The Case for Jeff Bagwell

Marc Normandin spells out a very convincing case for Jeff Bagwell to make the Hall of Fame. I've always been a Bagwell fan but I guess I've become jaded because of all the great things Normandin points out about Bagwell - it is this paragraph that sticks out to me:

He would play his last game in front of the hometown Astros fans at Minute Maid Park, coming to bat as a pinch hitter who did not reach base; an anticlimactic ending for an incredible player in his first trip to the World Series. With the end of his career, eyes now turn towards his Hall of Fame credentials. Some may question the validity of his statistics because of the era he played in, and others may take his numbers at face value with nary a mention of performance enhancing drugs in his history. Statistically, Bagwell is a shoo-in [corrected], with his Hall of Fame Monitor score of 149.5 where the average Hall of Famer is 100, and his Hall of Fame Standard score of 59.0 where the average Hall of Famer is a 50, as well as his JAWS score of 106.4, third all-time among first basemen. Whether or not he actually makes it is another story entirely, as he finished with 2,314 hits and 449 homers, relatively low totals for Hall of Fame first basemen, or so the belief goes among more traditionally minded baseball fans.

Emphasis added.

Prior to 1994 - Bagwell hit an average of one HR every 31.6 AB. Suddenly in 1994 Bagwell's slugging percentage jumps an astounding 234 points (from .516 to .750) and he suddenly hits one HR every 10.3 AB? You can't tell me that isn't a bit suspicious.

I won't feel bad for Bagwell if he doesn't make the Hall of Fame because of suspicions like the one I harbor against him. The home run power he "discovered" starting in 1994 helped him earn over $128 million playing baseball. That seems like pretty good consolation even if he didn't do steroids.

Odds to Win Super Bowl

Here are the latest odds on who will win Super Bowl XLI

San Diego – 9/4
Baltimore Ravens – 7/2
Chicago Bears – 5/1
New Orleans Saints – 13/2
New England Patriots – 7/1
Indianapolis Colts – 9/1
Philadelphia Eagles – 10/1
Dallas Cowboys – 14/1
Seattle Seahawks – 21/1
Kansas City Chiefs – 25/1
New York Giants – 38/1
New York Jets – 38/1

Barry Bonds

I was only half-kidding with this post.

However, it may turn out that I was prescient with that observation.

The language in the deal still being negotiated concerns the left fielder's compliance with team rules, as well as what would happen if he were to be indicted or have other legal troubles, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of such details....

...."There's a lot involved," Giants general manager Brian Sabean said. "The language is wide-ranging."

I wonder if that language includes Bonds dressing up as the Bob's Big Boy hamburger statute for picture day?

Patriots vs Jets Notes

The Patriots have won 8 straight home playoff games. If they win on Sunday they will tie Buffalo for the second longest home playoff winning streak in history. The Green Bay Packers hold the longest home playoff winning streak with 13 straight home game victories between 1939 and 2001.

History is on the Patriots side. Only 5 out of 12 prior times has a road team with a regular season road victory over the host playoff team been able to win that second game. However, in 3 of those 5 victories - the visiting road team has gone on to play in the Super Bowl.

HT Cold, Hard Football Facts

The Name Game

Much is being made up here in New England over the fact that Bill Belichick has finally found it within himself to utter at least part of the name of the head coach of the New York Jets. Belichick has been quoted as saying, “I think the players have done a good job, I think Eric has done a good job.”

Personally – I think Belichick missed an opportunity. Instead of calling Mangini “Eric” – it would have been great if Belichick instead said, “I think the players have done a good job, I think Tubby has done a good job.” Belichick could have then just said, “Oh that’s what everyone called him up here. No offense was meant – just our pet name for him. He’s done a good job.”

The “Tubby” comment probably would have put Mangini off his game and gave the Patriots an edge. Mangini would have been answering "Tubby" questions for the rest of the week.

By the same token – I think a bunch of the best coaches should have gotten together to screw with Nick Saban. Imagine what would have happened if coaches like Belichick, Mike Shanahan in Denver and Pete Carroll at USC all came out with the same quote, “I wish Nick all the luck in the world but I kinda wish Alabama had called me about the job.”

