Congratulations to Fred McGriff

The Atlanta Braves really missed out if they did not send out a similar message. Have long supported the Crime Dog. Congrats!

2019 Hall of Fame Ballot

Picking 10 names from that list is difficult. I'd break my choices into two categories; "No Doubt" and "Had to Think About It but Yes."

Here's my picks:

No Doubts:

Mariano Rivera, Fred McGriff (long been a supporter of the Crime Dog), Curt Schilling, and Larry Walker (people forget how crazy good he was)

Had to Think About It But Yes:

Roy Halladay (sentiment will make his selection easier but is his case actually better than Curt Schilling's?), Mike Mussina (but only after Schilling gets in - Schilling was the better pitcher who is now being punished for being a crazy uncle), Omar Vizquel (guy had 11 Gold Gloves and was every bit the fielder as Ozzie Smith).

That's only 7 choices but that's all I'd feel comfortable with.

As far as steroids guys like Bonds and Clemens - my view is these guys did steroids to get paid which they did handsomely. They knowingly sacrificed their chances to make the Hall for the opportunity to make millions with big contracts. That's the choice they made and they got paid. And now that's all they should get.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Great life advice - Life is Short. You should actively be trying to cut out the BS in your life because indeed life is too short... Still say that the player harmed most by inflated steroids era power number is Fred McGriff. In any other time he would have been a sure-fire Hall of Famer except his number are just shy of the ballooned numbers of people like Bonds, A-Rod, Sosa and McGwire... Awesome!... Would love to see Venn diagram of people who oppose fracking and those people who support Elon Musk's plan to bore huge holes to create a giant underground high speed transportation network. My guess is there would be many people who are in both groups. Hypocrites... Cool - the best and weirdest heists of 2017... Would love to do a trip like this Green Mountain Gravel Growler a 248-mile bike loop that links 13 Vermont breweries (but sadly I know I'll never do it)... You learn something new every day (or at least you should)...

Fred McGriff and the Hall of Fame

I congratulate Tim "Rock" Raines, Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez and Jeff Bagwell on their election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. A well deserved honor in each case. My issue is how Fred McGriff has been snubbed by the same voters. No "clean" player has been hurt more by comparison to PED contemporaries than McGriff. This isn't a new issue for me.

In 2004 I compared McGriff to now Hall of Famer Wade Boggs with the Crime Dog coming off very favorable in comparison.

In 2006 I compared McGriff to Bagwell. Are you aware that McGriff has more career HR, RBI and total bases than Bagwell? Yet McGriff is on the outside of the HoF looking in.

In 2011 I made a case of how steroids using players were hurting the HoF chances of clean players. Probably the only time I can recall really disagreeing with Joe Posnanski.

Fred McGriff deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

PED's and the HOF

"Anyone found or admitted, I think you traded your money and numbers... for your [Hall of Fame] vote." Mike Lowell

I agree 100% with Mike Lowell. Barry Bonds made over $188 million, Roger Clemens made over $150 million and Mark McGwire made over $74 million in MLB contracts. These players were able to get these mega-buck contracts because PED's allowed them to put up bigger numbers and play more years than if they tried to do things the right way - the legal way. They traded their Hall of Fame vote for the money and the numbers - it's that simple. Will I feel bad when these players come up short in getting elected to the HoF? Not in the least.

The players I feel sympathy for are the guys like Fred McGriff who everyone thinks played the game the right way. McGriff finished his career with 493 HR which will be just under what is needed for election to the Hall. McGriff suffers because his power numbers pale in comparison to a guy like McGwire and his 583 HR.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I'm confused. When George W. Bush was President I kept hearing that dissent is the highest form of patriotism. Now these same people are screaming bloody murder because thousands of cops turned their backs in silent protest?... I call this one "Peaceful Protest" or "Respect is Earned not Entitled"... The word "panned" comes from the French word for "breakdowns". So in essence when a movie is panned by critics it is usually because it "breaks down" and things don't work... Just 97 more days until Opening Day in baseball... Just for old times sake - Lima Time!... If "evade" means to escape - shouldn't "vade" mean to get caught?... Once again I expect Jeff Bagwell to get more Hall of Fame votes than Fred McGriff but as I've said from the moment Bagwell retired - that's not right...

