Due to the sheer number of games, no details unless necessary.
Red Sox 28
R-Phils 2
Nashville 11
Richmond 3
Minnesota 6
Indianapolis 5
Torii Hunter 3-run HR
LA Dodgers 4
Norfolk 1
San Diego 7
Round Rock 1
NY Mets 7
Charlotte 6
10 Innings
Chi. Sox 11
New Orleans 2
Arizona 13
Ottawa 9
Kansas City 5
Iowa 2
Omaha 7
Houston 5
11 Innings
Shane Costa tied the game with an RBI double in the 9th and Mike Aviles put the Wranglers ahead with a two run shot in the 11th.
Atlanta 6
Pawtucket 1
Texas 15
Louisville 1
Pittsburgh 7
Durham 5
NY Yankees 15
San Antonio 6
LA Angels 8
Trenton 0
Tampa Bay 10
Toledo 1
Milwaukee 8
Tacoma 2
Oakland 5
Albuquerque 2
Colorado 4
Memphis 0
Baltimore 3
Fresno 2
4 2/3 scoreless innings of relief from Dan Giese.
Detroit 6
Syracuse 2
Washington 4
Salt Lake City 1
Portland 7
Philadelphia 6
Figures. Jamie Moyer allowed four runs in three innings.
San Francisco 9
Rochester 7
Trailing 7-5 in the ninth, Kevin Frandsen hit a grand slam home run to win the game. Rochester walked Barry Bonds intentionally to load the bases.
Seattle 2
Columbus 0
Buffalo 4
Cincinnati 1
Buffalo's Adam Miller struck out seven batters over six innings of work. Bronson Arroyo struck out eight in the loss.
Toronto 11
Colorado Springs 5
St. Louis 6
Oklahoma 5
13 Innings
Chris Duncan hit a three-run, game tying home run with two outs in the ninth. Four innings later, Duncan's RBI single won the game for the Cards.
Sacramento 7
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 1
Cleveland 9
Huntsville 0
QUARTERFINALS
San Diego 5
Minnesota 4
WP: Greg Maddux
LP: Carlos Silva
Sv: Trevor Hoffman
Padres scored four in the fifth, including Adrian Gonzalez's two-run home run.
Atlanta 3
Chi. Cubs 1
10 Innings
WP: Peter Moylan
LP: Scott Eyre
Sv: Rafael Soriano
The Braves prior to the tenth scored just one run on 12 hits. The Cubs only managed two hits in the game. Kelly Johnson drove in he go-ahead runs with a double in the tenth.
Colorado 5
Oakland 4
WP: Josh Fogg
LP: Lenny Dinardo
Sv: Manuel Corpas
Brad Hawpe homered for the Rockies. Travis Buck hit three doubles in a losing effort.
St. Louis 10
San Francisco 7
WP: Adam Wainwright
LP: Matt Cain
Sv: Jason Isringhausen
Cain imploded, giving up four runs without recording an out. The Cards scored nine of their runs in the first three innings. Chris Duncan collected four RBIs in the victory.
Semifinal Matchups:
Atlanta Braves @ San Diego Padres
St. Louis Cardinals @ Colorado Rockies.
SEMIFINALS
San Diego 5
Atlanta 4
WP: Heath Bell
LP: Peter Moylan
Sv: Trevor Hoffman
Brian Giles drew a bases loaded walk in the eighth inning to force in the winning run. The major turning point of the game occurred in the fourth inning, when Josh Bard drove in two RBIs with a two-out double and Justin Germano followed up with an RBI single.
Colorado 5
St. Louis 4
WP: Jeff Francis
LP: Ryan Franklin
Sv: Manuel Corpas
Troy Tulowitzki drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth with a single and David Eckstein's error in the eighth allowed an insurance run to score.
That gives us San Diego @ Colorado for the finals, fittingly.
I caught a bit of the two NFL playoff games on Sunday. (Yeah, I can dabble in the NFL if need be.) Had a few thoughts to share.
-Playing professional sport games in sub-zero conditions is fairly stupid in its own right. Players in short-sleeves and fans in body paint is downright ridiculous. I live in the Poconos, a climate that can get fairly chilly in the winter. At a certain temperature, you can deal with the chill but you don't mess around with it. It's dangerous. I can't help but think it would make much more sense to make use of Miller Park, and I can hear the howls of protest already.
-On that note, building flashy new MLB stadiums was wasteful enough but NFL as well? The multi-use stadiums in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia were one thing. But before that, NFL teams frequently played in places like Shibe Park, Yankee Stadium and Wrigley Field.
-The New York Giants based on the statistics are probably the worst team to play in a Super Bowl. The other teams with 6+ losses to reach the Super Bowl are the '79 Rams and the '88 49ers. How do they stack up long term? Let's see their three and five-year records.
Three year record
Giants: 29-19
Rams: 31-15
49ers: 33-13-1
Five year record
Giants: 39-41
Rams: 53-20-1
49ers: 58-20-1
I think that's pretty convincing. The reason I go with multi-year records is that a 14-16 game sample is simply not large enough to draw any firm conclusions. A good team wins year after year.
-Are the Giants a better team than the Packers because they won? Not necessarily. If the game were 30 minutes instead of 60, the Packers would be in the Super Bowl. One game decided by a margin of a single score hardly proves a damn thing. Any player or team can have a bad day. Again, I preach long term samples. The more data you have, the better conclusions you draw.
-Looking for weaker championship teams, I came across the 1932 Bears. No, they were not a weak team. They won seven games and lost one. They tied the other six. In their first three games, NEITHER team scored! They lost their fourth game by two points, 2-0. Interestingly their championship game was not played in Wrigley Field due to adverse weather. It was moved indoors to Chicago Stadium, a smaller sporting arena. On an 80-yard field, the NFL more or less invented arena football on the fly.
-With a team seeking a perfect season, this year's Super Bowl will no doubt draw high ratings. I do not know yet if I will watch. As you all know, I am not an especially big NFL fan. The bigger problem is that the commercials have become too big for their own good. The more I think about it, I am going to take a four hour chunk so that I can watch scads of advertisements? Not happening. I'm visiting my lady friend that weekend, I find her company more enjoyable. Besides, assuming a local sports outlet airs the Caribbean World Series again, my sports needs are satiated.
