Bored

There's been more points scored in the first half than I thought would be scored in the whole game.

Well we get the first all-BCS conference bowl game on Wednesday and who knows maybe the first bowl game that is still interesting going into the 4th quarter although I guess it will depend on if FSU even shows up. You have to go back to the 1986 All-American Bowl for the last time the Seminoles played in such a insignificant bowl game.

Tony Fernandez - Shortstop Toronto Blue Jays 1983-1990, 1993, 1998-1999, 2001 San Diego Padres 1991-1992 New York Mets 1993 Cincinnati Reds 1994 New York Yankees 1995 Cleveland Indians 1997 Milwaukee Brewers 2001 Awards 1986 AL Gold Glove - SS 1987 AL Gold Glove - SS 1988 AL Gold Glove - SS 1989 AL Gold Glove - SS All-Star Selections: 5 (1986, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1999) League Leader 1990: Triples Career Ranks None of note Hall of Fame Stats Black Ink: Batting - 3 (499) (Average HOFer ≈ 27) Gray Ink: Batting - 51 (477) (Average HOFer ≈ 144) HOF Standards: Batting - 31.5 (254) (Average HOFer ≈ 50) HOF Monitor: Batting - 74.0 (225) (Likely HOFer > 100) Similar Batters in HOF: 3 (Red Schoendienst, Billy Herman, Pee Wee Reese) Other Similar Batters: Dick Bartell, Alvin Dark, Dave Concepcion, Jimmie Dykes, Alan Trammell, Garry Templeton, Omar Vizquel Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3) 1983: 1/0.3 1984: 6/2.7 1985: 21/8.9 1986: 24/9.1 1987: 24/10.1 1988: 25/8.6 1989: 20/8.2 1990: 25/10.6 1991: 21/7.5 1992: 15/6.1 1993: 20/8.1 1994: 14/6.0 1995: 9/2.9 1997: 11/3.6 1998: 19/6.6 1999: 20/5.6 2001: 1/0.5 Career Win Shares: 280 Career WARP3: 105.4 Would he get my vote? No. Not a HOF but I think a much better player than most people remember, including myself, and I think I'd rate him slightly better than Dave Concepcion. An excellent fielder during his prime and almost always a good hitter for a shortstop, only once finishing with an OPS+ of under 90 in a full season, and finished with a career OPS+ of 101. Overlooked I think for several factors as he brokeout when Cal Ripken and Alan Trammell were already established with his power numbers paling in comparison to those two. Then in his 30's he bounced around from a different team almost every year including missing one season due to injury and spending another in Japan. A knock against him is that even though he had 246 career steals he was a poor base stealer being thrown out 36% of the time.

Just two days away from the bowl season starting. Not exactly a compelling slate of games so feel free to talk about future games as well. If anyone feels that the BCS Title Game or the Rose Bowl needs their own threads go ahead and create one. Las Vegas Bowl has the only ranked BCS team this week in BYU and if you do tune in on Thursday Oregon might unveil their latest fashion statement, helmets that change colors depending on the angle you're looking at them. TUESDAY Poinsettia Bowl: Northern Illinois vs. TCU, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2 THURSDAY Las Vegas Bowl: #20 BYU vs. Oregon, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN FRIDAY New Orleans Bowl: Rice vs. Troy, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2 SATURDAY Papajohns.com Bowl: South Florida vs. East Carolina, 1:00 PM/10:00 AM, ESPN2 New Mexico Bowl: New Mexico vs. San Jose State, 4:30/1:30 PM, ESPN Armed Forces Bowl: Tulsa vs. Utah, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN SUNDAY Hawaii Bowl: Arizona State vs. Hawaii, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN

