Baseball season started!

[Dan Gould]

I don't think the spitting incident should be a factor at all.

However, shocking declines in performance for the last several years makes his candidacy less clear-cut, and the too often seen appearance of being disinterested and unmotivated raises doubts about his professionalism.

Nevertheless, he probably should go in.

But only after Rhyne Sandberg gets in.

[Soulstation1]

what about omar visquel of the tribe?

2000 hits and 10+ glove gloves

[Chrome]

Without the power numbers, Vizquel's going to be a much much longer shot than Alomar or Sandberg. It's not necessarily fair, but people still don't seem to give the same respect to fielding as they do to hitting (Ozzie Smith excepted).

I was lucky enough to live in Chicago during most of Sandberg's career, and he was fantastic. It's too bad about the way things ended for him ... there was a rumor going around that he had caught a teammate (Rafael Palmiero?) with his (Sandberg's) wife, and that that was what caused his sudden drop off in productivity.

[PHILLYQ]

  Dan Gould said:

However, shocking declines in performance for the last several years makes his candidacy less clear-cut, and the too often seen appearance of being disinterested and unmotivated raises doubts about his professionalism.

  Quote

When Alomar was with the Mets, he frequently seemed to be going through the motions. When he was asked about a possible trade to a contender, he said something to the effect of maybe I'll be more motivated coming to the park for a winning team. That was so unprofessional it made me want to hurl.

[ghost of miles]

  Dan Gould said:

I don't think the spitting incident should be a factor at all.

However, shocking declines in performance for the last several years makes his candidacy less clear-cut, and the too often seen appearance of being disinterested and unmotivated raises doubts about his professionalism.

Nevertheless, he probably should go in.

But only after Rhyne Sandberg gets in.

Yeah, I mean, if Ty Cobb's in there... geez.

I agree with Dan on both points.

[PHILLYQ]

Ghost,

Don't fall for the 'If x is in there, then y(a similar player) deserves to be in there' line. That's been used for a number of players, and what that fails to consider is that there are players in the HOF who really don't belong there, they're 'mistakes'. Tony Perez is one who comes to mind- his main claim to fame is that RBI total, but in that Big Red Machine lineup you could hit .250 and amass a ton of ribbies. Bill James wrote a fascinating book on the HOF,but I'm not home right now to give you the title. It's a great analysis of who belongs in the HOF and who doesn't. I'm thinking about Alomar and his numbers, not Cobb and his beahavior vis-a-vis Alomar.

[Chrome]

  PHILLYQ said:

Bill James wrote a fascinating book on the HOF,

The Politics of Glory ... a "must read" for all baseball fans!

[Soulstation1]

your fav baseball autograph?

mine will always be george brett in 1982, picture is next to my desk

my other hof autographs

yogi berra

stan musial

ernie banks

don sutton

bob feller

rod carew

tony gwynn

billy martin

others

len barker (perfect game)

steve (i'm not your padre) garvey

kenny lofton

1 picture with trammell, whitaker and parrish

scatman cruthers

fred mcmurray(sp)

ss1

[Brandon Burke]

  Soulstation1 said:

your fav baseball autograph?

mine will always be george brett in 1982, picture is next to my desk

my other hof autographs

yogi berra

stan musial

ernie banks

don sutton

bob feller

rod carew

tony gwynn

billy martin

others

len barker (perfect game)

steve (i'm not your padre) garvey

kenny lofton

1 picture with trammell, whitaker and parrish

scatman cruthers

fred mcmurray(sp)

ss1

I just posted this elsewhere but....

* Mickey Mantle

* Ted Williams

* Henry Aaron

* Hank Bauer

* The entire 1980 KC Royals (AL champs)

* The entire 1985 KC Royals (world champs)

Lovin' the Brett reference! I'm from KC and a big time Royals fan. Let me tell you, if you grew up in Kansas City during the 70's/80's like I did, your baseball card rite of passage was your first Brett rookie. Plain and simple. Only then did the other kids in the neighborhood take you seriosuly. I remember mowing a lot of lawns for that as a kid.

Boy are they stinkin' up the place so far this year. Yeesh....

[EDIT: I should mention that every one of those autographs, save for the Royals team balls, were done in the presence of the player.]

Edited April 30, 2004 by Brandon Burke

[Chrome]

When I started getting into baseball back in the early 1970s, I discovered that Charlie Gehringer still made his home in the Detroit area ... I wrote him a short letter asking for an autograph and he kindly sent me one.

[garthsj]

I just got back from watching Roger Clemens go 5-zip! With the batting lineup the Astros have behind Roger, I wonder if he will get 30 this year.. a very distinct possibility. When was the last time anyone got 30?

Funny thing.. it was "umbrella night" at Minute Maid Park ... the roof was open and it was a cloudy but warm evening.. great baseball weather. Then at the top of the 9th it started to rain... suddenly 20,000 umbrellas were opened all over the stadium ... a nice picture..

Final thing, I go to an Astros game about once every two years. I figure that I have seen about 15 MLB games in all and the Astros have won EVERY time I have seen them. I am 15-0! Should I offer my services to the club as a "lucky charm"?

Garth.

