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Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, but McGwire, Goose Gossage, Lee Smith, Jim Rice, Andre Dawson, Jack Morris, and Bert Blyleven missed out.
Cal and Tony are no question about it candidates. Anyone that has a problem with their elections might need to reconsider talking. The rest of the bunch evolves into one of those epic HOF debates that never end.
Here is my take going by most votes
- Goose – Should be in, no doubt about it. He was the Mo Rivera of his day. While his stats to do reflect the same domination the results were similar, i.e. when he entered the game, usually in the 7th or 8th inning not the 9th, the game was over! Not sure why the voters did not elect him but it seems he is being penalized for pitching before the bullpen became as specialized as they are now
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Jim Rice – This is one that is tough for me to understand. This was a guy who was the most dominating offensive force of this era. It seems like the HOF is rewarding players who were good for a long period (15-20+ years) as opposed to players like Jim Ed who were dominating for a short time (5 years) and good for the rest of his career (10 years). I was hoping that he would get his due this year because of all the roid talk, but I guess not. Hopefully he will be next years Tony Perez and get elected in his last year of eligibility. Might I add that Rice’s career totals are better in every category but RBI, but Tony needed 7 more seasons to get the additional 200 RBIs. This is a no brainer to me!
- Andre Dawson – Another candidate that should be in. I saw him at the end end of his career with the Sox when his knees were hamburger he was a force while playing with the Cubs and the Expos. While being a 5-tool talent does not get you into the HOF, he was able to turn that potential into performance. Five years ago he was mentioned in the same breathe as Barry Bonds and Willie Mays during the push for 400 HR and 300 SB, but now that Bonds has become a 700 HR (steroid) and 400 steal guy, he seems to be old news.
- Bert Blyleven – I do not think he should be in because he would be a life time award candidate. While he was a good pitcher he made only 2 all-star teams in his 22 years, never won an ERA title, never had the most wins in the league, led the league in Ks once (1985). To me this proves  he was a good player for a long time but was never the dominating HOF pitcher.
- Lee Smith – Another case of closers getting no love from the voters. Pretty soon his saves mark is going to be small compared to the totals that Hoffman, Rivera that will end up with, so I guess that means he will never get in, but like Goose he was the best closer of his era and should be in.
- Jack Morris – While he was one of the best big game pitchers of his day, that is not enough to get into the HOF. He did achieve some of the things that Blyleven did not (5 time AS in 18 years, Led the AL in Ws twice, Ks once) he still was not that dominating force that should be in the HOF.
- Big Mac – This is the one that will be debated for as long as the HOF exists. As I said before, he should be in. He should not be penalized for alleged roid use (and I think he did use them) while other players who may have used them that we do not know about or can not confirm are considere. No one was crying foul (specifically from the MLB offices) in the summer of 98, but now he the one that needs to be punished for the failures of MLB’s inactions. To those that say he was a 1-dimensional player, I can not refute that, but he was the most fearsome 1-dimensional player of his day.
Also interestingly enough Jose Canseco got only 6 votes (1.1%)
Let the debate begin
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Soccer Dad linked with Cal Ripken - a diamond in rough times...
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| Tuesday, January 9, 2007 |
Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. were first ballot electees to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Mark McGwire, on the other hand,
Mark McGwire fell far short in his first try for the Hall of Fame, picked by 23.5 percent of voters while Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. easily gained baseball’s highest honor.
Tarnished by accusations of steroid use, McGwire appeared on 128 of a record 545 ballots in voting released Tuesday by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Ripken was picked by 537 voters, appearing on 98.5 percent of ballots, falling just short of the record percentage of 98.84 set by Tom Seaver when he was selected on 425 of 430 ballots in 1992.
Gwynn was just behind with 532 votes, 97.6 percent.
Goose Gossage was third with 71.2 percent of the vote, falling just short of the 75 percent needed.
That McGwire got so few votes while Gwynn got so many is a joke. McGwire broke no rules and, indeed, was never caught using any banned substance.
Then again, a lot of perennial All-Star players came in behind McGwire in the balloting:
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| Friday, December 22, 2006 |
The New England Patriots have signed the best punter steroids can produce, Todd Sauerbrun.
Christmas may have come early for the New England Patriots, who on Friday solved their season-long punting problem by signing veteran free agent Todd Sauerbrun, a three-time Pro Bowl performer.
Details of the contract were not yet available but Sauerbrun, released earlier this season by the Denver Broncos, will be the Patriots’ punter for their Christmas Eve game at Jacksonville. The 12-year veteran auditioned for New England coaches and personnel officials earlier this week.
