Bored

Before I go into the draftback with the current state of ESPN Classic, why not have a marathon of old drafts? Just edit down the first round of each draft to two hour blocks as I think it would be mildly interesting to see how each player was evaluated as they were drafted. It certainly can't be any less interesting than "classic" pool. What exactly constitutes classic pool anyways? Maybe a match where at the end a guy breaks his pool cue over the guy's head or any match with that hot asian chick. My guess though is that ESPN might not want to air those old drafts and show that Mel Kiper Jr. is really no better than your average draft prognosticater at predicting future success. Anyways just picked the '95 Draft at random and it features quite a few busts starting at #1. 1. Cincinnati - Ki-Jana Carter, RB, Penn State Hands down, the #1 rated player in the draft, can't miss, guarenteed star. But he injured his knee in the preseason and that pretty much doomed him for the rest of his career. 2. Jacksonville - Tony Boselli, T, USC Had the potential to be a future HOF but injuries plus a botched shoulder surgery ended his career early. Selected to five Pro Bowls. 3. Houston - Steve McNair, QB, Alcorn State Has put together a pretty good career and nearly won a Super Bowl. Injuries have slowed him down in recent years. 4. Washington - Michael Westbrook, WR, Colorado Big debate over who was the top receiver going into the draft, Westbrook or J.J. Stokes. Did it really matter in the end? One good season and that's about it. 5. Carolina - Kerry Collins, QB, Penn State Ocassinally has his moments but overall a dissapointing career. But hey he can drink any player in the league under the table. 6. St. Louis - Kevin Carter, DE, Florida Decent career, led the league with 17 sacks in 1999. 7. Philadelphia - Mike Mamula, DE, Boston College Probably the poster child for workout wonders who shoot up the draft board but then don't produce on the field. Played only five seasons. 8. Seattle - Joey Galloway, WR, Ohio State Although was highly rated, Seattle was crticized for taking him over Stokes. Has had to battle some injuries over the years but overall a fairly productive career. 9. N.Y. Jets - Kyle Brady, TE, Penn State This pick was of course a classic televised draft moment as every Jet fan in the audience wanted them to pick Warren Sapp and they were none too pleased when Brady's name was announced. Not bad numbers for a tight end but certainly not worth a Top 10 pick. 10. San Francisco - J.J. Stokes, WR, UCLA This was a pretty big deal at the time as the defending champs traded up to get the next Jerry Rice. So much for that. Never cracked 800 yards in a single season. 11. Minnesota - Derrick Alexander, DE, Florida State Another team that passed on Sapp. Five seasons. 20 sacks. Bust. 12. Tampa Bay - Warren Sapp, DT, Miami A positive drug test for marijuana (OMG, professional athletes smoke weed? No way!) dropped him in the draft and Tampa ended being the benefactor. Very good career, although massively overrated in recent years. 13. New Orelans - Mark Fields, LB, Washington State Pretty good career. 14. Buffalo - Ruben Brown, G, Pittsburgh Good pick, eight time Pro Bowl selection. 15. Indianapolis - Ellis Johnson, DT, Florida Solid career. 16. Philadelphia - Hugh Douglas, DE, Central State I suppose the Eagles wanted to make sure they got one good end out of this first round. Selected to three Pro Bowls. 17. N.Y. Giants - Tryone Wheatley, RB, Michigan Kiper had a big hard on for Wheatley but only put together one good season. 18. Oakland - Napolean Kaufman, RB, Washington Most felt the Raiders were reaching here. Not a workhorse by any means but when he touched the ball he could make big plays. Retired early to became a pastor. Loser. 19. Jacksonville - James Stewart, RB, Tennessee Decent back when healthy. 20. Detroit - Luther Elliss, DE, Utah Merely adequate. 21. Chicago - Rashaan Salaam, RB, Colorado Think Ricky Williams without the talent. A Heimsan Trophy bust? Never saw it coming. 22. Carolina - Tyrone Poole, CB, Fort Valley State Just an average corner. 23. New England - Ty Law, CB, Michigan Maybe a tad overrated but not too shabby of a pick here. Selected to four Pro Bowls. 24. Minnesota - Korey Stringer, T, Ohio State We know what happened here. 25. Miami - Billy Milner, T, Houston Shitty. Where else can you get in depth analysis like that? 26. Atlanta - Devin Bush, S, Florida State Unspectacular. 27. Pittsburgh - Mark Bruener, TE, Washington Very few catches but made his mark as a good blocking tight end. 28. Tampa Bay - Derrick Brooks, LB, Florida State Wow, what a first round by the Bucs. Potential future Hall of Famer. 29. Carolina - Blake Brockermeyer, T, Texas Decent and had a great lineman name. 30. Cleveland - Craig Powell, LB, Ohio State Played a whole three games with the Browns. 31. Kansas City - Trezelle Jenkins, T, Michigan Nine games in three years. Yikes. 32. Green Bay - Craig Newsome, CB, Arizona State Showed a lot of promise when his career started but a knee injury did him in. Other Players of Note 37. Washington - Cory Raymer, C, Wisconsin 38. St. Louis - Zach Wiegert, T, Nebraska 47. Arizona - Frank Sanders, WR, Auburn 48. Indianapolis - Ken Dilger, TE, Illinois 50. Philadelphia - Bobby Taylor, CB, Notre Dame 60. Pittsburgh - Kordell Stewart, QB, Colorado 74. New England - Curtis Martin, RB, Pittsburgh 79. Indianapolis - Zack Crockett, FB, Florida State 90. Green Bay - Antonio Freeman, WR, Virginia Tech 132. Carolina - Frank Garcia, G, Washington 181. Atlanta - Travis Hall, DT, BYU 192. Detroit - Cory Schlesinger, FB, Nebraska 196. Denver - Terrell Davis, RB, Georgia 206. N.Y. Giants - Charles Way, FB, Virginia 230. Green Bay - Adam Timmerman, G, South Dakota State

