Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
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1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with
Once upon a time, I got to ride shotgun around the Long Beach Grand Prix course for two or three laps with Al Unser, Jr. behind the wheel. It went by in a flash, it wasn't like I was driving, but I got my taste of the fast lane.
And once upon a time, I got to see Rickey Henderson in a Dodger uniform, and I feel similarly privileged. Congrats, Rickey, on your imminent induction to the Hall of Fame.
* * *
Diamond Leung of the Press-Enterprise has some of the interview that Kim Ng gave XM's Lee Hamilton this weekend. Here's an excerpt:
The most important thing is to just keep talking. I don't think we've drawn our line in the sand at all (at two years or two years plus an option year). I do think it's going to take a lot of discussion. I do think Scott is out there looking at his other options, and Manny is looking at his other options. I think a lot of other clubs are a little slow progressing as well, which is probably adding to our situation because obviously Manny's going to find the place for him. So it's all intertwined.
I wouldn't be surprised to see us do some things in the next couple weeks. Maybe a little flurry here and there. Hopefully we can get some things done. We're definitely working the phones. We've got a lot of people that we're talking to, both relievers and starters, and obviously Manny. We're just going to have to wait and see. ...
Leung also links to a WFAA interview with Clayton Kershaw.
From Kim Ng's hot new release, "Lotta Discussion (I do think)."
When you allow borderline cases like Drysdale, Sutton, and Brock you can't close the door on the Blyleven's and Raine's of the world. The HOF has already been compromised so the only thing they should do is vote along the same precedents they have already set.
What is to be gained by exclusivity? Is Cooperstown running out of space for plaques?
My votes this year: Henderson, Blyleven, Trammel, Raines
I tried to order a rickey with a Big Mac once, but I was told that they didn't serve spirits at McDonald's.
What do you mean by an "Andre Dawson" type?
There are a few outfielders in the HOF that you would be surprised to find there.
Like Ross Youngs or Harry Hooper.
Do you mean a player whose lifetime OB% is < then the average during the time he played, and whose slug% is < then .500 and who played a majority of his games in the corner outfield?
--
Off topic... How exciting (well, not really) -- I'm quoted in a quickie article on the Denver Post's site about fan reaction to the Broncos new head coach hire. (See: Dashiell.)
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_11432315
Not that any of us really know what we're talking about, but it sometimes still amazes me how ignorant and quick to judge fans are.
You are forgetting about the cool nickname.
First on Dungy. I can't say enough about what a good guy Dungy was. My feeling is, he's a good coach, a great motivator, but unfortunately a lousy coach in the playoffs considering his talent.
Or put more succinctly, he's the Bobby Cox of the NFL.
---
Speaking of "teams that should have won much more in the playoffs", I saw a replay of a really wild game on MLB Network. Cubs/Pirates from 1991... and the Cubs had a 7-2 lead, only to give it all up in the last two innings.
Game was tied, Cubs break the tie in the 11th, then in the same inning Andre Dawson hits a Grand Slam to put the Cubbies ahead by 5.
Bottom of the inning, the Pirates come back and win the game with 6 runs in the bottom of the 11th. As wild a game as you'll ever see in baseball.
It was fun watching that game again... but it reminds me about how hated the Pirates were back then. They had that "Baltimore Ravens/New England Patriots" feel to them... a bunch of guys who were hard to root for, if that makes sense.
And now the Pirates are the worst team in the Mid-West.
But only to a point.
And the non-horrendous Bobby Bonilla.
I'd say Bill Cowher was pretty good. It'd be easy to compare Cowher to Dungy, but Bill Cowher took some teams with mediocre QBs fairly far into the playoffs, even to the Super Bowl in 1995.
That Pittsburgh had a 1 seed in some of those years probably spoke about the rest of the AFC at the time.
Maybe it was just me? :-)
Cowher always impressed me, though, yeah. I'd at first hoped he'd be available to coach this year and that the Broncos could afford him, but when both things were obviously not going to happen I moved on...
I didn't meant that I liked them, just that Bobby Bonilla was actually good at one time.
Then he became a Dodger.
The Playoffs are such a roll of the dice, and so little has to do with the head coach, that it drives me bonkers to see it be a knock against such a tremendous teacher and mentor.
Also more Athletics, (Henderson, Jackson, Fingers, Hunter).
They don't blitz because that's how the personnel is designed. When only one team over the last ten years has an easy claim to being a better franchise, I'm not going to go clamoring for Change for no good reason.
