While I'm still trying to figure out what to do next with this blog, King Kamala's post about the A's 20th straight win in 2002 in offseason thread reminded me that I recently tripped upon some old A's highlights. This past season was the A's 40th year in Oakland and they had some Top 40 Moments poll, which I didn't even realize until after the season, but I guess on MLB.com at one point they posted a ton of old A's clips. I think they've been taken down off the A's site since then but by accident I found them with a url to the Cubs website of all places.
Almost all the clips from the 70's and 80's were old MLB home video footage but there were some cool 90's and 2000's clips in there with many of them having the radio call by the legendary Bill King. Here are the more choice ones that I found, or were at least the ones that were still working. I was disappointed that the clip to Ramon Hernandez's game winning bunt single in Game 1 of the '03 ALDS was not working.
October 18, 1988 vs. Los Angeles - Mark McGwire's forgotten walk off in Game 3 of the '88 World Series
June 29, 1990 at Toronto - Final out of Dave Stewart's no hitter
August 15, 1990 vs. Boston - Mark McGwire walk off grand slam
October 1, 2000 vs. Texas - Final out of division clinching win
-Was at this game and it was my birthday too.
August 12, 2001 vs. New York - Jason Giambi walk off to sweep the Yankees
September 1, 2002 vs. Minnesota - Miguel Tejada walk off for 18th straight win
September 4, 2002 vs. Kansas City - Scott Hatteberg walk off for record 20th straight win
-Covered this game in a prior entry.
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
Dave Concepcion - Shortstop
Cincinnati Reds 1970-1988
14th year on the ballot
Past HOF Vote Results
1994: 6.81%
1995: 9.35%
1996: 13.40%
1997: 12.68%
1998: 16.91%
1999: 11.87%
2000: 13.43%
2001: 14.37%
2002: 11.86%
2003: 11.09%
2004: 11.26%
2005: 10.66%
2006: 12.50%
Awards
1974 NL Gold Glove - SS
1975 NL Gold Glove - SS
1976 NL Gold Glove - SS
1977 NL Gold Glove - SS
1979 NL Gold Glove - SS
1981 NL Silver Slugger - SS
1982 NL Silver Slugger - SS
All-Star Selections: 9 (1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982)
League Leader
None of note
Career Ranks
Games: 48th
Hall of Fame Stats
Gray Ink: Batting - 25 (863) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 29.1 (311) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 106.5 (136) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: 3 (Bobby Wallace, Pee Wee Reese, Luis Aparicio)
Other Similar Batters: Omar Vizquel, Tony Fernandez, Bert Campaneris, Alan Trammell, Royce Clayton, Garry Templeton, Frank White
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1970: 5/1.9
1971: 4/0.9
1972: 6/3.5
1973: 16/5.9
1974: 25/10.7
1975: 19/8.0
1976: 23/10.2
1977: 19/8.7
1978: 25/8.8
1979: 24/10.2
1980: 17/6.1
1981: 20/9.7
1982: 17/8.3
1983: 8/4.2
1984: 11/3.1
1985: 12/2.8
1986: 8/2.4
1987: 8/3.6
1988: 2/0.8
Career Win Shares: 269
Career WARP3: 109.7
Would he get my vote?
No. I did give him more thought than I originally anticipated mainly due to his strong WARP3 number but he seems overrated by that measure. He was the best shortstop of his era which is definately worthy of some extra credit but he played in a dreadful era for shortstops. His career OPS+ is actually one point higher than Ozzie Smith's but Smith had 56 more Win Shares and 39.6 more WARP3 despite only playing a half season longer. He had some very good years in his prime but the level of performance just wasn't high enough to warrant a spot in the HOF.
I had been looking for an excuse to do an entry on one of the most bizarre years in baseball history and the A.L. MVP pick in 1981 was controversial so might as well do a redo. 1981 featured the strike to end all strikes, until the 1994 strike trumped it of course. The players went on strike on June 12th that year over free agent compensation and did not comeback until August 9th, losing 712 games in the process.
Now the owners decided to come up with an idea to drum up some interest back in the sport to bring back a jaded fanbase after the strike ended: a split season. The standings as they were for games played before the strike would be considered the first half and then the second half would be the games played after the strike ended. An extra round of playoffs would be added where the division champ of the first half would meet the division champ of the second half. Now if the entire nation didn't say "What are they fucking stupid?" when the announced this, then they should have. My guess is the owners came up with this idea to try to recoup some of the revenue they lost from the strike by getting an extra round of playoffs.
You don't even have to be a baseball fan to see the obvious problems with the idea. First off the season restarted it meant all the division leaders thru June 11th had already clinched a playoff spot: Yankees, A's, Phillies, and Dodgers. These four teams had essentially nothing to play for beyond pride for two months as they already knew they were going to the playoffs. Doesn't really get the competitive juices flowing, you know? Second problem was the nightmare scenerio where teams who had better records overall for the entire season being left out of postseason play due the split season where otherwise they would have been division champions. Hey guess what? It happened.
St. Louis finished with a 59-43 record overall, 2 games better than second half N.L. East champion Montreal and 2 1/2 over first half champ Philadelphia. But it got much worse in the N.L. West. Cincinnati finished 66-42 overall, 4 games better than first half champ Los Angeles and 6 1/2 games better than second half champ Houston. The Reds had the best record in baseball in 1981 and did not go the playoffs. Let me repeat that, the team with the best record in baseball did not qualify for the postaseason. I'm surprised there wasn't riots in the streets of Cincinnati. The madness doesn't stop there as in the A.L. West, Kansas City won the second half title but finished the season 3 games under .500 overall. So we have the best team in baseball not in the playoffs and a team with a losing record in the playoffs. Almost makes you think they would have been better off shutting down the season like they would 13 years later.
Oh ya the A.L. MVP. Rollie Fingers won the award marking the first time a closer had won it. Already gone over this in the 1984 and 1992 redos that closers should not be winning the MVP. He would beat out Rickey Henderson in a very tight race. My only guess is that the resut was due to Fingers being the established, World Series hero while Henderson was only his second full season. It's also pretty rare for players with low homerun totals to win the award as he only hit six homeruns in the short '81 season. His teammate Tony Armas was the only other player to receive a first place vote and finished 4th overall despite being, ironically enough, the 4th best player on his own team that year.
Actual Results
1) Rollie Fingers 2) Rickey Henderson 3) Dwight Evans 4) Tony Armas 5) Eddie Murray 6) Carney Lansford 7) Dave Winfield 8) Cecil Cooper 9) Goose Gossage 10) Tom Paciorek 11) Dwayne Murphy 12) Kirk Gibson 13) Steve McCatty 14) Bobby Grich 15) Jack Morris 16) Al Oliver 17t) Buddy Bell 17th) Robin Yount 19) Bill Almon 20) Jerry Mumphrey 21t) Mike Hargrove 21t) Alan Trammell 23t) Steve Kemp 23t) Greg Luzinski 23t) Dennis Martinez 23t) Ken Singleton 27t) George Brett 27t) Dave Stieb
#10
.336/.389/.439, 68 RC, 133 OPS+, .301 EQA, 32.4 VORP, 18 Win Shares
#9
.294/.360/.464, 66 RC, 138 OPS+, .310 EQA, 34.7 VORP, 16 Win Shares
#8
.259/.348/.493, 62 RC, 146 OPS+, .308 EQA, 29.3 VORP, 20 Win Shares
#7
.326/.379/.509, 78 RC, 151 OPS+, .315 EQA, 39.6 VORP, 17 Win Shares
#6
.294/.360/.534, 73 RC, 156 OPS+, .319 EQA, 40.1 VORP, 21 Win Shares
#5
150 ERA+, 1.49 K/BB, 1.08 WHIP, 51.9 VORP, 18 Win Shares
#4
.304/.378/.543, 72 RC, 164 OPS+, .325 EQA, 49.1 VORP, 21 Win Shares
#3
.320/.363/.495, 75 RC, 151 OPS+, .316 EQA, 42.0 VORP, 22 Win Shares
#2
.319/.408/.437, 76 RC, 150 OPS+, .323 EQA, 45.6 VORP, 27 Win Shares
#1
.296/.415/.522, 90 RC, 163 OPS+, .333 EQA, 47.7 VORP, 26 Win Shares
Damn what kind of self hating A's fans am I to not give the award to RICKEY~? Also I'm taking an award away from a player who has his number retired by the A's. What have I done!?
Anyways as I mentioned in my entry about my first game that Evans has been very under valued over the years. Also have a couple of other good players who have been forgotten in Cecil Cooper and Bobby Grich. Hey and look STEVE McCATTY!!! What you don't remember Steve McCatty? Ya okay '81 was his only good year and he should have won the Cy Young. I guess a similar parallel would be 2003 when Esteban Loaiza blew away any other year he had but couldn't get the Cy Young. I did actually come close to putting Fingers at #10. Oh and that Tom Paciorek card is awesome.
Now finally finishing off these Worst lists with designated hitters. Since the DH has only been around since 1973 these are the worst DH seasons of all-time. Unlike every other position, there is no additional value to be provided by DH beyond what they do with their bat. They aren't even expected to be threats on the basepaths either as most DH's are aging veterans or guys who are so slow they couldn't even handle first base. The top of the list falls into the aging veteran category as he was a great hitting catcher, who you can make a legit argument for him being a Hall of Famer, but he fell of a cliff offensively in this season at age 34 and goes down as the worst DH season by a wide margin. Not surprising there are a few all-time greats on this list who were the twilight of their careers.