I wouldn't hold your breath. Even though he put up good numbers in the minors he was never a highly regarded prospect. He was red hot his first couple of months after being called up last year but he tailed off as the season wore on and had a terrible September. I fear that he's already been figured out by big league pitchers and if he doesn't start making adjustments he won't have much of a future. If he continues to struggle this badly, along with most of the rest of the line-up, they'll be feeling the pressure to call up Daric Barton ahead of schedule.

A's offense Eric Chavez & Nick Swisher: 17 HR, 25 extra base hits Rest of team: 10 HR, 27 extra base hits

My impression at the time was the majority of A's fans were apathetic towards it. They knew '97 was going to be his last year as all the talk going into that season was when they were going to trade him. The ownership was slashing payroll at that point so there was no realistic chance of signing him to a new contract so no matter what if he was going to break the homerun record it was going to be with a different team. So by the time '98 homerun chase really heated up many had just learned to accept it and that he'd now be identified by what he did in St. Louis and not Oakland on the national stage. It just sucked that no one they acquired from the Cardinals ended up giving the A's much of a contribution as they were dealing from a point of weakness.

Ya I know but I try keep these entries from going too long so with the "Where'd They Go?" features I just focus on the regular players. That was Matt Stairs first year with the A's as he finally ended up with a team who'd play him. You know what I just realized I completely skipped over Geronimo Berroa, I'll have to edit him in.

Not to my knowledge and I doubt it would happen here. The NCAA's practice of taking away records has always seemed silly and the general public never really acknowledges it. Fun fact though was that Houston was on probation when Andre Ware won the Heisman in 1989.

Why do I even watch the A's the first two months of the season? I hope I end up in a two month long coma next April. Billy Beane's shit don't work in April, May, and October! Also the Esteban Loaiza deal may have been Beane's worst move to date. I saw no logic in giving someone as inconsistent as him in his mid 30's a three-year deal worth $22 million. He's looked awful and his fastball is topping in the high-80s. Today he left with a shoulder injury which may end up being a blessing in disguise for the rotation but the contract has little chance of not being an albatross.

