2013 MLB Random Chatter

• hasbeen

  

  Live stream to MLB network following the HOF election results: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?topic_id=6003532&content_id=25543337
  
  I'm at work so I can't use the volume so I'm just trying to follow based on what's on the screen.
  
  List of all the players on the ballot: http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/hof_2013.shtml
  
  Lots of players from the steroid era. Bonds, Clemens, Sosa, Palmeiro,etc. Jack Morris' last shot at it.
  
  I've been reading some stuff about it and people think the only person who possibly gets in this year is Craig Biggio. Something about that just seems strange to me.
  
  As a Seattle fan, I really want Edgar to get in, but after only getting 36.5% last year it's not happening.
  
  And yes I know it's not a hall of fame without Pete Rose. And I agree with you. When Bud Selig dies, Pete will be in.
• lhslep134

  

  I think Morris gets in
• hasbeen

  

  Kind of a cool article about how stingy the writers are with the HOF: http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/40897716/
  
  Twenty voters didn't vote for Ted Williams to get into the Hall. That's crazy.
  
  This guy left this comment on the article. His usage of 'what's that' is annoying, but he makes pretty good points.

  [h=3]Mike Tanier[/h]Football writer here! What’s that? You say some of these players took performance-enhancing substances? Well, all of those suspensions they received for violating league policy should show up as blemishes on their record.
  What’s that? You say there were no suspensions, no tests, and for most of these players’ careers, baseball’s so-called &#8220olicy” was a series of memos which treated steroids no differently than a bag of weed, and included no specified guidelines or procedures? Well, you should have had a better policy, even an imperfect one like the NFL’s. The temptation to use performance-enhancing drugs is an unfortunate, inescapable by-product of big-time professional athletics, and a measured system of deterrents and punishments appropriate to the infraction is a must. At least you are sure that these are the only players who used them.
  What’s that? You say that untold hundreds of players at all levels of minor and major league competition may have used them? Well, gosh, that figures, since there was no real policy, and some players would start taking them just to remain competitive with other abusers. But at least there has been a comprehensive investigation and we now know for certain that the accomplishments of these players, some of the biggest stars in sports history, should be discounted.
  What’s that? You say that even after congressional hearings and long circus trials, no one is entirely sure who did what when, and when one of these players admitted to using steroids, you assumed he was lying because he did not admit to doing them as often or as maliciously as you think he did? Well, I suppose if you want to write off an entire period of your sport’s history as The Steroid Era, cast a pall of suspicion and disgust over a decade’s worth of sports memories, and basically say that everything exciting and delightful that happened in baseball from about 1988 to 2002 was squirted from a syringe into the bloodstream of some villainous cad, you can keep a generation’s worth of all-time greats out of the Hall of Fame for being maybe-slightly guiltier than everyone else of a crime no one bothered to accurately define or enforce.
  What’s that? You say that’s what many voters are perfectly willing to do? O-kay. Well, let me just concentrate on the Pro Football Hall of Fame and cast all my votes for Cris Carter.
  BALLOT: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa.

• gorocks99

  

  With 34% of the vote public, here are the results:
  
  70.1 - Biggio
  60.3 - Piazza
  59.8 - Raines
  59.3 - J. Morris
  59.3 - Bagwell
  45.4 - Bonds
  44.3 - Clemens
  39.2 - Schilling
  38.1 - L. Smith
  37.6 - Trammell
  35.6 - E. Martinez
  20.1 - McGriff
  18.6 - D. Murphy
  16.5 - L. Walker
  14.4 - McGwire
  13.4 - S. Sosa
  12.9 - Raffy
  8.8 - Mattingly
  ———————————
  2.7 - Lofton
  1.7 - P. Rose (goofy write-in’s)
  1.7 - Bernie Williams
  0.6 - D. Wells
  0.6 - J. Franco
  0.6 - S. Alomar Jr.
  0.6 - S. Green
  
  http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/newsstand/discussion/the_2012_hall_of_fame_ballot_collecting_gizmo
  
  At this point, no one is getting in. I'd say the only one with a realistic chance is Biggio.
• hasbeen

  

  Lofton getting knocked out is surprising. I figured he'd at least get the 5%.
• Iliketurtles

  

  hasbeen;1361823 wrote:Lofton getting knocked out is surprising. I figured he'd at least get the 5%.

