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It seems to me that Matt Williams had a higher peak and nearly as much career value. Personally I think both are probably underrated among most writers and fans. But I find both to be substantially lacking in terms of HOF qualifications.
Have you been there? It would be a terrible mistake to skip the HOF because you disagree with some of the inductees.
Sorry Mr james.
Based on what was posted on ESPN.com, it appears that Pedro Gomez only voted for Jay Bell and no one else. As a first-ballot Hall of Famer, Jay Bell??? Don't see how you justify dissing everyone else to throw a bone to Jay Bell.
I spent about 5 minutes there and about 5 hours everywhere else.
Yet he votes for Mattingly.
Hodges reached 50% his 3rd year, 60% his 8th year, but only 63.4% his 15th and final year.
By all means, skip Interstate 88. They were doing heavy roadwork there this summer, and my Honda Accord bumped uglies with a wayward construction marker about 30 miles northwest of Binghamton. The only bright spot was that, thanks for the good folks at AAA-Plus, rather than getting eaten alive by a bear or something on the side of the road, I got to spend a night in lovely Binghamton.
then again, one of the guys who reads my blog (hi daddy) commented that he absolutely HATES rickey and would only vote for him grudgngly
so maybe it was personal with the no sayers
but how you could justify voting for a juicer like matt williams (AND calling him a "great guy" when juice users are by definition evil terrible people) and saying that maybe someday rickey might could get in - well, seems you should have your vote taken away. or at the very least, your great grandkidz
Got the top seven in order. Got two going in correctly.
Of the fifteen I guessed on, I only got the perfect percentage once (Grace), but was off by 1% on five others (Morris, John, McGwire, Parker, and Baines). My biggest errors were Rice (off by 9%, Blyleven, off by 6%, and Trammell - off by 4%).
In all, an average error of 3.1%, which is better than I did last year.
Rickey. It's the Year Of Henderson, so that's who the election-by-memory crowd are recalling. Some folks see two similar guys on the ballot and feel they have to drop the one that looks significantly inferior. In the absence of hard numbers they fall back on relative standards and the lesser guy suffers. If they had a better grasp of the candidates and their own HoF standards they might be able to correctly identify Raines as both worse than Rickey and good enough for the Hall.
I would also advise against this. I went in the fall and it was a blast. I also agree that the "museum" is far more interesting and with a lot more content than the plaque room. Plus the plaques are organized in a strange manner..
The research library is amazing?
So, yeah, even though they like to elect somebody, and even though Dawson and Blyleven are both already close... I could still see no one getting in next year. Rice had the huge, huge advantage of Boston-based advocacy. That is what put him over the top, IMO: that the discussion was successfully transformed into a "how can you leave out Jim Rice??" discussion. Dawson's HOF case, on the other hand, was basically made in a city where they haven't played baseball for a good long time now. I'm not sure Chicago is going to pour everything into getting behind him, and even if they did, it wouldn't be quite the same. And Bert's a little too far away from 75%. So yeah, I could totally see it.
I would be shocked if Roberto Alomar does not walk into the Hall of Fame next year.
"Disagreeing with some of the inductees" doesn't begin to capture it. I have no respect for the process or results. Some of it is, of course, not new. The writers missed Arky Vaughan and Johnny Mize, but not having been around during these players' careers and during their eligibility period and knowing that the information about the players and their times was less comprehensive than we have today, I made allowances. There is no excuse for this. Or as AROM put it, "morons".
I'd really like to see someone make this case with facts. Not raw counting stats - of course Rice had more RBI. But in terms of what each player meant in runs and wins, given the context in which they played, and an argument that doesn't conveniently ignore things like baserunning and defense. I'm not being sarcastic. I just wonder if it's possible to do so while being objective and using sound methodology.
Being a Yankee fan who is ahem ,Older, I will say that Roy was faster, a better baserunner. Covered more ground than Rice.
