Bored

They would have had to waive or trade his brother but it would have certainly been worth it even with the awkwardness of Jered costing his brother his job. Jeff is only on a one-year contract so eating his salary or picking up most of it in a trade wouldn't have been a big deal. But hey if the Angels want to keep on losing fine by me.

Woo hoo, my three World Series box sets showed up today. I’ll try to figure out some sort of entry to do on the sets beyond a simple review. Probably will start by watching the bonus disk on the 1986 set that has Game 6 of the NLCS. Hey remember how overrated Carlos Beltran was and how he was overpaid? What happened to that talk? He’s arguably the best healthy player in baseball right now. To no surprise Pujols is still on top even on the DL but Beltran is making a serious push for the top spot. If the Mets do end up winning the East you could have an interesting teammate duel for the MVP with him and David Wright, depending on how much Pujols’ injury time affects his chances. Scott Rolen has stepped up in Pujols’ absence and makes his first appearance in the Top 10. After a huge jump into the Top 10, Alfonso Soriano goes cold and nearly tumbles out of it while his teammate Nick Johnson is red hot. The slumping Chase Utley drops out of the Top 10 for the first time this season. #10 Alfonso Soriano, Nationals .289/.350/.585, 57 RC, .299 EQA, 23.9 VORP, 13 Win Shares #9 Bobby Abreu, Phillies .292/.455/.500, 54 RC, .318 EQA, 23.9 VORP, 14 Win Shares #8 Scott Rolen, Cardinals .355/.430/.589, 42 RC, .323 EQA, 27.7 VORP, 12 Win Shares #7 Nick Johnson, Nationals .309/.436/.554, 55 RC, .328 EQA, 30.5 VORP, 13 Win Shares #6 Miguel Cabrera, Marlins .339/.435/.562, 54 RC, .330 EQA, 34.0 VORP, 11 Win Shares #5 Lance Berkman, Astros .308/.386/.602, 53 RC, .313 EQA, 24.2 VORP, 14 Win Shares #4 David Wright, Mets .335/.404/.587, 55 RC, .319 EQA, 33.0 VORP, 12 Win Shares #3 Brandon Webb, Diamondbacks 226 ERA+, 5.69 K/BB, 1.07 WHIP, 41.6 VORP, 13 Win Shares #2 Carlos Beltran, Mets .300/.408/.643, 59 RC, .329 EQA, 34.3 VORP, 17 Win Shares #1 .308/.442/.751, 65 RC, .357 EQA, 38.1 VORP, 19 Win Shares Finally we have a new #1 in the A.L. as Jim Thome is starting to cool off. He actually leads the league in Win Shares still but the new #1 topped him in every other category. Joe Mauer pulls off what Alfonso Soriano did last week and makes a huge jump into the Top 10. Vernon Wells also makes a big jump and might be emerging as a serious MVP candidate this year. I do have some sad news this week…Baseball Jesus has dropped out. Do not cry though, there will be a resurrection. #10 Curtis Granderson, Tigers .282/.379/.464, 49 RC, .290 EQA, 18.5 VORP, 13 Win Shares #9 Ramon Hernandez, Orioles .292/.353/.498, 50 RC, .291 EQA, 17.7 VORP, 13 Win Shares #8 Miguel Tejada, Orioles .333/.392/.556, 51 RC, .318 EQA, 37.1 VORP, 11 Win Shares #7 Jermaine Dye, White Sox .298/.393/.639, 47 RC, .325 EQA, 23.1 VORP, 12 Win Shares #6 Alexis Rios, Blue Jays .335/.386/.623, 51 RC, .320 EQA, 28.2 VORP, 12 Win Shares #5 Jason Giambi, Yankees .270/.443/.616, 54 RC, .341 EQA, 26.5 VORP, 12 Win Shares #4 Joe Mauer, Twins .378/.443/.523, 44 RC, .331 EQA, 33.0 VORP, 12 Win Shares #3 Vernon Wells, Blue Jays .328/.384/.624, 53 RC, .320 EQA, 34.7 VORP, 12 Win Shares #2 Jim Thome, White Sox .281/.415/.615, 61 RC, .331 EQA, 29.8 VORP, 14 Win Shares #1 .303/.454/.620, 65 RC, .356 EQA, 37.7 VORP, 13 Win Shares

Ask and you shall receive as I'm behind the times because there another two new bowl games I completely missed being added this year as there's also now the Birmingham Bowl and the New Mexico Bowl. That brings the total to 31 bowls now although the Houston Bowl is apparantly in limbo at the moment. Remember this year they go back to a 12 game schedule and now all wins vs. D-IAA schools count for bowl eligiblity. Going to be a lot of 6-6 teams going bowling.

