8:30 p.m.
• Saturday night when Mrs. kkk came home from work at 11:15 p.m. Max got out and hasn’t returned. Little bastard. He’s shown up a few times on the porch looking for food but bolted when we opened the front door. I really don’t care if he comes back, but the better half is in hysterics. I just find it funny that the laziest cat I have ever seen decided to live outside (during the summer he was out on the porch for 10-15 minutes, came in and slept in front of an AC vent for several hours). Of course, Mrs. kkk has seen him twice since Saturday because we are putting out food for him in the hopes that we can snag this little fucker. Of course, like all welfare programs, this is attracting the other strays in the neighborhood, which is a bit of a surprise because I didn’t realize how many outside cats there were in this place. The house across from us has been abandoned for years, and I guess stray kitties have squatted there for year. Wonderful. I’ll say this, though. Our female Dessa hasn’t been this happy in YEARS.
Yeah, you know how we do this
Valentine (CW)-Haven't seen it. A lot of the new shows seem aimed at women.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Cartoon Network)-While I'm not a "Star Wars" fan, it's better than expected. B-
Pushing Daisies(ABC)-It's back, and I still love it. Funny, odd, and kinda cute. A
True Blood(HBO)-Finally, a TV show about Vampires that gets it right. Good acting, interesting characters, and vampires who don't hate themselves. B+
The Shield: The Final Season(FX)-Back, and still one of the best shows around. Shame it's the last season though. A+
Sons of Anarchy (FX)-Pretty good show. Ron Perlman pretty much steals the show. B+
Superjail (Adult Swim)-I love this. Frequently gory and hilarious, with an animation style that reminds me of the shows that were on MTV's "Liquid Television" and "Cartoon Sushi" B+
Gary Unmarried-No. Just no. F
It's Always Sunny in Philidelphia (FX)-Still pretty funny, and I love it. B+
Do Not Disturb (ABC)-Again, no. F
Fringe (Fox)-Not bad, but not really exciting me that much so far. B
Knight Rider (NBC)-Worst show of the season? Without a doubt. F
Dexter Season Three (Showtime)-I love this show. Just really well written and acted, and with very few flaws. A
Chuck Season Two (NBC)-I'm really liking it so far-it's even better than the first season. B+
I'm throwing the Designated Hitter rankings in this entry as they don't need their own entry. For the DH list it is made up of the top 14 in plate appearances
And now see the pain I had to go through in watching prized prospect Daric Barton be a colossal flop in his rookie year.
First Basemen Rankings
1. Albert Pujols, Cardinals
35.1 Win Shares
96.8 VORP
13.5 WARP3
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
2008 28 STL NL 148 524 100 187 44 0 37 116 7 3 104 54 .357 .462 .653 190 342 0 8 34 5 16
2. Lance Berkman, Astros
3. Mark Teixeira, Braves/Angels
4. Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox
5. Justin Morneau, Twins
6. Adrian Gonzalez, Padres
7. Carlos Delgado, Mets
8. Miguel Cabrera, Tigers
9. Carlos Pena, Rays
10. Ryan Howard, Phillies
11. Prince Fielder, Brewers
12. Joye Votto, Reds
13. Derrek Lee, Cubs
14. Jason Giambi, Yankees
15. Adam LaRoche, Pirates
16. Lyle Overbay, Blue Jays
17. James Loney, Dodgers
18. Mike Jacobs, Marlins
19. Ryan Garko, Indians
20. Ron Belliard, Nationals
21. Casey Kotchman, Angels/Braves
22. Paul Konerko, White Sox
23. Nick Swisher, White Sox
24. Kevin Millar, Orioles
25. Doug Mientkiewicz, Pirates
26. Rich Aurilia, Giants
27. Todd Helton, Rockies
28. Daric Barton, A's
9.3 Win Shares
-7.4 VORP
2.5 WARP3
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
2008 22 OAK AL 140 446 59 101 17 5 9 47 2 1 65 99 .226 .327 .348 85 155 6 3 5 3 6
29. John Bowker, Giants
30. Ross Gload, Royals
Designated Hitter Rankings
1. Aubrey Huff, Orioles
23.1 Win Shares
58.4 VORP
7.9 WARP3
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---
2008 31 BAL AL 154 598 96 182 48 2 32 108 4 0 53 89 .304 .360 .552 137 330 0 7 7 3 9
2. Milton Bradley, Rangers
3. Jim Thome, White Sox
4. David Ortiz, Red Sox
5. Jason Kubel, Twins
6. Hideki Matsui, Yankees
7. Cliff Floyd, Rays
8. Matt Stairs, Blue Jays/Phillies
9. Billy Butler, Royals
10. Gary Sheffield, Tigers
11. Frank Thomas, Blue Jays/A's
12. Craig Monroe, Twins
13. Travis Hafner, Indians
14. Jose Vidro, Mariners
I know that you are all thinking, "The regular season ended four days ago and I've already forgotten who was good and who sucked this year." Well my friends the annual Bored Player Rankings are here to help you!