This is something that I had floating in my head the last few days. A lot of wrestling reviewers will give negative star ratings to a particularly bad match. Often times it is prompted not by the workers involved, but the sheer idiocy of the booking of the match. In many cases the reviewer goes into the match expecting to hate it. But what truly merits negative stars? In my opinion, it is not enough to put together a boring match. I think a negative star match must fit one of X criteria.
1. The match contained several noticeable, blown spots.
Let's see what they messed up here.
1. Nowinski comes in late to break up a pin attempt.
2. Trish attempts a springboard manuever but Gayda is out of position.
3. Trish attempts a leg sweep but Gayda fails to take the move properly, stumbling to the mat.
4. Trish tries twice to set up the bulldog but Gayda fails to position herself properly.
5. When Trish does go for the bulldog, she misses completely. Gayda sells it anyway.
That is an easy one, it won Wrestling Observer's Worst Match of the Year award for 2002. Now, even good wrestlers will blow spots. Good workers will work it into the flow of the match, making it somewhat indistinguishable for casual wrestling fans. Knowledgeable wrestling fans notice, but they know it is a work anyway.
2. The match contained booking so bad that it insulted the intelligence of the viewing audience.
The Fingerpoke of Doom. WCW advertised Goldberg vs. Kevin Nash and instead gave the fans a ten second "angle" match that turned many against WCW for good.
When does a comedy match merit negative stars? For the most part, if the crowd dies. If the crowd is into the match, you can't really punish the workers because you did not like it. I give an exception to a match such as The Four Doinks at Survivor Series '93. When working the match requires ignoring the established rules of the game, that falls under bad booking.
3. The match denigrated into a shoot with the wrestlers losing all cooperation, preventing the match from reaching an intended conclusion.
This one is extremely interesting, Bruiser Brody vs. Lex Luger. Brody sees fit not to sell anything Luger does until Luger just gives up, draws the DQ and leaves the cage.
I wish I could find Andre the Giant vs. Akira Maeda. I have seen it before. There is a perception often that a better worker gave it to the lesser worker and taught him a lesson, or exposed him. More often it just becomes a disorganized mess with both wrestlers standing awkwardly until someone steps in. Failing to complete a wrestling match is an overlooked, but deserving reason to issue negative stars.
What does not merit negative stars? Two workers stepping into the ring, giving a reasonably competent exhibition of professional wrestling but boring the audience. That merits a dud IMO. Dave Meltzer gave Andre the Giant vs. Big John Studd negative stars. That was a pretty dull match with no high spots outside the finish. But it looked legit and the crowd enjoyed it. That can not possibly be negative stars.
I rarely rate matches but if I did, my scale would give a basic match at least *, just for stepping in the ring. If the match was bad, that lowers the score as far as a dud, providing the combatants did not at least embarrass the sport. In my view, that is the criteria for negative stars.
Another blogger did a mock NBA draft from the board, inserting himself into the spot of one of the participants. I decided to do the same thing with the wrestling draft in the General Wrestling folder. One twist, instead of taking a spot I am simply going to take a pick at the end of each round, picking last each time. Let's see how this goes.
1: "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers. Wrestling's top heel in the 1950s into the '60s. An iconic figure for fans of that era, and a top draw.
2. Bruno Sammartino. Too popular to be ignored, despite relative lack of working ability.
3. Magnum T.A. Extremely popular babyface attraction.
4. Nick Bockwinkel. Top heel, both as a talker and a worker.
5. Classy Fred Blassie. A tremendous heel in his day, an outstanding talker as well.
6. Lou Thesz.
7. Bobo Brazil.
8. Mil Mascaras. A top babyface whose aerial offense could excite the crowd.
9. Jim Londos. A handsome undersized greek would make a tremendous babyface.
10. Killer Kowalski.
11. Mr. Fuji & Toru Tanaka. The beginning of a tag team division.
12. Billy Robinson. The worker/shooter of the promotion.
13. Ken Patera. Undrafted after 400+ picks? Get on the ball people!
14. Johnny Valentine.
15. The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello & Roy Heffernan)
16. Antonino Rocca & Miguel Perez. A popular, main event, ethnic tag team.
17. Red Bastien. Top worker and face in the early 70s. Could occasionally team with Robinson.
18. Doug Somers & Buddy Rose.
19. Whipper Billy Watson. One of the biggest stars in Canadian wrestling history.
20. Jimmy & Johnny Valiant.
21. Don Leo Jonathan. Large, agile heel.
21 picks in, that looks like an extremely stacked promotion. Not a great workrate promotion, but most of these guys are no slouches in the ring and they know how to work a crowd. I'll fill in picks as they happen and later on unveil a fantasy wrestling card.
Three more picks.
22. Mr. Wrestling II. Popular performer in Georgia in the 1970s.
23. Superstar Bill Dundee.
24. Jay Youngblood. Great young babyface, passed before his time.
Tony Gwynn- Since World War II, only Ted Williams hit for a higher batting average than Tony Gwynn. Gwynn hit .338 over his career, and .368 over a five year stretch from 1993-97. Eight batting titles makes Gwynn as sure a candidate as anyone in the history of the balloting.
Cal Ripken- What surprised me in looking up the statistics is that Cal doesn't appear on many lists of shortstops in terms of percentages. His case is based largely on longevity. Nothing wrong with that, as Cal's peak was plenty good too. Ripken won two MVPs and hit more home runs than any shortstop in history.
Mark McGwire- We all know McGwire's candidacy comes down to a moral choice and there's really no arguing that. This is where I stand and I respect where you stand for the time being. What I would address is the notion that McGwire was a undeserving player except for his late home run surge. McGwire was the percentage leader amongst first basemen in home runs prior to 1998. He ranked eighth in OPS, Offensive Winning Percentage and Runs Created per game, and second in Secondary Average. McGwire walked nearly as often as he struck out. Yes, he probably used steroids, but he was a Hall caliber player before 1998.
Bert Blyleven- The sabermetric darling of the Hall ballot. I think Blyleven's big problem is that he had his great seasons early and then stayed around as an above-average pitcher for a long time. I'm not going to slog through the stats because the arguments have been presented before. Let me just state that if Blyleven had 13 more wins, this wouldn't even be discussed.
