Baseball Today – 2011 Baseball Hall of Fame Induction

 Baseball Today  No Responses »
Jul 192011
 

Baseball's Hall of Fame

Baseball Hall of Fame

This weekend all the eyes of the baseball world focus on Cooperstown. The reason; the annual Hall of Fame Induction Weekend.  It’s a memorable time for fans and the players who are fortunate enough to join baseball’s most elite group.

It must be quite a thrill for an incoming player to see their plaque in the hall in the same room as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb and Mickey Mantle to name a few.

This Sunday three new members will be inducted into the Hall. Each of these guys has great credentials.

First there is Second Baseman Roberto Alomar. In his first year of eligibility, 2010, Alomar missed induction by eight votes, garnering 73.7% of the vote. 405 votes were necessary for

Alomar and Blyleven HoF 2011

election. He was voted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame in his second year of eligibility with 90% (523 of 581 ballots cast) of the vote, which is 3rd highest vote total of all time.

Blyleven Finally Makes It

Second is pitcher Bert Blyleven, finally inducted in his fourteenth year with 79.7% of the vote and in my opinion this is way overdue. After his first year of eligibility in 1998, Blyleven was widely considered to be the best eligible pitcher not yet in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He currently ranks 5th all-time in Strikeouts, 9th all-time in Shutouts, and 27th all-time in Wins. At the time of his election he was the only eligible member of the 3000 strikeout club, and the only person with 50 or more shutouts, not in the Hall of Fame.

 These are the same numbers he had fourteen years ago. It’s inexcusable to have made him wait all this time.

 Finally, General Manager Pat Gillick, was elected by the first Modern Era Veterans Committee ballot. Mr. Gillick was the general manager of four Major League Baseball teams, and guided teams to three World Series championships in his career: 1992 and 1993 titles with the Toronto Blue Jays, and a 2008 title with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The 1974 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

I’ve only been to one Hall of Fame induction ceremony. I was there on August 12, 1974 to see my childhood hero, Mickey Mantle give his

Mickey Mantle and Commissioner Kuhn

induction speech. We couldn’t get a hotel room, so we slept in our car. Mickey and former teammate Whitey Ford were elected together in 1974, Mickey’s first year of eligibility, and Whitey’s second

I was also at Yankee Stadium on September 18, 1965 for Mickey Mantle Day. I still have

Mickey Mantle Day Program

the program.

 

Mickey quoted on Mickey Mantle Day about Lou Gehrig – “I’ve often wondered how a man who knew he was going to die could stand here and say he was the luckiest man on the face of the earth, but now I guess I know how he felt.”

 

Baseball History – All Star Trivia

 Baseball History  No Responses »
Jul 062011
 

Since the 2011 MLB All Star Game is scheduled for next week (July 12th) I thought I would toss out All Star trivia.

THE FIRST ALL STAR GAME

First All Star Game 1933

The All-Star Game, made its debut on July 6, 1933, at Chicago’s Comiskey Park. It was the idea of Arch Ward, a sports editor for the Chicago Tribune, to coincide with the celebration of the city’s “Century of Progress” Exposition. It was initially intended to be a one-time event. By the 1930′s, baseball had established itself as America’s favorite pastime and the national exposition provided the perfect stage to introduce baseball’s best to the rest of the country. Many Americans were skeptical about its success. For the most part those who lived in the western states had never been to a major league baseball game. However, it was a great success with 49,200 people in attendance.

In the first two years, All-Star teams were selected by the managers and the fans. The players were also excited about the prospect of seeing other players for the first time.  Wild Bill Hallahan, the National League (NL) starter was quoted as saying “We wanted to see the Babe,” “Sure, he was old and had a big waistline, but that didn’t make any difference. We were on the same field as Babe Ruth.” Maybe Wild Bill had second thoughts after Babe hits the first home run in All-Star Game history, a two run shot off him in the 3rd inning.  Ruth, was 38 and  just two years away from retirement, also made a spectacular catch in the eighth inning to rob Cincinnati’s Chick Hafey of a hit. Ruth’s Yankee teammate, Lefty Gomez, started the game for the American League (AL) and became the All-Star Game’s first

Babe Crossing Home After First All Star Game Home Run (1933)

winning pitcher in the 4-2 AL victory.