Steve Garvey - First Baseman Los Angeles Dodgers 1969-1982 San Diego Padres 1983-1987 Final year on the ballot Past HOF Voting Results 1993: 41.61% 1994: 36.48% 1995: 42.61% 1996: 37.23% 1997: 35.31% 1998: 41.23% 1999: 30.18% 2000: 32.06% 2001: 34.17% 2002: 28.39% 2003: 27.82% 2004: 24.31% 2005: 20.54% 2006: 25.96% Awards 1974 NL MVP 1974 NL Gold Glove - 1B 1975 NL Gold Glove - 1B 1976 NL Gold Glove - 1B 1977 NL Gold Glove - 1B 1978 NLCS MVP 1984 NLCS MVP All-Star Selections: 10 (1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985) League Leader 1978: Hits 1980: Hits Career Ranks Games: 86th Hits: 70th Doubles: 91st RBI: 89th Total Bases: 78th Hall of Fame Stats Black Ink: Batting - 12 (189) (Average HOFer ≈ 27) Gray Ink: Batting - 142 (107) (Average HOFer ≈ 144) HOF Standards: Batting - 31.5 (254) (Average HOFer ≈ 50) HOF Monitor: Batting - 130.5 (101) (Likely HOFer > 100) Similar Batters in the HOF: 1 (Orlando Cepeda) Other Similar Batters: Al Oliver, Ruben Sierra, John Olerud, Bill Buckner, Mickey Vernon, Cecil Cooper, Chili Davis, Will Clark, Mark Grace Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3) 1969: 0/0.0 1970: 2/1.0 1971: 6/1.9 1972: 8/2.4 1973: 11/2.4 1974: 27/7.1 1975: 25/9.1 1976: 26/9.2 1977: 21/6.1 1978: 25/7.6 1979: 22/8.0 1980: 22/6.9 1981: 13/3.9 1982: 15/3.4 1983: 14/3.9 1984: 15/4.4 1985: 17/5.7 1986: 10/1.3 1987: 0/-0.3 Career Win Shares: 279 Career WARP3: 84.1 Would he get my vote? No. Was a good player for a long time but he's purely a career case as his peak was unimpressive especially for a first baseman. Had he been a slick fielding, middle infielder then he'd probably be a HOF. One could argue in his favor that his numbers were hurt playing the majority of his career in Dodger Stadium but he had only a 116 OPS+ for his career and never finished in the league's Top 10 in that category which simply isn't going to cut it for a first baseman.

Jose Canseco - Rightfielder/Designated Hitter Oakland Athletics 1985-1992, 1997 Texas Rangers 1992-1994 Boston Red Sox 1995-1996 Toronto Blue Jays 1998 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 1999-2000 New York Yankees 2000 Chicago White Sox 2001 Awards 1986 AL Rookie of the Year 1988 AL MVP 1988 AL Silver Slugger - OF 1990 AL Silver Slugger - OF 1991 AL Silver Slugger - OF 1998 AL Silver Slugger - DH All-Star Selections: 6 (1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1999) League Leader 1988: Homeruns, RBI, Slugging %, OPS+ 1991: Homeruns Career Ranks Homeruns: 30th RBI: 61st SLG: 66th AB/HR: 21st Hall of Fame Stats Black Ink: Batting - 15 (149) (Average HOFer ≈ 27) Gray Ink: Batting - 93 (245) (Average HOFer ≈ 144) HOF Standards: Batting - 38.1 (166) (Average HOFer ≈ 50) HOF Monitor: Batting - 103.0 (138) (Likely HOFer > 100) Similar Batters in HOF: 3 (Willie Stargell, Duke Snider, Willie McCovey) Other Similar Batters: Jim Thome, Gil Hodges, Dale Murphy, Juan Gonzalez, Jack Clark, Carlos Delgado, Tino Martinez Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3) 1985: 4/1.0 1986: 21/5.1 1987: 17/6.6 1988: 39/12.5 1989: 14/3.7 1990: 26/8.6 1991: 31/9.4 1992: 16/6.1 1993: 8/1.5 1994: 16/6.9 1995: 15/4.9 1996: 13/4.7 1997: 8/2.5 1998: 15/4.8 1999: 13/4.8 2000: 8/2.5 2001: 8/2.1 Career Win Shares: 272 Career WARP3: 87.8 Would he get my vote? No. Fuck him.

At least McHitler was no rat trying to make a quick buck.

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.

No I don't think Mazeroski should be in the HOF. He was the grestest defensive second baseman of all-time but his offense weighs him down too much and he was a complete non-threat on the basepaths.