Top 25 Worst Designated Hitter Seasons of All-Time (per OPS+)
1. Ted Simmons, 1984 - Milwaukee Brewers 61 OPS+ (.221/.269/.300)
2. Ruben Sierra, 1996 - New York Yankees/Detroit Tigers 75
3t. Alvin Davis, 1991 - Seattle Mariners 76
3t. Tommy Harper, 1974 - Boston Red Sox 76
5. Joe Carter, 1997 - Toronto Blue Jays 77
6t. Scott Hatteberg, 2005 - Oakland A's 81
6t. Dave Parker, 1991 - California Angels/Toronto Blue Jays 81
8t. Larry Sheets, 1988 - Baltimore Orioles 83
8t. Mitchell Page, 1979 - Oakland A's 83
10. Greg Vaughn, 1995 - Milwaukee Brewers 85
11t. Paul Molitor, 1998 - Minnesota Twins 86
11t. Eddie Murray, 1994 - Cleveland Indians 86
13. Eddie Murray, 1996 - Cleveland Indians/Baltimore Orioles 86
14t. Gerald Perry, 1990 - Kansas City Royals 90
14t. Dave Kingman, 1986 - Oakland A's 90
16. Julio Franco, 1997 - Cleveland Indians/Milwaukee Brewers 91
17t. Edgar Martinez, 2004 - Seattle Mariners 92
17t. Rico Carty, 1979 - Toronto Blue Jays 92
17t. Deron Johnson, 1975 - Chicago White Sox/Boston Red Sox 92
20t. Carl Everett, 2005 - Chicago White Sox 94
20t. George Brett, 1993 - Kansas City Royals 94
20t. Andre Thornton, 1985 - Cleveland Indians 94
20t. Reggie Jackson, 1984 - California Angels 94
24t. Carl Yastrzemski, 1981 - Boston Red Sox 95
24t. Hank Aaron, 1975 - Milwaukee Brewers 95
Back by popular demand, add another "Worst" list with the worst pitcher seasons since 1961 using ERA+. Checking baseball-reference.com, unlike qualifications for the batting title, it appears the qualification for the ERA title has never changed. In order to qualify a pitcher must pitch at least one inning per team game. Now I could have gone back to 1901 then but again it would been littered with too many early 20th century pitchers that most us have never heard of. The worst ERA+ of all-time was Rube Bressler of the Philadelphia Athletics in 1915 who posted an ERA+ of 56. To put that into context, he had an 5.20 ERA while the league ERA that season was 2.93.
I elected to go with 1961 since that was the beginning of the expansion era of MLB when the Angels and Senators (ver 2.0) were added to the American League. Now on the player lists there were a lot of ties and there would have been a ton for the pitcher list so to make it slightly less cluttered I break the ties by who threw more innings (as in who sucked in a larger sample). And the top of the list is someone who we could never forget, nor can we ever forget his wife's huge tits.
Top 25 Worst Pitcher Seasons since 1961 (per ERA+)
1. Jose Lima, 2005 - Kansas City Royals 63 ERA+ (6.99 ERA in 168 2/3 IP)
2. Jack Lamabe, 1964 - Boston Red Sox 65
3. Eric Milton, 2005 - Cincinnati Reds 66 (186 1/3 IP)
4. Rick Wise, 1968 - Philadelphia Phillies 66 (182)
5. Mark Davis, 1984 - San Francisco Giants 66 (174 2/3)
6. Bob Knepper, 1989 - Houston Astros/San Francisco Giants 66 (165)
7. Jim Deshaies, 1994 - Minnesota Twins 66 (130 1/3)
8. Warren Spahn, 1964 - Milwaukee Braves 67
9. Matt Keough, 1982 - Oakland A's 68 (209 1/3)
10. Steve Arlin, 1973 - San Diego Padres 68 (180)
11. Phil Ortega, 1965 - Washington Senators 68 (179 2/3)
12. Javier Vazquez, 1998 - Montreal Expos 69
13. Vida Blue, 1979 - San Francisco Giants 70 (237)
14. Frank Baumann, 1961 - Chicago White Sox 70 (187 2/3)
15. Pete Broberg, 1972 - Texas Rangers 70 (176 1/3)
16. Joel Pineiro, 2006 - Seattle Mariners 70 (165 2/3)
17. Terry Mulholland, 1995 - San Francisco Giants 70 (149)
18. Dick Ruthven, 1981 - Philadelphia Phillies 70 (146 2/3)
19. Willie Fraser, 1988 - California Angels 71 (194 2/3)
20. Bob Walk, 1993 - Pittsburgh Pirates 71 (187)
21. Bill Singer, 1975 - California Angels 71 (175)
22. Brandon Duckworth, 2002 - Philadelphia Phillies 71 (163)
23. Terry Mulholland, 1994 - New York Yankees 71 (120)
24. Jack Fisher, 1967 - New York Mets 72 (220 1/3)
25. Joe Coleman, 1975 - Detroit Tigers 72 (201)
Vern asked for it so here it is. All the attention goes to the quarterbacks in the draft but there are some pretty impressive players at other positions that came out of this draft. This draft did live up to the hype.
1. Baltimore - John Elway, QB, Stanford
Right FBI Agent: Don't worry Mrs. Simpson we've helped hundreds of people in danger. We'll give you a new name, a new job, new identity.
Homer: (Raising hand) Oooh, I want to be John Elway! (Homer starts day dreaming about being John Elway. The ball is snapped to Homer and he dives over the pile into the endzone.)
Announcer: Elway takes the snap and runs it in for a touchdown! Thanks to Elway's Patanent last second magic the final score of Super Bowl XXX is Denver 7, San Francisco 56.
Homer:(Back to reality) Woo Hoo!
2. L.A. Rams - Eric Dickerson, RB, SMU
Probably due to his numerous contract holdouts Dickerson gets left out a lot now when talking about the greatest running back of all-time but he deserves consideration. How about that the #1 and #2 picks lived up to the hype? Doesn't happen very often.
3. Seattle - Curt Warner, RB, Penn State
A Penn State running back who wasn't a bust, strange. Had two 1400+ yards seasons.
4. Denver - Chris Hinton, T, Northwestern
Obviously didn't stay in Denver as he was traded to Baltimore in the Elway trade. Seven time Pro Bowl selection.
5. San Diego - Billy Ray Smith, LB, Arkansas
Took us to the 5th pick to find a non-Pro Bowl player but Smith was decent. Now an awful analyst on FSN's college football show that no one watches.
6. Chicago - Jimbo Covert, T, Pittsburgh
Certainly sounded like an offensive lineman. Two Pro Bowl selections.
7. Kansas City - Todd Blackledge, QB, Penn State
First true bust of the draft and it's fitting he was the one true bust of the famous quarterback class.
8. Philadelphia - Michael Haddix, RB, Mississippi State
Now we're getting some busts. Career high in rushing yards was 311.
9. Houston - Bruce Matthews, G, USC
Simply one of the greatest offensive lineman ever. Selected to 14 Pro Bowls.
10. N.Y. Giants - Terry Kinard, S, Clemson
Decent, 31 career interceptions.
11. Green Bay - Tim Lewis, CB, Pittsburgh
Had 12 interceptions in his first two years but a neck injury forced him into early retirement in 1986.
12. Buffalo - Tony Hunter, TE, Notre Dame
Only lasted four years.
13. Detroit - James Jones, RB, Florida
Hung around for a while but never cracked 1000 yards and only 3.6 career ypc.
14. Buffalo - Jim Kelly, QB, Miami
Didn't join the Bills until 1986 as he spent three years in the USFL with the Houston Gamblers. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002.
15. New England - Tony Eason, QB, Illinois
You'll get differing opinions on whether Eason was a bust or not though he had a couple of good years but flamed out pretty quick.
16. Atlanta - Mike Pitts, DE, Alabama
Played 12 years despite not being all that good.
17. St. Louis - Leonard Smith, DB, McNeese State
Lasted nine seasons.
18. Chicago - Willie Gault, WR, Tennessee
Never really broke out as a star but was a big time deep threat.
19. Minnesota - Joey Browner, S, USC
37 career interceptions, six Pro Bowls.
20. San Diego - Gary Anderson, RB, Arkansas
Solid all-purpose back who had almost as many receiving yards as rushing.
21. Pittsburgh - Gabriel Rivera, DT, Texas Tech
Paralyzed in an accident while driving drunk during his rookie year. Take a bow loser.
22. San Diego - Gill Byrd, CB, San Jose State
Holds franchise record for interceptions with 42.
23. Dallas - Jim Jeffcoat, DE, Arizona State
Never a star but lasted 15 seasons and had 102 career sacks.
24. N.Y. Jets - Ken O'Brien, QB, UC Davis
I don't believe in '83 the draft had an audience yet but it would have been pretty fun to have seen Jets' fans react to them drafting a QB from UC Davis. Selected to two Pro Bowls.
25. Cincinnati - Dave Rimington, C, Nebraska
Unspectacular seven year career.
26. L.A. Raiders - Don Mosebar, T, USC
Played every o-line position in his 12 year career.
27. Miami - Dan Marino, QB, Pittsburgh
Who?
28. Washington - Darrell Green, CB, Texas A&I
Another all-time great to close out the first round.
Other Players of Note
32. L.A. Rams - Henry Ellard, WR, Fresno State
37. N.Y. Giants - Leonard Marshall, DT, LSU
39. Buffalo - Darryl Talley, LB, West Virginia
49. San Francisco - Roger Craig, RB, Nebraska
61. Kansas City - Albert Lewis, CB, Grambling
64. Chicago - Dave Duerson, S, Notre Dame
84. Washington - Charles Mann, DE, Nevada
110. L.A. Raiders - Greg Townsend, DE, TCU
167. Miami - Reggie Roby, P, Iowa
203. Chicago - Richard Dent, DE, Tennessee State
223. Miami - Mark Clayton, WR, Louisville
276. Cincinnati - Tim Krumrie, DT, Wisconsin
289. San Francisco - Jesse Sapolu, C, Hawaii
310. Denver - Karl Mecklenburg, LB, Minnesota
334. Miami - Anthony Carter, WR, Michigan
It's Christmas time for stat geeks as Hardball Times has released the first Win Shares of the 2006 season and thus I can now I start tracking the MVP candidates for the season. Of coursing being that we are just a little over six weeks into the season this can all be taken with a grain of salt but hey I need excuses for entries. So every Tuesday now I'll have an updated Top 10 list for each league.
