January 5, 2010
Hall of Fame 2010: Robin Ventura and Todd Zeile
From now until the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2010 is announced, The Hall is going to be breaking down each candidate. Some write ups will be lengthy...some will be the opposite. Some will be brand new pieces...some will be re-hashes of previous pieces.If you had told me that Robin Ventura and Todd Zeile had been out of the league for five years, I probably would have called you a liar.
That being said, here they are, together…rounding out nearly a month’s worth of Hall of Fame breakdown pieces.
When Ventura made the jump to the bigs back in the fall of 1989, he appeared to have everything going for him. He was the holder of college baseball’s all-time hit streak (58 games), made it to the College World Series and was a Golden Spikes Award Winner.
The next season, the White Sox cleared out the left side of the infield so the future six-time Gold Glove winner could claim his spot among the leagues best fielders.
All in all, Ventura played under the hot lights in the nation’s three biggest markets…Chicago, New York and Los Angeles and compiled 1885 hits, a .267 and just under 300 home runs.
Todd Zeile also spent time in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles…and it is coincidental (or is it?), that Ventura is atop the comparisons list (thanks Baseball Reference) during the time they both played.
Teammates on the 2003 Yankees, their stats at the plate are remarkably similar, but they couldn’t be more different in the field. While Ventura brought home the Rawlings gold…Zeile led all Major Leaguers in errors during the 90s.
Some other fun facts about Zeile (if you can believe Wikipedia)... Zeile is the only player to have have hit a home run for over 10 teams.
He is also one of 41 players ever to hit a home run in his final at-bat. Others on that list…2010 Hall of Fame ballotmate Ray Lankford and Hall of Famers Ted Williams and Mickey Cochrane.
Zeile's final home run also made him the last person ever to hit a homer off a Montreal Expos pitcher.
I can’t say that Ventura or Zeile have much of a chance on this year’s ballot…but they were fun to watch.
Lastly, be sure to join in tonight at 9pm CST for a LIVE discussion of this year’s Hall of Fame. Let me know…did you agree with any of my takes?
Did you disagree?
Let your voice be heard…well, let it be typed out and re-posted for all to see at least.
Twitter Tuesday...January 5, 2010
We're on the eve of the Hall of Fame announcement and if the interwebs are any indication, Andre Dawson and Roberto Alomar are going to get the call. Honestly, I could see three people (add Bert Blyleven to Dawson and Alomar) going in...or no one.
Care to talk about it? Join me TONIGHT at 9pm CST for a live chat...RIGHT HERE!
So, we've talked Christmas the last couple of weeks, so it is only natural that this week we re-cap what everyone had to say about the New Year's, er...Capital One Bowl Week.
Really? Is that what we're calling it now?
If you need a full re-cap on all the Bowl Games, check out Seth McClung's page as it appeared as though he caught most of the games. I'd post all of his stuff (its that good), but you can just check them out yourself.
TheRealBJUpton (BJ Upton): Watching the Florida State game at the crib- sad to see Bobby Bowden go. Noles need to win this one for Bobby.
TommyLasorda (Tommy Lasorda): Congratulations to my good friend Joe Paterno and his Lions for winning the Capital One Bowl. This is Joe Pa's 24th bowl win.
73_MC (Seth McClung): The way lane kiffin is acting as head coach of tenn is making al Davis look like a class act.
ESPY_TEAHEN (Mark Teahen): Boise St and TCU fans invaded my town. Not sure who 2 root 4 All the chicks in massive amounts of purple eye shadow arent helpin TCUs case.
I can't say it enough...it's Hall of Fame time! HOWEVER, trying to search the Twitters to see who is talking about what is quite a challenge.
xxxSaraSloane: Thank goodness u TiVoed the rock'nroll hall of fame show nothin like mick Jagger to lift my spirits lol
youngsilk: I swear. if NBA 2k10 aint the most cheatenist game in the world, I dont know what is. (granted Im terrible and I play on Hall of Fame level)
BillySherwood: I was inducted into the prog rock hall of fame for "best prog producer 2009"
Djnewera: MARTIN GOES DOWN IN THE COMEDY HALL OF FAME NEXT TO RICHARD PRYOR AND EDDIE MURPHY NO QUESTION!!! HE NEVER FELL OFF
deathbatnews: Vote Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan For Modern Drummers 2010 Hall Of Fame Award!:
AngieMac84: Stu Hart finally going into the #WWE Hall of Fame is amazeballs... what about Owen though? I'd mark out big style for that :)
Me? I'd choose a gun and an unlimited supply of ammo...but I might be the crazy one.