Alan Trammell- Trammell and Ripken were roughly contemporaries. Ripken outslugged Trammell .447 to .415. Trammell had a higher career OBP however, .352 to .340. Ripken's career ERA+ was 112, Trammell's was 110. Now, remember that Trammell stole 236 bases to Ripken's 36, largely offsetting the edge in extra bases. Trammell had a better range factor at shortstop and won more gold gloves. Ripken lasted two years longer than Trammell. Ripken's considered an automatic inductee, while Trammell fell below 20% of the vote. Now ask yourself, was Cal Ripken really THAT much better of a player than Alan Trammell?
Andre Dawson- Poor OBP be damned. Dawson hit 438 home runs, stole 314 bases and was a GOLD GLOVE center fielder in his prime.
Goose Gossage- If you are going to elect relievers, you need to elect the Goose. Now that a standard is established thanks to Bruce Sutter, I think Gossage will earn induction (but not until next year).
The award balloting is occuring in the Sports forum. I figured I would list my own ballot here.
NL MVP
1: Albert Pujols, StL
2: Ryan Howard, Phi
3: Carlos Beltran, NYM
4: Miguel Cabrera, Fla
5: Lance Berkman, Hou
6: Alfonso Soriano, Was
7: Jose Reyes, NYM
8: David Wright, NYM
9: Rafael Furcal, LAD
10: Chase Utley, Phi
AL MVP
1. Derek Jeter, NYY
2. Joe Mauer, Min
3. Grady Sizemore, Cle
4. Justin Morneau, Min
5. David Ortiz, Bos
6. Manny Ramirez, Bos
7. Johan Santana, Min
8. Jermaine Dye, CWS
9. Jim Thome, CWS
10. Carlos Guillen, Det
NL Cy Young
1. Roy Oswalt, Hou
2. Brandon Webb, Ari
3. Chris Carpenter, StL
AL Cy Young
1. Johan Santana, Min
2. Roy Halladay, Tor
3. Mike Mussina, NYY
NL Manager of the Year
1. Joe Girardi, Fla
2. Bruce Bochy, SD
3. Felipe Alou, SF
AL Manager of the Year
1. Jim Leyland, Det
2. Ken Macha, Oak
3. Ron Gardenhire, Min
NL Rookie of the Year
1. Hanley Ramirez, Fla
2. Ryan Zimmerman, Was
3. Dan Uggla, Fla
AL Rookie of the Year
1. Justin Verlander, Det
2. Kenji Johjima, Sea
3. Jon Papelbon, Bos
Fans of teams tend to overrate their prospects. Sometimes this reaches absurd levels. I mentioned J.A. Happ in my last entry, and apparently a few amateur prospect watchers weight him highly due to his close proximity to the Majors. Does a high level outweigh potential? What about performance vs. scouting? When I develop a prospect list, I think the correct way to go about it is to view the players as trading chips. If you were trading for a team's top prospects, which ones would you value? (Ignoring positional and team needs and such.)
J.A. Happ led the International League in strikeouts, at the age of 25. For comparisons sake, these are the other starters who have finished top ten in strikeouts at the same age. Brandon Knight, Brandon Duckworth, Travis Harper, Luke Hudson, Eric Junge, Denny Lail, Everett Stull, Tim Rumer, Brad Woodall, John DeSilva, Mike Oquist, Jesse Cross, Dave Telgheder, Josh Hancock, Aaron Heilman, Brian Burres, Virgil Vasquez, J.A. Happ, Jeff Niemann and Chris Lambert. Note any All-Stars on that list? None of them even held a starting pitching job long term. Oquist had the most wins, with 25. To make a pitcher on that level a team's top ten prospect is simply delusional.
Monday I attended the show live in Wilkes-Barre, PA. I've been busy recently so I have been unable to post my thoughts in full until now. I have the show recorded on DVR but I haven't watched it yet. Therefore my conception of what I watched might be slightly different than what aired on television.
Dark match: Lance Cade/Trevor Murdoch d. Cryme Time. Good little tag match.
All of the matches were good save Candice vs. Krystal. Benoit/Lashley was fun, and there was some pro-Benoit sentiment in the arena. John Cena got his fair share of boos but there were mostly Cena supporters. Honestly, I think Cena gets booed more because it's the cool thing to do than anything he really does. The Hardy Boys were both quite over.
We got Snitsky, the hometown product. Snitsky got quite a few cheers and certainly the Miz was not going to steal his thunder. The reverse-decision was nonsense though. Here in the Pocono Mountains, you're allowed to continue beating on your opponent. It's kind of a reward.
Overall, considering appearances by Roddy Piper and Dusty Rhodes, I feel like I hit the jackpot in getting this show in my area. A tremendous night of wrestling overall.
Top Prospects - International League
SP Phil Hughes, NYY
SP Homer Bailey, Cin
SP Matt Garza, Min
SP Adam Miller, Cle
SP Jeff Niemann, TB
OF Adam Lind, Tor
1B Joey Votto, Cin
OF Ryan Sweeney, CWS
3B Josh Fields, CWS
SP Glen Perkins, Min
SP Kevin Slowey, Min
These players made the Top 100 in either the Baseball America or Baseball Prospectus Top 100 list (in fact, all made both lists). This month, the only top 100 prospect set to come through is Philip Hughes, and my friend is already bugging me to get him a ticket to Wednesday's game.
And thank god I just made a spot check on that ticket online. Today's game has been cancelled due to "snow and cold." Babies. The fun thing is that Norfolk will not return to Scranton the rest of the season (they make up the game in Norfolk). I planned to publish this later, but with no game tonight that concludes this entry.
As some of you might know, I have a side engagement scoring baseball games for a company called Baseball Info Solutions. I score occasional games in Scranton, mark hit locations and trajectories, and send them in via computer afterwards. I get to watch the game from a good vantage point for free and I get some money on the side. This is my third year. The first two years Scranton was the AAA affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. This year however Scranton is now the affiliate of the New York Yankees. The transition of teams comes with higher attendance, as there is simply more interest in this region for the Yankees.
* I joke that Yankee fans are obnoxious. Some are, some are not. Honestly, you get unbearable dopes in nearly every large baseball crowd. This game, four guys sat two rows behind me, consumed large amounts of alcohol and proceeded to make a show of themselves heckling the players. ALL game. It really gets on your nerves after a while. There's no respite.
