OleMissCub

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/80sstar.jpg The list of "Stars of the 21st Century" i.e. stars in 2000 as predicted in a 1992 issue of baseball digest: Ken Griffey Jr. Ruben Sierra Deion Sanders Felix Jose Marquis Grissom Frank Thomas Roberto Alomar Delino DeShields Gary Sheffield Ivan Rodriguez Benito Santiago Ramon Martinez Juan Guzman Ben McDonald Steve Avery Tom Glavine

MLB Network going to broadcast the Caribbean Series. Pretty cool. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090113&content_id=3742376&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

He says he's fine. Looked like it hurt like hell... I guess I'll pull for the Cardinals in this thing. As a Saints supporter, I have kind of a kindred spirit with their fans I suppose.

Any word on Hines Ward? If he's out for the game, that could definitely make a big difference.

lol at leftwich gloating as if he actually did something to contribute

Another Steelers helmet to helmet hit.

lol at steelers fans booing lima bean

Pretty much correct. Which is actually why I often find it strange/funny how unathletic and goofy some pitchers look when they take a swing. I understand that pitcher's get fooled alot and might look foolish on a hack from time to time, but some pitchers look like they don't even know what a bat is. It's like, did you guys forget how to swing a bat since the last time you played?

Some random baseball advertisements. Be funny to see some of these today: These are cool. From a clothing catalog:

Amazing how quickly someone call fall. I was thinking just two years ago that he'd for sure be a HOFer, but definitely not anymore. I can't imagine anyone recovering from how bad he has become.

Dale Alexander I've just recently discovered this guy. Really stinks he had a career ending injury so soon into his career (thanks to suffering third degree burns when his trainer caught his leg on fire and then nearly losing that leg to gangrene). What the heck is up with his home run totals in the few seasons he played? We'd be calling this guy a juicer who got off his roids if he played today: 1929: 626 AB's, .343/.397/.580, 25 HR, 137 RBI, 148 OPS+ 1930: 602 AB's, .326/.372/.507, 20 HR, 135 RBI, 118 OPS+ 1931: 517 AB's, .325/.401/.445, 3 HR, 87 RBI, 119 OPS+ 1932: 392 AB's, .367/.454/.513, 8 HR, 60 RBI, 151 OPS+

I believe he was the No.1 Starter on all three of those teams during the seasons. It's possible he was designated as such, but he wasn't the best pitcher on any of those teams. I wasn't making a judgment on him one way or another, I was just pointing that out. I personally don't think he's a HOF pitcher.

I believe he was the No.1 Starter on all three of those teams during the seasons.

:blush: Not saying, just saying. No foul intended. That Howard-Rice comparison was ripped off from another website, but the WARP3 research and subsequent indictment (pretty much the lowest ever for an elected HOFer) was all mine though. :-)

:blush:

I dunno, 245 HR in just 4 years is nuts. Besides, I think Mac had injury issues even before his steroid years. He only played 74 games over a 2 year stretch between 93-94.

On second thought, I don't think Clemens makes the HOF without his steroid use. Allegedly he began using in 97 when he went to Toronto and won 21 games after only winning 10 in both of the previous two seasons. Before he moved to Toronto, Clemens was 33-34 and only had 193 wins and in the previous 4 seasons combined only had 40 wins. So he appeared to be on a pretty steep decline before he went to the Jays.

The difference with McGwire compared to Bonds and Clemens is that Bonds and probably Clemens were already Hall of Famers before they decided to enhance themselves. 193 of Mac's 583 HR came in just three seasons (97,98,99). If he had a non-assisted normal decline I'm not even sure he makes it 500 HR. He doesn't stand out in any other "counting stats" category. Basically I guess what I'm trying to say is that steroids pushed McGwire into being a Hall of Fame type, not so with Bonds and probably Clemens.

Do you see Sosa running into the same resistance that the "known" steroid abusers like Mac, Clemens, and Bonds are/will encounter on the ballot?

http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/1231 Bruce, I'm glad to see that you were among the 22% that voted for Raines.