After talking about the mediocre '97 Pirates and doing the 1996 MVP redo it got me thinking about my favorite losing A's team, the 1996 version. The A's by this time were well removed from their three consecutive pennant winning teams with only Mark McGwire and Terry Steinbach left from those glory days. The team was predicted to be one of the worst in baseball going into season mainly due to having a starting rotation who's "#1 starter" was Todd Van Poppel. Oof. To add insult to injury with the low expectations they were also forced out of their home park for their first homestand. The Oakland Coliseum was undergoing a massive reconstruction to accomodate the Raiders who moved back to Oakland the previous year. The old bleachers and old giant scoreboards were torn down and a monstrosity that the locals would soon call Mt. Davis (in fact I think I came up with the name first or at least that's what I tell myself) in "honor" of Raiders' owner Al Davis. It was to make the stadium more football friendly and it was basically Oakland's way of bending over and taking it in the ass for the Raiders while completley ignoring the A's in the process. The stadium wasn't anywhere close to being ready and the A's first six home games were moved to Las Vegas. The construction would go on during the season with jackhammer sounds becoming a regular ballpark experience the first couple of months of the season and it was a major embarassment for the franchise. But as it turned out they weren't horrible, not any good mind you but they managed not to finish last in the A.L. West and for a brief period of time after the All-Star Break they looked like they might break .500. After beating the Blue Jays on July 26th they were 54-50 and within five games of first place but that would be their peak. They would still be at .500 by mid-August but then they had a stretch where they lost 13 out of 16 which effectively buried their season. They finished the year 78-84 which was a small victory for a team expected to lose over 90 games. As I talked about in the '96 redo, offense was completely out of control that season and the A's took full advantage hitting a team record 243 homeruns which made them very entertaining to watch even if they weren't that good. Fortunently Van Poppel wouldn't stay the staff's #1 starter for very long as he'd get bombed and the former top prospect's Oakland career would come to an end later in the season when he was put on waivers. But the rest the rotation was horrible as advertised with a hodge podge of marginal prospects and never weres. So here's a look back at my favorite losing team and where they went. C: Terry Steinbach (.272/.342/.529, 40.3 VORP, 18 Win Shares) - At age 34, Steinbach hit a career high 35 homeruns, 19 above his previous high which came nine years earlier. Draw your own conclusions. This would be his last season in Oakland as he'd sign with his hometown Twins to finish out his career, retiring after 1999. 1B: Mark McGwire (.312/.467/.730, 91.6 VORP, 29 Win Shares) - This was McGwire's first full season since 1992, although he still started year with another trip to the DL, and he would have the best year of his career to that point. Really I just look at this numbers still in awe and this season was more special to me than his '98 season only because he was still in Oakland of course. He of course was traded to the Cardinals at the trade deadline in 1997 as the franchise hit rock bottom in a deal that is best forgotten. Retired after 2001. 2B: Tony Batista (.298/.350/.433, 15.9 VORP, 9 Win Shares) - The A's actually had a three headed monster here with former second baseman of the future Brent Gates and awful utility infielder Rafael Bournigal. Batista was a midseason call up and won the everyday job the last two months of the season. After showing promise he had an awful '97 season and was left unprotected in the expansion draft where he was picked up by Arizona. Since then had stops in Toronto, Baltimore, Montreal, Japan, and now with Minnesota. 3B: Scott Brosius (.304/.393/.516, 43.4 VORP, 19 Win Shares) - After mediocre numbers his first few years in the league Brosius brokeout with a very good year both offensive and defensively. His production then dropped like a rock in '97 and was traded to the Yankees for Kenny Rogers soon after the season ended. He'd become a World Series hero in 1998 with them which fooled them into keeping him as their regular 3rd baseman for the next three years although his final season in 2001 wasn't bad. SS: Mike Bordick (.240/.307/.318, -5.6 VORP, 10 Win Shares) - Bordick had been living off a good year offensively in 1992 for a long time and I forgot how truly awful he was offensively. Only kept an everyday job due to his defense. Last season in Oakland