OleMissCub

3rd Baseman career WARP3: Mike Schmidt: 157.3 Wade Boggs: 150.6 Eddie Mathews: 145.0 George Brett: 135.7 Ron Santo: 119.9 Brooks Robinson: 114.9 Darrell Evans: 110.0 Robin Ventura: 108.8 Graig Nettles: 104.6 Chipper Jones: 102.1 Stan Hack: 100.3 Scott Rolen: 99.5 Ken Boyer: 99.3 Ron Cey: 97.4 Bob Elliot: 92.8 Matt Williams: 91.2 Jimmy Collins: 90.7 Gary Gaetti: 90.3 Frank Baker: 89.9 Heinie Groh: 89.6 Lave Cross: 88.8 Pie Traynor: 87.7 Tommy Leach: 86.3 Sal Bando: 84.7 3rd Baseman career OPS+ Mike Schmidt: 147 Chipper Jones: 145 Eddie Mathews: 143 George Brett: 135 Frank Baker: 135 Wade Boggs: 130 Ron Santo: 125 Scott Rolen: 125 Bob Elliot: 124 Troy Glaus: 122 Ron Cey: 121 Sal Bando: 119 Stan Hack: 119 Darrell Evans: 119 Heinie Groh: 118 Ken Caminiti: 116 Robin Ventura: 114 Aramis Ramirez: 112 Matt Williams: 112 Graig Nettles: 110 Melvin Mora: 109 Pie Traynor: 107 Brooks Robinson: 104

Whoa... that's really all I can say.

Baseball players in the deadball era were some TOUGH looking dudes: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3268/2511557553_f8c3c2d815.jpg?v=0http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3066/2511562343_96b8a26c25.jpg?v=0 http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/7875/rubeaj6.jpghttp://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e389/amchiche/Detroit%20Tigers%20HOF/samcrawford1920.jpg http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e389/amchiche/Detroit%20Tigers%20HOF/edkillian.jpghttp://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/ggbain/17200/17257r.jpg http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/ggbain/17300/17331r.jpghttp://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/ggbain/11000/11043r.jpg http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/ggbain/50300/50307r.jpghttp://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/ggbain/17200/17222r.jpg http://www.bionikmedia.com/images/sports021.jpghttp://baseball-fever.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=23453&d=1178263492 It's no wonder they called him "Babe" instead of George: http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/ppmsca/18400/18459v.jpg

I think he's talking about football jerseys, not prison numbers. WINNER!

Kevin Durant just had his number retired after only one year at the school. I believe most schools hold that you need to graduate before you have your number retired. So, should players have to graduate from said school to have their number retired?

Some more Santo gifs I made: http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/rond.gif http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/ronpick3.gif http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/ronthrow.gif

I'm unfamiliar with what you are talking about, please explain more. I don't remember specifics (or even if specifics were mentioned yet). I do remember reading that the Hall was planning to make changes to the process for the Veterans Committee after three consecutive elections failed to result in any inductees. I think the consensus was that it used to be too easy to get in via that route (Bill Mazeroski being elected was used as an example) but now it's too hard (nobody getting in the last three elections), so they're trying to find some middle ground. I'm basing my comments on what I read in the past, so my recollection may not be completely accurate. Ah, I know what you are talking about now. In 1971, the Vets Committee elected seven players. It was that which caused the board of trustees of the HOF to enforce a two player per year maximum. Those early 70's VC inductees were crap and were the result of complete and utter cronyism on the part of Frankie Frisch and Bill Terry, who headed the VC. Jesse Haines - pitcher who was a teammate of Frisch and has the lowest Black Ink number of any pitcher in the HOF. Dave Bancroft - shortstop who was a teammate of Frisch and has a career OPS+ of 98; his Black Ink number is 1 (average HOFer is 27). Chick Hafey - outfielder who was a teammate of Frisch. He was a good player, but only played in 1283 games. Ross Youngs - outfielder who was a teammate of Frisch that died at age 30 of Bright's disease. He probably would have had a bona fide HOF career had it not been for his disease, but we all know that isn't a fair reason to put someone in the HOF. George Kelly - 1st baseman who was a teammate of Frisch. Bill James says his election "is a bad joke." Jim Bottomley - 1st baseman who was a teammate of Frisch. He's the only one of these crony picks that is actually a marginal HOFer. Travis Jackson - shortstop who was a teammate of Terry. Ryan Theriot basically. Fred Lindstrom - 3rd baseman who was a teammate of Terry. His 56.6 WARP3 is pathetic for a HOFer. He was only a starter for seven seasons!