The second All Star 1934 was played at the Polo Groundsin New York City. Of the eighteen players who started the 1934 game, only one, Wally Berger, is not in the Hall of Fame.

Carl Hubbell gave up a leadoff single to Charlie Gehringer and a walk before setting the All-Star record by striking out five consecutive Hall of Famers; Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin during the 1934 game.

The All-Star Game was played at night for the first time in 1942, at the Polo Grounds.

In 1945, with severe wartime travel restrictions in effect, the All-Star Game scheduled to be played at Boston’s Fenway Park was deferred until the next season.

1937 All Stars

TWO GAMES A YEAR

From 1959 to1962 Major League Baseball played two All-Star Games each season. As part of an effort to boost the players’ pension fund, the league break from tradition and schedules two All Start Games. The first game was held on July 7 at Forbes Field, the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League. The second game was held on August 3 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers also of the NL. The first game resulted in a 5-4 victory for the NL. The AL won the second game by a score of 5-3. The experiment of staging two All-Star Games each year continued through the 1962 season, after which the playing of one annual game resumed.

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Baseball Rules – 2011 Hall of Fame Voting

 Baseball Rules  No Responses »
Jan 092011
 

2011 was another disappointing Year in Hall of Fame voting.

Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven Hall of Fame

The Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) finally got it right in regards to Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven.  However, as usual they snubbed players like Jeff Bagwell (449 HR, 34th all-time) and Fred McGriff (493 HR, 26th all-time), neither of whom has been directly implicated or accused. Their guilt is by association, and by assumption: Bagwell got 41.7 percent of the vote, McGriff 17.9 percent. There are other examples of players who have the credentials for induction like Don Mattingly, Tino Martinez and Fred McGriff.

Other Players Who Deserve Induction

Don Mattingly had a .307 career batting average (2,153 hits, 1099 RBI). How many players are in the Hall with averages under .300? In addition, he won 9 Gold Glove and 3 Silver Slugger

Don Mattingly, Yankee Captain

awards. In 1985 he was the American League MVP. In 1987, Mattingly tied Dale Long‘s major league record by hitting home runs in eight consecutive games (record later tied again by Ken Griffey, Jr., of Seattle in 1993), He also had an extra base hit in ten consecutive games. Mattingly had a record 10 home runs during this streak (Long & Griffey had eight of them). Also that season, Mattingly set a major league record by hitting six grand slam home runs in a season, a record matched by Travis Hafner during the 2006 season. Mattingly’s Grand Slams in 1987 were also the only six Grand Slams of his career.

Tino Martinez (.271 avg., 339 HR, 1925 hits) helped lead the New York Yankees to World

Tino Martinez - Yankee First Baseman

Series championships in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000.  His best season statistically came in 1997, when he was second in the American League AL) in home runs and RBI (with 44 and 141 respectively), and finished second in AL Most Valuable Player voting.

Fred McGriff (.284 avg., 493 HR, 2,490 Hits and 1,550 RBI) was a power-hitting first baseman. He was a five-time All-Star and won

Fred McGriff

3 Silver Slugger awards. In 1992, he was the first player since the dead-ball era to lead both leagues in home runs. He won a World Series title as a first baseman with the Atlanta Braves in 1995.

Do you have baseball trading cards for these players?

Voting is Based More on Feelings than Performance

Voting for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame has become a popularity contest. The voters change throughout the years. The same people don’t vote every year. The ballot changes every year and they can only vote for a maximum of 10 players. The writers being human certainly have their biases and favor some players over others, not necessarily by statistics alone.

Bert Blyleven’s case is a good example. It took him 14 years to be voted in. If Blyleven wasn’t good enough to get 75% of the vote 12 years ago or 8 years ago or 2 years ago — then why now? It’s not like his stats got better over the last 14 years.

Apparently, the Baseball Hall of Fame thinks it’s okay for the writers to block players from Cooperstown based on nothing more than gut feelings or suspicions.