as he signed with the Orioles. In 2000 out of no where the first half of the season he suddenly started hitting for power which got Mets' GM Steve Phillips all excited so he traded Melvin Mora for him. Ouch. He'd then promptly go right back to the Orioles after the season. His final year was in 2003 with Toronto. LF: Jason Giambi (.291/.355/.481, 26.6 VORP, 15 Win Shares) - Yes you're reading that right: LF, Jason Giambi. He came up as a 3rd baseman but that was occupied by Brosius who was very good defensively and Giambi's future position at 1st was of course filled by McGwire. Phil Plantier, yes that Phil Plantier, actually started more games in left than anyone for the A's but let's just pretend like that didn't happen. Giambi did get a fair amount of time at 1st when they'd DH McGwire. As for Giambi's defense in left...it was like if Lonnie Smith & Manny Ramirez had a kid. It was bad, really bad. As we all know Giambi was with the A's thru 2001 and then became the poster boy for selling out by signing with the Yankees. CF: Ernie Young (.242/.326/.424, 7.6 VORP, 10 Win Shares) - This was Young's only full season in the Majors. He could hit some homeruns and play pretty good defense but couldn't hit a breaking pitch to save his life so no surprise why he didn't last long. He's become a Crash Davis type of player as he's still hanging around the minors hitting homeruns and gets the occasional cup of coffee, most recently with Cleveland last year at age 34. RF: Jose Herrera (.269/.318/.378, -2.2 VORP, 5 Win Shares) - Was acquired in the Rickey Henderson/Steve Karsay deal in 1993, never really developed and this was his 2nd and last year in the Majors. Out of baseball after 2000 but looking at his Baseball Cube page apparantly tried to make a comeback last year with the Orioles' Double-A team but only played in five games. DH: Geronimo Berroa (.290/.344/.532, 33.0 VORP, 16 Win Shares) - Berroa was a long time minor leaguer who outside of a spending a year with the Braves in 1989 as a Rule V draftee hadn't been given much of a shot in the Majors. Finally in 1994 at age 29 the A's signed him and he became a fan favorite beacuse he basically put everything into every swing, putting up some pretty good numbers. Traded to the Orioles in 1997 and his production fell off from there. Brief stops in Detroit, Cleveland, Toronto, and Los Angeles. Out of baseball after 2001. Starting Rotation Don Wengert (86 ERA+, 16.2 VORP, 6 Win Shares) - I should preface that the A's nine pitchers make 10 or more starts in '96 so I'm going with the four guys who made more than 20 starts as they obviously didn't have a set rotation all year. After showing promise early in the minors, Wengert couldn't get Triple-A hitters out by the the A's pitching woes forced them to use him on the big club which was a theme for A's pitching in the mid-90s. Traded to the Paders after 1997, he'd bounce around to the Cubs, Royals, Braves, and Pirates. Out of baseball after 2002. Doug Johns (80 ERA+, 4.7 VORP, 4 Win Shares) - Not really a prospect as he debuted at age 27 the previous year and his low K rate in the minors pretty much told you he wasn't going to make it in the Majors but again the A's didn't have many options. A's waived him the following season. Did spend a couple of years as a reliever and spot starter with the Orioles, was done with baseball after 1999. John Wasdin (80 ERA+, 0.8 VORP, 4 Win Shares) - A former first round pick, he again couldn't get Triple-A hitters out but was forced into the rotation and was absolutlely lit up in this his rookie year. Traded to the Red Sox for Jose Canseco of all people the following season he's had a second career as a sometimes effective middle reliever although usually not. Had stops in Colorado, Baltimore, Toronto, and now with Texas although currenlty in the minors. Ariel Prieto (116 ERA+, 27.3 VORP, 8 Win Shares) - Before the Hernadez brothers made it cool to find Cuban pitchers there was Ariel Prieto. He was very much hyped as a future star but '96 was the only year that was ever moderately effective as I suppose he was the Hideki Irabu of Cuban pitchers. Last appeared in the Majors in 2001 with Tampa Bay although still hangs around the minors most recently with the Marlins Triple-A team although doesn't appear on any roster this year. Closer: Billy Taylor (111 ERA+, 16.0 VORP, 10 Win Shares) - Taylor was your typical losing team closer who no on notices because save situations don't become that important for losing teams. He was passable but nothing special. But good 'ol Steve Phillips saw his decent save totals and traded Jason Isringhausen for him at the trade deadline in 1999. Oops! Taylor didn't even make the Mets postseason roster. Made stops in Tampa and Pittsburgh, done after 2001.

