Entries Tagged 'Hall of Fame' ↓

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.

The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY will be hosting the exhibit from the 2007 World Series.

Check out the list of items they’ll be showing here.

Ever been? I’m determined to go this coming year.

You know… I don’t typically put any prognostication into big-time moves because I’m very aware that the smallest detail can kill or create a deal out of nowhere. This time, I’m sure it’ll happen since this post is all about saying good-bye to Curt “Mouth, Money and Bloody Sock” Schilling.

First, let’s give credit where credit is due:

Schilling, blood or no blood was amazing in the post season. He was very much a part of the winning combination for the 2004 AND 2007 Sox and he made the teams better by offering (unwanted or not) a deluge of advice on younger players (yes, even position players).

Second, let’s think about entertainment value:

The sheer sound of his voice meant you were going to hear exactly what was going on in his head a) whether you wanted to or not and b) without any apparent filter. Schilling mostly put his money where his mouth is, but what a mouth it’s been. From WEEI interviews to his blog (www.38pitches.com), Curt Schilling would never let you say something he thought was “pure crap”, nor would he miss the chance to inform you of his up-to-the-minute reverse psychology on free agency.

I was not a fan of Curt before he got here. There were a great many stories about his lack of maturity and his lack of team spirit in the clubhouse at other clubs, but that’s all turned out to be “pure crap”. Schilling has been a stand-up guy. Like him or not, he’s come through and he’s come through BIG. His personal display case next year will have three World Series rings in it, and two of them came from quite frankly one of the half-dozen pure baseball clubs in America, if not currently the most dominating in marketing and/or following.

So! Good-bye, Curt. I will be there watching when you collect your plaque for the Hall of Fame, and I will be there when you take the job of pitching coach for some team (because I believe you’ll do it even though you’ve got other interests).

Good-bye, thank you and best of luck.

- A fan

So, there it is, then. The ball that became # 756 for Barry will be placed into the Hall of Fame with an asterisk.

This is a significant milestone in baseball’s history. I’m sure if it ever comes out that he didn’t cheat (will not happen), people will be up in arms and yelling about the fact that Ecko destroyed a piece of Americana. But, he did not.

You see, I’m a big fan of popular opinion, but I’m a bigger fan of letting the people that CARE to vote, vote. I love that the people who had an opinion showed up in droves and put their mark on the world. Whether or not they did it maliciously, who can tell. I have to take it with a grain of accuracy because what else would I have? Nothing.

I think it was ridiculous for someone to pay three quarters of a million dollars to make a point, but the point is well taken.

OH! And the Sox WON and the Yanks LOST, so the Red Sox Magic Number is 3, and Manny came back and had a hit and scored a run and Youk got to play too and Ellsbury and Pedroia continue to be amazing and, and, and… whew! It was a nice night for baseball.