The terms “Cincinnati legend” and “lifetime Cincinnati Red” were used to describe Barry Larkin yesterday after his election into the Hall of Fame. He also became the 48th member of the Hall to spend his entire career with one team. Born in Cincinnati, Larkin won the 1990 World Series, MVP in 1995, and become the first shortstop […]
Forget any stats - advanced or otherwise- let’s do a fun exercise and vote for the Hall of Fame based on “feel.” This isn’t easy since you would have to see someone play for a majority of their career. As mentioned before, if I had a Hall of Fame Ballot it would include Jeff Bagwell, Edgar Martinez, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Jack […]
We are a little over a week away from the Baseball Hall of Fame announcing its 2012 selection. Each year, I give the readers of NYBD an opportunity to cast their own BBWAA-style ballot. Last year Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar garnered the most fan support, but not the requisite 75% needed for induction. In December, Gil Hodges received the most […]
Back in the 40s and 50s the United States was facing a huge threat - communism. During this era, thousands of Americans were accused of being Communists or communist sympathizers and became the subject of aggressive investigations and questioning before government. Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy led the brigade with the “Hollywood Blacklist” and investigations by the House […]
It’s been nearly 15 years since the BBWAA elected to not enshrine someone in Cooperstown. During the 1996 election, Phil Niekro received 68.3% of the vote, followed by Tony Perez (65.7%), and Don Sutton (63.8%). Ironically, all three would be enshrined by 2000. I believe there is a good chance no one will be inducted by the […]
Former Braves pitcher John Rocker joined me on last night’s radio program to discuss his new book “Scars and Strikes.” It’s been over a decade since his infamous Sports Illustrated interview with Jeff Pearlman that published on December 27th, 1999. If Mets fans are expecting the same brash and cocky individual they remember from the 1999 NLCS, think again. Rocker […]
This is a little old, but figured I would share it since we talked about the viability of baseball in Montreal earlier this week. What If Sports ran a sim of the complete 1994 season on the 10 year anniversary of the strike. It’s been 17 years since the players and owners walked out on […]
To wrap up this 24 hours of Hall of Fame, I decided to take an early look at the 2012 ballot, and perhaps project who I would support, and maybe lay out some questions that could be answered over the next twelve months. It appears that Barry Larkin might have the best shot for induction […]
Later today the BBWAA will announce the latest member(s) to join the Baseball Hall of Fame. A year ago everyone assumed Roberto Alomar would be a shoo-in his first time on the ballot. Instead, the BBWAA threw everyone a curve and only elected Andre Dawson. As a matter of fact, Alomar got a lower percentage […]
In addition to voting for our “Man of the Year,” I want to gather an unscientific Hall of Fame vote from the NYBD community. Last year NYBD readers selected Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven for the 2010 class. The BBWAA disagreed and only elected Andre Dawson. This year I will be using Survey Monkey to […]
December 27th Updated Version Each year I discussed who I believe should be elected into the Hall of Fame. Although I don’t have a vote, it’s fun to submit a ballot just like the writers of the BBWAA for discussion purposes. Last year I voted for Robert Alomar, Bert Blyleven, Jack Morris, and Edgar Martinez. […]
Since steroids became a topic of conversation I always felt that amphetamines were the real culprit behind the pinball numbers displayed at a ballpark near you. Sure, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGwire had the talent to use PED’s and go from 40 homer players to 65 plus, but what about the reliever that […]
Sunday night I had Jay McGwire, brother of Mark, on the show. Jay recently authored a book called “Mark and Me: Mark McGwire and the Truth About Baseball’s Worst Kept Secret.” Many think this book is Jay trashing his brother, quite the contrary. Jay actually defends Mark’s decision better than Big Mac, and admits he […]
Tom Verducci ran an interesting study earlier this week regarding “efficiency” and what teams got “the most bang for their buck” during the last decade. Verducci is known for these types of creative pieces as he created the “Year After Effect” for overused pitchers. The findings shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Mets, Orioles, and […]
Obviously the events in Haiti have rightfully dominated the news the past few days. Before that terrible earthquake, Mark McGwire shook the sports world with his emotional confession to MLB Network’s Bob Costas. Whether you feel McGwire did enough to earn forgiveness is your opinion, but one matter about the interview really irritated me. McGwire […]
