EVIL~! alkeiper

I got the Starrcade dvd today. It's got a stand-alone documentary along with the 25 matches. Good stuff, briefly covering the PPV wars.

I'm not a Morris booster. He did not have a HOF peak, his career best ERA+ was 127. His postseason heroics really boil down to a single game. The combination of wins and winning percentage though will eventually get him in the Hall. Trammell should absolutely make the Hall of Fame. During an eight year stretch, Trammell topped a 130 OPS+ five times. By comparison, Derek Jeter has topped that figure twice. And Trammell won four Gold Gloves. Lou Whitaker should probably be in the Hall of Fame as well. If you look at that 1984 Tigers team, there are no Hall of Famers apart from manager Sparky Anderson. The idea that a team won 104 games and obliterated the postseason without a single Hall of Famer is hard to swallow.

No one really stole bases in the 1950s, except for Luis Aparicio. Maury Wills came along and in 1962 stole 104 bases in 117 attempts. That's really incredible, and drawing up a quick list it was 40+ more than anyone had stolen in the last 30 seasons. If you're a fan and see that, obviously it's going to make a hell of an impression. Of course, the reason Wills could run at will was because with the lack of base stealing, teams didn't need to worry about their catchers' throwing arms. Henderson wasn't THAT much more prevalent of a basestealer than Wills. What sets Rickey apart is that he stole bases for 25 seasons.

Ditto on A Hard Day's Night. There's hardly a bad spot on that entire album.

Just basically who the star players are, the teams to pay attention to, which competitions are more important than others. The basic rules I've got a firm handle on. Strategies less so, but that doesn't hamper my enjoyment.

I actually had thought about this recently, not in relation to Jim Rice, but with Carl Yastrzemski. He hit a similar number of homers on the road, but if you look at every other number you can make a pretty good argument that his impressive totals are largely a product of Fenway Park. There are several counters to that argument. 1. His prime came during the 1960s, when offense was absolutely pitiful. When he hit .301 in 1968, he LED THE LEAGUE. Four times in six years he led the AL in OPS+. So when looking at his raw road numbers, remember that the league OPS in his era was once lower than .700. 2. Yaz played an awfully long time. The problem with Rice is that he has three seasons of a Hall of Fame peak, and was otherwise merely good. Yaz was productive into his 40s. In fact, the only player in history to play in more games than Yastrzemski is Pete Rose, and only Rose and Hank Aaron have more at bats. 3. Yastrzemski was an excellent fielder, winning seven gold gloves. So while Yastrzemski benefitted from Fenway, he also had to play a full decade in the 1960s, and that hurt him.

Fantastic. I got Fifa '08 a few weeks ago. I enjoy the game but I am absolutely clueless about the leagues, teams and players. Philadelphia is gaining an MLS franchise in 2010. I anticipate becoming a fan.

Rice's totals of course inflated from playing in Fenway Park, and the Black/Gray ink tests aren't intended to adjust for that. Most fans don't realize how much of a hitters park Fenway was at the time. Almost every other team was playing in a huge stadium, the Red Sox had a bandbox. Now most teams play in a park closer in design to Fenway, so the effect is not so obvious. I need to crank up the Dick Allen for the Hall campaign. You think Rice's prime is good? Check out Allen's http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/DNFr And most of those guys are outfielders. Allen played his first four seasons at third base.

One of the problems with Holmes that we'll see next time is that he fought conservatively, much like Lennox Lewis. It wins, but it doesn't create excitement. Holmes/Ali we'll see is an example. Ali just has nothing in the tank at all, but Holmes won't go after him. He just keeps pawing and easily winning rounds. Maybe after the series we'll hit upon the contenders. Ernie Shavers was a hell of a puncher. Bob Satterfield had tremendous power in the early '50s, but didn't have a strong chin.

Gotta love that not only was the Thunder battle royal overbooked crap, but twice the WCW cameras missed big moments at the end. And did someone walk out and through the gimmicked stage intended for DDP/Jarrett? Tell me that actually happened?

