Booger

We suck at keeping up with posts on current events when we all have jobs and kids. But it's baseball's Hall of Fame season, so I have one short post before I get back to my Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale.

I feel like I'm seeing more and more of the "You can't tell the story of baseball history without ___" arguments from baseball writers this year--usually pertaining to the McGwire/Sosa combination, sometimes Bonds and Clemens as well (though I think we distinguish the latter pair as outright great and enhanced later in their careers, whereas the former are arguably more borderline HoF candidates and part of the debate is whether they'd have reached that level without PEDs). Anyway, the point is that some writers seem to be embracing the mission of the Hall of Fame as a museum celebrating the history of the sport and recognizing that all four of those guys play a major role in that history, warts and all.

Which brings me to Larry Walker. I don't think his case is a slam dunk at all--he was well-rounded but injury-prone, and he has some very good numbers (.313/.400/.565, 72.5 WAR) but didn't retire with huge totals in some categories that matter to voters (2160 hits, 383 HR, but 1300+ RBI and runs). He has the hardware (an MVP, 3 batting titles). But of course, he earned most of this playing in Coors Field, and the splits are dramatic.

But it's again his borderline status, combined with his role in baseball history, that makes him fascinating. How can we talk about baseball in the 1990s without Coors, those Rockies teams, the humidor, expansion, etc.? Even if he was a product of his environment (baseball-wide, but Coors even more so), so were other guys in different eras, and he represents some huge parts of the story of baseball. I get the skepticism about his numbers, but does that disqualify anybody who played the majority of their career in Coors, like Todd Helton (another borderline guy, probably)?

I dunno, just raising the question. Plus, there's the All-Star Game showdown with Randy Johnson, and the nickname "Booger." If nothing else we should keep having this discussion so we can show that clip and use "booger" in headlines.

Postseason Experience

I don't want to get way ahead of myself, because the series is only 2 games in, but isn't it readily visible how much better Kansas City is during this world series than the Metropolitan's? The Mets are comparable to the Giants in 2010 where they snuck in and on timely hitting and great pitching were able to rally through a few series and ultimately were so hot when they reached the series against Texas that they dominated. Kansas City with nearly 3 decades of finishing in the cellar of the division and routinely striking out with top picks and the inability to hold onto stars in their prime, instead having rosters of up and comers and aging veterans, to now with the stream of expendable cash brought to you by revenue sharing (i'm sure they had it before, but now they are forced to spend it instead of owners pocketing said cash).  To the eyeball test this team is hands down more experienced and ready than the mets have played so far. I'm hoping for a 6 or 7 game series but the way it's going now, looking more like a 4 or 5 game series.

pitching

Has their ever been a year where more pitchers dominated than this year?
NL: Scherzer, Cole, Greinke, Arrieta, Bumgarner, Zito, Kershaw, Harvey and  Degrom

AL: Price, Gray, Hernandez, Keuchel and Sale

1/4, .25, 25% analysis

Unlike college football, I wait till at least a quarter of the season is through so I don't have too many knee jerk reactions after 1 week of football. Here are a few

1. Colin- my god. How the mighty have fallen. He looked decent week 1 against the vikings. No mistakes, limited playbook, like Joe Ayoob, he did nothing great and nothing terrible. But since then, his numbers are terrible. 2 TDs (1, rushing  1 passing), 5 interceptions, 50% completion percentage, missed open receivers (yes there have been some drops but ultimately he has missed so many open receivers).  His supporters always point to his bad o-line, yes it's not good, but he had like 8 dropbacks that he had protections longer than 3.5 seconds and finished something like 1-6 for 4 yards, a sack and a first down run(can't remember the stat exactly). 3.5 seconds to an nfl qb should be plenty of time to find an open receiver. During the packers vs chiefs game they kept showing rodgers get rid of the ball in .35 seconds after the snap.....The calls for Gabbert are getting lounder and I'm one of them. Well we won't win with Gabbert or make the playoffs....umm dipshit fans...we aren't going to do it with Kap so lets try something else. Hopefully he can turn it around but it looks like his confidence is shot and he looks like a deer in headlights out there.