No one in the NYC media believed he actually had a parasite. Most people assumed it was a cover up to hide his sickness due to getting off of the gas. If it turns out Helton has a pituitary tumor then there could be a similar situation. Maybe Helton just likes giving rim jobs.

Ummm except for the fact that steroid usage would have nothing to do with someone having an intestinal parasite.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-r...ov=ap&type=lgns Yikes, that sounds kind of ominous.

Just trying to mix up the entires and come up with something different I figured with the NBA Playoffs starting Saturday it'd be time to do an NBA entry. Being a Golden State Warriors fan it's hard to get nostalgic about much of antyhing so I figured I'd pick the year that they last made the playoffs, the first post-Jordan year, and an NBA Finals that was overshadowed by a slow speed chase of a white Ford Bronco. I wasn't sure where I'd go with the entry but one thing that I'm trying to look more into are the sabermetric side of basketball statistics. It's not nearly as well known as baseball sabermetrics and I'm not completely sure how reliable they are. There's two stats that have caught my interest, John Hollinger's Player Efficiency Rating and the basketball version of Win Shares that was created by the guy who runs basketball-reference.com. I actually did an entry a couple of months ago using Win Shares to compare how well players from the 1989 NBA Draft faired in their careers. Now since I'm not sure how reliable these are, and I didn't want to do a carbon copy of my Award Redos that I do baseball's MVP, I figured I'd just compare the All-NBA teams from the '93-94 season as voted by the media and who were the top players according to these two statiscal formuals. '93-94 All-NBA Teams (media version) First Team F: Karl Malone, Utah (22.9 PER, 37 Win Shares) F: Scottie Pippen, Chicago (23.2 PER, 32 Win Shares) C: Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston (25.3 PER, 43 Win Shares) G: John Stockton, Utah (22.5 PER, 38 Win Shares) G: Latrell Sprewell, Golden State (15.9 PER, 28 Win Shares) Second Team F: Charles Barkley, Phoenix (22.8 PER, 26 Win Shares) F: Shawn Kemp, Seattle (22.9 PER, 32 Win Shares) C: David Robinson, San Antonio (30.7 PER, 52 Win Shares) G: Kevin Johnson, Phoenix (20.6 PER, 28 Win Shares) G: Mitch Richmond, Sacramento (17.7 PER, 18 Win Shares) Third Team F: Derrick Coleman, New Jersey (21.4 PER, 25 Win Shares) F: Dominique Wilkins, Atlanta/L.A. Clippers (21.4 PER, 25 Win Shares) C: Shaquille O'Neal, Orlando (28.5 PER, 47 Win Shares) G: Gary Payton, Seattle (17.8 PER, 27 Win Shares) G: Mark Price, Cleveland (22.7 PER, 26 Win Shares) Now here's the top players by position using Player Efficieny Rating Centers 1. Robinson 2. O'Neal 3. Olajuwon Forwards 1. Pippen 2. Kemp 3. Barkley 4. Malone 5. Chris Webber, Golden State (21.7 PER) 6. Coleman Guards 1. Price 2. Stockton 3. Johnson 4. Eric Murdock, Milwaukee (20.4 PER) 5. Reggie Miller, Indiana (20.2 PER) 6. Rod Strickland, Portland (19.9 PER) Now using Win Shares Centers 1. Robinson 2. O'Neal 3. Olajuwon Forwards 1. Malone 2. Kemp 3. Pippen 4. Otis Thorpe, Detroit (31 Win Shares) 5. Horace Grant, Chicago (30 Win Shares) 6. A.C. Green, Phoenix (29 Win Shares) Guards 1. Stockton 2. Miller 3. Mookie Blaylock, Atlanta (30 Win Shares) 4. Stacey Augmon, Atlanta (29 Win Shares) 5. Johnson 6. Sprewell Probably the most interesting thing is Robinson and O'Neal both coming out ahead of Olajuwon who won the league's MVP and then had that incredible postseason. Sprewell making the All-NBA first team appears to have been way off and I have no problem agreeing with him being overrated. The high PER for Eric Murdock looks a bit odd and he didn't fair to well according to Win Shares (only had 15).

VORP is on baseballprospectus.com, you can find 2004 and 2005 Win Shares on hardballtimes.com. Win Shares from the last ten years for active players can be found in the 2006 Bill James Handbook and historical Win Shares are available in the acutal Win Shares book. Griffey: .303/.392/.628, 133 RC, 153 OPS+, .333 EQA, 78.7 VORP, 28 Win Shares Gonzalez: .314/.368/.643, 128 RC, 150 OPS+, .319 EQA, 62.2 VORP, 21 Win Shares Griffey had an outstanding year just 1996 was not a normal year for offense but I can see why the writers did give him a lot of support. Gonzalez just comes off as a very lazy choice by the writers. He had a lot of homeruns, a lot of RBI, and his team won their division so the writers voted for him. Of course Albert Belle had a lot of homeruns, a lot of RBI, and his team won their divison but he was Albert Belle so he didn't get the same support but he would have been a better choice. Gonzalez probably also got a boost by the fact that it was the Rangers first division title ever that season which was a pretty big deal but doesn't justify him winning the MVP.

*sigh* I don't think the A's will ever be satisfied with getting off to a good start. Teased me with the 5-2 start but now have dropped 7 out of 9 with another 9th inning blown today. Bleh. Jason Kendall is burnt toast. He's got nothing left. I'm afraid the same about Frank Thomas. Ya he can still hit homeruns but his bat is sooooo sloooow now.

I really hated Mike Scott, that's about it.