* The weather is absolutely brutal. Game time temperature was 35 degrees, easily the coldest professional game I have ever attended. You can stand that kind of weather if you dress for it, which I did. After three hours though, the cold digs into you. It snowed about three times during the game, never sticking to the ground but creating a nuisance. The wind picked up at times, and in the configuration of the stadium it swirls.
* Even though I watch a lot of games, my scouting eye is not discerning enough to reveal much more than the statistics. I can tell you that Garrett Olson at one point retired seven straight batters on fly balls. Olson is just 23 and has struck out over a batter an inning in the minors while walking 70 and giving up just 13 home runs in 220 career innings. In my view, he is one of the unheralded pitching prospects in baseball.
* Something was missing overall. My enthusiasm just wasn't there for this game, and I wasn't sure if it was the loudmouths, the team or the weather. There are few legit prospects on the Yankees' farm club behind the rotation, and the Norfolk Tide had even less. I want to do less AAA games this year and maybe hit some other local teams (Harrisburg, Reading, Sussex County, etc.).
No game today, but I wanted to post some quick thoughts regarding Josh Hancock. Hancock died early this morning in an automobile accident. Besides his Major League career, Hancock spent most of 2003-04 pitching for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons. Hancock came over in the Jeremy Giambi deal and while he looked like a decent pitching prospect, but the Phils dealt him for Todd Jones late in the '04 campaign. I would like to say I remember Josh Hancock on the mound, and while I believe I did, I can not honestly say I vividly remember it. My friend who worked for the Barons probably has more memories of Hancock, and I'm looking forward to talking to him about it. It's a shame when any pitcher dies young, especially when he came up through your area.
I posted an article at TSM about Hancock, which included a quote from former teammate Jim Rushford. One thing I neglected to mention in my last entry. Before the game one Ottawa player stepped up the dugout steps to sign a few autographs. I didn't need to consult a scorecard to know who it was. Rushford was and still is a player who seemingly takes time before every game to sign autographs. I am talking about every single game. I have never seen a player take more time for the fans than Rushford. Though his exploits on the field may not carry much acclaim, he deserves mention as one of the game's good guys.
After a dismal start the Phillies' season turned around nicely. As of this writing, the Phils actually own a better record than the New York Yankees. When I mentioned this to a spectator last night, another spectator took the opportunity to note the Phillies had just one World championship. I don't like to get into pissing matches about my team. First off, I'll lose. Second, I don't think a franchise's success is integral to enjoying the game of baseball. When you go to a Yankee game, do you see a bunch of fans smiling despite the losing streak saying, "aww shucks it's ok, we've won so many already." The point is that sustained winning does not seem to buy happiness. What it will get you a larger fanbase, which in my case just makes it more difficult to get good seats for games.
Thursday's game took me to Scranton to watch the AAA Yankees play the Ottawa Lynx, the temporary home of the AAA Phillies. Except for RF Ron Calloway and SP Zach Segovia, every player on the Lynx played for the Red Barons last season. Red Barons' paraphernalia was abundant in the stands, but enthusiasm for the visiting team was muted. The Yankees defeated the Lynx 3-1, the difference coming on Shelly Duncan's two-run home run in the first inning. Zach Segovia pitched deep into counts but induced outs. Segovia only struck out one batter but pitched a quality start, allowing three runs in seven innings. Matt Desalvo out pitched him, giving the Yankees six shutout innings. T.J. Beam finally looked like a relief prospect, striking out the side in the eighth inning.
Before the games the team shows a video package promoting the team, showing the December press-conference unveiling the logo and assorted quotes and such. One dignitary noted the SWB Yankees could be the biggest thing in minor league baseball this season. When they said that, they obviously had an eye on the bullpen. The Yankees' bullpen includes Ben Kozlowski (6'6", 220), T.J. Beam (6'7", 215), Ron Villone (6'3", 245), and Colter Bean (6'6", 255). Earlier in the game a fan asked Segovia if he had eaten their children, referencing his weight. Segovia is slightly overweight. Chris Britton is a 280 lb. monster. No wonder the Orioles traded him with conditioning issues on their mind.
My mission this season is to watch five different Phillies teams. Within range are the major league Phillies, the Reading Phillies (AA), the Lakewood Blueclaws (Low A) and the Williamsport Crosscutters (Short Season A). The AAA Phillies play in Ottawa, but they'll play road games in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Lakewood is 2 1/2 hours away, but a free day and the promise of a 70 degree, sunny day near the shore provided more than enough temptation to make the drive.
FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood is easily the nicest minor league park I have ever seen. The main seating area is spacious, plenty of seat and leg room. The concourse is entirely open with a full view of the park from concession areas. Prices are reasonable. Reserved Seats are $9, parking is $3 and concessions are not tremendously overpriced. The same owner is building the park for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, and the design for that stadium looks similar. As if a baseball team wasn't incentive enough, the new park is absolutely going to blow away the park in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The game was my first taste of baseball in the Sally League. In lower-level baseball, you will tend to see a few more miscues and mistakes. The players are still learning on the job, after all. The highlight of the game involved the Blueclaws employing the delayed double-steal. Quintin Berry stole second base and Julian Williams stole home. Michael Dubee walked two in the seventh however, and the Blueclaws fell to the Hagerstown Suns 7-6. It was a quality game, well worth the drive. Sometimes you need to get a different look at the game. After the sub-par outings in Scranton, this was saving grace to the baseball soul.
All that said, there's a reason I don't like to drive in New Jersey. The Garden State Parkway is elusive and if you miss it, you find yourself in Staten Island. At $6, that's an expensive wrong turn. I got lost twice finding the ballpark.
I'm sure a lot of Yankee fans are anxious for the arrival of Phil Hughes. Seeing him pitch in Scranton, I honestly can not say I witnessed anything impressive. Hughes gave up five runs in five innings, two walks and one strikeout. I wouldn't have considered him notable if not for the name. That said, it was one start, it was cold and most of the game was played in a light rain. I don't trust performances in these conditions. For what it's worth, Hughes throws a low-90s fastball.
The game ended after seven innings due to rain. The SWB Yankees now go on the road for a week and a half, and my next live game is not for thirteen days. The next games are against the Ottawa Lynx, the new farm team of the Philadelphia Phillies.