Starting with position players, each list includes 30 players who had the most plate appearances at each position. Now these lists always end up including players who weren't true everyday players and end up populating the bottom of the list. So this year I'm going to highlight the worst everyday player at each position so we can all point and laugh at them.
Catcher Rankings
1. Joe Mauer, Twins
31.2 Win Shares
55.5 VORP
11.8 WARP3
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
2008 25 MIN AL 146 536 98 176 31 4 9 85 1 1 84 50 .328 .413 .451 134 242 1 11 8 1 21
2. Brian McCann, Braves
3. Geovany Soto, Cubs
4. Russell Martin, Dodgers
5. Ryan Doumit, Pirates
6. Chris Iannetta, Rockies
7. Bengie Molina, Giants
8. Kurt Suzuki, A's
9. Dioner Navarro, Rays
10. Kelly Shoppach, Indians
11. Yadier Molina, Cardinals
12. Chris Snyder, Diamondbacks
13. Jason Kendall, Brewers
14. A.J. Pierzynski, White Sox
15. Ivan Rodriguez, Tigers/Yankees
16. Ramon Hernandez, Orioles
17. Brian Schneider, Mets
18. Gerald Laird, Rangers
19. Rod Barajas, Blue Jays
20. Chris Coste, Phillies
21. Jesus Flores, Nationals
22. Miguel Olivo, Royals
23. Jason Varitek, Red Sox
8.7 Win Shares
-1.0 VORP
5.3 WARP3
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
2008 36 BOS AL 131 423 37 93 20 0 13 43 0 1 52 122 .220 .313 .359 74 152 0 2 3 6 13
24. Brandon Inge, Tigers
25. John Buck, Royals
26. Kenji Johjima, Mariners
27. Jeff Mathis, Angels
28. Jose Molina, Yankees
29. Carlos Ruiz, Phillies
30. Paul Bako, Reds
9:15 p.m.
• Love the dateline, too. If it's his private property and it's not infringing on the rights of others (or any of that home owner's association rigamoroll), he can post whatever the hell he wants, bad speling and all.
Enjoy the free speech while it lasts. Once Osama takes charge I bet this will be the next house to be "foreclosed" upon. Damn Bush economy.
I've actually thought of creating a sign of my own. And, yes, it would involve Osama.
What? Seriously, what the fuck? To say this sucks is an understatement. This is an abortion. In the pantheon of bad Metal albums, it's up there with Metallica's St. Anger, Slayer's Diablos in Musica, Pantera's pre Cowboys From Hell material, and Celtic Frosts Cold Lake. Seriously, fuck this shit. Worst album of the year.
You've seen the rest, now you'll see...more of the rest. It's my own personal college football Top 25 that shouldn't be read by anyone. I did this for about a month last year before getting Bored with it and I expect the same this year.
We're not even halfway through the season but were already down to 13 BCS conference unbeatens and 18 total in Division I-A. My feeling is at this point if you are still undefeated I'm going to rank you, regardless of schedule and conference affiliation. Also I try to keep the rankings based what you've done so far this year and who you've played which will explain why I have Texas Tech so low as they should be embarrassed for scheduling such a weak non-conference schedule and there is no justification to rank them in the Top 10 at the moment. I'm sure I will end up contradicting myself as early as this poll though, plus I'm taking about ten minutes to put this together.