  Yeah also out of the 18 people on ESPN who sumbitted a vote not one of them gave one to him. Which I was surprised by that as well.
  
  http://espn.go.com/mlb/hof13/story/_/id/8824295/mlb-craig-biggio-elected-espn-2013-baseball-hall-fame-ballot
• hasbeen

  

  Iliketurtles;1361829 wrote:Yeah also out of the 18 people on ESPN who sumbitted a vote not one of them gave one to him. Which I was surprised by that as well.
  
  http://espn.go.com/mlb/hof13/story/_/id/8824295/mlb-craig-biggio-elected-espn-2013-baseball-hall-fame-ballot

  Just odd.
  
  17 year career.
  6 consecutive All-Star Games(94-99)
  4 consecutive Gold Gloves(93-96)
  .299 career hitter
  
  To say he was a Hall of Famer is definitely a conversation, but to get more than 5% I thought was a lock.
• hasbeen

  

  Nobody got in. First time since 1996.
  
  http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8828339/baseball-hall-fame-fails-add-new-member-2013#comments
• hasbeen

  

  Bernie Williams, Lofton, Wells, Alomar Jr. all failed to get 5% and won't be on another ballot.
• Laley23

  

  Biggio should get it next year.
• queencitybuckeye

  Whoever doesn't vote for Maddux next year should lose their vote. Continuing decades of stupidity isn't "tradition".
• Ironman92

  

  queencitybuckeye;1361864 wrote:Whoever doesn't vote for Maddux next year should lose their vote. Continuing decades of stupidity isn't "tradition".

  
  +1
• hasbeen

  

  queencitybuckeye;1361864 wrote:Whoever doesn't vote for Maddux next year should lose their vote. Continuing decades of stupidity isn't "tradition".

  But people will just because of 'tradition.' it's a joke.
• Laley23

  

  hasbeen;1362390 wrote:But people will just because of 'tradition.' it's a joke.

  I agree. BUT, I think/bet Maddux is a 95% or up first ballot guy.
• hasbeen

  

  Laley23;1362394 wrote:I agree. BUT, I think/bet Maddux is a 95% or up first ballot guy.

  He should be unanimous. But nobody has ever been, so somebody will vote no just because. Some of those writers need to die so they can be replaced.
• Laley23

  

  hasbeen;1362399 wrote:He should be unanimous. But nobody has ever been, so somebody will vote no just because. Some of those writers need to die so they can be replaced.

  I dont have a problem with people not being unanimous, because of the 1st ballot thing. 1st ballot should be reserved for the best of the hall, and maybe some dont think Maddux is in that category. It would be a small #, so he still gets in 1st time, but it would keep from being unanimous.
  
  What I hate/dont get is when someone doesnt get in for 6 years then gets in on the 7th try. WTF changed in a year???
• hasbeen

  

  Laley23;1362407 wrote:I dont have a problem with people not being unanimous, because of the 1st ballot thing. 1st ballot should be reserved for the best of the hall, and maybe some dont think Maddux is in that category. It would be a small #, so he still gets in 1st time, but it would keep from being unanimous.
  
  What I hate/dont get is when someone doesnt get in for 6 years then gets in on the 7th try. WTF changed in a year???

  I assume part of that is they can only vote for 10 players. So year 6, there are 10 more deserving, but year 7 has a few of them already in which opens a slot for some writers.
• Laley23

  

  hasbeen;1362412 wrote:I assume part of that is they can only vote for 10 players. So year 6, there are 10 more deserving, but year 7 has a few of them already in which opens a slot for some writers.

  Possibly true. The whole process needs changed.
• queencitybuckeye

  Laley23;1362407 wrote:I dont have a problem with people not being unanimous, because of the 1st ballot thing. 1st ballot should be reserved for the best of the hall,

  I suppose, but don't agree. To me, it's binary, you is or you ain't.
  

  and maybe some dont think Maddux is in that category.
  

  What freaking game are those people watching?
• Ironman92

  

  Maddux will be Seaverish.
• thavoice

  Maddux was one of the few pitchers in the game that I would skip watching the reds that night just to watch him pitch. He made the ball dance and just listening to his insight in interviews shows he had the intellect and athletic talents to be the best.
  
  The reds hit him pretty well, and he didnt have great postseason success but still one of the best. His ERA's in the steroid era were amazing
• gorocks99

  

  MLB will start testing for HGH next season: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2013/01/10/mlb-expands-drug-testing-program-hgh-in-season-testing/1823607/
• gorocks99

  

  Sammy Sosa's official Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/sammysosamr609/sammy-sosa-sammy-sosa-official-pinterest/
  
  
• Classyposter58

  

  Tigers will win world series
  
  /thread
• Classyposter58

  

  gorocks99;1363283 wrote:Sammy Sosa's official Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/sammysosamr609/sammy-sosa-sammy-sosa-official-pinterest/
  
  

  :laugh::laugh: