MLB: How will Hall of Fame Voters Treat the Class of 2013

Before former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin’s Hall of Fame plaque could be ordered on Monday talk had already turned to the 2013 class of eligible players but for all the wrong reasons.

Between 1984 and 2007 the names Biggio, Piazza, Bonds, Schilling, Sosa, and Clemens were synonymous with greatness. There was also a period of time when a few of these names were linked to performance enhancing drugs thus tarnishing America’s Past Time in the wake of their indelible mark on baseball.  

On statistics and accomplishments alone the first-time eligible players for the 2013 National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York could be considered the greatest class inducted since Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Honus Wagner, and Walter Johnson entered in 1936. But because of the “Steroid Era” question marks hover over some of the games’ greatest players.

Barry Bonds

In 2003 Barry Bonds was caught in the BALCO scandal. For those that may have forgotten what the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative scandal was about, it was about Greg Anderson allegedly providing steroids or performance enhancing drugs to athletes and Major League Baseball players. One of his most successful clients was Bonds.

Stemming from Bonds’ now infamous testimony, he was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice in 2007 cutting a legendary 22 year career short; there was some gas left in Bonds’ tank.

There was also a desire by the Home Run King to keep playing but the controversy surrounding Bonds’ proved to be too much negative attention for any team to bear and understandably so.  

Bonds finished his career as the all-time home run leader with 762, the leader in walks with 2,558, and intentional walks recording 688. He has the single season home run record (73), most consecutive seasons with 30 or more home runs (13), on-base percentage in a single season (.609), and he is tied with his father for the most 30-30 seasons in a career (5).

If those accomplishments are not enough, he won seven National League MVP awards including four in a row (1990, 1992, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004).

If one is looking for holes to poke in Bonds career- good luck. He was 65 hits shy of 3,000 and a career .298 hitter. His career average is tied with Mickey Mantle and Jim Rice and places him ahead of newly elected Hall of Famer Barry Larkin (.2948) and soon to be first ballot Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. (.284).

He retired No. 4 on the all-time runs batted in list with 1,996.

Did he admit to using the “cream and the clear” ointment from Greg Anderson or did he not? Speculation still surrounds this possible forthcoming information from Bonds.

Will his conviction of obstruction of justice charge on April 13, 2011 be enough to keep voters away from one of the most feared hitters to ever play the game?

Sammy Sosa

Sammy Sosa is another player implicated during his playing career but never formally found guilty of failing a drug test. How will the election committee view his career?

At the time of his retirement Sosa was one of five players with 600 home runs; 500 home runs at one time were considered the magical benchmark needed to make into the Hall of Fame. He won the 1998 National League MVP and was a seven-time All-Star in his 18 year career.

Sosa twice led the league in home runs but oddly never during any of his 60 plus home run seasons- 1998, 1999, and 2001. He led the league in 2000 with 50 and in 2002 with 49.

His career batting average of .273 is average for power hitters and his 1,667 RBIs currently rank him No. 27 on the all-time list. When he retired he was in the Top 100 on the career hit list with 2,408 placing him ahead of Hall of Famers Ryne Sandberg, Larkin, Kirby Puckett, and Joe DiMaggio.

He led the NL in runs three times (1998, 2001, and 2002), home runs twice, RBIs twice (1998 and 2001), and total bases three times (1998, 1999, and 2001).

In 2009 the New York Times reported that Sosa failed a drug test in 2003. Also in 2003 Sosa was found corking his bat- an illegal action in MLB.

Slammin’ Sammy was also part of the Grand Jury that testified before Congress in 2005 regarding steroids in baseball. Sosa did not directly testify claiming he did not speak English well enough to do so.

Mike Piazza

Mike Piazza is typically regarded as one of the best hitting catchers of all-time. His 396 career home runs as a catcher is tops in MLB history. A .308 hitter during16 years in the majors ranks him No. 120 for career average.

Piazza was the 1993 NL Rookie of the Year as the Dodgers catcher. He was with the Dodgers until 1998 then traded to the Marlins before being traded again to the New York Mets. Piazza had better overall career numbers as a Met but earned his reputation as a hitter in Dodger Stadium, a pitcher’s park.

Post season numbers do not support his place among the best players ever. In eight series played over five seasons, a total of 32 games, he hit .242.

As a defensive catcher he allowed over 100 stolen bases eight times topping out with 155 in 1996. 23 percent of bases runners were caught stealing by the lumbering catcher and 10 times he allowed the most bases stolen in the NL.

In 1995 and 1996 he led the league in passed balls- 12 and 12. Four times he led all catchers in errors (1993, 1994, 1997, and 2002). Five other times he was in the top 2-4 in total errors for a season among catchers.