New England was left without a veteran punter when Ken Walter was forced onto injured reserve this week by a foot injury. Walter last month replaced Josh Miller, who began the season as the Patriots’ punter but suffered a shoulder injury that prematurely ended his season. The Patriots had two young punters, Tom Malone and Danny Baugher, on their practice squad, and there was some feeling that one of them might be elevated to the active roster. But the Pats worked out veteran Sean Landeta on Monday, then brought in Sauerbrun, clearly the best punter available, for an audition.
Sauerbrun, 33, has appeared in 162 games and is one of the NFL’s premier punters over the past decade. But the former West Virginia University standout has suffered in the past from what have been perceived as attitude problems. Then, this summer, he was suspended by the league for four games for a violation of the NFL steroids and related substances policy.
Sauerbrun was indeed the logical choice, although Landeta was intriguing. Still, it’s interesting that the NFL lets guys like him and Chargers lineman Shawne Merriman away with a slap on the wrist after cheating. You can’t blame the Pats or Chargers for taking advantage of the rules, though.
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| Wednesday, November 29, 2006 |
Leaving no stone unturned in looking for potential talent, the Houstan Texas are taking a look a sprinter Justin Gatlin.
The Houston Texans worked out the world’s fastest man, Justin Gatlin, on Tuesday but that doesn’t mean he’s making a fast entrance into the NFL. The Texans didn’t make a big deal out of the Tuesday visit. They looked at Gatlin like they did with two other receivers — Kevin McMahan of Maine and Jovan Witherspoon of Central Michigan. NFL teams usually bring in players for Tuesday workouts while the 53 players on the regular roster take a day off.
The only difference in this workout was the name recognition of Gatlin, the 100-meter gold medal winner in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Gatlin holds the world record for running the 100 meters in 9.76 seconds. In April, he tested positive for the banned substance testosterone and accepted an eight-year ban from track and field.
Though the Texans wouldn’t be willing to sign him for this season, they are one of the first NFL teams to look at him for future contracts, which teams can start signing in late December.
The reason for the slow reaction by NFL teams to Gatlin’s availability is his lack of football experience. At the University of Tennessee he ran track instead of playing football. He hadn’t played football since 10th grade.
That’s likely to be a problem. That he’s a dirty cheater apparently is not. Still, they say you can’t coach speed.
From AP
Five-time Olympic medalist Marion Jones, once the charming, dominating face of track and field around the world, failed an initial drug test at the U.S. championships in June, people familiar with the results told The Associated Press on Friday.
Jones’ “A” sample tested positive June 23 for the banned performance enhancer EPO at the event in Indianapolis, one source told the AP on condition of anonymity because the official results are not yet public.
The 30-year-old sprinter made a triumphant return to the sport’s center stage in Indianapolis, with a victory in the 100 meters, her 14th U.S. title but first since 2002.
*****
Jones’ mix of talent and personality helped her dominate the sport in the late 1990s after a standout career in track and basketball at North Carolina.
At the 2000 Sydney Games, she became the first woman to win five Olympic medals in track and field. Jones, who trained with Trevor Graham at the time, won gold in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 1,600-meter relay and bronze in the long jump and 400-meter relay.
Since then, however, Jones, one of several athletes who testified to the federal grand jury investigating BALCO in 2003, has been dogged by doping suspicions.
*****
Jones was making a comeback this season after years of struggle.
After taking 2003 off for the birth of her son, she struggled but made the U.S. 2004 Olympic team in the long jump. Jones, who also competed in the 4×100 relay, failed to medal at the games.
If the test results are true, it looks to me as if Ms. Jones took a gambe in order to get back to the top of her sport. How Jones could ever think that she’d get away with it is beyond me. Expect to hear denials and the flaxseed oil or something I ate excuse soon.
At present I’m reading ‘Game of Shadows’ about the Balco scandal. It details Marion Jones use of steroids. Jones is a proven cheater and should retire or better yet be banned for life,
The NY Daily News reports Barry Bonds is close to being indicted:
Sources within Major League Baseball said they have no inside information, but expect that the troubled slugger will be indicted. On one of the next few Thursdays, the grand jury will meet in the Philip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco and may be asked to weigh the evidence. If at least 12 of the 23 members agree that there is “probable cause” that a crime has been committed and Bonds is the one who committed it, they will return a “true bill,” otherwise known as an indictment. The grand jury could also return a “not true” bill, meaning it will not indict. The U.S. attorney could also decide not to seek an indictment at that point, or request an extension for the grand jury from the judge.
About the only people who care about Barry Bonds and his tainted home run record are San Francisco Giants fans and ESPN who runs a “Chasing Aaron” notice on their sports ticker ceaselessly.
