moron should have waiting like A day for the Mitchell Report to be released before making a statement like that. Now let’s not point fingers at who that columnist was because, playing the blame game isn’t always fun.

Andre Dawson’s best Numbers: 736 Runs, 1597 Hits, 98 3B, 438 HR, 1591 RBI, 314 SB, .279 AVG, .983 Fielding %, 1977 Rookie of the Year, 1987 MVP, 8 x All-Star, 2 x MVP Runner up, 4 Silver Slugger Awards, 8 Gold Gloves, 29th All-Time in RBI, 35th All-Time in Home Runs, 10th All-Time in Sac Flies, in fact he is currently in the top 50 All Time in 12 offensive categories. Pretty decent career, that was actually cut-short by injuries due to the terrible conditions of his original playing surface in Montreal. Hawk is one of six players in the 300/300 club, one of only 3 in the 400+/300 club (Bonds and Mays), and one of four in the 300/300/2000 club. To put it in layman’s terms, the man was a machine built to play Baseball, with a cannon of an arm capable of throwing out guys at 1st who looked to have a guaranteed single.

Now Hawk’s Bad Numbers: 2002 - 45.34%, 2003 - 50%, 2004 - 50%, 2005 - 52.3%, 2006 - 61%, 2007 - 56.7%. This is flat out ridiculous, his numbers say he belongs in and if not his numbers he was an all around good guy. And Hawk never weighed more than 200 lbs, and for a guy who’s 6’3 weighing 193 it’s pretty much guaranteed he never used any HGH or roids.
Oh, and Dawson was the focal point of a quarter of Ryne Sandberg’s induction a few years ago, stating that Hawk was the best player he’d ever played with.

Less deserving is Shawon Dunston, but it’s his first year on the ballot and I personally loved the Shawon-O-Meter. He probably won’t get in but his numbers are good enough to garner at least the 5 % to appear on next year’s ballot. He and Sandberg were a double play tandem to be reckoned with, Dunston was a part of 729 DPs in his 18 year career.

Another Cub on the list again this year is Lee Smith. The Closer is 2nd All-Time in saves after recently being passed by (U of A Alumnus) Trevor Hoffman. In 18 seasons he put up a 3.03 ERA in 1022 games. He had 478 saves and an astounding 1251 K’s in 1289.1 Innings, 12th All-Time in K’s/IP. He was a 7 time All-Star and had a .976 Fielding % and 1st All-Time in Games Finished. In 5 years on the ballot he has maxed out at 45% of the vote, last year bringing home only 40%, his first decrease.

Rod Beck is on the Ballot, and he will not get in this year and probably never will, but Shooter had some pretty solid numbers in his 13 year career. 286 saves in 704 Games, 644 K’s in 768 Innings. Closers haven’t made a major impact on voting (Lee Smith, Rich Gossage not in HoF) but with Bruce Sutter’s induction they are gaining some momentum, so it’s too early to call the Late Beck done for in HoF voting.

The aforementioned Gossage is on the ballot, and without boring you with his numbers let’s just say he is has the best shot of any of the above based on prior Hall voting he has increased every year, while openly campaigning for his enshrinement. He fell 21 votes shy last year and is looking at a very good chance this year. This is something that Smith should be rooting for, more relievers getting recognized for their specified role means that Lee will get in one day, being one of the game’s best closers.

Bert Blyleven is again on the Ballot and again will not be elected in. He was as dominating a pitcher as they come (5th All-Time in K’s) but K’s don’t just get you in and in 22 years I believe he only had one 20-win season. Wins get you in, he had a lot of wins (287) but he also had a lot of losses (250) and in a 22 year career that’s an mediocre average of about 14-12 per season, that’s not a Hall of Famer. He also allowed a lot of Walks and Hit Batsmen, a big reason for the 250 losses.

Jim Rice might get in this year. 8 time All-Star, 2 time Silver Slugger, 2452 Hits, 382 HR, 1451 RBI, and a career AVG of .298. He’s right on the edge, but like some of those above, his votes have increased each year. Especially with this year’s crop, he has a good chance to get the remaining 12 % needed to get in. His career numbers were on par with those of Andre Dawson, higher AVG but lower in most other statistical categories. I believe Rice should be in, and you better believe if Rice gets in this year (his 2nd to last eligible), there will be a uproar of Hawk supporters who will hope Dawson is able to build off of Rice’s success.

Tim Raines falls into the same category of Rice and Dawson, a great player during his time, put up some damn good numbers (808 Stolen Bases, 1330 Walks, and a .294 Batting Average). Unfortunately he played in Montreal (loses some appeal) he fell short of 3,000 hits, and didn't really hit for much power. Then again, he was the ideal lead off guy. He got onto base, and then manufactured more runs.

On a sad note Ron Santo is still not a member of the Hall yet but will be up for election again next year with the Veterans Committee vote. Santo had an outstanding career similar to that of Hall of Famers Carlton Fisk, Yogi Berra, and Johnny Bench, but never got quite enough votes while eligible for the BBWA election. Oh and the 9 time All-Star with 342 HR, 1331 RBI, and 2254 Hits played his entire career fighting Type 1 Diabetes after being told his life expectancy was about 25 years old.