The 1970s were perhaps the best decade in heavyweight boxing history. Some of the best fighters in the division, and the best fights in the division. It featured an epic trilogy and some shocking upsets. The decade however also saw the rise of the alphabet soup filth that lingers to this day. Title claimants Joe Frazier and Jimmy Ellis met to decide the undisputed championship at Madison Square Garden in Febuary of 1970. Frazier was undefeated at 24-0 with knockouts. Ellis was 27-5, but undefeated since 1964. Frazier won via fifth round TKO. He next battled light heavyweight champion Bob Foster. Foster was riding a streak of twenty consecutive victories, including 19 by KO. Meanwhile, Muhammad Ali had regained his boxing license and would eventually have his conviction overturned in the U.S. Supreme Court. Ali KO'd Jerry Quarry and Oscar Bonavena, setting the stage for "The Fight of the Century." Both Frazier and Ali entered this fight with undefeated records. With Frazier's victory, he truly earned the right to the title of undisputed champion. Frazier next racked up TKO victories over Terry Daniels and Ron Stander. In January of 1973, Frazier stepped in against an undefeated heavyweight named George Foreman. Next up, Jose Roman. Ken Norton meanwhile had scored a stunning decision victory over Muhammad Ali. Despite losing a rematch, he scored the next title fight against Foreman. At this point, Foreman had needed less than five rounds to dispatch his last three opponents, two of whom landed in boxing's Hall of Fame. This was probably Muhammad Ali's finest hour. Ali's first defense came against Chuck Wepner, the Bayonne Bleeder. Wepner's ability to hang on until the last round, and his ninth round knockdown of Ali, earned him a bit of notoriety. It inspired the Rocky series and earned Wepner himself a big boxer/wrestler match against Andre the Giant. Here's the final round. Ali defeated Ron Lyle and Joe Bugner, setting the stage for a rematch with Joe Frazier. Ali had defeated Frazier via unanimous decision in 1974 while Foreman held the heavyweight crown. This fight became known as the "Thrilla In Manilla." It won Fight of the Year for 1975, and in 1996 Ring Magazine named it the greatest title fight of all time. Ali followed up the Frazier war with victories over Jean-Pierre Coopman, Jimmy Young and Richard Dunn. In June of 1976, he engaged in the boxer/wrestler fiasco with Antonio Inoki. Some contribute the damage Inoki did to Ali's legs to shortening Ali's career. Here's the fight along with Andre/Wepner. Inoki-Ali Wepner-Andre Next Ali fought Ken Norton for the third time. Norton had upset Ali in a 1973 bout, breaking his jaw in the process. Ali won a rematch. Their third fight was for the heavyweight crown. Many observers felt that Ali received a gift decision in this bout. Nevertheless, Ali soldiered on, defeating Alfredo Evangelista and Ernie Shavers by decision in 1977. In 1978, Ali squared off with 1976 olympic gold medalist Leon Spinks. Spinks was fighting only his eighth pro fight with a record of 6-0-1. Spinks' only name fighter on his resume was Scott LeDoux, whom he fought to a draw. Spinks however prevailed in a split decision and claimed the heavyweight crown. At this point politics reared its ugly head. The big money fight for Spinks was obviously a rematch with Ali. The WBC (and Don King) however felt Ken Norton was the #1 contender and deserved a title bout. In reality, King had the television rights if Spinks/Norton occured, but not Spinks/Ali. The WBC stripped Leon Spinks of the title for choosing an Ali rematch, and instead sanctioned awarded the title to Ken Norton. Norton's first fight came against Larry Holmes. White not a legitimate title fight, the fifteen round turned out to be one of the greatest rounds in boxing history. Fast forward to 2:22 for the fifteenth. Holmes won via split decision, all three judges having the margin decided by just a single point. Muhammad Ali meanwhile easily defeated Leon Spinks in a rematch via unanimous decision in the fifteenth round. Holmes defended his version of the crown against Alfredo Evangelista (KO 7), Ossie Ocasio (TKO 7), Mike Weaver (TKO 12) and Ernie Shavers (TKO 11). The WBA meanwhile sanctioned a fight between John Tate and Gerrie Coetzee for their version, with Tate winning a 15 round decision. At the end of the decade, Holmes looked to have the stronger claim to the crown. As the 1980s dawned, Holmes looked for a fight with former champion Muhammad Ali while Tate prepared to defend against 21-9 Mike Weaver.

What I fear is that this will spur quite a few "he was better than Rice" arguments. Take a look at Frank Howard for example. Take a look at every pro-Rice argument and tell me it doesn't apply there. 48 home runs when the league slugging percentage was .373?! And then there's Boog Powell. George Foster. Will Clark. Fred Lynn. Dwight Evans. Darrell Evans. Don Mattingly. I looked at the list of win shares leaders and came up with 40 players higher than Rice that aren't in the Hall, only from 1950 onward.

1. So much of his career peak was frontloaded. He hung on for a full decade past his prime. 2. He only cleared 150 games played once after 1986. It's a shame that Raines' best statistic does not appear on baseball-reference.com. He retired as the greatest percentage basestealer of all time, with 84%. Carlos Beltran has 88% now, but that could come down as Beltran declines.

Yeah, Jim Rice getting into the Hall of Fame is quite maddening. I may expand a bit on that later. What's truly infuriating is the lack of support for Tim Raines, and that's been noted as well. Fred McGriff next year is such a hard case that even I haven't made up my mind yet.