The most surprising statistics of Piazza’s may be that he had eight triples in his career and 17 stolen bases.

Whispers of PED surrounded Piazza but he was never openly found to violate the league’s substance abuse policy.

Chances are Piazza makes it into the Hall in one of his first two attempts unless documentation surfaces about him taking performance enhancing drugs before the election committee submits their votes.

A question begs to be asked, if Piazza was not a catcher would his career numbers be good enough for the Hall of Fame?

The follow up question to voters, because a guy is an above average hitter for his position but a below average player in the field, does that merit a Hall of Fame career?

Craig Biggio

Craig Biggio came up through the Houston Astros organization as a catcher but will be remembered by most as a second baseman. Biggio’s rare athletic ability allowed him to play parts of five seasons behind the plate, parts of five seasons in center field, six in left field, and 15 at second base.

In 20 total seasons he was named a NL All-Star seven times, once as a catcher, and a Gold Glove Award winner at second base five times (1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997). He was nine home runs shy of joining Willie Mays as the only other player with 3,000 hits, 300 stolen bases, and 300 home runs.

Biggio’s true power shows in his career doubles. He retired with 668 doubles, fifth all-time, and tops for a right handed batter. A testament to his speed on the base paths as well.

A dubious honor but one that counts towards his on base percentage is his hit by a pitch stat line. He was hit 285 times leaving him two short of Hughie Jennings (1891-1918). Five times he led the league in HBP being hit 34 times in 1997.

At second, Biggio had great range which contributed to his high error totals. Seven times he was among the top five in errors but never led the league. His effort in the field paid off as he was first in putouts five times and in the top five six other times.

He totaled 3,060 career hits (No. 21 on the career list) with 1,844 runs scored (No. 13 all-time).

Biggio was a gamer and deserves a spot among the best ever. Voters will overlook his career .281 batting average and his career post season average of .234.

Curt Schilling

If the election committee took into account a player’s birth place then Curt Schilling may get inducted as the best Major League pitcher ever born in the state of Alaska. As it is Schilling is on a dangerous Hall of Fame line after compiling 216 career wins, well short of the mythical 300 needed by most starting pitchers.

Schilling may fall into the Jack Morris area among voters. Morris was a three-time World Series winner and a World Series MVP like Schilling. However Morris won 38 more games over his 18 year big league career than the 20 years Schilling played.

Known as a strike out pitcher utilizing his four-seam fastball with a great changeup and a devastating split-finger fastball, Schilling was also a workhorse on the mound twice leading the NL in innings pitched- 1998 Phillies and 2001 Diamondbacks. Twice he led the NL in total strikeouts (1997 and 1998) placing him No. 15 on the career list.

The post season is where one wants to shine and that is exactly where Schilling shined. He and his bloody sock won 11 games while only losing two over 19 starts. He was not bailed out by his offense either. He posted a 2.23 ERA over 133.1 post season innings pitched.

Schilling may have to wait around a few years if he is ever inducted into the Hall.

He led the NL once in wins with 22 in 2001 with Diamondbacks and once in the AL with the Red Sox posting 21 wins. He went over 20 wins a total of three times in his career.

He was known as a good to great pitcher but never known as the most dominate of his era or even during any one season most notably because he never won a Cy Young Award.

Speculation with steroids was never a problem for Schilling, his conflicts with management, players, and the media made him a notorious player during his career.

Should a starting pitcher during the steroid era get extra consideration for the Hall of Fame because of the gaudy offensive numbers compiled during that time?

Roger Clemens

Love him or hate him Roger Clemens is among the best pitchers to ever play in Major League Baseball.

The Rocket spent 13 of his 24 years in a Red Sox uniform winning 192 games with a winning percentage of .634 over that time. After four subpar seasons in Boston which saw him accumulate a record of 40 wins and 39 losses including the only two losing seasons of his career, he reinvented himself in Toronto in 1997.

Over the following 11 years Clemens won 162 games losing 73 times for the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, and the Houston Astros. He added four more Cy Young Awards to his mantle during this time collecting a total of seven through his time in “the show”.

Here are a few of the Rocket’s career accomplishments: four times he led his league in wins, seven times led the league in ERA, 16 years of 30 or more starts, 6 times led the league in shutouts, five time leader in strikeouts, and twice led the league in innings pitched.

It’s hard enough to win seven Cy Young Awards (1986, 1987, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2001, and 2004) much less to be named the league MVP as a pitcher, something Clemens accomplished in 1986.

He was also an 11 time All-Star and won two World Series with the Yankees in 1999 and 2000.

He ranks No. 3 on the career strikeout list with 4,672, No. 9 with 354 total wins, No. 16 in career innings pitched (4,916.2), and No. 26 in career shutouts (46) with 118 complete games.

