Sports Then and Now

Will Frank Thomas and Tom Glavine enter the Hall of Fame when they become eligible in 2014?

Now that Frank Thomas and Tom Glavine have both officially retired from Major League Baseball, it is time for that time honored tradition of debating whether they are Hall of Fame bound.

In both cases, I don’t think it is a matter as much of ‘if” they will get the call from Cooperstown, but instead “when” they will actually receive the prestigious honor.

With first-year nominee Roberto Alomar just missing selection in 2010, it served as a reminder that not everyone who seems a lock to get into the Hall of Fame will receive enough support in their initial year of eligibility.

In fact, when you look at players with comparable careers to both Thomas and Glavine, it might actually be considered a surprise if either of these great players actually reach the 75% mark during their first year of eligibility.

Given that he eclipsed the magical 300-win plateau, it might be a bit of a surprise to suggest that Glavine is not a first ballot lock.

However, both the history of similar candidates and the other candidates on the ballot in 2014 could conspire to hurt Glavine’s chances of first time induction.

Of the 20 pitchers with 300 or more victories and who are now eligible for the Hall of Fame, all 20 have plaques in Cooperstown.

However, of the eight pitchers who have reached 300 victories since 1950, only three (Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton and Nolan Ryan) reached the Hall of Fame in their initial year of eligibility. Read the rest of this entry →

In the realm of general managers in Major League Baseball Theo Epstein is known for, among other things, the fact that in the years he’s been the GM of the Red Sox he has never gone through an arbitration hearing. His ability to negotiate, the team’s liquid financial status, and a bit of common sense have prevailed over his nine year career.

Well, that and the fact that he’s never had a player quite the caliber of Tim Lincecum to deal with. That’s Tim Lincecum, the 25 year old San Francisco Giants phenom, he of the two consecutive Cy Young Awards in his first two full seasons on the mound.

Including Lincecum, there have been eight Cy Young winners who took the award in consecutive years in the history of the game. In the AL there was Denny McClain (’68-’69), Jim Palmer (’75-’76), Roger Clemens (twice – ’86-’87 and ’97-’98), and Pedro Martinez (’99-’00). In the NL, we saw Sandy Koufax (’65-’66), Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson (special honors for the 4-peats – ’92 through ’95 and ’99 through ’02, respectively.) Of that group, Lincecum is tied for the youngest to accomplish the feat (he, McClain, and Clemens all did it at ages 24 and 25).

Of that group, Koufax and Palmer are Hall-of-Famers. Maddux and Johnson are first ballot men to be sure, as would Clemens be if not for steroid controversy. Martinez stands a good chance of making the HOF as well. Maddux, Clemens, and Johnson are all in the 300 Win Club. Johnson, Clemens, Maddux, and Martinez, all posted 3000 plus strikeouts.

Lincecum's early stats place him in very good company.

Suffice to say that, thus far at least, Tim Lincecum is in great company.

But if the two CY’s in a row get him a seat at the table, what about his other qualifications? How does he stack up otherwise at this early stage in his career?

Lincecum’s win/loss percentage (.702) is second only to Clemens. His ERA is better than that of McClain, and his WHIP (1.61) is better than that of McClain, Martinez and Johnson. And in a group known for strikeouts, Lincecum leads this impressive pack in strikeouts per nine innings (10.17).

In 2008, eight players chose arbitration and only two of them won. Ryan Howard of Philadelphia received $10 million after the club offered $7 Million and Oliver Perez of the Mets was awarded the $6.2 million he asked for instead of the $4.745 the club had in mind. In 2009, saw only three cases go to arbitration with Dan Uggla of the Marlins winning $5.35 million and Shawn Hill of the Nationals received $775,000. Read the rest of this entry →

The addition of Curtis Granderson will help the New York Yankees retain their title in the American League East.

February is here and I have the countdown widget on my Windows Vista desktop that counts down the days until pitchers and catchers report – it’s 15 days, by the way.  Spring training is the time of a thousand story lines – everyone’s a contender and every player who reports is a potential star.

Without further ado, here are 10 things that are could (or should) happen this year in Major League Baseball.

10.     Only one team from the AL East will make the playoffs.

The Yankees were stacked last year.  The additions of Curtis Granderson and Javier Vasquez only add to that.  They dropped the ball (no pun intended) when they opted for Randy Winn over resigning Johnny Damon.  They know it, too, as evidenced by the fact that he’s not listed on their website’s transaction list.  That point notwithstanding,  the Yanks  are going to be insanely hard to overcome, even for the Red Sox.  If the Yankees take the division, they should be the only AL East entrant.

9.     The Tigers will not sign Johnny Damon, mostly because Scott Boras is a liar.

On my list of “People I’d Like to See Slapped,” Scott Boras is pretty high up.  But in this instance he is just absolutely full of bologna.  Sporting News reports that Boras is trying to convince the Tigers that they need Damon.  He’s quoted as saying,  “[Damon] batted .363 at Comerica Park, he has a .412 on-base percentage at Comerica.”  Really?  When was that?  Last year (according to baseball-reference.com) Johnny Damon batted .231 with and on-base percentage of .286 and he only slugged .308 in 14 at-bats.  The numbers Boras is quoting as Damon’s career numbers at Comerica and no one (well, except for Boras) thinks that the Johnny Damon that is currently seeking work is the same one that the Yankees thought they bought in 2006. Read the rest of this entry →

Would a salary cap in baseball give more teams like the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks a chance to compete for the World Series title?

Talking about a salary cap with a baseball player or his agent is as usually received as well as asking Tiger Woods how married life is treating him.  The Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) has a pretty simple stance on the concept of placing a ceiling on what teams can spend on wages, and that stance is “Nope!”

While purists still know that baseball is the American pastime, football is king these days in all real senses.  It is outwardly more popular, has better television ratings (mostly since there’s so much less of it), and makes lots and lots of money.  Oh, yes, it also has a salary cap.  What’s more, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wants you to know that it is one of the main reasons the NFL is as great as it is, for it’s the salary cap and revenue sharing that create the NFL’s wonderful parity.

There is a continuum in professional sports where the concept of parity is concerned. In a nutshell, it tells us that the higher a team ranks in terms of league payroll, the less they care about parity. This is irrelevant for the NFL, because they have a salary cap. Read the rest of this entry →

Cleveland Indian’s pitcher Jason Grilli has a career record of 18-18 with a 4.74 ERA. Good enough by all standards to make him one of the top middle relievers in the game, but the Hall of Fame is not yet calling. According to the record book that really counts, however, Grilli is a winner of the Cy Young Award, MVP and slated for induction into Life’s Hall of Fame.

After chatting with Grilli, it is clear that he is one of the good guys. Soft spoken, humble, and committed to helping those less fortunate than himself are attributes that don’t show up on the scoreboard. He is a man who thinks about family, friends and those less fortunate than himself long before he is concerned about his wins, losses or earned run average.

For those who are keeping score at home, Grilli is throwing a perfect game. Read the rest of this entry →

The definition of a true hero is not a guy who leaps tall buildings in a single bound but, more realistically, a person who heaps the world’s problems upon his or her broad shoulders without regard for their own personal health or well-being. A person who sees a situation and devises a solution, rather than to turn their backs and complain.

By definition that would qualify Frank Guzman as, more than just a baseball coach, but as a mentor, a leader and yes, a bona fide hero in the eyes of everyone who knows him. When assisting those in a state of crisis from his security position with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Guzman has turned his passion for baseball into a rescue for many of Rochester, New York’s Latin population. Read the rest of this entry →