Saturday, February 28, 2009

'My Favorite' Nine

Recently I ran through my favorite Red Sox players by position. So I thought I would give it a try but for non-Red Sox players. As a huge baseball fan, I follow all of baseball, and not just the Olde Towne Team. The team listed is the team I indentify the player with most.

c-Mike Piazza, New York Mets (92-07). OK, so he wasn't the greatest fielder of all-time (probably very rarely the best fielding catcher in any game he played) and he'd be lucky to throw out my 2-year old. But man could he hit. He was awesome every season from his rookie of the year season (1993) until he turned 34 (2003). That is quite a peak, and I needed a couple of mustache guys to make the team.

1b-Will Clark, San Francisco Giants (86-00). Will the Thrill had one of the purest swings you've ever seen. I loved watching him play, as the Giants were good during much of his tenure with the team. His power numbers don't look gaudy by 1990s standards, but he was a guy who hit for average, walked a lot, and provided some pop. He also won a gold glove in 1991. Honorable mention: Wally Joyner, California Angels.

2b-Ryan Sandberg, Chicago Cubs (81-97). He was just awesome to watch. In 15 seasons with the Cubs he made only two playoff appearances, but he made 10 All-Star teams, won 9 Gold Gloves, and ranked in the top ten hitters in the NL (measured by OPS+) three times, pretty remarkable for a slick-fielding 2b. (For comparison, Roberto Alomar only hit the top 10 once.)

3b-Mike Schmidt, Philadelphia Phillies (72-89). My wife and I used to watch a lot of the Game Show Network. We once saw an old Family Feud pitting the 1980 World Series teams against each other, the Phillies and the Royals. It was high comedy, and Schmidt (dressed like a 1980 fashion model) was the best. Oh yeah, he also won three MVPs and played Gold Glove defense. But he makes my team because of his performance on Family Feud.

ss-Barry Larkin, Cincinnati Reds (86-04). What if I told you that the only shortstops of my lifetime with better offensive numbers are named A-Rod, Nomar and Jeter? What if I told you he was a better hitter than Cal Ripkin? What if I told you he was a 12-time All-Star and a 3-time Gold Glove winner? So why isn't he talked about in the best five shortstops of all-time? That's a complete mystery to me. This guy was Derek Jeter, but didn't play in New York (and he was a better fielder).

lf-Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants (86-07). OK, I know some of you will hate Barry forever for taking steroids, for being a jerk, for whatever. But I saw him at PacBell one summer, and he hit two out, including one into the bay. It was one of the highlights of my baseball-loving life. He's probably the best hitter in the history of the game, or at least in the discussion with Ted Williams and Babe Ruth.

cf-Ken Griffey Jr., Seattle Mariners (89-current). Speaking of pure baseball swings, the Kid has one of the greatest. I even betrayed my Red Sox at one point and bought a Seattle Griffey shirt, and I usually tried to make at least one game when he was in town. The magic kind of disappeared for me when he left Seattle, though he did have one very good season for the Reds (2005). Still, I'll always remember that slick-fielding, power-hitting kid patrolling center in Seattle. Honorable mention: Kirby Puckett, Minnesota Twins.

rf-Larry Walker, Colorado Rockies (89-05). This one was tough because no rf's jumped out at me. I almost did a cop-out and put Kirby Puckett in here, but decided against it. If I told you that Walker was one of the best 100 hitters in the history of baseball, would you think so? I do (not that I've ranked them all). When he won his MVP in 1997, he was awesome: 178 OPS+ and 33 stolen bases. He may not have the career stats to get into the Hall, and many hold Coors Field against him, but even when you adjust for his homepark advantage, he was truly an awesome hitter.

dh-Frank Thomas, Chicago White Sox (90-current). If you take out Barry Bonds' four best seasons, Frank Thomas' strike-shortened 1994 is possibly the best hitting season of my lifetime, next to Jeff Bagwell's similarly awesome 1994. He was a 2-time MVP. He finished 1 or 2 in OPS+ in the AL a whopping seven straight times (91-97), one of the greatest peaks of all-time. While everyone waxes philosophical about Manny Ramirez being the greatest right-handed hitter of the past 30 years, you could easily make the case the Big Hurt was better (or at least every bit as good).