I'll start with the National League as let's face it, the race is alredy over. Barring injury everyone is running for second place behind Albert Pujols this season. He just completely blows away the field and didn't give a thought to anyone else at the top spot. What you will notice is the high placement of a couple of pitchers which didn't surprise me as with the small sample of games the more impact an individual starting pitcher can have. Those two pitchers are the least likely candidates to still be in the Top 10 come September.
#10 Chase Utley, Phillies
.302/.372/.547, 25 RC, .277 EQA, 14.8 VORP, 8 Win Shares
#9 Bobby Abreu, Phillies
.257/.437/.459, 27 RC, .288 EQA, 7.9 VORP, 8 Win Shares
#8 Brandon Webb, Diamondbacks
167 ERA+, 5.71 K/BB, 1.18 WHIP, 22.1 VORP, 7 Win Shares
#7 Morgan Ensberg, Astros
.281/.401/.619, 30 RC, .291 EQA, 15.1 VORP, 8 Win Shares
#6 Carlos Delgado, Mets
.298/.394/.610, 34 RC, .291 EQA, 15.9 VORP, 7 Win Shares
#5 Carlos Lee, Brewers
.296/.392/.655, 34 RC, .296 EQA, 20.1 VORP, 8 Win Shares
#4 Bronson Arroyo, Reds
221 ERA+, 3.58 K/BB, 1.01 WHIP, 23.1 VORP, 7 Win Shares
#3 Lance Berkman, Astros
.319/.384/.652, 37 RC, .293 EQA, 18.0 VORP, 10 Win Shares
#2 Tom Glavine, Mets
189 ERA+, 2.64 K/BB, 1.03 WHIP, 20.2 VORP, 8 Win Shares
#1
.333/.469/.833, 49 RC, .327 EQA, 33.1 VORP, 14 Win Shares
Now for the American League which could be a wide open race all year. As of right now DH's (or DH types) are dominating the field with the likes of Giambi, Thome, Hafner, and Gomes. Ramon Hernandez, Alexis Rios, and Jose Contreras all won't be there at the end and Contreras' stock will drop dramtically pretty soon with him on the DL. The two big candidates from last year, Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz, are both off to relatively slow starts but figure both will make a push at some point.
#10 Ramon Hernandez, Orioles
.315/.385/.488, 29 RC, .280 EQA, 11.0 VORP, 8 Win Shares
#9 Nick Swisher, A's
.305/.405/.664, 28 RC, .294 EQA, 18.4 VORP, 7 Win Shares
#8 Alexis Rios, Blue Jays
.367/.386/.692, 30 RC, .294 EQA, 17.2 VORP, 7 Win Shares
#7 Vernon Wells, Blue Jays
.358/.407/.642, 33 RC, .294 EQA, 24.7 VORP, 7 Win Shares
#6 Travis Hafner, Indians
.314/.430/.628, 37 RC, .303 EQA, 21.6 VORP, 7 Win Shares
#5 Miguel Tejada, Orioles
.361/.402/.613, 30 RC, .295 EQA, 25.7 VORP, 7 Win Shares
#4 Jonny Gomes, Devil Rays
.288/.421/.648, 32 RC, .295 EQA, 18.7 VORP, 10 Win Shares
#3 Jason Giambi, Yankees
.269/.480/.654, 38 RC, .311 EQA, 19.9 VORP, 8 Win Shares
#2 Jose Contreras, White Sox
335 ERA+, 1.91 K/BB, 0.87 WHIP, 24.3 VORP, 8 Win Shares
#1
.290/.438/.694, 43 RC, .304 EQA, 23.0 VORP, 11 Win Shares
I'm personally not sold that Thome will keep this up all year but you never know.
Hey its entry #200! Ya I had nothing special thought out. I've tried putting together a list of the Top 50 Oakland A's of All-Time but am never satisfied with the list when I put it together. I also tried putting together a list of the Top 100 baseball players of my baseball lifetime but that became too difficult and eventually too subjective as I made adjustments to it. So as a total cop out I decided to list the Top 50 most replied to threads in the Sports forum here at TSM which is pretty much the only forum I post in for the most part. I'd pull quotes from these threads but not even I'm not Bored enough to go through threads with thousands of posts to find something remotely funny although feel free to do it for me.
1. One & Only MLB playoff discussion thread 3616 replies
Sarted September 27, 2003 by KingPK
Most Posts: Choken One - 612
2. English Football 3483
Started June 22, 2003 by welshjerichomark
Most Posts: TheFranchise - 893
3. The Official MLB Offseason Topic 2396
Started November 9, 2003 by Bored
Most Posts: alkeiper - 448
4. Fantasy NBA League? 2264
Started October 1, 2003 by MarvinisaLunatic
Most Posts: Lightning Flik - 415
5. The OAO NBA Playoffs/Finals Thread 2145
Started April 10, 2004 by Dangerous A
Most Posts: Choken One - 203
6. And So it Begins 2132
Started October 28, 2004 by Bruiser Chong
Most Posts: alkeiper - 238
7. The one and only NHL playoffs thread 1989
Started October 6, 2003 by Urban Warfare
Most Posts: ???
8. The ALCS: New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox 1902
Started October 9, 2004 by The Dames
Most Posts: Anglesault - 246
9. NFL Discussion Forumtable 1870
Started November 14, 2006 by Agent of Oblivion
Most Posts: Porter - 144
10. Smartmarks Fake Baseball League 1714
Started October 18, 2003 by Evolution
Most Posts: Evolution - 553
11. Another reason why ESPN sucks 1681
Started April 13, 2006 by KingPK
Mosts Posts: Leena - 156
12. 2006-7 MLB Offseason Thread 1593
Started October 2, 2006 by Mik
Most Posts: cheech13 - 182
13. 2006 NFL Off-Season 1558
Started January 3, 2006 by FFMS
Most Posts: Carlito Brigante - 203
14. The OaO 2003-2004 NBA Thread! 1369
Started October 23, 2003 by Just J
Most Posts: alfdogg - 167
15. The 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs thread 1317
Started April 4, 2004 by CanadianChris
Most Posts: Lightning Flik - 99
16. The Official 2003 NBA Playoffs Thread 1246
Started April 16, 2003 by Crazy Dan
Mosts Posts: ???
17. Official College Football thread 1229
Started September 2, 2003 by Vern Gagne
Most Posts: Bored - 216
18. The NFL Offseason/Pre-Draft Thread 1177
Started January 22, 2005 by MrRant
Most Posts: Vitamin X - 158
19. TSM Fantasy Baseball 2007 1150
Started January 12, 2007 by MJ Styles
Most Posts: MJ Styles - 179
20. TSM 2006 NBA Playoffs thread 1140
Started April 17, 2006 by Dangerous A
Most Posts: alfdogg - 105
21. The One & Only 2003 NFL Draft Thread 1126
Started April 25, 2003 by Flyboy
Most Posts: ???
22. The Rose Bowl Thread 1112
Started December 3, 2005 by Bored
Most Posts: Damaramu - 236
23. NBA Offseason Thread 1109
Started May 8, 2006 by Kingofthe909
Most Posts: alfdogg - 143
24. NBA Offseason News and Moves 1104
Started June 17, 2004 by NaturalBornThriller4:20
Most Posts: alfdogg - 106
25. 2006-07 MLB Offseason Thread (Part II) 1095
Started December 11, 2006 by alkeiper
Most Posts: cheech13 - 154
26. NHL 2006 Playoffs thread... 1087
Started April 17, 2006 by Carlito Brigante
Most Posts: CanadianChris - 165
27. NBA Roundtable Discussion 1056
Started December 7, 2006 by alfdogg
Most Posts: Ripper - 145
28. Head 2 Head Fantasy Baseball 2005 1026
Started February 21, 2005 by Lightning Flik
Most Posts: Lightning Flik - 205
29. NHL 2006 Off-Season... 1012
Started June 19, 2006 by Carlito Brigante
Most Posts: Kingofthe909 - 134
30. NCAA Basketball Tournament Thread 1006
Started March 17, 2005 by Slayer
Mosts Posts: Damaramu - 131
31. The OAO NHL 2003-2004 Season Thread 1003
Started December 2, 2003 by CanadianChris
Most Posts: CanadianChris - 118
32. Super Bowl XL 996
Started January 22, 2006 by CanadianChris
Most Posts: Hawk 34 - 67
33. NBA Offseason Stuff 953
Started May 31, 2005 by alfdogg
Most Posts: alfdogg - 128
34. The One and Only Divisional Playoffs thread 917
Started January 10, 2004 by CanadianChris
Most Posts: FrigidSoul - 102
35. College Hoops: NCAA Tournament Rounds 1 and 2 913
Started March 13, 2006 by SilverPhoenix
Most Posts: Leena - 100
36. 2005-2006 MLB Offseason thread 891
Started October 19, 2005 by Mik
Most Posts: FFMS - 138
37. Fantasy Football 871
Started July 7, 2003 by razazteca
Most Posts: Lightning Flik - 162
38. The Official SmartMarks Fantasy Football Thread 869
Started July 28, 2002 by The Man in Blak
Most Posts: ???