1. Alabama
2. Oklahoma
3. Penn State
4. LSU
5. Missouri
6. Texas
7. BYU
8. Utah
9. South Florida
10. Boise State
11. Vanderbilt
12. Auburn
13. Georgia
14. Kansas
15. Wisconsin
16. Florida
17. USC
18. Northwestern
19. Connecticut
20. Ball State
21. Oklahoma State
22. Tulsa
23. Kentucky
24. Texas Tech
25. Virginia Tech
Sports stadiums (and baseball parks, in particular) are something of a hobby of mine. I've spent way too many hours online searching for pictures of them, reading people's opinions on them, and basically, just trying to find as much information on them as possible. And with the closing of both Yankee and Shea Stadiums over the past week, they've been in the news a lot.
Now, I'm generally not the most nostalgic guy when it comes to most things, and I don't blame the Yankees and Mets owners for wanting new stadiums and the extra revenue that they bring (although, I don't think the Steinbrenners or Wilpons are going to starve anytime soon), and I know the 2 new ballparks will be nicer and shinier and more 'fan friendly' and all that good crap, but I'll still miss that the New York stadiums aren't around anymore.
This doesn't just apply to those places, either. With the exception of a few, it seems that almost every major league ballpark, stadium, or arena will have been built in the last 10 to 15 years. I guess that, generally, this is a good thing. It brings more people out to the games and gets more people involved in the sports. But still, I'll miss all the crap that came with boring old stadiums.
I can't argue that dual-purpose stadiums aren't very idea, especially for baseball, but I like the fact that some of them still exist. I know that fans of these teams might not agree with me, but I like the folded up seats in the outfield in the Metrodome. I like the acres of foul territory at the Oakland Coliseum and those staircases in the outfield. At Yankee Stadium, I like that gap between the bleachers and the left field stands. I like the old bleachers, the remnants from the old, pre-renovation Stadium, that are way the fuck out there. I like that nothing there is perfect.
And, I think, that's my problem with new stadiums, mostly. Everything is too perfect. All the charm that these places try to create is contrived. The seats in right field in San Diego that jut out for no reason and basically the entire outfield in Houston. In most cases, these new stadiums are improvements on their previous homes (I won't try and argue that Three Rivers was a better place to see a game than PNC Park), and I look forward to seeing them when they open, but part of me misses the fact that I mostly missed out on era of stadiums.
11 p.m.
• So I was flipping through the On Demand options and found the first four “Sons of Anarchy” episodes on FX. I don’t watch many television shows on a regular basis. In fact, I don’t watch any. I’m a South Park fan, but the last few seasons have been hit-or-miss, and I just buy the DVDs. I used to watch “The Shield” but stopped after season 4 because I wasn’t watching it on a consistent basis. One day when the DVDs go on sale I’ll buy them up and finish watching them all. Another reason I don’t watch first-run television shows is that I don’t want to wait week after week, month after month, summer after summer for the latest episode, a quarter of the time which is spent airing commercials.
New show, several episodes commercial-free (or at least almost-commercial-free with a fast-forward button available): what can I lose, besides a few hours of my time?
I watched. It’s OK. Not great, but after a while I’ll go back to the On Demand section and see if any new episodes have been added. For those that don’t know what “Sons of Anarchy” is about, well, look it up yourself you lazy bastards. Here are my thoughts:
1) God damn is Peg Bundy attractive. It’s been around 20 years since “Married With Children” first aired and she looks way better now than she did back then. Oh, and I LOVE her character, but I think that could be because of the way she deals with her crack-whore ex-daughter-in-law. Reminds me of a certain person or two in my in-law family tree. I just wish I could remember who they are…
2) Dutch Wagenbach is on the show!!!!
That’s about all I have to say about this. Yay.
And I'm finally done with the best lists, just two days before they are out of date! It is pretty amazing to think that the best season by a pitcher in the last 30 years was by a guy who peaked at age 20.