sp-Orel Hershiser, Los Angeles Dodgers (84-00). Before I moved to Boston in 1987, I was a Dodgers fan, and the Bulldog was, by far, my favorite player. Is he a Hall of Famer? No, his peak was too short and he only had one really good season after he turned 30. But when I was ten, I thought he was the best pitcher in the game.

sp-Jim Abbot, California Angels (89-99). I saw Jim Abbott in person at Fenway in 1989, and I was blown away. Here was a guy with only one fully-functional arm pitching in the majors. The guy even skipped the minors and went straight to the Angels out of college in 1989. He had two awesome seasons, three really good seasons. I will always admire his career.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Summer of '69

As has been pointed out elsewhere, if you think Bud Selig and baseball writers couldn't have reasonably known about the performance-enhancing professional athlete culture, check out this 1969 article from Sports Illustrated.

To sum up: Professional and collegiate athletes were using whatever they could get their hands on back then. Most of it was legal (and provided by team physicians), many drugs which are now illegal or against the rules of the game.

So let's stop with the 'sanctity of the game' rubbish. If Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle had access to the PEDs back in their day, they probably would have lined up behind Bonds, A-Rod and Clemens. Did modern baseball players cheat and break federal law? Yes, some of them. But we have no idea what actual effects the PEDs had on individual performance, and this isn't a problem that started in 1998.

So please, Bud and you sanctimonious sports writers, lets not let a good story get in the way of some good facts.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

'My favorite' Nine: The Red Sox

One of my favorite web sites, Fire Brand of the American League, recently ran an article about one writer's favorite Red Sox of all-time. I've had that conversation in my head many times (yes, I know, it's a little weird that I have conversations in head), but since I have my own blog, I can do things like this.

c-Jason Varitek (97-current). The captain is definitely my favorite catcher, despite that bad year in 2008. He always seemed to get big hits at the right time in 2004 and 2007. And to think we traded Heathcliffe Slocumb to get Tek and Derek Lowe. Thanks Seattle.

1b-Mo Vaughn (91-98). Though Youk is my favorite player right now, Mo was awesome. He declined rapidly during his non-Red Sox years, but he was great in Boston. He slugged better than .550 from 1993 to 98. And I once saw him at Celtics game. He was a big dude.

2b-Jody Reed (87-92). This was a tough one. As much as I wanted to say Pedroia, Reed ended up as my choice because Pedroia's a little too new. Over his three season peak, Reed hit 40+ doubles each season, and had on OBP higher than .349. Of course, he never hit more than 5 HRs in a season, and never slugged above .400 in a full season. But I really liked the doubles machine, so he makes the list.

3b-Bill Mueller (03-05). This gamer had his career season with the Sox in 2003 (326-398-540) and two very good ones. He was solid with the glove (especially in 2003), and got big hits along the way to Boston's big 2004 World Series victory. Honorable Mention: Wade Boggs.

ss-Nomar Garciaparra (97-04). This was the easiest call of the list. From his Rookie of the Year season in 1997 to his last full season with the Sox, he was easily the best shortstop in baseball not named Alex. Don't think so? His peak from 98-00 was the second best statistical run of any shortstop ever (besides the aforementioned A-Rod). Jeter may end of having more career value, but Nomar was the better player (in the box and in the field) at their primes.

lf-Mike Greenwell (85-96). This was one of the toughest calls, as I bypassed Manny because his departure still bothers me. I loved Greenwell when I was a kid -- and he had two awesome seasons for the Sox (87, 88) and a few more good ones. He deteriorated quickly after he turned 30, but I have a lot of fond memories.

cf-Ellis Burks (87-92). He may have had his best years after he left Boston, but Burks was another one of my favorites. He never truly fulfilled his promise, but he was a pretty darned good cf for three seasons (88-90). In case you're wondering: Johnny Damon is dead to me.

rf-Dwight Evans (72-90). RF has been an interesting position for the Sox since I moved to Boston as a kid in 1987. Dewey, Tom Brunansky, Troy O'Leary, Trot Nixon, and now J.D. Drew. No one has been able to replace Dewey, and some of my first memories in Fenway revolve around seeing him patrolling rf from my seat in the bleachers. I also just noticed I picked the starting OF from 1988.

