Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Love TJ Oshie for what he did in the shootout vs Russia. Love him even more for what he said about being a "hero"... Random thought - I still say Luis Tiant was better than Catfish Hunter but it is Hunter who was rewarded with a spot in the Hall of Fame... I have a soft spot in my heart for They Might Be Giants - especially for Birdhouse in Your Soul and the whole Flood album for that matter... When I see Vladimir Putin I can't help but think he's the real life character Karla out of all those John Le Carre novels... According to Ted Talks - the 100 websites you should know and use... I've said it before but John Travolta's best role may have been as the Boy in the Bubble. All downhill from there... PGA golfers Ricky Barnes and James Driscoll share what it was like golfing with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick... Patrick Swayze's Sex Pottery would be a good name for a band or a fantasy baseball team...  Who knew? Great Britain won the Olympic Gold for hockey in the 1936 Winter Olympics... Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band play Highway to Hell in Perth, Australia... Funny to remember that Donald Trump blamed Derek Jeter breaking his ankle in the 2012 playoffs on karma because Jeter had just sold his apartment in Trump Towers...

Tim Wakefield

Happy birthday to Tim Wakefield who turned 42 today. Did you realize that if Wakefield pitched for the Oakland A's - he'd be one win away from tying the team record for wins and already be the team's all-time leader in strikeouts? Wakefield has 160 wins for the Red Sox with 1772 K's. Catfish Hunter had 161 wins for the A's but just 1520 K's.

Of course Wakefield would still have a ways to go to catch some of the pitchers of the Philadelphia A's. Eddie Plank (284), Lefty Grove (195) and Chief Bender (193) would still be ahead of Wakefield in wins and Plank would still have him beat for K's with 1985.

Top 5 - Baseball Players from North Carolina

Here are who I consider the top 5 baseball players from North Carolina.

1. Gaylord Perry - Hall of Fame pitcher, won 314 games, 5-times won 20 games and twice won the Cy Young Award
2. Hoyt Wilhelm - Hall of Fame pitcher, knuckleball specialist who was the first reliever to have 200 saves and he still holds the record for most wins by a reliever with 124
3. Luke Appling - Hall of Fame shortstop, career .310 batting average
4. Enos Slaughter - Hall of Fame outfielder, 10-time all-star
5. (tie) Rick Ferrell - Hall of Fame catcher, 8-time all-star (tie) Catfish Hunter - the Tony Perez of Hall of Fame pitchers

Luis Tiant

The Baseball Hall of Fame Veterans' Committee will announce their vote today and I hope Luis Tiant gets the nod but my guess would be that he doesn't. Garry Brown does a nice job stating the case for Tiant. I have always thought that Tiant was a better pitcher than Catfish Hunter and Hunter is in the Hall of Fame.

Tiant: 229-172 / 3.30 ERA / 2416 SO / 49 Shut Outs
Hunter: 224-166 / 3.26 ERA / 2012 SO / 42 Shut Outs