Dungy completely turned around Tampa Bay & he won a Super Bowl with the Colts.
I dont buy the "cant win with talent" argument, bc the NFL has a hard salary cap that pretty much levels the entire playing field. Once you get to the playoffs, all the teams are good & you only get 1 chance to win.
Harry had a hard time bargle nawdle zouss-ing.
I concur. Whatever Dungy's shortcomings were, he was as good a coach as Indy ever had in their history (at least since 1984).
Norv Turner is 3-2 with the Bolts in the playoffs. Is Turner all of a sudden a good coach? No way. Turner is a lousy coach regardless of how well the Chargers did in January.
Not unlike Bob Brenly and the D-Backs...
Matt Holliday is realistically out of reach.
What a terrible 8 days of sports for me.
Mike Piazza will be the second player to start his career as an LA Dodger to make the HOF.
Pedro Martinez will be the third.
Speaking of Bay, Bonds, and Bonilla... I think it's a real shame the Pirates couldn't be a good team again.
They've been pretty hopeless for a while now. Cheap ownership and Dave Littlefield probably had a lot to do with that.
Or you could have looked at bhsportsguy's original comment.
It's not an empty bubble, and I'm too happy being a Colts fan to think changes need to happen.
Yeah, those Braves teams were odious. Stupid Sid Bream slide.
Could they run a different scheme and get Peyton on the field more? Probably. Would it end up in better teams? I highly, highly doubt it.
Though I saw them late in their careers, you knew Mays, Clemente, Aaron and Frank Robinson were going to Cooperstown. I knew that many players on the team I hated, the Reds, would also be there. The way Vinny swooned about Tom Seaver and speak of him in such reverent tones made you appreciate him.
But for many reasons, not the least of which being bracketed by the great players of the previous generation and then the stats busting years in the post-1994 strike years, many players whose career covered the mid-'70s to 1995 just fall short in terms of HOF worthiness.
Even some who have made it, Paul Molitor, Dave Winfield, Eddie Murray, Robin Yount, Cal Ripken, Jr. and Ryne Sandberg are good even great players but not in the Mays/Clemente/Aaron or even Morgan/Schmidt/Seaver class.
Start for us in Spring Training?
There are a few good write-ups about Tampa 2 and its myths/legends (There is some interview with Tony where he says how they play more Cover-1 or 3 than people think, I just can't find it) and why it works so well.
Like Dawson, this is me actually wondering, not saying "How could you not vote for him?!"
That said, the Colts coaching structure tends to work where the head coach sets a very general approach, and lets his assistants be actively in charge of setting the standard/approach over their group.
Graduate Group"- from last year's program:
Clayton Kershaw, Blake Dewitt, Cory Wade, Scott Elbert, Ramon Troncoso, James McDonald, Chin Lung Hu
Pitchers: James Adkins, Jesus Castillo, Brent Leach, Josh Lindblom, Jacobo Meque
Travis Schlicting
Position Players: Tony Abreu, Josh Bell,
Ivan DeJesus, A.J. Ellis, Austin Gallagher, Jamie Hoffmann, Andrew Lambo, Lucas May, Russell Mitchell, Xavier Paul, Trayvon Robinson, Matt Wallach
The post also mentions that guest speakers such as USC AD Mike Garrett, LSU Baseball Coach Skip Bertman and Vin Scully. And they will go on the town to places like Pasadena.
Oh man, I need to follow them around a bit.
So far I've seen: Dark Knight (duh), Slumdog, Wrestler, Ballast, and The Fall. Milk, Waltz With Bashir and Doubt are on my list of probably-will-see.
--
Bruce Jenkins was just on KNBR talking about his hall of fame voting. Was kind of interesting. He said he voted for Jack Morris but not Bert Be Home Blyleven. I can definitely see the argument against BB, but was surprised by Morris. (But I actually really liked Morris through his career and think maybe he is underrated.) He also said he really struggled with his Andre Dawson pick but ultimately voted 'no.' And they also made fun of the older sportswriter in Arizona who apparently voted against Rickey but then later said "I was rushed!" when voting (how can you be rushed?) and wishes he could do it over again.
Andre Dawson pulls three more voters than last year. Bert Blyleven pulls two more voters than last year.
You can vote for both, even if one was clearly a better player!
For a second I thought you were using an old-school typewriter.
