Another Red Sox in the Hall!

Ok, so he won’t exactly be wearing a Red Sox hat on his plaque. But, Congratulations to Andre Dawson on his enshrinement!
As I mentioned earlier, and I’m sure you all already know, Andre played for two seasons in Boston at the end of his career. Unfortunately, I never got to see him play live, so I don’t get to add another Hall of Famer to my personal list (currently at seven). As I mentioned the other day, since his prime was a bit before my time, I can’t really argue or defend his election. He certainly put up some good numbers during his career. I don’t know whether he had the five dominant years I like, or not. As I said, I would have expected him to be elected by now if he had. But, the voters have spoken, and Andre deserves all the accolades he can be given.
Now, for the guys who didn’t get in? Bert Blyleven is the obvious “snub.” Getting this close almost guarantees he’ll make in next year. Nobody wants him to run out his eligibility having peaked at within a percent of making the cut. Frankly, I wouldn’t be shocked if he made it next year with a percentage in the eighties. He’ll be getting so much positive press in the next year, he’s be an easy call. Like Dawson, I don’t know that he deserves it. If he did, this would have been his year. There wasn’t a list of other people to take his votes away (a concept I don’t get). He had been getting some good press leading up, and still fell short. But, I’ll be happy to defer to people who saw him play.
Roberto Alomar was a little surprising to me. As I said the other day, he was the only guy of the ballot that would have gotten my vote. Like Blyleven, I assume he’ll get in next year. Alomar probably lost a few votes because people didn’t consider him a “first ballot” guy. Yet another concept that baffles me. If the guy’s not good enough to be a first-ballott Hall of Famer, why does he deserve to be in the Hall at all? I took a quick look at the Hall-of-Famers. Other than the Negro League guys, and some problems with the early voting, I would have no problem eliminating everyone from the Hall that didn’t get in on the first ballot. Are they baseball immortals or not? In any case, Alomar looks poised to make it in during his second try.
The rest of the ballot fell of quite a bit from the top three. Again, I probably wouldn’t have voted for any of the others myself. I was surprised that Edgar Martinez didn’t get more votes, but was fine with his results. Lee Smith was another mild surprise. If Mariano Rivera is supposed to be this mortal lock first balloter, Lee Smith can’t get 70%? Where’s the disconnect? (Not that I’d vote for either of them) I wouldn’t expect anyone else on the ballot to sneak their way in over the rest of their eligibility. We’ll have to see.
Notice how I turned the HOF announcement into two posts?

Pitching and Defense

It looks like Jason Bay has finally passed his physical, and has finally been announced as the newest member of the New York Mets. This means, he is officially not returning to the Boston Red Sox. Now, that’s probably not groundbreaking news of any sort. But, it’s interesting. Theo is once again trying to convince Red Sox Nation that pitching and defense will win championships more than offense. Should we fall for it?
Remember, Theo’s been using this line ever since he came to the Sox. When he traded a certain All-Star shortstop for a bag of magic beans, he claimed it was because the defense would cost them everything. The “fatal flaw” line was trotted out so often, he sounded like he was a Shakespeare professor. Of course, when the Sox won the Series that year, the idiotic move was covered up. Now Theo’s trying it again. The big bat isn’t necessary. All you need is to prevent runs, and you’ll win just as many games. To enforce that, Theo went out and got a gold glove third baseman, to replace the current gold glove third baseman. (Yeah, I have no idea either) The one problem with the PnD route, is that in order to win a game 1-0, you need to score 1 run. In order to win 3-2, you need to score 3. A quick look at the Red Sox rotation has ERA’s in the 3-4 range. So, even if this amazing defense saves a run a game…which isn’t exactly likely…the Sox need to score 3-4 runs every game. Is it there? I don’t know.
I’m not saying that the PnD theory can’t work. It has worked. The look of the 2010 Sox looks a lot like the offense of the LA Angels the last few years. Lots of team speed. Lots of guys who all hit pretty well. An offensive anchor in the middle of the line-up. It can work. Looking at the list of World Series winners from the decade suggests that quite a few teams have won using that theory. A quick listing puts the 2001 D-Backs, 2002 Angels, 2003 Marlins, 2005 White Sox, and the 2006 Cardinals as PnD champions. That’s actually quite a few…more than half. The 2004 and 2007 Sox, 2008 Phillies, and 2009 Yankees were more sluggers. The ’09 Yankees were really a hybrid. They slugged their way into the playoffs, but the schedule let them morph into a pitching team when it suited them. What’s the point? The only double winner was the slugging Sox. When you have power in the line-up, you can depend on that production. The PnD theory produced the occasional champion, but it was almost flukey. When everything aligned for a year, it came together. The other years, it didn’t work.
Let’s look at the different ways you can score a run during an inning. You can have a strike out, followed by a strikeout, followed by a solo home run from Manny. Or, you can get a single, advance him on a groundout, a walk, a flyball to advance, and a single. Lots of things need to happen in order to score the second way. Only one thing has to happen when you slug. It’s more dependable to have a couple superstars hitting a lot than it is to assume that everyone in the line-up hits a little. If you can’t score runs, all the pitching and defense in the world can’t help you.
After all, I once saw Pedro go 17-6 with a 1.74 ERA.

Hall of Fame Time!

Did you ever get the feeling that awards are given out just so that writers can write about them? It’s like the members of the BBWAA realized that they were bored in the middle of the winter. So, they decided to announce a big award, or membership, in the dead of winter. It was brilliant. For the week leading up to the announcement, they could write stories about who might get in. Then, they can write about who did get in. Then they can talk about who should have gotten in, but didn’t. It doesn’t matter that who they think will get in is the same column as who should have gotten in. It’s practically three weeks of material, just from one little announcement. Since I’m not a member of the BBWAA, I have no guilt whatsoever in latching onto their scheme to come up with a post or two of my own.