It all makes sense now, he was too stupid to play quarterback. In case you missed it during halftime of the Poinsettia Bowl, Desmond Howard went on about a mythical Cal/Texas match-up in the Holiday Bowl and no one bothered to correct him. Link

Texans - 14 points Minnesota Kansas City Baltimore Carolina Chicago Indianapolis Jacksonville N.Y. Giants Cleveland Buffalo Washington San Francisco Cincinnati San Diego Philadelphia Miami

Again there are just waaaaaay too many bowl games and too many mismatches. Dreadful start to the bowl season.

Bobby Bonilla - Third Baseman/Rightfielder Chicago White Sox 1986 Pittsburgh Pirates 1986-1991 New York Mets 1992-1995, 1999 Baltimore Orioles 1995-1996 Florida Marlins 1997-1998 Los Angeles Dodgers 1998 Atlanta Braves 2000 St. Louis Cardinals 2001 Awards 1988 NL Silver Slugger - 3B 1990 NL Silver Slugger - OF 1991 NL Silver Slugger - OF All-Star Selections: 6 (1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995) League Leader 1991: Doubles, Runs Created Career Ranks None of note Hall of Fame Stats Black Ink: Batting - 3 (499) (Average HOFer ≈ 27) Gray Ink: Batting - 96 (229) (Average HOFer ≈ 144) HOF Standards: Batting - 32.0 (239) (Average HOFer ≈ 50) HOF Monitor: Batting - 64.5 (278) (Likely HOFer > 100) Similar Batters in HOF: None Top 10 Similar Batters: Fred Lynn, Paul O'Neill, Dal Ennis, Reggie Smith, Ken Boyer, Robin Ventura, George Hendrick, Todd Zeile, Gary Matthews, Bob Johnson Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3) 1986: 10/3.5 1987: 16/4.4 1988: 31/8.5 1989: 29/11.7 1990: 23/7.4 1991: 31/10.5 1992: 18/5.8 1993: 16/5.7 1994: 19/7.0 1995: 22/9.3 1996: 19/5.2 1997: 21/5.4 1998: 5/0.7 1999: 0/-0.1 2000: 6/-0.1 2001: 1/0.1 Career Win Shares: 267 Career WARP3: 85.1 Would he get my vote? No. Solid four year peak from 1988-1991 but for me personally I consider his 1991 season to be the only year where he was among the elite players in the game. Of course cashed in on that season but could never live up to the hype coming into New York and fell far below it. Good hitter but not the cornerstone of a lineup that he was paid to be. Poor defensively regardless of the position he played.