That would have kept the talk shows busy down in Alabama and it would have put Saban on the instant hot seat.

Simmons Slams Lupica

I had read the latest Bill Simmons piece and I had chuckled at the slam at Mike Lupica but after reading this post at The Big Lead - I started thinking about it some more. First here's the slam at Lupica:

Watch the end of 61* sometime, or reread Mike Lupica's gushing book, Summer of '‘98. (Note: Lupica now argues that Big Mac doesn't belong in the Hall. He never says anything about returning the profits from his book, however.)

The slam reminded me of two things:

1. What made Simmons great in the first place was that he came out and said what many of us were thinking. I've thought that exact same thing about Lupica and how he was a whore for the longball race in 98 but all Joan of Arc today. If Simmons takes off the gloves - then that is a reason to start going back to ESPN's Page 2 (none really exists currently).

2. Mike Lupica is like Mike Tyson who was fine until his mentor Cus D'Amato passed away. Then Tyson just started spinning out of control with nobody to reign him in. Dick Schaap was Mike Lupica's Cus D'Amato. When Dick Schaap died - Mike Lupica lost all sense of propriety and his ego ran more wild than Mike Tyson at a Playboy Mansion party on ecstasy. ESPN's show The Sports Reporters has become the Mike Lupica Show (at least in Lupica's mind) and that explains why many people like me have stopped watching it.

Happy Birthday Don Shula

The NFL coaching great turns 77 today. And what did Don Shula get for his birthday? Well for starters the team he works for, the Miami Dolphins, just got thrown into disarray because the head coach suddenly left for another job. To top it off - the job that Nick Saban is taking at Alabama used to belong to Shula's son Mike. That is - until Alabama fired Mike Shula even though Mike Shula had gone 10-2 the year before with a victory in the Cotton Bowl.

Yep - at age 77 - this is exactly the type of aggravation Don Shula needs on his birthday.

Bobby Knight Halftime Speech

Good God - this is good stuff but be warned that language is nowhere near safe for work.



HT SJ.com

Happy Official Birthday to the Drinking Straw

On this day in 1888 - Marvin Stone was granted a patent for the drinking straw even though straws have been used for drinking since the age of the Sumerians.

Marvin Stone, however, was nothing next Otto Frederick Rohwedder who invented sliced bread in 1927 (actually the process for automaticlly slicing bread). Every invention prior to 1927 (except maybe the wheel - which was invented by an early Celt to help transport beer) pales in comparison to sliced bread - hence the saying "the best thing sinced sliced bread."

American League West Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations about the American League West.

Los Angeles – the Angels can be a very dangerous team in 2007. They have a very strong rotation with John Lackey (3.56 ERA in 2006), Ervin Santana, Jered Weaver (2.56 ERA in 2006), Kelvim Escobar (3.61 ERA in 2006) and a returning from injury Bartolo Colon. The team also has a very strong closer in Francisco Rodriguez. The Angels have two highly touted prospects at the corners in Casey Kotchman and Dallas McPherson – neither of whom has shown they can hit at the MLB level. That’s OK though because it looks like the Angels will have Shea Hillenbrand at 1st and Chone Figgins at 3rd. Either Kotchman or McPherson could be trade bait as the Angels has a new crop of prospects that make both players expendable (players like SS Brandon Wood, 1B Kendry Morales, and SS Erick Aybar). The Angels have to be considered the early front-runner for the AL West this season.

Oakland – the A’s lost both Frank Thomas and Barry Zito but I don’t think either will be missed much. Thomas was replaced by the signing of Mike Piazza and while I don’t think that Piazza is quite the hitter that Thomas is – he’s close enough. Meanwhile Barry Zito’s production will be replaced by – drum roll – Joe Kennedy. Yes Joe Kennedy will more than fill the shoes left behind by Barry Zito. In fact I’m ready to go out on a limb and declare 2007 the summer of Joe Kennedy. The fate of the team, however, won’t rest with Mike Piazza or Joe Kennedy – it will rest on Rich Harden and Dan Haren emerging as a pair of aces at the top of the order. If that doesn’t happen then the A’s won’t make the playoffs.