From AP-
NEW YORK – Embattled pitcher Jason Grimsley was suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball on Monday, less than a week after federal agents raided his home during an investigation into performance-enhancing drugs.
Grimsley was suspended for violating baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, based on his statements to authorities regarding human growth hormone.
The Arizona Diamondbacks released the reliever last Wednesday and his agent said he did not expect Grimsley to play again.
If he returns, the penalty would take effect when he’s placed on a 40-man roster.
Last Tuesday, 13 agents searched his Arizona home following his admission he had used HGH, steroids and amphetamines.
According to court documents, authorities tracked a package containing two “kits” of HGH — about a season’s worth — that was delivered at Grimsley’s house on April 19. He failed a baseball drug test in 2003, documents showed.
Acting on those documents, MLB suspended him for his alleged possession, admitted use and intended use of HGH. Baseball toughened its drug program and penalties this season, but there is no test for HGH.
Grimsley’s career was as good as over. He was barely hanging onto a ML job at the time of his release. So what good is a 50 day suspension?
Why not just ban Grimsley for life? What does MLB plan to do when more players are discovered to be using HGH? I think we all know what will done. Little to nothing.
This story isn’t a joke. It is MLB that’s the joke. A not very funny one either.
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| Thursday, June 8, 2006 |
This investigation is the last thing Bud Selig wanted to see, I’m sure.
Before Tuesday, Jason Grimsley’s biggest claims to fame were: (A) he’s the guy who once crawled through the drop ceiling at the new Comiskey Park (now called U.S. Cellular Field) to rescue Albert Belle’s corked bat, and (B) he was once traded, even-up, for Curt Schilling, just before Schilling became Curt Schilling.
But from now on, Jason Grimsley is going to have a different claim to fame.
What Jose Canseco was to the steroid mess, Jason Grimsley now represents for the human growth hormone crisis, which is soon to erupt in a congressional caucus, or in a commissioner’s office, or on a talk-show frequency near you.
Of particular interest to me was this:
For the first time since baseball instituted its new steroid policy, we have a major league player allegedly admitting — to federal investigators, as noted in the affidavit — that the loopholes in the new policy caused him to switch his substance of choice.
To — what else? — human growth hormone (HGH).
Why? Because baseball began testing for the stuff he used to take. It’s that simple.
But baseball doesn’t test for HGH, because (at least for now) there is no effective test that accurately detects HGH, and because the players’ union has never been willing to allow any kind of blood testing — the only kind of testing that eventually will work for HGH.
Will this force the player’s union to agree to blood testing – and more rigorous testing in general? This whole thing will be interesting to watch as it plays out over the coming months. What’s even more interesting is that no test currently detects HGH, which makes finding offenders even more difficult. I see this dominating baseball’s headlines at a time when baseball doesn’t want any more attention focused on this issue. With Alber Pujols out of the picture for any record chasing, there are no good distractions on the horizon for baseball until the end of the season pennant races. On the other hand, this may have tainted Pujol’s chase, so maybe getting injured in order to try another season after this has been dealt with is the best thing for any attempt Pujols makes at the record book in other seasons (assuming he’s good enough in the long term to make that happen) is for the best.
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| Wednesday, April 26, 2006 |
Ricky Williams has been suspended for drug violations for all of 2006.
Dolphins halfback Ricky Williams lost his appeal with the NFL for violating the substance abuse policy and will be ineligible for the 2006 season.
The appeal was of his fourth violation of the NFL’s substance abuse policy, a ruling that places his football career in jeopardy.
Two sources said Williams was told of the ruling earlier Tuesday. This will mark the second time in three years that Williams will sit out a full season. Williams missed the 2004 campaign when he abruptly retired days before the start of training camp that summer, following his third violation of the substance abuse policy.
I had honestly thought he had turned it around, and would like to know what the league found during their test. In any event, this could very well be the end of one of the strangest careers the NFL has ever seen.
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| Thursday, April 13, 2006 |
Barry Bonds is being investigated for perjury.
CNN reported Thursday that the federal government is investigating whether Bonds committed perjury during his grand jury testimony in the BALCO case in 2003.
Multiple sources told CNN that a federal grand jury has been hearing evidence for more than a month about whether Bonds perjured himself during his Dec. 4, 2003, testimony. CNN reporter Ted Rowlands told ESPN Radio on Thursday night that it took a month for the network to get corroborating sources for the story.
The U.S. attorney’s office in San Francisco would neither confirm nor deny to CNN that a grand jury is sitting.
So we have the Balco grand jury testimony, which was leaked, and now someone has leaked that another grand jury is looking to see if Bonds committed perjury.
Not much else to say. The Bonds story is coming to a head now, I think.
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