Steroids

I need to get this off my chest. With the Hall of Fame ballot results to be announced this week - many writers have been discussing their selections and with their votes how they feel about steroids.

What has gotten me worked up most is the attitudes of normally bright and logical people like Joe Posnanski who becomes illogical and hypocritical when it comes to steroids.

In discussing Jeff Bagwell - Posnanski opines:

I think my e-migo Craig Calcaterra has made this point on Twitter, but I’d like to also make it as strongly as I can: I’d rather a hundred steroid users were mistakenly voted into the Hall of Fame over keeping one non-user out.

He doesn't see that this thinking leads to the exact opposite results. You let in 100 steroid users and their numbers keep clean players from getting proper consideration. You let in a Mark McGwire and you make it harder for a Fred McGriff or Don Mattingly. Posnanski makes a case for Kevin Brown without once mentioning Brown was named in the Mitchell Report for taking human growth hormone and Deca-Durabolin. At the same time he takes shots at Jack Morris. I guess if Jack Morris had improved his numbers by taking steroids then he'd have a better shot in Joe's book.

The hypocrisy drips from his choices.

Fred McGriff and Mark McGwire - he votes No on McGriff but he votes Yes on Mark McGwire! Even if you think McGwire just used steroids for the last 3 seasons of his career (yeah right) then that's 3 seasons in which McGwire made $30 million and hit 126 HR. If for the last 3-seasons of his career McGriff used steroids to hit just half of those HR that McGwire got over his final 3 years then McGriff has well over 500 for his career and is probably in the Hall. Even more insidious though is the fact that McGwire used steroids to secure contracts bigger then what McGriff ever came close to making. The $11 million McGwire made for his final season was 34% more than McGriff ever made in any one season in his career. So not only did McGwire cheat to get paid - his cheating now screws clean players like McGriff's chances at the Hall of Fame as well. That's too much to swallow.

To take it one step further - if you buy what McGwire is trying to sell Posnanski about using steroids just to heal from injuries then what about a player like Don Mattingly? What if Mattingly had used steroids to extend his career? Would that have made him a Hall of Famer? I know you can't play this what if game but at the same time you can't reward a player like McGwire for cheating to get what was denied to a Donnie Baseball. Put another way - Posnanski's thinking on steroids is 0% logic and 100% bullshit.

Rafael Palmeiro - Posnanski has the balls to compare Palmeiro to McGriff:

McGriff: .284/.377/.511
Palmeiro: .287/.369/.510

You know what this comes down to - clean player who will be kept out of the Hall of Fame versus dirty player who would have been in Hall of Fame if he didn't get greedy and come back for one last season. Boo-freakin-hoo for Joe Posnanski who feels bad that he has to vote No on Palmeiro.

I am slightly surprised that Posnanski didn't go full-jackwagon when it comes to steroids and make the case for Jose Canseco.

One argument that really bugs me is the "he was a Hall of Famer before he started using steroids" argument. This is normally used to defend Barry Bonds. Well what about a player like Dale Murphy? He was a Hall of Famer in his prime - what if he started taking steroids at the same time as Bonds? Is he a Hall of Famer now? What if Bonds never took steroids? Does he break down like Murphy?

Two discussions on Twitter really set me over the edge on the subject of steroids.

A number of baseball writers were doing an echo-chamber re-Tweet-athon about how fans don't care about steroids and the Hall of Fame and that it was just the writers making a big deal of this. They have a point but they miss the forest for the trees. People are stopping to care about the Hall of Fame but it is precisely because of steroids.