Seattle – the Mariners should win an award as perhaps the worst run franchise in MLB. They have the revenue of the Boston Red Sox but have the pitching rotation of the Kansas City Royals. Seattle must thank God for Ichiro Suzuki who has only been with the team for 6 seasons (and has had over 200 hits each season) but may be the only real reason to see the Mariners when they travel on the road.

Texas – the Texas Rangers are rolling the dice but when they bet they seem to have the percentages in their favor. They sign the tested and proven Kenny Lofton to play CF and let the one season wonder Gary Matthews Jr. walk away to get big money elsewhere ($10 million a year from the Angels). The Rangers needed a closer and they rolled the dice on Eric Gagne who is perhaps the best closer in baseball when healthy but they only paid him a base of $6 million plus they still have Akinori Otsuka as a back-up (who just happened to have 32 saves last year). The Rangers traded away John Danks their best pitching prospect for Brandon McCarthy who is less than 2-years older than Danks but who has proven he can pitch at the MLB level. The two players to watch this season are Brad Wilkerson who many fantasy GM’s thought would have a breakthrough season last year in Arlington but instead spent most of his time dealing with injuries and Mark Teixeira who is in the final year of his contract and who could be a free agent at the end of next season. Things need to break just right for the Rangers for them to compete for a playoff spot but if they don’t break right – I wouldn't be surprised if Jon Daniels starts dealing to improve the team for the future and that the deals start with Wilkerson and Teixeira.

Bizarro Objectivism

I saw this post over at the Bidinotto Blog and was completely non-plussed about how the institute that bears Ayn Rand's name is being run. Here's the paragraph that really blew me away:

Tracinski's apparent criminal offense was to publicly disagree with the completely irrational position on the recent elections that was put forth by Dr. Leonard Peikoff, co-founder of ARI, to wit: Don't vote for any Republican, no matter how good he may be as an individual, because if Republicans stay in power, we're in imminent danger of a theocracy in America.

Robert Bidinotto was blown away by the lunacy of such a position coming from the Ayn Rand Institute as well. Never mind that Rand was all about individual choice and against anyone saying they knew best what was right for the collective good - you would think that Randians would be more against Democrats and their Robin Hood wealth redistribution tendencies than anything the Republicans tend towards.

Just bizarre.

Heh Heh

Chad Finn put up another fine post on Sunday but I just had the chance to read it. The post included this gem:

Man, Ed Hochuli just kills me - the three-sizes-too-small shirt and "Welcome to the gun show" flexing when he announces a penalty is so narcissistic and transparent, I half expect that on one of these Sundays, he's going to show up shirtless, with zebra stripes painted onto his torso.

And as God as my witness - I never knew that Marty Schottenheimer ever played linebacker for the Patriots.

The Supposed Reagan-Ford Ticket

With the death of Gerald Ford you have probably read or heard about how supposedly in 1980 there was a movement to put Gerald Ford on the Republican ticket with Ronald Reagan in what some had termed a “co-Presidency”. I don’t think Reagan ever really considered it seriously and I doubt that Gerald Ford ever really considered accepting if asked. However, there is an interesting story about what may have been the final nail in the coffin of the idea.

The story is told by Richard Allen (page 43 - PDF):

…with only one serious person coming up to see Reagan [at the 1980 Detroit Republican Convention to discuss the possible Reagan-Ford ticket]. That was [Bill] Simon [Secretary of the Treasury under both Nixon and Ford]. He was not really a challenger for the job [of VP], but his name had been mentioned, and he said to Reagan, “Take me out of it. If you don’t, and if you do this with Ford, you’ll be a whore.” I didn’t put that in [a newspaper article Allen wrote describing how the VP was chosen in 1980], out of respect for Bill Simon, but that’s precisely what he said, “You’ll be a whore, Ron,” and he looked at me and said, “and you know it too, don’t you, Dick Allen.” So I thanked Simon when he left, said he had done a very courageous thing, coming to take himself out of it and make sure that they didn’t pick Ford.

