He led the league four times: from 1983-85 and in 1987.
There is no doubt that Dale Murphy had a typical Hall of Fame peak. From age 28 to 35, his most-similar hitter is a no-doubt Hall of Famer, Reggie Jackson. (Reggie’s offensive context was lower, so he comes out ahead.) But the poor, and short, ending to Dale’s career drags him down to Joe Carter.
Larry Walker played fristbase some during his career. Has he officially retired? I think he would be a heck of a pickup to play first. Thoughts?
I don’t think he officially retired but I don’t think he’ll come back, either. It’s just semantics at this point.
Is there some significance to the darker line at the 90 mark, Mac? Is that the average?
I don’t know. It just happened.
I’m pretty sure Walker retired after the playoffs.
Larry Walker is even more injury proned lately than Brian Jordan. He’d be a bad person to waste money on even if he wasn’t retiring.
I think the thicker line happened at the PNG conversion. If you look, that whole row of pixels is doubled, as evidenced by the longer zero and the smudge on the 9. This also happened at the top of the 130 and the bottom of the 50. Parallel to the bottom of the 50 is the top of a data point box where you can see a thicker line.
Let’s play a game: Imagine that, hypothetically, Cuba said it would donate the money it got from the WBC to the Hurricane Katrina victims. The game is this: what sort of reaction is going to occur if their permit reapplication is once again rejected? And how do you reject said permit under these circumstances?
Best Braves 3,4,5 hitters
Murphy, Horner, Chambliss
Chipper, Mcgriff, Justice
Shefield, Chipper, Lopez
Aaron, Mathews, Adcock
Chipper, Andruw, Francoeur (2006)
Worst Braves 3, 4, 5 hitters
1976 (ugh!)
Willie Montanez
Jimmy Wynn
Ken Henderson
Wynn and Montanez show off exactly what was wrong with the Braves in the seventies; they had no idea what a good player was. They traded one of their two good players, 27-year-old Dusty Baker, to get the 34-year-old Wynn and the basically useless Jerry Royster and (oh, no) Tom Paciorek. Wynn was done, Paciorek was traded after a couple of years (he was awful for the Braves but pretty good afterwards) and Royster continued to be useless (but fast). Baker was only good for another eight seasons.
Then they traded their other good player, Darrell Evans, in the middle of an awful slump, and a decent player in Marty Perez, for Montanez, who was at least not totally washed up, and a bunch of scrubs.
wynn had a 108 ops+ that year despite hitting .207. amazing!
Guys? Are we trading Ryan Langerhans?
Rotoworld
Ryan Langerhans-OF-Braves
Art Martone and Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal are reporting that Ryan Langerhans could be traded from the Braves to the Indians.
No word on what the Braves would get in return, though we wouldn’t be surprised to see David Riske involved. A Langerhans trade would give Atlanta a platoon of Kelly Johnson and Matt Diaz in left field. We’d feel comfortable with that, but the Braves will probably want to upgrade. They’ve already reportedly tried to trade Wilson Betemit for Craig Monroe. Dec. 23 – 9:45 pm et
Source: Providence Journal
Coco Crisp – OF – Indians
The Indians are trying to acquire Ryan Langerhans from the Braves as the first step of a sequence that could send Coco Crisp to Boston, according to Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal.
Langerhans would be the decent replacement for Crisp that the Indians need. It’s hard to believe the Red Sox would part Andy Marte for Crisp, but we also don’t see what else could motivate the Indians to deal their left fielder. If they get Marte, it would certainly be worth it. Dec. 23 – 9:43 pm et
Source: Providence Journal
Here’s the blurb from the Providence Journal. FWIW, this is a pretty reputable paper, to say the least.
Coco Crisp headed to Boston?
Sean McAdam will have a report in Saturday’s Journal that a proposed trade between Atlanta and Cleveland, in which outfielder Ryan Langerhans will move from the Braves to the Indians, could be the first move in a series of steps that will land Cleveland outfielder Coco Crisp in Boston. The acquisition of Langerhans will give the Indians the outfielder they need to replace Crisp. There’s no word as to who the Sox would trade in exchange for Crisp, but McAdam reports the Indians were known to have had talks with Atlanta about third-base prospect Andy Marte before Marte was traded to the Red Sox, and it’s reasonable to assume they’d ask about him again. Marte’s name was raised in a Sox-Indians trade rumor reported by a suburban Boston newspaper last week.
— Art Martone
I hope this isn’t just for a bullpen guy. Maybe we could trade the Sox Langerhans for Marte since LH can play CF 🙂
Yeah I would like to get a little more than just a bullpen buy for Langerhans unless it is a closer. And Riske is not a closer; for now at least.