Roberto Alomar, Kevin Appier, Andy Ashby, Ellis Burks, Andres Galarraga, Pat Hentgen, Mike Jackson, Eric Karros, Ray Lankford, Barry Larkin, Edgar Martinez, Fred McGriff, Shane Reynolds, Robin Ventura and Todd Zeile.
Karros should get in for his hair, and McGriff should too for that awesome commercial.
Larkin, yes.
Edgar, Yes! (but probably not)
Of that group I would vote for Alomar, Larkin, Edgar, and Crime Dog. I doubt any of them get in next year though.
Man, Baseball-Reference is slow today.
If you would've told me that in 1975, I would've soiled my diaper and continued feeding.
Alomar should be a hall of famer, but I'd imagine many voters will remember his extremely rapid and high-profile decline, not to mention his experience with a LOOGY, er, I mean, loogie.
Barry Larkin should also be a hall of famer, but as he immediately precedes the age of Jeter/A-Rod/Nomar, I wonder how voters will view him.
Edgar Martinez is the most interesting case. If you believe that Paul Molitor settled the can-a-DH-be-a-HOFer question, then Edgar is an easy yes vote. But even Molitor saw a bunch of time in the field. Molitor's total putouts plus assists: over 6700 - not a lot but significant. Martinez's total putouts plus assists: less than 1600. Can a pure DH be a HOFer?
Fred McGriff -- I also wonder how voters will look at him due to the steroid era. Are 493 homers and career .377 OBP enough?
Alomar is a slam dunk, but I'm not so sure about Larkin or McGriff. And I have a feeling Edgar Martinez is about to be the new Jim Rice.
McGwire, through his career, was linked to PEDs. McGwire, after his career, gave a shameful performance in front of Congress in which he refused to say he didn't use PEDs.
McGriff, to the best of my knowledge: neither of those.
Maybe I'm wrong about that assumption, and if I am, then mea culpa. But if I'm right, some voters will be able to justify a yes vote for McGriff but not McGwire.
For what it's worth, I'd vote for both of them.
Players are still primarily considered HOFers for their offense.
I like how similar that 1975 Sox OF ended up:
Rice: 128 OPS+ career
Lynn: 129 OPS+
Dewey: 127 OPS+
By comparison, Rickey Henderson's score is 183.
Of course, andro was not banned in 1998 so it makes for a weird situation with Big Mac.
256 - Greg Maddux
211 - Manny Ramirez
205 - Mike Piazza
202 - Pedro Martinez
180 - Vladimir Guerrero
157 - Trevor Hoffman
146 - Gary Sheffield
131 - Edgar Martinez
122 - Jeff Kent
118 - Barry Larkin
114 - Andres Galarraga
101 - Andruw Jones
100 - Fred McGriff
93 - Kevin Brown
87 - David Ortiz
61 - Shawn Green
58 - Juan Pierre
46 - Eric Gagne
41 - Derek Lowe
41 - Jason Schmidt
30 - Rafael Furcal
29 - Eric Karros
104 131 - Edgar Martinez
Do you believe that Edgar Martinez is a Hall of Fame lock?
Ricky made a point of talking to every kid about baseball. He asked the kid what position he played and if he had any questions about playing it. He made every kid feel special. Since then, I've been a huge fan.
I love stories like that.
A-Rod - 330
Rivera - 200
Pujols - 200
330 - A-Rod (10th highest all-time)
200 - Pujols
200 - Mariano
There are 32 current or recently retired players over the 130 threshold.
353
Good lord...thanks.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/hof_monitor.shtml
Only one man is in the top 10 in SB for both pre-30 and post-30. It is of course Rickey, but the kicker is he leads both lists!!!
http://tinyurl.com/93mob3
Mark Grace, David Cone and Matt Williams all got below 5% and will fall off the ballot. None of them are HOFers, of course, but I thought those guys might hang around on the ballot for a couple of years. Grace especially.
Must go on a lot of dates.
Thanks for the list Craig, half of those went under my radar and I'll do my best to get them DVD'd or catch them at one of the art-houses that tend to rerun stuff around Oscar time.
Nike money coming in handy these days. ; )
Tim Wallach, Albuququerewewe manager.
I sort of can't believe how bummed this has made me today.
The wife and I are taking that on sometime this year. We're starting with a bathroom (yes we have a carpeted bathroom - yuck) and if that goes well, we'll give the whole ground floor a go. Not so worried about installing the actual floor, it's ripping up the carpet and re-applying baseboards that I fear.