You want boring baseball? Come see the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. The Yankees as a successful organization preach plate discipline throughout their system. Last night some poor defense led to a five-run third inning from the Richmond Braves, and the Braves added two more in the fourth. With the game effectively out of reach at this point, you hope to see the teams play to the end in a crisp manner. To say these teams limped to the finish line is an understatement. To give you an idea of the fashion of the game, the Yankees batted 42 times and just eight of them swung at the first pitch. When it is in the neighborhood of 35-40 degrees out, you have little patience for wasted time.
Phil Hughes tonight.
One of the troubling aspects of professional sports in the last twenty years ago is the rush for profits. Inevitably it would filter down to the minor leagues, as operators realize there is more money out there. It is great for the bottom line and well-heeled fans, but for the average fan it creates a more sterile environment. Last year you could go to a Red Barons game, buy a ticket at the window and sit up close. This year the team has sold out the entire lower deck for season tickets. With so many tickets sold in advance, the team has no need to offer giveaway items. At the concessions, more prepackaged food (and more expensive at that). You go into the park and you watch a game, but you don't feel a part of it anymore. And really, with all the money coming in it's hard to blame them. But it makes me less enthusiastic to attend games. I don't know if it's the extreme cold or the pace, but these games have not been fun at all.
After a sabbatical from wrestling, 24/7 got me interested again in the product. I'll confess that I'm a John Cena fan, and I think the in-ring product has been as good as ever perhaps. So with a live Monday Night Raw coming, my friend, his fiance and I picked up some tickets for the show. We lucked out with it becoming a three-hour special featuring the draft lottery.
-Legends! We got appearances from Dusty Rhodes, Roddy Piper and the Fabulous Moolah.
-Chris Benoit's last Raw match.
-Local product Snitsky got DQ'ed for beating up Miz after the bell. Like that merited a DQ. My friend actually worked with Snitsky a short time at a local resort.
-The limo explosion. What an odd event at a show, we found out later that it was actually filmed the night before. The arena is actually in a fairly isolated spot, which made it an attractive venue to pull off that stunt.
For those who bash John Cena, it is really obvious from most live crowds like this that he is a tremendous draw. What struck me more than anything though is that the sound feedback was incredible. During the matches you just heard this incredible hum through the sound system. WWE cranks up the music to the point where I'm surprised the announcers can function.
Next up: Smackdown
A bit of background on this one. For years, WWE ran frequent shows at the Catholic Youth Center in Scranton, PA. Its history dates back at least to 1964, with Bruno Sammartino main eventing shows. Even as the Attitude era flourished in large arenas, WWE would come back to the CYC and run shows in front of 3,800 fans. In the Summer of 1998 however, the catholic leadership saw the product becoming too distasteful, and barred the WWE. So wrestling left the area for two years.
I never saw a wrestling show at the CYC, but I did attend a Harlem Globetrobbers game there. The best information I can find is that the CYC is now owned by Lackawanna College. Here's a virtual tour of the facility.
http://www.ecampustours.com/VirtualTours/V...83&ItemID=8
July 16, 2000. For the first time, the new First Union Arena at Casey Plaza hosts a WWE event (they had WCW Thunder in January). I had upper deck seats to catch this lineup.
Bull Buchanon defeated Al Snow
WWF European Champion Eddie Guerrero defeated Perry Saturn
Taka Michinoku & Sho Funaki defeated the Dupps
WWF Tag Team Champions Edge & Christian defeated the Acolytes
The Undertaker defeated Kurt Angle via count-out
Ivory defeated Jackie
WWF Hardcore Champion Steve Blackman defeated Gangrel
WWF Hardcore Champion Steve Blackman defeated Essa Rios
Matt & Jeff Hardy defeated Road Dogg & X-Pac
Kane defeated the Big Bossman
None of the matches truly stands out. Undertaker/Angle really turned out to be a dress rehearsal for their Fully Loaded PPV match, minus the finish. This was a good show though, nothing was remotely close to bad.
Three years later, first level seats at the same venue (now called the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza).
Maven & the Hurricane defeated Lance Storm & Chief Morley when Hurricane pinned Morley
Christopher Nowinski pinned Tommy Dreamer
WWE Women’s Champion Jazz defeated Trish Stratus and Victoria by pinning Trish
WWE Raw Tag Team Champion Kane pinned Christian
Bubba Ray, D-Von, & Spike Dudley defeated Rico & 3 Minute Warning in a tables match following a 3D on Jamal through a table
Sylvian Grenier & Rene Dupree defeated Scott Steiner & Test when Test was pinned as he was distracted by Stacy Keibler and Steiner on the floor
Booker T pinned Rodney Mack
WWE Raw World Champion Triple H pinned Kevin Nash after ramming the challenger’s head into an unprotected turnbuckle
Here things are clearer. The Dudleys' table match was no more than a standard six man tag with a table finish. I was sour on HHH/Nash at the time, but in retrospect I need to admit that they had a fine match.
I think arena shows are excellent as a fan. Live television shows can be hit or miss as the company is more concerned with angle development. At the live events, it's simply matches, and every angle is done with the live audience in mind.
Coming tomorrow: The Draft Lottery in 2007 and Benoit loses his mind.
Fast forwarding to 1999, a friend winning a radio contest netted us tickets to WWE Raw at the Meadowlands, the day after Wrestlemania XV.
This event featured a two hour live Raw, along with Shotgun and Super Astros tapings. Some highlights I recall.
-The Public Enemy pinned by six other guys in a four team tag match.
-El Hijo del Santo!
-Goldust winning the Intercontinental title from the Blue Meanie.
We got the taping first. The night's Raw featured the usual Russo era storylines. The problem with this type of show is that while everything is designed to engage the live audience, none of it is particularly memorable. The Undertaker kidnaps Stephanie McMahon, leading Vince to order his hooligans to find her. Ken Shamrock gets a confession from Christian. All a little more soap operaish than I prefer. Austin regained his Smoking Skull championship belt at this show. The Rock's popularity was on the rise, and it was clearly evident that he would turn face within a month.
Apologies for a short entry, but I'm really at a loss to write anything really interesting here.
Coming tomorrow: Live shows in 2000 and 2003.