Players like Mark McGwire, whose 583 career homers rank 10th all-

Mark-Mcgwire

time and whose 70 home runs in 1996 was one of the most exciting seasons in baseball history. He got 19.8 percent of the vote. Or Rafael Palmeiro, who has 569 homers and 3,020 hits and is one of only four players (Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray) in the

Rafael Palmeiro

500/3,000 Club. He got 11.0 percent.  And Juan Gonzalez, who hit 434 career homers and won two Most Valuable Player awards. He got 5.2 percent.

I wish someone could prove to me that taking any substance improves your ability to hit a baseball coming at you at 98 mph.  A person is born with that

ability and hones it over several years to become a major league hitter.  Maybe steroids

Juan Gonzalez

make you stronger, but there are a lot of strong people who could never do what a MLB player can do.

Use Career Statistics for Selection

I would like to take the human element out of the voting and have it based on a player’s performance throughout his career. For example you could put a weighting on each statistic. If a player had a career batting average under .275 he would get one point. If his career average was between .275 and .299 he would get two points. Any average .300 or greater would get 4 points. You could apply the same weighting to all relevant statistics and come up with a total point value. Then you could have three categories. If the total was below a defined number they would be taken off the list. This way a player wouldn’t have to go through the anxiety and disappointment year after year. The second category would leave a player on the list for further evaluation. And the final category would result in induction into the Hall of Fame. This way there is no bias and the induction is based on what a player did on the field. You could eliminate the second category and make it an “In” or “Out” decision. This probably would be the best because with the second category a player could be left in limbo for years just like they are today. These numbers are for illustration purposes. More in depth research would need to be performed for the final plan to be developed.

Of course this will never happen, but it would be a much fairer approach to select Hall of Fame inductees. Let me know what you think.

Baseball History – Hall of Fame Blyleven &
Alomar Finally Elected?

 Baseball History  No Responses »
Dec 092010
 

Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar are Hoping to Finally be Elected

Bert Blyleven Pitching for the Twins

Former pitcher Bert Blyleven and second baseman Roberto Alomar hope to take the final step into baseball’s Hall of Fame after their near misses last year as the 2011 ballots for election were sent out Monday. History suggests that induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame is all but sealed for pitcher Bert Blyleven and second baseman Roberto Alomar, but they don’t hold the key to Cooperstown yet.

Blyleven was only five votes short of election last year, receiving 74.2 percent of 539 ballots cast by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA), while Alomar fell eight votes short in being named by 73.7 percent of voters.

A candidate must receive 75 percent of the vote from eligible BBWAA members to gain election. Never before had two players come so close to that threshold without gaining entrance, with Blyleven finishing just five votes shy at 74.21 percent last year and Alomar falling only eight votes short at 73.65 percent in his first year on the ballot.

The good news for both of them is that all 21 of the previous players to receive at least 70 percent in a given election wound up being granted admission to the Hall, one way or another.

Time is Running Out for Blyleven

For Blyleven, last year’s close call was on his 13th year on the ballot. This is his 14th, and a player gets 15 years on the BBWAA ballot.  Alomar and former Reds shortstop Barry Larkin will be joined by first-year eligible players Jeff Bagwell, an Astros icon, Rafael Palmeiro, Larry Walker and Juan Gonzalez.

Blyleven needs only a few more votes than he had a year ago to honor a 22-season career that spanned from 1970-92 with the Twins, Rangers, Pirates, Indians and Angels. He recorded 287 wins, 27th on the all-time list, and is fifth in career strikeouts with 3,701. Blyleven is 11th in games started with 685, ninth all-time with 60 shutouts and 13th all-time in innings pitched with 4,970.

Alomar Should Make it This Time

Alomar came close to becoming just the 45th player to earn admission on his first ballot. He definitely has the stats to

Roberto Alomar executing a double play

get elected. He signed with the Padres in 1985 and debuted in 1988 at age of 20. He was an All-Star before he was traded to Toronto before the 1991 season. He was on two World Series championships with the Blue Jays, in 1992 and ’93, and helped two other teams, the Orioles in ’96-97 and Indians in ’99 and 2001 get into multiple postseasons.