Who’s going to get in? I have no idea. As I said, I don’t even get a vote. Who could get in? Good question. As far as Red Sox fans, this could be a slim year. It’s probably just as well, since they were two for two last year, including Jim Rice who was a career Soxer. A quick glance at the names only brings up one former Sox among the top contenders. Andre Dawson played two seasons in Boston at the tail end of his career. He even hit his four hundredth home run in a Boston uniform. I don’t really know if he should get in, but he has a good chance. His prime years were a bit before my time. Looking at the stats, he was an all-star quite a few years. He was very consistent throughout his career. I’d have to depend on people who saw him play in his prime to tell me if he was ever “dominant.” Did he have the five years I require where if you were starting a team he might be your first choice? The fact that he’s been on the ballot for quite a few years tends to make me think he didn’t. But, he got close enough last year, that he should get enough of a push this year.

A player in the same category as Dawson is Bert Blyleven. He’s been hanging around on the ballot for a few years, slowly inching towards the magical 75%. Like Dawson, he was before my time, so I have to rely on other’s opinions. Like Dawson, I assume that if they haven’t elected him by now, he probably doesn’t deserve it. (I will never understand how a player can get more votes one year than the previous one. Did his stats go up?) Like Dawson, looking at the stats the “dominant” years don’t jump at me. But, I’ll defer to others.

The third player, one I think should go in, is Roberto Alomar. His career is more in my time frame. If you’re looking for a Red Sox connection, I was at the 1999 All-Star game to see him make an error in the second inning. It cost Pedro his second perfect inning. But, it did lead to a nice strikeout-throw out double play to end the inning. Alomar had a string of All-Star appearances. He was clearly an elite player. And, I would think if you were staring a team in the late nineties, he’d certainly get consideration for a first pick. His numbers are especially good as a second baseman. Normally, I don’t like position qualifiers. I’ve always said Jorge Posada shouldn’t get credit for being a great hitting catcher, because he couldn’t catch. If they put Manny Ramirez behind the plate, does he become the best catcher ever? But in Alomar’s case, he was a superior second baseman. He has a case of gold gloves. He’d be a worthy addition to the Hall.

We’ll have to see if anyone who matters agrees with me.

Can I Quote you on that?

Show me a guy who’s afraid to look bad, and I’ll show you a guy you can beat every time – Lou Brock

I think of Joe DiMaggio every time I see this quote. I also think of Mike Scoscia. But, I think Brock makes a lot of sense. Unless you’re willing to go all out, you’re not taking enough chances.

Joe DiMaggio was well known for keeping up appearances. He was always dressed to the hilt. It’s been said that he never needed to dive for a ball. I always think that that style was exactly what Brock had in mind. If you can’t do a belly flop every once in a while after a ball, you’re letting a lot more balls get by you than you should. Even with the best positioning, there will be plays you need to take that extra step to make. Sometimes you’ll make them, and sometimes they’ll get by you. But, you have to make the effort. Manny Ramirez, on the other hand, certainly wasn’t afraid to look bad. If he needed to fall to a knee, or on his butt, to make an attempt he did that. He certainly has looked bad plenty of times. I wonder about that play in Game 1 of the 2004 World Series. You know the one. Manny went to his knees to try to make a play on a ball, dug a trench in the outfield and looked like a buffoon. Something tells me Joe D would have pulled up and played that ball on a hop. I think I’d prefer the train wreck.

Mike Scoscia also strikes me as someone who isn’t afraid to look bad. He certainly didn’t mind looking like a fool calling for a squeeze play in the ninth inning of an elimination game. In that case, it didn’t work so well for him. But, in plenty of other cases, the risk has been worth it. If you’re not willing to take some risks, you’re going to lose. What did Wayne Gretzky say? You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take? You can’t care how it will look. You have to care if it will work. There are no style points in Major League Baseball.

Thank goodness for that.

The Winter Classic

Today, the NHL stages what has become its annual “Winter Classic” where a regular season game will be played outside. This year’s game will be played at Fenway Park. (Didja hear?)

I’m not a hockey fan. When I list my favorite sports, it’s at least a distant fourth. Whether it’s behind Revolution soccer or not is pretty much a moot point. I could probably name about the same number of players on each team. I’ve at least been to a Bruins game before, so that might give it an edge. In any event, as an outsider, I’m not sure what I think about this “classic.” I’m sure the NHL realizes that they need help. They can’t afford to be above using gimmicks to attract fans. And, that’s all this classic is. A gimmick. Can you imagine if the NBA decided to get back to its roots, and have a game outside on a playground using chain nets? Or, if MLB decided to play in an open field without fences, and allow the fans to just sit wherever they want? But, the NHL needed this game. It might be their best ratings of the year. They’re actually thinking of adding more games. Would they still all be classics?

I do like that Fenway Park is hosting the game though. It’s just another cool event that has occurred at the park in recent years. Actually, maybe they should talk to the NBA. If they can get the Celtics to hold an outside game there, then Fenway would have hosted a home game for all four major Boston sports teams. This needs to be done. It also helps add to the history of the park. When the old Yankee Stadium was in use, it was often listed as one of the best baseball parks, almost exclusively because of its history. But, lots of that history dealt with things other than baseball. The Pope had been there, and heavyweight fight was there, an NFL championship game was there…that sort of thing. Fenway Park is starting to add similar events to its resume. In addition to some pretty cool baseball games, there have been concerts in recent years, and now an NHL game. Not too shabby.

So, while I probably won’t watch the game, I’ll look for the highlights. It will be interesting to see. Go Bruins!

Section 36 wishes you and your families all the best in the coming year. Here’s hoping for a 2010 full of health, happiness, and a Red Sox World Series title.