This Saturday I'm attending a WWE house show in Wilkes-Barre, PA. In the week prior, I thought it would be fun to look back at various live shows I have attended.
Kicking off is my first live wrestling experience. In the early days of Monday Night Raw, WWE would run shows in much smaller venues. The Fernwood Event Center was a small convention hall in Bushkill, PA that held maybe 3,000. The town more or less consists of a single resort. Parking at the place was sparse, with cars lining Route 209 perhaps for half a mile. My friend, my father and I got standing tickets for the show, I being unable to convince my dad that the show just might sell out beforehand. Still, we were in.
The show was a combined live show and taping. The matches started with a series of squash matches, some of which aired the next week on Raw. What I remember most is that it seemed to take ten minutes between each squash, more frustrating when the matches themselves lasted two minutes apiece. Razor Ramon defeated Pat Tanaka, the Headshrinkers won a squash, Diesel won a squash, and Ramon came out again and beat the Brooklyn Brawler. (As an aside, one of the jobbers against the Headshrinkers was a young Mike Bucci, who later rose to fame as Nova and Simon Dean.)
Finally we got some competitive matches. IRS defeated Marty Jannetty clean and Doink defeated Bastian Booger. Those matches later aired on the Survivor Series Showdown. Bret Hart beat Jerry Lawler in a dark match. That may have been scheduled to air, but Lawler was charged with statutory rape soon after and was taken off television. Then we got the live Raw, which consisted of Ludwig Borga vs. Scott Steiner and a few more squash matches. The live show saw Randy Savage attack Crush in the dressing area, but without monitors all the live crowd saw was Bob Backlund vs. Barry Horowitz.
Being late, we left during Luger vs. Pierre. An Undertaker/Yokozuna dark match followed.
The show itself is almost entirely unmemorable, as Raw was not much more than a live episode of Superstars at that time. Fernwood was a poor venue, it was cramped and allowed little space for movement to concessions and merchandise, and some fans found themselves sitting directly in walkways. Adding the poor location, and it's a wonder WWE bothered. I would have liked to see them run the Scranton CYC for a Raw once or twice. Or even the Ag Hall in Allentown. Those would have accomplished the same goal of an intimate venue, with a nod towards history.
Coming tomorrow: March '99 in the Meadowlands
I'm posting this here because I didn't feel like beating a dead horse in the MLB thread. There is a legitimate argument that Bagwell is not only Hall of Fame worthy, but he is the best first baseman in the history of the National League. Blasphemy? Check out the leaderboards. Minimum 5000 Plate Appearances for rate statistics.
DOUBLES 2B
1 Mark Grace 511
T2 Cap Anson 488
T2 Jeff Bagwell 488
4 Jake Beckley 435
5 Andres Galarraga 428
6 Keith Hernandez 424
7 Jim Bottomley 419
8 Todd Helton 411
9 Steve Garvey 409
10 Charlie Grimm 394
HITS H
1 Jake Beckley 2763
2 Cap Anson 2710
3 Mark Grace 2445
4 Steve Garvey 2443
5 Jake Daubert 2326
6 Jeff Bagwell 2314
7 Charlie Grimm 2297
8 Andres Galarraga 2273
9 Bill Terry 2193
10 Keith Hernandez 2156
HOMERUNS HR
1 Jeff Bagwell 449
2 Willie McCovey 439
3 Andres Galarraga 388
4 Gil Hodges 369
5 Orlando Cepeda 331
6 Johnny Mize 315
7 Eric Karros 282
8 Todd Helton 281
9 Fred McGriff 269
10 Ted Kluszewski 257
INTENTIONAL WALKS IBB
1 Willie McCovey 248
2 Jeff Bagwell 155
3 Todd Helton 146
4 Orlando Cepeda 130
5 Keith Hernandez 127
6 Mark Grace 115
7 Will Clark 112
8 Steve Garvey 108
9 Andres Galarraga 105
10 Fred McGriff 99
ISOLATED POWER ISO
1 Todd Helton .261
2 Johnny Mize .258
3 Willie McCovey .244
4 Jeff Bagwell .244
5 Fred McGriff .227
6 Dolph Camilli .220
7 Gil Hodges .215
8 Andres Galarraga .211
9 Orlando Cepeda .209
10 Will Clark .204
OBA OBA
1 Todd Helton .432
2 Dan Brouthers .418
3 Jeff Bagwell .408
4 Johnny Mize .405
5 Roger Connor .397
6 Cap Anson .397
7 Bill Terry .393
8 Dolph Camilli .390
9 Keith Hernandez .386
10 Elbie Fletcher .384
OPS OPS
1 Todd Helton 1.027
2 Johnny Mize .983
3 Jeff Bagwell .948
4 Dan Brouthers .942
5 Bill Terry .899
6 Willie McCovey .893
7 Dolph Camilli .890
8 Roger Connor .885
9 Fred McGriff .882
10 Will Clark .880
OWP OWP
1 Dan Brouthers .772
2 Johnny Mize .759
3 Roger Connor .717
4 Will Clark .705
5 Jeff Bagwell .704
6 Willie McCovey .702
7 Todd Helton .689
8 Cap Anson .677
9 Bill Terry .674
10 Dolph Camilli .671
RBI RBI
1 Cap Anson 1748
2 Jeff Bagwell 1529
3 Jake Beckley 1455
4 Andres Galarraga 1389
5 Willie McCovey 1345
6 Jim Bottomley 1315
7 Gil Hodges 1267
8 Steve Garvey 1246
9 Johnny Mize 1158
10 Orlando Cepeda 1150
RCAA RCAA
1 Dan Brouthers 789
2 Jeff Bagwell 680
3 Roger Connor 667
4 Cap Anson 659
5 Johnny Mize 638
6 Willie McCovey 536
7 Todd Helton 465
8 Bill Terry 425
9 Stan Musial 399
10 Keith Hernandez 371
RUNS R
1 Cap Anson 1549
2 Jeff Bagwell 1517
3 Jake Beckley 1491
4 Roger Connor 1336
5 Dan Brouthers 1229
6 Mark Grace 1179
7 Andres Galarraga 1161
8 Fred Tenney 1156
9 Bill Terry 1120
T10 Jake Daubert 1117
T10 Keith Hernandez 1117
RUNS CREATED RC
1 Cap Anson 2047
2 Jeff Bagwell 1768
3 Roger Connor 1725
4 Jake Beckley 1685
5 Dan Brouthers 1652
6 Willie McCovey 1403
7 Mark Grace 1392
8 Johnny Mize 1372
9 Andres Galarraga 1338
10 Todd Helton 1306
RUNS CREATED/GAME RC/G
1 Dan Brouthers 11.84
2 Roger Connor 10.04
3 Todd Helton 9.96
4 Johnny Mize 9.51
5 Cap Anson 9.50
6 Jeff Bagwell 8.11
7 Dolph Camilli 7.71
8 Bill Terry 7.65
9 Willie McCovey 7.08
10 Will Clark 7.08
SECONDARY AVERAGE SEC
1 Jeff Bagwell .449
2 Todd Helton .439
3 Willie McCovey .418
4 Dolph Camilli .408
5 Johnny Mize .400
6 Fred McGriff .372
7 Gil Hodges .357
8 Roger Connor .342
9 Will Clark .334
10 Dan Brouthers .332
SLG SLG
1 Todd Helton .595
2 Johnny Mize .577
3 Jeff Bagwell .540
4 Dan Brouthers .524
5 Willie McCovey .515
6 Fred McGriff .512
7 Orlando Cepeda .508
8 Bill Terry .506
9 Jim Bottomley .505
10 Will Clark .505
Whether or not Bagwell is the best, he's in some select company.