Who You Need to Win Pepsi Blue Bored Bowl - Winner gets $50 #1 Miami* (Spaceman Spiff, 8-5) vs. #2 Georgia Tech* (iggymcfly, 10-3) UM: Oregon, San Jose State, Alabama, Houston, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, USC, Oklahoma, Western Michigan GT: BYU, Utah, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, Michigan, Boise State, Cincinnati Out Magazine Bowl #3 Syracuse* (CanadianChris, 9-3) vs. #4 Virginia* (Edwin MacPhisto, 10-2) Cuse: Oregon, California, Missouri, Purdue, Nevada, Wisconsin, USC, Boise State, Louisville UVA: BYU, Texas A&M, Oregon State, Maryland, Miami, Arkansas, Michigan, Oklahoma, Wake Forest KFC PETA Bowl #6 Hawaii* (Will Scarlet, 6-6) vs. #9 Oregon* (nogoodnick, 8-5) HI: BYU, New Mexico, Tulsa, Central Michigan, Missouri, Maryland, Boston College, Nevada, Michigan, Oklahoma, Ohio State OR: Oregon, San Jose State, Utah, Middle Tennessee, Oregon State, Purdue, Navy, Miami, USC, Boise State, Florida TheSWF.com Dust Bowl #5 South Carolia* (Cuban Linx, 10-3) vs. Oklahoma* (Vampiro69, 7-6) SC: TCU, Oregon, Utah, UCLA, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Miami, Southern Miss, Florida OU: Northern Illinois, BYU, Tulsa, Florida State, Alabama, Houston, Nevada, Ohio, Ohio State Williams Games SinisTar Bowl #7 Stanford* (Bored, 7-5) vs. Kentucky* (Danville Wrestling, 7-6) Stan: Rice, Alabama, Texas A&M, Oregon State, Texas Tech, Arkansas, Cincinnati, Southern Miss UK: Troy, Oklahoma State, California, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Western Michigan, Ohio Tiebreak: 44/35 Traditional Bowl presented by the Yellow Submarine #8 Minnesota* (Vern Gagne, 8-5) vs. USC* (Cartman, 8-5) MN: BYU, Rice, East Carolina, California, Rutgers, Houston, Purdue, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Southern Miss USC: Oregon, Troy, South Florida, Texas A&M, Kansas State, South Carolina, Maryland, Georgia Tech, Western Michigan, Ohio Tiebreaks 48/68, 240/258, 659/700 Ex-Lax Toilet Bowl #10 UCLA* (phoenixrising, 9-3) vs. Florida* (Urban Warfare, 6-6) UCLA: San Jose State, UCLA, Texas A&M, Rutgers, Virginia Tech, Penn State, Michigan UF: New Mexico, Florida State, California, Kansas State, Georgia, Tennessee, USC FireJoeMorgan.com Bowl Arizona State* (Spicy McHaggis, 7-5) vs. LSU* (teke184, 6-6) ASU: Oregon, Troy, Tulsa, California, Navy, Miami, Nebraska, USC, Cincinnati, Ohio, Ohio State LSU: BYU, Rice, Utah, Texas A&M, Boston College, Nevada, Auburn, Michigan, Western Michigan, Southern Miss, Florida Meow Mix Pussy Bowl Tennessee* (Sex Machine Gun, 6-6) vs. San Jose State* (kkktookmybabyaway, 7-5) TN: BYU, Hawaii, Oregon State, Texas Tech, Georgia, Tennessee, West Virginia, USC, Boise State, Louisville, Southern Miss, Florida SJS: Oregon, Arizona State, Missouri, Minnesota, Virginia Tech, Penn State, Georgia Tech, Michigan, Oklahoma, Wake Forest, Ohio, Ohio State Tiebreak: 52/55

KFC PETA Bowl Picks Hawaii - Will Scarlet December 19th Poinsettia: TCU December 21st Las Vegas: BYU December 22nd New Orleans: Rice December 23rd Papajohns.com: South Florida New Mexico: New Mexico Armed Forces: Tulsa December 24th Hawaii: Hawaii December 26th Motor City: Central Michigan December 27th Emerald: UCLA December 28th Independence: Oklahoma State Holiday: Texas A&M Texas: Rutgers December 29th Music City: Clemson Sun: Missouri Liberty: South Carolina Insight: Texas Tech Champs Sports: Maryland December 30th Meineke Car Care: Boston College Alamo: Texas Chick-fil-A: Virginia Tech December 31st MPC Computers: Nevada January 1st Outback: Tennessee Cotton: Auburn Gator: West Virginia Capital One: Wisconsin Rose: Michigan Fiesta: Oklahoma January 2nd Orange: Louisville January 3rd Sugar: LSU January 6th International: Cincinnati January 7th GMAC: Southern Miss January 8th BCS Championship: Ohio State Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the BCS Championship Game? 48 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Ohio State's Troy Smith have against Florida? 201 Tiebreak #3: How many total yards of offense will there be in the BCS Championship game? 600 Oregon - nogoodnick December 19th Poinsettia: TCU December 21st Las Vegas: Oregon December 22nd New Orleans: Rice December 23rd Papajohns.com: South Florida New Mexico: San Jose State Armed Forces: Utah December 24th Hawaii: Hawaii December 26th Motor City: Middle Tennessee December 27th Emerald: UCLA December 28th Independence: Oklahoma State Holiday: Texas A&M Texas: Rutgers December 29th Music City: Clemson Sun: Oregon State Liberty: South Carolina Insight: Texas Tech Champs Sports: Purdue December 30th Meineke Car Care: Navy Alamo: Texas Chick-fil-A: Virginia Tech December 31st MPC Computers: Miami January 1st Outback: Tennessee Cotton: Auburn Gator: West Virginia Capital One: Wisconsin Rose: USC Fiesta: Boise State January 2nd Orange: Louisville January 3rd Sugar: LSU January 6th International: Cincinnati January 7th GMAC: Southern Miss January 8th BCS Championship: Florida Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the BCS Championship Game? 73 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Ohio State's Troy Smith have against Florida? 276 Tiebreak #3: How many total yards of offense will there be in the BCS Championship game? 859