Clemens was named to the Mitchell Report citing that he had used steroids or was connected to performance enhancing drugs. The Rocket denied his use of steroids. He was later charged with six felony counts including perjury, false statements, and obstruction of Congress.

July 14, 2011, on the second day of testimony his trial was declared a mistrial because of prosecutorial misconduct. A retrial date has not been set.

The jury literally is still out on Clemens and his usage of PED. The most important question is how will the Hall of Fame voters treat one of the best pitchers to ever take the mound?

Is speculation of steroid use enough to keep Clemens from the Hall of Fame?

Are his accomplishments before the steroid era enough to vote him into the Hall?

The Outcome

Six players worthy of Hall of Fame consideration await their fate. Will they receive the ultimate honor bestowed to the greatest players of the game by being elected or will the steroid era taint the accomplishments of all six players that will be eligible for the first time in 2013?

If you had a vote, which players would you elect to the Hall of Fame in 2013?

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2011 Major League Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees

Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar will join the list of immortal baseball players on Sunday when they will be inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

Bert Blyleven -- "How many times can I throw my curveball tonight?"

Bert Blyleven was a third round pick of the Minnesota Twins in the 1969 draft. After a brief minor league career, the 19 year old curveball pitcher was called up to the Bigs in 1970. Blyleven’s career spanned 22 years, 5 different teams (twice playing for the Twins), and a loss record almost as great as his win total (287 wins – 250 losses). One of the most telling statistics of Bert’s career is his 242 complete games. He compiled a few more impressive stats: 60 shutouts, a 3.31 ERA, and 3,701 strikeouts that places him 5^th on the all-time list.

Blyleven never led the league in wins but he did lead the league in losses with 17 in 1988, and only won 20 games once (1973, 20-17). He was a 2-time All-Star selection (1973 and 1985). Being 13 games shy of the magical 300 plateau for pitchers and not be in the Hall of Fame would be a shame. But his induction, like many, is more of a longevity award than a “great player” award. He was as bad as he was good. He can boast two World Series Championships (1979 Pirates, 1987 Twins).

Roberto Alomar -- "I better win the ALCS MVP"!

One of the best second basemen ever? You bet. Many may remember “Robbie” for the bad, spitting on the face of home plate umpire John Hirschbeck at the end of the 1996 season, and the 2009 HIV/AIDS lawsuit against him by a former girlfriend (settled out of court), but not the great. Many may forget that this .300 career switch hitting second baseman was also a 10 time Gold Glove winner; the most for any second baseman in MLB history.

Roberto was asked to get on base, score runs, play great defense, and he did. He hit over .300 nine times in his career, scored over 100 runs six times, stole more than 20 bases 10 times (twice stealing more than 50 bases, 1991 - 53, 1993 - 55), and in two World Series appearances he hit .347 (.313 career post season batting average in 11 series).

On the field he formed two of the more interesting up the middle tandems. One with fellow Hall of Fame inductee, Cal Ripken Jr. (1996-1998) and Omar Vizquel (2000-2002). For three straight years Alomar and Vizquel both won Gold Gloves; only 1 of 8 duos to have done so in the same year. Alomar also won two World Series while playing with the Toronto Blue Jays (1992, 1993) and was a 12 time all-star.

For 12 of the 17 years Roberto was in Major League Baseball, he was the best player at his position. That’s something that very few Hall of Famers can say.

Just to Clarify

Shouldn’t MLB rename the Gold Glove to the Brooks Robinson Award? True he was a third baseman and the Gold Glove is awarded to the best individual fielder at each position regardless of league or division played. But Robinson was the man… he won the award 15 straight times. That’s a winning streak that is not likely to ever happen again. 

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10 Worst All-Star Batting Averages of Hall of Fame Players

There’s an age old debate about how certain MLB position players fair against top notch starting pitching. Who owned who? Some players have made a Hall of Fame career off of beating up on the third, fourth, and fifth guys in a pitching rotation. Even worse, some guys beat up on bullpen pitchers and get called great for doing so. How many times have you heard “so and so” has a great batting average from the seventh inning on? This has been translated into clutch hitting instead of hitting against a relief pitcher that didn’t make the teams starting rotation.

The 82^nd Major League Baseball All-Star Game played on July 12^th showed that not all All-Stars are All-Stars when playing against the best of the best. Here’s a list of great position players that did not fair well when playing against their All-Star contemporaries.

Hank Aaron

Hammerin’ Hank had a career .194 all-star batting average in 67 at-bats. Over the course of 17 years Mr. Aaron was selected to the All-Star Game 25 times. From 1959 to 1962 MLB had two all-star games in each season; funds raised from the second all-star game went towards the player’s pension fund. The former homerun king only had two dingers in those 67 at-bats.