Before I begin, a quick note about ERA+, since I will use it often in this blog. ERA+ takes a pitcher's ERA and adjusts it for park and era. An ERA+ of 100 is league average. Higher is above average, lower is below average.
Hall of Fame Relievers
In my last entry I discussed the Hall of Fame chances for starting pitchers. This time out I will cover the relievers. Relief pitchers are a difficult field to judge because the Hall of Fame voters are still establishing the bar of excellence. To this date, only four relievers have been elected to the Hall (Bruce Sutter is not techically a member until his induction next month, but we're treating him as an inductee for this purpose). Here's a brief overview of their statistics.
Hoyt Wilhelm (1952-72): 143-122, 2.52 ERA, 146 ERA+, 227 saves, 2,254.3 Innings Pitched
Rollie Fingers (1968-85): 114-118, 2.90 ERA, 119 ERA+, 341 saves, 1,701.3 IP
Bruce Sutter (1976-88): 68-71, 2.83 ERA, 136 ERA+, 300 saves, 1,042.3 IP
Dennis Eckersley (1975-98): 197-171, 3.50 ERA, 116 ERA+, 390 saves, 3,285.7 IP
When comparing starters, you can make a group of Hall of Famers and compare candidates. You can not really do that here because all four inductees are different. Hoyt Wilhelm was a knuckleball pitcher who did not even reach the majors until the age of 29 (incidently, he hit his only career home run in his first at bat). Rollie Fingers looks like an undeserving candidate in some aspects, but he did retire as the career leader in saves. Dennis Eckersley combined dual careers as a starter and reliever. And Bruce Sutter may or may not have invented the split-finger fastball.
The difficulty is that some relievers with equal credentials have been excluded. Dan Quisenberry for example finished with a career ERA+ better than any of the four Hall of Fame relievers above. Voters are less impressed with final results and more impressed with image. A reliever needs either a blazing fastball or high strikeout totals. Quisenberry rarely struck out batters, but he walked as few batters as any pitcher in modern baseball history.
What is the best measure of reliever quality? Saves? The top five in saves are Lee Smith, Trevor Hoffman, John Franco, Dennis Eckersley and Mariano Rivera. Jeff Reardon follows at number six. The problem is that saves are a product of the current era. Jose Mesa has 319 saves and a career ERA+ of 101 (just about average). That's certainly not Hall of Fame quality.
You need to set aside statistics across eras. The trend in relief pitching has been to utilize shorter outings. Modern relievers pitch less innings than twenty or thirty years ago. However, they pitch at MUCH higher effectiveness. Billy Wagner's ERA+ would rate as the best of all time, but he has not even pitched 700 innings at this rate. If pitchers of this era pitched in a different era, they could pitch longer but less effectively. The same goes for the relievers of the Gossage/Sutter era.
So the only real way to identify Hall of Fame relievers is to compare them against the current era. The mark of a Hall of Famer is separation from the pack. If many players have reached the same level of achievement, then it's not that outstanding a performance. From baseball-reference, I identified the 15 active leaders in games finished. Those 15 relievers compiled ERA+'s ranging from 197 to 101.
I think we can safely dismiss the nine relievers with ERA+'s under 140. I do not see a single Hall of Fame candidate among that group. That gives us six names. Mariano Rivera, Billy Wagner, Troy Percival, Armando Benitez, Trevor Hoffman and Keith Foulke. Billy Wagner and Troy Percival each have less than 700 innings pitched for their career, and Armando Benitez and Keith Foulke are barely above that. All four would easily have the fewest innings pitched of any Hall of Fame pitcher (including Babe Ruth). That leaves Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman as legitimate candidates with an acceptable number of innings pitched.
Mariano Rivera has really surpassed any element of debate. Rivera's ERA+ is better than any pitcher in baseball history. On top of that, he has pitched 111.7 innings in the postseason with just an 0.81 ERA, an 8-1 record and 34 saves. Not only is Rivera's postseason ERA the lowest of any pitcher with significant postseason innings, but they are nearly all high leverage innings.
Trevor Hoffman's a slightly more difficult case. His ERA+ is very good, but Rivera, Billy Wagner, Troy Percival and Armando Benitez are better (and Wagner's is significantly better). How much strength do you put in 150-200 more innings pitched? It is not insignificant, considering that is 3-4 seasons worth of work for a relief pitcher. Hoffman doesn't have a real postseason resume (although he's pitched well when given the opportunity. Hoffman has however put himself in reach of the all time saves mark. When Hoffman reaches the All-Time saves record, he should punch his ticket to the Hall of Fame. His ERA+ is on the level of the elites, and you have to do something right to set the saves record.
The big question mark is Billy Wagner. No one really discusses him as a Hall of Famer, and I never really saw him as such. But his 180 ERA+ is one of the greatest marks in baseball history, and only Rivera is really on his level. Wagner is the most dominant left handed relief pitcher of all time. However, his 650 or so innings is incredibly low for a Hall of Famer. In 3-4 years however, he might be a serious candidate.