Time for another redo, this time with one of the most controversial votes ever. 1996 was a year dominated by offense. In the A.L. six teams hit over 200 homeruns, the Baltimore Orioles setting a new record with 257 (broken the very next year by Seattle). Teams in the A.L. averaged 5.39 runs per game and even in the "Steroid Era" that mark hasn't been topped since. Eight A.L. players hit 40 homeruns or more including Brady Anderson's shocking breakout year with 50. In a year with several players having MVP claibar seasons the vote itself really came down to two players, Juan Gonzalez and Alex Rodriguez. Gonzalez would beat out A-Rod by just three voting points as he received one more first place vote than A-Rod. This result would be rightfully criticized as A-Rod clearly had the better year but Gonzalez playing on a division winner and being the more established player certainly influenced the voters. But it was the way A-Rod lost the award that would be so interesting and controversial. First thing was Ivan Rodriugez received a first place vote which was bizarre because he had no where near an MVP season. He'd finish 10th overall, the next highest vote he received was a 5th place vote, and he appeared on less than half of the ballots. Clearly the majority writers did not view Pudge as a legit candidate. It was theorized by some that the writer who voted for I-Rod had meant to vote for A-Rod but accidently switched their names on his ballot. This seemed a bit far fetched and I don't think an answer as to why the writer voted for Pudge was ever cleared up so chalk this up to just a typical idiot baseball writer. Next was the Seattle Mariners' beat writers as they would both give their first place votes for A-Rod's teammate Ken Griffey Jr. and both voted A-Rod third behind Juan Gonzalez. The other 26 A.L. writers gave A-Rod his ten first place votes and only gave Griffey two first place votes. The Mariners' writers had ironically prevented a Seattle player from winning the MVP. But the biggest controversy about the vote involved Oakland A's beat writer John Hickey. He voted A-Rod 7th while no other A.L. writer voted him lower than 4th. He tried to justify voting A-Rod that low essentially because people viewed Ken Griffey Jr. as the MVP of the Mariners and he only voted Griffey 5th so he just had to vote A-Rod lower than him. Of course most people are idiots and most people don't do any research or otherwise they would have realized A-Rod had clearly the better year and that Griffey was really only a marginal candidate in a year with so many big offensive seasons. So just how bad of a choice was Gonzalez? Also should A-Rod have been an absolute slam dunk winner or was there another candidate who you could argue for? Actual Results 1) Juan Gonzalez 2) Alex Rodriguez 3) Albert Belle 4) Ken Griffey Jr. 5) Mo Vaughn 6) Rafael Palmeiro 7) Mark McGwire 8) Frank Thomas 9) Brady Anderson 10) Ivan Rodriguez 11) Kenny Lofton 12) Mariano Rivera 13) Paul Molitor 14) Andy Pettitte 15) Jim Thome 16) Chuck Knoblauch 17t) Jay Buhner 17t) Bernie Williams 19) John Wetteland 20) Roberto Alomar 21) Terry Steinbach #10 .289/.381/.546, 131 RC, 133 OPS+, .313 EQA, 54.0 VORP, 30 Win Shares #9 .326/.420/.583, 153 RC, 148 OPS+, .332 EQA, 76.3 VORP, 29 Win Shares #8 .297/.396/.637, 140 RC, 157 OPS+, .333 EQA, 85.4 VORP, 28 Win Shares #7 .328/.411/.527, 129 RC, 137 OPS+, .320 EQA, 84.2 VORP, 31 Win Shares #6 .311/.450/.612, 138 RC, 166 OPS+, .348 EQA, 83.3 VORP, 28 Win Shares #5 .349/.459/.626, 152 RC, 178 OPS+, .364 EQA, 92.3 VORP, 28 Win Shares #4 .341/.448/.517, 130 RC, 142 OPS+, .330 EQA, 99.3 VORP, 32 Win Shares #3 .312/.467/.730, 142 RC, 203 OPS+, .381 EQA, 91.6 VORP, 29 Win Shares #2 .311/.410/.623, 153 RC, 157 OPS+, .337 EQA, 80.9 VORP, 31 Win Shares #1 .358/.414/.631, 157 RC, 160 OPS+, .341 EQA, 111.8 VORP, 34 Win Shares Aura? Did I already mention how much baseball cards have sucked in the past decade? So there you have it A-Rod was the true MVP in 1996 and really there's no one you can argue over him. There's plenty of guys who had incredible years and there's a lot of agruments for the rest of the list as even as I was typing it I thought of switching guys around but stuck with what I originally came up with. Probably the most interesting case would be McGwire who's numbers are just sick but he only played 130 games. If he managed to play 150+ there would have been a case for him and he may have even made a run at 61 that year (hit 52). Juan Gonzalez was indeed an awful, awful pick as I didn't give him any consideration for the Top 10.

I was wondering if I was the only one he was annoyed by them beating us over the head with the fact that they are in HD. The intro, especially the one for SportsCenter, comes off as so obnoxious as if no other network has HD. After three years I think we all realize that ESPN is in HD and those of use who don't have HD could still careless. On the Fox subject it's interesting that ESPN's downfall of going to more original programming and catering to non-sports fans really started up when Fox Sports Net stopped trying to directly compete with ESPN and dropped it's national highlight shows. I think they feel since there is no real true alternative for national sports coverage that they have no reason to cater to real sports fans as where else are they going to tune in?

