Linky Links

Stuff I found interests or amuses and thought I'd share.

- The NASCAR-ization of college sports is on its way.

- Niall Ferguson: We All Soviets Now

- Morgan Housel on Quiet Compounding. Like the Great Sequoia metaphor.

- Exit Willie Mays. Should be highlighted that Willie Mays spent 2-years in the military in the 50's while he was in his prime.

Linky Links

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

- Cool - the day Private Willie Mays threw out my dad. (HT Daddy Pundit)

- Interesting partnership between Apple and Target.

- Very true

- The 10 biggest archaeology finds of 2020 

- Cool cover of Roxy Music's Avalon. Peter Frampton doesn't get enough credit as a world class guitarist. (HT Meanderthal)

Linky Links

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

- The Willie Mays and Charlie Brown connections 

- How to publish your own book (HT Steve Layman)

- This was a very touching version

- Matt Taibbi: YouTube Ban is Un-American, Wrong, and Will Backfire

- A very good deed by an Iowa church. But $8,000 being able to buy $5 million worth of medical debt to me shows how overpriced and messed up our medical billing is.

- Cool - Scotland has the best names for its snowplow fleet

Willie Mays and Ken Griffey Jr.

Just saying but when I was growing up people talked about the sadness of seeing Willie Mays play out his final couple of years as just a shadow of his former self. It seems to me that the same could be said of Ken Griffey Jr.

Last year Griffey Jr. hit just .214 with a .324 OBP and a .735 OPS. In Willie May's penultimate season he hit .250 with a .400 OBP and a .802 OPS (respectable numbers but not what people expected from a legend). In his final season with the Mets, Willie hit just .211 with a .303 OBP and .647 OPS. To put it another way - in his final season - his 22nd in the bigs - Willie Mays was cooked.

Ken Griffey Jr. is also in his 22nd season in the big leagues. Going into today he was hitting just .238 with a .289 OBP and a .551 OPS. He's cooked too.

The thing is - people won't criticize Griffey Jr. for hanging on too long like they did to Willie Mays. The reason? Junior will make $2.35 million this year. That's more than Willie Mays made in his career.

At some point a tipping point of pride versus cold hard cash was passed. Willie Mays was on one side of the line and Ken Griffey Jr. was on the other. That's why baseball fans will remember the ends of their careers in different lights.

Top 5 - Baseball Players from Alabama

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

1. Hank Aaron - the undisputed RBI king and in my mind still the true Home Run King
2. Willie Mays - in almost any other state - Willie Mays would be #1
3. Satchel Paige - one of the greatest pitchers of all-time
4. Willie McCovey - Hall of Fame 1st baseman
5. Ozzie Smith - Hall of Fame shortstop - one of the greatest defensive players in history - 13 consecutive Gold Gloves

I wasn't prepared for the number of great players from the State of Alabama. The above top 5 players would give any state a run for its money and consider that the following Hall of Famers did not even make the list.

Heinie Manush - Hall of Fame outfielder and one of the all-time great names in sports
Joe Sewell - Hall of Fame infielder
Billy Williams - Hall of Fame outfielder for the Cubbies
Don Sutton - Hall of Fame Pitcher - 324 career victories
Early Winn - Hall of Fame pitcher - exactly 300 career wins

I couldn't help but think that you could put together a great all-time team from Alabama. The two weak positions would be at catcher and closer but you could have Bo Jackson coming off the bench and George Foster at DH.