Top 20 Starting Pitcher Seasons since 1979 (per Win Shares)
1. Dwight Gooden, 1985 - New York Mets 32.9 Win Shares
Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP IBB ERA *ERA+ WHIP
+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+-----+-----+----+-----+
1985 20 NYM NL 24 4 35 35 16 8 0 0 276.7 198 51 47 13 69 268 2 6 1065 4 1.53 228 0.965
2. Roger Clemens, 1997 - Toronto Blue Jays 31.9
3. Greg Maddux, 1995 - Atlanta Braves 29.9
4. Pedro Martinez, 2000 - Boston Red Sox 28.9
5. Roger Clemens, 1986 - Boston Red Sox 28.8
6. Randy Johnson, 2002 - Arizona Diamondbacks 28.7
7. Steve Carlton, 1980 - Philadelphia Phillies 28.6
8. Brett Saberhagen, 1989 - Kansas City Royals 28.3
9. Roger Clemens, 1990 - Boston Red Sox 28.1
10. Roger Clemens, 1987 - Boston Red Sox 27.7
11. Greg Maddux, 1992 - Chicago Cubs 27.4
12. Johan Santana, 2004 - Minnesota Twins 27.2
13. John Smoltz, 1996 - Atlanta Braves 27.1
14. John Tudor, 1985 - St. Louis Cardinals 27.1
15. Kevin Appier, 1993 - Kansas City Royals 27.0
16. Pedro Martinez, 1999 - Boston Red Sox 26.9
17. Mike Scott, 1986 - Houston Astros 26.8
18. Pedro Martinez, 1997 - Montreal Expos 26.4
19. Randy Johnson, 1999 - Arizona Diamondbacks 26.2
20. Greg Maddux, 1994 - Atlanta Braves 26.0
Now on to relief pitchers and it's not surprising the majority of these season come before the Dennis Eckersley era of closers. In fact you won't find Eck or Mariano Rivera in the Top 20 but the list should give you a better appreciation for Dan Quisenberry. Maybe the most impressive season on the list though is by Eric Gagne's 2003 year as he did it in only 82 1/3 innings. Also reminds you how far he has fallen.
Top 20 Relief Pitcher Seasons since 1979 (per Win Shares)
1. Dan Quisenberry, 1983 - Kansas City Royals 27.8 Win Shares
Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP IBB ERA *ERA+ WHIP
+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+-----+-----+----+-----+
1983 30 KCR AL 5 3 69 0 0 0 62 45 139.0 118 35 30 6 11 48 0 0 536 2 1.94 210 0.928
2. Eric Gagne, 2003 - Los Angeles Dodgers 25.0
3. Jim Kern, 1979 - Texas Rangers 24.9
4. Doug Corbett, 1980 - Minnesota Twins 24.0
5. Willie Hernandez, 1984 - Detroit Tigers 24.0
6. Dan Quisenberry, 1984 - Kansas City Royals 23.7
7. Dan Quisenberry, 1985 - Kansas City Royals 23.1
8. Bruce Sutter, 1984 - St. Louis Cardinals 23.0
9. Mike Marshall, 1979 - Minnesota Twins 22.7
10. Bruce Sutter, 1979 - Chicago Cubs 22.4
11. Jeff Montgomery, 1993 - Kansas City Royals 22.3
12. Bob James, 1985 - Chicago White Sox 21.8
13. Dan Quisenberry, 1982 - Kansas City Royals 21.5
14. John Wetteland, 1993 - Montreal Expos 21.4
15. Keith Foulke, 2003 - Oakland A's 21.4
16. Mark Eichhorn, 1986 - Toronto Blue Jays 21.0
17. Jeff Shaw, 1997 - Cincinnati Reds 20.9
18. Sid Monge, 1979 - Cleveland Indians 20.8
19. Greg Minton, 1982 - San Francisco Giants 20.7
20. Bob Stanley, 1983 - Boston Red Sox 20.7
7 p.m.
• I said this at the other place, but it bears repeating.
This return-to-Washington-gimmick doesn't give me tingly feelings about McCain FIGHTING FOR ME, but Letterman's logic doesn't make any sense. (If "things get tough" wouldn't the "suspension" be leaving Washington and blaming everyone else for the country's woes?) And of course McCain's opponent is a guy known more for voting "present" than actually doing anything of substance. (Then again, I'd rather have Osama do nothing than try to get his agenda pushed...)
• OMG more liberal bias: RePuBliCaNz r DuM.
Son, just because you go to college doesn't mean you're smart. To further prove my point -- I'm a college grad.
• Speaking of "dumb" and "reporters," let's ask an ACTOR who played a WALL STREET MEANIE his opinion of the REAL-LIFE financial zaniness.