That's exactly what I was thinking. The post looks like it was written on a blackberry or something. Ryan bored on the team bus? :-k That would be awesome if a player actually did do that.

I'm unfamiliar with what you are talking about, please explain more.

Let's talk about Ron Santo. http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1695/ronnieswing2ue0.gif............................http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/9922/santofield3pb9.gif http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/0630_large.jpg http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/51455515.jpghttp://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/52548689.jpg http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/52968957.jpghttp://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/73448922.jpg http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/81371465.jpg http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/photo/2008-02/35450429.jpg http://cubshalloffame.com/images/santo1.jpghttp://baseball-fever.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18536&d=1170208200 Here are the stats of arguably the top 3rd baseman over the past half century (in no particular order). Assuming that Chipper Jones will be elected to the HOF, which I'm sure he will be, all of these guys on the list are HOFers except Santo, of course. Player AVG OBP SLG OPS+ AB R H HR RBI WARP3 FLD% Mike Schmidt .267 .380 .527 147 8352 1506 2234 548 1595 157.3 .955 Eddie Mathews .271 .376 .509 143 8537 1509 2315 512 1453 145.0 .956 Ron Santo .277 .362 .464 125 8143 1138 2254 342 1331 119.9 .954 George Brett .305 .369 .487 135 10349 1583 3154 317 1595 135.7 .951 Bro. Robinson .267 .322 .401 104 10654 1232 2848 268 1357 114.9 .971 Wade Boggs .328 .415 .443 130 9180 1513 3010 118 1014 150.6 .962 Chipper Jones .310 .406 .549 145 7210 1354 2233 404 1353 102.1 .955 I posted this several pages back, but it shouldn't hurt to repeat it in case anyone missed it. This is a great Santo article from Bill James' book Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?

Walter Johnson and Pedro Martinez had a love child and his name was Rich Harden. Jesus, he's good.

Aaron Goodman made this artwork for SI's All-Century Team. Unfortunately, the image doesn't show the complete work. There is another side of it that has Managers McGraw, Stengel, and McCarthy, as well as Spahn, Gehrig, Yogi, Jackie, Eckersley, and Lefty Grove. http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/1941/legendsto4.jpg

the gold glove voters look at homeruns and rbis Of course the most egregious example is Raffy Palmeiro's gold glove in 1999. DH: 135 games 1B: 28 games

I'm sure they'll find a way to show World Series of Poker.

With the additions of Vilma, Bobby McCray, and Sedrick Ellis on defense, and Shockey on offense, I think the Saints should be projected to win the South. I'm also hoping Pierre Thomas gets more carries.

Ya, the teams are pretty close. The pitching I think is a wash too. Three Finger and Gibson cancel each other out, I think. Dizzy wasn't really around for all that long because of injuries, but at his best he was better than Fergie. However, Jenkins was a workhouse who was very, very good. I think they cancel each other out as well.

Off the top of my head, players who spent the majority of their careers with these teams: Cubs: C: Gabby Hartnett 1B: Mark Grace (could also be Anson/Chance) 2B: Ryno 3B: Santo SS: Banks LF: Williams CF: Hack Wilson RF: Sosa P: Mordecai Brown P: Ferguson Jenkins Cards: C: Ted Simmons 1B: Pujols 2B: Hornsby SS: Ozzie Smith 3B: Ken Boyer LF: Musial CF: Edmonds RF: Enos Slaughter P: Bob Gibson P: Dizzy Dean *obviously the glaring Cardinals omission is Lou Brock, but if we are going purely by position, then Musial trumps Brock in LF.