Ozzie Smith

The Wizard of Oz was better known for his glove than his bat, which is a good thing considering his all-star batting average of .148. Ozzie had 15 selections 27 at bats and 4 hits. Let’s hope his all-star fielding average was better. Mr. Smith went to Cooperstown in 2002.

Paul Molitor

Paul Molitor’s 21 year career and career .306 batting average didn’t translate to all-star success. In seven invites to the all-star game, “Molly” had a career .125 batting average in the mid-season classic. The 2004 Hall of Fame inductee only had 1 hit in 8 at bats.

Ryne Sandberg

The career Chicago Cubs second baseman and current AAA manager for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, a Philadelphia Phillies affiliate, Cubs had an all-star career batting average of .115 in 10 all-star selections. Ryno had 3 hits in 26 at bats. Sandberg was admitted into the Hall of Fame in 2005.

Don Mattingly

Maybe it’s a prerequisite to being a head skipper for the Dodgers? Or maybe the greats just have bad games, either way add Mattingly to the list. Don Mattingly was selected to 6 all-star games and batted .111. An average of .111 for Mattingly translates to 1 hit in 9 at bats. 

Joe Torre

The 1971 NL MVP and NL batting champion (.363) and head skipper of the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers wouldn’t be the best person to give all-star batting tips. In 9 all-star selections Torre batted .095, that’s 2 hits in 21 at bats. Ouch!

Eddie Murray

“Steady Eddie” was an 8 time all-star and a 2003 Hall of Fame selection. His 11 plate appearances yielded only 1 hit giving him a .091 all-star batting average. That must be a bitter pill for a player with 3,255 career hits.

It’s a Family Thing

Neither Brett nor Aaron, will ever be in the Hall of Fame, but the Boone name is baseball royalty and neither can give the other one a hard time around the dinner table over their all-star success… because neither one had any. The Boone Brothers combined for 4 all-star appearances (Brett 3), 5 at bats (Brett 4), and zero hits. 

Eddie Matthews

Regarded as one of the best third basemen to ever play the game, this 1978 Hall of Famer has the second worst all-star career in MLB history. In 12 all-star games Matthews had 4 hits in 25 Abs for a .080 average.

Craig Biggio

Mr. Biggio is not in the Hall yet, but the 3,060 career hits he had while playing for the Houston Astros will make him a shoe-in. In 7 all-star selections, 15 ABs, Biggio had one hit giving him a .067 average.

Like reading numbers? Here's some more for you.

 Notable Bad Averages of Other Great Players

Roger Maris .105

Pee Wee Reese .118

Barry Larkin .111

Edgar Martinez .167

Barry Bonds .194

The Best of the Best

Frank Thomas .800

Ken Griffey Jr. .440

Derek Jeter .435

Steve Garvey .393

Will Clark .385

Dave Winfield .361

Johnny Bench .357

Jackie Robinson .333

Babe Ruth .333

Roberto Clemente .323

Wade Boggs .321

Willie Mays .307

Ernie Banks .303

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10 Worst All-Star Batting Averages of Hall of Fame Players

A piece I did for the Bleacher Report


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Moneyball

If you haven’t seen any of this summer’s blockbuster movies yet chances are you haven’t seen the trailer for Moneyball; and you’re missing out. Moneyball is based off the 2003 best selling book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis which chronicles the early failures and success of the Oakland Athletics after team owner Walter Haas Jr. died in 1995.  

After Walter Haas Jr.’s death in 1995 the Oakland A’s were bought and operated by Stephen Schott and Ken Hoffman. Haas Jr. was a team owner known to spend money on the A’s team payroll to get top talent. From the time Haas took over as the owner of the A’s in 1980 until his death, the A’s won five American League West titles and appeared in three consecutive World Series (1988, 1989, and 1990); winning the World Series in 1989 against the San Francisco Giants. Schott and Hoffman were not interested in spending money on the team’s payroll and only allowed the A’s management staff to spend, in the grand scheme of baseball, very little money on the team’s payroll. Thus “moneyball” was invented as a necessity for the A’s to compete in modern baseball.

The term “moneyball” refers to a sabermetric principle applied to baseball and the player’s statistical achievements. The primarily stats used are on-base percentage and slugging percentage with the thought that those stats lead to more runs scored. Then General Manager of the A’s (1983-1997), Sandy Alderson (now General Manager of the New York Mets), developed a cost effective approach to attaining players needed to compete in Major League Baseball based upon a player’s offensive production and financial value of that player on the open market in free agency. Alderson is credited for rebuilding the A’s farm system during the 1980’s and adding players to the team as needed based off the sabermetric system; moneyball = low cost free agent players + calling up minor league talent from one’s farm system, with a hopeful end product of a successful MLB season.

