Sports Then and Now

Hank Aaron is an American icon.

There are some special names in sports that when you read them on a page or see an image on television, it immediately brings memories flooding through your head. Hank Aaron is one of those names. He isn’t just one of the greatest baseball players of all-time, he is an icon, albeit probably one of the most under-appreciated icons in the United States.

When I saw that today (February 5th) is Aaron’s 77th birthday, I immediately took note.

Whether right or wrong, we rarely take time on the Sports Then and Now site, or in the sports world in general, to recognize and celebrate the birthdays of sports greats. Maybe we should do it more often, but it seems we spend much more time writing about players who have recently passed away than celebrating those who are still with us.

I guess there isn’t really anything wrong with that and with a limited amount of time available to write, celebrating the careers of those who recently have left us certainly isn’t a bad thing.

But knowing that Hank Aaron is now 77 years old reminded me that we need to be sure and celebrate those who are still here while they are here. It is part of why I created Sports Then and Now nearly two years ago. To provide a place where sports fans could go and remember the greats of the sports world when they were in their prime while also connecting that by-gone time with today’s sports world. So while we aren’t able to write a feature each day on a sports star who is celebrating a birthday (though I pledge to do it more often), beginning today we are starting a new side column below our regular “On This Date” feature that celebrates the birthdays of our sports stars.

I recently was going through boxes of things I have amassed over the years (I am a huge pack rat) and in one of the boxes found a program from the first game of the 1990 season for the Richmond Braves, which at the time served as the Triple-A affiliate for the Atlanta Braves. I was an intern for the Braves during that season. Read the rest of this entry →

Is all-time save leader Trevor Hoffman worthy of a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame?

The announcement that career saves leader Trevor Hoffman is retiring after 18 major league seasons means that the five year debate about whether he is worthy of induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame is about to begin.

With 601 career saves, some believe that Hoffman is a lock for a plaque in Cooperstown. However, to others, he is an example of the over-inflation of the save as a statistic of relevance and short of Hall of Fame worthiness.

It is difficult to argue that Hoffman is among the best of the one-inning closers. He registered 30 or more saves in 13 straight full seasons (he missed most of the 2003 campaign) and twice led the majors. He finished his career with a 2.87 career ERA and averaged more than a strikeout per inning for his career.

However, over the last decade Hoffman rarely pitched more than one inning in a game. The last time he averaged more than one inning per appearance was in 2000.

Also, unlike Mariano Rivera, who is known for his big game performances, Hoffman’s results in crucial contests are not especially impressive.

Perhaps the most blatant example occurred in 2007 when Hoffman blew a save opportunity on the final day of the regular season that kept the Padres from clinching a playoff spot and instead forced a one-game playoff with the Colorado Rockies. He then blew a two run lead in the 13th inning of the one-game playoff to keep the Padres out of the playoffs.

In addition, he registered only four saves in 12 career playoff appearances and blew a save in his only game during the 1998 World Series against the New York Yankees. Read the rest of this entry →

In the year of the underdog, the Chicago Blackhawks won their first Stanley Cup title in 46 years.

It began with the Saints winning the Super Bowl. After that, it was one underdog triumph after another.

March was unusually mad, as Butler’s Bulldogs beat several favorites to earn their place in the NCAA men’s basketball championship game.

In the NHL, the Philadelphia Flyers squeaked into the playoffs at the last possible moment and continued their unlikely run all the way to the finals before losing to Chicago. While the Blackhawks were the favorites to win the Stanley Cup, being in such a favored position was a first for that franchise in recent memory.

In Major League Baseball, the Texas Rangers made their franchise’s first appearance including their original identity as the Washington Senators. The Giants made their first appearance since leaving New York and their first in a half-century, eventually winning on the mysterious power of the fearsome beards.

Major League Soccer also crowned a first time champion, the Colorado Rapids. The most likely teams to win the MLS Cup were eliminated early. Meanwhile in Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) the expansion Philadelphia Independence made it all the way to the championship game before finally falling short. Read the rest of this entry →

Rafael Palmeiro hit 25 home runs in three seasons with the Chicago Cubs before going on to bigger and better things with the Rangers and Orioles.

If career statistics were the only judge, then picking the members of the 2011 Baseball Hall of Fame induction class would be pretty easy. However, the continuing shadow of the “Steroid Era” in baseball has ensured that for the next decade or so picking Hall of Famers will be anything but easy.

