Possum Holler

Ballots for the 2008 inductees into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame are due back from the Baseball Writers Association of America members on Tuesday. Though obviously not a member, I would like to offer my own ballot as a concerned fan. Voters are instructed to vote for up to 10 players. It takes 75% of the voters to elect a player into the HOF, and any candidate receiving fewer than 5% of the vote will no longer be considered. Players appearing on the ballot for the first time are denoted with an asterisk. Players appearing on the ballot for the 15th and final time are denoted by a plus.

*Brady Andersen NO

Harold Baines NO

*Rod Beck NO

Bert Blyleven NO
I've read all the cases made on his behalf, but it comes down to the fact that as an obsessed kid I would have never noticed him if it weren't for his odd name and sweet beard.

+Dave Concepcion NO

Andre Dawson YES
The great hitters of the 80s and early 90s have suffered the most, in terms of HOF voting, as a result of the steroids era. When he was playing did anyone doubt he was a Hall of Famer? The Hawk has a legitimate shot with no new stars on the ballot this year.

*Shawon Dunston YES
BBWAA members will often toss a vote the way of a player that is not deserving of induction but that they enjoyed covering or who would give them good interviews through the years. So that is sort of what I'm doing here. Dunston is not a HOFer, but as a kid who was a huge Cubs fan, I thought few things were cooler than the Shawon-O-Meter that fans used in the stands of Wrigley Field to monitor his batting average. Though not my favorite Cub, or even my second or third favorite, Shawon Dunston was one of the most memorable players from my youth.

*Chuck Finley NO

*Travis Fryman NO

Rich "Goose" Gossage YES
Just because all of my favorite baseball writers insist he should be.

Tommy John NO

*David Justice NO

*Chuck Knoblauch NO

Don Mattingly NO

Mark McGwire YES
I subscribe to the Buster Olney theory that if you are going to vote for ANY player from the Steroid Era (like Greg Maddux or Derek Jeter, who likely did not use PEDs), you must vote for ALL of the deserving players from the Steroid Era (like McGwire or Barry Bonds, who likely did use PEDs).

Jack Morris NO
I have advocated for Morris before, but Rob Neyer made a great point today that changed my mind. He suggested that in considering a fringe candidate that you take his two best qualities and ask whether they would still be a candidate if you diminished those two qualities a little bit. I think this concept easily eliminates Morris.

Dale Murphy YES
See Andre Dawson. Except the part of having a good chance of getting in this year.

*Robb Nen NO

Dave Parker NO

*Tim Raines YES
His numbers are nearly identical to Ricky Henderson, and Henderson may be one of the most underrated players ever...as well as an inductee the first time he appears on the ballot.

Jim Rice NO
Take him out of Fenway and his fringe numbers would be even less convincing.

Jose Rijo NO

Lee Smith NO

*Todd Stottlemyre NO

Alan Trammell NO

So that is 6 yes votes. That might be a little high in a year where there are no "sure-fire" HOFers on the ballot. But then again, in 1992 I think McGwire, Dawson and Murphy all held that title.

It should probably be noted that most of my evaluations are based on my view of each of these players when I was 10 years old. But, maybe that's the way all voters should make their decisions.

No End in Sight
Director: Charles Ferguson
Grade: B+

In the media for several years we have heard how the war in Iraq has been "mismanaged." For a long time I wasn't entirely sure what this meant. This documentary does a good job beginning to explain the missteps taken in the "management" of the operation. It felt like a condensed version of Bob Woodward's two most recent books, Plan of Attack and State of Denial, which I would recommend over this movie. Of course, No End in Sight won't take as long to get through.


No Country for Old Men
Director: The Coen Brothers
Grade: A

I think I had forgotten just how good Joel and Ethan Coen are. After poor reviews, I never bothered with The Ladykillers, I got burned out on O Brother Where Art Thou after far too many viewings with my college roommate, Will, and it has been a very long time since I've watched Fargo or The Big Lebowski. So, I had not really thought about seeing No Country For Old Men until Sarah called me up late one night because she had just left the theater and needed someone to talk to because she was so creeped out by this movie. I was immediately intrigued.

Based on the Cormac McCarthy novel, No Country For Old Men is a man who finds himself running for his life from vicious drug dealers, and the authorities who watch futilely as the dealers violently sort out their differences amongst themselves. The whole movie reminded me of the quote at the beginning of Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man, "it is preferable not to travel with a dead man."

This is by far the best movie that I have seen so far this year. Anton Chigurh, played by Javier Bardem, deserves a place in the film villain pantheon right along side Hannibal Lecter, Alex de Large and Norman Bates.


Grindhouse: Death Proof
Director: Quentin Tarrantino
Grade: B-

I think this is the first film he has directed that I would consider minor Tarrantino (in my opinion Jackie Brown is vastly underrated). QT's half of the Grindhouse Double Feature consists of two vignettes involving Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) and his "death proof" (at least for him) stunt car. The movie is essentially two separate bar scenes where Stuntman Mike meets a group of girls. Each bar scene is followed by a car chase scene in which he tries to kill his new friends. It's as simple as that, and provides us with the most gruesome movie car crash that I recall ever seeing.

Cast wise, I don't think Kurt Russell brought anything to the table that Tarrantino favorite Michael Madsen couldn't have, and Sydney Portier (daughter of Sidney Portier) steals the show from stars Rosario Dawson and Rose MacGowan.

Most of you know that I've had a lot going on lately. But here are some quick-hits on movies I've seen over the last couple of months.

Superbad
Director: Greg Mottola
Grade: A-

Good-hearted, gross-out comedy.

Knocked Up
Director: Judd Apatow
Grade: A-

Almost the same movie as Superbad, only 10 years later.

American Gangster
Director: Ridley Scott
Grade: B-

Reasonably entertaining, painfully by-the-book.

Beowulf (in 3-D)
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Grade: C+

Probably loses points if not seen in 3-D. Judging from the previews, it appears that we will be seeing more of these Digital 3-D movies popping up soon.

The Darjeeling Limited
Director: Wes Anderson
Grade: B+

I'm looking forward to seeing this one again on DVD. I think I need to re-watch it to really comment fully, but I think it may be Anderson's deepest film since Rushmore.


I started to watch both Brooklyn Rules and I'm Reed Fish recently, but turned them off after 20 minutes. Take that as you will.