Moneyball places a heavier emphasis on drafting college talent that is thought to be more proven and polished over high school talent that is still raw and unproven. In 1998 Alderson took an executive vice president for baseball operations position in Major League Baseball’s front office, leaving the development of moneyball to his successor, Billy Beane.

The movie focuses on Billy Beane, played by Brad Pitt, and Peter Brand’s (Jonah Hill) attempts to change the way baseball executives approach filling out a competitive major league team year after year with financial limitations. Moneyball should prove to be an underdog’s dramatic look inside the mathematics and statistics of baseball followed with the success of the Athletics. Moneyball will be released in theatres September 23.

Just to Clarify

Since the A’s last trip to the World Series in 1990 they have made the playoffs four times (2000, 2002, 2003, and 2006), only winning one playoff series in a 2006 ALDS series sweep of the Minnesota Twins. The A’s had the misfortune of playing the New York Yankees, Major League Baseball’s antithesis of moneyball, in two dramatic ALDS series in 2000 and 2001. Who can forget Derek Jeter’s unbelievable relay toss along the first base line to Jorge Posada at home to stop the A’s from scoring?

To put this in “moneyball” terms the $41 million payroll of the A’s went the distance with the $125 million payroll of the Yankees in 2002.

To put another twist on the movie and the moneyball approach, the budget for Moneyball was $47 million, $6 million less than the A’s 2002 total team payroll.

The A’s 2010 opening day team payroll was $51.6 million. The A’s payroll is the third lowest payroll in MLB topping the San Diego Padres ($37.7 million) and Pittsburg Pirates ($34.9 million). The New York Yankees lead MLB with a payroll over $206 million.

Notes of Interest

Billy Beane was a highly recruited baseball, football, and basketball player while in high school at Mount Carmel High in San Diego, California.

Stanford recruited Beane to play baseball and football hoping he would eventually replace, then starting quarterback, John Elway.

Beane was the 23^rd player drafted in the first round of the 1980 Major League Baseball Draft by the New York Mets. He signed with the Mets for $125,000.00.

The Mets thought so highly of Beane they placed him in Class-A ball while placing their top pick, and the number one overall pick of the 1980 draft, Darryl Strawberry, in Rookie ball.

Beane played for 6 years in MLB as an outfielder for the Mets, Twins, Tigers, and A’s compiling a career .219 average on 66 hits with 29 RBIs.

He was on two teams that won the World Series; 1987 Twins and 1989 A’s. He was not on the post season roster for either team.

The A’s have not finished above .500 since 2006.

Billy Beane was made a 10% owner of the Oakland Athletics in 2005 by new team owner Lew Wolff. (Maybe that’s why the A’s really have not spent any money on the team’s payroll, the team’s payroll is now coming out of Billy’s pocket!)

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Final Voting for All-Star Positions

Dubbed the “Final Vote”, Major League Baseball fans have one more chance to vote for their favorite players to make the 82^nd Annual Major League Baseball All-Star Game. The possible equivalent to “Mr. Irrelevant”, as far as an ego check goes for MLB players, is left for fan voting online. Two more positions remain, one player for both leagues, to fill the 67^th and 68^th spots.

The final potential players, as picked by American League manager Ron Washington (Texas Rangers) and Bruce Bochy (San Francisco Giants), will learn their fate on Thursday.

American League Players

Alex Gordon .301 batting average, 10 home runs, 46 RBIs

Victor Martinez .335 batting average, 6 home runs, 46 RBIs

Paul Konerko .317 batting average, 21 home runs, 62 RBIs

Ben Zorbist .261 batting average, 9 home runs, 40 RBIs

Adam Jones .288 batting average, 13 home runs, 46 RBIs

National League Players

Andre Either .322 batting average, 7 home runs, 41 RBIs

Todd Helton .323 batting average, 9 home runs, 38 RBIs

Michael Morse .299 batting average, 15 home runs, 46 RBIs

Shane Victorino .299 batting average, 9 home runs, 34 RBIs

You can vote until 4:00 p.m. EST Thursday afternoon online at www.mlb.com.

The MLB All-Star Game is July 12^th, at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.

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MLB All-Star Selection Show

Major League Baseball 2012 All-Star Selections

Major League Baseball All-Star voting ended Thursday night at 11:59 EST. Did you get your votes in? This sports nut did! For those of you geeked to see how if your votes helped propel your favorite players into the All-Star Game there is a selection show Sunday at noon EST on TBS to unveil the starters along with in-depth analysis of the players picked.

