Four Class Acts

Happy New Year, my friends!  So much has happened since I last blogged - the San Francisco Giants won the World Series (even though I was rooting for the Royals), the Washington Nationals' Denard Span did not win a Gold Glove in center field even though he deserved it way more than the Mets' Juan Lagares, I was not chosen as baseball's next Commissioner (I know; I was shocked as well), and the National Baseball Hall of Fame chose its inductees for the class of 2015.  Whoever said the off-season was uneventful clearly doesn't know that Nick Markakis is no longer an Oriole, Jimmy Rollins is no longer a Philly, and Jayson Werth has to spend 5 days in jail for driving way too fast (110mph on a 65mph highway).  So yeah, there's no baseball being played, but there has certainly been a lot going on.




With regards to the Hall of Fame, I must say I'm happy with this year's selections.  I can't kick and scream and say that my guy was unfairly left out, because frankly, I was never a big Mike Piazza fan.  This is the first time in the "modern voting era" when four players were selected; last year they had three with Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, and Frank Thomas.  This year's class includes pitchers Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, and John Smoltz, as well as the Astros' Craig Biggio, who started his career as a catcher and moved to second base after playing some in the outfield.


This year's Hall of Fame class makes me happy because these are the guys I grew up watching.  I remember buying a Craig Biggio rookie card back in the 80s because I thought he was cute.  I followed his career closely (because he was cute) and was ecstatic when he reached the 3,000-hit milestone (because he was cute, and because he joined Roberto Clemente on the hits list).  He still looks like he's in his twenties, and yes, he's still cute.


Randy Johnson, also known as "The Big Unit" was the most intimidating pitcher a batter could face (other than Oakland's Dave Stewart, who looked way meaner than Johnson ever could).  At 6'10, Randy towered over everyone and let his arm speak for him.  He and Diamondbacks teammate Curt Schilling (yes, the "bloody sock" guy - I will reference him again later) were such dominating pitchers that you just had to root for the Diamondbacks during the 2001 World Series.  I almost didn't even mind when Randy went to the Yankees - which turned out to not be such a good fit for him or for the team.


Pedro Ramirez was one of those pitchers you loved to hate.  I couldn't help but love him during the 2004 World Series, when the Red Sox took the nation by storm and all of us clung to every pitch, whether it was thrown by the long-haired, confident/cocky Martinez or by the guy with the bloody sock (yes, Curt Schilling can now say that he was teammates with two members of the 2015 Hall of Fame class).  Pedro Martinez joins Juan Marichal as the only Dominican pitchers in the Hall, and I hope there will be a big and loud representation of Hispanics at the induction ceremonies in July.


As far as John Smoltz goes, they should have made an exception to the five-year retirement rule and inducted him in the Hall with his two teammates last year.  It would have been so sickeningly picture-perfect!  Along with Glavine and Maddux, Smoltz was part of the powerhouse that made the Braves such a dominant force in the 1990s.  Whether as a starter, a closer, or anywhere in between, Smoltz was a class act.


So mow what?  Well, we have 44 days until spring training begins, but the Baltimore Ravens are still alive in the NFL playoffs, and the Washington Wizards are playing some really good basketball (and "How to get Away With Murder" returns to Thursday nights later this month).  So don't fret, baseball fans - until we smell the grass and hear the crack of the bat, we still have plenty to keep us busy.  Think warm thoughts, sign your kid up for another season of Little League (I just did that yesterday), and reconnect with your friends and relatives who are ignored during the baseball season.  Stay warm, my friends, and stay tuned! :-)

The Off-Season in Review (with my comments, of course!)

Football season is over and the Olympics only go for two weeks – what comes next?  Why baseball season is just around the corner, of course, and for those of us who are tired of these record-cold temperatures, we’re hoping that the start of a new baseball season brings with it some warmer weather.

So once you’re done rooting for Lolo Jones, Bode Miller and Shaun White, it’s time to get geared up for the 2014 baseball season.  Before you don your Orioles shirt, Nationals cap, or Yankee pinstripes (ugh!), you may want to catch up on what went on during the off-season, after the Boston Red Sox won the World Series.  Well here’s a recap of what transpired since November in a nutshell (start your stopwatch – this should only take two minutes to read):

·        Detroit's Miguel Cabrera earned his second consecutive Most Valuable Player Award in the American League, took Players' Choice top honors and added a Silver Slugger as well. 

·        The Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw won his second National League Cy Young Award in three years, and José Fernandez of the Marlins received the well-deserved reward of NL Rookie of the Year award.  (Remember him?  He’s that Cuban kid who spent time in immigration jail before successfully defecting by coming over on a makeshift boat that hit rough waters and a bunch of people fell overboard including his family.  And he can really pitch!)