Makes perfect sense to me. Like Douglas would know anything about currency speculation or other fancy words that I just put next to each other. Say, what was he doing at the United Nations anyway?
:bonk: :bonk: :bonk: :bonk:
OMG two entries in one day, I'm out of control! This year I decided to track the number of games that each team had televised by MLB's three television partners. The final week's schedule was finalized today so figured I'd actually post the final "standings" for the year. I thought it'd be better to post it on the blog rather than the TWiB form because we don't need another debate of the overexposure of two certain teams from the Northeast and God knows I've instigated a few of those debates.
Note there was only one team in MLB that did not have a single game televised by ESPN, FOX, or TBS. Try to guess before scrolling down to find out who. Really shouldn't surprise anyone.
ESPN (76 Games)
17 Games: Cubs, Red Sox
15: Yankees
11: Phillies
10: Dodgers, Mets
9: Rays
7: Angels, Brewers
6: Cardinals, Tigers, White Sox
5: Twins
4: Astros, Braves, Indians
2: Athletics, Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, Padres, Rangers
1: Giants, Nationals, Orioles, Rockies
FOX (66 Games)
10: Phillies
9: Red Sox, Tigers, Yankees
8: Braves, Cardinals, Dodgers
7: Angels, Cubs, Mets
6: Diamondbacks, Twins, White Sox
5: Brewers, Indians
3: Mariners, Padres, Rays, Reds, Rockies
2: Orioles, Royals
1: Athletics, Marlins, Nationals
TBS (26 Games)
8: Red Sox
5: White Sox, Yankees
4: Phillies
3: Blue Jays, Cardinals, Cubs, Marlins
2: Angels, Braves, Dodgers, Mets
1: Athletics, Brewers, Diamondbacks, Indians, Mariners, Orioles, Rays, Reds, Tigers, Twins
Totals
34: Red Sox
29: Yankees
27: Cubs
25: Phillies
20: Dodgers
19: Mets
17: Cardinals, White Sox
16: Angels, Tigers
14: Braves, Twins
13: Brewers, Rays
10: Indians
9: Diamondbacks
5: Blue Jays, Padres
4: Astros, Athletics, Mariners, Marlins, Orioles, Reds, Rockies
2: Nationals, Rangers, Royals
1: Giants
0: Pirates
8:15 p.m.
• Now this is odd. The much-talked about welfare brood from the better half’s family called us the other day. Well, I should say they called Mrs. kkk. And the matriarch of the clan asked Mrs. kkk who she was voting for in November. When the better half said “McCain” they asked if I, too, was voting for the honorable senator from Arizona. When Mrs. kkk replied “yes he is,” the toothless Mexican said, “you’re good.”
...
THESE PEOPLE VOTE REPUBICAN – WTF?!
Maybe I need to pay a visit to Camp Ron Paul. And here I thought our house would be crossing out their house’s vote.
Then again, Maybe they’re in the right party.
While that was my “wtf” moment of the week, my “you got to be fucking kidding me” moment came when I found out that my crack-whore niece-in-law was talking politics with the better half. She began saying how YOU KNOW WHAT OSAMA STANDS FOR and that he cares about poor people. Oh Jesus fucking Christ. The mere fact she is talking about voting makes me want to make it required that all voters must own property – much like is was back in the day. I told Mrs. kkk I’d break her kneecaps if she drove the niece to get registered. Did I say “break her kneecaps”? I mean, “be really really sad.” And to add insult to injury the niece didn’t realize that once she moved a year or so ago she had to re-register. Thanks to Mrs. kkk and her big mouth the niece now knows she would have been DISENFRANCHISED.
Here was my “And to think these people have the same voting rights I do” moment. I was flipping channels today and came across some Headline News segment with some guy talking to a group of first-time voters. All I can say is whenever we talk with a fuckball like the President of Iran, and he proceeds to send a nuke over, just make sure you blow up San Francisco.
You know I should probably finish this up this week being that the 2008 season ends on Sunday which will make these lists out of date. But hey that also means it'll be time to work on my "famous" Bored Player Rankings which will just serve as a painful reminder of how bad the A's offense was this year.
