Ken Burns and the "Jose Canseco Milkshake"

Tuesday night was the debut of Ken Burns' highly anticipated "Baseball: The Tenth Inning" and with one "blink and you missed it" quote, we were introduced to what will be blogosphere fodder for the next fews days.

The "Jose Canseco Milkshake".

Following the July 2009 leak of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez alledgedly using banned substances in 2003, Jose Canseco came out publicly (shocker) and claimed that there was a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame that had used steroids.

In "Baseball", Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell said:

There was another player now in the Hall of Fame who literally stood with me and mixed something and I said "What's that?" and he said "it's a Jose Canseco milkshake". And that year that Hall of Famer hit more home runs than ever hit any other year.

And with that, comes the watercooler discussion...who is it?

Larry Granillo over at the wonderful site Wezen Ball broke it all down so you and I don't have to.

If we take Boswell at his literal word, this is what we need to look for: someone who is already inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and who hit more home runs than he ever had before after Jose Canseco arrived in the league. Canseco won Rookie of the Year in 1986, so we'll start there even if it makes more sense to use 1988 as the starting point.

The second part of the statement confuses me some. I can't tell if he's trying to say that the milkshake story comes from the 1988 season, or if he's adding the 1988 date as more of a clarifying detail (in effect, saying "Here's a story of how it was spreading -which it started doing in 1988"). Let's keep the search as wide as possible, but keep the 1988 year in mind.

With those criteria, we get a short list of eight Hall of Famers (assuming pitchers like Goose Gossage and Nolan Ryan don't count).

To check out Granillo's breakdown...click HERE!

***UPDATE*** After doing some more research on both Boswell's claims and the alledged "Jose Canseco Milkshake" itself...Granillo has posted another wonderful piece over at his site. Check it out.

Alice Cooper is the "Pete Rose of Rock and Roll"

Anyone who knows me or the site knows, by now, that I love me some Halls of Fame and in my day...I've been to a few.

One of my favorites is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and, just like in sports, when the candidates for induction are announced...I listen.

This year, the list of nominees includes Bon Jovi, Alice Cooper, Tom Waits, Donovan and Neil Diamond. Previously nominated acts LL Cool J, J. Geils Band, Beastie Boys, Donna Summer, Chic, Dr. John, Laura Nyro, Joe Tex, Darlene Love and Chuck Willis are also under consideration.

Now, here comes the question...what in the world does this have to do with baseball?

Well, with the following quote, that question is answered!

“I think the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should be calling me,” Cooper said of his induction chances. “I think I'm being blackballed. But it's great to be the Pete Rose of rock and roll.”

Yes!

Now, while I'm not sure if the guy who penned the rock classic "School's Out" will see enshrinement soon (he's been on the ballot longer than Bert Blyleven)...I'm pretty sure Pete Rose will not. That said, given Rose is a member of the WWE Hall of Fame (class of 2004), maybe Cooper (who appeared alongside Jake "The Snake" Roberts in WrestleMania III) should consider shifting his focus.

The top vote-getters for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be announced in December. They will be formally inducted in March at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.

***UPDATE*** It's been pointed out to me that Alice Cooper owns a sportsbar in Phoenix called, wait for it...Alice Cooper'stown. Brilliant. You can follow them (it?) on Twitter at @cooperstown_az. Well played, Mr. Niceguy. Well. Played.

Twitter Tuesday: David Price

After seeing a mere 12,446 fans in the stands, Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price hit the Twitters Monday night and tweeted the following about what would be his team's fourth-lowest home attendance figure this season:

@DAVIDprice14: Had a chance to clinch a post season spot tonight with about 10,000 fans in the stands....embarrassing

What followed was a mixed bag of responses that, if the internet has taught me anything, will lead to David Price to not only become a trending topic later tonight, but also be mentioned in the late editions of SportsCenter.

That said, here's a sampling of some of the supportive tweets the big lefty got in response. And Hell...even pro golfer Paul Azinger got in on it!

@PaulAzinger: @DAVIDprice14 It was embarrassing. Looked terrible on tv.

@carlhancock: @DAVIDprice14 You spoke the truth David. You guys have a great time and it is a shame you don't get the support you deserve from the fans.

@PeteAbe: Kudos to @DAVIDPrice14 and his teammates for speaking the truth about their embarrassing lack of support. They need a new market.

@alexbussey: Congratulations to @DAVIDprice14 for being an honest ballplayer. Too often we hear just stock answers night in and night out.