39. NBA Playoffs 2006: Conference Semifinals 867
Started May 6, 2006 by alfdogg
Most Posts: naiwf - 89
40. TSM Head-to-head FantasyBaseball League~! 841
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Most Posts: Lightning Flik - 216
41. TOAO NFL Week 2 Thread 813
Started September 13, 2003 by bps21
Most Post: tpww - 144
42t. Anyone up for Fantasy Football? 808
Started July 3, 2004 by LaParkaMarka
Most Posts: Lightning Flik - 151
42t. 2005-06 MLB Offseason Thread (Part II) 808
Started Decmeber 11, 2005 by alkeiper
Most Posts: alkeiper - 114
44. OAO 2004 MLB Games Thread 800
Started April 4, 2004 by HarleyQuinn
Most Posts: Anglesault - 165
45. Yankees/Twins ALDS Thread 799
Started October 5, 2004 by alkeiper
Most Posts: mike546 - 131
46. The ONE and ONLY World Series Thread 795
Started October 16, 2003 by alkeiper
Most Posts: Mik - 179
47. The 2006 NFL Draft Thread 766
Started April 28, 2006 by Gert T
Most Posts: teke184 - 100
48. World Cup 2006 in Germany 753
Started May 10, 2006 by CurryMan
Most Posts: Kingofthe909 - 75
49. The 2004 NFL Draft 749
Started April 15, 2004 by JackBauer
Most Posts: bps21 - 102
50. NBA Playoffs 722
Started April 17, 2005 by alfdogg
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Jesse Orosco, Relief Pitcher
New York Mets 1979-1987
Los Angeles Dodgers 1988, 2001-2002
Cleveland Indians 1989-1991
Milwaukee Brewers 1992-1994
Baltimore Orioles 1995-1999
St. Louis Cardinals 2000
San Diego Padres 2003
New York Yankees 2003
Minnesota Twins 2003
Awards
None
All-Star Selections: 2 (1983, 1984)
League Leader
Games: 1995
Career Ranks
Games: 1st
Saves: 69th
ERA+: 62nd
K/9: 23rd
H/9: 24th
Best Performance
October 27, 1986 - Boston at New York (N)
In Game 7 of the '86 World Series, comes in the 8th inning with none out after a Dwight Evans' two-run double off Roger McDowell pulls the Red Sox with a run. Orosco strands the tying run at 2nd by retiring Rich Gedman, Dave Henderson, and Don Baylor in order and then pitches a perfect 9th to clinch the championship for the Mets.
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Pitching - 1 (822) (Average HOFer ≈ 40)
Gray Ink: Pitching - 17 (1143) (Average HOFer ≈ 185)
HOF Standards: Pitching - 13.0 (589) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Pitching - 62.0 (199) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Pitchers in HOF: None
Top 10 Similar Pitchers: Tug McGraw, Don McMahon, Gary Lavelle, John Hiller, Dan Plesac, Kent Tekulve, Darold Knowles, Mike Timlin, Mike Stanton, Ron Perranoski
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1979: 0/0.4
1981: 2/0.9
1982: 9/4.5
1983: 20/8.0
1984: 17/6.3
1985: 10/4.5
1986: 13/5.4
1987: 5/2.3
1988: 6/2.0
1989: 10/4.1
1990: 3/1.8
1991: 3/1.4
1992: 3/1.4
1993: 7/3.4
1994: 2/1.0
1995: 6/2.9
1996: 6/2.3
1997: 7/3.5
1998: 7/2.9
1999: 1/0.6
2000: 0/0.0
2001: 1/0.5
2002: 3/1.0
2003: 0/-0.2
Career Win Shares: 141
Career WARP3: 60.9
My Stupid Opinion
I have to say it's remarkable a player from the 19th century is a first time nominee on the writer's ballot. Okay not quite, but Orosco and Rickey Henderson will be the last players to make their MLB debut in the 1970s and be a first timer on the ballot. Orosco is purely on the ballot due to his longevity and his career games pitched record might stand for a while but obviously he's not a HOF.
Finally. Finally, finally, finally, finally I am excited about a World Series. I don't give a shit about the predictions of this being lowest rated World Series ever. If this ends up being true, then it's Fox and MLB's fault (and by proxy the WWL) for programing casual fans to think that only the Yankees, Red Sox, and Cubs matter. I personally have not watched the majority of a World Series since 1997 and let me run down each year as to why I didn't care.
1998: New York Yankees vs. San Diego Padres
At this time I was fairly indifferent towards the Yankees but I was always partial to the Padres because I liked Tony Gwynn. This was clearly a huge mismatch and I knew the Padres had no chance but I did tune into Game 1, which I was into until the bottom of the 7th when Tino Martinez took a pitch right down the middle (or at least that's what I remember) that should been a called strike three against Mark Langston to strand the bases loaded and keep the game tied. Next pitch, grand slam, and I tuned out from the rest of the series after that.
1999: New York Yankees vs. Atlanta Braves
Already saw them play in '96 and had no desire to see them play again. I think I watched about five minutes of Game 1 and that was it.
2000: New York Yankees vs. New York Mets
I like most people outside of New York and Bristol, CT didn't give a shit. Did not watch a single second of the series.
2001: New York Yankees vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
Now this one I think I will have to revisit some day but at the time I couldn't be bothered to watch any of it, not even Game 7. The Yankees had eliminated the A's for the second straight and this time in heartbreaking fashion in part to the most overrated defensive play in baseball history because some fat fuck didn't slide...not that I'm still bitter. I wanted to no part of the Yankees or any sort of baseball after that.
2002: Anaheim Angels vs. San Francisco Giants
Finally the Yankees reign of terror is stopped but instead we get the Rally Monkey against the Assholes by the Bay. Giants fans are the most smug group of fans in sports, with no real reason to be, and this didn't help matters. I think briefly tuned into Game 6 to torture myself but that was it.
2003: New York Yankees vs. Florida Marlins
Once again the Yankees were back to poison us all so once again I didn't tune in, although I think I did flip on the end of Game 6 due primarily to this board.
2004: Boston Red Sox vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Now I was genuinely intrigued by this series, for a brief moment. If had to say who my N.L. team is, it'd probably be the Cardinals because I did pretty much adopt them as my second favorite team and followed them pretty closely when Mark McGwire played there. I really thought it would be a good series and since it was the Red Sox, it would end with Boston have their hearts ripped out which is always fun. How wrong I was. I watched most of Game 1 and then quickly lost interest.
2005: Chicago White Sox vs. Houston Astros
Now this series was kinda similar to this year because it was a very fresh match-up. But 2005 was all about LOLZ OZZIEBALL > MONEYBALL and Joe Morgan and the usual band of idiots slobbering all over the White Sox ability to "manufacture runs." If it had ended up being a competitive series I might have tuned for a Game 6 or 7 but it wasn't, so I didn't watch any of it.
2006: Detroit Tigers vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Now I'm going to contradict myself with the "Caridnals are my N.L. team" thing because I really didn't want them to win this series. The baseball elitist in me simply didn't want to see an 83 win team win a World Series because I felt it cheapened the whole season. I didn't have any real animosity towards the Tigers for shitkicking the A's right out of the ALCS but I was disappointed that I wouldn't get use my World Series tickets so really wasn't up for watching the series. I think I tuned in every once in a while during the series but overall the whole thing fell flat and I could only put up with so much "David Eckstein is clutch and scrappy" talk.
2007: Boston Red Sox vs. Colorado Rockies
God damn did the 2007 postseason suck ass or what? Didn't watch a single second of the series.
Don Mattingly - First Baseman
New York Yankees 1982-1995
7th year on the ballot
Past HOF Voting Results
2001: 28.16%
2002: 20.34%
2003: 13.71%
2004: 12.85%
2005: 11.43%
2006: 12.30%
Awards
1985 AL MVP
1985 AL Gold Glove - 1B
1985 AL Silver Slugger - 1B
1985 ML Sporting News Player of the Year
1986 AL Gold Glove - 1B
1986 AL Silver Slugger - 1B
1987 AL Gold Glove - 1B
1987 AL Silver Slugger - 1B
1988 AL Gold Glove - 1B
1989 AL Gold Glove - 1B
1991 AL Gold Glove - 1B
1992 AL Gold Glove - 1B
1993 AL Gold Glove - 1B
1994 AL Gold Glove - 1B
All-Star Selections: 6 (1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989)
League Leader
1984: Batting Average, Hits, Doubles, OPS+
1985: Doubles, RBI, Total Bases
1986: Hits, Doubles, Total Bases, Runs Created, Slugging %, OPS, OPS+
Career Ranks
Doubles: 86th
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Batting - 23 (84) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 111 (185) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 34.1 (211) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 133.5 (95) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: 2 (Kirby Puckett, Jim Bottomley)
Other Similar Batters: Cecil Cooper, Garret Anderson, Wally Joyner, Hal McRae, Will Clark, Tony Oliva, Jeff Conine, Keith Hernandez
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1982: 0/0.1
1983: 7/1.3
1984: 29/11.7
1985: 32/11.7
1986: 34/12.7
1987: 27/9.1
1988: 24/6.4
1989: 26/7.4
1990: 7/2.1
1991: 14/4.0
1992: 20/7.3
1993: 20/6.0
1994: 15/6.0
1995: 8/4.7
Career Win Shares: 263
Career WARP3: 89.1
Would he get my vote?
No. He was unbelievable from 1984-1986, very good from 1987-1989, and then just very ordinary from 1990-1995. His peak was just too short and back problems took away his power as he hit over 20 homeruns only once in the final eight years of his career. He was an excellent defensive first baseman but there's only so much of a bonus you can give for first base defense.
List contains the top 30 in Saves. I know you will all be shocked that K-Rod isn't #1.