He had a wet noodle for a throwing arm, did not hit for power and was generally thought of as a nice complimentary player but by no means, a force in the lineup or the field.
Its the Hall of Fame vote, not a "shout on" segment on Total Request Live.
Blyleven and Dawson are the top returning candidates and if either goes it it will probably be a happy day on BTF. Dawson is borderline but the opposition to him is that he's not quite good enough, not that he shouldn't be anywhere near the HOF.
There's the idiot vote that keeps out Raines and Trammell, but there are so many deserving players getting little support that it's hard to focus.
Rice being THE leading candidate is something we'll miss, as far as generating arguments. If Jack Morris leapfrogs Blyleven and becomes the next lock of a candidate it will be similar, but not quite the same, Morris has some legit claim to extra credit for his postseason work. There are far fewer pitchers standing between him and a legitimate HOF spot than there are outfielders and Rice.
The only way we'll have a Rice situation again is if the writers elect nobody, but make someone like Andres Galarraga the leading guy heading into 2011 with 70% of the vote or something.
And if you could show me how many more wins Rice was worth than Roy White I'd be much obliged.
Besides, if I were Jay Bell, Jesse Orosco or whomever, I would be more embarrassed than honored.
My ballot for next year:
Raines
Alomar
Blyleven
Trammell
Larkin
McGwire
McGriff
maybe Edgar. I'll have to take a closer look at him.
AROM, I think there's a 0% chance Edgar gets in. I just said this 6 or 7 posts ago, but I'm very surprised you or any others here would think he will. To me, his extreme lack of counting stats and the DH thing is going to keep him out; what is the case for his inclusion? Because I'll be honest, I like to think I'm smarter than the Woody Paiges of the world, but I don't see it.
Like Chairman Sean & a few others here, right now I don't think anyone will get in next year. There are two guys near the cusp but have no momentum, and a bunch of strong candidates, but no one who is quite a first-ballot shoe-in. Plus, with so many guys clamoring near the top, any over-the-top surge might be split and no one gets in.
Plus, IIRC, none of the incarnations of the VC meets next year, meaning NO players get inducted for the first time in nearly (over?) a half-century.
See, that's bad. Once upon a time the induction ceremony was a small little affair with several hundred or maybe a thousand attendees. (I read a Thomas Bowswell piece once where he noted that prior to Brooks Robinson the induction weekend record crowd was 2200 for Mantle).
Nowadays, of course, tens of thousands show up. And you know what they bring with them? Their MONEY. That speaks loudly folks. If no inductions, tens of thousands of no-shows and hundreds of thousands in lost profits.
CONSPIRACY THEORY: Who, if anyone, certifies the Hall's votes? Does Cooperstown just tally it up on their own or is there an actual outside service that does it? . . . . Because if it's just the Hall of Fame, I find it INCREDIBLY unlikely no one goes in next year. I still maintain no one will get 75% of the BBWAA vote, but they'll announce Andre Dawson had 75.2% of the vote. Then move to re-re-re-do the VC.
Seriously though - does anyone know if any outside source certifies the Hall's votes? If anyone knows, I'd like to hear about it. If not ... . things coul get very interesting.
Edit: Obviously Dag's a little more imaginative than I am.
Not voting for Rickey is a big problem, but I don't see a vote for Bell as that much more ridiculous than a vote for Rice. So if he's a clown, then at least he's got lots of company.
My ballot for next year:
Blyleven
Larkin
Raines
Trammell
Alomar
McGwire
Smith
Edgar
Ventura
Appier
sorry to Dawson and McGriff the ballot is out of room
There are only 17 pitchers that have thrown 4000 innings since integration, (1947), a major feat and milestone in and of itself. Among those 17, Blyleven ranks 6th in ERA+, ahead of 7 Hall of famers and one guy who is sure to make it in when eligible. He didn't just compile innings. His combination of quality of run prevention and durability puts him in the top half dozen pitchers over the last 60+ years. What the hell else is there ?