@evan_b: @DAVIDprice14 had to be said. You guys deserve better from your fans, especially with how you pitched all yr

And, of course, with every honest outburst...there were the people that had to take to the internets and try to blast the American League Cy Young candidate

@ltsunis: @DAVIDprice14 You would think having less fans in the stands would be better for a pitchers concentration, yet you are complaining about it

@RaysFanGio: @DAVIDprice14.I went to 14 spring games.65 home games.5 road games.took a road trip to durham this season.thanks for making me feel horrible

@justinn1010: It's never a good thing to become the story for what you say or do off the field..guessing @DAVIDprice14 learned that 1st hand tonite

Of all the idiots that had something to say to the Rays hurler, this last dude is right...to an extent. But then again...it needed to be said and hopefully, Price opens some eyes.

Remember 2008 when the Rays were all the rage?

All you saw on TV throughout the playoffs (outside of Frank Caliendo) were Rays fans with their blue mohawks and sellouts at Tropicana Field. Well...their attendance numbers then (an average of 22,370 a night) were virtually no different than they are now (23,047 a night through the weekend).

It appears that regardless how well the Rays do (and they're a damn good, young team, America) they can't seem to garner the support of the Bay area.

But does that really surprise you? I mean, this is an area of the United States that has a population that fluctuates based on how the weather is doing...why wouldn't their fanbase?

Fair weather fever...catch it! And while you're at it, follow David Price on Twitter...homeboy needs all the support he can get right now!

Monday Morning Link Dump: September 27

Goooooooooooood morning. It's the Monday Morning Link Dump, y'all.

Go nuts!

Leading Off

Last weekend, it was Tyler Colvin. This weekend, both Mike Lowell and Blake Hawksworth got roughed up. What gives, baseball...why all the violence?!? (Pro Rumors)

Pat Neshek of the Minnesota Twins shares some pictures from "Rookie Dress Up Day". Yikes. (On the Road with Pat Neshek)

Florida Marlins rookie shows off his rookie hazing costume. At least I hope that's what it is. (via @LoMoMarlins)

Extra Innings

Early in the week, Twitter blew up courtesy of #MLBNovels. Here is The Hall's take on the evening.

Also getting on board with the trending topic of #MLBNovels was blogger Kenn Hoekstra.

Big League Tweet of the Week

@jfinch27: Never good when the pilot says as you board the plane, "the more you sit in the back the faster we fly!" ...Lord please watch over us!

The Walk Off

The American Mustache Institute is accepting nominations for the 2010 "Robert Goulet Memorial Mustached American of the Year" award. Suffice it to say, The Hall will be supporting Carl Pavano (a write up is forthcoming...trust me), so why shouldn't you? (American Mustache Institute)

In case you missed it...here's a few pieces that The Hall of Very Good put out this week.

Jonny Fairplay's All-Time Baseball Heels
"Survivor" All-Star Rob Cesternino Talks Baseball
Twitter Tuesday: Logan Morrison

Have you found something of interest? What me to see it?!? Leave a comment, drop me an email at hallofverygood@yahoo.com or hit up The Hall on Twitter at @HOVG.

See you around, gang!

Friday 5: Rob Cesternino

Yesterday, one of my favorite "Survivor" cast members shared his "All-Time Baseball Heels" .

Not to go down memory road, but another one of my favorites is the same guy that host Jeff Probst once called "the smartest player to have never won Survivor”.

Taking time out from his website Rob Has a Website, Rob “Rob C.” Cesternino re-dons his "Survivor" buff and takes on the challenge that is...the “Friday 5”.

HOVG: Alright man, you’re a New Yorker. Right out of the gate, I’ve gotta know…Mets or Yankees?

ROB C.: I've been a long-suffering Mets fan for as long as I can remember. The last few years have been pretty brutal and it looks like we're going to have to blow the whole thing up and start over again while the Yankees look like they're headed to a second straight World Series. Not fun.

HOVG: If you could play "Survivor" and have a Rich Hatch-like alliance with any three of your beloved Mets (past or present)…who would they be?

ROB C.: If I were going to start an alliance with any past Mets, first on the list would be former (and hopefully future) manager Bobby Valentine. In addition to being a strategic mastermind who was able to take a mediocre at best 2000 Mets team to a World Series, "Bobby V." was very charming and able to outsmart opponents with crazy disguises! I also am very partial to both Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez and think they do a great job calling the game and are both really interesting guys and have great baseball IQ.. And Keith, on day one, would have the greatest mustache in "Survivor" history. Unquestioned.