Closer Rankings
1. Mariano Rivera, Yankees
17.3 Win Shares
34.0 VORP
10.3 WARP3
Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP IBB BK ERA *lgERA *ERA+ WHIP
+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+-----+-----+----+-----+
2008 38 NYY AL 6 5 64 0 0 0 60 39 70.7 41 11 11 4 6 77 2 1 259 0 0 1.40 4.44 317 0.665
2. Joe Nathan, Twins
3. Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox
4. Joakim Soria, Royals
5. Kerry Wood, Cubs
6. Brian Fuentes, Rockies
7. Brad Lidge, Phillies
8. Francisco Rodriguez, Angels
9. Bobby Jenks, White Sox
10. Takashi Saito, Dodgers
11. Jose Valverde, Astros
12. Billy Wagner, Mets
13. Jonathan Broxton, Dodgers
14. Matt Capps, Pirates
15. Huston Street, A's
16. Trevor Hoffman, Padres
17. Francisco Cordero, Reds
18. B.J. Ryan, Blue Jays
19. Kevin Gregg, Marlins
20. Jon Rauch, Nationals/Diamondbacks
21. Salomon Torres, Brewers
22. Brian Wilson, Giants
23. Ryan Franklin, Cardinals
24. Mike Gonzalez, Braves
25. J.J. Putz, Mariners
26. Brandon Lyon, Diamondbacks
27. George Sherrill, Orioles
5.0 Win Shares
5.8 VORP
3.4 WARP3
Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP IBB BK ERA *lgERA *ERA+ WHIP
+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+-----+-----+----+-----+
2008 31 BAL AL 3 5 57 0 0 0 49 31 53.3 47 28 28 6 33 58 1 1 239 6 0 4.73 4.53 96 1.500
28. Troy Percival, Rays
29. Todd Jones, Tigers
30. C.J. Wilson, Rangers
In the ongoing debate in college football of playoffs vs. bowls I certainly come on the side of playoffs. I personally think the bowls have out lived their usefulness and that any tradition left in the system was pissed away when the Big Ten and Pac-10 agreed to join the BCS a few years back thus no longer guaranteeing that those two conference’s champions would meet in the Rose Bowl. Since the creation of the BCS in 1998 it has only avoided controversy twice, in 2002 and 2005 simply because they lucked out by having two major conference, unbeaten teams left at the end of the year. Not surprisingly those are the only two years that the BCS title game hasn’t been terrible. It is only in years like 2002 and 2005 where the BCS “works” but if you look at college football’s history there are several years with scenarios where such a system would have been incapable of solving any controversy. One of those years was 1993.
After many near misses at a national title Bobby Bowden and Florida State came into 1993 the run away favorites to win the title. Led by the eventual Heisman trophy winner Charlie Ward, the Seminoles destroyed every team in their path. I had forgotten how dominate they were, just look at their jaw dropping results from that year.
8/28 vs. Kansas 42-0
9/4 at Duke 45-7
9/11 vs. Clemson 57-0
9/18 at North Carolina 33-7
10/2 vs. Georgia Tech 51-0
10/9 vs. Miami 28-10
10/16 vs. Virginia 40-14
10/30 vs. Wake Forest 54-0
11/6 at Maryland 49-20
Not even their tormenters from Miami could give them a real challenge. Then came a trip to South Bend. The Irish were also undefeated and came in at #2 in both polls. The Noles fell behind 24-7 but made a furious comeback to pull the game to 31-24. They had the ball on the Irish 14 for one final play but Ward could not connect in the endzone and it looked like FSU’s national title hopes had been dashed but a late season loss yet again. Now going into that weekend Nebraska was undefeated and #3 in the Coaches’ Poll and #4 in the AP Poll (Miami was #3). The Cornhuskers had not been nearly as dominate as the Seminoles and Irish, with one point wins over UCLA and Kansas. The coaches would move Nebraska to #2 ahead of FSU but the media would leave the Seminoles ahead of the Huskers.
Things then of course got really interesting the following week as after their triumph over Florida State and now with strangle hold on the #1 ranking in both polls, the Irish were stunned at home by Boston College in another classic on a last second field goal 41-39. FSU that weekend slaughtered another ACC foe, N.C. State 62-3, and in the media poll reclaimed the #1 spot while Nebraska grabbed the #1 spot in the coaches poll. The Irish dropped all the way to #4 in both polls behind two different interesting stories. In the coaches poll at #3 was a surprising West Virginia team had upset Miami that week to improve to 10-0 which finally earned them some serious respect, but they were #5 in the media poll. #3 in that poll was Auburn. Auburn was on probation and ineligible for postseason, they concluded their regular season undefeated but nothing to show for it. The final weekend of the regular season would play out with FSU and Nebraska disposing of their rivals, Florida and Oklahoma, while West Virginia edged Boston College 17-14 and thus ending the season with a serious poll controversy. Here’s how the regular season concluded in the polls.
AP
1. Florida State 11-1
2. Nebraska 11-0
3. West Virginia 11-0
4. Auburn 11-0
5. Notre Dame 10-1
Coaches
1. Nebraska 11-0
2. West Virginia 11-0
3. Florida State 11-1
4. Notre Dame 10-1
5. Auburn 11-0
This is was a complete nightmare. The coaches felt the right thing to do was put Nebraska and West Virginia at the top two spots but many didn’t think either was on the level of Florida State and Notre Dame. Of course the media poll was ripped to shreds as how could you have FSU at #1 and the Irish at #5, let alone have West Virginia below FSU when they beat Boston College, who beat Notre Dame, who beat Florida State. This was the type of scenario that only a playoff could have solved. Interestingly enough there was one poll left after the SEC title game, which with Auburn ineligible didn’t have much meaning on the national scene, the media bumped the Irish past Auburn even though neither played.
In the bowl selection process the Orange Bowl held all the cards as who they picked would likely decide that national title. Nebraska had the automatic invite with winning the Big 8 so after that they had the choice of Florida State, West Virginia, and Notre Dame. The would choose the Seminoles, Notre Dame would head to the Cotton Bowl against Texas A&M, and West Virginia to the Sugar Bowl against Florida. In the afternoon of January 1st the Irish edged A&M 24-21. West Virginia would prove their doubters right as they would get murdered by the Gators 41-7 and potentially helping the pollsters quite a bit. If Nebraska could beat Florida State they would get an undefeated and relatively undisputed national champion. They took a 16-15 lead with a little over a minute to go but Charlie Ward would march the Seminoles down the field in a drive that included a fourth down conversion and very controversial personal foul penalty for a field goal and an 18-16 lead with 21 seconds left. A celebration penalty though gave Nebraska life and get in field goal range but kicker Byron Bennett badly hooked the 45 yard attempt. Everyone waited for the polls the next day to see if Notre Dame jumped Florida State due to the way everything shook out but the Irish’s unconvincing win over the Aggies left them at #2 and Bobby Bowden with his long awaited first national title, despite losing to the team who was at #2.
Preseason AP Top 25
1. Florida State
2. Alabama
3. Michigan
4. Texas A&M
5. Miami
6. Syracuse
7. Notre Dame
8. Nebraska
9. Florida
10. Tennessee
11. Colorado
12. Washington
13. Gerogia
14. Arizona
15. Stanford
16. Penn State
17. Ohio State
18. USC
19. BYU
20. North Carolina
21. Boston College
22. Oklahoma
23. Clemson
24. Mississippi State
25. N.C. State
Top 25 Regular Season Match-ups
Week 1
#20 North Carolina 31, #18 USC 9
Week 2
#3 Miami 23, #20 Boston College 7
Week 3
#1 Florida State 57, #21 Clemson 0
#11 Notre Dame 27, #3 Michigan 23
#17 Oklahoma 44, #5 Texas A&M 14
#8 Tennessee 38, #22 Georgia 6
#10 Colorado 45, #24 Baylor 21
#16 Ohio State 21, #12 Washington 12
Week 4
#1 Florida State 33, #13 North Carolina 7
#9 Florida 41, #5 Tennessee 34
#20 Stanford 41, #7 Colorado 37
Week 5
#3 Miami 35, #13 Colorado 29
#18 North Carolina 35, #19 N.C. State 14
Week 6
None
Week 7
#1 Florida State 28, #3 Miami 10
#13 Washington 24, #16 California 23
#25 UCLA 68, #19 BYU 14
Week 8
#1 Florida State 40, #15 Virginia 14
#2 Alabama 17, #10 Tennessee 17 tie
#19 Auburn 38, #4 Florida 35
#5 Ohio State 28, #25 Michigan State 21
#18 Michigan 21, #7 Penn State 13
#20 Colorado 27, #9 Oklahoma 10
#22 UCLA 39, #12 Washington 25
Week 9
#6 Miami 49, #23 Syracuse 0
#7 Arizona 9, #25 Washington State 6
#21 Virginia 17, #12 North Carolina 10
Week 10
#3 Ohio State 24, #12 Penn State 6
#6 Nebraska 21, #20 Colorado 17
#15 UCLA 37, #7 Arizona 17
#25 Kansas State 21, #14 Oklahoma 14
#24 Michigan 13, #21 Wisconsin 21
Week 11
#3 Ohio State 14, #15 Wisconsin 14 tie
#7 Tennessee 45, #13 Louisville 10
#19 Penn State 38, #17 Indiana 31
Week 12
#2 Notre Dame 31, #1 Florida State 24
#5 Ohio State 23, #19 Indiana 17