I remember hearing about this idea a few years ago but I hadn't realized that it is official for this year. This has disaster written all over it. Toronto - January 6, 2007 It'll be the last bowl game before another bad idea, the BCS Title Game.

World Series starts tommorrow. Friday Game 1: Georgia Tech (49-16) vs. Clemson (52-14), 2:00 PM/11:00 AM Game 2: North Carolina (49-13) vs. Cal State Fullerton (48-13), 7:00/4:00 PM Saturday Game 3: Georgia (47-20) vs. Rice (55-10), 2:00 PM/11:00 AM Game 4: Miami (41-22) vs. Oregon State (44-14), 7:00/4:00 PM

I think every sports fan has certain athletes they dislike or even on some level hate. Sometimes there are some justifiable reason to dislike the athlete and other times it is just irrational hate. For me that athlete is Roger Clemens. I can't stand the fat fuck. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense as Clemens has many memorable failures against my Oakland A's over the years. Clemens was 0-7 head-to-head vs. Dave Stewart when Stewart pitched for the A's. Hell you'd think I'd like the guy but I don't. I've grown tired of his several near retirements which started with his so called farewell season of 2003. That season he was forced on to the All-Star team by Bud Selig after not being selected to the team and was given a long standing ovation in his "final" start in the 2003 World Series even though at no point before or during the season did he ever say that it would be his final year. Now he's on his way back yet again and in honor of his return I will attempt to take something away from him: the 1986 American League Most Valuable Player Award. 1986 was the last time a starting pitcher won an MVP award as Clemens had arguably the best season of his career going 24-4 with a 2.48 ERA while playing on the best team in the league. In the 1995 N.L. MVP redo I established that it is still possible for a starting pitcher to win an MVP award although it is very difficult. Certainly Clemens had the type of year a starting pitcher would need to warrant consideration for an MVP and he received 19 of the 28 possible first place votes. His main competition was the defending A.L. MVP Don Mattingly and he had an even better season than his MVP year but his RBI total was down from 145 to 113 so undoubtedly that hurt him in the view of the writers. Then other player to receive first place votes was Clemens' teammate and another former MVP in Jim Rice. Rice had a great year but the best position player on the Red Sox was clearly Wade Boggs who won the batting title with a .357 avg and also lead the league with a .453 obp. Boggs only finished 7th in the voting. Actual Results 1) Roger Clemens 2) Don Mattingly 3) Jim Rice 4) George Bell 5) Jesse Barfield 6) Kirby Puckett 7) Wade Boggs 8) Wally Joyner 9) Joe Carter 10) Dave Righetti 11) Doug DeCinces 12) Mike Witt 13) Don Baylor 14) Tony Fernandez 15) Teddy Higuera 16) Gary Gaetti 17t) Marty Barrett 17t) Scott Fletcher 17t) Pete O'Brien 20) Jose Canseco 21) Jim Presley 22) Dick Schofield #10 .263/.358/.469, 102 RC, 125 OPS+, .307 EQA, 53.6 VORP, 26 Win Shares #9 156 ERA+, 2.80 K/BB, 1.21 WHIP, 75.3 VORP, 25 Win Shares #8 .302/.335/.514, 114 RC, 130 OPS+, .300 EQA, 49.9 VORP, 28 Win Shares #7 .282/.355/.461, 102 RC, 122 OPS+, .296 EQA, 58.7 VORP, 28 Win Shares #6 .328/.366/.537, 131 RC, 140 OPS+, .307 EQA, 65.4 VORP, 26 Win Shares #5 .324/.384/.490, 117 RC, 137 OPS+, .310 EQA, 52.4 VORP, 28 Win Shares #4 .289/.368/.559, 120 RC, 147 OPS+, .315 EQA, 51.8 VORP, 28 Win Shares #3 169 ERA+, 3.55 K/BB, 0.97 WHIP, 84.6 VORP, 29 Win Shares #2 .357/.453/.486, 128 RC, 157 OPS+, .337 EQA, 73.2 VORP, 37 Win Shares #1 .352/.394/.573, 155 RC, 161 OPS+, .338 EQA, 85.8 VORP, 34 Win Shares OH IN YO FACE CLEMENS, IN YO FACE!!! See the fact fuck wasn't even the best player on his own team. That's it he shouldn't be allowed in the Hall of Fame. Pretty much a toss up between Mattingly and Boggs, I wouldn't argue with anyone who feels Boggs should have won it. RICKEY~ didn't receive any votes and neither did Ripken who also didn't receive any votes in the 1984 A.L. MVP redo when I chose him as the winner. In the near future I'll be posting an 80's round up of MVP redos for the years haven't done yet but aren't interesting enough for their own entry...and I'm not even sure if this one was either.