HOVG: "Survivor" has seen a number of former professional athletes (Guatemala’s Gary Hogeboom, China’s Ashley Massaro and, currently, Super Bowl winning coach Jimmy Johnson) take part. Is there a Major Leaguer that you would like to see out there? If so, who and why?

ROB C.: We may not ever see a Major League Baseball player on "Survivor" but there actually a couple of Phillies that have very close ties to "Survivor". One of the women from my season, Heidi, is now married to Cole Hamels and Shephanie LaGrossa is engaged to Kyle Kendrick! If I was going to pick any Major Leaguer to watch on "Survivor", I think the guy that would be the most entertaining to watch might be Manny Ramirez. In fact, I don't understand why Manny doesn't already have a reality show...every episode would be see TV.

HOVG: In one of your podcasts, you compared two-time "Survivor" contestant Russell Hantz to former slugger Mark McGwire. Care to explain what you meant again?

ROB C.: I certainly don't mean to imply that Russell Hantz might be using performance enhancing drugs. Russell, is similar to McGwire or any of the modern day sluggers who hit huge home runs and strike out a ton. They are all incredibly entertaining to watch, much more so than someone who always plays it safe and chokes up on the bat. But Russell, literally swings for the fences with every bold move he makes in the game. And much like hitting a baseball, that isn't necessarily the best approach to take on EVERY swing. Also, it's not always the best way to win baseball games. So while I think Russell will always be entertaining to watch as a fan, I don't think his strategy will ever work because he will always burn too many people along the way to the end to ever get the jury votes he would need to win in the end.

HOVG: Lastly, and I know it isn’t a baseball-related question…but who are you picking to win "Survivor: Nicaragua"?

ROB C.: I am loving seeing Jimmy Johnson on "Survivor" this time around but I think both he AND the Cowboys might not have what it takes to go too far this season. I really like Marty. Marty seems like he has a great understanding of the game and seems like he is savvy enough to go the distance. But in baseball terms, it's only about the top of the second inning in the game, so there's a lot of "Survivor" left to play.

Rob Cesternino appeared on two seasons of "Survivor"…Amazon (where he finished third) and All-Stars (where he finished 15th). He currently can be found online waxing poetically about "Survivor" and other reality shows and on iTunes as host of the popular “Rob Has a Podcast” podcast. He can also be found tweeting away as @robcesternino.

Two Days...Three Milestones

Prior to last season, I suggested, like the bonehead that I am, that then-Houston Astro Miguel Tejada had 300 career home runs in his sites.

The guy entered 2009 with 271 and honestly, that's not that off base, right?

Now, did I think that he would send 29 over the wall? Maybe. I mean, the six time All-Star had a decent run between 2000 and 20004 where he hit 30 or more homers in four of those five years.

Of course, he was with Oakland and played alongside the Brothers Giambi. While I'm not suggesting Tejada was doing anything, ahem, shady...he did quiet down some and fall back to Earth pretty quickly.

Okay...all that aside, I made a similar prediction a year later when he re-signed with Baltimore.

Among the only milestones worth mentioning…newly re-acquired Miguel Tejada enters 2010 with 285 home runs. And with back-to-back seasons with 13 and 14 home runs…it remains to be seen if the 2002 American League MVP can get his old stroke back.

Well, last night...it happened.

With one on in the third inning Wednesday night, the, now, San Diego Padre (are you keeping up with this?) sent a Ted Lilly pitch deep to become the 22nd active player to reach 300 home runs.

Now...I lead with all that nonsense to bring you to this.

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista became one of the unlikliest players to reach 50 homers in a season when he went yard Thursday afternoon in a 1-0 victory against the Seattle Mariners.

"To tell you the truth, I really haven't let it sink in yet," Bautista said following the game. "Right now, I'm just really honored and happy."

Last week, Bautista tied George Bell's former franchise high of 47 home runs with a blast on the road in Baltimore. One game later, he claimed the club record for himself in Boston.

With his dinger today, he became just the 42nd player to reach the half-century mark and with a week and a half to go...he looks to add to it.

"September of last year, you could kind of see what he was capable of doing," said teammate Vernon Wells, referring to the 10 home runs Bautista hit over the final month a year ago. "You don't expect a guy to come out and hit 50 home runs in pretty much his first full season as a starter, but obviously he has that type of potential and that type of power."

