Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- If this scale is correct then I fully support Pluto no longer being  a planet

- How can you not root for Giannis?

- Hanlon's Razor - "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by neglect." 

- Interesting Neil Gaiman interview to revisit

- Rejected vanity plates

- Heh Heh

- Interesting Frank Thomas anecdote

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Based upon Tom Brady's numbers last night - how soon will we see articles about him breaking his own TD's in a season mark? Personally I really wouldn't be surprised to see him surpass 50 TD's. Seriously - would that surprise you?... Nana said that?... I have to agree with the opinion that Roger Goodell's ruling on Ohio State QB Terrelle Pryor is nothing less than proof that the NCAA is a defacto professional minor league system for the NFL. Somebody explain to me why NCAA revenues should not be taxed?... Yesterday was the anniversary of back in 1920 when the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. That reminded me of this classic Man Show bit... "So Dark the Con of Shapiro" What Dan Brown would have named the Miami Hurricanes story if he wrote for Yahoo! Sports... Former White Sox slugger Frank Thomas has his own Big Hurt beer... Many believe that George H. W. Bush lost his chance at rel-election when he declined to remove Dan Quayle from the ticket as VP. What are the chances that as his opinion polls continue to drop that Obama decides to replace Joe Biden as VP with Hillary Clinton? It's not like Delaware is crucial to re-election. He has to do something... Your anagram for the day: Mark Sanchez New York Jets = Throws A Jerk Enzyme Snack... About one in every 4 million lobsters is born with a rare genetic defect that turns it blue. One in every 30 million is yellow. About one in every 100 million is born a Rock Lobster.

The Lost Generation

Ask not to know for whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee

The phrase "the lost generation" was made famous by Ernest Hemingway. It described the generation of American writers who lived in Paris and other parts of Europe, some after military service in World War I. Members of the Lost Generation included Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, Sherwood Anderson, Waldo Peirce, and John Dos Passos.

Baseball has their own Lost Generation - the players of the so called Steroids Era.

Take a look at the Top 20 Home Run Hitters of all-time. There are 11 players on the list who played from roughly the time of Ernest Hemingway's original Lost Generation back when Babe Ruth first took the field for the Red Sox in 1914 til Mike Schmidt retired in 1989. That's 11 players from a span of 75 years. The Steroids Era put 9 players into the all-time top 20 in just 20 years.

Of those 9 players - 3 are proven steroids users (Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro and Alex Rodriguez) and two are assumed by pretty much everybody to have been users (Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa). That leaves just 4 players on that list who have not been tainted - yet.

Ken Griffey Jr. - injuries have robbed Junior of much of his career. He was considered the natural (pun intended). After A-Rod's revelations would it be so shocking to find out that Junior juiced too? It should be remembered that the accepted story is that Barry Bonds decided to juice after meeting with Junior at Griffey's home and being upset at the attention McGwire was getting.

Jim Thome - let's be honest. If you asked people who knew nothing about baseball to pick out the players on steroids from any team picture of any team Thome has been on - then the stocky muscular Thome gets picked almost every time.

Manny Ramirez - I was the biggest Manny apologist for the longest time but I wouldn't be surprised at this point if his name was among that list of 104.

Frank Thomas - Oh no - not the Big Hurt! Many people point out Barry Bonds magic hat size expansion as proof of his juicing. Who has a bigger noggin in baseball than Frank Thomas?

The point is that none of the home run hitters of the steroids era are above suspicion anymore. If feel bad for Junior, Thome, Manny and Frank Thomas if they did things the clean way because now they will forever be lumped in with the Bonds, Palmeiros and A-Rod's.

Ask not for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for you and your favorite home run hitter.

HOF Class of 2014

Tom Glavine just had surgery and could be ready in time for spring training. It is assumed to be better than 50/50 that he'll retire instead. If he does - then it got me thinking how chocked full the first year eligible players for the Hall of Fame Class of 2014 could be (a player is eligible 5-years after retirement).

Just from the Braves you could have both Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. Both players should be locks. Of course both players could try for a last hurrah and try to come back for 2009.

From the Red Sox you will have Curt Schilling - a player whose less than a lock case will probably be hurt by the number of sure-fire HOF players in 2014.

Frank Thomas - I can only hope doesn't try and hang on for one more year. If he quits after this season then he's a lock for the Class of 2014.

Ken Griffey Jr. is another player who should retire and if he does is another lock for the Class of 2014.

Pedro Martinez? Absolute lock in my book if he decides to call it a career. My guy says that Pedro tries for one more contract but I could be wrong (and often am).

Will Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux both be back for another year? Both have been effective enough to pitch for almost any team's rotation and both are sure fire first ballot Hall of Famers. My guess is they both come back (Johnson is closing in on 300 wins and Maddux still seems to have lots left in the tank).

It will be interesting to see what happens with the candidacy of Ivan Rodriguez. On paper Pudge should be a lock but stories of steroids have dogged him through the years. My guess is if he gets in but the glut of players eligible for the first time in 2014 may force him to wait a year.

Trevor Hoffman is in the last year of his contract and at 41 years old he may be done. If he is then you would think that the all-time leader in saves (550 and counting) would be a lock for the Hall of Fame. The question will be whether he's a first ballot lock (there's a number of voters out there who are biased against closers).

Another interesting case will be Jeff Kent. Objectively - he's perhaps one of the top 3 offensive 2nd basemen in history but he's been such a prick that my guess is that he's made to wait. Especially in a year with so many great first year eligible players. My guess is that Kent is smart enough to realize this and thus comes back next year with some team desperate enough to take him in.