The selection show should prove to be somewhat exciting for true baseball fans. The final week of voting was only available online and proved to be a record setter. Between the 30 MLB clubs, 18.5 million ballots were cast and 250 million votes for the 2012 All-Star Game. This surpassed the record votes cast during the 2009 season; 17.7 million ballots and 223.4 million votes. Online All-Star voting began in 2002. The addition of online voting helped bring fringe baseball fans into the fold in the U.S. and around the world. All-Star ballots were only offered at Major League Baseball stadiums before 2002.

Starting position players are determined by fan votes but reserve players and pitchers for both teams are picked by the managers for each team. The managers for each team are determined by the previous seasons World Series skippers. Ron Washington of the Texas Rangers will manage the AL squad and Bruce Bochy of the San Francisco Giants will manage the NL team. Bochy will have 25 players on his NL team while Washington will have 24.

The All-Star Game is July 12^th at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.

HogManInLA Meet and Greet

I will be attending the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Mets game at Dodger Stadium for the 4^th of July festivities. We will be on the first base side at field level for the game.

If you can’t make the game we will be giving live updates on Twitter. You can follow along at http://twitter.com/HogManInLa. If you’re able to attend you can send me a message on Twitter. Let me know where you’re sitting.

Hope to see all of you there. 

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What’s Wrong with Major League Baseball?

What did the steroid era do to fans of Major League Baseball? Skepticism of current MLB players still using performance enhancing drugs aside (Jose Bautista?), the steroid era has seemingly left a void in professional baseball. Are the current players meeting the expectations of their fans? Will baseball ever recover? Will the fans ever recover?

When spring rolled around this year, friends began emailing and calling about the upcoming MLB season. Talk about fantasy baseball drafts, predications on who will win their division, wild card teams, and general excitement about catching a game ensued. Who will dominate this year? Will MLB have a 20 game winner or a Triple Crown winner? How many home runs will lead the league and who will be the league leader? Excitement began to bubble then the most thought provoking question about the upcoming season was asked, “who do you want to see play this year”? The sad truth is no one.

Living in southern California can spoil you. Not because the Dodgers have been great for the past ten years and life as a baseball fan can’t get any better. Having access to two professional baseball teams within an hours drive is the spoiler; and the San Diego Padres just a couple of hours away. Taking the opportunity to see players and teams play for granted has become a part of life. You name the player chances are I’ve seen him play. Good for me, so what’s the point? My childhood dreams have come true, I finally have access to see any professional athlete or team play and I don’t really care. How can I take baseball, the first sport I loved, for granted. What happened?

What excuses can be made for a lack of interest about going to the ballpark for a dog, a cold one, and watching America’s past time? As we grow older we don’t make as much time for the things we did when we were kids? The cost of tickets and parking is too much? Traffic is horrible. Been there, done that? In 100 games attended not one foul ball or home run has been hit to me for a “free” souvenir. I’m self conscience about seeing “Take Me Out to The Ballgame”. The ten 21 year old kids on my row will keep making a beer run in the middle of the inning. Nah, all of those reasons seems too flimsy of an excuse. At the heart of the matter is a lack of enthusiasm for the players and teams in today’s game.

Now let’s ask the next round of important questions. Why is there little to no enthusiasm for baseball fans to rally around today’s players and teams? Is Major League Baseball to blame due to a lack of marketing the game and their players to their fans? Perhaps. Does MLB or ESPN highlight any other teams outside of the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox? No they don’t. It makes sense to highlight those two teams as they have combined to win 7 out of the last 15 World Series but that rivalry has gone stale… even to hardcore baseball fans.

Does there need to be a salary cap in MLB so every season a different team, in theory, has a legitimate chance to make the playoffs and possibly the World Series? A salary cap wouldn’t hurt. This would put an even larger emphasis on each team’s scouting, drafting, and farm systems; something that should be happening regardless. A notion lost on many teams (hello Chicago Cubs). Would this drive overall attendance and spark a flame in Major League Baseball again for the casual baseball fan? Definitely. Yet this would only mask part of the problem in baseball.

Bud Selig may dodge the salary cap solution and brining greater parity to baseball, which works in the NFL, by adding an additional wild card team to the playoffs; there is a possibility of two total Wild Card teams in the 2012 playoffs. Wild card teams do not mean punching bags for division winners. Since the wild card format was put into effect in 1995, 4 wild card teams have won the World Series:

1997 Florida Marlins

*2002 Anaheim Angels

2003 Florida Marlins

2004 Boston Red Sox

5 wild card teams have advanced to the World Series since 1995:

2000 Mets

*2002 San Francisco Giants

2005 Houston Astros

2006 Detroit Tigers

2007 Colorado Rockies

* In 2002 the Anaheim Angels and San Francisco Giants faced each other in the World Series.

Without conversations of baseball in December and reducing the total number of regular season games, this solution solves a temporary competitive balance in baseball; adding more teams to the party. Hopefully this restores the faith of fans for a couple small markets teams and gets them going to the ballpark again.