One guy that is seemingly always approaching one milestone or another is Ichiro Suzuki. And in the same game that Bautista his home run number 50...Ichiro wrote another chapter in his own history book.

For the tenth straight year, Ichiro has reached 200 hits.

The nine time All-Star entered the game against Toronto with a 198 hits. He picked up number 199 with a third-inning double and extended his own streak with a single in the fifth.

"I think you can imagine how happy I am," Ichiro told reporters after the game through a translator. "I know how tough it is to accomplish 200 hits every season, and it's been another tough one this year, so that's how happy I am inside."

To illustrate how spectacular the feat is, consider this...baseball's hit king Pete Rose is the only other guy to notch ten season with 200 or more hits.

His accomplishment, however, was spread over 24 seasons. Ichiro has done it in ten.

Jonny Fairplay's All-Time Baseball Heels

Sunday marks the return of one of the best shows on television...HBO's "Eastbound and Down". And if "Eastbound" is back, so is one of television's greatest characters...Kenny Powers.

So now...on to one of the worst segues in the history of The Hall of Very Good.

Another one of my favorite television shows of all time is "Survivor". It’s true…outside of the horrendous re-cap shows, I’ve missed only one episode.

Of the more than 300 contestants that have ever played the game, I’ve had plenty of favorites. One of which is the guy that host Jeff Probst said constructed "the greatest lie in Survivor history."

Of course, Probst was referring to two-time "Survivor" contestant and one of the game's greatest heels...Jon "Jonny Fairplay" Dalton.

And with that, here are Fairplay's Top Five All-Time Baseball Heels.

5. Albert Belle, Outfielder/Designated Hitter
Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles

4. Darryl Strawberry, Outfielder/Designated Hitter
New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees

3. John Rocker, Relief Pitcher
Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays

2. Kelly Leak (Jackie Earle Haley), Leftfield
"The Bad News Bears", "The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training" and "The Bad News Bears Go to Japan"

1. Kenny Powers (Danny McBride), Relief Pitcher
"Eastbound and Down"

"Jonny Fairplay" came in third place on "Survivor: Pearl Islands". He later appeared on "Survivor: Micronesia" (Fans vs. Favorites), and was the first contestant voted out.

Currently, you can track him down over at Geek Week, where he does a video blog re-capping the previous week's episode of "Survivor" and on Twitter as @JonnyFairplay.

As previously mentioned, Danny McBride is back as Kenny Powers this Sunday on HBO's "Eastbound and Down". You can catch all-new episodes starting at 10:30EST/9:30CST.

See how that all comes back around in the end?

***UPDATE*** I received an email from Fairplay this morning asking that I include this picture of him and President Obama. Notice the distance between the action and the Secret Service agents. Wow!

Twitter Goes Literary (Jose Canseco Need Not Apply)

I'm not trying to be "Johnny Twitter" lately, but truth be told...I've been spending a lot of time seeing what's going on in the world 140 characters at a time.

In what had to be my favorite trending topic since the guys over at Joe Sports Fan started posting rejected ESPN "30 for 30" topics, the web blew up with proposed titles for Major League Baseball-related novels.

Within minutes, seemingly everyone was getting involved by dropping a #mlbnovels after all their tweets.

Sports Illustrated's Joe Posnanski offered up The Witches of (Rawly) Eastwick. Hall of Very Good stalwart Batting Stance Guy brought The Crucible Luzinski to the dance.

Even Keith Olbermann joined the fray by suggesting Charlie Kerfeld And The Chocolate Factory.

Most of the thousands of titles that flooded Twitter were pretty uninspired. I mean, how many hackneyed Catcher in the Rye references can one topic have? As it turns out...hundreds.

That said...here (in no particular order) are ten of my favorites and the guys who tweeted them.

@splatjack: The Lovely Ricky Bones

@justindoom: Gaylord of the Flies

@jgragg: The Devil Wears Prado

@originalCynic: Line Driving Miss Daisy

@Thatsrightnate: Are you there Jim Gott? It's Me Margaret

@JTabrys: The Don Slaughterhouse Five

@Andrew_Milner: Tuesdays with Maury Wills

@HardBraun: The Yount of Monte Cristo

@LukeMayeux33: The Nap Lajoie Luck Club

@karlgeorge: Of Mice and Mientkiewicz

Of course Stephen King trumped them all by writing The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon back in 1999.

Of the contributions I made, I think In the Ojeda the Night was my finest. What were your favorites? What did you suggest?