Clemens 143
Johnson 137
Maddux 132
Seaver 127
Spahn 119
Blyleven 118
Glavine 118
Perry 117
Niekro 115
Carlton 115
Jenkins 115
Roberts 113
Ryan 111
John 110
Sutton 108
Kaat 107
Tanana 106
Personally I think there are those that will just never vote for Blyleven specifically because the sabermetric community supports him so strongly. Anyone who doesn't vote for him is called an idiot, so those that don't vote for him probably just dig in their heels. Nobody likes being called an idiot.
Possibly? Anyone willing to bet that he doesn't get a least 50%, let me know.
Ernst & Young does the accounting/auditing of the HoF vote. The Hall doesn't just make stuff up.
Although I am a big advocate of sabermetrics I also go by what one sees with their own eyes for a lengthy period of times, just as valuable. So if you are looking for sabermetric stats ...can't help you...maybe someone out their can. Heck, since Bill James said Roy was better than Rice, contact him.
I'd be honored. How many people can say, "You know, I once got a vote for the HOF"?
This statement mirrors my feelings exactly.
If Edgar ever gets inducted, that will be the year I actually make a pilgrimage to Cooperstown for the ceremony. I've actually got one of my (prospective) children's middle names set aside for him.
Let's just hope I don't have only daughters. Because that would be awkward.
What about spelling?
Brilliantly played!
He couldn't have asked for a better set-up.
If the voter actually felt I deserved it, sure. However, I still wouldn't feel honored if it was just a pat on the back.
No need to. I've read his case for White and generally agree with it. I'm waiting for anybody to make a logical case that Rice was better, other than "I saw them" or "I'm older than you and I know it".
To me though the discussion sums up just how lame Rice's HOF career is. If you can have a good faith discussion about the relative value of Roy White and any given player and it's even remotely close, the guy's not a HOFer.
Dale Stephenson sees their peak (by his definition -- best 5 years. Don't have to be consecutive) as indistinguishable in value, with Rice providing a total of roughly 3.1 offensive wins over the course of an extra 208 games for their careers.
Odd to see a Rice comp come down to career value.
Certainly seems plausible that White had enough defensive value to cover the offensive difference. I wouldn't trust defensive numbers based on what amounts to range factor, assists and errors any farther than I can throw them, but what I see suggests that you have to set replacement level very low and make generous assumptions in Rice's favor (specifically explaining away his significant time at DH) to get Rice out in front by any kind of margin.
Outstanding.
What I wasn't prepared for was Rice getting in while a more deserving player falls off the ballot for not getting enough support.
Mark Grace is more deserving than Jim Rice.
(There are others on there more deserving than Grace, but they get more shots at it.)
Walker: 1988 Games, 8030 PA, 1355/383/1311, .313/.400/.565 (140 OPS+)
Edgar: 2055 Games, 8672 PA, 1219/309/1261, .312/.418/.515 (147 OPS+)
Yeah, they played in different offensive environments, but that whole DH thing is going to result in tons of writers voting against Edgar just for that.
"Consistent Peak: Consecutive Seasons with OPS+ of 130+"
Rice: 3
White: 5
"Quality Seasons Overall: Seasons with OPS+ over 120"
Rice: 9
White: 8
"Postseason Performance:"
Rice: .225/.313/.366 in 18 games
White: .287/.378/.430 in 25 games
"Defensive Value"
Pct. Games as DH:
Rice: 25.4
White: 5.9
</cherry picking>
McGriff has to have some of the worst timing ever, in terms of when he hit his peak. He hit 30 homers 7 years in a row, which won't impress the voters too much because several players did similar things a little later, and McGriff never got higher than 37. But two of those seasons led the league (1989 AL, 1992 NL), and another one came in 113 games in 1994. I don't know whether I'd support him or not, but his 7-year peak as a hitter (OPS+ of 157, 166, 153, 147, 166, 143, 157) is much better than the raw numbers make it look. It's certainly better than Rice's peak (as a hitter, no position or defensive adjustments included); Rice only had three OPS+ marks that match McGriff's seventh-best.