TommyLasorda: If I were in a foxhole I'd want Dave the Chef with me. If I were going to die at least I wouldn't be hungry.
This week is a toss up.
On one hand, I have thoroughly enjoyed traveling through Spain courtesy of good friend of The Hall CJ Wilson's tweets and pictures. On the other...TMZ just posted the number one reason Matt Kemp hasn't been on Twitter for a while.
Props to both of you...you're both winners!
Have someone you think everyone should follow? Perhaps you yourself have read some interesting tweets in the past week…drop me a line or leave a comment below. See you next Tuesday!
January 4, 2010
Hall of Fame 2010: Alan Trammell
From now until the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2010 is announced, The Hall is going to be breaking down each candidate. Some write ups will be lengthy...some will be the opposite. Some will be brand new pieces...some will be re-hashes of previous pieces.Growing up in the Midwest (Illinois specifically), I had plenty of friends that were fans of the Cubs, White Sox or even our neighbors to the north…the Brewers.
I had one friend who, for some reason, was a fan of the Tigers. The dude loved Detroit.
He LOVED them!
We’d play one of the myriad of baseball games that we had and he’d always have the same cast of characters on his team…Willie Hernandez, Lance Parrish, Jack Morris, Lou Whitaker and, of course, Alan Trammell.
I always knew Trammell was good and for some reason I always had a soft spot for him.
True story…when I got into collecting autographs, he was one of the first I sent a card to. Remember when you could do that? You’d send a card and a SASE and within a few weeks…you’d get a reply.
Trammell responded. Numerous others did not.
Flash forward to today, and Trammell is slowly becoming the Bert Blyleven of some Hall of Fame discussions. But I'm not sure why. Like Blyleven, he was so overshadowed by some of the other guys out there that no one would have considered him a lock for Cooperstown.
Now, long after retiring and having spent a number of years (this is his ninth) on the ballot…people start banging his drum.
But why?
As soon as he was brought up from the Minors, Trammell supplanted Mark Belanger as one of the American League’s best fielding shortstops. Thankfully, he could do something that Belanger simply could not.
Hit.
All in all, “Tram” hovered around or above .300 for close to half of his career. His 2365 hits and .285 batting average would place him in the upper tier of shortstops already inducted.
The six-time All-Star showed great discipline at the plate and in 1984, he was named the World Series MVP after posting a .450 batting average in five game series against the Padres. Three years later, Trammell could have easily taken home the American League’s MVP award, but was narrowly beaten out by Toronto’s George Bell.
So, why no love for the slick fielding middle infielder originally from California? Simple…Cal Ripken Jr.
Basically, if you were a shortsop in the American League and NOT named Ripken…you were (seemingly) a nobody. You see, shortstops in the 80s weren’t really as highly regarded as they were a decade later.
There was no Derek Jeter. No Alex Rodriguez. And no Nomar Garciaparra.
There was Ripken and everyone else.
Unfortunately, it is not until many years later that people outside of Tigers fans are finally noticing that Trammell was a fantastic multi-tooled player. All that aside, I think we’re looking at a guy that will make it all 15 years on the ballot…but never will he shed the bridesmaid dress.
January 3, 2010
Hall of Fame 2010: Lee Smith
From now until the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2010 is announced, The Hall is going to be breaking down each candidate. Some write ups will be lengthy...some will be the opposite. Some will be brand new pieces...some will be re-hashes of previous pieces.
I grew up in Illinois and I hate the Chicago Cubs.
Wrigley Field, the little “c” on their hats, Ernie Banks, Ron Santo and the fact that they call themselves the “Lovable Losers”…they all get my goat (reference intended).
There are some Cubs I have liked however.
Nomar (naturally, but I would never consider him a “Cub”), Andre Dawson, Leon Durham and for some reason…Lee Arthur Smith.
I mean, here was a guy that when he entered the game…you knew it was over.
