Tag / Mariano Rivera

by admin

2019 Hall Of Fame Election Thoughts


All eyes turned towards the small hamlet of Cooperstown yesterday, as the votes were tallied and four new members were announced as the Hall of Fame class of 2019: Mariano Rivera, Roy Halladay, Edgar Martinez, and Mike Mussina.  Rivera, in his first year of eligibility, becomes the first player ever to be elected with 100% of the vote.  Halladay, who passed away in 2017, earned 85.4% in his first year on the ballot.  Martinez, in his tenth and final year of eligibility, also found himself on 85.4% of the ballots.  Mussina snared 76.7% of the vote in his sixth year on the ballot, just 7 votes more than the minimum needed for enshrinement.

Four others tallied greater than 50% of the vote, led by Curt Schilling, who jumped up to 60.9%.  Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds saw modest increases, which makes their eventual induction unlikely with only three more elections for each.  Larry Walker, heading in to his final shot on the ballot, saw a huge increase, going from 34.1% to 54.6%.  Fred McGriff scored 39.8% of the vote in his final go around.

Michael Young, Lance Berkman, and Miguel Tejada led the list of 16 players who failed to get 5% and will drop off the ballot, including local stars Freddy Garcia, Jon Garland, Ted Lilly, and Juan Pierre.

As for the newest Hall of Famers, I’ve seen Rivera pitch 9 times, followed by 6 career games for Martinez, 3 for Mussina, and 2 for Halladay.  These 4, along with Harold Baines and Lee Smith, who were previously elected by the Today’s Game Era Committee, will enter the Hall of Fame on Sunday, July 21.

Mariano Rivera’s numbers in games I’ve attended were: Continue reading →

by admin

2019 Hall Of Fame Ballot – The Newcomers


baseballhof

The BBWAA released their ballot for the Hall of Fame class of 2019 on Monday.  The results of the vote are due to be revealed on January 22nd, with induction taking place next July.  After Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, Vladimir Guerrero, and Trevor Hoffman were elected in last year’s voting, the new ballot contains 15 holdovers along with 20 newcomers, which may continue the logjam caused by the current BBWAA rules which limit the number of votes on one ballot to 10 and the ongoing refusal by some writers to vote for players tainted by PEDs, leaving too many qualified candidates fighting for limited spots.  Once again, the BBWAA and the Hall may find themselves with a mess on their hands.

Yesterday, we looked at the returning candidates.  Today, it’s time to look at the newcomers and who may be thankful come January.

Rick Ankiel

Mad props to the man for putting together a viable major league career as an outfielder after imploding as a pitcher, but he has no shot here.

Jason Bay

I can’t imagine a world where Jason Bay earns a Hall of Fame vote.

Lance Berkman

I never really thought I was watching a Hall of Famer during the 31 games I saw Berkman perform in, but I have a feeling he will get some, but not enough, support.

Freddy Garcia
Jon Garland

These two members of the starting rotation for the 2005 World Series Champions will always hold a special place in my heart, but not in Cooperstown.

Travis Hafner

This has been a weak batch of newly eligible players so far, no?

Roy Halladay

I imagine Halladay would have garnered strong support anyway, but his untimely death last year will likely goose his numbers.

Todd Helton

Helton will get in, but he may need to wait a year or two.

Ted Lilly

I guess we’ll see if Bruce Levine gets to vote in these proceedings based on whether the former Cub gets a vote or not.

Derek Lowe

The former Red Sox hurler may get a little support, but not enough to keep him on the ballot for a second go-around.

Darren Oliver

Yeah, no.

Roy Oswalt
Continue reading →

by admin

Yankees All Time Leaders – Through 2015

YankeesWith 4 months until baseball in Chicago returns, I thought it would be interesting to look at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. We continue today with the New York Yankees.

The Yankees began life in 1901 as the Baltimore Orioles, moving to New York in time for the 1903 season.  I’ve seen them play 21 times, first in 1997 and most recently this past August.

Home Runs

Name Total
Marcus Thames 3
Nick Swisher 3
5 tied with 2

Hits

Name Total
Derek Jeter 18
Jorge Posada 15
Melky Cabrera 11

Runs

Name Total
Derek Jeter 10
Jorge Posada 6
Melky Cabrera 6
Robinson Cano 6
Nick Swisher 6

RBI

Name Total
Jorge Posada 10
Derek Jeter 9
Melky Cabrera 9

Doubles

Name Total
Jorge Posada 7
Melky Cabrera 4
Alfonso Soriano 4

Triples Continue reading →

by jim

2014 Hall Of Fame Ballot – The Holdovers

mlb_hofThe BBWAA released their ballot for the Hall of Fame class of 2014.  The results of the vote are due to be revealed on January 8th, with induction taking place next July.  After nobody was elected in last year’s voting, the new ballot contains 17 holdovers along with 19 newcomers, which may start to cause a bit of a problem.  The current BBWAA rules limit the number of votes on one ballot to 10, and there may be more than 10 deserving candidates.  As they start to pile up, and even more deserving candidates become eligible, the BBWAA and the Hall may find themselves with a mess on their hands.