The other Twitter discussion which pissed me off was the uber-smug King Kaufman knocking Jim Rice as not being Hall of Fame worthy but granting he was at least not a mediocre player. Jim Rice is the poster child for players whose accomplishments have been harmed by comparison to steroid cheats. It was nice of King Kaufman to say at least Rice wasn't mediocre. I'd like to return the favor. King I don't think your writing comes close to being worthy of Sports Illustrated good but I think at least you could hold your own at the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I am saddened by the death of Steve Landesberg. His character, Lieutenant Dietrich on Barney Miller was one of my favorites of all-time... Wow - last night's lunar eclipse brought renewed interest for Bobbie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart. I was not aware that E-Street Band stalwarts Max Weinberg (drums) and Roy Bittan (piano) along with Rick Derringer (guitar) played on that song... Business term I hate most is "best effort". If not specified does that mean you're getting whatever effort the vendor feels like?... It is not fair but I can almost guarantee that Jeff Bagwell will get more Hall of Fame votes than Fred McGriff. Both players finished top 10 in MVP voting 6 times and both won 3 Silver Slugger awards at first base but McGriff has more career HR, RBI and total bases... You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch was sung by Thurl Ravenscroft who was also the voice of Tony the Tiger for Frosted Flakes... Like a good neighbor State Farm is there (with me minus 20 pounds). (Shit does not work in real life.)... Do you think the Yankees have called Mike Mussina just to see if he's been keeping in shape?... I imagine the $2 mil the Royals sent to the Brewers in the Zach Greinke trade was for Yuniesky Betancourt's 2012 buyout... When did Terry Bowden turn into Tim Allen from the Santa Clause movie?... The Brewers have now assembled a pretty good starting staff with the Greinke trade but they still need closer. Is Rafael Soriano next move?

Bagwell vs. the Crime Dog

Here's a look at the case for Jeff Bagwell and the Hall of Fame. The story tries to take a middle-road - neither pro nor con. Whenever I see these things though I just have to point out how Bagwell compares to Fred McGriff:

- McGriff has more career HR, RBI and total bases.
- Bagwell has an MVP Award but McGriff has a World Series Ring. Both finished top 10 in MVP voting 6 times and both won 3 Silver Slugger awards at first base.
- McGriff was a post season monster with 10 HR in 10 series and a post season batting average of .303 and an OPS of .917. Bagwell had 2 HR in 9 post season series and hit an anemic .226 with a .675 OPS.

I have to wonder why you never see articles about Fred McGriff's case for the Hall of Fame?

Mark McGwire

As far as I'm concerned the two relevant stats on Mark McGwire's Baseball Reference.com page are 583 home runs and roughly $75 million in career earnings. There is no doubt in my mind that both of those numbers were made possible by McGwire's steroid use. That's the deal he made with the devil. He took steroids which allowed him to hit the home runs which allowed him to get his millions of dollars.

I don't blame him. If someone approached the young Chris Lynch and offered me millions of dollars in exchange for taking steroids and risking having my name tainted as a cheater - I'll be honest - I'd have a hard time turning down the money.

So I can understand why McGwire did what he did. That doesn't mean I have any sympathy for him. He's not entitled to that. He's also not entitled to my forgiveness for what he did and he's certainly not entitled to a spot in the Hall of Fame.

The real victims here are the people like Fred McGriff whose numbers would have been Hall of Fame worthy if it had not been for the explosion of steroids fueled careers (and yes I know I'm making the assumption that McGriff was clean but I'm pretty comfortable with that assumption). Without the Mark McGwire's and Rafael Palmeiro's of the world - Fred McGriff probably gets into the Hall of Fame. Now those steroid fueled careers and those of others move McGriff down the all-time lists and probably into obscurity.

The real victims here are the untold number of clean players whose careers got stuck at AAA ball because they could beat out the Ozzie Canseco's in skill and production but not the Jose Canseco's. These people had their careers blocked and dreams shattered because they tried to do things the clean way.

So good for you Mark McGwire for finally admitting what we all knew was true anyway. Just don't make the mistake of thinking that when the boos die down that it means the fans are forgiving you. It just means you're not worth the time or effort.

Gary Sheffield's 500th HR

There has been lots of gushing over Gary Sheffield's 500th HR with nobody willing to come out and say that despite the 500 HR - Sheffield ain't no Hall of Famer. Well I'll say it.

Gary Sheffield quit on the Brewers, used steroids with Barry Bonds and if the Yankees had signed Vlade Guerrero instead of Sheffield in 2003 - the Yankees in my opinion would have at least 2 more World Series victories to their credit. These are just some of the reasons Sheffield won't get elected to the Hall of Fame.

Hitting 500 HR is supposed to be a ticket to Cooperstown but consider that both Rafael Palmeiro and Mark McGwire have 500 HR and little consideration from voters. Why would Sheffield be any different?