The Sabercats are one of the consistently good teams in the league and ESPN doesn't pick up a single game of there's. Lame. But hey plenty of Philadelphia games so expect gratuitous shots of Bon Jovi on a regular basis just like on NBC.

Jim Harbaugh is new head coach at Stanford. Um, interesting.

that was...beautiful...and blatant anti-michigan bias...im baffled...go blue

Ya this will probably be a one time thing. Last Year's Result: Navy 51, Colorado State 30 Northern Illinois Huskies (7-5, 5-3 - #4 in the MAC) Best Win: defeated Central Michigan 31-10 on November 17th BCS Rankings Coaches: N/A Harris: N/A Anderson-Hester: 75 Billingsley: 60 Colley: 68 Massey: 79 Sagarin: 78 Wolfe: 68 BCS Ranking: 70 Team Stat Rankings Scoring Offense: 42 Total Offense: 24 Run Offense: 17 Pass Offense: 50 Scoring Defense: 42 Total Defense: 80 Run Defense: 34 Pass Defense: 104 Turnover Margin: 43 Best Offensive Player: RB Garrett Wolfe - 289 rushes, 1900 yards, 6.6 avg, 18 td Best Defensive Player: DE Larry English - 49 tackles, 15 tfl, 11 sacks, 4 ff TCU Horned Frogs (10-2, 6-2 - #2 in the Mountain West) Best Win: defeated Texas Tech 12-3 on September 16th BCS Rankings Coaches: 24 Harris: 24 Anderson-Hester: 32 Billingsley: 21 Colley: 25 Massey: 43 Sagarin: 44 Wolfe: 37 BCS Ranking: 27 Team Stat Rankings Scoring Offense: 33 Total Offense: 17 Run Offense: 9 Pass Offense: 49 Scoring Defense: 5 Total Defense: 4 Run Defense: 4 Pass Defense: 34 Turnover Margin: 27 Best Offensive Player: QB Jeff Ballard - 171/278, 61.5%, 2136 yards, 12 td, 5 int, 136.7 rating Best Defensive Player: DE Tommy Blake - 51 tackles, 13.5 tfl, 5 sacks, 2 ff My Meaningless "Analysis": NIU is the first of several teams you'll see this bowl season that really no business being a bowl. You can't run the ball on TCU so don't expect anything big out of Garrett Wolfe. It will be a major upset if this game is still interesting going into the final quarter.