What about Gary Sheffield? He still has a year to go on his contract but he may be cooked. He quit on the Brewers and now on the Tigers. What team would want this guy? I hope he never makes it to 500 HR.

Finally you have the case of Omar Vizquel who deserves induction as one of the greatest defensive shortstops in history (11 Gold Gloves). It can be argued that Vizquel was the better all-around player than Ozzie Smith but my guess is if he tries to go in with all these other greats then unfortunately he gets greatly overshadowed.

The voting for the Class of 2014 is shaping up to be very interesting. You could have as many as 7 locks going into the voting and lots of interesting cases who in any other year may be at the head of the ballot. Like I said - it will be interesting to watch.

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Interesting analysis of Bartolo Colon's start for the Red Sox last night. Bottom line? It looks like he still has his fastball and that's the pitch he needs to be successful... Everyone is making a fuss out of the Tampa Bay Rays and their turnaround but the bigger story may actually be the rebuilding job done by the Oakland A's. The poster boy for the A's resurgence is probably Dana Eveland who was acquired in the Dan Haren trade and who is currently 4-3 with a 2.90 ERA in 10 starts for the A's (compare to Haren who is 5-2 with a 3.14 ERA in 9 starts for the Diamondbacks).... Speaking of the A's - Frank Thomas seems to be doing a decent job since his signing (3HR / .282 BA / .855 OBP). I guess I may have been incorrect with predictions of his demise. Frank Thomas also needs just 2 more HR for 521 to tie Ted Williams and Willie McCovey for 16th place on the all-time HR list... Mike Piazza may have been pretty one-dimensional but he's a first ballot Hall of Famer nonetheless... Happy 35th birthday Julian Tavarez - for your birthday the Red Sox are sending you to Pawtucket... Today also would have been Hall of Famer Al Simmons (real name Aloys Szymanski) 106th birthday. Simmons had a run of over 100 RBI in 11 of his first 12 seasons in the major leagues. His career total of 1827 RBI is good for 16th place all-time (just ahead of Frank Robinson but just behind Dave Winfield)... If Willie Randolph thinks of himself in the same vein as Herm Edwards and Isiah Thomas - then he should be fired. Edwards and Thomas are perhaps the worst coaches in their respective sports. I don't care about skin color. I do care about what expectations a professional sets for himself. If Randolph is thinking "I want to do as well in this city as Herm Edwards did" then he should be fired... Omar Minaya is the real problem with the Mets. However, if a manager change is inevitable - I think Tony Pena would do a great job for the Mets...

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

The A's bring back Big Hurt. I don't think it's going to work out. Many people expect that Thomas is just in an early season slump but I think he may be done. And I think the more the slump worsens the more surly Thomas will become... Selective memory? Scott Miller lists off a number of moves Texas GM Jon Daniels has made in an effort to question the young GM. It is telling though that Miller left off his list the trade that sent Eric Gagne to Boston and the Mark Teixeira trade to Atlanta. The Gagne trade was a steal for Texas. They netted a very nice 3rd starter in Kason Gabbard (3-1 with a 4.43 ERA since being traded to the Rangers) and David Murphy (hitting .312 since being traded) for the succubus Gagne. Teixeira was traded for Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Beau Jones, Elvis Andrus, Matt Harrison, and Neftali Feliz. Miller noted that Texas' minor league system is now ranked 4th in baseball but he neglects to say that it was the Teixeira trade that had a big deal to do with that... Josh Beckett has missed a number of starts this season due to what could be termed minor ailments. I - in no way - question these injuries. I will say that knowing the Boston media - if the Red Sox had made the Johan Santana deal these injuries would have been played up as some sort of work stoppage by Beckett in the hopes of a new contract. That's the way the Boston media would be playing the situation and anyone who is a Boston fan knows it...

Frank Thomas Released

I can't say that I'm surprised by this move. Do I think that Frank Thomas' contract situation played a role? Of course. The Blue Jays don't want to be on the hook for $10 million to a guy who may be falling off a cliff talent wise. Do I think the benching of Thomas was also a move to improve the offense for the Blue Jays? Again - yes. There are many facets at play here. Such as:

- Matt Stairs probably does bring more to the plate than Frank Thomas at this point. I know it must hurt Thomas' ego that a Hall of Fame player like himself could be equaled or bettered in production by a career scrub player like Matt Stairs.

- Both Stairs and Thomas have posted OBP of about .370 the past two seasons. While Thomas has averaged a HR every 20.4 AB in his time in Toronto. Matt Stairs has averaged a HR every 18.1 AB during that same time frame.

- Frank Thomas comes off as surly and self-centered. Matt Stairs comes off as scrappy and blue-collar. Plus Stairs is Canadian.

- Some people will speculate that this will open the way for the Blue Jays to sign Barry Bonds. That's not going to happen. It is much more likely that it opens the door for top prospect Adam Lind.

- Will anyone be surprised if nobody picks up Frank Thomas? Thomas is a Hall of Fame player but his career could be over.

Top 5 - Baseball Players from Georgia

Here are who I consider the top 5 baseball players born in Georgia.

1. Ty Cobb - love him or hate him - he was one of the greatest players of all-time
2. Jackie Robinson - do I have to explain?
3. Frank Thomas - certain to be a Hall of Famer. 508 HR and climbing
4. Bill Terry - Hall of Fame 1st baseman
5. Moises Alou - 6-time All-Star

I could have picked pitchers Kevin Brown or Kenny Rogers for the 5th spot but both those guys are jerks.

File this under "You Learn Something New Every Day" - there really was a Crash Davis but he wasn't a catcher.