Archives for December 2012

Here’s a little BBRT holiday present – a link to my favorite baseball song “America’s National Pastime” – immortalizing Dock Ellis’ 1970 LSD-fueled no-hitter.

America’s Favorite Pastime

Here are my top five favorite baseball tunes:

1. ” America’s Favorite Pastime” – Todd Snider (1999).  Tops my list because I love the Dock “Ellis-Dee” story and Todd Snider is also a favorite of BBRT.

2. “Take Me Out To The Ballgame”  – by Jack Norworth/Albert Von Tilzer (1908).  Got to be near the top of any list just for the memories we all have singing this during the seventh-inning stretch at the ballpark.

3. “Talkin’ Baseball” – by Terry Cashman (1981).  A “catchy” look at the gloried history of the game.  What other song “drops names” like: Willie Mays;  Mickey Mantle; Duke Snider; Ted Kluszewski; Roy Campanella; Stan “The Man” Musial; Yogi Berra; Phil “Scooter” Rizzuto; Hank Aaron; Ralph Kiner; Bob Feller; Sal “The Barber” Maglie; Don Newcombe; Casey Stengel; Bobby Thomson; Jackie Robinson; Reggie Jackson; Rod Carew; Vida Blue – and many more, even little Eddie Gaedel – and adds historic context?  A must-hear for any baseball fan.  In a just world, this song would probably top this list.

4. “Centerfield” – by John Fogerty (1985).  We’ve all felt the “Put me in coach, I’m ready to play” emotion of the chorus of this rockin’ baseball anthem.  It just makes me want to grab a glove and hit the field.

5. ” The Greatest” – by Kenny Rogers (1999) –  If you’ve even fanatisized about being a baseball  hero, you’ve got to love this song and the youthful optimism of its hero.

And an honorable mention goes to:

Go Cubs Go – by Steve Goodman (1984).  Love the post-win enthusiasm of Wrigley field fans as they belt this tune out after every  Cubs’ win.

With the Baseball Writers’ Association’s 2013 Hall of Fame ballot now officially in the hands of more than 600 voters (who can each vote for up to ten nominees), we can expect plenty of debate as we move toward the January 9^th announcement date.  Unfortunately, that debate will focus as much on chemicals (Performance-Enhancing-Drugs, PEDs) as on credentials (those all-important statistics) and character (contributions to the game).  How important can the PED spector be?  Consider that Mark McGwire, with 583 home runs, four HR titles and twelve All Star selections has never reached 25 percent of the vote and Rafael Palmeiro, with 3,020 hits, 569 home runs, 1,613 runs and 1,835 RBI has never reached 15 percent of votes cast.

If you just want the executive summary of BBRT’s opinions on the ballot, here’s what BBRT predicts from the BBWA – and how BBRT would fill out its ballot (if I had one).

Predictions for BBWA vote:  Going into the Hall of Fame in 2013 – Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza, Jack Morris.

If BBRT had a ballot:  Biggio, Piazza, Morris, Lee Smith and (for sentimental reasons) Julio Franco.

HOF BALLOT FIRST-TIMERS

This year’s ballot includes 24 first-timers, led by controversial (PED-suspect) candidates Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa.   All three have the credentials to be first-ballot inductees.  Bonds is the all-time single season and career home run king, with a record seven Most Valuable Player Awards, as well as 14 All Star selections and eight Gold Gloves. Clemens, an 11-time All Star, recorded 354 wins and 4,672 strikeouts in a 24-year career that saw him capture a record seven Cy Young Awards.  Sosa is a one-time MVP and seven-time All Star, who hit 609 career homers and is the only player to top 60 round trippers in a season three times.  Credentials aside, all three are tainted by the PED controversy and BBRT expects them all to fall short of 50 percent of the vote, as the baseball writers continue to make a statement on the validity of steroid-era accomplishments.  While BBRT (if I had a vote) would eventually support HOF consideration for this trio, I would not cast a first-time ballot vote for any of the three.

Also on the ballot for the first time are Sandy Alomar Jr., Craig Biggio, Jeff Cirillo, Royce Clayton, Jeff Conine, Steve Finley, Julio Franco, Shawn Green, Roberto Hernandez, Ryan Klesko, Kenny Lofton, Jose Mesa, Mike Piazza, Reggie Sanders, Curt Schilling, Aaron Sele, Mike Stanton, Todd Walker, David Wells, Rondell White and Woody Williams.  The top candidates among this group are Biggio, Franco, Piazza, and Schilling.

BBRT’s vote would go to Piazza and Biggio – and I’d also toss one in for Franco for sentimental reasons.

Mike Piazza

BBRT likes Mike Piazza as a first-ballot inductee, a catcher with a .308 career average, 427 home runs (a MLB record 396 as a catcher) and 12 All Star Selections. There are some PED rumblings surrounding Piazza’s candidacy that may cost him some votes, but BBRT believes he will earn election with about 80 percent of the vote, with the BBWA making its statement and stand by denying votes to the big three of Bonds, Clemens and Sosa.  If BBRT had a vote, Piazza would be named on my ballot.

Piazza’s best year: 1997, Dodgers – .362 avg., 201 hits, 104 runs, 40 HR, 124 RBI.

