Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Jacoby Ellsbury has 22 straight steals without being caught so far to start his career. The record is 27 set by Tim Raines... When I was a kid there was a popular question - "would you rather be hit in the nuts by a Bobby Orr slap shot or a Nolan Ryan fastball?" The question never made much sense to me because who wants to be hit in the nuts in the first place. The only reason I bring it up is because Tim Wakefield needs to hit (well he doesn't NEED to hit anyone but you know what I mean) just 2 more batters and he'll tie Nolan Ryan for 10th place all-time with 158 hit batsmen apiece. I do know the answer to the question of - who would you rather be hit by a pitch from Nolan Ryan or Tim Wakefield?... Jim Edmonds was released by the Padres. I said it was a bad trade when Edmonds was acquired but I'm not here to toot my own horn. I do wonder what the baseball landscape would be like if the rumored trade (back in November of 2005) involving the Yankees and Cardinals took place. The Cardinals were supposedly going to send Edmonds to the Bronx in exchange for Robinson Cano and Chien-Ming Wang. A very interesting "what if?" scenario if there ever was one... Edmonds will not make it to the Hall of Fame (the Hall of Very Good maybe). Is that fair when a player like Ozzie Smith is in there as a Cardinals representative? I do have to ask if Edmonds' defense (8 Gold Gloves to Ozzie's 13) and offense (Ozzie wasn't close to being the offensive force Edmonds was) tip the scales in Edmonds favor as the more valuable player? Both players were instrumental in leading Saint Louis to a World Championship...