·        Free agents:  Robinson Canó went to the Mariners, Jacoby Ellsbury is now a Yankee, Shin-Soo Choo signed with the Rangers, and Japanese pitching star Masahiro Tanaka went to the Yankees.  Who didn’t see that one coming?  Oh, the Yankees also signed outfielder Carlos Beltrán and catcher Brian McCann; they’re clearly trying to buy their way to another World Series.  Whatever!

·        Trades: The Rangers acquired slugging first baseman Prince Fielder from the Tigers for second baseman Ian Kinsler, a doozy of a deal featuring All-Star talent and big bucks. The Cardinals followed by sending third baseman David Freese to the Angels for Peter Bourjos.

·        New managers:  Bryan Price in Cincinnati, Matt Williams in Washington (it should have been Sandy Alomar, Jr.), Brad Ausmus in Detroit, Lloyd McClendon in Seattle, and Rick Rentería with the Cubs -- and don't forget Ryne Sandberg in Philadelphia, a late-season addition.

·        Oh, and in case you didn’t realize this, the Orioles lost their closer, Jim Johnson, to the Oakland A’s.  I felt really bad about that one – despite Johnson’s blown saves last season, he was a good pitcher and will be hard to replace.

·        What about my Nationals?  They acquired starting pitcher Doug Fister from the Tigers and were able to avoid arbitration with pretty much every player who was eligible for it.  They also announced “Jayson Werth Garden Gnome Day,” which is pretty exciting.

·        Notable quote:  Curtis Granderson went across town from the Yankees to the Mets, saying “True New Yorkers are Mets fans.”  That one made me smile, since I started out as a Mets fan back in the 80s.  Too bad the Mets will suck again this season.

·        Three of the all-time great managers were honored with their election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame -- Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa and Joe Torre, all heading to Cooperstown in July.

·        In an election that again was preceded by considerable debate, the BBWAA elected three first-timers on the Hall of Fame ballot: pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, and hitting star Frank Thomas.

·        Lucrative deals:  Lefty Clayton Kershaw agreed to the richest deal ever for a pitcher, signing a seven-year, $215 million contract through 2020.  The Tigers then signed AL Cy Young winner Max Scherzer to a one-year, $15.5 million deal, and the Rays signed David Price  to a one-year pact worth $14 million.

So there you have it – now you know what went on during the “Hot Stove” season and you can pretend like you know what you’re talking about when necessary.  Stay warm, enjoy the Olympics, and remember that Opening Day is only about seven weeks away!  

Are you Hall of Fame-Worthy?

Happy new year, my friends!  2013 was a great baseball year for me, since I was able to go to 5 Major League games in 4 different ball parks.  I'm not sure we'll visit that many this year, but Fenway Park is a definite possibility, so I'm excited about that.

With every new year comes the announcement of new inductees into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and this year is no exception.  Over 600 members of the BaseBall Writers Association of America (BBWAA) received ballots this year (unfortunately I wasn't one of them, since they haven't decided to allow me into their exclusive club), and all the votes have been counted.  The winners will be announced next week on January 8, and this year's list of inductees promises to be a good one.

Heading the list of new candidates are pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, as well as first-baseman/designated hitter Frank Thomas and second baseman Jeff Kent.  Maddux and Glavine both get my vote, though I know it doesn't count for anything.  Greg Maddux pitched for 23 seasons with 4 teams, most notably the Atlanta Braves (1995 World Champions).  He had two 20-win seasons (1992-93) a record 17 straight seasons with at least 15 wins (1988-2004), won four consecutive Cy Young Awards (1992-95), and won 18 Gold Glove Awards, which is the most all-time at any position.  Maddux wasn't the most personable guy - he was kind of quiet and serious and very particular about who his catcher was (I didn't like the fact that he never wanted Javy Lopez to be his battery mate), but he was a darn good pitcher, and he deserves to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Tom Glavine, also a pitcher with the 1995 World Champion Atlanta Braves, pitched for 22 season with the Braves and Mets, won the Cy Young Award twice (1991, 1998), and was pretty good with the bat.  Glavine had five 20-game seasons, 14 seasons with 200-plus innings pitched, and six seasons with an earned-run average under 3.00.  Two Braves who played together being enshrined into the Hall of Fame together would just be storybook.  And you know how sentimental I am; I'm all about storybook!

So should anyone else be inducted this year along with Maddux and Glavine?  Nope!  Here are the other names on the ballot, with my reasons why they should be excluded.