If Barry Larkin gets in and Alan Trammel drops off the ballot, I'll be ticked.
At this point I think the sabremetric work on behalf/against certain players is backfiring. Back when nobody cared if Rice was a HOF he got little support. Then when the campaign started several years ago to make sure everyone understood how good but not great Rice was his votes started increasing. I wonder if Blyleven would have picked up more votes by now if it wasn't pointed out to the pointy head HOF voters just how good he was compared to his peers and how ignorant they are not to be voting for him. They are probably as close minded to being told why they are ignorant as I am to a DH getting into the HOF.
Did that on Saturday. Ending up having to remove the disposal so I could lift the sink to get to the nut holding the faucet to the sink because of the shape of my sink. All in all it only took two hours after procrastinating three months because I figured something would go wrong and I'd end up calling a plumber anyway.
135
Tearing up carpet is easy but you will get a few tack cuts along the way. Use good gloves.
The next three ballots might not have a single first-ballot Hall of Famer. The best of the bunch are Roberto Alomar, Barry Larkin, Edgar Martinez and Fred McGriff (2010), Jeff Bagwell (2011) and Bernie Williams (2012).
Doesn't seem like he holds Alomar or Edgar or even Bagwell in very high regard. Or maybe he's one of those guys that thinks certain players shouldn't get in on the first ballot, but only subsequent times.
As far as I can tell, it should be simple, but just getting the old faucet out will be the trick. It looks like I have quite a bit of room underneath, and my sink is a normal shape, but now I am afraid :)
How about Frank Thomas? I think he's a shoo-in, even though his glove was probably a net negative for his career.
I tried doing attaching baseboards once, and I literally sold the house before I got around to finishing that project. Didn't have a nail gun though.
I would highly suggest getting some professional to do it and definitely make sure they have good reviews.
It's perfectly fitting. Rickey will lead off the induction, and Rice will follow him by grounding into a double play.
The only hard part I encountered was getting the nut off of the old faucet. I simply couldn't do it from below so I said screw it, and removed the sink where I could get at it. The two hours is simply because I tend to stare at things when trying to figure out the next step. When the stare doesn't work, I eventually resort to action but it a last resort.
137 It is subjective, but Molitor had over 1500 games in the field. I've had this discussion many times on DT so I'll not repeat myself since I seem to be doing that a little to often lately.
That's pretty funny.
Man, all this home improvement talk makes me want to buy a house. Hopefully 2009 is the year I stop paying rent.
http://www.truebluela.com/2009/1/12/718293/jonathan-broxton-closer
Well done, sir!
I agree with 147 and 146 on the cabinets. My father-in-law did his - and he was in his upper 60s at the time! - but he is VERY handy. Unlike some other jobs (painting, dry wall), it can be very hard to correct your mistakes.
The check's in the mail, Underdog!
I feel embarrassed when compared to my mom and her brothers, given the handiness of them all even in their old age.
My mom put shelving in her shed all by herself in her mid 60s, and this was after planting and tending a full garden in the front and back yards, including putting in the brick work.
One of my uncles is always working on stuff in his garage. He built a shed for the side of his house last year, and he's 65! He's currently building a swingset/playground for his two young grandchildren, and I have no doubt they will be completely safe on that thing.
Meanwhile, I let someone borrow my power drill last month, which I've had over a year, and they had to break the seal the section with the drill bits.
Did you use any type of sealant, or did you just go with plumbers puddy?
Speaking of checks, I just got hired to write a documentary treatment, but don't expect they have much money to spend. Anyone ever done that before? Can't figure out what to charge that they'll actually be able to afford.
Free coffee for life.
Maybe just charge them a small percent of revenue?
Other than that, he didn't do much else.
Unfortunately, Alomar just stopped playing well once he got traded to the Mets, so people remember the really bad years.
Roberto not Sandy. I can't believe he's been retired for 5 years. He looked like a shoo in after his incredible age 33 season but that was based on extrapolating his expected performance based on what he'd done up to that point. When he went in to the tank as fast as he did you have to wonder.
http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/6gss
It's not like Roberto Alomar tanked like Andruw Jones. He just went from "REALLY good" to "meh."
Lou Whitaker did most of the same things and didn't have the really bad years and yet he didn't even get a sniff from the HOF vote. They don't seem to appreciate 2nd baseman very much.
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