Clemens 143
Johnson 137
Maddux 132
Seaver 127
==================
==================
Spahn 119
Blyleven 118
Glavine 118
Perry 117
Niekro 115
Carlton 115
Jenkins 115
Roberts 113
Ryan 111
John 110
Sutton 108
Kaat 107
Tanana 106
It's a pretty strong argument, but I wonder how well it will persuade someone who simply does not think Blyleven is a HOFer. The top 4 guys on that list are off on their own. After that, you have a bunch of names packed together. The error bar on ERA+ (not counting unearned runs, inaccuracy of park factors, facing different schedules) makes it as likely that Blyleven "deserves" to be 12th on that list as 6th. I mean, no one is going to buy that he was a better pitcher than Steve Carlton and his 4 CYAs.
If the voter actually felt I deserved it, sure. However, I still wouldn't feel honored if it was just a pat on the back.
you may not, but other people may feel differently (how about that guy in Houston that was campaigning for a vote)
I don't have any problems at all with an attaboy vote, Willie McGee definately deserved some type of local praise. Now if these attaboy votes potentially push someone over, then that is too many of course, so I do think that only the local guy for their primary team should consider an attaboy vote. I'm hoping Ray Lankford gets a couple of votes next year also.
Maybe a little, but his later apology to the ump, as well as their later friendship will probably bail him out on that.
Even if he does take a bit of a shot because of that, he's still carrying the following in the + column:
- 12 time All-Star
- 4 Silver Sluggers
- 5 times in top 10 MVP voting
- 10 time GG
- 0.300 career BA
- major part of 2 WS champs
- in the playoffs a total of 7 times for a .313 .381 .448 line with a 20/2 SB/CS ratio.
Jim Rice 412 76.4% Good for him.
Andre Dawson 361 67.0% Obviously an anti-Expo conspiracy (and, sorry Cubs fans, but he'd go in as an Expo)
Bert Blyleven 338 62.7% Obviously a anti-Dutch conspiracy.
Lee Smith 240 44.5% Trevor Hoffman had better hope they figure out Closers by the time he shows up.
Jack Morris 237 44.0% Wait, you mean the BBWAA wasn't able to look past his 3.90 ERA
Tommy John 171 31.7% if they had put in Sandy Koufax's fastball instead of Mrs. Koufax's...
Tim Raines 122 22.6% The guy on the ballot who got the least respect. Almost certainly part of the Anti-Expo conspiracy.
Mark McGwire 118 21.9% Sorry, too easy.
All of these guys had fine careers, but not HOF careers. They def. deserve to be on the ballot, though, as they will.
Bye guys!
Jesse Orosco 1 0.2% Ouch. I mean, I know he's Jesse Orosco, the blower of leads and bane of my existence during the later half of the 90s, but only one vote? I mean, c'mon, he had to have done something right to hold the record for most P appearances! He definitely didn't deserve to get past the first ballot (and, thank god, he will not), but 1 vote is cruel.
The Mr. Irrevelents of the BBHOF voting.
Repoz Wait, how the hell did you get here? Oh, I must have got your name in the copy/paste.
Don't forget that the strike also cost him his shot at 500 HR, which would give him a big-deal milestone for the BBWAA.
12 time All-Star, 1 MVP, 3 gold gloves, 9 silver sluggers and the Roberto Clemente award for character.
The MSM case: .312 career batting average. He'll also get a lot more sympathy there for being blocked until he was 27. And for saving baseball in Seattle.