I wasn't trying to argue Clemens was a bad pick, was just look for an excuse to do another 80's redo before I post them all thus my very weak intro and excuse for doing the entry. I do think Win Shares does accurately compare hitters vs. pitchers but at the same time I think pitchers do deserve some bonus points if they have a high number of Win Shares. When I did the 1995 N.L. redo I picked Maddux as the winner over Bonds even though Bonds had six more Win Shares. Here I felt Mattingly and Boggs were a just a step above Clemens.

Frank Thomas has finally landed on the DL, about two months later than expected but this was actually kind of planned. He is having a problem with a sore quad muscle for about a month now and he could use a few days off in a row but they play nine straight games in N.L. parks starting next week so they are using it to give him a break. Sort of self preservation strategy in hopes keeping healthy come September.

And he did it just nine hours before he has to make a start today, if they don't skip him. They have a problem because the two guys who could make an emergency start today if necessary, Brad Halsey and Chad Gaudin, both pitched last night although only one inning apiece.

In recent years the WWE has made a killing on wrestler themed DVD's that feature several full length versions of classic matches. Now not necessarily influenced by the WWE but Major League Baseball has now started releasing DVD box sets of classic World Series featuring full length games from the entire series. This year they've released 1975, 1979, and 1986 World Series on DVD and I'd imagine there will be more of this in the future. Even though I'm not a fan of the Reds, Pirates, or Mets I do plan on buying these sets once the price goes down. Now a couple of years ago the NFL started releasing box sets called the "NFL Super Bowl Collections." This confused some people as they wondered if these were original broadcasts of the NFL games or not. Of course they weren't as they were just the classic half-hour highlight films of the games done by NFL Films that anyone can see on ESPN every January. Now before they changed their programming a little over a year ago ESPN Classic was paradise for a diehard sports fan who loved watching classic sporting events. You could find original broadcasts of classic MLB, NBA, NHL, college football, college basketball, boxing, and racing on a regular basis. There was one thing always missing though and that was original broadcasts of classic NFL games. This always had struck me as unusual. Given that ESPN has been televising NFL games since 1987 and with their deal with ABC you'd figure at the very least they'd be able to show classic Sunday & Monday Night Football games but no such luck. I've searched as much as I can but I've never been able to find out why the NFL refuses to allow any broadcast of this archived footage. When the NFL Network started up a few years back I always assumed that they would air classic games on the channel. With 24 hours to fill on a channel that would only interest serious NFL fans you would think they would fill some of that time but showing classic games but they do not. My only theory has been that given the deal with NFL Films it seems that the NFL only wants them to be the sole history teller of their sport. Back in the late 90's they started putting together NFL Films versions of full length historical games such as Super Bowl III and the 1982 NFC Championship game. These were kind of cool when they first aired but they've only done a handful of games and they still don't have the feel of watching an original broadcast game. I will continue to not understand why the NFL sits on a goldmine they have. These classic games are just sitting there with no one to see them. With MLB now jumping on the DVD bandwagon of selling classic footage you'd hope the NFL will do the same in the future. The sales just for boxed sets of full length Super Bowls would be through the roof especially if they packaged them for particular teams like the 49ers, Cowboys, and Steelers. The NFL certainly has never turned down the chance to make more money and I don't see why they refuse to do so in this case.

So with the DeepDiscountDVD.com sale I went ahead and bought all three World Series sets for about $120 total. Should show up by Friday, I can't wait.

