Entries Tagged 'Hall of Fame' ↓

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.

Again, it’s a roller coaster of walks and biting the nails sometimes with Dice-K, but he was saved by the numbers 8 (Crisp) and 9 (Lowrie) and Paps to remain unbelievably undefeated. He has a Jon Lester record this year; squeaking out wins despite weird and sometimes erratic pitching.

Congratulations to Jed Lowrie, who will no doubt be a big-leaguer someday, who hit his first MLB home run. He golfed it out of the park just in to the third row, but that’s a huge deal for the kid. He explained to the reporters that the person gave him the ball from the stands if he received a Beckett-autographed baseball (which Beckett did… but probably tainted with chawjuice just to show he’s not a pansy when he signs balls and dates your sister).

Manny went 0-5… Not the quickest way to hitting 500.

Ortiz went 0-4. Expect him to be taken out of the lineup this year for his knee again. If not only for the DL rest, then possibly for another trip under the arthroscope.

Mr. Greg Maddux, please come forward to accept your award. Future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, holder of four Cy Young awards, a World Series ring and 17 Gold Gloves has finally reached a hell of a milestone: he’s the 9th pitcher in MLB history to record 350 wins. Simply, totally amazing. A career that, so far, spans 23 years in which only ONE season was not above 15 wins… this guy is one of the best pitchers of our generation and it’s been a pleasure to follow his career.

Finally, Happy Mother’s Day to all you Moms out there. Children: do something nice, but do it yourself.

In the next few days Manny will reach the magic plateau for getting in the Hall (not like he didn’t belong there already, mind you). Ramirez currently has 496 home runs; this tally becoming evident when in the eighth inning his blasted shot went over the wall like the 495 before it.

I’ve always been amazed at Manny’s power. Even to opposite field, this guy has always been a true power hitter. And, it should be mentioned, without being brought into the scandal of steroids. In Tom Verducci’s piece for SI.com, he points to Griffey Jr. and Frank Thomas, two players in particular who have risen above the scandal and become the true Hall of Famers in an otherwise scandalous era. While I’m not 100% convinced that Griffey is safe from eventual scrutiny (or found documents suggesting he did something), I do believe that it’s time to recognize that there still exists (and always have) players who can play at such a high level without succumbing to the evils of PEDs.

I’m not sure that Manny will play out the full extent of his next contract, regardless of where he signs, but I am pretty sure that he’ll get to his personal goal of 600 home runs.

Ok, Roger.

You’ll have about 13 of the 60 Minutes to explain your B-12 (Palmeiro, anyone?) shots and your pain killers.

Then, you’ll have to make sure you ARE telling the truth because, under oath, this month, you’re the next contestant on the new hit game show that’s taking the country by storm: Believe it or Stuff it (thank you Gary Craig and John Elliot).

I’m not sure if you’ll plead the fifth or if you’ll sit there and tell only half of the story. I do know, however, that you’ll have a chance to look really good or really guilty. This is almost too easy, isn’t it?

If you go to D.C. and state your side, you’ll have two or more people waiting in line behind you to dispute your claims.

If you don’t go for some ridiculous reason, you’ll look guilty.

If you go and don’t talk, you’ll look guilty.

Hmmm… It should make for interesting television. Thank God for TiVo.

Is it time for Jim to make it to the Hall? Does he belong?

Ask people outside of Red Sox Nation who didn’t play or pitch against him during his reign of hitting terror and you’ll find few supporters.

The time, however, as pointed out by Dan Shaughnessy, has come and Jim Ed Rice will see his day in the sun. And not a day (or year) too soon. With only one more year on the ballot before he gets tossed aside to the Veteran’s Committee, Jim might need to take his show on the road, hand over a couple of olive branches and make sure that he does his best to get in.

I’m personally torn on Rice getting into the Hall. He was the first name I could think of when the club needed that special hit. He was the person everyone looked to for that RBI. But I’m not sure that he was good enough outside the fan base. And, to be honest, if the fan base were half as large as it is these days, he’d already be in the Hall.

I like his chances based on the steroid era and all of the black marks against the game over the past 10 years. It certainly gives the old-school types a chance to … tip the needle.

Good luck, Jim. I don’t know if you really deserve it on pure statistics, but I will be the kid cheering you on if you make it just like I was when you came up to the big leagues.

Happy New Year to everyone. Play safe.