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That awkward space between reality and reality television.
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Greetings all. I apologize for the abrupt, wide-open ending to the Carolina Slam blog-off, but Will and I both got "slammed" in Law School and work, respectively, at the same time and lost the momentum necessary when competing at such a high level.
So, before we get into Oscar season and I start writing exclusively about movies for 2 months I thought I would spend a little time on this the coldest week of the year to talk about a baseball subject that is even closer to my heart than my annual "keep Pete Rose out of baseball" rant. Don't worry, this also won't be my indictment of all of you for being suckered onto the The Evil Empire Light's bandgwagon in October.
As a kid playing Little League I was a second baseman. I didn't hit all that well, so my focus was always on playing good defense. I loved playing secondbase, and still do, really. Tie this together with my love for the Chicago Cubs and naturally my favorite player of all time was Ryne Sandberg.
Ryno had a career .990 fielding percentage, won nine gold gloves, and in 1991 he only committed 5 errors in over 500 attempts. At the plate, he was no slouch either, batting .285 for his career and hitting 282 homeruns, the most by any second baseman in history until a year ago. He was an All-Star 10 times. He was the MVP in 1984, and finished in the top 5 two other times. He led the league in home runs with 40 in 1990. He led the Cubs to within a game of the World Series in 1984 (possibly his greatest feat?). A threat also on the base-paths, he once stole 54 bases in one season. When he hung up his glove in 1997 he was widely considered a surefire, first-ballot Hall of Famer. Not only was he easily the best second baseman of his generation, but his numbers are comparable, and some better, than Joe Morgan who is thought by many to be the greatest second baseman of all time.
Why do I bring this up, you ask? I bring this up because on January 4th MLB will announce the 2005 class of Hall of Fame inductees. This will be the 3rd year that a "surefire, first-ballot HOFer" will be on the ballot.
How did this happen? How can one of the 5 greatest ever at his position not be voted in by 75% of voters? The answer is simple: steroids. The recent BALCO revelations have confirmed what we all have known for years but were afraid to think about. These larger than life athletes that are posting astronomical numbers are not just training that much harder than baseball heroes past, they are also enhancing their bodies with drugs. What this currently means from a Hall of Fame perspective (and it will only get uglier in the future as these enhanced all-stars start coming up for consideration) is that many stars from the 80s who are deserving of induction are finding it impossible for their career numbers to compete with the inflated numbers that are posted today. Face it, guys like Jim Rice, Andre Dawson, Wade Boggs, Dale Murphy, Don Mattingly, and Sandberg pale in comparison with Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa and even Gary Sheffield, Jeremy Giambi, or Bret Boone (who?!?) when looking at homerun, RBI and slugging totals. This does not mean, however, that they did not leave a substantial and lasting impression on the game of baseball.
So, this is my plea to the HOFers and media members who are currently filling out their ballots. You have the opportunity to vote for up to 10 players. Wade Boggs is the only first year that is a thought to be a lock, but peruse that list of guys who have been left out in years past and you will find a five-tool (until his knees gave out) MVP (Andre Dawson), a fiersome righthander who pitched 10 innings in one of the most incredible World Series performances of all-time (Jack Morris), a 287 game winner (Bert Blyleven), one of the greatest closers ever who pitched before the closer meant just one inning (Goose Gossage) and, oh yeah, one of the best ever at the 4th position.
PS. Please don't vote for Daryl Strawberry.
So, before we get into Oscar season and I start writing exclusively about movies for 2 months I thought I would spend a little time on this the coldest week of the year to talk about a baseball subject that is even closer to my heart than my annual "keep Pete Rose out of baseball" rant. Don't worry, this also won't be my indictment of all of you for being suckered onto the The Evil Empire Light's bandgwagon in October.
As a kid playing Little League I was a second baseman. I didn't hit all that well, so my focus was always on playing good defense. I loved playing secondbase, and still do, really. Tie this together with my love for the Chicago Cubs and naturally my favorite player of all time was Ryne Sandberg.
Ryno had a career .990 fielding percentage, won nine gold gloves, and in 1991 he only committed 5 errors in over 500 attempts. At the plate, he was no slouch either, batting .285 for his career and hitting 282 homeruns, the most by any second baseman in history until a year ago. He was an All-Star 10 times. He was the MVP in 1984, and finished in the top 5 two other times. He led the league in home runs with 40 in 1990. He led the Cubs to within a game of the World Series in 1984 (possibly his greatest feat?). A threat also on the base-paths, he once stole 54 bases in one season. When he hung up his glove in 1997 he was widely considered a surefire, first-ballot Hall of Famer. Not only was he easily the best second baseman of his generation, but his numbers are comparable, and some better, than Joe Morgan who is thought by many to be the greatest second baseman of all time.
Why do I bring this up, you ask? I bring this up because on January 4th MLB will announce the 2005 class of Hall of Fame inductees. This will be the 3rd year that a "surefire, first-ballot HOFer" will be on the ballot.
How did this happen? How can one of the 5 greatest ever at his position not be voted in by 75% of voters? The answer is simple: steroids. The recent BALCO revelations have confirmed what we all have known for years but were afraid to think about. These larger than life athletes that are posting astronomical numbers are not just training that much harder than baseball heroes past, they are also enhancing their bodies with drugs. What this currently means from a Hall of Fame perspective (and it will only get uglier in the future as these enhanced all-stars start coming up for consideration) is that many stars from the 80s who are deserving of induction are finding it impossible for their career numbers to compete with the inflated numbers that are posted today. Face it, guys like Jim Rice, Andre Dawson, Wade Boggs, Dale Murphy, Don Mattingly, and Sandberg pale in comparison with Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa and even Gary Sheffield, Jeremy Giambi, or Bret Boone (who?!?) when looking at homerun, RBI and slugging totals. This does not mean, however, that they did not leave a substantial and lasting impression on the game of baseball.
So, this is my plea to the HOFers and media members who are currently filling out their ballots. You have the opportunity to vote for up to 10 players. Wade Boggs is the only first year that is a thought to be a lock, but peruse that list of guys who have been left out in years past and you will find a five-tool (until his knees gave out) MVP (Andre Dawson), a fiersome righthander who pitched 10 innings in one of the most incredible World Series performances of all-time (Jack Morris), a 287 game winner (Bert Blyleven), one of the greatest closers ever who pitched before the closer meant just one inning (Goose Gossage) and, oh yeah, one of the best ever at the 4th position.
PS. Please don't vote for Daryl Strawberry.
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