The stathead case: list of non-HOF players with a better career on-base percentage (the single most important basic statistic): Bill Joyce (3000 AB in the 19th century), Ferris Fain (4000 AB), Max Bishop (4500 AB), Barry Bonds, Todd Helton, Pujols, Shoeless Joe, and Frank Thomas. So, people with incredibly short careers, people who are banned for life, mortal locks, a Coors-driven guy who hasn't gone through a decline phase and might still merit inclusion anyways, and steroids-infused Bonds.
You have to drop all the way to #58 to find a guy who cleared 6000 AB and probably won't make the HOF (Larry Walker - though this exercise demonstrates a good reason why maybe he SHOULD be in). Lu Blue almost makes the cut at 5900 AB, but his OBP was higher than his SLG for his career. I suppose that some of the active guys between there might keep up their OBP but not make the HOF (Giambi, Brian Giles, or Abreu for example) - but even a modest decline from them and they'll drop like a stone out of the top 100.
Also, sure he played lots of games at DH, but he did manage 563 games of acceptable defense at 3B, which is more valuable than if he was purely a 1B/DH type. How much value do you get for 3B v. 1B? I don't really know, but let's say that 563 games is worth something like 850 games of 1B. That would make it a lot closer to a 50/50 field vs. DH ratio. That's still not much defensive value, of course, but it's slightly more than you'd expect if you just look at games DHed.
He's got a better shot than Larkin, so I probably shouldn't have implied that their chances were equal. Although I'd place the over/under on Alomar closer to 60% than 50%, I still think that it's possible that he'll wind up somewhere in the 40%'s realm.
Alomar seems like the type of guy that some writers like to vote against the first time and then support on future ballots. He's obviously going to make 5%, but some people (especially old-timers) feel that he's overrated so they'll take the opportunity to pass on him for the first ballot. I do think that the spitting incident hurts him, as well as the mediocre end of his career (which cost him the 3000 hit milestone, which most fans/writers expected him to achieve). In addition, he's similar to McGriff in that he played the first third of his career in the late 1980s and early 1990s, so he might get pinched on the superficially weak power numbers (although HR were the center of his HOF case, so the penalty will be less severe than for McGriff).
How about I change my handicapping of Alomar to "possibly not >75%, but probably at least 50%"?
He probably needs to spend some time standing in front of a mirror before he's ready to address the press.
Doubtful. There's a long-standing pattern of voters not adding backlog candidates to their ballot when there's a very strong first-time candidate such as Rickey Henderson. With no sure-things being added to the ballot next year (from a BBWAA point of view- Alomar and Larkin aren't quite in the class of Henderson, Ripken or Gwynn), there's a very good chance that most of these guys will add 5-10% to their totals to get in.
Let me state clearly that I LIKE Edgar Martinez, that I believe him to have been one heckuva hitter and he did many wonderful things on a baseball field.
However, I am opposed to his induction into the Hall of Fame. It's not the Hall of Hitters. It's not the Hall of Nice Guys. It's not the Hall of They Just Elected Jim Rice so why Not Player "X".
I understand that I now leave Baldrick to re-open this discussion and hammer away at just one of SEVERAL points I made about Edgar. I accept that risk.
I oppose the induction of Dick Allen and in many ways Dick was the better player. And that's just one of several examples. I simply cannot remain philosophically consistent and support Edgar's candidacy.
As much as I grew upon Bill James and loved his writing, he could be mistaken as well. Do you recall his vehement(as seen on ESPN) defense of Pete Rose?????????? I ain't saying.....just saying.
just looking at his 10 bbref comps
Larkin (well that tells us nothing)
Jeter (ditto, though I assume that he'll end up with much better career numbers offensively)
Whitaker (not in- off ballot)
Frisch (in)
Julio Franco (not in and won't get in)
Sandberg (in, but not first ballot)
IROD (not really applicable)
Trammell (not in)
Joe Morgan (in)
Ted Simmons (not really applicable)
Alomar's premature cliff dive cost him 3000 hits, but he did keep his avg above .300 (barely)
I think he'll get in- but it will take 2-3 years
Again, doubtful. There's just not a history of this. Sure, plenty of observers will decry that the standards have lowered. "You let player X in, why not let player Y in as well?" But it just doesn't happen that way. Don Sutton's election didn't suddenly create support for Tommy John or Jim Kaat. Catfish Hunter's election didn't suddenly create a lower bar for Luis Tiant or Orel Hershiser (credit goes to Rob Neyer for that one). Dale Murphy's total actually went down the year after Kirby Puckett got in.