God dang Jim Bob, look what you done. http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...1/60605005/1035

D-Backs release Russ Oritz today, eating the last $22 million owed on his contract. One of those signings where literally everyone knew it was a bad idea except the team signing him.

Not as famous as the Theismann injury but just as gruesome. The Napolean McCallum injury

You can't put a dollar sign on VETERAN PRESENCE~! Yikes, not a bad trade? Well okay the Astros kind of wasted what they got in the deal but Davis' production fell off drastically after being traded so it was a great deal pulled off by Houston, while one of the worst trades ever by the Orioles.

Now here's a find. Jets touchdown in Super Bowl III

Goal line stand from Super Bowl XVI The end of Michael Irvin's career 1989, 49ers vs. Eagles, CB Izel Jenkins gets burned by Jerry Rice and then John Taylor CBS intro to Super Bowl X Ton of Randy Moss TD clips

Baseball Prospectus is reporting that Rich Harden is likely going to have Tommy John surgery. Yup that was the other shoe I was waiting to drop for him. If this is confirmed then they are going to have to at least attempt to re-sign Zito.

Holy crap, if he's alert and conscious after his head hits a windshield without a helmet I'd imagine they didn't collide at a high speed but if this ends up ending his career he's got no one to blame but himself.

For the first time in 35 years the NBA Finals will feature two franchises who have never reached the Finals before. So like I did for the Clippers after their historic playoff series win, here are the Top 10 individual seasons for both franchises according to the basketball version of Win Shares. I guess it shouldn't be surprising that the best individual season for both franchises are from this past season. The Mavericks list is dominated by one player who may end up holding the 10 best seasons in franchise history by the time he's done and appears on his way to becoming one of the greatest players of all-time. Dallas Mavericks Top 10 Individual Seasons 1. Dirk Nowitzki, '05-'06, 52 Win Shares 26.6 PTS, 9.0 REB, 2.8 AST, 0.7 STL, 1.0 BLK, 1.9 TO 2. Dirk Nowitzki, '04-'05, 47 Win Shares 26.1 PTS, 9.7 REB, 3.1 AST, 1.2 STL, 1.5 BLK, 2.3 TO 3. Dirk Nowitzki, '02-'03, 45 Win Shares 25.1 PTS, 9.9 REB, 3.0 AST, 1.4 STL, 1.0 BLK, 1.9 TO 4. Dirk Nowitzki, '00-'01, 43 Win Shares 21.8 PTS, 9.2 REB, 2.1 AST, 1.0 STL, 1.2 BLK, 1.9 TO 5. Dirk Nowitzki, '01-'02, 42 Win Shares 23.4 PTS, 9.9 REB, 2.4 AST, 1.1 STL, 1.0 BLK, 1.9 TO 6. Dirk Nowitzki, '03-'04, 33 Win Shares 21.8 PTS, 8.7 REB, 2.7 AST, 1.2 STL, 1.4 BLK, 1.8 TO 7. Steve Nash, '02-'03, 32 Win Shares 17.7 PTS, 2.9 REB, 7.3 AST, 1.0 STL, 0.1 BLK, 2.3 TO 8. Steve Nash, '01-02, 31 Win Shares 17.9 PTS, 3.1 REB, 7.7 AST, 0.6 STL, 0.0 BLK, 2.8 TO 9. Rolando Blackman, '83-'84, 30 Win Shares 22.4 PTS, 4.6 REB, 3.6 AST, 0.7 STL, 0.5 BLK, 2.1 TO 10, Derek Harper, '89-'90, 30 Win Shares 18.0 PTS, 3.0 REB, 7.4 AST, 2.3 STL, 0.3 BLK, 2.5 TO Miami Heat Top 10 Individual Seasons -Yes Udonis Haslem but no Glen Rice. I've said before I'm not sure how reliable this is. 1. Dwyane Wade, '05-'06, 41 Win Shares 27.2 PTS, 5.7 REB, 6.7 AST, 1.9 STL, 0.8 BLK, 3.6 TO 2. Tim Hardaway, '96-'97, 39 Win Shares 20.3 PTS, 3.4 REB, 8.6 AST, 1.9 STL, 0.1 BLK, 2.8 TO 3. Alonzo Mourning, '99-'00, 38 Win Shares 21.7 PTS, 9.5 REB, 1.6 AST, 0.5 STL, 3.7 BLK, 2.7 TO 4. Tim Hardaway, '97-'98, 33 Win Shares 18.9 PTS, 3.7 REB, 8.3 AST, 1.7 STL, 0.2 BLK, 2.8 TO 5. Anthony Mason, '00-'01, 33 Win Shares 15.9 PTS, 9.5 REB, 3.0 AST, 1.0 STL, 0.3 BLK, 2.2 TO 6. Shaquille O'Neal, '04-'05, 32 Win Shares 22.9 PTS, 10.4 REB, 2.7 AST, 0.5 STL, 2.3 BLK, 2.8 TO 7. Dwyane Wade, '04-'05, 32 Win Shares 24.1 PTS, 5.2 REB, 6.8 AST, 1.6 STL, 1.1 BLK, 4.2 TO 8. Alonzo Mourning, '96-'97, 27 Win Shares 19.8 PTS, 9.9 REB, 1.6 AST, 0.8 STL, 2.9 BLK, 3.4 TO 9. Udonis Haslem, '04-05, 27 Win Shares 10.9 PTS, 9.1 REB, 1.4 AST, 0.8 STL, 0.5 BLK, 1.4 TO 10. Alonzo Mourning, '95-'96, 26 Win Shares 23.2 PTS, 10.4 REB, 2.3 AST, 1.0 STL, 2.7 BLK, 3.7 TO