That’s about all for now and the Hall of Fame stuff. And on a particularly odd note. The “r” “6” “7” “8” and “9” keys on my computer at home aren’t working. It’s funny to realize how much you use a letter when you have to copy and paste it every time you want to use it. It kinda makes my posts over the last couple weeks from home a little better huh, it’s like playing hurt.

More after the jump...

It's Almost Spring

The football season is winding down, and for many the last two weeks aren’t going to change much. The NBA season is in full swing, but it’s still pro basketball which consists of the same rudimentary formula kick the ball in, rotate, pass out, repeat, until there’s an opening in the lane or someone just chucks up a Trey ball, and the occasional fast break. And of course the Mitchell Report is all you are hearing, and reading, everywhere. So it’s time to switch gears a little bit and take a look at what’s coming up after the New Year.

Feb. 14, one of my favorite days, the day where every red-blooded man is giddy with excitement. That’s right, it is 58 days until Pitchers and Catchers report to Spring Training signaling to many, the new hope of a new season. And for those of us lucky enough to be in AZ or FL, a couple days to ditch work, sit in the sun, drink a few beers and watch our favorite players take 1 or 2 at bats, and then a bunch of guys we won’t hear from until September Call-ups play the rest of the game. And we don’t care, tickets are cheap, the weather is beautiful, and baseball is being played. Plus you get to heckle Number 82 with no name on his back, beacuase we all know he'll be back in Iowa or Durham in a few weeks. That’s my idea of a good time. I mentioned the beer too right?

Shortly following that is, yet another reason to play hooky and do nothing all day. The 70th Annual March Madness Tournament kicks off March 16. A time when a TRUE college champion is crowned (no computers or splits). When was the last time anyone argued the NCAA Men’s Basketball Champion? The first 4 days alone there are 48 games. My only hope is that this year, CBS will finally catch on and realize that Winthrop losing by 17 to Florida with 5:17 left is not as entertaining as Oral beating UCONN by 1 with 3:48 left and actually switch games at correct times. May I please apply for the position of who decides what games are televised, while they’re going on? Is there someone in that position now or does CBS just roll dice and switch games. Every man loves that March Madness music, can hear it right now, and smiled a bit.

But we all really know what everyone is looking forward to following the New Year. I’ll give you a hint, First Sunday in January, nationally televised event, highly competitive. It’s the return of American Gladiators. Finally, it has been way too long. Please take a moment and visit the site. Read the bios. This is going to end one of two ways. Either it will be the greatest remake ever and have a decently long and successful run (at least long enough for me to get in shape and try my hand at Breakthrough and Conquer). Or be the worst sports related event to hit NBC since Vince McMahon told NBC, “hey I’ve got a great idea for a new football league.” And we can always hope that former Heisman Trophy Winner Charles White tries a comeback to win an unprecedented 4th Championship. Oh and did I mention that Tanoai Reed will be appearing as Toa. For those of you unfamiliar with Reed’s work he has appeared in such films as Doom, The Game Plan, Gridiron Gang, Southland Tales, Be Cool, Walking Tall, The Rundown, and The Scorpion King. He is none other than cousin to and personal stunt man for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. And one of the Female Gladiators Gina Carano (pictured) is an MMA fighter who has appeared in MAXIM. The only downside is the repeats of Siren and Titan. A little disappointed they couldn’t think of new names.

There will be updates on all of these things over the coming months as they are the three most important sporting events coming up, well those and the Super Bowl.
More after the jump...

A couple quick thoughts on the Mitchell Report:

I was wrong about Cleveland, the Yankees had 23 players on the report.

With that said, doesn’t that make you wonder a little bit more exactly what a Red Sox front office man chose to include in the report. And also what he might have left out.

I think it’s funny. The phrase someone’s been linked to something has been around forever. People have used it to describe the players on this report being linked to the steroid era of baseball and the Mitchell Report. Technically if you go to Wikipedia, they are actually linked to the Mitchell Report.

Will these guys have to wear a patch on their uniforms next season so we can identify the 80 of the 86 that we don’t know or have never heard of.

If they did what would it be: Syringe? Scarlet "M"? Asterisk? Discuss.

There are glaringly obvious stats that back up exactly when some of these players started using according to the evidence. I don’t know when Brian Roberts is reported to have purchased or used steroids, but his stats shed some light on it. His batting avg in 2004 was .273 with a .376 slugging percentage and 12 career Jacks in 4 seasons. In 2005 his avg was .314, slugging was .515 and he hit 18 Bombs.

Look at Troy Glaus between 1999 and 2000. It’s fun, go ahead you try look up these guys on your favorite stat site. And it’s also worth noting that a lot of these guys’ numbers increase after a injury shortened year. Probably because they began using to treat the injury.

Will there be serious consideration to add a ‘Roid wing in Cooperstown. Major League Baseball quietly allowed this to happen, and I’m not so sure that they weren’t silently supporting it. Might as well just show the utmost support by adding a wing specifically for Bonds, Clemons, Knoblauch, maybe even Canseco’s Mullet can be on display next to his Devil Ray jersey.
More after the jump...