Just goofing around, if you could create a 25 man roster from any players in MLB history, what would it look like? This shouldn't just be the "greatest 25 players" for these spots type thing, but taking into consideration offensive/defensive balance, speed, lefty-righty in the pitching rotation, etc. Also, given the lack of great relievers throughout much of baseball history, you are allowed to have non-relievers fill spots you'd normally put relievers in. Also, you can assume that players are in their prime, free from injuries, such as Sandy Koufax. Pitchers Pete Alexander - R Steve Carlton - L Roger Clemens - R Bob Gibson - R Lefty Grove - L Randy Johnson - L Walter Johnson - R Sandy Koufax - L Greg Maddux - R Pedro Martinez -R Christy Mathewson - R Mariano Rivera - R Catchers Johnny Bench - bats R Ivan Rodriguez - R Infielders Lou Gehrig - 1B - L Joe Morgan - 2B - L Alex Rodriguez - SS/3B - R Pete Rose - 1B/2B/3B/LF/RF - S Mike Schmidt - 3B - R Honus Wagner - SS - R Outfielders Barry Bonds - LF Ty Cobb - CF/RF - L Willie Mays - CF - R Babe Ruth - RF - L Ted Williams - LF - L note: - Picked Morgan over Hornsby because given the amount of big boppers already on the team, I'd prefer Morgan's better speed and defense over Hornsby. - There are oodles of players better than Rose, but none in baseball history as versatile: 939 gms at 1st, 673 in LF, 634 at 3B, 628 at 2B, 590 in RF. His ability to switch hit is also valuable. - Went with Bonds over Mantle in the outfield because of his increased speed. - Went with Pudge as a backup catcher over Piazza because of his vastly better defense.

Honus Wagner needs a little love from this thread... 162 game avg over 21 seasons: .327/.391/.466, 150 OPS+, 6 HR, 37 doubles, 15 triples, 100 RBI, 101 runs, 42 stolen bases. Best season, 1908: .354/.415/.542, 205 OPS+, 10 HR, 39 doubles, 19 triples, 109 RBI, 100 runs, 53 stolen bases, 17.1 WARP3 (!!!). http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/7192/wagnerww8.jpg http://baseball-fever.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=33679&d=1199405486 http://baseball-fever.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=33845&d=1199565879 http://www.clpgh.org/exhibit/images/gif/flying.gifhttp://www.baseball-fever.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3586&stc=1&d=1126896730 http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/1328/hansye9.jpghttp://img102.imageshack.us/img102/9453/wagnerda3.jpg From Baseball Abstract:

I don't like Mo Vaughn beating Albert Belle in 1995: Mo: .300/.388/.575, 144 OPS+, 39 HR, 126 RBI, 98 Runs, 28 doubles Belle: .317/.401/.690, 177 OPS+, 50 HR, 126 RBI, 121 Runs, 52 doubles Not shocking that Belle would lose though, being that the media hated his guts.

He was 27-6 that year with a 2.95 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. No chance of him not winning that year. I know Clemens had a nice year too (a better one), but I'd be pretty shocked if this is the worst decision of the decade. Ya, it's not shocking that Welch would win it with that record. Check out their ERA+ that year though. Welch: 126 Clemens: 213

+1 Exactly what I was about to post. "Hey look....I'm CRAAAZY!!!!

Check out the IP of some of the top AL Cy Young candidates that year: Jim Palmer -296 Nolan Ryan - 326 Catfish Hunter -256 Wilbur Wood - 359 Jim Colborn - 314 Vida Blue - 264 Bert Blyleven - 325 Gaylord Perry - 344

grit?

Look, Backe was wrong for going nuts, but that fat ump is wrong for staring him down like that. What a tool.