His career numbers of 2,724 hits, 210 homers, 1,134 RBIs, 474 stolen bases and a .300 average in 2,379 games stand up favorably to second basemen who have reached the Hall of Fame. Ryne Sandberg, the most recent second baseman elected by the writers in 2005 — his third year on the ballot — had 2,386 hits, 282 homers, 1,061 RBIs, 344 steals and a career average of .285 in 2,164 games.

Jeff Bagwell Would Get My Vote

Jeff Bagwell’s career was cut short after 15 years because of a shoulder injury. He hit 449 home runs with a career batting average of .297. Bagwell was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1991 and the Most Valuable Player in 1994. He had over 100 Runs-Batted-In (RBI) eight times. He was among the premier first basemen in the game from 1994-2003.

Rafael Palmeiro will test the 500-homer, 3,000-hit “guarantee” of entrance to the Hall because of his 2005 suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. Palmeiro hit 569 home runs and had 3,020 hits in a 20-year career for the Cubs, Rangers and Orioles. There is no player who reached those milestones who has not been elected to Cooperstown. Mark McGwire (23.7 percent last year), who hit 583 homers, may have been the first “test case” for players who used or were suspected of using steroids, but Palmeiro was the first star to be suspended for such use.

Other first-timers include Larry Walker, Juan Gonzalez and Tino Martinez, among others. Top returnees include Jack Morris (52.3 percent), in his 12th year on the ballot; Reds shortstop Barry Larkin (51.6), who had a strong debut last year; and closer Lee Smith (47.3), who is in his ninth year of consideration, Edgar Martinez and Tim Raines, all of whom finished in the top 10 last year.

BBWAA voting members have December to consider their ballots, and they are to be collected Jan. 4. The results will be announced on Jan. 5, and the players nominated are expected to be introduced at a press conference in New York on Jan. 6. The players voted in will be inducted in Cooperstown in July.

Other first-year eligible players include left-handed closer John Franco, starter Kevin Brown, first baseman John Olerud and catcher Benito Santiago.

Gonzalez was also a premier player for the Texas Rangers, surpassing 40 home runs five times from 1992-98 and 39 in 1999. He won the American League MVP award in 1996 and 1998. He finished with 434 career home runs, but like McGwire,he  may be judged by suspicion, having been named in the 2007 Mitchell Report. Gonzalez has denied using performance-enhancing drugs.

Walker was also an MVP, winning the award in 1997 when he hit .366 with 49 homers and 130 RBIs. Tino Martinez played for all four of the Yankees’ World Series championship teams from 1996-2000.

The remainder of the ballot features returnees Harold Baines, Don Mattingly, Fred McGriff, McGwire, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker Tim Raines and Alan Trammell, and first-timers Carlos Baerga, Bret Boone, Kevin Brown, Marquis Grissom, Lenny Harris, Bobby Higginson, Charles Johnson, Al Leiter, Raul Mondesi, John Olerud, Kirk Rueter, Benito Santiago and B.J. Surhoff.

Will Blyleven and Alomar Have History on Their Side

If history repeats itself, Blyleven and Alomar should be celebrating when results are announced the first week of January. Of the 21 players who gained entrance after getting between 70 and 74.9 percent of the vote, 17 of them won election the following year.

The most recent close call that turned into induction to the Hall the following year was catcher Gary Carter, who was 11 votes short at 72.7 percent in 2002 and reached the threshold with 78 percent the following year.

One foreboding fact that relates to Blyleven is a career starting pitcher has not been elected to the Hall of Fame since current Rangers president and former flame thrower Nolan Ryan received 98.8 percent of the vote in his first year, in 1999.

Blyleven’s candidacy has been slowly building over the years. After receiving just 14 percent of the vote in 1999, his second year on the ballot, Blyleven’s vote totals have jumped nearly every year. He goes into this election hoping to join 14 others who had to wait 10 or more seasons to get into the Hall. The last, Jim Rice, had to wait all the way until his 15th and final year in 2009.

So I ask the question again; did the careers of Jim Rice, Andre Dawson and the others who had to wait 10+ years improve during that time frame?

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