I’d be surprised if anyone brought up adding Ford to the ticket after that.

Morning Rant

This morning I just wanted to get some random and somewhat related thoughts down on paper.

First let me talk about the bowls for a moment. I had earlier ripped the bowl system for being too watered down. However, this is the part of the bowl schedule that represents the real meat (but even the real meat of the schedule is tainted by the extraneous GMAC Bowl and International Bowl fiasco).

No matter what happens in the Ohio State / Florida game – we will no longer have to hear any whining from Ann Arbor about how they were screwed by the BCS by not playing in the championship game. USC beat them like rented mules last night and by doing so probably has made people re-evaluate how good Ohio State actually is. I mean Ohio State’s real claim to the #1 spot comes down to victories over Michigan (who just got tooled by USC) and their early season victory over Texas (who later lost to Kansas State, Texas A&M and just barely squeaked by Iowa in the Alamo Bowl). The line in the Ohio State game has been pretty steady at Ohio State giving 8 points but I wouldn’t be surprised to see some money start pouring in on Florida pushing the line down to about Ohio State -6.5 points.

Last night Boise State beat Oklahoma in an absolutely thrilling game to go undefeated on the season. If Ohio State falls to Florida there will be some who say that Boise State is the real national champion because they will be the only unbeaten team in the country. Last night also was the coming out party for Ian Johnson who will have to be considered for the Heisman Trophy next season. Adrian Peterson was supposed to be the running back to watch last night but Ian Johnson out-shown the man who will perhaps be the first back taken in the NFL draft. Peterson had 20 rushes for 77 yards and 2 TD’s while Johnson had 23 rushes for 101 yards and a TD. Look for Ian Johnson and Hawaii QB Colt Brennan to get lots of love throughout the season next year.

Yesterday also saw NFL coaches Jim Mora Jr. and Dennis Green get their walking papers. Mora is an interesting case because it is tough to figure out if A: he wanted to get fired (that’s the only rational explanation for his behavior); B: Mora is just that stupid or C: Michael Vick really is a coach killer (personally – I think it was a little bit of each). The funny thing about Green getting fired is that he has already been invited back to interview for the Cardinals job to help Arizona comply with the NFL mandate that at least one coach of color be interviewed for each head coaching job.

One last note – have you seen the new Cadillac commercial? The one with the woman walking through the office and all of the men quake in her wake. Then she gets into her Cadillac and cackles. What’s the message that commercial is trying to send? If you are a corporate witch – put away your broom and drive a Caddy? Personally – I’d love to see the folks from Volvo spoof that commercial by showing basically the same commercial but at the end the witch’s Caddy gets T-boned by a Volvo driven by the men from the office with the tag line – “Cadillac – not as safe as a Volvo.”

Maybe the Least Reported Major "Sports" Story from 2006

If you are a sports fan and watch ESPN - then you know how it is almost impossible to get away from watching repeats of the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event. As both a sports and poker fan (I'm not calling poker a sport) I like watching these re-runs.

Even the casual sports fan probably knows that Jamie Gold won the 2006 WSOP Main Event and that his prize was a record $12 million. But did you know that half that money is still being kept at the Rio casino because it is unclear that it belongs to Jamie Gold?

Jamie Gold is being sued by Bruce Crispin Leyser who says that he had a promise from Gold to split Gold's winnings. A $6 million lawsuit on the outcome of poker's Super Bowl and you would be hard pressed to even know such a thing happened if you relied upon the MSM for your information.

32 Bowls and Nothing On

The Cold, Hard Football Facts takes a look on how the bowl system has become diluted and has completely gone overboard. There are a record 32 bowl games this year and most of the teams that participated really weren't worthy of a "post-season" game.

The Cold, Hard Football Facts does a good job looking at how the bowls went from being pure and desirable to both watch or play in. Now bowl games have been whored out to make sure every team over .500 gets to ride the community bicycle. In fact the Seven Deadly Sins could be used to explain the current state of the bowl system.