Let’s take a look at the returning candidates today before moving on to the newcomers.

Jeff Bagwell
Years on ballot: 3
2013 Percentage: 59.6

Bagwell is going to be one of those candidates that, I think, gets hurt due to 10 vote limit.  He would have been elected already were it not for seemingly unfounded PED rumors.

Craig Biggio
Years on ballot: 1
2013 Percentage: 68.2

Biggio was the highest vote getter in last year’s election, only 39 votes shy of getting elected.  You would think he could make up that total this year as voters who have some inane theories on when someone deserves to be elected add him to their ballot.  It would be a boost to the Astros if both he and Bagwell were to go in together.

Barry Bonds
Years on ballot: 1
2013 Percentage: 36.2

Barry Bonds, he of the 7 MVP awards and 762 career home runs, found himself on the outside looking in after his initial run through the voting process.  Due to his connection to BALCO and PEDs, he’s unlikely to do much better this year.

Roger Clemens
Years on ballot: 1
2013 Percentage: 37.6

Roger Clemens, he of the 354 career victories and 7 Cy Young awards, also found himself on the outside looking in after his initial run through the voting process.  The interesting thing is that, despite his inclusion in the Mitchell Report and his connection to Andy Pettitte’s PED confession, Clemens picked up 8 more votes than Bonds.

Edgar Martinez
Years on ballot: 4
2013 Percentage: 35.9

The longtime DH for the Mariners has had plenty of support from the Internet but not as much from the BBWAA.  His long career as a DH may be holding him back.

Don Mattingly
Years on ballot: 13
2013 Percentage: 13.2

Back in 2010, I said that “being the best Yankee in a decade of bad Yankee teams does not a Hall of Famer make.”  Nothing that has happened since then would change my, or, seemingly, the voters, mind.

Fred McGriff
Years on ballot: 4
2013 Percentage: 20.7

A very good argument could be made that Fred McGriff has been hurt by the PED users more than anyone else.  Had he stuck around to hit an additional 7 home runs, he would likely have been elected thanks to his 500 home runs.  Without them, he gets penalized for not putting up better numbers than the PED users, who are also being penalized.  Doesn’t seem right.

Mark McGwire
Years on ballot: 7
2013 Percentage: 16.9

McGwire finds himself over 100 votes behind fellow PED users Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.  Even if the voters do start to reverse track and start to vote for the convicted users, I think McGwire might still have trouble getting elected.

Jack Morris
Years on ballot: 14
2013 Percentage: 67.7

Morris enters his final year on the ballot needing only 42 additional votes to get enshrined, but with the influx of new, and exceptionally deserving, candidates,  I don’t see how he gets them.  Not that I would be too disappointed in that, as Morris, while a very good pitcher, falls short in my estimation.

Continue reading →

by admin

2010 Final Pitching Leaders

Yesterday we looked at the leaders in games I attended this year on the offensive side of the ball.  Now let’s look at the pitchers.  Midseason leaders can be found here.

Wins
Name total
Gavin Floyd 5
John Danks 3
Jake Peavy 3
Ryan Dempster 3
Carlos Marmol 2
JJ Putz 2
Mark Buehrle 2
Paul Maholm 2

Losses
name total
John Danks 4
Gavin Floyd 3
Tom Gorzelanny 3
Jake Peavy 2
JJ Putz 2
Sergio Santos 2
Freddy Garcia 2
Randy Wells 2
Andrew Cashner 2

ERA (>10 IP)
name total
Jeremy Bonderman 1.32
Matt Thornton 1.35
Dallas Braden 1.80
Paul Maholm 1.93
Scott Linebrink 2.70

Strikeouts
name total
Jake Peavy 42
Gavin Floyd 41
Ryan Dempster 37
John Danks 36
Randy Wells 23

Appearances
name total
Tony Pena 16
Matt Thornton 15
Bobby Jenks 15
Sergio Santos 12
Scott Linebrink 12

Saves
name Total
Bobby Jenks 7
Carlos Marmol 2
Matt Lindstrom 2
Octavio Dotel 2
Mariano Rivera 2