2. Analysts- How do these guys keep their jobs?!?!?! Cool you played football so that makes you an expert. Like 90% picked Miami to be a sleeper pick to be better than New England this year, 90% picked the Colts to go to the super bowl, etc. Wrong all the time, and are they ever brought out in front of everyone and said goddamnit you are an idiot- why would anyone pay attention to anything you have to say without laughing at you.

3. Ryan Tannenhill- apparently during scrimmages against the practice squad he's been getting torn apart and the now ex coach philbin told his practice squad players to take it easy on him so that he doesn't lose his confidence. Tannenhilll has been heard yelling at his practice squad players "Enjoy your practice squad paycheck!" Miami Dolphins i'm goign to say are the biggest embarrassment to the nfl. they have suh who is turning into albert Haynesworth 2.0, a caravan of qbs since marino left and a front office and management team that is in turmoil. Best thing that ever happened to this franchise recently is playing in the super bowl in Ace Ventura

4. I don't see ANY reason to say theres a single qb that's going to be the "next great qb." Rodgers is still young enough to dominate for several more years, brady, manning, brees and rothlisburger are all getting up there in age. The next echelon are a bunch of medicore to ok qbs- palmer, wilson, flacco, dalton, newton, etc. I think Dalton has potential to get there but he always seems to fade in the postseason. Luck has taken a step back and I just think those other qbs are ok but none that will literally be able to carry a team like the above have. We are looking at you Goff!!!

5. Nfl officials- I would hate to have the game slow down more, but I think there should be a rules official at each game- so that incidents like the bullshit non call in the mnf game are able to be corrected.How does an nfl official not know a rule or too scared to call it when obviously the player committed the infraction? Seattle should be 1-3 and again got the help of horrible officials.

6. Injuries- the one thing goodell implemented,whether he wanted to or not he still did, was the concussion protocal procedure. I wrote a lot about concussions in college and the ncaa had a huge study before the nfl was doing much about the impact of second impact syndrome, basically how much more susceptitble our brains are to prolonged injuries and adverse effects if injured again before it had a change to fully heal from an initial injury. The way the nfl has a 7 day waiting period, a protocal by a non team doctor etc is one thing i'm actually pretty stoked about. We wont know until a few more years if it has any long term effects but yay NFL

7. What do you think of the new extra point kick? I for one like it, isn't automatic. Makes team really debate on whether to go for 1 or 2 and puts that extra spin on things later in the game when you score the td to get within 1 but your kicker sucks or just the fact that a tie game isn't inevitable.

Sssslithery sssssnake

That is all.

Seahawks

If the Seahawks beat the Packers will it be because of Russell Wilson's special concussion water?

All right boys and girls, a HOF question to discuss. It's about David Ortiz, and it's a two-parter:

1. Should Ortiz be elected to the HOF?
2. Will he be?

We've been treated to a bunch of articles debating just this all week in the wake of Big Papi's 500th home run, and I want to hear you guys weigh in. A few pieces to consider:

-The numbers. 500 HR, 1600+ RBI, 1300+ runs, 578 doubles, 2289 hits, .284/.378/.547 slash line, 50.0 WAR*
-The postseason. 3 Boston Red Sox world championships, an ALCS MVP and a World Series MVP, a .295/.409/.553 slash line.
-The position. Primarily a DH, and for good reason (including -20.4 dWAR.
-The test. Showed up on the anonymous survey testing from 2004, but without being definitively linked to steroids (we don't know what substance landed him on the list), without it being confirmed (apparently there were false positives), and without experiencing a dramatic decline after the steroid era.

I think he should get in, but I think Edgar Martinez should get there first. I think the Red Sox connection will get him in, and I think it will be after a brief wait but before Martinez.

*All stats from Baseball-Reference.