There’s still a perceived problem with the product on the field. Gone are the guys hitting 60 and 70 home run per year; for better or for worse. Even the 50 home run hitters are scarce. More small-ball you say? This is the new way of baseball for fans to get excited about. Since 2001 when Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs, only 3 players have stolen over 70 bases in a season: 2004 Scott Podsednik, 70, MIL, 2007 Jose Reyes, 78 NYM, 2009 Jacoby Ellsbury, 70, BOS. More sacrifice hits? The 2010 MLB leader was Dodger pitcher Clayton Kershaw with 18. In 2001 three players tied for the league lead with 17 (Tom Glavine, Jack Wilson, and Ricky Gutierrez). Okay, no excitement there, and seems not much has changed.

This must be the era of dominating pitching then.

2001 Randy Johnson (Arizona Diamondbacks) led the baseball with a 2.49 ERA. In 2010 Felix Hernandez (Seattle Mariners) led baseball with a 2.27 ERA. Not much of a difference. How about strikeouts per 9 innings? If the players are no longer hitting home runs they must be striking out. In 2001 Randy Johnson led baseball with an average of 13.41. Tim Lincecum had a league leading average of 9.791, a big drop off in the wrong direction. If real numbers work better for you, Randy Johnson struck out 372 batters in 2001, Lincecum lead the league last year with 231.

Hey HogManInLA, that’s not a fair comparison. Randy Johnson is one of the best pitchers of all-time.

Good point. There must be great talent then in MLB. Let’s look at the individual players.

The Sporting News recently released their 50 Best Players in Baseball article by Stan McNeil and Anthony Witardo. Their best player in baseball is Albert Pujols. Not much of an argument can be made against that pick. But their second best player is 26 year old, SS Troy Tulowitzki with the Colorado Rockies. TROY is the second best player in baseball? That says a lot. The second best player in baseball in 5 seasons has only hit over .300 once and has only hit over 30 home runs once; 37 in 2009. He has never knocked in over 100 runs in a season.

Was 27 year old Joey Votto, first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds and The Sporting News fourth best player, your pick for the second best player in baseball? He had a break-through season last year hitting .324, 37 home runs, and 113 RBIs; all career highs but he did not lead the league in any major statistical category. He’s a great young talent and worth seeing play in person but this is another pick based off hope and promise for the future. Maybe the article should have been called, “The 50 Greatest Players that will possibly emerge in the next couple of years”.

Either way this is a winning closing argument for the problem with baseball. There are no great players, other than Albert Pujols, to follow in baseball. Think I’m wrong? How many position players 30 years old and under look like they are on a Hall of Fame track?

Baseball has to admit they are in a void of talent and dampened enthusiasm since the steroid era, I mean the “power era” as MLB now refers to the 1990’s and 2000’s. If the individual talent is not there, MLB has to market their teams. Following the NBA’s marketing plan of hyping one or two teams per season will be the continued nail in the coffin for MLB.

Just to clarify, there are some amazing young and talented players currently in the game. Problem is we don’t know what we have with these young guys yet. Once they string 3-4 years together at a top level, then baseball fans have a reason to be excited. Major League Baseball must do a better job of marketing their players on a national level instead of letting individual teams market their players within their sphere of influence. Boston and the New York Yankees may be baseball’s two most important teams but they are killing the sport. Letting ESPN overhype their rivalry year after year is not helping either.

See them before they’re gone!

Here are a few older reasons to sip a beer, eat a dog, and remember the good old days at the park:

Derek Jeter, New York Yankees

Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves

Jorge Posada, New York Yankees

Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners

Ivan Rodriguez, Washington Nationals

Lance Berkman, St. Louis Cardinals

Jim Thome, Minnesota Twins

Vladimir Guerrero, Baltimore Orioles

Jamie Moyer… oh yeah, never mind.

A question to The Sporting News:

Have you seen Adrian Gonzalez play? He’s in Boston now, so you should take notice. Few fans, because of poor marketing by MLB, know who Gonzalez is and realize how special of a player he will be for the Red Sox for years to come. He was tucked away in San Diego for the past 5 years with no one in the lineup to protect him still he was able to put up monster numbers in a pitcher’s park. Placing him #14 on your list raises serious doubts about your ability to assess major league talent.

Baseball fans, what do you think?

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Derek Jeter approaches 3,000 career hits

Sunday, June 05, 2011

Major League Baseball has many career milestones a player needs to pass to be a legitimate consideration for the Hall of Fame. 3,000 career hits is one of those remarkable milestones. Derek Jeter has 2,985 hits, 15 hits shy of the 3,000 hits milestone that will take him from eventual Hall of Famer to first ballot Hall of Famer. Only six other active players are on the top career 100 hits list and within at least 500 hits of 3,000. Will we see another 3,000 career hitter once Jeter reaches that plateau?

