Baltimore Orioles Quiz (1954 – ): [We”ll hit most teams by end
of July, with an occasional diversion thrown in.] 1) Highest
batting average, season? [Two players; one in the 70s, the other
the 90s, and it”s only .328…amazingly.] 2) Most games won by
a pitcher, season? 3) Most RBI, season? 4) Last Oriole 20-game
winner? Answers below.
Johnny Mac”s Hall of Fame Picks…continued
[All stats as of start of the season]
Tampa Bay Devil Rays: Well, this should be a shorter list than
the Yankees. Actually, the only player on the roster who could
be suggested without giggling is the old crime dog, Fred
McGriff. He has somewhat quietly put together a rather
impressive career. 417 homers, almost 1300 ribbies, 1100 runs
scored and a career .286 average. Plus, McGriff has won 2 home
run titles, has accumulated 6 100+ RBI campaigns, and has 5
post-season appearances. Not too shabby. He will probably
need to reach 500 homers to merit consideration, but I will admit
to being a little surprised at how good his numbers really are.
Toronto Blue Jays: A young team with some impressive talent,
but no one as yet has established himself. The closest is Carlos
Delgado, who is coming off two monster seasons. I was
surprised to see he is already 29 years old (in June), so it will be
tough for him to reach the career milestones we normally
associate with the Hall of Fame. I wouldn”t state that with 100%
certainty, but it won”t be easy.
Chicago White Sox: They have two tough ones…Harold Baines
and the Big (“I”m always freakin””) Hurt (Frank Thomas).
Baines has just been around forever, putting up numbers at every
stop. His best day was when they instituted the DH rule, and he
must be judged in that light. He hasn”t played the field on a
regular basis since 1986. And he has never really been the big
star along the way. A valuable guy, sure, reliable RBI man, good
in the clubhouse, the very definition of “professional hitter.” But
does that a Hall of Famer make?? I say no. His career numbers
will look good, I”ll grant you.he might get 3,000 hits, might hit
400 dingers, already has over 1600 RBIs. Those are impressive
under any light. But I draw the line with Harold. He is not a
HOF player and never has been. He is very good, I would like
him on my team, but he is not great. Maybe this will be the guy
to test the old theory of “certain election” for reaching various
milestones. We will see.
Frank Thomas, now there is an interesting case. He started off
like a first-ballot lock; putting up numbers that, while not unique,
have only been reached by the likes of Gehrig or Ted Williams.
His combination of power, high average and great eye rivaled the
all-time greats. He routinely led the league in on-base
percentage, while picking up 2 MVP trophies. Then came 1998
and 1999. While not complete washouts, they were certainly
below standard and raised legitimate concerns over his
dedication and long-term future. He was always a big guy, but
his weight became more of an issue as his production fell. But
Thomas rebounded to have a great year in 2000, setting career
highs in homers, runs and RBIs. Then he got a bit mouthy this
spring with regards to his contract and has gotten off to a slow,
injury prone start this season. I don”t know…at 33, looking a bit
brittle and DH”ing more and more, he is a tough bet. Three years
ago he looked like a lock, but no more. He needs to right the
ship a bit.
Cleveland Indians: Three guys here. One obvious, the other two
not so. Starting with the obvious, Robby Alomar, this is one
terrific player. Nine Gold Glove awards, hits for average, draws
walks, scores a ton of runs, has excellent situational power, steals
bases. I don”t see how you keep him out. And he”s only 33.
Alomar has also been an excellent post-season player to boot. If
he could have prevented himself from expectorating on that ump,
he would also have a pretty good image. Dates tennis pro Mary
Pierce, for what that”s worth. [Ed. One strike against him.] You
tell me, but I rate him pretty high. Behind Morgan, Gehringer,
Collins, and Hornsby.who else would you put ahead of him?
One of the less obvious is Omar Vizquel. He has been
overshadowed by the collection of talent at shortstop, but what a
good player. He has won 8 straight Gold Gloves, he hits for a
decent average, draws some walks, scores runs, steals some
bases, hits a good number of doubles. And his best two seasons
have been his last two. He is 34 and doesn”t seem to be slowing
down in the least. Can you state for certain that he isn”t the
Ozzie Smith of today? He might fall short of enshrinement, but
let me tell you.there are far less talented players at his position
with plaques at Cooperstown right now.
And then there is Juan Gonzalez. He is a RBI machine, I”ll give
him that. At his age, he could eventually hit 550 and drive in
1800. But he”s such a chronic complainer and lousy outfielder
that it”s easy to leave him off out of spite. I also still feel he
racks up big numbers in meaningless games against weak
teams, but stats are stats, I guess.
Detroit Tigers: Nada, zip, zilch, no one.
Kansas City Royals: See above.
Minnesota Twins: See Tigers and Royals.
Oakland Athletics: This is getting redundant. For those of you
enamored of reigning MVP Jason Giambi, here are the facts. He
is already 30 years old, he trains on burritos, and his career
numbers are 149 homers and 555 ribbies. Unless something
drastic happens, he will have a shortish career with some good
years, but far short of immortality.
Anaheim / California? Angels: Whatever they are. I don”t
know. Mo Vaughn is way too brittle and Troy Glaus is way too
young. Check back in 4 or 5 years. [Ed. If we are writing about
this in 5 years, that would be an excellent sign…know what I”m
sayin”?]
Seattle Mariners: Well, they have certainly gone through a
couple of future Hall of Fame residents in recent years, huh?