Ugh, I had almost finished the entire entry and my dumbass clicks the back button by accident. Click forward, nothing there. So fuck it I'm not typing all that out again so here's the quick version of the Top 10 for each league and maybe I'll edit in some numbers later. Pujols still has a huge lead although it could be gone if he misses the full six weeks like many think he will. Edit: Okay I've put the numbers in now. National League 10. Jason Bay, Pirates .305/.427/.614, 49 RC, .328 EQA, 30 VORP, 9 Win Shares 9. Carlos Beltran, Mets .266/.389/.572, 42 RC, .309 EQA, 21.4 VORP, 12 Win Shares 8. Lance Berkman, Astros .299/.380/.598, 45 RC, .310 EQA, 20.6 VORP, 12 Win Shares 7. David Wright, Mets .327/.400/.559, 47 RC, .315 EQA, 25.5 VORP, 11 Win Shares 6. Miguel Cabrera, Marlins .349/.437/.593, 51 RC, .338 EQA, 32.5 VORP, 10 Win Shares 5. Chase Utley, Phillies .323/.389/.541, 43 RC, .300 EQA, 27.5 VORP, 13 Win Shares 4. Bobby Abreu, Phillies .285/.454/.505, 48 RC, .317 EQA, 19.0 VORP, 14 Win Shares 3. Alfonso Soriano, Nationals .310/.363/.628, 54 RC, .309 EQA, 25.8 VORP, 13 Win Shares 2. Brandon Webb, Diamondbacks 217 ERA+, 5.00 K/BB, 1.08 WHIP, 40.0 VORP, 12 Win Shares #1 .308/.442/.751, 65 RC, .357 EQA, 38.8 VORP, 19 Win Shares Basically can flip a coin between Thome and Hafner right now but gave Thome the nod for the edge in Win Shares. American League 10. Curtis Granderson, Tigers .287/.388/.483, 43 RC, .295 EQA, 18.9 VORP, 12 Win Shares 9. Vernon Wells, Blue Jays .326/.379/.606, 44 RC, .314 EQA, 28.2 VORP, 10 Win Shares 8. Ramon Hernandez, Orioles .307/.366/.512, 47 RC, .298 EQA, 18.5 VORP, 13 Win Shares 7. Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox .319/.434/.505, 44 RC, .322 EQA, 22.1 VORP, 11 Win Shares 6. Jermaine Dye, White Sox .306/.405/.669, 42 RC, .333 EQA, 22.3 VORP, 10 Win Shares 5. Derek Jeter, Yankees .344/.435/.495, 47 RC, .320 EQA, 30.1 VORP, 11 Win Shares 4. Alexis Rios, Blue Jays .359/.397/.631, 47 RC, .324 EQA, 26.5 VORP, 11 Win Shares 3. Jason Giambi, Yankees .277/.458/.620, 51 RC, .350 EQA, 27.0 VORP, 12 Win Shares 2. Travis Hafner, Indians .308/.449/.631, 57 RC, .355 EQA, 33.2 VORP, 12 Win Shares #1 .296/.432/.656, 58 RC, .344 EQA, 30.2 VORP, 13 Win Shares