As I've mentioned before I have several redos done that I've just never bothered to do entries on but after doing the Mattingly entry I figured it'd be a good time to do an entry on the year he won the MVP. Also had thought about doing it after last week's Jeff Bagwell debate that popped up in the MLB Offseason Thread, Part II. The poster who was truly against Bagwell as being a HOF was NYankees who while getting completely destroyed in the debate also tried to back up Mattingly's HOF case and made this comment: And I sort of agreed with him as I chose Mattingly as my choice for the 1986 A.L. MVP although I wouldn't say he got screwed out of the award as Roger Clemens was not a bad choice. So in theory maybe Mattingly should have been a back-to-back MVP winner which would probably have helped his case when it comes to the actual HOF voters. But was Mattingly the right choice in 1985? Mattingly won the MVP without much opposition, taking 23 out of the 28 first place votes as the Yankees had their best team in the 80's winning 97 games although coming up two games short of the Blue Jays. Mattingly of course had a lot to do with the Yankees success as he led the league in doubles, finished 3rd in batting average, 2nd in slugging, 4th in homeruns, and led that all important baseball writer statistic, runs batted in. He knocked in 145 runs in 1985 a whopping 21 more than 2nd place Eddie Murray which was probably the biggest reason he won the MVP. George Brett received the other five first place votes putting up a phenomenal .335/.436/.585 line with a 30 homeruns and 112 rbi while helping lead the Royals to the A.L. West title. Only three other players received over 100 voting points: Mattingly's teammate Rickey Henderson who hit a then career high 24 homeruns while leading the league with 80 stolen bases and of course a big reason why Mattingly knocked in so many runs, Wade Boggs who hit .368 which would best showing of his career, and Eddie Murray who had his usual strong year. The homicidal, genocidal, suicidal Donnie Moore finish 6th in the voting. Okay I've just wanted an excuse to use that line at some point. Actual Results 1) Don Mattingly 2) George Brett 3) Rickey Henderson 4) Wade Boggs 5) Eddie Murray 6) Donnie Moore 7) Jesse Barfield 8) George Bell 9) Harold Baines 10) Bret Saberhagen 11) Dan Quisenberry 12) Dave Winfield 13) Carlton Fisk 14) Darrell Evans 15) Ron Guidry 16) Phil Bradley 17) Cal Ripken 18) Kirk Gibson 19) Steve Balboni 20) Tom Henke 21t) Doyle Alexander 21t) Dennis Lamp 21t) Kirby Puckett 24) Damaso Garcia 25) Rich Gedman #10 171 ERA+, 1.74 K/BB, 1.14 WHIP, 78.1 VORP, 24 Win Shares #9 .300/.365/.498, 113 RC, 133 OPS+, .306 EQA, 50.9 VORP, 26 Win Shares #8 .287/.364/.518, 110 RC, 140 OPS+, .317 EQA, 54.7 VORP, 24 Win Shares #7 145 ERA+, 4.16 K/BB, 1.06 WHIP, 68.2 VORP, 24 Win Shares #6 .289/.369/.536, 106 RC, 142 OPS+, .313 EQA, 48.6 VORP, 26 Win Shares #5 .297/.383/.523, 118 RC, 149 OPS+, .324 EQA, 55.3 VORP, 28 Win Shares #4 .368/.450/.478, 140 RC, 151 OPS+, .338 EQA, 81.2 VORP, 31 Win Shares #3 .324/.371/.567, 140 RC, 156 OPS+, .328 EQA, 69.1 VORP, 32 Win Shares #2 .314/.419/.516, 118 RC, 157 OPS+, .346 EQA, 86.7 VORP, 38 Win Shares #1 .335/.436/.585, 142 RC, 178 OPS+, .356 EQA, 93.1 VORP, 37 Win Shares So Mattingly won an MVP in 1985 that he probably shouldn't have won and he lost an MVP in 1986 that he probably should have won. See it all balances out in the end. For the record from 1984 to 1987 on my redos I had Mattingly 3rd, 3rd, 1st, and 8th respectively. Not too shabby but not a Hall of Famer.

