Nomar

Nomar Garciaparra retired yesterday and he retired as a member of the Boston Red Sox. That's great - now he can go into the Hall of Fame wearing a Red Sox cap.What you don't think Nomar deserves induction? Well let me tell you - if they let in Joe Gordon then Normar is a sure thing!

I'm only half-joking about that Hall of Fame bit. People say that know a Hall of Famer when they see one. That's the main argument keeping Bert Blyleven out of the Hall. Conversely people who watched Nomar play in his first full six seasons will tell you they thought they were watching a surefire Hall of Famer. Nomar won the Rookie of the Year, two batting titles and was top 10 in MVP voting 4 times during those years. If at the end of 2000 you polled baseball fans which shortstop would end up in Cooperstown then Nomar would have topped the list over A-Rod and Jeter.

Nomar was unique. His batting style, his great big nose, his love of soccer and Mia Hamm. He was the anti-Jeter and anti-A-Rod. And we loved him for it!

Then came the wrist injury. Then came the trade out of town which was accompanied by the Red Sox front office knocking Nomar down in the media in order to build themselves up. Then came the five and a half years in the wilderness where Nomar was no longer Nomar. He was an oft-injured player whose prime was behind him. Then came yesterday's retirement announcement. The prodigal son had returned and he was welcomed with open arms.

Nomar's body let him down but he never let Red Sox fans down. He gave it his all every time he took the field and just as important - he didn't disappear in the playoffs (*cough*Roger Clemens*cough*).

So welcome back Nomar. For some of us - you never really left the fold. Just do me a favor - stop with the "Red Sox Nation" crap. For real fans "Red Sox Nation" is just a made up marketing program.

Mike Mussina - Hall of Famer?

My immediate reaction is "No - Mike Mussina is not a Hall of Famer". King Kaufman has a very good article on Mike Mussina and the Hall of Fame which I'd like to use as my jumping off point to show why Mike Mussina is not a Hall of Famer. Two things to point out about the Kaufman piece - first he correctly writes that the Hall of Fame is "meant to honor the great, not the very good." Secondly he mentions by name ten pitchers (other than Mike Mussina) in his column. I'd like to take the comparison against these ten people Kaufman deemed worthy to mention by name to make my point:

Don Sutton - Hall of Famer with 324 wins, a .559 winning percentage and an ERA+ of 108. Like Mussina - Sutton never won a Cy Young Award and was never the dominant pitcher of his league. Like Mussina - Sutton also never won a World Series but acquitted himself so-so in the post season (Sutton was 6-4 with a 3.68 ERA in 14 post season starts while Mussina was 7-8 with a 3.42 ERA in 21 post season starts). Unlike Mussina - Sutton did hang around long enough to win 300 games. Sutton wins the Hall of Fame attendance award. He wasn't great but he was there. Mussina's not there. He's walking away from the game. He's healthy and he's made his money. Now's he's done. He won't be like a Koufax or Pedro Martinez (two players Kaufman did not mention by name) who didn't/won't make it to 300 wins because their arms gave way. Mussina wasn't close to being in Pedro's or Sandy's class. And by not sticking around - he's not even in Sutton's class either. Winning 300 is not a magic ticket but the reason you leave the game should be a determining factor in Hall of Fame voting.

Gaylord Perry - Hall of Famer with 314 wins and ERA+ of 117 and 2 Cy Young Awards. Perry won 20 games or more on 5 occasions and led his league in wins 3 separate seasons. Mussina had one 20-win season and as will be repeatedly pointed out - never won a Cy Young Award.

Early Wynn - Hall of Famer and the poster boy for hanging around to get 300 wins. Wynn also won a Cy Young Award. It should be noted that Wynn left baseball in 1963 but was not voted into the Hall of Fame until 1972. Wynn had 300 wins and a Cy Young and yet he was made to wait to gain entry into the Hall. Some people are acting like Mike Mussina should not just be a Hall of Famer but a first ballot Hall of Famer. Has the disease of entitlement extended so far that now the very good players like Mussina feel entitled to join the greats of the game? I say no to Mike Mussina in the Hall of Fame. And I say no again.

Tom Glavine - Kaufman says that Glavine is "a pitcher very much in Mussina's class" but that's pure BS. Glavine won 2 Cy Young Awards and was top 3 in voting for the award 6 times. In 5 spearate seasons Glavine led his league in wins and in 1995 he won the World Series MVP award. Mussina isn't close to being in Glavine's class.

Bert Blyleven - This guy has been made to wait to get into the Hall of Fame since he became eligible in 1997. On top of everything else - Blyleven is 5th on the all-time strikeout list and he acquitted himself very well in the playoffs. Blyleven has two World Series rings to Mussina's ZERO. Blyleven was 5-1 in 5 post season series with a 2.47 ERA. That's a run lower than Mussina's post season ERA. And have I mentioned that Blyleven hasn't been voted into the Hall of Fame? Yet Mike Mussina is supposed to waltz in? By all that's holy - don't let it be so.

Tom Seaver - He's one of the all-time greats. Mussina shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath. Shame on you King Kaufman for bringing up Tom Seaver.

Eddie Plank - Hall of Famer with 326 wins. Mentioning Plank is a complete misdirection by Kaufman. Plank was the first lefty in history with 300 wins but according to Kaufman's logic - if Mussina's aunt was his uncle then Mussina could have had as many wins as Plank.

Cy Young and Walter Johnson - you're kidding right?

Jamie Moyer - finally Kaufman names a player you could feel comfortable saying was not as good as Mike Mussina. So the whole argument for Mike Mussina getting into the Hall of fame comes down to the fact that he was better than Jamie Moyer? Yeesh.

As far as I'm concerned - Mike Mussina made over $144 million playing baseball. Now he gets to walk away from baseball, spend that money and spend time with his family. What he does not get is to walk into the Hall of Fame. He is not entitled to that. It is not the Hall of Very Good. As time passes - I guessing more and more people will come to their senses regarding Mike Mussina and the Hall of Fame.

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

I think if the Rookie of the Year Awards were given today - then the Cubs Geovany Soto would win in the NL and the Rays Evan Longoria would win in the AL. Jair Jurrjens was the leader for the NL award a little while ago but has since cooled off.... Tim Wakefield has been an under appreciated hero for the Red Sox this season. A quality start in baseball is when the starting pitcher goes at least 6 innings and gives up 3 runs or less. Wakefield has 16 quality starts in the 23 starts he has made this season. Only two pitchers in the AL have more quality starts (Jeremy Guthrie and James Shields). The ability of Wakefield to save the Boston bullpen from wear and tear is a very important but as I said unappreciated factor in the Red Sox being poised to make a run at another playoff run... You would think that a AAA pitcher who is 13-4 with a 2.89 ERA would be a hot commodity for pitching starved teams - right? Wrong. That pitcher in question is Charlie Zink who plays for the Pawtucket Red Sox. His problem is that he's a knuckleball pitcher. It seems nobody wants to take a risk on a knuckleball pitcher. Have people learned nothing from Tim Wakefield's example?... Greg Maddux needs 10 more innings to pass Bert Blyleven's 4970 IP for 13th place on the all-time list. The reason Maddux will be a sure-fire first ballot Hall of Famer while Blyleven remains on the cusp of election after so many years is because Maddux got 353 wins and 222 losses out of those innings while Blyleven managed just a 287-250 record. I'm not Joe Morgan and I know "wins" are an iffy stat but I am just pointing out the obvious. When I watched Maddux pitch - I thought I was watching a Hall of Famer. I never thought Blyleven was as good as Louis Tiant