Resident TSM Astros fan vivalaultra inspired me by his excitement over me mentioning Glenn Davis in the new TWiB thread and bringing up him being traded to the Orioles. During the '90/'91 offseason the Astros traded their slugging first baseman for three prospects named Curt Schilling, Steve Finley, and Pete Harnisch. Davis played three injury filled years in Baltimore while Schilling and Finley are still active players. Quite the coup by the Astros but Schilling and Finley's best years would come away from Houston as they would both be traded within the next three years. This gave me an idea, which I've actually thought of before, of looking at the evolution of a trade and see what other moves it spawned. I orignally was going to post this in the TWiB thread but there is an insane number of moves that that one trade created and changed the lives of many players. This is only from the Astros perspective or otherwise this would go on forever. Now since I'm lazy I'm only C&Ping the transactions from baseball-reference.com. Fun Facts from the Evolution of the Glenn Davis Trade -13 future trades, the last made in 2004 -61 Players traded -Acquired Brad Ausmus from the Tigers, then traded him back to the Tigers, and then traded back for him. If he's never traded again by the Astros he will be the last connection to the Davis trade. Glenn Davis January 10, 1991: Traded by the Houston Astros to the Baltimore Orioles for Pete Harnisch, Curt Schilling, and Steve Finley. Curt Schilling April 2, 1992: Traded by the Houston Astros to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jason Grimsley. Jason Grimsley March 30, 1993: Released by the Houston Astros. Pete Harnisch November 28, 1994: Traded by the Houston Astros to the New York Mets for players to be named later. The New York Mets sent Todd Beckerman (minors) (December 6, 1994) and Juan Castillo (April 12, 1995) to the Houston Astros to complete the trade. Steve Finley December 28, 1994: Traded by the Houston Astros with a player to be named later, Ken Caminiti, Andujar Cedeno, Roberto Petagine, and Brian Williams to the San Diego Padres for Derek Bell, Doug Brocail, Ricky Gutierrez, Pedro Martinez (the other one), Phil Plantier, and Craig Shipley. The Houston Astros sent Sean Fesh (minors) (May 1, 1995) to the San Diego Padres to complete the trade. Phil Plantier July 19, 1995: Traded by the Houston Astros to the San Diego Padres for Rich Loiselle and Jeff Tabaka. Pedro A. Martinez October 10, 1995: Traded by the Houston Astros to the San Diego Padres for Ray Holbert. Ray Holbert December 15, 1996: Signed as a Free Agent with the Detroit Tigers. Craig Shipley January 5, 1996: Signed as a Free Agent with the San Diego Padres. Rich Loiselle July 23, 1996: Traded by the Houston Astros to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Danny Darwin. Doug Brocail December 10, 1996: Traded by the Houston Astros with Brian Hunter, Todd Jones, Orlando Miller, and cash to the Detroit Tigers for Brad Ausmus, Jose Lima, Trever Miller, C.J. Nitkowski, and Daryle Ward. Jeff Tabaka January 10, 1997: Signed as a Free Agent with the Cincinnati Reds. Danny Darwin February 7, 1997: Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago White Sox. Brad Ausmus & C.J. Nitkowski January 14, 1999: Traded by the Houston Astros to the Detroit Tigers for Paul Bako, Dean Crow, Brian Powell, Carlos Villalobos (minors), and Mark Persails (minors). Ricky Gutierrez December 20, 1999: Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs. Derek Bell December 23, 1999: Traded by the Houston Astros with Mike Hampton to the New York Mets for Roger Cedeno, Octavio Dotel, and Kyle Kessel (minors). Trever Miller March 29, 2000: Traded by the Houston Astros to the Philadelphia Phillies for Yorkis Perez. Paul Bako April 11, 2000: Purchased by the Florida Marlins from the Houston Astros. Yorkis Perez July 24, 2000: Released by the Houston Astros. Roger Cedeno December 11, 2000: Traded by the Houston Astros with Chris Holt and Mitch Meluskey to the Detroit Tigers for Brad Ausmus, Doug Brocail, and Nelson Cruz. Jose Lima June 23, 2001: Traded by the Houston Astros to the Detroit Tigers for Dave Mlicki. Brian Powell November 30, 2001: Signed as a Free Agent with the Detroit Tigers. Doug Brocail November 11, 2002: Granted Free Agency. Nelson Cruz December 16, 2002: Traded by the Houston Astros to the Colorado Rockies for Victor Hall (minors). Daryle Ward January 25, 2003: Traded by the Houston Astros to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Ruddy Lugo (minors). Octavio Dotel June 24, 2004: Traded as part of a 3-team trade by the Houston Astros to the Oakland Athletics. The Oakland Athletics sent Mike Wood and Mark Teahen (minors) to the Kansas City Royals. The Houston Astros sent John Buck and cash to the Kansas City Royals. The Kansas City Royals sent Carlos Beltran to the Houston Astros. Carlos Beltran January 11, 2005: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Mets.