#11 Texas A&M 42, #20 Louisville 7
Week 13
#17 Boston College 41, #1 Notre Dame 39
#9 West Virginia 17, #4 Miami 14
#6 Auburn 22, #11 Alabama 14
#16 UCLA 27, #22 USC 21
#25 Virginia Tech 20, #23 Virginia 17
Week 14
#1 Florida State 33, #7 Florida 21
#2 Nebraska 21, #16 Oklahoma 7
#5 West Virginia 17, #11 Boston College 14
#14 Penn State 38, #25 Michigan State 37
Week 15
#9 Florida 28, #16 Alabama 13 (SEC Title)
#10 Wisconsin 41, #25 Michigan State 20
Bowl Results (MVP)
Las Vegas: Utah State 42, Ball State 33 (Anthony Calvillo)
Sun: #19 Oklahoma 41, Texas Tech 10 (Jerald Moore)
Aloha: #17 Colorado 41, #25 Fresno State 30 (Rashaan Salaam)
Liberty: Louisville 18, Michigan State 7 (Jeff Brohm)
Copper: #20 Kansas State 52, Wyoming 17 (Andre Coleman)
Holiday: #11 Ohio State 28, BYU 21 (Raymont Harris)
Freedom: USC 28, Utah 21 (Johnnie Morton)
Gator: #18 Alabama 24, #12 North Carolina 10 (Brian Burgdorf)
Alamo: California 37, Iowa 3 (Dave Barr)
Peach: #24 Clemson 14, Kentucky 13 (Brentson Buckner)
Independence: #22 Virginia Tech 45, #21 Indiana 20 (Maurice DeShazo)
Fiesta: #16 Arizona 29, #10 Miami 0 (Chuck Levy)
Carquest: #15 Boston College 31, Virginia 13 (Glenn Foley)
Hall of Fame: #23 Michigan 42, N.C. State 7 (Tyrone Wheatley)
Cotton: #4 Notre Dame 24, #7 Texas A&M 21 (Lee Becton)
Citrus: #13 Penn State 31, #6 Tennessee 13 (Bobby Engram)
Rose: #9 Wisconsin 21, #14 UCLA 16 (Brent Moss)
Sugar: #8 Florida 41, #3 West Virginia 7 (Errict Rhett)
Orange: #1 Florida State 18, #2 Nebraska 16 (Charlie Ward)
Final AP Top 25
1. Florida State
2. Notre Dame
3. Nebraska
4. Auburn
5. Florida
6. Wisconsin
7. West Virginia
8. Penn State
9. Texas A&M
10. Arizona
11. Ohio State
12. Tennessee
13. Boston College
14. Alabama
15. Miami
16. Colorado
17. Oklahoma
18. UCLA
19. North Carolina
20. Kansas State
21. Michigan
22. Virginia Tech
23. Clemson
24. Louisville
25. California
All-Americans
QB
Charlie Ward, Florida State
RB
Marshall Faulk, San Diego State
LeShon Johnson, Northern Illinois
Errict Rhett, Florida
WR
J.J. Stokes, UCLA
Johnnie Morton, USC
Ryan Yarborough, Wyoming
TE
Carlester Crumpler, East Carolina
Pete Mitchell, Boston College
OL
Mark Dixon, Virginia
Stacy Seegars, Clemson
Aaron Taylor, Notre Dame
Wayne Gandy, Auburn
Jim Pyne, Virginia Tech
Korey Stringer, Ohio State
Marcus Spears, Northwestern State
Rich Braham, West Virginia
Todd Steussie, California
Bernard Williams, Georgia
DL
Rob Waldrop, Arizona
Dan Wilkinson, Ohio State
Sam Adams, Texas A&M
Lou Benfatti, Penn State
Derrick Alexander, Florida State
Shante Carver, Arizona
Kevin Patrick, Miami
Bryant Young, Notre Dame
LB
Trev Alberts, Nebraska
Derrick Brooks, Florida State
Jamir Miller, UCLA
Barron Wortham, UTEP
Dana Howard, Illinois
DB
Antonio Langham, Alabama
Aaron Glenn, Texas A&M
Jeff Burris, Notre Dame
Corey Sawyer, Florida State
Bobby Taylor, Notre Dame
Bracey Walker, North Carolina
Jaime Mendez, Kansas State
K
Bjorn Merten, UCLA
John Becksvoort, Tennessee
John Stewart, SMU
P
Terry Daniel, Auburn
KR
David Palmer, Alabama
Only eleven first ballot candidates this year and I already made it known in the Hall of Fame Ballot thread that Tim Raines is the only one deserving to get in, not that that is any great insight. But I'll still run through all eleven newbies but a little different from last year when I was going through the whole ballot and ended each entry with my opinion of whether they'd get my imaginary vote or not. Instead I'll just give "My Stupid Opinion" on each player. Also this year I'll throw in a link to the boxscore of each player's "best" performance, although really I'm not putting that much research into it. For the order of players I'll again go in reverse order of career Win Shares.
Rod Beck - Closer
San Francisco Giants 1991-1997
Chicago Cubs 1998-1999
Boston Red Sox 1999-2001
San Diego Padres 2003-2004
Awards
1994 N.L. Rolaids Relief
All-Star Selections: 3 (1993, 1994, 1997)
League Leader
None of note
Career Ranks
Games: 78th
Saves: 23rd
Best Performance
April 18, 1993 - Atlanta at San Francisco
Notches five strikeouts in pitching a shutout 9th and 10th (struckout the side) in a 13-12, 11 inning thriller against the Braves.
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Pitching - 1 (818) (Average HOFer ≈ 40)
Gray Ink: Pitching - 23 (946) (Average HOFer ≈ 185)
HOF Standards: Pitching - 13.0 (582) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Pitching - 63.0 (188) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Pitchers in HOF: None
Top 10 Similar Pitchers: Jeff Montgomery, Armando Benitez, Robb Nen, Troy Percival, Keith Foulke, Jason Isringhausen, Todd Worrell, Gregg Olson, Tom Henke, Ugueth Urbina
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacment Level (WARP3)
1991: 3/1.2
1992: 16/4.9
1993: 16/5.9
1994: 7/4.2
1995: 7/3.1
1996: 10/4.9
1997: 12/4.5
1998: 13/6.0
1999: 3/1.0
2000: 5/1.7
2001: 7/3.5
2003: 6/4.3
2004: 0/-0.1
Career Win Shares: 105
Career WARP3: 45.1
My Stupid Opinion
Due to his death earlier this year the five year rule was waived for Beck. A fan favorite who will be better known for his appearance and personality than his pitching prowess. A very good closer in his prime but rarely dominate and no where near the elite the closers of all-time. Maybe deserves a special spot in the Hall of Fame for overdosing on cocaine that he snorted off his own baseball card, which I'm pretty sure is the Score 1994 card pictured above.
ESPN is already doing the "Chasing Bonds" treatment for Albert Pujols but it really should be "Chasing Wagner." According to HardballTimes.com Pujols is on pace to tie Honus Wagner's single season record of 59 Win Shares set back in 1908. I am outraged the media is ignoring this potential historic event. Come on the homerun record has been broken twice in the last eight years, the Win Shares record hasn't been broken in 98 years! Don't you remember as a kid always wondering if someone would reach that magical #59?
Anyways no shock at all who's #1 in the N.L. still and I might as well give the entire Top 10 to Pujols. Not much else of note, two drop out and one of the "Most Overrated Players in Baseball" cracks to the Top 10.
Drop Outs: Carlos Delgado, Carlos Lee
#10 Bobby Abreu, Phillies
.276/.447/.503, 36 RC, .316 EQA, 13.8 VORP, 10 Win Shares
#9 Chase Utley, Phillies
.328/.406/.554, 35 RC, .298 EQA, 18.9 VORP, 10 Win Shares
#8 Bronson Arroyo, Reds
195 ERA+, 3.79 K/BB, 1.06 WHIP, 26.7 VORP, 8 Win Shares
#7 Carlos Beltran, Mets
.259/.382/.600, 32 RC, .324 EQA, 20.6 VORP, 9 Win Shares
#6 Morgan Ensberg, Astros
.272/.403/.627, 36 RC, .322 EQA, 20.8 VORP, 9 Win Shares
#5 Miguel Cabrera, Marlins
.335/.432/.599, 41 RC, .338 EQA, 25.4 VORP, 8 Win Shares
#4 Tom Glavine Mets
167 ERA+, 2.32 K/BB, 1.13 WHIP, 23.0 VORP, 9 Win Shares
#3 Lance Berkman, Astros
.296/.375/.605, 40 RC, .307 EQA, 17.1 VORP, 11 Win Shares
#2 Brandon Webb, Diamondbacks
191 ERA+, 6.00 K/BB, 1.10 WHIP, 28.1 VORP, 9 Win Shares
#1
.323/.450/.804, 58 RC, .365 EQA, 37.8 VORP, 17 Win Shares
On the A.L. side there's a lot of change with five players dropping out from last week with a couple of familiar faces jumping in including Baseball Jesus himself. But the #1 spot stays the same and even though Thome isn't blowing away the rest of the league like Pujols he definently has a comfortable edge right now. Of course a name you will not see anywhere on this list is the WORST PLAYER EVER, MR. UNCLUTCH A-FRAUD!!!!! God damn how is he not playing in Single-A now? How do the Yankees win any games with him dragging down the club?
Drop Outs: Jonny Gomes, Vernon Wells, Alexis Rios, Nick Swisher, Ramon Hernandez
#10 Jose Lopez, Mariners
.292/.322/.497, 40 RC, .284 EQA, 15.8 VORP, 10 Win Shares
#9 Jose Contreras, White Sox
250 ERA+, 2.73 K/BB, 0.87 WHIP, 25.9 VORP, 8 Win Shares
#8 Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox
.319/.432/.503, 36 RC, .318 EQA, 15.7 VORP, 9 Win Shares
#7 Miguel Tejada, Orioles
.333/.391/.587, 35 RC, .325 EQA, 27.6 VORP, 8 Win Shares
#6 Jason Giambi, Yankees
.260/.464/.583, 40 RC, .348 EQA, 19.6 VORP, 9 Win Shares
#5 Manny Ramirez, Red Sox
.314/.441/.577, 36 RC, .337 EQA, 20.5 VORP, 9 Win Shares
#4 Derek Jeter, Yankees
.348/.433/.519, 41 RC, .325 EQA, 27.6 VORP, 9 Win Shares
#3 Travis Hafner, Indians
.311/.443/.627, 46 RC, .353 EQA, 26.6 VORP, 9 Win Shares
#2 Scott Kazmir, Devil Rays
199 ERA+, 3.19 K/BB, 1.28 WHIP, 26.2 VORP, 11 Win Shares
#1
.304/.440/.684, 51 RC, .351 EQA, 28.7 VORP, 12 Win Shares
The worst offensive season by a centerfielder since 1901 was Alex Metzler in 1930 with an OPS+ of 56 (.236/.313/.302). The player on the top of this particular list came very close to breaking that record in 1999 (the year of shitting hitting outfielders?) and also made my Worst Hitters since 1986 list. Interesting thing about this list is that most of these punchless performances have happened in the last 20 years.
