Entries Tagged 'Hall of Fame' ↓

The man with the bloody sock is officially retiring.

Curt Schilling, who won a Co-MVP for Arizona during the World Series and pitched with guts, pain and a really loud mouth for both of Boston’s recent Word Series titles made the announcement on his personal blog: 38pitches.com

The Globe / Boston.com announcement can be read here.

Good-bye, Schil. Thanks for the titles and the entertainment.

There is certainly something about left field at Fenway Park that offers not only a left-handed hitters plaything, but a defensive advantage to the home team. The Green Monster has made as many men look stupid as it has hero. And now, the half-century worth of three consecutive left fielders who came into the park and came into our baseball lives are part of the greatest honor baseball can bestow upon its mortals.

Teddy to Yaz to Rice. Like a relay race baton, the Hall called and three consecutive left fielders answered (barely in the case of Rice).

The deal is done. Rice is now a Hall of Fame baseball player. One of the elite. One of the chosen. On paper, his numbers didn’t reflect the same honor as Williams or DiMaggio, but to watch him play and to see the opponents motion to him and stand up in the dugout to watch him hit was intagibly beautiful for the Red Sox fan.

I personally would not have thought he would make it. There’s a chance others like him on that perennial bubble never will. We may be coming to the final years of the veteran voting pool. The guys who relied only on a deadline,  a pad, a pen, a typewriter and their eyes.

There is a lot to be said about Jim Rice, but don’t ask him. He won’t tell you. He’s the guy who wouldn’t say anything; even to his teammates on many occasssions.

What I’ll say is this: Jim Ed Rice is a Hall of Famer. And Red Sox Nation is proud to support the designation. Congratulations, man.

<startbitch>

My computer died this morning. Twice. It’s only 9:51 as I start this post.

In the hour or so that I was working on it peacefully, I put a tremendous amount of effort into what I was doing, only to lose it all when the temporary cache bit the big one for reasons unknown. All I know, after contacting Apple for the third time in six days, is that even though my computer is under warranty and has been replaced already, I’m stuck with an issue they don’t know how to fix.

</endbitch>

HOF NOMS

ok - So I’ve had a few years of discussions with friends about whether or not Jim Ed Rice belongs in the Hall of Fame. My take, still, is that he does not. Pre-steroid era, threatening and incredibly powerful as he was, Jim Rice is not a hall of fame player.

My recent feeling about the voting process for the BBWA is that even though we don’t like it, it’s still probably the most fair personal recognition system around. If you want to put up a case for changing the system, doing only statistical analysis on a Bill James-induced computer model, then go for it. It won’t give you a fair and accurate picture. Do you know why? Because the game of baseball is not only played with physical prowess; it’s played mentally, just like any other strategy-laden game.

I wish Jim Rice the best of luck tomorrow. The deal is, if he gets a phone call in the morning from the HOF (around 8 AM, I’m told), then he’ll be in. If he is still sitting around at lunch waiting for the caller id to show him some love, he’s out of luck.

MANNY Retardirez

If I were in a situation where I had a guaranteed deal for roughly 22.5 Million per year for two years, plus a team option of even more money… I’d … well, I’d shit myself.

Manny has twice rejected a salary of above $20Million dollars this year, most likely thanks to his inability to understand the financial components of a down economy, and otherwise thanks to his ridiculous wanna-be baseball player agent, West-Side Scottie B.

Manny Ramirez will not have a problem getting a job, and Scott will look like a genius when all is said and done. He’ll either go back to LA or go up north to put some fans into the seats of the incredibly beautiful SF Giants stadium (name withheld due to my frustration with name-sponsoring company).

RECLAMATION NATION

Is it Duquette-ish to have as many retreads coming into Boston on those “high-risk, high-reward” deals? I believe so. Even though many would not doubt the leadership in the front office to previous success (see: 2004, 2007), I can’t stand loading up on the one-year, injury crew. I see the team starting out a little weak and JUST missing the wild card by 3 games. I’ll bring this back into the fold at the end of the year if I’m right. If I’m not, I’ll be happy to ignore it. Please feel free to join me in my blissful ignorance.

Happy Sunday. I’m going out to clear 7.5″ of freshly-fallen snow. I can’t wait! (This is me being positive about the record number of times I have to shovel before the calendar hits January 15).

I look at the standings and I keep my cool. The Rays are a legitimate contender until someone kicks them in the private parts. The best part about this? I AM SO HAPPY IT’S NOT THE TYPICAL YANKEE RIVALRY. I yell because I care.

Clay Feet

The Clay Buchholz experiment is simply not working out so far this year. The kid is having a hell of a time adjusting to his first year in the Bigs and it looks like his confidence takes a hit each time out of the gate. I can’t help wonder if maybe a flip-flop between Masterson and Buchholz (starter vs. ‘pen) would have been a better decision; recognizing the no-hitter and the length of service.

It might be time to speed up the progress for Colon and see if he can jump in there for a couple starts.

Manny Being a #$(%$* ?

Listen, Manny can do whatever he wants and the club won’t do much about it. Whatever happens to his contract from here on out is anyone’s guess. Is he worth $20 million per year? Is he only worth that if he’s protected by Ortiz? His mischief does not bug me, but having an all-out fight with a 60-something year-old man wasn’t obviously very bright. He’ll still be here next year, I’m sure. It seems that he’s a necessary evil when things aren’t going his way and it’s a guaranteed hall of fame player when things are. Where’s Schilling in all of this? I’m surprised he hasn’t spoken up about the situation.

Lester was obviously brilliant keeping his focus for both the first no-hitter and complete game of his young but amazingly storied career. The fact that emotions were as high as they were during the World Series last year had almost no deadening on what was about to happen a couple of nights ago. As much as I’d love to say that this kid is one of the best pitchers, he isn’t. He’s a damned fine lefty who will do a great job and make a ton of money during his tenure. He may end up with a Glavine-like career, which isn’t too bad at all.

Masterson was pretty darned good. Especially if you consider this is only his second one-day field trip to the majors and that he’s already back in Double-A ball. He’s definitely someone to watch, but I do hope he develops quickly. His delivery is deceptive, but it may get figured out since it takes so long for his arm to come out of the slot on breaking pitches. So far, so good.

And, finally, Mike Piazza has officially retired from Major League Baseball. Five years from now people will be deciding the first chance at his Hall status. Just to show you some highlights of his offensive career:

• 427 home runs, including the most home runs as a catcher (396)
• .308 Batting average
• 1335 RBIs
• .377 On-base percentage (not horrible by any means)

Piazza will go down in history as one of the best offensive catchers in baseball. As a 12 time All-Star selection, Piazza worked on his popularity and his swing playing early for the Dodgers and eventually got his defensive skills up to par. I’m glad he’s calling it quits at this point since he didn’t sign with anyone for ‘08 rather than trying a stint in Japan or hooking on with a minor league contract somewhere. He’ll go out on his own terms.