Today’s game thread video goes out to Jarrod Saltalamacchia!
Nobody’s quite sure what happened to Redman.
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Today’s game thread video goes out to Jarrod Saltalamacchia!
Nobody’s quite sure what happened to Redman.
Use code “Journal” for a 5% discount.
Hahahaha, great choice of video!
i would assume redman throws so hard, he just needs a few days to recoup
I should add that tomorrow’s video is probably my favorite yet, though it has a certain “you have to have been there” quality.
Department of Ouch:
National Baseball Hall of Fame – Future Hall of Fame Elections
2011: Wilson Alvarez, Carlos Baerga, Jeff Bagwell, Bret Boone, Kevin Brown, John Franco, Juan Gonzalez, Marquis Grissom, Mike Hampton, Al Leiter, Tino Martinez, Raul Mondesi, Hideo Nomo, John Olerud, Rafael Palmeiro, Troy Percival, Benito Santiago, Sammy Sosa, Ugueth Urbina, Larry Walker
I guess the HOF is rendering an opinion on Hampton’s comeback chances. Though I should note Sosa’s name on the list, and he’s playing now.
Since the game hasn’t started yet…who is everyone taking tomorrow…De La Hoya or Mayweather?
I knew that video was coming. Couldn’t resist.
My deli man on the corner (Braves fan/Clemson grad) just told me he’s bought the next 6 games the Braves play at Shea. He’s officially excited. That makes 2 of us standing tall in MetLand.
He has a sandwich called “The Chipper.” I told him he should name some grub after the “Baby Braves.”
That’s a pretty crappy potential class, Mac. With Sosa out of the running because he’s playing this year (and I wouldn’t vote for him, anyway), the only guy who would be a lock numbers-wise is Palmeiro, and with his steroid issues, I probably wouldn’t vote for him.
I guess there are a few fence-straddlers in Bagwell, Gonzalez and Walker, and I don’t have the numbers in front of me at the moment, but I can’t really see any of them in the Hall of Fame.
I guess if by then they’ve finally decided to start letting relievers in, John Franco might deserve it. Although I have a feeling they’re all gonna have to wait for Trevor Hoffman to get in before they’ll start going back and putting the John Francos and Lee Smiths and what have you in. And Hoffman won’t be eligible yet that year.
Next year’s class is very weak; other than Tim Raines, who is not going to get the support he deserves, the best candidates are probably the Chucks Knoblauch and Finley.
But I consider Bagwell a Hall of Famer, and if Fred McGriff is going to get in (as I hope he does) Bagwell has to be one. 449 career homers and a .297 .408 .540 line, playing most of his career in the Astrodome. An MVP award. Most-similar hitters are Frank Thomas (who definitely should be in), Sheffield and McGriff. The next seven include five Hall of Famers (including Mickey Mantle!) and Junior Griffey, with only Andres Galarraga out.
Bagwell’s a Hall of Famer. He was excellent for a long period of time, really, really excellent.
HOF OF/1B with inferior career numbers to Bagwell:
Billy Williams
Duke Snider
Al Kaline
Orlando Cepeda
Tony Perez
Ralph Kiner
Johnny Mize
That’s a partial list, there are probably more. Throw in Jim Rice and Andre Dawson, both of whom will certainly make it eventually. Additionally, I can’t in fair conscience advocate Dale Murphy over Bagwell.
Alright, you’re right. I’ll cede Jeff Bagwell to you. I had actually forgotten how good his career numbers were. Plus, if there’s going to be a backlash against the Sosas, Palmeiros and McGwires of the world, I’m guessing more people like Bagwell and McGriff and so on are probably gonna have to fill the void.
But based on those numbers, you’re right. Bagwell should be in, anyway.
Tomko needs to get rocked tonight. Salty bomb if he starts, calling it right now.
Here’s a quick comment…something that annoys me about stats:
In baseball, I noted that W. Ohman recorded a “hold” for the following statline:
0.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB
So, he walks the only batter he faces and gets credit for a hold? I get that he didn’t give up any runs, but, he didn’t get anybody out either. Now, Mike Gonzalez putting down Utley and Howard the other day is a hold. Well, whatever. I hate the Dodgers….let’s go Smoltzie!
The anti-Braves articles are already starting…
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_blogs/baseball/fungoes_blog/2007/05/april-overachievers.html
Two of Houston’s Killer B’s (Bagwell & Biggio) should get into C’town.