Vern asked for it so here it is. All the attention goes to the quarterbacks in the draft but there are some pretty impressive players at other positions that came out of this draft. This draft did live up to the hype. 1. Baltimore - John Elway, QB, Stanford Right FBI Agent: Don't worry Mrs. Simpson we've helped hundreds of people in danger. We'll give you a new name, a new job, new identity. Homer: (Raising hand) Oooh, I want to be John Elway! (Homer starts day dreaming about being John Elway. The ball is snapped to Homer and he dives over the pile into the endzone.) Announcer: Elway takes the snap and runs it in for a touchdown! Thanks to Elway's Patanent last second magic the final score of Super Bowl XXX is Denver 7, San Francisco 56. Homer:(Back to reality) Woo Hoo! 2. L.A. Rams - Eric Dickerson, RB, SMU Probably due to his numerous contract holdouts Dickerson gets left out a lot now when talking about the greatest running back of all-time but he deserves consideration. How about that the #1 and #2 picks lived up to the hype? Doesn't happen very often. 3. Seattle - Curt Warner, RB, Penn State A Penn State running back who wasn't a bust, strange. Had two 1400+ yards seasons. 4. Denver - Chris Hinton, T, Northwestern Obviously didn't stay in Denver as he was traded to Baltimore in the Elway trade. Seven time Pro Bowl selection. 5. San Diego - Billy Ray Smith, LB, Arkansas Took us to the 5th pick to find a non-Pro Bowl player but Smith was decent. Now an awful analyst on FSN's college football show that no one watches. 6. Chicago - Jimbo Covert, T, Pittsburgh Certainly sounded like an offensive lineman. Two Pro Bowl selections. 7. Kansas City - Todd Blackledge, QB, Penn State First true bust of the draft and it's fitting he was the one true bust of the famous quarterback class. 8. Philadelphia - Michael Haddix, RB, Mississippi State Now we're getting some busts. Career high in rushing yards was 311. 9. Houston - Bruce Matthews, G, USC Simply one of the greatest offensive lineman ever. Selected to 14 Pro Bowls. 10. N.Y. Giants - Terry Kinard, S, Clemson Decent, 31 career interceptions. 11. Green Bay - Tim Lewis, CB, Pittsburgh Had 12 interceptions in his first two years but a neck injury forced him into early retirement in 1986. 12. Buffalo - Tony Hunter, TE, Notre Dame Only lasted four years. 13. Detroit - James Jones, RB, Florida Hung around for a while but never cracked 1000 yards and only 3.6 career ypc. 14. Buffalo - Jim Kelly, QB, Miami Didn't join the Bills until 1986 as he spent three years in the USFL with the Houston Gamblers. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002. 15. New England - Tony Eason, QB, Illinois You'll get differing opinions on whether Eason was a bust or not though he had a couple of good years but flamed out pretty quick. 16. Atlanta - Mike Pitts, DE, Alabama Played 12 years despite not being all that good. 17. St. Louis - Leonard Smith, DB, McNeese State Lasted nine seasons. 18. Chicago - Willie Gault, WR, Tennessee Never really broke out as a star but was a big time deep threat. 19. Minnesota - Joey Browner, S, USC 37 career interceptions, six Pro Bowls. 20. San Diego - Gary Anderson, RB, Arkansas Solid all-purpose back who had almost as many receiving yards as rushing. 21. Pittsburgh - Gabriel Rivera, DT, Texas Tech Paralyzed in an accident while driving drunk during his rookie year. Take a bow loser. 22. San Diego - Gill Byrd, CB, San Jose State Holds franchise record for interceptions with 42. 23. Dallas - Jim Jeffcoat, DE, Arizona State Never a star but lasted 15 seasons and had 102 career sacks. 24. N.Y. Jets - Ken O'Brien, QB, UC Davis I don't believe in '83 the draft had an audience yet but it would have been pretty fun to have seen Jets' fans react to them drafting a QB from UC Davis. Selected to two Pro Bowls. 25. Cincinnati - Dave Rimington, C, Nebraska Unspectacular seven year career. 26. L.A. Raiders - Don Mosebar, T, USC Played every o-line position in his 12 year career. 27. Miami - Dan Marino, QB, Pittsburgh Who? 28. Washington - Darrell Green, CB, Texas A&I Another all-time great to close out the first round. Other Players of Note 32. L.A. Rams - Henry Ellard, WR, Fresno State 37. N.Y. Giants - Leonard Marshall, DT, LSU 39. Buffalo - Darryl Talley, LB, West Virginia 49. San Francisco - Roger Craig, RB, Nebraska 61. Kansas City - Albert Lewis, CB, Grambling 64. Chicago - Dave Duerson, S, Notre Dame 84. Washington - Charles Mann, DE, Nevada 110. L.A. Raiders - Greg Townsend, DE, TCU 167. Miami - Reggie Roby, P, Iowa 203. Chicago - Richard Dent, DE, Tennessee State 223. Miami - Mark Clayton, WR, Louisville 276. Cincinnati - Tim Krumrie, DT, Wisconsin 289. San Francisco - Jesse Sapolu, C, Hawaii 310. Denver - Karl Mecklenburg, LB, Minnesota 334. Miami - Anthony Carter, WR, Michigan

I believe he had some nagging injuries. The problem with Eason was he was easily rattled by pressure. In the playoffs following the 1986 season the Patriots were at Denver and late in the game Eason crumbled to the ground in the endzone for a safety...before he even got hit. It pretty much put the game away for the Broncos and his reputation was basically cemented from there. He took a lot shit for that play and mentally I don't think he recovered from it.

