Cuban Pitcher Hits 102

“Connie Marrero had a windup that looked like a cross between a windmill gone berserk and a mallard duck trying to fly backwards,” former big league star Felipe Alou once said

That alone deserves a pension.

Madden: The BBWAA considers integrity and and sportsmanship when deciding who gets in the HOF

Plus the dummy tube on my Philco Neutrodyne-Plus is on the fritz!

Not surprisingly, I suppose, there is already a chorus of critics — none of whom, of course, have a vote — who are pontificating that if the Baseball Writers Association does not elect Bonds and Clemens in particular, on Jan. 9, then the Hall of Fame should dismiss them as the voting electorate. They’ll say they should replace them with a whole new body of supposedly more worthy, unbiased voters selected from the ranks of broadcasters, who are employed by the clubs (no conflict of interest there!) historians and selected writers and bloggers (like themselves?) who believe that overwhelming statistics, no matter how they were achieved, should be rewarded with a plaque in Cooperstown. Otherwise, they maintain, the Hall of Fame is a sham. There’s one problem with that — which goes to the heart of this dilemma for the Baseball Writers — and that is clause  5 under the rules for election, which the Hall includes with all the ballots: “Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.”

...What is particularly annoying to me is that these same critics of the Baseball Writers Association (of which they would nevertheless dearly love to be members) cite a couple of dweeb writers, gleefully spouting how they can’t wait to cast their no-vote against Bonds & Co., as further proof the Baseball Writers think of themselves as vigilantes and therefore lack objectivity in voting on the Hall. To that, I would say let them form any committee of 600 voters — of former players, Hall-of-Famers themselves, broadcasters, fans, bloggers, historians, whoever — and I guarantee Bonds & Co. would not get 75% for election. At least not right now.

...A lot of those same critics of the Baseball Writers are the ones who have launched a Sabrermetrics campaign against Morris, based largely on his 3.90 career ERA, and have sought to somehow dispel the notion that he was a true No. 1 ace throughout most of his career. Considering that he started on Opening Day 14 years in a row, was handed the ball by his manager in Game 1 of six of the seven postseason series he participated in with three different teams, and was chosen to start three All-Star Games, I’d say that’s a hard case to make — especially when you also consider over the last 40 years, he ranks third in most starts (248) in which he pitched eight or more innings. But when it comes to Morris, who is in his 14th year on the ballot and finished second to Barry Larkin a year ago with 66.7% of the vote, I wonder how many of his detractors ever actually saw him pitch. If they had, they’d know a Hall-of-Famer when they saw him.

Bill Madden: Reheating baseball’s turkeys of 2012

And Rockwell never painted no guacamole and tortillas!

10. CARLOS PENA

Maybe this isn’t fair, but in our opinion the contact-challenged Tampa Bay first baseman was the player most responsible for the Rays wasting all that great pitching and missing the playoffs by three games. Because they knew Pena, the Rays went over budget and spent $7.25 million — the second-highest salary on their team — to bring him back to provide a desperately-needed middle-of-the-order power bat. Instead, Pena, who had averaged 28 HR and 82 RBI the previous two seasons, had the lowest batting average in baseball (.197), the third most-strikeouts (182) in the AL, and dropped to 16 HR and 61 RBI. Most egregious, however, was his ineptitude from April 30-Aug. 7 — the period Evan Longoria was out when the Rays went 41-44 and fell from first place to third. In 87 games over that span, Pena hit .178 and slugged .329 with 11 HR and finally had to be benched by manager Joe Maddon.

5. STARLIN CASTRO

Welcome to the Turkey List the most undisciplined player in baseball. The Chicago Cubs’ second-year shortstop, who was nevertheless rewarded with a seven-year, $60 million contract, was among major-league leaders in three dubious categories in 2012 — errors (27), caught stealing (13) and mental gaffes. During the course of three games in June, Castro was (1) thrown out trying to steal second because he had stopped halfway after thinking the batter had fouled the pitch off, and (2) took a flip from second baseman Darwin Barney for what should’ve been the start of a double play then casually jogged to the dugout thinking there were two outs. That was the last straw for Cubs’ first-year manager Dale Sveum, who benched Castro for a game and publicly chewed him out. The Cubs may have committed their future to Castro, but so far he has shown himself to be a player you’re never going win with.

2. MELKY CABRERA

Melky we hardly knew ye. The fun-loving, exuberant ex-Yankee turned himself into a bum of the highest nature when, after being named MVP of the All-Star Game, he tested positive for testosterone on Aug . 15, and was subsequently suspended for 50 games and not brought back by the Giants for the postseason.Worse, however, was Cabrera’s attempt to cover up his guilt by having a friend, who works with his agents, Seth and Sam Levinson, devise an elaborate, phony supplement website, which then brought federal investigators into the case. Still, just to show in baseball no bad deed goes unrewarded, Melky signed a two-year contract with the Blue Jays worth approximately $16 million.