Top 20 Designated Hitter Seasons since 1979 (per Win Shares)
1. Frank Thomas, 1991 - Chicago White Sox 33.8 Win Shares
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
1991 23 CHW AL 158 559 104 178 31 2 32 109 1 2 138 112 .318 .453 .553 180 309 0 2 13 1 20
2. Frank Thomas, 2000 - Chicago White Sox 33.7
3. Edgar Martinez, 1995 - Seattle Mariners 31.7
4. David Ortiz, 2005 - Boston Red Sox 31.6
5. Rafael Palmeiro, 1999 - Texas Rangers 31.1
6. Paul Molitor, 1991 - Milwaukee Brewers 29.6
7. David Ortiz, 2006 - Boston Red Sox 29.4
8. Paul Molitor, 1993 - Toronto Blue Jays 29.4
9. David Ortiz, 2007 - Boston Red Sox 28.9
10. Paul Molitor, 1987 - Milwaukee Brewers 28.6
11. Paul Molitor, 1992 - Milwaukee Brewers 28.4
12. Edgar Martinez, 2000 - Seattle Mariners 28.2
13. Dave Winfield, 1992 - Toronto Blue Jays 26.7
14. Edgar Martinez, 1997 - Seattle Mariners 26.6
15. Hal McRae, 1982 - Kansas City Royals 26.1
16. Jim Thome, 2006 - Chicago White Sox 26.0
17. Manny Ramirez, 2001 - Boston Red Sox 25.1
18. David Ortiz, 2004 - Boston Red Sox 25.1
19. Travis Hafner, 2006 - Cleveland Indians 25.0
20. Frank Thomas, 1998 - Chicago White Sox 24.7
Deon's regime as a poster: July 3rd, 2003-September 21st, 2008
That's five years too long.
Yep, Deon's been banned. You may know Deon as "Rocky", "MVP", and "Douchebag." The reign of terror is over.
Who was Deon? Come on, if you're reading this, you know who he is. He's a poster so bad nobody would defend him. A poster so bad that even Marvin, EHME in the past, and WP look good in comparison. A man so stupid that he had no idea why people hated him so much, even though it was practically spelled out to him. A man who's thread bumping almost made Vanhalen's look good by comparison. A man who bragged about ruining an ex girlfriend's life, and had no shame about it. A man even much of the WWE folder didn't like. A man with no defenders-even wildpegasus and Marvin have defenders.
No he's gone.
Good riddance too. I've made no secret of my hatred of Deon. He was quite possibly the worst poster on the board. Sure, cabbageboy, Truthiness, Enigma, Marvin, etc. aren't what you'd call good either, but they just annoy me. Deon was so bad I'd cringe whenever he posted. He was possibly the only poster on the board that has actually made me mad. That's right, Deon was so bad, it pissed me off. Now, thank God, he's gone. Ceased to be in the board.
Only question is, who do I rip on now? Well, we'll see. For now a celebration is in order, because Deon is finally gone.
Happy Days indeed.
Often in historical discussions, a sportscaster might bring up a player such as Roberto Clemente or Sandy Koufax. They will cite the player's first few seasons, noting that while they were a superstar player, they struggled in their first few seasons in the majors. Koufax is a particularly good example. He reached the Majors at the age of 19, and in his first six seasons posted a rather pedestrian record of 36-40. This type of analysis misses a key point. Most comparable players were not in the majors at ALL at that age. A great deal of players were not yet even in professional ball.
Koufax played early in the major leagues because he was a "bonus baby." A player who earned a large bonus as an amateur was required to spend two seasons on the major league roster. This rule was intended to prevent teams from hoarding top amateur talent. Clemente was actually a Rule V pick, again a player required to play in the minors at an early age.
Often we tend to evaluate players by looking at career rate stats. Quirks in early or late career performance can skew these results however. I feel it is appropriate to focus on player's primes to get a fair evaluation of their true abilities. This is not the end-all of evaluation. Rather, it simply provides a second look at the great players, allowing us to avoid inaccurate ratings simply because of a fluke in the data set.
Over the offseason, I plan to rate the top five in baseball history at each position. I plan to use statistics, era adjustments, non-MLB players (i.e. negro leaguers), and perhaps even raw skills. These ratings may come out differently than expected, but I hope to find it a worthwhile and enjoyable project.