Craig Biggio

BBRT would also vote for Craig Biggio, who (in 20 seasons) collected 3,060 hits, scored 1,884 runs and hit 291 home runs, while also stealing 414 bases.  Biggio was a seven-time All Star and a four-time Gold Glove winner, who spent notable time at second base, catcher and in the outfield.  His 668 doubles are the most ever by a right-handed hitter (and fifth all time) and he is one of only two players to collect 50 doubles and 50 stolen bases in the same season.  His .281 career average may hurt his chances, but he gets BBRT’s vote not for being “great,” but for being “very, very good” for “very, very long” – not to mention a nod for Biggio’s NL record 285 times being hit by a pitch.    BBRT thinks the BBWA voters will go along, recognizing the significance of the 3,000-hit mark and also wanting to make a statement by electing the non-PED-tainted Biggio on his first ballot. BBRT looks for Biggio, like Piazza, to be named on 75-85 percent of the ballots.

Biggio’s best year:  1998, Astros – .325, 210 hits, 123 runs, 20 HRs, 88 RBI, 50 stolen bases.

BBRT would also cast a sentimental vote for Julio Franco, who gave hope to all of us oldsters when he was still in the Major Leagues at age 48 (becoming the oldest player ever to hit a home run).  Julio was good enough to last 23 years in the Majors, collecting 2,586 hits (a .298 average), 173 home runs and 281 stolen bases, three All Star Selections and one batting title. (He also hit .309 in 125 games for the Braves in 2004 – at age 45.) It’s also notable that Franco played in the DH-less NL from ages 42 to 48.     BBRT doesn’t expect Franco to top 15 percent in terms of vote totals, but my sentimental ballot would include a vote for the ageless wonder.

Franco’s top season: 1991, Rangers – .341 average (led AL), 201 hits, 108 runs, 15 home runs, 78 RBI, 36 stolen bases.

Curt Schilling’s 216 wins, 3,116 strikeouts and six All Star selections make him a legitimate candidate for consideration, but far from a first-ballot selection (look how long it took Bert Blyleven to get in with even stronger numbers).  Still, he will garner votes on the basis of 200+ wins and some anti-Clemens sentiment.

Schilling’s best season:  2001, Diamondbacks – 22-6 (led NL in wins), 2.93 ERA, 256 2/3 innings pitched and 293 strikeouts versus just 39 walks.

RETURNING CANDIDATES

(Note:  You become eligible after five years of retirement, must get at least 5 percent of the vote to remain on the ballot and can remain on the ballot for fifteen years.)

The 13 candidates returning from one year ago include:

Jack Morris (Fourteenth time on ballot, 66.7 percent last year)

Jeff Bagwell (Third ballot, 56.0 percent)

Lee Smith (Eleventh, 50.6 percent)

Tim Raines (Sixth, 48.7 percent)

Alan Trammell (Twelfth, 36.8 percent)

Edgar Martinez (Fourth, 36.5 percent)

Fred McGriff (Fourth, 23.9 percent)

Larry Walker (Third, 22.9 percent)

Mark McGwire (Seventh, 19.5 percent)

Don Mattingly (Thirteenth, 17.8 percent)

Dale Murphy (Fifteenth, 14.5 percent)

Rafael Palmeiro (Third, 12.6 percent)

Bernie Williams (Second, 9.6 percent)

Clearly, Rafael Palmeiro is at the top of this class, but the PED controversy is still following him.  Despite 3,000+ hits and 500+ home runs, his vote total seems unlikely to climb as high as 20 percent this year.  Mark McGwire has some impressive numbers as well, but again the perception of chemicals and character likely will outweigh credentials.

Then we get to the best of the rest – Jack Morris, Jeff Bagwell, Lee Smith.

BBRT anticipates that Jack Morris will get the nod.  In his 18-year career, he earned a reputation as a big-game pitcher (and the pitcher with the most victories in the 1980s), as well as a 254-186 record with a 3.90 ERA, 2,478 strikeouts and five All Star selections.  Working in Morris’ favor this year are Bert Blyleven’s selection last year (although BBRT sees Blyleven’s credentials as notably stronger than Morris’), the fact that Morris earned 2/3 of the vote last year, and the opportunity for voters to make a further “statement” about PEDs by putting Morris in over Clemens.  (This would seem to be an important ballot for Morris, with mound craftsmen Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Mike Mussina soon to join the pitching candidates.)  BBRT agrees that 250+ wins is enough, that Morris has waited long enough, that his big-game-grit is enough to put him over the top. Plus, I was at Game Seven in 1991 to witness his ten-inning shutout performance, so BBRT’s endorsement comes from the heart as well as the head.

Morris’ best season: 1986, Tigers – 21-8, 3.27 ERA, 15 complete games, six shutouts, 267 innings pitched, 223 strikeouts.

HOFers soon, but probably not this year.

Jeff Bagwell with a 15-year career that included 2,314 hits, 449 home runs, 202 stolen bases and a .297 average – along with a Rookie of the Year Award, a Most Valuable Player Award, one gold Glove and four All Star selections.  Bagwell continues to move up in the vote tally and BBRT thinks he will eventually earn entrance to the Hall, but not this year.

Bagwell’s best season:  2000, Astros – .310 average, 183 hits, 152 runs, 132 RBI, 47 home runs. 

Lee Smith’s 478 saves put him third on the all-time list (he was number one when he retired after the 1997 season).  He also recorded 13 consecutive seasons (in an 18-year career) of 25 or more saves, a 3.03 lifetime ERA and 1,251 strikeouts in 1,289 innings pitched; led the league in saves four times; and made seven All Star teams.  He garnered 50.6 percent of the vote last year and BBRT sees him falling short of election again this year.  However, if BBRT had a vote Smith would get it.

Smith’s best season:  1991, Cardinals – 6-3, 2.34 ERA, 47 saves, 73 innings pitched, 67 strikeouts.