I really liked the defense and hustle that Langerhans brought to the team last year. His offense was not great but he came up with many clutch hits late in the year.
Why would we go get Craig Monroe? At the very least, Betemit is an extraordinarily capable infield backup, and with Chipper’s recent injury problems we need that kind of insurance. I think both Langerhans and Johnson would produce more than Monroe, given the same number of ABs.
I dont want damn Craig Monroe
does no one want Kelly Johnson? i cant believe we are thinking of starting him…
Langerhans is probably a bit better hitter, but what worries me is the Defense. KJ makes Jose Canseco look like Andruw Jones out there…
Riske was a lot more interesting after 2004 (when he struck out 78 in 7 2/3) than after last year (when he struck out 48 in 72 2/3). On the other hand, his control was a lot better… I’d rather he was the closer than any of the guys we’ve got. Also, I doubt Langerhans’ value is that high. I like him well enough but he’s a 26 year old guy who’s unlikely to be a regular for more than 2-3 years.
Monroe’s a decent enough player, someone I thought that the Braves might get last year when they were looking for outfield help, but I doubt he’d outhit Kelly Johnson over the course of a season, but he’d probably be a lot less slump-prone. I also doubt that the Braves will trade for a petty thief.
Since they tried to re-sign a guy with two DUI convictions, I’m not so sure about that one.
Speaking of petty thieves, whatever happened to Ruben Rivera, the guy who got dumped by the Yankees after stealing stuff from Derek Jeter’s locker and hawking it on the black market for $2500?
I think he changed his first name to Juan.
You know, I’m so gullible, I actually looked that up?
For anyone else as stupid as me, it’s not true 😉
1. Could the Braves receive a prospect in this deal as well?
2. Are the Braves content with their bullpen as it is if they acquire Riske? Would we be off the market for a closer?
I wouldn’t mind the Braves trading Langerhans for a bullpen arm if it was a good player. Riske sucks, and he’s past his prime.
I wonder how much it would take to pry the gay porn star away. That guy looks promising.
Riske is only 29 and is starting his fifth full season. I don’t think he’s past his prime. And his ERA’s are 5.26, 2.29, 3.72, and 3.10. So I don’t think he sucks either. Those last three come with over 70 appearances.
I believe Riske will be eligible for free agency after next season and he also gives up a lot of homers. I would much rather have Betancourt if those are the choices although I’d just as soon keep Langerhans as a fall back in case Francouer struggles.
Everyone say Merry Christmas to Danny:
http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20051222&content_id=1286720&vkey=news_mil&fext=.jsp&c_id=mil
Mac;
If you’ll allow, I’d like to wish everybody Happy Holidays! This site has been one of my great blessings this year and I hope this can adequately express that. Even if were nothing but a conversation between you and jenny, it would be worth checking every day.
But I catch myself waiting for JoeyT to use his sharp wit to puncture a myth, and looking for ububba and …well, I better quit before I leave somebody out.
In this crazy world, a safe haven for baseball talk. What a gift!
(Okay, I’m still mad about the Marte trade, but that’s my issue now. I have to move on…)
I’ll echo Kevin: thanks for keeping up such a fantastic site, Mac, and happy holidays to all! Or, if you wish to be politically incorrect like me, Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas everybody.
Jenny its okay. Holiday means Holy Day anyways, so use whichever makes you feel more comfortable
I saw the rumors about Langerhans – what other trades do you think could bring us a good left field bat to our lineup. Not Craig Monroe, but some others!
Santa has been spotted at the Taj Mahal, if anyone cares.
Link?
🙂
Tomorrow morning should be funny. My brother and I have a sneaking suspicion that we got each other the same DVD. Should be a riot…
You can go to noradsanta.org They track santa all day
Merry Christmas to all on this site!
Wow – how bout them Falcons? In the words of Homer J, they are the suckiest sucks that ever sucked.
Well… thats it for the falcons. Theres no scenario which allows them into the playoffs (that I can find)..
I’m a Redskins fan (grew up in Northern Virgnia 20mins west of DC)… that said. I’ve been saying.. If the redskins don’t make the playoffs it will be our own fault losing at home to Oakland. For atlanta… that would be losing to Green Bay at home.
happy holidays to all. thanks to Mac and everyone on this site for providing a great place to talk Bravos.
I look forward to 2006, even though it will be spent without andy marte. i’m not bitter.
Happy Holidays from the Sturgeon household. The Falcons sucked, but I clinched my fantasy football league championship just now (and the $430 that goes to the winner) so I’m still smiling 🙂
That reminds me, Mac.
I wanted to send you a christmas present, but My wife wouldnt’ let me send a present to a “Blog”
anycase heres a picture.
Your Present
Thanks, Brian. It’s wonderful.