Here’s this year’s Hall of Fame ballot:
•Dave Parker
•Bert Blyleven
•Dale Murphy
•Jack Morris
•Don Mattingly
•Andre Dawson
•Alan Trammell
•Lee Smith
•Mark McGwire
•Harold Baines
•Tim Raines
•Roberto Alomar
•Kevin Appier
•Ellis Burks
•Andres Galarraga
•Pat Hentgen
•Mike Jackson
•Eric Karros
•Ray Lankford
•Barry Larkin
•Edgar Martinez
•Fred McGriff
•Shane Reynolds
•David Segui
•Robin Ventura
•Todd Zeile
I’ve spent a lot of time criticising everybody else’s Hall of Fame votes, but I’ve never told you who I’m voting for. I’ve given it a lot of thought, and I’ve decided that I’ll be voting for nobody at all, since the BBWAA won’t let me. For some reason, they don’t take me seriously.
Zinged!
Okay, okay, I know. I know what you mean. Who would I be voting for if I were allowed to?
Let’s start with the definites. I would definitely vote for Blyleven, McGwire, and Raines. Blyleven was an extremely good pitcher who never hit the utterly meaningless and artificial team-dependent milestone that is the 20-win season. Mark McGwire was a completely unreal hitter, who hit 49 home runs and slugged .619 his rookie year (it’s true: look that shit up if you don’t believe me!), well before he was on the juice. And, hey, for reference? I don’t give two shits about the juice. Rock Raines was insanely good at baseball, posting a .309 career EqA and stealing 808 bases at an 85% success rate, which, for my money, makes him the best base-stealer of all time.
My almost list? Smith, Martinez, and McGriff — they were all very good, but not quite selling it to me. I’m on the fence, though; it probably wouldn’t take a whole lot of a push to convince me for any of them. Martinez in particular I’m right on the edge with; he was an awesome hitter, but he didn’t play defense, and I’m still undecided about that. McGriff wasn’t quite as good a hitter, but he did play the field; unfortunately, he wasn’t that good at it. Smith is a pretty-good reliever with a quite nice 131 ERA+ and 3.88 DERA, but, on the other hand, his WHIP is only 1.256 and his peripherals aren’t stellar (0.6 HR/9, 3.4 BB/9, 8.7 K/9).
And I would return my ballot with a big “FUCK DAVE PARKER” written on it. Because: HA HA DAVE.
December 31st, 2009
Posted by
Darien |
Baseball |
no comments
Tim Brown, in an otherwise completely acceptable article about why he barely ever votes for anybody for the Hall of Fame:
I’d probably vote for Morris before Blyleven, based partly on appearances in All-Star games and on Cy Young balloting, partly on the 20-win seasons, partly on the postseason.
What. The fuck. Are you talking about.
All-Star Game appearances? Are you fucking serious? Cristian Guzman has been an All-Star as many times as Bert Blyleven. Do you really think that means they’re just as good as each other? Bert Blyleven’s career WARP3: 92.4. Cristian Guzman’s: 8.7. But according to Tim Brown, these are equivalent players, because both of them went to the All-Star Game the same number of times. If anyone encounters a stupider thing being thought about baseball, I’d like to hear it, because that’s the new gold standard.
Cy Youngs aren’t much better. You are aware that those are voted on by the kind of people who think All-Star Game appearances are important, aren’t you, Tim? I mean, you’re sure you don’t want to look at, maybe, some stats?
Oh. You do. And the stat you want to look at is… wins. And not just regular wins, but "number of 20-win seasons." How about we get crazy here, Tim, and look at some adult stats instead of this kindergarten bullshit?
Bert Blyleven, career: 4970 IP, 3701 K, 1322 BB, 118 ERA+, 1.198 WHIP, 3.77 DERA, 92.4 WARP3
Jack Morris, career: 3824 IP, 2478 K, 1390 BB, 105 ERA+, 1.296 WHIP, 4.59 DERA (!), 36.2 WARP3 (!!)
Bert Blyleven is so much better than Jack Morris it’s ridiculous. You see how Morris has 68 more walks in one thousand fewer innings pitched? You see how Morris’ defense-adjusted ERA is actually below-average? You see how Blyleven was worth three times as many wins? But, of course, Jack Morris had more 20-win seasons. Maybe because Jack Morris’ career average in runs scored per game was 4.9, compared to Blyleven’s 4.2. But, hey, Bert just should have scored more runs himself, amirite? Since he played in the National League for three years and all, and he played three years before the DH was instituted. Fucking bat better next time if you want to get into the Hall, Bert!
And, I’m sorry, the postseason? Fuck the heck are you even talking about, Tim? Bert Blyleven was brilliant in the postseason, while Jack Morris was… Jack Morris. Look:
Bert Blyleven, career postseason: 47.1 IP, 36 K, 8 BB, 2.47 ERA, 1.077 WHIP, 6.8 K/9, 1.5 BB/9, 1.0 HR/9
Jack Morris, career postseason: 92.1 IP, 64 K, 32 BB, 3.80 ERA, 1.245 WHIP, 6.2 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, 0.9 HR/9
Bert Blyleven allows one more home run every ninety innings he pitches, and other than that is way, way better. And, since you care about wins for some reason, Bert Blyleven is 5-1 in postseason play. Jack Morris? 7-4.
Tim. I’m your friend. I’ve said nice things about you before. Please, promise me you’ll pay attention to what you’re doing in the future. If you honestly think Bert Blyleven isn’t good enough for the Hall, that’s your decision, and I don’t agree with you, but the cutoff is definitely a subjective thing. If you want a super-small Hall that’s only the very very best, well, that’s your prerogative. But, come on. Blyleven was so much better than Jack Morris there’s no comparison.
He was better than Roberto Alomar, too, by the way. Just so you know.
December 31st, 2009
Posted by
Darien |
Baseball |
no comments