Lust - teams desire the recognition that comes with a bowl appearance. The lust is so bad that teams will lower themselves to play in games like the Papa John's Bowl or the Meineke Bowl.

Gluttony - too much of a good thing. I think the record 32 bowl games fits this definition to a tee.

Greed - all around the bowls is avarice and the sin of excess. From the convention and visitors bureaus of the host cities to the schools looking to make some coin off the backs of the football players greed abounds in the bowl system. Greed may be a sin against God but the current bowl system is a sin against even the slightest pretence of amateur sports. Money talks is the simple explanation why we have 32 bowl games.

Sloth - the current arrangement exists because the NCAA is too lazy to implement a playoff system.

Wrath - there is a growing wrath among football fans who are sick of the fake bowls. Just look at all the empty seats and low TV ratings of the fake bowls.

Envy - maybe the sin that started it all. The idea of "we were just as good a team as team X and we should have been in a bowl too" - that's what sparked the expansion of the bowls in the first place.

Pride - this sin has been completely perverted. It was pride which made teams think they were too good to stay home and not go to a bowl game but now what kind of pride can you really take in participating in such a baloney bowl as the International in Toronto of all places?

Hitchens on the Hanging of Hussein

Christopher Hitchens, I believe, is anti death penalty in his beliefs but he makes the case that Saddam Hussein had to be killed.

This, in essence, also was the psychological underlay of the Nuremburg war crimes trials: The beasts had to die, and to be seen to have died. One could not bear to live on the same planet as them, and the memory of their victims would be profaned if they were long outlived by their murderers.

Sometimes Hitchens can be difficult to read but he makes you think and maybe re-think your own positions. That's the mark of a good writer.

Eragon

Two weeks ago I went to see the movie Eragon. I thought it was a fine movie but the next day my eldest told me that she was disappointed because the movie skipped over or changed much that was in the book.

Being a Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter geek - I was intrigued and decided to read the book for myself to find out what she was talking about. Having finished the book a couple of days ago - I now understand what she meant. The book (as is almost always the case) was so much richer and more entertaining than the movie. Trust me - if you liked either the Lord of the Rings or the Harry Potter books - you will also love Eragon.

What surprised me most was the fact that the author Christopher Paolini was just 19 when the book was published. So before the age when he'll be legally able to drink in most states - Christopher Paolini will have had two NY Times bestselling books (Eragon and Eldest) and a movie made from one of his books. Makes me feel like a piker.



You may have noticed that I updated the books advertised at the top of the site. I'm going to try and keep those books updated to the last six books that I've read. As always - it is greatly appreciated that if you buy something (anything) from Amazon.com - that you do it via one of my links.

Saddam Hanged

This is an old cartoon from the great folks at Fox & Corkum but its the one I immediately thought of when I heard the hanging had been done.

The Insidiousness of Sports Betting

The most exciting bowl game yesterday and perhaps of the bowl season so far was the one -point victory by Oregon State over Missouri - 39 to 38. The Beavers had scored a touchdown to close the score to Missouri 38 - Oregon State 37 with 22.1 seconds to play. All Beavers coach Mike Riley had to do was kick the extra point and send the game to overtime. Instead he went for the win with a 2-point play and when running back Yvenson Bernard broke the plane of the goal-line - the final score was insured.

Here's where the insidiousness kicks in. The point spread on the game had Oregon State giving three points. There were probably many die-hard Beaver fans rooting up in Oregon or at the game who were jacked and pumped at the thought of overtime because that gave them a chance to win or push. In overtime - the team would have won or lost just as the bettor did. Instead Mike Riley's gutsy call cost them money. Their team won but they still took a hit in their wallets.

Conversely - the die-hard Missouri fans who had bet on the game were similarly conflicted. Overtime gave them a 50-50 shot of winning the game but Yvenson Bernard's 2-point conversion meant that the team they root for lost but they won money on the deal.

Just another example of how it's usually best not to bet on teams you root for. Call me crass but in my opinion the Missouri fans who saw their team lose but who won their bets got the better end of the deal than the Oregon State fans who bet on their team.