Raines will be an interesting vote. I’m usually not on the fence with HOF candidates, but I am about him.
I understand that he was a very good-to-great player for a long time. He got on base, scored runs and stole bases at a ridiculous rate. (At over 800 SBs at an 85-percent rate, he’s a player that you can say his SBs were nothing but a positive.) And he did all this in an era of less-than-explosive offensive production.
He was one of the very best players in the 1980s. But so was Jack Morris. So was Dale Murphy.
Was he a genuinely dominant player? And for how long? Did he transcend his era?
Although I know how good he was relative to his era, my gut tells me that he wasn’t a truly great player for long enough. I liked him a lot as a player, but I understand the apprehension.
Rissa,
let those haters say what they want, the Braves are for real. Cliff Corcoran just needs something to flll up a blog and increase his hits. he hasn’t said anything we haven’t already heard for the past 16 years…what a bore.
Smoltzie’s gonna rock out!
Bagwell deserves much extra credit for playing in the Astrodome most of his career. That had to take away a ton of home runs from him.
I really believe Hall of Famers need to be great, in most cases, for a long period of time. That’s the only problem I have with Dale Murphy. In his prime, he was probably the best player in the league, but his prime wasn’t really very long which is why I have problems with him in the HOF. I definitely think he was a better player, albeit over a shorter period, than, say, Carl Yastzemski, who I think was one of the more overrated players of his time. And Yaz is in.
Rissa,
Screw that guy, he’ll see that we’re for real. Just throwing this out their, he’s a Yankees blogger…he’s just hatin cause his team is UNDERACHIEVING!
Tonight’s lineups
Furcal ss
Pierre cf
Garciaparra 1b
Gonzalez lf
Martin c
Ethier rf
Betemit 3b
Martinez 2b
Tomko p
Johnson 2b
Renteria ss
Jones 3b
Jones cf
McCann c
Francoeur rf
Thorman 1b
Harris lf
Smoltz p
I hear you about Yaz. But 3,400 hits? Can’t keep that out of the HOF.
Re: The SI piece.
Who the hell cares what anyone thinks about the Braves? That’s what makes the games worth watching.
“No real candidates for improvement”? Andruw? Smoltz? Even McCann is a little below his expected pace.
Who wants to take bets on who Chip will pronounce Betemit’s name? Are we going Jon Miller or Skip Caray?
That should be “how” Chip will pronounce Betemit’s name.
I thought of Andruw immediately, but his overall numbers have caught up a bit lately.
AJ Career: 266/345/505
AJ 2007: 253/392/505
I should add that someone is going to play left field and that someone has to be better than Langerhans. This guy seems to assume that the Braves are going to play 8-on-9.
mccaan’s playing tonight, hopefully his finger’s a non-issue
Being a Braves fan in an area where there are a ton of Astros fans, I never really had anything but contempt for Bagwell and Biggio.
They write ON and ON and ON about the Astros in the paper here, all over the local newscasts, while better teams were doing better things. I even called in comments to the sports writer of our paper, wondering why everyone talked about Biggio and Bagwell and how well they did, when they never were in a position to get to the playoffs. They did make the playoff later that year (97?), but were destroyed by the Braves.
Even as I type, the local news is talking about the Astros. It makes me sick.
Now anyone who brings up 2004 and 2005, yeah they did beat us, but it did take the loss of Glavine, Maddux, and others and the Astros addition of Clemens and the short porch in left field at Minute Maid Park, and Joey Devine’s big fat fastball over the middle for them to do it.
I guess living 30 minutes away from Texas, I should expect as much.
I just HATE it, that’s all.
To be fair, Biggio and Bagwell are were/are great players. They should both get in the HOF, no problem.
I just don’t like them.
Nice start for Smoltzie..
There we go Renty…
C’mon Druw, get us on top.
ugh.
That was totally a less than 3 for McCann.
I guess that finger isn’t an issue hitting…and how bout Frenchy walking…
Good start, at least.
I like it when Frenchy walks. It’s encouraging.
Is that an error on KJ? or infield hit?
Force out, says Gameday.
Ok…thanks
Willie…what was that….?
I moved to Wisconsin from the ATL last year. I just got XM. It is great to hear Skips voice again.
Seeing Eddie again made me wanna post this again…Hilarious!!!