Ivan Rodriguez, 2,835 hits, age 39, #45 on the career hits list.

Omar Vizquel, 2,820 hits, age 44, #46 on the career hits list.

Alex Rodriguez, 2,730 hits, age 35, # 55 on the career hits list.

Johnny Damon, 2,631 hits, age 37, #74 on the career hits list.

Chipper Jones, 2,541 hits, age 39, #88 on the career hits list.

Vladimir Guerrero, 2,490 hits, age 36, #95 on the career hits list.

* Manny Ramirez is listed at 2,574 hits and ranks # 84^th on the all-time hit list.

Other players of interest:

Ichiro Suzuki, 2,307 hits, age 37, # 139 on the career hits list.

Albert Pujols, 1,964 hits, age 31, # 277 on the career hits list.

Adrian Beltre, 1,946 hits, age 32, # 286 on the career hits list.

Carl Crawford, 1,535 hits, age 29, # 556 on the career hits list.

Miguel Cabrera 1,462 hits, age 28, # 625 on the career hits list.

Ivan Rodriguez looked like he was finished 8 years ago. Yet he keeps playing and is considered an excellent receiver and mentor for younger catchers and pitching staffs. Father Time may have finally caught up with him. Sadly he’s 160 hits away, but he’s only collected 18 hits so far this year. Chances are he will not reach 3,000.

Omar Vizquel is an ageless wonder. The 44-year old is filling in for the Seattle Mariners as an infield utility player. He’s hitting a very respectable .280 on the year with 21 hits in limited action. He may have another year as a backup left. Chances are he will not reach 3,000 either.

A-Rod only needs 270 more hits to reach 3,000. He’s cranked out 58 hits this year and appears to be on track for 140 hits or so this season, if he stays healthy. A-Rod could reach 3,000 in 2013 barring any major injuries.

Johnny Damon is quietly sneaking up on a Hall of Fame type career. He’s got more hits than Joe DiMaggio (2,214) and he’s only 23 hits away from tying Ted Williams. His career average is only .287 and he’s never been known for his defense which will work against him. He’s won two World Series, 2004 with the Red Sox and 2009 with the New York Yankees. Coming up through the Kansas City Royals system as opposed to a high profile team like the Yankees or Red Sox will hurt his chances and has hurt his career numbers. His career hits numbers would be on par with Jeter’s had he played in the same role for the Yankees his entire career.

Chipper Jones is 459 hits away and hinted at retiring at the end of last season before an injury sidelined him for most of the year. At 39-years old, Chipper is still 3-4 years away from reaching 3,000. To his credit he would rather retire having played his entire career with the Braves than latch on as a Designated Hitter for an American League team to chase the mark. He should be a Hall of Famer a couple of years after he’s eligible.

Vladimir Guerrero is 510 hits away. The free-swinging 36-year old continues to chop away at pitches anywhere close to the plate. Last year he collected 178 hits, he’s collected 63 so far this year. He doesn’t walk much and he doesn’t strike out that often either, which is what will have to happen for him to reach 3,000. If he can continue to compile 178 hits over the next couple of years he could reach 3,000 hits in 2 ½ years. He’s earned every one of those hits since he doesn’t bunt or get infield hits to pad his stats.

Death, taxes, and Ichiro getting at least 200 hits in a season are all things you can count on in life. He’s off to a slow start this year, for him, as he’s only hitting .261 on the year with 63 hits; no triples or home runs. If he reaches 200 hits this year he will be 516 hits shy of 3,000. He could be there by early 2014 if he keeps playing at his usual pace.

Anyone surprised to see Adrian Beltre neck and neck with Albert Pujols on the career hit list? Both players are within a year in age and only 18 hits a part; that’s where the comparisons between the two should stop. Albert’s played in 276 few games, has a 131 more career home runs (420), 216 more RBIs (1,267), and a higher career batting average .329 to .274. At the end of the season King Albert could be close to 2,100 hits putting him 5 years away from 3,000.

Carl Crawford is entering his 8^th full season in the pros. He routinely gets around 180 hits each year. If he reaches 180 hits this season he will be 1,660 shy of 3,000 putting him 9-10 years away. Playing in Fenway Park will help him get extra hits if he can utilize the Green Monster and having solid hitters in the line-up around him. 3,000 hits seems like a long shot for him. He could benefit playing DH later in his career.

Of the players listed, Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols should be first ballot entries into the Hall of Fame. Ichiro Suzuki, Chipper Jones, and possibly Ivan Rodriguez will make Canton at some point. If Ichiro had played his entire career in MLB, he would be considered a first ballot player. 

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