His peak comes right between Tom Glavine and Dave Stieb. 24th in the Retrosheet era but with no significant difference between 18 (Jim Bunning) and 29 (Catfish Hunter)
Only 7 guys had more value outside their peaks though. Not how I remember him, but his real value was the large number of good years.
Bill James is as human as any of the rest of us, and most definitely has been mistaken about many things. That doesn't mean he was wrong about the White/Rice comparison.
If there were a logical, fact-based case that Rice was meaningfully better than White, someone would have made it. No one has, because none exists.
HoF Monitor shows Rice 144, White 17, so -- without examing the individual components that go into the Monitor -- there must be some qualitative argument in Rice's favor.
I didn't see it, but I read it, and to say I was shocked is putting it mildly, I'd read all the Abstracts, his ability at logical reasoning FAR surpassed any sportswriter I'd read before- and all that went out the window when he wrote about Rose and the Dowd Report- I was honestly baffled, what had gotten into him?
He has gotten a bit cranky in later years, but even so, his Rose exoneration stuff was and thankfully remains, an outlier in his writing.
As much as I grew upon Bill James and loved his writing, he could be mistaken as well.
- bill james?
make a mistake???!!!
oh heavens to goodness gracious betsey
bill james knows everything about everything and he can't POSSIBLY be wrong abut ANYTHING
You understand how the HoF Monitor works, right?
Completely true. He was well on his way to the Hall of Fame when he hurt his back in 1991, and ended up with tendonitis problems as a result of the changed motion.
You are right, doesn't mean he was wrong about it but when cases are made based upon experience of those who saw both of their careers while both active and in their primes , that argument does not suffice for those who are 100% into numbers and numbers alone.
Even Bill James will tell you that's faulty premise.
If you mean the difference between telling us who has gone into the Hall and who someone thinks ought to go in, yes I do. Still, gives Rice a case based on the longstanding Hall standards.
Where is Cedric the Entertainer when you need him?
Which isn't ridiculous, given that the Big Cat and Rice have remarkably similar career numbers, and Galarraga was a pretty damn good first baseman, IIRC.
As far as I'm concerned, he's already there. 503 including the postseason. Those count in my book.
http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200901123740359
Rice had 1 MVP (8 points) and 6 more All Star games (3 points each), so that's 26 points right there.
Here's the description of each component:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/about/leader_glossary.shtml#hof_monitor
The Monitor is only intended to monitor positive indicators for a player's HOF chances. It is NOT intended to make any statement about the relative value of a player. Only to predict his chances of induction, based on achievements which voters have rewarded in the past. And since Rice has been elected and White was not close, it seems to be accurate in this case.
SORRY...the posts are coming in too quick for me.
I've always thought that about McGriff. It's not like those homers never happened. Hell, they were more important than the other 493.
I'm honestly not quite certain I understand what this means.
But I'll tell you this. I saw both of their careers while both active and in their primes. My assessment then and now is that they're roughly equal talents, very different sets of strengths and weaknesses obviously, but on balance pretty much equal. If I had them both on my roster in their primes, and had room to play them only in left field, I'd platoon them.
And what a lot of people appear to forget is that James did in fact agree that a HOF ban makes sense regardless of the reason that Rose chose to agree to the permanent ban.
I doubt that he regrets a word of what he wrote in the wake of Rose's subsequent admissions.
I'd argue that the hatchet job on Allen is more egregious. And he backed well off of that (though he applies a pretty large subjective downgrade) in NHA.