Sure, he’d give you a heart attack every now and again, but ultimately, he’d pick up the save and Cub fans could rejoice as the “W” flag was hoisted high above Wrigleyville.
Recently, we’ve seen a handful of closers make their way to Cooperstown…so why shouldn’t that trend continue? It’s almost like he’s the forgotten closer out there.
But I’m not sure why.
Right now, Trevor Hoffman is the all-time saves leader with 591. Truth is, he was the first one to 500, but before Hoffman was the all-time leader…Smith was.
For 13 years.
Oh…and his 478 saves dwarfs the 310 and 300 that recent Hall inductees Goose Gossage and Bruce Sutter notched.
But Smith must have been a one inning pitcher…guys like Goose consistently earned his saves by going two or more innings. I mean, that was what we heard last year when Gossage was knocking on the door of the Hall, right?
Well…so did Smith.
At the start of his career, Smith had a stretch of more than 830 innings pitched compared to 592 games played. That’s 83 or more innings pitched in eight of nine years. Three years in a row, he eclipsed 100 or more innings.
By comparison, a guy like Hoffman has nine years where he has pitched fewer innings than the number of games he’s appeared in. Actually, aside from Mariano Rivera…that seems to be the trend of many of the big name closers out there today.
Here’s a fun one for ya…raise your hand if you knew Lee Smith once held the record for most games finished in his career.
No one?
Hoffman (now at 820) recently surpassed Smith’s total 802. After that, Rivera (773) and Billy Wagner (639) are the only two active players within 200 games finished of Smith.
Speaking of closing out games (and getting back to saves), Smith had 13 years where he tallied 25 or more saves. Hoffman did it 14 out of 15 years (he was injured for most of 2003). Gossage and Sutter each had seven seasons TOTAL with 25 or more.
It is relatively common now, but in 1987, Smith became only the second pitcher EVER (Dan Quisenberry was the first) to reach 30 or more saves in four consecutive seasons. When it came to closing out games in the early 90s…Smith and Dennis Eckersley were by far the most dependable and durable pair out there.
And we all know where Eckersley’s career ended up.
The big knock on Smith is his ERA. People will complain up and down that the big fella gave up WAY too many runs to be considered for the Hall of Fame. They’ll suggest that a Hall worthy closer needs to have a microscopic ERA before they’ll even consider them. Sutter had a career ERA of 2.83, Rollie Fingers...2.90. Right ahead of Smith's career ERA of 3.03 is Gossage and his 3.01, so you can see that Lee isn't necessarily that far off the mark.
Another fun fact (thanks Wikipedia) that makes Smith a fun conversation piece is this...he is one of a small percentage of players (the list of pitchers is even smaller) to have their first big league hit be a home run.
Also on that list…Hall of Fame reliever Hoyt Wilhelm.
So, here we have Smith…a seven time All-Star, three times a top five finisher in the Cy Young Award voting. Will he make the Hall? He looks like a longshot when compared to the guys who dominate the highlights on a nightly basis, but I don’t think you can discredit him.
Even by looking at the votes he's gotten, he's on pace with what Sutter and Gossage did before him. Sutter was on the ballot 13 years before he got in and in his first year of eligibility...he only garnered 23% of the vote. Gossage wasn't much better. Nine years on the ballot, he ranged from the initial 33% to the eventual 85% he got last year. Smith has been on six years and hit the ballot strong with a 36% showing. This past year, he climbed to his highest total...45%. Remember, it only takes three-fourths of the writers to vote for you to get in and Sutter eeked by at 76%.
Compared to his contemporaries (which is what you must do when discussing the Hall of Fame), Smith stacks up statistically…he belongs in the conversation. Hell, he belongs right there at the beginning of the discussion, but the problem is, Smith has been the victim of so many modern day players…through free agency, he lost his identity.
It is much easier for the casual fan to embrace a player who toes the same rubber from year to year a la Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera. But then again…if you are going to spend eight years with the Cubs and only be part of one winning ballclub, you can’t blame a guy.
I mean…who REALLY wants to be known as a lifelong “Loveable Loser”?
January 2, 2010
Hall of Fame 2010: David Segui
From now until the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2010 is announced, The Hall is going to be breaking down each candidate. Some write ups will be lengthy...some will be the opposite. Some will be brand new pieces...some will be re-hashes of previous pieces.David Segui.