dh-David Ortiz (97-current). This one was easy. Big Papi helped bring in two world championships and is a joy to watch swing the bat. Who'd you think I was going to pick, Jack Clark?

sp-Pedro Martinez (98-04). Another slam dunk. I was recently watching the new MLB Network and they counted down the 9 best pitching seasons of all-time. Pedro's 1999 came out on top, and they said his 2000 was possibly even better. Sox fan's were blessed to see one of the greatest pitchers of all-time at his absolute best.

sp-Roger Clemens (84-96). This one was tough because of the recent revelations about the Rocket, but from his magical 1986 season until he signed as a free agent with Toronto, each of his starts was an event. I remember sitting in the bleachers one game as he warmed up to pitch. My sister and I were completely amazed at his abilities. It was just really cool to watch him up close, and (like Pedro) you knew you were watching baseball greatness.

rp-Jonathan Papelbon (05-current). Most Sox relievers, even the good ones, have postseason heartbreak on their resumes. Not only did Paps deliver one of the greatest seasons ever by a reliever in 2006, he's also pitched 25 scoreless postseason innings in his career, including two wins and seven saves (move over, Mariano). Honorable mention goes to Keith Foulke, who's awesome 2004 season and postseason brought us our first modern World Series title. He probably destroyed his career with that season (he was only 31), so I will forever be grateful.

Coming up next, my favorite all-time baseball team, non-Red Sox version.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Much ado about nothing

If I see one more headline about performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) or A-Rod I'm really going to puke. Most of the articles are the same: A-Rod is a fraud and doesn't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame, woe is baseball, bah, blah, blah.

One of the few intelligent pieces I've read on the issue was by Doug Glanville. Why aren't we talking more about rights and privacy? Imagine you took part in a confidential survey at work that included some potentially sensitive information about you or your co-workers, and you did it because you were promised anonymity and privacy.

But then a few years later, your results are published on the Internet. Wouldn't you be outraged? Oh, you might say, it's different. A-Rod's a cheater who got caught. Why should we have any sympathy for him? I wouldn't recommend sympathy, but I would recommend be worried that information from a governmental or organizational enquiry built around privacy can become public, and no one is being held accountable for that (though at this point we don't know where the leak came from).

Back to the baseball issue, as a Red Sox fan I've made fun of A-Rod so many times I've lost count. I almost bought a framed picture once of Varitek hitting A-Rod in the mouth. But he's one of the best baseball players ever born, and though I detest PEDs and condemn their usage, I would vote for him for the Hall of Fame without a second thought. I would also vote for Bonds, McGwire, Clemens, and anyone else from this era I thought was worthy.

Why? Because the hole era is tainted. We will never know who used and who didn't. Ken Caminiti (and later Jose Canseco) may have been right: half of league might have been juicing at the height of it. Should be just throw out the entire era? No records count, no one gets into the Hall of Fame? Or should we just punish those who've been exposed, and hide our heads in the sand about all the others?

I believe sportswriters are a hypocritical lot. They have blamed the PED situation on greedy, competitive players; on money-loving owners; on a union that only cares about revenues and not the long-term health of its members; and on Bud Selig for not taking a strong stance sooner.

But you know who else is to blame? The media. You can't tell me that some sportswriters, with all their access to the clubhouse and friendships with players and executives, didn't know what was going on. Some of them must have known, or at least had major suspicions, but let it pass, probably for the same reasons everyone else did: it seemed like it was good for the game at the time.

And then the hypocritical Bud Selig comes out and calls A-Rod behavior shameful. Well, yes, he's right. A-Rod lied previously about PEDs and condemned them, so he should be ashamed for all that he's done. But look at the source. Bud was at the head of the ship while PEDs were used for decades in his sport (let's not pretend the 80s were clean). Come of the soapbox, friend. Either Bud was stupid (which I don't believe he is), or he had suspicions and looked the other way like everyone else.

So, like the NFL, when someone gets caught as a cheater (Shawn Merriman, Rodney Harrison), can't we punish them and move on? Does it have to become such a big issue in baseball? I can't wait for the World Baseball Classic, and the start of the season. Then maybe these talking heads can get off their soapboxes and actually cover the sport.