There are 19 newcomers to the Hall of Fame ballot for 2011 and it is difficult to predict if any will ever receive a plaque in Cooperstown.

Statistically speaking, there seems to be two “no brainers” and a third who would probably earn a spot. However, it is likely that only one of those three will be a serious contender for the Hall of Fame.

Based purely on the numbers, Rafael Palmeiro has the credentials to be an easy HOF pick. He is one of only four players in major league history with more than 3,000 hits and 500 home runs. The other three players are Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray.

However, the number for Palmeiro that most Hall of Fame voters are likely to remember is one, as in failed steroid tests after emphatically claiming to Congress that he had never used steroids.

That alone seems enough to ensure that Palmeiro will never be inducted into the Hall of Fame and will probably have a hard time earning enough votes to stay on the ballot for his entire 15 years of eligibility.

In some ways, Palmeiro is as much a poster child of the steroid era as Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Roger Clemens, but in a different way.

While Bonds and Clemens were likely Hall of Famers before ever using steroids and McGwire and Sosa used the drugs to break single season records, Palmeiro pretty much flew under the radar and despite being accused of using by Jose Canseco would have probably earned a Hall of Fame plaque had it not been for his positive test.

Of course we have no idea when Palmeiro started using steroids, but the change in his statistics is pretty pronounced.

Palmeiro was a solid player during his first five major league seasons hitting .296 with 602 hits and 47 home runs between 1986 and 1990. He hit a then career-best 14 home runs in 1987 while with the Cubs and matched that total with the Rangers in 1990. Read the rest of this entry →

Bob Feller was the best pitcher of his generation and first major leaguer to enlist following Pearl Harbor.

The baseball world lost an icon and the United States lost a hero with the passing Wednesday night of Baseball Hall of Famer Bob “Rapid Robert” Feller.

It is hard today to imagine a situation where all the top stars in the baseball world would put their careers on hold for multiple years to serve their country, but that is exactly what happened during World War II and Feller was the first in line.

When the United States entered the war following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the 23-year-old Bob Feller was without question the best pitcher in baseball.

Feller made his debut with the Cleveland Indians in 1936 and from 1939 through 1941 was nearly unbeatable. He posted a 76-33 record while leading the league in victories and strikeouts all three seasons. His best season during the stretch was in 1940 when he finished second in the American League MVP voting while posting a 27-11 record and also leading the league with a 2.61 ERA and 261 strikeouts.

Yet, after 1941, Feller wouldn’t pitch another inning in the major leagues until late in the 1945 season.

On December 8, 1941, Feller became the first Major League Baseball player to join the war effort as he enlisted in the Navy and volunteered for combat service. Amazingly, it was 69 years to the date of his enlistment that he was placed in hospice care and he passed away one week later.

While in the Navy he reached the rank of Chief Petty Officer and served as a Gun Captain on the USS Alabama. Feller was decorated with five campaign ribbons and eight battle stars. Read the rest of this entry →

Pat Gillick in the first pure general manager from the last 50 years of baseball to be selected for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The election earlier this week of Pat Gillick to the Baseball Hall of Fame was a deserving honor for a longtime baseball executive, but the Veterans Committee missed a chance to make the 2011 Hall of Fame class truly special.

Recognizing baseball front office personnel who were not owners or league officials is not one of the traditional strengths of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Gillick is the 32nd baseball executive honored by the Hall of Fame, but only the fourth whose primary responsibilities was as a general manager or team architect and the only one from the last 50 years of baseball.

While other general managers have received more publicity, few in the modern era of baseball have had more success than Gillick.

After beginning his career with the fledgling Houston Astros and then having a stint in the front office of the New York Yankees in the 1970s, it was after joining the expansion Toronto Blue Jays that Gillick began establishing his Hall of Fame credentials.

Originally hired in 1976 as the Vice President of Player Personnel, in 1977 he became Vice President of Baseball Operations and in 1984 named the Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations.

Overseeing the development of the roster from expansion, Gillick crafted a roster that was built through the development of minor leaguers and then enhanced with savvy veteran acquisitions.

The Blue Jays posted their first winning record during their seventh season (1983) and two years later won 99 games and reached the AL Championship Series for the first time. They also won the AL East in 1989 and 1991 before claiming back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993. He left the organization in 1994 and the franchise has not reached the post season since.

In 1995 Gillick became general manager of the Baltimore Orioles and in 1996 and 1997 the team reached the AL Championship Series. The Orioles have not had a winning season since his departure in 1998. Read the rest of this entry →