Steroids.
'nuff said.
In all seriousness, I find it hilariously hypocritical how the media treats someone who admits they took steroids. I mean, just look at Jason Giambi, Any Pettitte and, most recently, Alex Rodriguez...not even a mention of their admitted use since they admitted using.
Ever.
Are they still not guilty of using? Aren't they actually MORE guilty of using than those that are just simply alledged to have used?
Guys like Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Roger Clemens, while they've never admitted to anything (much less tested positive for anything)...they can't even be mentioned without people bringing up endless PED allegations.
Which brings me back to Segui...no one talks about him.
I guess the only thing you can say about Segui is that he carried a .291 career batting average over a surprisingly long (parts of 15 seasons!) career. That, and he never took Shane Reynolds deep.
Shrug.
Hall of Fame 2010: Shane Reynolds
From now until the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2010 is announced, The Hall is going to be breaking down each candidate. Some write ups will be lengthy...some will be the opposite. Some will be brand new pieces...some will be re-hashes of previous pieces.Some, like this one, will be incredibly, incredibly short. I mean, who could honestly do a lengthy write up on Shane Reynolds?
Not this cat.
All in all, the righty compiled a respectable 114-96 record (a better winning percentage than Bert Blyleven, for those of you looking for more of that from me) and a 4.09 ERA.
However, that is where all the praise for Reynolds stops and the useless fun facts begin.
Did you know…Reynolds was the opposing pitcher the historic game where Kerry Wood mowed down 20 and shut out the Astros? Reynolds managed 10 Ks and one earned run…but no one talks about that for some reason.
Reynolds has given up only one grand slam. To who you ask (you didn’t)?
Chris Hammond…the pitcher.
Alright, go nuts…tell me where I’m wrong. Haha.
January 1, 2010
Hall of Fame 2010: Tim Raines
From now until the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2010 is announced, The Hall is going to be breaking down each candidate. Some write ups will be lengthy...some will be the opposite. Some will be brand new pieces...some will be re-hashes of previous pieces.I always kinda thought that Tim Raines was one of the best out there. Along with Rickey Henderson, there were really only two guys you would want to lead off for you.
That being said…I am handing the reigns (terrible pun intended) of this case over to good friend of The Hall Jason as he recently threw out a very positive critique of “Rock” over at his site.
Here goes:
The Case for Raines
Raines is currently 5th all-time with 808 stolen bases and first in stealing percentage (84.7%) among those with more than 300 attempts. He won 2 World Championships (in 1996 and 1998) and made seven All-Star Appearances. He scored 100 runs six times, stole 70 bases seven seasons in a row and hit .300 six times.
The Case Against Raines
Raines was essentially a part-time player from 1996 onward, and really started fading in 1993. It is hard to see how he got to 2605 hits without a 200 hit season. His speed faded fast and his hitting did not appear to have recovered from the missing speed.
Analysis
That career steal number really stands out to me. I consider the fact that he finished his career fifth all time in such a major statistic to be extremely impressive. All four players who finished in front of him are all in the Hall of Fame.
Raines’ role was always to be a table-setter, and it shows in his fairly low career slugging percentage. It really concerns me that he dropped off so precipitously after the 1993 season.
After 1993, he never played more than 133 games or stole more than 21 bases, and only had one season with at least 500 at bats. That encompasses a period of almost ten seasons, nearly half of his career.
So what do the season-to-season numbers tell us? From 1981-1987 he was an extremely dominant player.
During that time he:
- stole 70 bases or more each season
- led the league in steals four times
- hit .300 or better five times
- scored 100 runs four times (led the league twice)
- had an OPS+ of 129 or better six times
- posted an on-base percentage of .390 or better six times
- went to all seven All-Star games
Simply put, he was one of the most dominant lead off hitters during this period. I am really torn on whether or not he deserves induction. The fact that his career seems to have tailed off so fast worries me. However, the fact that he was able to embrace these roles, and still provide some solid production leads me to believe that he is a Hall of Famer.
MY VOTE: YES
Short, simple and to the point. You can read more from Jason over at Jason’s Baseball Blog or follow him on Twitter at @jasonsbaseball.