Joe Carter and Cory Snyder of the Clevleand Indians graced the cover of Sports Illustrated's 1987 Baseball Preview issue. It declared the Indians as the best team in the American League. The ’87 Indians would lose 101 games. How could this happen? No one is picking a team who was terrible the year before to win a pennant and indeed the year before the Indians were the surprise team of baseball. There have plenty of looks at the infamous ’87 Indians so I figured I’d look at the ’86 team that led to their label as preseason contenders the following season Going into 1986 the Indians were coming off a 102 loss season but would put together their best team in 27 years, leading the Majors in runs scored. They were never serious contenders in the A.L. East to the Red Sox in ’86 as their highpoint was on July 23rd when they were 51-41, five games out of first place. After terrible month of August (12-19) they hovered around .500 but won 9 of their last 12 games to finish 84-78, their first winning season since 1979. C: Andy Allanson (.225/.260/.280, -9.3 VORP, 0 Win Shares) – 101 games played, 0 Win Shares. Wow. Allanson was a rookie and brought absolutely nothing to the table. On top of those stomach turning offensive numbers he also committed 20 errors. Played with the Indians thru 1989 then bounced around to Detroit, Milwaukee, San Francisco, and California. 1B: Pat Tabler (.326/.368/.433, 28.7 VORP, 16 Win Shares) – Tabler would have made an awesome middle infielder with his numbers but problem was he played first base. ’86 was his best year as he finished 4th in the A.L. in average but he had almost no power with a career .379 SLG. Traded to the Royals in 1988 for Bud Black, then traded to the Mets in 1990 (the fifth trade of his career), and finished his career with two years in Toronto. 2B: Tony Bernazard (.301/.362/.456, 48.2 VORP, 25 Win Shares) – The top A.L. second baseman in 1986 per Win Shares, this was also Bernazard’s career year (possible trend?). Traded midseason the following year to Oakland in what would be his last year in the Majors before a brief comeback with the Tigers in 1991. 3B: Brook Jacoby (.288/.350/.441, 30.0 VORP, 21 Win Shares) – Only 26, Jacoby appeared to be a rising star but would peak the following year with a 32 homerun season. Fell off a cliff performance wise after age 30, the Indians traded him to Oakland in 1991 and then return to Cleveland a forgettable final season in 1992. SS: Julio Franco (.306/.338/.422, 41.9 VORP, 18 Win Shares) – Allegedly 27 years old at the time, Franco was one of my favorite non-A’s players as a kid because of his bizarre batting stance. He was awful defensive shortstop and was moved over to second base in 1988. After that year he was traded to the Rangers for Pete O’Brien, Oddibe McDowell, and Jerry Browne where he’d win the batting title in 1991. Signed with the White Sox for the 1994 season where had a terrific year but during the baseball strike decided to play over in Japan for the ’95 season. He returned to Cleveland in 1996, released late in 1997, signed with Milwaukee, and then went back to Japan in 1998. Played in Mexico in 1999 but did appear in one game for one at bat for the Devil Rays in September. Played the next two years in Mexico but the Braves purchased his contract late in 2001 and has since made a surprising return as solid, platoon player. This year joined the Mets at age 117. LF: Mel Hall (.296/.346/.493, 29.4 VORP, 18 Win Shares) – Hall was the very definition of a platoon outfielder. In 1986 the left handed hitter had just 26 at bats against left handed pitchers. Basically a decent hitter against righties but completely useless against lefties. Traded to the Yankees before the 1989 season and I’ll just post his awesome bio on BaseballLibrary.com to talk about the rest of his career. CF: Brett Butler (.278/.356/.375, 18.3 VORP, 20 Win Shares) – Very