I hear guys with girl’s names can hit pretty good.
Any class with Bagwell, Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez and Larry Walker can’t possibly be weak. People on this site overwhelmingly think Dale Murphy should be a Hall of Famer, and each of those guys has a better case than Murphy (unless you’re hung up on the steroid issue).
There’s the Frenchy we all know.
Furcal’s arm saved the Dodgers a run. Man, I love Furcal’s defense.
three on no one out…
Gonzalez — whom I half-expect to pop up in a Royals uniform or something anyway, he’s only 37 — simply wasn’t as good of a player as Murphy. His numbers are better, but he played in a much higher run context. Similarly, Larry Walker’s run context, in his best years, was the highest of all time. If you run the neutralize stats routine on Baseball-Reference, his career batting average drops twenty points, his OBP 23 points, his SLG 36 points.
What a name…. Russell Nathan Coltrane Jeanson Martin Jr.
YES!!!..what a running catch Willie! Smoltz is a magician…
I am not watching on TV. Does Diaz make that catch?
Courtney,
I seriously doubt it. Willie was really moving.
And they’re still all better than Murphy’s. His OPS is still almost 100 points better than Murphy’s. Walker was also better both on the basepaths and defensively.
Gonzalez’s case is similar to Murphy’s. He was the superior hitter, but Murphy had better on base skills. They both won two MVPs, but Gonzalez’s peak was a little longer.
The one thing Murphy indisputably did better than either Walker or Gonzalez is stay healthy. But considering he’s the ultimate peak over longevity HOF candidate, I can’t see how that makes up the difference, especially when comparing him to Walker, who was superior in pretty much every way, regardless of context.
Just for a little reference…Yahoo’s play-by-play says Harris made the catch in center.
wow. Thanks Jay
Wow, Tomko made an amazing play..falling down he reaches out with his hand and throws while sitting down and got a speedy runner in Harris.
Langerhans is a GNAT now haha
No problem.
The MLB gameday is faster than the braves radio feed on XM
The disparity of these two infield defenses is incredible.
So much for no strike outs in his last 40 at-bats…that was a nice pitch though.
Come on Chip
as i’m writing this…wow, what a play by Furcal…
SEE?!?!? SEE WHAT I MEAN ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE IN DEFENSE BETWEEN FURCAL AND RENTERIA? GET IT?!?!?
Did I say I love Furcal?
TP: there we go chipper jones….but don’t hurt yourself.
Any shortstop is going to come up short when you are compareing him to Furcal. He has been robbed for the gold glove two years in a row.
Probably for more than two years Courtney.
But that dosen’t mean that Renty has any business at shortshop
David, how on earth can you compare a hitter in the 80s directly to a hitter in the late 90s and 00s?!
six walks for Tomko…I see Roger has been talking with him.
Let’s see if Frechy can add to his RBI total. He hasn’t had one in the last few games.
YES!!! FRENCHY!
Frechy is my hero.
I love Pierre’s defense…from a different point of view!!!
Well, I ripped him for swinging at the first pitch in his last at bat. Ha!
Frenchy that is.
Outfield defense, on the other hand, advantage Atlanta.
What is this wohohohoho song everyone’s playing? I assume I’m supposed to know it but I am old and out of touch.
David, the thing is that Murph was the best hitter in the league in his best years, while Walker and Gonzalez looked like the best hitter in the league in their best years.
Well, Walker also played at Coors.
71 2-out RBIs for us…wow, just wow.
Well, the last two RBIs should go to Pierre.
Joe Beimel’s mugshot on MLB gameday looks scary. Is he really that ugly?
Ok, I was about to say…since when does John throw a 94 MPH change up.
Boy, Betimit is sucking pretty bad this year. Almost as useless as Willy Abar.
Well, at least Aybar is not taking at-bats away from other players.
With the numbers, KC. And neither Gonzalez nor Walker are specifically late 90s, 00s guys. In fact, they both have a few years that overlap with Murphy’s career. Murphy was pretty much terrible at that point, but still.
To answer your question though, by looking at the numbers. The main difference between Murphy and Walker is Walker was never a below average player. He also had more win shares than Murphy in spite of playing in about 250 fewer games. I fail to see why any unbiased observer would come to the conclusion that Murphy was the better player.
Let’s see willie’s Willy Mayes Hayes impression.