Top 25 (or so) Worst Offensive Centerfielder Seasons since 1957 (per OPS+)
1. Darren Lewis, 1999 - Boston Red Sox 57 OPS+ (.240/.311/.309)
2. Gary Pettis, 1988 - Detroit Tigers 61
3. Marquis Grissom, 2000 - Milwaukee Brewers 63
4. Darren Lewis, 1995 - San Francisco Giants/Cincinnati Reds 64
5t. Endy Chavez, 2003 - Montreal Expos 65
5t. Brian Hunter, 1998 - Detroit Tigers 65
5t. Chuck Carr, 1994 - Florida Marlins 65
5t. Brian McRrae, 1992 - Kansas City Royals 65
5t. Bill Virdon, 1964 - Pittsburgh Pirates 65
10. Peter Bergeron, 2000 - Montreal Expos 67
11t. Juan Pierre, 2002 - Colorado Rockies 68
11t. Gerald Williams, 1997 - Milwaukee Brewers 68
11t. Omar Moreno, 1982 - Pittsburgh Pirates 68
11t. Bill Virdon, 1962 - Pittsburgh Pirates 68
15t. Tom Goodwin, 2000 - Colorado Rockies/Los Angeles Dodgers 69
15t. Tom Goodwin, 1997 - Kansas City Royals/Texas Rangers 69
15t. Eric Yelding, 1990 - Houston Astros 69
18t. Tom Goodwin, 1996 - Kansas City Royals 70
18t. Darren Lewis, 1993 - San Francisco Giants 70
18t. Rick Manning, 1979 - Cleveland Indians 70
18t. Jim Piersall, 1962 - Washington Senators 70
22t. Doug Glanville, 2001 - Philadelphia Phillies 71
22t. Doug Glanville, 2000 - Philadelphia Phillies 71
22t. Chris Singleton, 2000 - Chicago White Sox 71
22t. Bob Dernier, 1985 - Chicago Cubs 71
22t. Rick Manning, 1983 - Cleveland Indians/Milwaukee Brewers 71
-So Monmouth blew out Hampton 71-49 in the play in game tonight. Hampton had the worst RPI of any team with a winning record in the entire country and you can thank those conference tournaments for that. Now every year after this game ends the ESPN analyst has to talk about the school getting it's first ever NCAA tournament win, which always annoys me, and tonight was no different. Did Monmouth really win a tournamnet game? After all it is the "play in" game which by the wording of it seems to indicate that the winner of the game gets into the tournament. In my view Monmouth has now qualified for the tournament while Hampton has failed to do so. Monmouth will win its first real tournament game if it were to beat Villanova, which we know won't happen.
-The other postseason tournament started tonight, the NIT. I normally never pay attention to it but after a lackluster year Stanford finds themself in it, snapping their 11 year NCAA tournament streak. They beat Virginia 65-49 in their Opening Round game as UVA looked like a team that traveled 3000 miles for a game they didn't want to play which tends to happen in the NIT as motivation plays a big factor in how long a team lasts in it. Cardinal travel to play the biggest snub of the NCAA Tournament, Missouri State for their next game where they'll probably get slaughtered but hey for one night at least Stanford didn't look like mediocre team they are.
-Due to Stanford's lack of success they didn't have as many t.v. games as past years when they were a Top 10 team thus I paid a lot less attention to college basketball this year. This of course creates a problem filling out a bracket but sometimes less knowledge is a good thing. My typical formula is to look a trends for past tournaments. Things such as usually one 13, one 12, and one 11 seed will pull off a 1st round upset and at least one double digit seed will get into the Sweet 16. Of course this strategy is very hit and miss as it can really be a guessing game when it comes to picking true upset (#9 over #8, #10 over #7 aren't upsets). But I prefer doing this as I rarely play for money, including this year, so it makes it more interesting to try to have some low seed teams picked out that I can root for on the first couple of days. So here's my true upsets for the first round with very little actual research going into it:
Southern Illinois over West Virginia
Bradley over Kansas
Utah State over Washington
I then have Bradley beating Pittsburgh to become the 3rd #13 seed ever to get to the Sweet 16. Ya I've really lost it on that one. Northern Iowa is my #10 seed getting to the Sweet 16 after upsetting Ohio State. Other things of note is I having Syracuse beating Duke in the Sweet 16 which may just be my disgust for Duke but a #1 seed getting bumped for the Elite Eight is usually a strong bet. Everyone seems to be picking Tennessee to be an early exit so I put them into the Elite Eight before losing to UConn. I have Oklahoma reaching the Elite Eight which again I've probably lost it on that one. Then to finish it off I have Iowa getting all the way to the national championship game before losing to UConn.
-Annnnnnnnnnnd time to finish this off with some useless facts. Here's the biggest first round upset of every tournament since they expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
1985: #13 Navy 78, #4 LSU 55
1986: #14 Cleveland State 83, #3 Indiana 79
1987: #14 Austin Peay 68, #3 Illinois 67
1988: #14 Murray State 78, #3 N.C. State 75
1989: #14 Siena 80, #3 Stanford 78
1990: #14 Northern Iowa 74, #3 Missouri 71
1991: #15 Richmond 73, #2 Syracuse 69
1992: #14 East Tennessee State 87, #3 Arizona 80
1993: #15 Santa Clara 64, #2 Arizona 61
1994: #12 Wisconsin-Green Bay 61, #5 California 57
1995: #14 Weber State 79, #3 Michigan State 72
1996: #13 Princeton 43, #4 UCLA 41
1997: #15 Coppin State 78, #2 South Carolina 65
1998: #14 Richmond 62, #3 South Carolina 61
1999: #14 Weber State 76, #3 North Carolina 74
2000: #11 Pepperdine 77, #6 Indiana 57
2001: #15 Hampton 58, #2 Iowa State 57
2002: #13 UNC-Wilmington 93, #4 USC 89 OT
2003: #13 Tulsa 84, #4 Dayton 71
2004: #12 Manhattan 75, #5 Florida 60
2005: #14 Bucknell 64, # Kansas 63
I had almost forgotten that the NBA Draft was only a week away. I used look forward to the draft before ESPN took over coverage of it from TNT. Now in the early days of my blog (waaaaaaaaay back four and a half months ago) I did an entry on the 1989 NBA Draft, ranking the players drafted using the basketball version of win shares. I decided that would be a better way to do a Draftback entry for the NBA rather than the usual listing of the first round making stupid comments.
I picked the 1993 draft because it ended up leading to the downfall of the Golden State Warriors franchise, not that they didn’t have the right idea at the time. They of course struck a blockbuster draft day with the Orlando Magic to acquire the draft rights to Chris Webber in exchange for the draft rights for Anfernee Hardaway and three future first round picks. The Warriors would win 50 games in the ’93-’94 season while Webber went on to win the Rookie of the Year. But a feud with head coach Don Nelson would lead to a holdout and then an eventual trade of Webber to Washington that would set the course for 12 years (and going) of futility. So even in a year where the Warriors ended getting arguably the best player to come out of the draft it blew up in their face.
1993 Draft Rankings per Career Win Shares
1. Chris Webber, Orlando/Golden State – 241 Win Shares (1st Pick)
2. Sam Cassell, Houston – 233 (24th)
3. Anfernee Hardaway, Golden State/Orlando – 189 (3rd pick)
4. Nick Van Exel, L.A. Lakers – 169 (37th)
5. Allan Houston, Detroit – 162 (11th)
6. Bryon Russell, Utah – 141 (45th)
7. Vin Baker, Milwaukee – 137 (8th)
8. Shawn Bradley, Philadelphia – 132 (2nd)
9. Jamal Mashburn, Dallas – 127 (4th)
10. Rodney Rogers, Denver – 114 (9th)
11. Ervin Johnson, Seattle – 110 (23rd)
12. Lindsey Hunter, Detroit – 101 (10th)
13. George Lynch, L.A. Lakers – 100 (12th)
14. Chris Mills, Cleveland – 97 (22nd)
15. Lucious Harris, Dallas – 77 (28th)
16. Calbert Cheaney, Washington – 67 (6th)
17. Isaiah Rider, Minnesota – 62 (5th)
18. Chris Whitney, San Antonio – 57 (47th)
19. Corie Blount, Chicago – 56 (25th)
20. Gheorge Muresan, Washington - 50 (30th)
21. Scott Burrell, Charlotte – 45 (20th)
22. Terry Dehere, L.A. Clippers – 21 (13th)
23. James Robinson, Portland – 20 (21st)
24. Rex Walters, New Jersey – 16 (16th)
25. Eric Riley, Dallas – 8 (33rd)
26t. Greg Graham, Charlotte – 6 (17th)
26t. Acie Earl, Boston – 6 (19th)
28. Bobbie Hurley, Sacramento – 7 (7th)
29. Mike Peplowski, Sacramento – 3 (52nd)
30t. Doug Edwards, Atlanta – 2 (15th)
30t. Josh Grant, Denver – 2 (43rd)
32t. Scott Haskin, Indiana – 1 (14th)
32t. Darnell Mee, Golden State – 1 (34th)
32t. Richard Petruska, Houston – 1 (46th)
The Zero Club
Luther Wright, Utah (18th)
Geert Hammink, Orlando (26th)
Malcolm Mackey, Phoenix (27th)
Evers Burns, Sacramento (31st)
Alphonso Ford, Philadelphia (32nd)
Ed Stokes, Miami (35th)
Rich Manning, Atlanta (40th)
Adonis Jordan, Seattle (42nd)
Kevin Thompson, Portland (48th)
Never Played in the NBA
Sherron Mills, Minnesota (29th)
John Best, New Jersey (36th)
Conrad McRae, Washington (38th)
Thomas Hill, Indiana (39th)
Anthony Reed, Chicago (41st)
Alex Holcombe, Sacramento (44th)
Mark Buford, Phoenix (49th)
Marcelo Nicola, Houston (50th)
Spencer Dunkley, Indiana (51st)
Leonard White, L.A. Clippers (53rd)
Bryon Wilson, Phoenix (54th)
Most Win Shares with the Team they were Drafted by
Note: Even though Hardaway wasn’t technically drafted by Orlando since he was acquired in a draft day trade he might as well have been drafted by them.