Out Magazine Bowl Picks Syracuse - CanadianChris December 19th Poinsettia: TCU vs. Northern Illinois December 21st Las Vegas: BYU vs. Oregon December 22nd New Orleans: Troy vs. Rice December 23rd Papajohns.com: South Florida vs. East Carolina New Mexico: New Mexico vs. San Jose State Armed Forces: Tulsa vs. Utah December 24th Hawaii: Arizona State vs. Hawaii December 26th Motor City: Middle Tennessee vs. Central Michigan December 27th Emerald: Florida State vs. UCLA December 28th Independence: Oklahoma State vs. Alabama Holiday: California vs. Texas A&M Texas: Rutgers vs. Kansas State December 29th Music City: Clemson vs. Kentucky Sun: Oregon State vs. Missouri Liberty: Houston vs. South Carolina Insight: Texas Tech vs. Minnesota Champs Sports: Purdue vs. Maryland December 30th Meineke Car Care: Navy vs. Boston College Alamo: Texas vs. Iowa Chick-fil-A: Georgia vs. Virginia Tech December 31st MPC Computers: Miami vs. Nevada January 1st Outback: Tennessee vs. Penn State Cotton: Auburn vs. Nebraska Gator: West Virginia vs. Georgia Tech Capital One: Arkansas vs. Wisconsin Rose: USC vs. Michigan Fiesta: Boise State vs. Oklahoma January 2nd Orange: Louisville vs. Wake Forest January 3rd Sugar: Notre Dame vs. LSU January 6th International: Cincinnati vs. Western Michigan January 7th GMAC: Ohio vs. Southern Miss January 8th BCS Championship: Florida vs. Ohio State Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the BCS Championship Game? 50 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Ohio State's Troy Smith have against Florida? 233 Tiebreak #3: How many total yards of offense will there be in the BCS Championship game? 688 Virginia - Edwin MacPhisto December 19th Poinsettia: TCU December 21st Las Vegas: BYU December 22nd New Orleans: Rice December 23rd Papajohns.com: South Florida New Mexico: New Mexico Armed Forces: Utah December 24th Hawaii: Hawaii December 26th Motor City: Central Michigan December 27th Emerald: UCLA December 28th Independence: Oklahoma State Holiday: Texas A&M Texas: Rutgers December 29th Music City: Clemson Sun: Oregon State Liberty: South Carolina Insight: Texas Tech Champs Sports: Maryland December 30th Meineke Car Care: Boston College Alamo: Texas Chick-fil-A: Virginia Tech December 31st MPC Computers: Miami January 1st Outback: Tennessee Cotton: Auburn Gator: West Virginia Capital One: Arkansas Rose: Michigan Fiesta: Oklahoma January 2nd Orange: Wake Forest January 3rd Sugar: LSU January 6th International: Cincinnati January 7th GMAC: Southern Miss January 8th BCS Championship: Ohio State Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the BCS Championship Game? 54 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Ohio State's Troy Smith have against Florida? 221 Tiebreak #3: How many total yards of offense will there be in the BCS Championship game? 768

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.

Oh ya that's right, the softball episode.

What sitcom was Mattingly on? I think you might be thinking of Keith Hernandez who was featured in a two part episode of Seinfeld. Incidentally enough the prior entry, Paul O'Neill, had a cameo in a Seinfeld episode as well.