Willy Mayes Hayes would have stolen 3rd and scored on that sac fly.
Damn…almost a homer…
Does anyone know what the record is for consecutive games reaching base?
heh, Walker wasn’t the best hitter in the NL in 1997? If he wasn’t, who was?
People use the Coors argument all the time. Sure it added a great deal to his home numbers, but it doesn’t explain everything, especially in 1997 when Walker’s OPS was higher on the road.
I can understand arguing against Gonzalez, though I’m personally not persuaded, mostly because it gets harder to win the MVP as time passes. But Walker, when healthy, was far superior to Murphy. Walker put up a .289/.384/.509 line as an injury plagued 38 year old in St. Louis. No Coors excuse explains that ability.
S@E,
It was Ted Williams in 1947, 84 games.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_MLB_individual_streaks
I don’t know why your name is highlighted like that…
Man, July 1st through July 16th was so much fun to watch….Chipper’s 14 straight games with an extra base-hit.
Okay, I’ll grant you 1997 — though with his extra nine games played, plus 31 stolen bases, I could make an argument for Bagwell.
Outstanding outing for Smoltz
Smoltz needed that one.
I think Piazza has a slightly better argument than Bagwell, but the three are sort of close. I don’t think Murphy at any point could have competed with those guys at their peaks.
I do think Murphy was a victim of circumstance, though. Had he been born 10 years later he would have entered baseball when weight training was loads more prevalent and probably would have both been better during his peak and lasted longer.
But he wasn’t, and Walker couldn’t stay healthy for whatever reason, so neither will ever be in the HOF in spite of more than likely being two of the most physically gifted players ever.
David, Walker did not become an impact player until he plays at Coors. Gonzalez only has one MVP type season in an era of offense explosion. Both Walker and Gonzalez are indeed very good player, but comparing them directly to Murphy seems overlooking their respective productions in comparison to the league averages during their respective playing periods.
Gonzo’s curve is just plain sick!
It’s so fun watching Gonzo pitches despite the hits!
I love Gonzo!!!
Do you think we will se Kali or Soriano in the 9th?
Knowing Bobby, I think we will see Soriano.
kc, you’re just wrong historically on a couple points. For one, Gonzalez won two MVP awards, so by definition he had at least two MVP type seasons. Also, Walker was one of the ten best hitters in the NL by the time he left the Expos after the strike season, not that it should even matter.
I hope we see Sori…
I’m liking this Harris guy…Langy-who?
YES!!! Wow, great hustle Peterson Gord Orr!
That’s Pete Orr at his best.
Oh man, those are two blazing fast guys on the base paths.
Soriano is the guy.
Yankees inning by inning tonight vs Seattle
End 1 – 5-0 NYY
End 2 – 5-1 NYY
End 3 – 6-3 NYY
End 4 – 8-6 NYY
End 5 – 14-8 SEA
End 7 – 15-11 SEA
Same score, top 8 now.
David, your statement on Gonzalez is a fact, so there is no argument there. HOWEVER, only Gonzalez’s 2001 can be compared to Murphy’s MVP seasons, and Murphy achieved them in the 80s instead of 00s.
Your second statement is an opinion and I don’t agree with you. I watched Larry played in early 90s when he was still with the Expos. He was a very good player, but he was NOT a top ten hitter in the league.
Wow, Sori just hit 100 on the radar!
It’s nice to have a guy who can just flat out throw the ball past people.
Julio homered tonight. I miss him!
Gameday has him consistanly 97-98, awesome.
WOW!!! I love ANDRUW!!!
I am just grateful JS finally realizes he can’t find relieve pitchers off the trash can.
Did I say I LOVE ANDRUW?!
Braves win!
Yeah!!! Another game won!!!
I love Julio, but I hate everything he did for the Mets.
yeah, Julio now has as many homers as Delgado, which makes me a little giddy.
Jay10, maybe the home radar gun is a little fast.
Or maybe Gameday is slow…
Shut out win, first place, all good.
Dustin,
He was consistently at 97-98, but his first pitch(I believe) to Furcal was 100.
I agree, it’s good to be on top. (That’s what she said)
Oh yeah, I forgot about that, Gameday didn’t register the first pitch.
I guess it was too quick to measure.
Last year, Zumaya hit 104mph in the playoffs on a pitch about 3 feet outside to Frank Thomas.