1. Anfernee Hardaway, 143
2. Bryon Russell, 121
3. Nick Van Exel, 94
4. Lindsey Hunter, 81 (two different stints)
5t. Vin Baker, 68
5t. Chris Mills, 68
7. Gheorge Muresan, 49
8. Calbert Cheaney, 43
9. Sam Cassell, 33
10. Allan Houston, 31
Regulars of the Sports forum know that for the past three years I've been running a College Football Pick 'Em Contest. At the conclusion of last season I was uncertain if I wanted to continue running this contest. During last season the contest started to become a chore for me to run rather than a fun time killer. But after giving it it some thought and given the desire of others to keep it going I've decided to do it for at least one more year. I'll be holding off on posting the sign up thread for this upcoming season until mid-July as I hope having sign ups start closer to the beginning of the season will mean less people jumping ship right as the contest starts. Last year I started signs up around this time and I had four people drop out within a month into the season. Further details of the 2007 contest will be held off until then, including a change in the BCS rankings.
To keep this entry in with the theme of my blog, it's time for a random list which relates to the contest. Last year I posted the Bored's College Football Pick 'Em Encyclopedia which had a recap of the first two seasons of the contest and all-time standings. I don't really feel like typing up a recap of last season but I have gone ahead and updated the all-time contest standings so here they are.
All-Time Records (ordered by total wins)
Note: Results where replacements picks were used are thrown out.
1t. CanadianChris 29-13
1t. teke 184 29-14
3. iggymcfly 28-11
4. Edwin MacPhisto 27-14
5. Vern Gagne 25-16
6t. AlwaysPissedOff 23-17
6t. phoenixrising 23-18
8t. Bored 22-18
8t. nogoodnick 22-21
10t. Cuban Linx 21-7
10t. Lando Griffin 21-19
10t. Spaceman Spiff 21-21
10t. Will Scarlet 21-22
14. Spicy McHaggis 20-21
15t. MarvinisLunatic 19-12
15t. Cartman 19-21
17t. Agent of Oblivion 18-21
17t. Gert T 18-21
19. Kotzenjunge 17-20
20t. JHawk 16-22
20t. bravesfan 16-23
22t. Secret Agent 13-12
22t. Agent Bond34 13-14
22t. Kingofthe909 13-16
22t. the pinjockey 13-25
26. Porter 12-13
27t. SilverPhoenix 11-10
27t. therealworldschampion 11-20
29. A MikeSC 9-3
30t. Loaded Glove 8-13
30t. Damaramu 8-15
30t. Carnival 8-17
33t. kkktookmybabyaway 7-5
33t. Urban Warfare 7-6
33t. Danville Wrestling 7-7
33t. Flyboy 7-7
33t. Vampiro69 7-7
33t. Leena 7-8
33t. Vitamin X 7-16
39t. UTBroward 6-7
39t. HarleyQuinn 6-8
39t. Angel Grace Blue 6-19
42t. Hawk 34 5-7
42t. Ortonsault 5-7
44t. Matt Young 4-2
44t. Dangerous A 4-7
44t. 2GOLD 4-9
44t. Mad Dog 4-9
48t. Jimbo 1-1
48t. "Hail" bps21 1-2
50t. IK Cool Jew 0-3
50t. Rob E Dangerously 0-4
ACC
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Orange, Chick-Fil-A, Gator, Champs Sports, Music City, Meineke Car Care, Emerald, Humanitarian, EagleBank
Locks: Boston College, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia Tech
Bowl Eligible: Wake Forest
Bubble Teams: Clemson, N.C. State, Virginia
We finally had a team be eliminated for bowl consideration this week, that being Duke. N.C. State stayed alive with a stunning blowout win over North Carolina and they finish with a home game against Miami on Saturday. I misspoke last week I said the winner of the Clemson/Virginia game would become bowl eligible. Clemson actually needed two wins since they've played two I-AA teams this year and you can only count one of those games towards bowl eligibility. Their last game will be at home against South Carolina. Wake Forest could be in trouble if they don't beat Vanderbilt this week to pick up win #7 and if there ends up being more eligible teams than bids for this conference, they likely will have to go hunting for an at large bid which could be tough with a 6-6 record.
Notre Dame
Bowl Tie-ins: Cotton, Gator, Sun
Wow, don't think anyone anticipated them losing to Syracuse. This puts the USC game as almost a must win for the Irish or they could be staying home for bowl season. You can forget about the Gator Bowl if they finish 6-6 but the Sun Bowl would still be possible. Remember they are considered a Big East team when it comes to bowl selections and the rule is bowls must invite 7+ win teams over 6 win teams if there are not enough available slots in a conference. The Big East has six bids and currently four teams with 7+ wins. If Rutgers and South Florida pickup win #7 that would fill of the Big East slots and Notre Dame would have no where to go except hope for an at large bid although the same 7+ win rule applies for at large bids as well.
Big East
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS, Gator/Sun, Meineke Car Care, International, Papajohns.com, St. Petersburg
Locks: Cincinnati, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, West Virginia
Bowl Eligible: Rutgers, South Florida
Bubble Teams: Louisville
So with Notre Dame's bowl hopes in doubt, the Big East might get to keep all six of their bids. Very big game for USF against UConn tonight to get that all important win #7 because the following week they are at West Virginia. Louisville's season will be on the line in two weeks at Rutgers.
Big Ten
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Rose (two bids?), Capital One, Outback, Alamo, Champs Sports, Insight, Motor City
Locks: Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin
I was a bit presumptuous last week in stating that if Ohio State won they were on their way to a BCS bowl and the reason is because of what is happening in the Pac-10. Oregon State is one win away from getting the Rose Bowl bid which would put USC into the at large pool and the Fiesta Bowl would likely jump all over them. That would send Ohio State off to the Capital One Bowl. It then remains to be seen if the Motor City Bowl will be an open bid or not.
Big XII
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Fiesta (two bids), Cotton, Holiday, Gator/Sun, Alamo, Insight, Independence, Texas
Locks: Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech
Bubble Teams: Colorado
There are no changes in this conference. Again Colorado must beat Nebraska on Friday to keep their season going or then the Independence Bowl becomes an open bid.
Conference USA
Bowl Tie-ins: Liberty, GMAC, Texas, Armed Forces, New Orleans, St. Petersburg
Locks: East Carolina, Houston, Rice, Tulsa
Bubble Teams: Memphis, Southern Miss, UTEP
Marshall was eliminated yesterday with a loss to Rice. Of the three bubble teams, UTEP has the longest odds as they finish the season at East Carolina. Memphis and Southern Miss play conference bottom feeders Tulane and SMU respectively.
MAC
Bowl Tie-ins: Motor City, GMAC, International
Locks: Ball State
Bowl Eligible: Buffalo, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan
Bubble Teams: Akron, Bowling Green
I can now safely call Ball State a lock after they beat CMU on Wednesday thus eliminating any chance that they will have to rely on an at large bid. CMU and WMU may have to sweat a little because Buffalo will be attractive to the International Bowl.
Mountain West
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS, Las Vegas, Poinsettia, Armed Forces, New Mexico
Locks: Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, TCU, Utah
Utah is on their way to the BCS now so the conference will get five bids. I was probably the only one watching UNLV last night blow their chance at their first bowl bid in eight years as they were stunned by lowly San Diego State and their season is now over. UNLV's loss ends up being Colorado State's gain as they became bowl eligible with a win over Wyoming.
Pac-10
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Rose (two bids?), Holiday, Sun, Emerald, Las Vegas, Hawaii, Poinsettia
Locks: Arizona, California, Oregon, Oregon State, USC
Bubble Teams: Arizona State, UCLA
As covered in the Big Ten section, Oregon State is a win away from going to the Rose Bowl and likely giving the conference two BCS bids assuming that USC beats Notre Dame and UCLA. Stanford broke my heart yesterday with a listless performance against Cal and has been eliminated. The conference now will have no more than six eligible teams at the most with the ASU/UCLA elimination game this week. The winner of that game will still need another win the following week in their rivalry game to become bowl eligible. Poinsettia Bowl is now a WAC bid.
SEC
Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Sugar (two bids), Capital One, Cotton, Outback, Chick-Fil-A, Music City, Liberty, Independence, Papajohns.com
Locks: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, South Carolina, Vanderbilt
Bubble Teams: Auburn
Arkansas was eliminated yesterday with a loss to Mississippi State. Auburn will have to shock the world against Alabama this week to become bowl eligible or the Independence Bowl becomes an open bid.
Sun Belt
Bowl Tie-in: New Orleans, PapaJohns.com?
Locks: Troy
Bowl Eligible: None
Bubble Teams: Arkansas State, FIU, Florida Atlantic, UL Lafayette, Middle Tennessee
Troy crushed ULL yesterday but they haven't officially won the conference yet. I think that Arkansas State can still win the conference by tiebreak if they win this week against a horrific North Texas team and then upset Troy in two weeks. But even if that scenario plays out, Troy is a lock for a bowl bid because the PapaJohns.com would then become a Sun Belt bid since the SEC will not fill it and the conference had a contingency bid. I'm still not 100% sure if the Sun Belt needs a 7+ win team to be pick up that bid officially though so if the Arkansas State scenario doesn't play out, there wouldn't be another 7+ win team in the conference.
WAC
Bowl Tie-ins: Humanitarian, Hawaii, New Mexico, Poinsettia
Locks: Boise State
Bowl Eligible: Fresno State, Hawaii, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, San Jose State
Boise State can still get a BCS at large invite but you can forget about them getting invited over Ohio State and now possibly USC. The conference did officially pickup the Poinsettia Bowl with Stanford's elimination in the Pac-10. The rest of the conference is still a mess but I think it's safe to assume at 6-6 that San Jose State will definitely not be getting a bid.