good leadoff hitter he was the master of the bunt single. Was a late bloomer as his prime was actually in his early-30’s. Signed with the Giants after 1987, played there for three years then became one of the most hated players by Giants fans when he signed with the Dodgers after 1990. Traded late in 1995 to the Mets and then came right back to the Dodgers, retiring after 1997. RF: Joe Carter (.302/.335/.514, 49.9 VORP, 28 Win Shares) – Although later recognized more for his playing days with the Blue Jays, 1986 was actually Carter’s best year (trend!). Indians traded him to San Diego after 1989 for Sandy Alomar, Carlos Baerga, and Chris James. Almost exactly a year later he would be traded in a blockbuster deal to Toronto with Roberto Alomar for Fred McGriff and Tony Fernandez. Played for the Blue Jays for seven years and of course became a World Series hero in 1993. Split his final season in 1998 with Baltimore and San Francisco. DH: Andre Thorton (.229/.333/.392, 7.0 VORP, 9 Win Shares) – Thorton was washed up at this point after being an unsung, very good DH for several years. Played in only 36 games the following year hitting just .118, his final season. UTL: Cory Snyder (.272/.299/.500, 19.5 VORP, 13 Win Shares) – I figured I’d throw Snyder in since he was on that infamous S.I. cover and it was partly the hype behind him that led to the Indians being overrated going into the following year. He hit 24 homeruns in only 103 games as a rookie but no one bothered to notice his .299 OBP and that he struck out 123 times with only 16 walks! Having 100+ more strikeouts than walks is hard to do and Snyder did it three more times in his career. Traded in 1991 to Toronto, then signed with San Francisco, and then played two years in Los Angeles. Rotation Tom Candiotti (116 ERA+, 47.6 VORP, 17 Win Shares) – This was Candiotti’s first full year in the Majors and he was the Indians only good pitcher in 1986, leading the A.L. with 17 complete games. Traded to the Blue Jays in 1991 in a five player deal. Then signed with Dodgers who he played with for six years. Signed with the A’s after 1997 then released during the 1999 season but was picked up for a return to Cleveland. Signed with the Angels before the 2000 season but did not make the team. Ken Schrom (91 ERA+, 12.4 VORP, 10 Win Shares) – The Indians offense helped the mediocre pitcher to 14-7 record and an All-Star selection. Posted a 6.50 ERA the following year which would be his last in the Majors. Phil Niekro (96 ERA+, 7.3 VORP, 9 Win Shares) – I doubt we’ll ever see another rotation with two knuckleballers on it and besides everyone knows only Doug Mirabelli can catch them. Anyways Niekro was 47 at this point and was no longer effective. His final year come next season as the Indians traded him in August to Toronto who released him a few weeks later. Picked up for a purely sentimental final start with the Braves and retired after the season. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997. Closer: Ernie Camacho (102 ERA+, 9.9 VORP, 7 Win Shares) – A former 1st round pick of the A’s he had an injury filled, sporadic career and this was one of only two years that he threw more than 30 innings.

Or 16 year olds...or Deion Sanders. I just realized Luis Polonia and Hall were teammates. Polonia was of course caught with a 14 year old in a Milwaukee hotel. What the hell was going on in that clubhouse?

Random stuff. Clipped highlights of the Redskins 35 point 2nd quarter of Super Bowl XXII vs. Denver 1985 MNF Chicago vs. Minnesota, injured Jim McMahon comes off the bench to throw a touchdown 1985 MNF Chicago vs. Green Bay, William Perry’s touchdown Super Bowl XXXVI, final 30 seconds The Joe Theismann play 2001, Raiders vs. Dolphins, Miami’s winning drive 1994, Dolphins vs. Jets, The Fake Spike play 1987 Divisional Playoffs, Bears vs. Redskins, Darrell Green punt return for a touchdown