I'll have to jump on the Sharks bandwagon then. I wouldn't have considered myself diehard but during the mid to late 90's I followed them pretty closely but in recent years I've lost all interest in hockey. I've been meaning to watch them more this year after they traded for Joe Thorton but just haven't done it.

Just got a home a little while ago from my first A's game of the year against the Rangers. There's that old cheesy saying that everytime you watch a baseball game you might see something you've never seen before and today was that day for me. Was really looking forward to seeing Rich Harden pitch since he came pretty damn close to throwing a no hitter against the Rangers last season and seeing Baseball Tonight's favortie pitcher Vincente Padilla. The weather was miserable early as we've had about six weeks straight of rain in the Bay Area and it although it never really poured today there was non-stop drizzle for about the first three innings. It was evident early on that Harden wasn't on today as he had trouble finding the strike zone and would end up walking five on the day. In the 4th Mark Teixeira lead off with a double to right, missing a homerun by about two feet. Phil Nevin came up next and I saw something I'm not sure I've seen before or at least something you don't see very often. He grounded to ball to right to Marco Scutaro for Buster Olney's favorite thing a productive out. Atlhough it didn't turn out that way as Scutaro from 2nd threw to 3rd to get Teixeira. You'll often see that play made by a shortstop but I don't know if I've a second baseman make that play. Of course there's a fine line in baseball between a head's up play and a stupid play and I'm not sure Teixeira didn't beat the throw to 3rd, I was on the first base side so I didn't have a good view of the play, but they got the out and probably saved a run that inning. Now a fielder's choice isn't exactly something I'm gonna remember or worth a blog entry over but I did have something to remember in the 6th. In the 5th, Nick Swisher made a nice leaping grab against the wall to rob Gerald Laird of extra bases and then with two out in the bottom of the inning crushed a towering homerun to right to give the A's a 2-1 lead. Harden seemed to be settling in by then but with two out in the 6th he competely lost the strike zone again, walking Michael Young and Teixeira. Next batter, Nevin, homerun, 4-2 Rangers, and the A's staring at a 5th straight loss. But then it happeend in the bottom of the inning. Eric Chavez. First pitch. Homerun. Frank Thomas. First pitch. Homerun. Milton Bradley. First pitch. Homerun. Three pitches, three homeruns, and that's it for Padilla. Absolutely amazing stuff. I've never seen back-to-back-to-back homeruns live in person and I don't think I've ever seen it happen on three straight pitches, let alone the first three pitches of an inning. Very cool to see a first ballot Hall of Famer in Thomas mixed in there as well. The rest of the game was fairly uneventful but that was a moment I'll never forget. Since this blog is about nostalgia for the most part and since I'm talking about the A's and three homeruns might as well bring up the times I've seen three homeruns by one player in person. First one came on May 7, 1991 against Baltimore as Harold Banies hit three homeruns. Hit a two run homerun off of Ben McDonald in the 1st, a three run homerun off of Dave Johnson in the 4th, and a solo homerun off of Jeff Robinson it the 6th. He had a chance for a four homeruns in the 8th but they Orioles walked him. Second time I saw it happen was June 11, 1999 against Los Angeles as Miguel Tejada pulled off the feat. Two run homer against Carlos Perez in the 1st, two run homer against Onan Masaoka in the 3rd, and solo homerun against Doug Bochtler in the 7th.

I was at the game today and that was simply awesome. First game I've ever been to with back-to-back-to-back homeruns and to see it on three consecutive pitches (the first three of the inning) was amazing and especially cool to see the Big Hurt mixed in there for the three straight.

So was there in out cry in Pittsburgh when Kevin Young was making more money than Honus Wagner made in his whole lifetime?

Ever since the McGwire/Sosa homerun chase ESPN constantly teases the viewer into thinking that a particular player did something big (like showing a clip of them hitting a homerun from a different game) but then show the actual highlights and turns out they didn't do anything of note.

I was at Game 4 of the ALCS that year which was two days after kkk's story. I'll see if I'm Bored enough for an entry on that game as it was one of the most memorable LCS games ever but only problem is my team came out on the wrong end of it.