[Soulstation1]

denny mclain went 31-6 in 1968

the rocket is a genetic freak

i think the astros are coming to the bob just once this season and for just 2 games

ss1

Edited May 1, 2004 by Soulstation1

[PHILLYQ]

Garth,

With the five man rotation it's almost impossible to win 30 games anymore. A starter will only get about 32/33 starts a year, and so he needs incredible luck, a fantastic bullpen, maybe a few lucky relief appearances and some great health, not to mention great run support. In 1968 McClain won some games because he pitched deep into games and had a chance if the team came back to get a win. it also helped that he probably started 40 games that year.

[garthsj]

I know you are right, PhillyQ. Just that it would be nice to see it happen once again. I was living in Toronto when McClain did his 30 that year, and I remember the excitement. Pity about Denny and his fall from grace.

Clemens was struggling a bit last night, but you could see his determination, even after he loaded the bases on walks in the first inning. He was quoted in the paper this morning as saying the he liked wins where you struggled a bit, as they were more satisfying ... we need a few more pitchers like that. The crowd was really behind him, this being his hometown, cheering and stomping on 3-2 pitches, wanting that final strike. I have never actually seen/heard anything like that before except in playoff games. I wonder how long the honeymoon will last. But, he broke an Astros record, with five wins in April!

Edited May 2, 2004 by garthsj

[PHILLYQ]

Clemens is an amazing specimen, he's reknowned for his punishing workouts. He has a good shot to vault into the top ten in career wins this year, and he'll pass Carlton for #2 in lifetime strikeouts soon- and he's still throwing 90+!

[Soulstation1]

the tribe is making the red sox their bizzzzznetch....

anyone see the homer manny hit last night?

the tribe's leftfielder made no attempt to catch the ball

barry has more walks than the nl hits leader has hits

amazing

go see barry

ss1

[Chrome]

Anyone else do the "see games in as many ballparks as you can" thing?

I've attended MLB games at:

Tiger Stadium

Comerica Park

Wrigley Field

Old Comiskey

New Comiskey (or whatever it's called now)

County stadium (saw McWire hit a homer there on his way to 70)

Memorial Stadium (saw the 1979 playoffs and World Series)

Cinergy Field

Tropicana Field

PNC Park

I'm aiming to add the Jake to the list this summer.

[Soulstation1]

i've been to

cleveland municipal 1979 doubleheader vs yankees

bank one

jack murphy

angeles stadium

oakland colisium (mark hit a homer vs royals)

[Aggie87]

I've got a long way to go. I've been to:

Camden Yards

Busch Stadium

Riverfront Stadium in Cincy (is that Cinergy now?)

The Astrodome (I still need to see the Astros in "Minute Maid Park" which looks really impressive, but is that a wussy name or what??)

Dodger Stadium (whatever that's called today also)

I also saw the Astros play an exhibition game against Texas A&M at Olsen Field when I was in school, in the mid 80's. That was really cool - even got out on the field after the game and shook Nolan Ryan's hand and got his autograph!

-Erik

[ghost of miles]

Well, after having the stuffing beat out of them by the Bosox, the Yanks have now tied them for first in the AL East. After the April NY had, that's good news...

[PHILLYQ]

Ghost,

The pitching is picking up, with Brown & Vasquez pitching well and now Mussina is pitching up to his abilities. I watched some of Lieber over the weekend, and he has a nasty sinker that induces groundball after groundball. It may look boring, but it sure is efficient- he had an eight pitch inning where there was even an error! If Contreras can ever live up to his hype, the Yanks will have a great pitching staff.

The bats are also showing signs of life, and Sierra has been unconscious lately. Of course, Lofton comes off the DL and is ticked that Sierra is playing and he's sitting, but when a guy is as hot as Sierra has been the last week or so, I say play him 'till he drops.

[ghost of miles]

Maybe Lieber will be the righthanded Tommy John, eh? B)

[Dan Gould]

Enjoy it while the Sox slump and Pedro pouts.

Anyone remember the line Tommy John gave after his eponymous surgery?

"I asked the doctor to put in Koufax' fastball. He did. Only it was Mrs. Koufax' fastball."

[PHILLYQ]

Dan,

There's still lots and lots of baseball to be played. You should have seen the tabloids in NY, with article after article about 'What's Wrong With the Yankees' in mid-April, no less. Talent will find its level, sometimes it needs a little time.

Do you think the Bosox will actually wind up re-signing Pedro?

[Dan Gould]

I think Pedro is too expensive and too fragile to resign, but the likelihood that George will open up the checkbook for him ...

And now I'm learning that the Sox have found out that Pedro is not insurable. So you can't get any protection against a breakdown, and the guy wants 3 or 4 years at 15 mil+, and the Sox don't want to go over 2 years (naturally).

I don't think the signs are good.

At least with his build and shoulder, there's no way he'll torture us for ten years like Clemens did.

But seriously, saving the money on Pedro and resigning Varitek, Nomar and Lowe makes more sense to me. Why spend the most on the most fragile of the bunch, spread out the money and get more players.

OH, and thank you, Dan Duquette, so very much, for setting up four key players to have their contracts expire simultaneously. What an asshole.