Mike & Mike this morning discussed pitching candidates for the Hall of Fame. I figured I'd throw in my two cents.
Shoe Ins
Roger Clemens
Greg Maddux
Randy Johnson
Tom Glavine
Pedro Martinez
Tom Glavine is often labeled as a guy who is close, but in. He's a dead lock, and it is not even close. Glavine as of this writing has 286 wins. Of the 30 pitchers who have won 275 or more games, 22 are in the Hall, three are still active, and two were 19th century pitchers. That leaves Bert Blyleven, Tommy John and Jim Kaat. Let's stack up the numbers.
Glavine: 286-186 (.606), 3.44 ERA, 120 ERA+
Blyleven: 287-250 (.534), 3.31 ERA, 118 ERA+
Kaat: 283-237 (.544), 3.45 ERA, 107 ERA+
John: 288-231 (.555), 3.34 ERA, 111 ERA+
Two things should come out right away. The first is that Glavine's win percentage is over .600. There is simply no precident for leaving out a pitcher with this many wins AND this high a winning percentage. Also note that Blyleven, who pitched effectively as long, posted nearly as good an earned run average in context.
Pedro Martinez has 204 wins right now. Compare his record to pitchers let in with few wins. The Black Ink Test is a tool that measures how often a player led his league in something. It's a good tool both for measuring players with high peaks, and players from different eras. The average Hall of Fame pitcher has a Black Ink score of 40.
Pedro Martinez: 204-88 (.697), 2.75 ERA, 166 ERA+, Black Ink: 55
Jack Chesbro: 198-132 (.600), 2.68 ERA, 110 ERA+, Black Ink: 27
Dizzy Dean: 150-83 (.644), 3.02 ERA, 130 ERA+, Black Ink: 52
Lefty Gomez: 189-102 (.649), 3.34 ERA, 125 ERA+, Black Ink: 46
Addie Joss: 160-97 (.623), 1.89 ERA, 142 ERA+, Black Ink: 19
Sandy Koufax: 165-87 (.655), 2.76 ERA, 131 ERA+, Black Ink: 78
Dazzy Vance: 197-140 (.585), 3.24 ERA, 125 ERA+, Black Ink: 66
Rube Waddell: 193-143 (.574), 2.16 ERA, 134 ERA+, Black Ink: 46
Ed Walsh: 195-126 (.607), 1.82 ERA, 145 ERA+, Black Ink: 67
All of the above players scored high on the Black Ink test except for Jack Chesbro and Addie Joss. Chesbro won 41 games in 1904, and is essentially in the Hall on that statistic alone. Addie Joss's raw numbers are eye popping, but he was never the best pitcher in the league. Pedro Martinez stacks up favorably with all these players, and his winning percentage and ERA+ are better than any pitcher on the list. In fact, Pedro's ERA+ ranks number one all time, and his winning percentage is second behind Al Spalding among HOF pitchers (And Spalding pitched most of his career in the National Association, which MLB does not recognize in official statistics).
On the Bubble
Mike Mussina
Curt Schilling
John Smoltz
These pitchers are harder to judge, and even I am not certain of their Hall of Fame qualifications. Mussina's going to have a tricky time because he never won 20 games, and we know voters love those big round numbers. Mussina's won 19 games twice, 19 three times, and 17 twice. One problem is that Mussina's best years were 1994-95, when he missed several starts due to the strike. It is not difficult to think Mussina would have won four games between August 12 and the end of the 1994 season, and just one more game in four starts in 1995. He led the league in wins in 1995.
If you look at Mussina's record, again you see a superior win/loss percentage (.643 in this case). Let's make a comparison for Mussina here. Eleven pitchers have won 225 or more games, not made the Hall, and pitched after 1900 (not counting active players). I will not add another table because frankly, most readers have not heard some of these names. As a group, they had winning percentages between .491 and .577. Their adjusted ERAs ranged from 101 to 118. They scored between 7 and 20 on the Black Ink test.
Mussina blasts them out of the water in win percentage and adjusted ERA. His record there is superior to any pitcher not in the Hall of Fame. The Black Ink test is trickier, because Mussina only scores a 14. But if you move on to the Gray Ink test (which measures top ten appearances instead of just leading a category), Mussina stands out. Only Bert Blyleven beats Mussina in that category, and Blyleven really should be in the Hall as well. Mussina does not have that one outstanding season. But he's clearly superior to any fringe candidate.
Curt Schilling is the opposite. Not great counting numbers, but some tremendous seasons. Just for fun, here's Schilling next to another current pitcher
Curt Schilling: 202-134
Kenny Rogers: 201-134
Of course Schilling's ERA is nearly a run lower and he has about a thousand more strikeouts. What makes Schilling odd is that he also never won a Cy Young award, which you would think is a prerequisite for making the Hall on a short career. I think Schilling's a deserving candidate though, as he scores favorably on all the Hall of Fame standards tests. If he finishes his career with 220-225 wins with his current win percentage, he should be a lock.
There's no really good statistical judge for John Smoltz. Dennis Eckersley reshaped the closers' role. Smoltz was just a closer for a few years. Obviously he was a great closer and deserves some credit for that, but how much? A closer is not as valuable as a 20 win pitcher, and probably not as valuable as a 15 win pitcher. What about 12 wins? Add 36 wins to his total, give him credit for the 15 wins in the postseason, and he's up to around 233 wins. I would not vote for Smoltz just let, but if he reaches 200 wins, then you have a guy who also has 154 saves and an amazing 15-4 record in the postseason. It's hard to go against that.
Others
It is difficult to predict the future of pitchers. Among the top 100 active pitchers in wins, only Andy Pettitte has a legitimate shot at the Hall. There are many pitchers in the sub 100 win club who could make a run, noteably Johan Santana. The problem is there is little difference in the peak values of great pitchers and good pitchers. The difference is how long they last. Many pitchers like Fernando Valenzuela had great peaks, but only had a few great years. Some guys look like HOFers at age 30 and are gone by age 33. But even if you can not identify a single Hall of Famer or even a 300 game winner in the current generation, chances are someone will outlast the pack.
I'll take a look at HOF closers in the future.