It took Sheffield 22 seasons to get to 500 HR. It took Fred McGriff 19 seasons to get to 493. Sheffield is supposed to be a slugger but yet never led his league in HR. McGriff led the league twice. Teams traded for McGriff to help them win. Teams traded Sheffield because he was a pain in the ass. I think McGriff has a much better case for the Hall of Fame.

I wish someone would tell the talking heads on Baseball Tonight that. Gary Sheffield is not a Hall of Fame player.

Gary Sheffield

So Gary Sheffield was released by the Tigers. I've seen a number of people both speculate where he may end up (the Phillies seem to be the rumor leader) and I've also seen a number of people talk about Sheffield being a Hall of Fame player.

Let me state what seems to be obvious to me but somehow seems to elude many of the talking head experts; Gary Sheffield is cooked, nobody is going to pick him up and he is not going to get close to the votes to get elected to the Hall of Fame.

Nobody is going to pick up Sheffield for three reasons:

1. There are better options available just as cheap. Wily Mo Pena is available and so is Frank Thomas. Yes Pena is wildly erratic and Thomas is just as cooked as Sheffield but they are both still better options in my book.

2. Sheffield isn't a calming veteran presence like a Cliff Floyd - Sheffield is a time bomb.

3. Nobody is going to pick up Sheffield just so that he can be in uniform for his 500th HR. People are psyched for the early season games anyway so they don't need his circus act.

Sheffield won't make it into the Hall of Fame because he's a steroids tainted, quitting on his team, jerkface. Sheffield's no Fred McGriff and there will be a backlash against him from writers who loathe anyone even remotely associated with steroids. If McGriff doesn't get into the HoF then that backlash will be directed right at Sheffield and maybe Jeff Bagwell (based upon speculation).

Top 5 - Baseball Players from Florida

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

1. Steve Carlton - Hall of Fame pitcher - 329 career wins and 4 Cy Young Awards
2. Andre Dawson - should be in the Hall of Fame -as Ryne Sandberg said "he played the game the right way"
3. Fred McGriff - another guy who should be in the Hall of Fame - lead both the AL and NL in HR in separate years
4. Chipper Jones - will be in the Hall of Fame - not a ton of HR but top 25 all-time in OPS
5. (tie) Tim Raines - 5th all-time in stolen bases (tie) Gary Sheffield - closing in on 500 HR

I was surprised that there was only one Hall of Famer from Florida. You would think that a state that is always in the top 3 (with California and Texas) in producing athletes would have more than one. Florida does have a number of players who either should be in the Hall of Fame or are the most borderline of cases. You could actually arrange the last four players on my list in any order and I would not argue with it.

I was also surprised to learn that Wade Boggs was not born in Florida but instead was born in Omaha, Nebraska.

Florida is also home to the player who perhaps blew the most talent in the history of MLB - Doc Gooden. Conversely it is also home to the player who has probably maximized his God given gifts more than any other in Tim Wakefield.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Bob Ryan has posted sporadically (to be kind) on his new blog but I must say that I think his blog posts are actually better and more interesting than his columns for the Boston Globe (and that is saying something). Maybe it is because Ryan writes about what he wants to write about on his blog while he writes what he's assigned to write for the Globe (I know he has leeway at the Globe but he still has assignments). His latest post on the funeral of David Halberstam is very moving (and interesting)... Manny Ramirez is now tied with Fred McGriff for 37th place all-time on the RBI list with 1,550. Manny needs 15 more HR to catch the Crime Dog in home runs. McGriff has 493 career dingers which ties him for 22nd on the all-time list with Lou Gehrig. I think McGriff is under appreciated. Next up on the RBI list for Manny is Willie McCovey who has 1,555 RBI... Tiger Woods is an 11/4 favorite to win the US Open this weekend. Phil Michelson is his closest opponent according to the odds. Michelson is listed at 10-1 and Jim Furyk is at 14-1. You can find the full odds here... Adam Dunn is on pace for 38 HR but also 220 strikeouts. Are the 38 HR really worth the cost of the 220 SO? Baseball-Reference.com lists his nickname as "the Big Donkey" - is that really true? That seems a bit harsh. Baseball-reference.com lists the most similar hitter to Dunn as Ron Kittle but Adam Dunn doesn't even show up in Kittle's most similar batters (Steve Balboni is his most similar batter). I find that odd...