Yes, he most certainly was. unpossible! Jime Rice was the only feared baseball player of all time!!!!! FEAR FEAR FEAR. I think the writers just wanted to add some spice to the pre HoF ceremony movie night. .. . I wonder who came up with that "feared hitter" bullcrap. I bet it was that Carrot Top headed "curse of the bambino" fool in Boston.

Got this from another site: Ten best seasons of Jim Rice and Frank Howard: ____/......Rice......../.....Howard......../ 1.- 157 OPS+ 46 Hrs 1.-178 OPS+ 48 Hrs 2.- 154 OPS+ 39 Hrs 2.-170 OPS+ 44 Hrs 3.- 147 OPS+ 39 Hrs 3.-170 OPS+ 44 Hrs 4.- 136 OPS+ 20 Hrs 4.-153 OPS+ 36 Hrs 5.- 130 OPS+ 24 Hrs 5.-149 OPS+ 28 Hrs 6.- 127 OPS+ 22 Hrs 6.-147 OPS+ 31 Hrs 7.- 123 OPS+ 27 Hrs 7.-144 OPS+ 26 Hrs 8.- 122 OPS+ 24 Hrs 8.-138 OPS+ 21 Hrs 9.- 120 OPS+ 25 Hrs 9.-127 OPS+ 18 Hrs 10.-116 OPS+ 17 Hrs 10.-119 OPS+ 15 Hrs Frank Howard: 6,488 AB's .273/.352/.499, 382 HR, 1119 RBI, 142 OPS+ Jim Rice: ......8,225 AB's .298/.352/.502, 382 HR, 1451 RBI, 128 OPS+ Only difference is that Rice played for great teams in Boston and Howard played for crap teams in Washington. Howard only got 6 votes for the Hall of Fame, EVER.

What Bill James has to say about Rice from Baseball Abstract:

Also, the only outfielders elected by the BBWAA with an OPS+ lower than Rice's (128) are Kirby Puckett (124), Keeler (126), & Brock (109).

Just did some research and Jim Rice has the second lowest WARP3 of anyone ever elected by the BBWAA behind Bill Terry. Some other HOFers technically have lower WARP3 numbers but most all of them have exceptions for why they are so low such as wars, injuries, or the color barrier eating up a chunk of their careers. In order of most recent election: Rice 80.2 Henderson: 189.8 Ripken: 173.1 Gwynn: 122.1 Sandberg: 108.7 Boggs: 139.2 Molitor: 131.7 Murray: 134.4 Carter: 115.9 Smith: 132.5 Puckett: 87.1 Winfield: 125.2 Perez: 106.4 Yount: 132.0 Fisk: 115.7 Brett: 137.7 Schmidt: 157.0 Jackson: 131.0 Carew: 122.9 Morgan: 165.3 Yaz: 131.7 Bench: 120.5 Stargell: 105.6 Williams: 113.1 McCovey: 112.7 Brock: 89.9 Killebrew: 94.5 Aparicio: 91.2 B. Robinson: 119.3 Aaron: 217.6 F. Robinson: 167.6 Kaline: 122.9 Mays: 220.1 Mathews: 146.6 Banks: 119.9 Lindstrom: 56.6 (2,600 less AB's than Rice) Kiner: 71.3 (3,000 less AB's than Rice) Mantle: 155.3 Clemente: 127.8 Berra: 108.8 Boudreau: 110.1 Musial: 191.5 Medwick: 95.4 Campy: 67.8 (Negro League discount) Williams: 156.8 Appling: 127.9 J. Robinson: 91.5 Greenberg: 77.0 (WWII discount) Cronin: 112.6 Hartnett: 107.5 DiMaggio: 121.9 Terry: 75.3 (1800 less AB's than Rice) Maranville: 92.9 Dickey: 102.9 Simmons: 99.8 Gehringer: 122.4 Ott: 178.0 Heilmann: 95.6 Foxx: 119.9 Waner: 124.6 Traynor: 87.7 Frisch: 118.8 Hornsby: 162.8 Keeler: 105.7 Collins: 180.6 Speaker: 174.6 Lajoie: 163.8 Wagner: 203.0 Ruth: 227.8 Cobb: 194.3