Mouses Alou, Armando Benitez, Sean Casey, Ray Durham, Eric Gagne, and Jacque Jones - All first-timers on the ballot, but not of the same super-star caliber as Maddux, Glavine, and others.  Non-nerds are familiar with the Alou name, but ask a casual fan who Armando Benitez is and he may think you're referring to the guy who mows the neighbor's lawn or the successful owner of the local Mexican food restaurant chain.  All of them were good players, but not extraordinary players.

Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio - Both of these guys played their entire careers with the Houston Astros.  Bagwell was Rookie of the Year in 1991 and NL MVP in 1994, and Biggio (who still looks like a teenager) ended his career with over 3,000 hits (3,060, to be exact, which puts him 21st in the all-time hits list).  I used to have the biggest crush on him!  Anyway, both of these guys are Hall of Fame worthy, but not yet.  They should have been picked last year, so they could have been inducted together as Astros and had a Texas-sized celebration in Cooperstown.  They won't be chosen this year either, so they may have to wait until the Veterans Committee selects them in a few years.

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGuire, Rafael Palmeiro, and Sammy Sosa - NO, NO, NO!  Need I say more?

Luis Gonzalez -  "Gonzo" had a few good years, mainly with the Arizona Diamondbacks.  He ranks as the Diamondbacks' all-time leader in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, games played, runs, hits, total bases, doubles, home runs, RBIs, and walks.  I remember him best during the 2001 World Series, when he drove in the winning run in game 7 to lift the Diamondbacks to their first World Series title with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning.  It was very dramatic.  Gonzo should be in the Diamondbacks' Hall of Fame, but that should be it.

Todd Jones, Jeff Kent, and Paul LoDuca - Also first-timers on the ballot.  Jones pitched for way too many teams, Kent was a good hitter but not the best second baseman I've ever seen, and LoDuca was a decent catcher but not the greatest.

Edgar Martinez - Edgar has been on the ballot for 5 years, and while he played all 18 seasons with the Mariners and led the American League in batting several times, he was just not a very popular player outside of Seattle.  He was one of those guys who let his hitting do the talking, because no one ever heard him speak.  Good guy, great player, but he will never be elected by the members of the BBWAA.  That is the sad reality and one of the many reasons why I want to join the BBWAA!

Don Mattingly -  Poor Don has appeared on the ballot for like a hundred years now and he still hasn't made it.  The problem with Don is that he only played for 14 seasons, which is not as many years as other players on the ballot.  He was a very good hitter and first baseman, but he didn't play for the Yankees of the Golden Era of Joe Torre.  He's doing fine as a manager; perhaps he can make the Hall under that category someday.

Fred McGriff -  When did Fred McGriff retire?  I thought he was still playing!

Jack Morris and Alan Trammell - Both former Detroit Tigers have been on the ballot for over 10 years.  That makes me feel old!

Mike Mussina - Won't be selected because there are too many first-time candidates who are pitchers, and they were all better than him.

Hideo Nomo - Rookie of the Year in 1995, struck out a gazillion hitters (reached 500 career strikeouts before anyone else) and pitched two no-hitters. Hall of Fame worthy, but not as a first-time candidate.

Mike Piazza - This twelve-time All-Star and 1993 Rookie of the Year was a hell of a catcher.  If he was voted in this year I wouldn't complain.

Tim Raines - Played in the Majors for 23 years, and therefore should have had way more than 2,605 hits.

Kenny Rogers - Yes, he pitched a perfect game in 1994 for the Texas Rangers (with Iván Rodriguez as his battery mate, of course!).  No, he's not the one who knows how to hold 'em and how to fold 'em.  Yes, he was a hero in the postseason with the Detroit Tigers.  But again, he wasn't as good as some of the other guys on the pitcher-crowded ballot.

Curt Schilling - Oh, poor Schilling!  I love him!  He was part of so many dramatic moments - the Diamondbacks' World Series victory in 2001, his bloody sock with the Red Sox in 2004... I'm rooting for Schilling, hoping he makes it in next year or in the near future (especially since his video game company went bankrupt.  Curt needs some good news!).

Richie Sexson, J.T. Snow, Frank Thomas, and Mike Timlin - YAWN!  None of these guys were interesting to me when they played (except for maybe Thomas, but that was just because he looked good in his White Sox uniform - all big and manly and menacing).

Lee Smith - He's still on the ballot?  I swear he played like fifty years ago!

Larry Walker -He won a ton of Gold Gloves at right field and was the MVP in 1997.  But poor Larry is cursed with having played for crappy teams (until he reached the NLCS with St. Louis in 2004 and 2005).  He's one of those guys whose name will get lost in the shuffle.

So there you have it.  If Maddux and Glavine don't get elected into the Hall of Fame this year, I will change my Facebook profile picture to the Atlanta Braves logo for an entire month.  We'll find out on January 8th!