Hasn”t hurt them much in the standings though. They have one
interesting player, Edgar Martinez. This guy is 38 and seems to
get better every year. A couple of batting titles, a great RBI guy,
steady leader.this guy can hit. Too bad he got such a late start
(he didn”t play regularly until he was 27) and injuries killed his
”93 campaign, otherwise, who knows what might have been. It
is extremely doubtful that he can post the career numbers, but he
has been as good a hitter over the last 6 years as anyone else.
Texas Rangers: An embarrassment of Latino riches. Too bad
none of them can pitch. They have perhaps the greatest shortstop
in history, yet he is arguably only the second best guy on the
team named Rodriguez. Let”s start with A-Rod. He is 25 years
old and has already played over 800 games. He hits .300 every
year, drives in and scores well over 100, slugs .560+, has stolen
as many as 46 in a season and plays an excellent shortstop. What
he may eventually accomplish boggles the mind. He could easily
play another 12 years or more. It sounds silly for a slightly built
shortstop, but he could actually hit 650+ homers if he stays
healthy. That”s ridiculous. Look, it”s still early, but this kid is
the goods.could be among the real all-time greats when he is
through. If this Texas team ever puts a pitching staff together, he
might eventually get some rings also.
The other Rodriguez, Ivan, is also something special. Only 29,
he is in his tenth full season as a regular. For some perspective,
Jorge Posada, who many consider an up and coming young
catcher, is a few months older than Ivan. You may argue the
point, but all things considered, he may be the best defensive
catcher ever. Arm, mobility, speed, baseball smarts.that”s a
tough combination to beat. Nine seasons, nine Gold Gloves.
And, oh yeah, he can hit a little too. Lifetime over .300, he has
hit over .320 the last three years. Plus, Ivan belts 25 homers,
drives in and scores runs, and can even steal a base. The knock
on him is that he rarely takes a walk, but with his high BA he
still has an on-base average near .350. The 1999 MVP, he was
well on his way to bettering that campaign when an injury ended
his season after 91 games. In that span, he had already hit 27
homers, driven in 83, and was batting .347 while slugging a
Ruthian .667. Rodriguez is another player with a real chance to
be arguably the best ever at his position.
The other two Rangers with a shot are in the latter stages of their
careers.Andres Galarraga and Rafael Palmeiro. Each has had
their best years late in his 30s, and Palmeiro, especially, just
seems to get better with age. Galarraga might have followed the
same path, had he not lollygagged that year he took off to beat
cancer.
Palmeiro was considered a slap hitter when he came up with the
Cubs, and he hit only 8 and 14 homers in his first two seasons
with the Rangers. He must have eaten his Wheaties or
something, because he broke out with 26 the next year and
progressed until he hit 47 in 1999. He has driven in over 100
seven times and picked up three Gold Gloves along the way.
Still productive at 36, he entered the year with 400 homers, 1347
ribbies, and a .296 average. A few more years at or near his
current established production, and he may be hard to ignore.
The Big Cat (Galarraga) is slightly more problematic. A good
player for years with the Expos, he spent an injury-plagued season
with the Cardinals before he landed in hitter-happy Colorado. At
age 32, he really started to put up numbers, albeit in the rarified
air of the Rockies. Now 40, he probably doesn”t have too much
left, and his career stats will leave him a bit short of
Cooperstown.
[We”ll continue with a look at the NL, Friday.]
Top 3 songs for the week of 5/10/75: #1 “He Don”t Love You
(Like I Love You)” (Tony Orlando and Dawn) #2 “Before The
Next Teardrop Falls” (Freddy Fender) #3 “(Hey Won”t You
Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song” (B.J.
Thomas …geezuz, a long freakin” title…c”mon, B.J.!)
Wayman Tisdale
So I”m listening to a jazz station the other day and here is
Wayman with a new CD and a great knockoff of Earth, Wind &
Fire”s “Can”t Hide Love.” And I thought, heck, I forgot that
Wayman Tisdale, former NBA ballplayer, was into the jazz
scene, big time. Tisdale, the 6”9″ 260 lb. center-forward out of
Oklahoma had a decent career (though many would say he was
an underachiever), averaging 15.3 ppg for his 12 campaigns.
Tisdale played with Indiana, Sacramento, and Phoenix. He had
back-to-back 20-point seasons with the Kings. But hell, my man
Wayman has had a cool life. Do you think he cares he wasn”t a
perennial All-Star? I don”t.
Michael Jackson
As reported by Richard Johnson in the New York Post, Michael
Jackson is having financial problems (though they will be easily
rectified when he sells his Beatles song catalogue, as rumored,
back to McCartney for about $700 million).
Johnson reports that Jackson”s ranch “costs $10 million a year to
maintain and his personal security, make-up, clothing and other
personal needs costs somewhere between $10,000 and $15,000 a
day.”
Wolf!
In central Stockholm the other day, a wolf was sighted, the first
such incident in over 20 years. The animal was not captured
(actually, the police let it get away…in what could prove to be a
controversial move). So what”s going on? Was this wolf sent by
Moscow to scout out Stockholm”s defenses? [Of course, there
are none, but when planning an attack it is still always good to
sniff around.] Or, as Johnny Mac told me, was this wolf simply
after some of Sweden”s “tasty government benefits?”
Baltimore Orioles Quiz Answers: 1) BA: Ken Singleton (”77)
and Robby Alomar (”96) hit .328. 2) Games won, season: Steve
Stone, 25 in 1980. 3) Most RBI, season: Rafael Palmeiro, 142
(”96). 4) Last 20-game winner: Mike Boddicker, 1984. No,
Mussina never won 20.
Next Bar Chat, Friday.