A case for likely being elected to the Hall of Fame and a case of actually being a better baseball player are, most definitely and regrettably, not the same thing.
Rice did the things that HOF voters historically liked, that's all the HOF monitor figures mean.
This what you need to know, Jim Rice played from 1974 to 1989 in Fenway, his offensive context was .271/.337/.407, he had 9058 PAs of 128 OPS+ hitting. He had 1500 games as a mediocre LF and 500 games as a DH.
Roy White played from 1965 to 1979 in Yankee Stadium (2 years in Shea), his offensive context was .252/.320/.372, he had 7735 PAs of 121 OPS+ hitting. He had 1500 games in LF and 100 games at DH. He was a better LF than Rice.
White's problem? 2 of them-
1: He played in a very poor offensive context- his "air" rating is 89, extraordinarily low for a post 1920s player with any kind of career length- basically guys like Wilie Davis, Ron Fairly and Cesar Cedeno (who played in 1960s Dodger Stadium, or 70s Astrodome) have career "air" ratings that low.
2: No strengths- he hit for a good average- .271 when average is .252 is "good" not great, but good. IN a .270 context he'd be close to .300, which wouldn't be any better, but would LOOK a lot better.
He hit for decent power- 15-20 homers when league slugging is .370 is GOOD (not great, not league leading, but good.
He walked, but his career high was 99...
Basically he was better than average at a LOT of things, mediocre at the rest.
Rice was much better than average at a few things, mediocre at some, and actually bad at the rest.
Rice has a slight career length edge, and a slight 3 year peak edge, I think James was wrong, Rice was better- but it was close, far closer than one would ever imagine by relying on traditional stats and contemporary opinion.
He went quite a bit further than that, he LATER referred to Rose as Baseball's "wronged man" and outlined a process whereby Rose would be reinstated and eventually elected to the HOF- it was pretty clear by the time of the NBJHA that he thought Rose was actually innocent.
I've been wrong before, watching guys during their youth and peak and predicating HoF chances, of course, but I have always seen Alomar as a future HoF, or at least I have since 1992. I'm completely biased in favor of him, in other words, and I'd like to hear the rationale for his not being voted in.
What you're left with in the long run is this. Top-drawer offensive career for a second baseman. Adequate, at least, defence. 10,000 PAs.
12 time All-Star, 1 MVP, 3 gold gloves, 9 silver sluggers and the Roberto Clemente award for character.
Best college shortstop I've ever seen.
Jay Bell - 11.1, 10.6, 9.0, 8.1, 8.0, 7.6, 6.9, 6.8....88.8
Roy White - 10.5, 10.4, 9.4, 9.0, 8.1, 7.3, 7.1, 6.5...84.6
Jim Rice - 9.7, 8.9, 7.5, 7.4, 7.3, 6.8, 5.7, 5.0.....80.2
Rice is in, and people laugh at the writer who voted for Bell.
A-Rod got it right "MORONS", and yes White was a better player than Rice.
Although maybe they viewed that as a character flaw even if it helped them, I dunno.
I've been assured by any number of lawyers that James is probably wrong on the second point (which makes everything moot), but I also know that most lawyers wouldn't want to test the issue.
As to the first point, having been involved in discussions about a lawsuit flowing from a less than totally compelling investigation of a cheating accusation in bridge (leading to a suspension) I know that courts are generally uninterested in the specifics of the investigation. Just whether it was procedurally fair. And it was.
So while I disagee with you about what James was saying, it's pretty clear to me that he was wrong -- provided MLB didn't cave.
That's cyncical, but I agree. I've long thought that for popularity in music & other entertainment genres. Either the media treats the person/pop cultural product with a lot of inexplicable leeway (Beyonce or Gwen Stefani/Braveheart), or the person or product gets ignored or savaged, playground style (Bjork/The Patriot).
I lay even money that the words "one of the most feared", or some derivative thereof, show up on Rice's plaque.
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