TheSWF.com Dust Bowl Picks South Carolina - Cuban Linx December 19th Poinsettia: TCU vs. Northern Illinois December 21st Las Vegas: BYU vs. Oregon December 22nd New Orleans: Troy vs. Rice December 23rd Papajohns.com: South Florida vs. East Carolina New Mexico: New Mexico vs. San Jose State Armed Forces: Tulsa vs. Utah December 24th Hawaii: Arizona State vs. Hawaii December 26th Motor City: Middle Tennessee vs. Central Michigan December 27th Emerald: Florida State vs. UCLA December 28th Independence: Oklahoma State vs. Alabama Holiday: California vs. Texas A&M Texas: Rutgers vs. Kansas State December 29th Music City: Clemson vs. Kentucky Sun: Oregon State vs. Missouri Liberty: Houston vs. South Carolina Insight: Texas Tech vs. Minnesota Champs Sports: Purdue vs. Maryland December 30th Meineke Car Care: Navy vs. Boston College Alamo: Texas vs. Iowa Chick-fil-A: Georgia vs. Virginia Tech December 31st MPC Computers: Miami vs. Nevada January 1st Outback: Tennessee vs. Penn State Cotton: Auburn vs. Nebraska Gator: West Virginia vs. Georgia Tech Capital One: Arkansas vs. Wisconsin Rose: USC vs. Michigan Fiesta: Boise State vs. Oklahoma January 2nd Orange: Louisville vs. Wake Forest January 3rd Sugar: Notre Dame vs. LSU January 6th International: Cincinnati vs. Western Michigan January 7th GMAC: Ohio vs. Southern Miss January 8th BCS Championship: Florida vs. Ohio State Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the BCS Championship Game? 45 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Ohio State's Troy Smith have against Florida? 270 Tiebreak #3: How many total yards of offense will there be in the BCS Championship game? 760 Oklahoma - Vampiro69 December 19th Poinsettia: TCU vs. Northern Illinois December 21st Las Vegas: BYU vs. Oregon December 22nd New Orleans: Troy vs. Rice December 23rd Papajohns.com: South Florida vs. East Carolina New Mexico: New Mexico vs. San Jose State Armed Forces: Tulsa vs. Utah December 24th Hawaii: Arizona State vs. Hawaii December 26th Motor City: Middle Tennessee vs. Central Michigan December 27th Emerald: Florida State vs. UCLA December 28th Independence: Oklahoma State vs. Alabama Holiday: California vs. Texas A&M Texas: Rutgers vs. Kansas State December 29th Music City: Clemson vs. Kentucky Sun: Oregon State vs. Missouri Liberty: Houstonvs. South Carolina Insight: Texas Tech vs. Minnesota Champs Sports: Purdue vs. Maryland December 30th Meineke Car Care: Navy vs. Boston College Alamo: Texasvs. Iowa Chick-fil-A: Georgia vs. Virginia Tech December 31st MPC Computers: Miami vs. Nevada January 1st Outback: Tennessee vs. Penn State Cotton: Auburn vs. Nebraska Gator: West Virginia vs. Georgia Tech Capital One: Arkansas vs. Wisconsin Rose: USC vs. Michigan Fiesta: Boise State vs. Oklahoma January 2nd Orange: Louisville vs. Wake Forest January 3rd Sugar: Notre Dame vs. LSU January 6th International: Cincinnati vs. Western Michigan January 7th GMAC: Ohio vs. Southern Miss January 8th BCS Championship: Florida vs. Ohio State Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the BCS Championship Game? 54 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Ohio State's Troy Smith have against Florida? 264 Tiebreak #3: How many total yards of offense will there be in the BCS Championship game? 731 Meow Mix Pussy Bowl Picks Tennessee - Sex Machine Gun December 19th Poinsettia: TCU vs. Northern Illinois December 21st Las Vegas: BYU vs. Oregon December 22nd New Orleans: Troy vs. Rice December 23rd Papajohns.com: South Florida vs. East Carolina New Mexico: New Mexico vs. San Jose State Armed Forces: Tulsa vs. Utah December 24th Hawaii: Arizona State vs. Hawaii December 26th Motor City: Middle Tennessee vs. Central Michigan December 27th Emerald: Florida State vs. UCLA December 28th Independence: Oklahoma State vs. Alabama Holiday: California vs. Texas A&M Texas: Rutgers vs. Kansas State December 29th Music City: Clemson vs. Kentucky Sun: Oregon State vs. Missouri Liberty: Houston vs. South Carolina Insight: Texas Tech vs. Minnesota Champs Sports: Purdue vs. Maryland December 30th Meineke Car Care: Navy vs. Boston College Alamo: Texas vs. Iowa Chick-fil-A: Georgia vs. Virginia Tech December 31st MPC Computers: Miami vs. Nevada January 1st Outback: MOTHERFUCKING TENNESSEE vs. Penn State Cotton: Auburn vs. Nebraska Gator: West Virginia vs. Georgia Tech Capital One: Arkansas vs. Wisconsin Rose: USC vs. Michigan Fiesta: Boise State vs. Oklahoma January 2nd Orange: Louisville vs. Wake Forest January 3rd Sugar: Notre Dame vs. LSU January 6th International: Cincinnati vs. Western Michigan January 7th GMAC: Ohio vs. Southern Miss January 8th BCS Championship: Florida vs. Ohio State Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the BCS Championship Game? 52 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Ohio State's Troy Smith have against Florida? 219 Tiebreak #3: How many total yards of offense will there be in the BCS Championship game? 743 San Jose State - kkktookmybabyaway December 19th TCU December 21st Oregon December 22nd Rice December 23rd South Florida San Jose State <-- I have to. They're my dawgs! Utah December 24th Arizona Statei December 26th Central Michigan December 27th UCLA December 28th Alabama California Rutgers December 29th Clemson Missouri South Carolina Minnesota Maryland December 30th Boston College Texas Virginia Tech December 31st Nevada January 1st Penn State Auburn Georgia Tech Arkansas Michigan Oklahoma January 2nd Wake Forest January 3rd LSU January 6th Cincinnati January 7th Ohio January 8th Ohio State Tiebreak #1: 55 Tiebreak #2: 210 Tiebreak #3: 600