Do you mean worse by record or position in the division? It must REALLY suck to be either a fan of Toronto or Baltimore considering you got used to Yankees/Sawx dominance, but when TB comes out of nowhere and makes your future prospects of ever winning a playoff berth that much more remote it may be time to find something else to watch from March/April to October. By record. Stranger things have happened though. One team gets a rash of injuries, and things can change in a hurry.

Honestly, I'd be quite surprised if the Orioles finish worse this season. A lot of the things wrong with the team are easily fixed, like lack of production at first base.

It's not like either of those are bad signings. Zaun's a fantastic backup catcher, and you can't possibly fret about the players who are likely to play in Norfolk.

I fear boxing will never see another heavyweight as good as Ali. These days, if someone Ali's size showed athletic talent they would immediately get shuffled onto their school's football or basketball program. The only way a good American heavyweight may emerge is if they come off the streets into a gym as a way to avoid a life in prison.

Craigslist perhaps?

The 1960s kicked off with Sweden's Ingemar Johansson coming off an impressive KO victory of Floyd Patterson. Patterson received a rematch in June, and knocked out Johansson in the fifth round to regain his heavyweight crown. Patterson became the first fighter to hold the heavyweight title twice. In March of next year, Patterson and Johansson fought for a third time. Coming off the KO victory, Patterson met undefeated Tom McNeely and KO'd him in the fourth round. 1962 saw Patterson step into the ring against Sonny Liston. One year later Patterson received a rematch against Sonny Liston. He fared better, this time lasting 2:10 in the first round! Liston looked invincible as he stepped in against Cassius Clay in Miami. Liston quitting on his stool was certainly a huge shock. Stunning yet was Cassius Clay's post-fight announcement that he changed his name to Muhammad Ali. Ali was a brash, obnoxious, loud braggart. Without a doubt he was the greatest trash talker the sports world had seen. Unfortunately, it took fifteen months before Ali would step in the ring again. He accepted a rematch against Sonny Liston. For whatever reason, the WBA took offense and stripped Ali of their crown. The WBA conferred the title on Ernie Terrell after he defeated Eddie Machen. Terrell then defended that version against George Chuvalo and Doug Jones, both via unanimous decision. We'll leave the WBA version there and come back to it later. Ali fought Liston in Lewiston, Maine in front of a small crowd. The fight was a fiasco in every way possible. Did Liston take a dive? I doubt it, I think there was legitimate confusion about the knockdown count. Liston did not want to rise with Ali standing and taunting right above him. Ali took on a more active schedule following the fight. He KO'd Floyd Patterson in twelve rounds, defeated George Chuvalo by unanimous decision, TKO'd Henry Cooper in a bloody fight, KO'd Brian London, and TKO'd Karl Mildenberger. In November of '66, Ali fought Cleveland Williams. By some accounts, Williams landed as few as three punches the entire fight. Ali-London Ali-Williams In 1967, Ali fought WBA champion Ernie Terrell. Terrell decided to taunt Ali pre-fight by referring to him as Cassius Clay. Ali laid a tremendous beating on Ernie Terrell, carrying him over fifteen rounds just to punish him. Ali won a lopsided decision. Ali fought once more, KO'ing Zora Folley in seven rounds. A month later, Ali refused induction into the U.S. Armed Forces. Ali was stripped of his boxing license, and he would not fight again for three years. The heavyweight championship was thrown for a loop. The NYSAC recognized Joe Frazier after he defeated Buster Mathis by 11th round TKO. Fazier had scored a KO victory over George Chuvalo, who had gone the distance with both Ali and Ernie Terrell. The WBA meanwhile sanctioned an eight man tournament. Jimmy Ellis defeated Leotis Martin, Oscar Bonavena and Jerry Quarry to win the vacant title. Ellis defended the title in Sept. 1968 against Floyd Patterson, winning via decision. Frazier for his part defended successfully against Manuel Ramos, Bonavena and Dave Zyglewicz. And while not for the undisputed crown, Frazier fought Jerry Quarry in a fight awarded "Fight of the Year" honors by Ring Magazine in 1969. As the decade came to a close, Ali officially announced his retirement to allow an impending fight between Frazier and Ellis to crown an undisputed world champion.

That ain't true! Yeah, that was last round!

Absolutely. Charles has wins over six Hall of Famers, including Charley Burley, Joey Maxim, Jimmy Bivins, Archie Moore, Jersey Joe Walcott and Joe Louis.

1950 kicked off with Ezzard Charles laying claim to the heavweight championship. Charles defeated Freddie Beshore by 14th round TKO in his first fight of 1950. One month later, Joe Louis came out of retirement to challenge Charles, the undisputed crown on the line. With Louis defeated, Charles set about defending against a relatively thin crop of challengers. Charles defeated Nick Barone and Lee Oma by KO. Charles then fought Jersey Joe Walcott for a second time and won via unanimous decision. Charles then defeated light heavyweight champ Joey Maxim by decision. With few challengers available, Charles again fought Walcott for the title. It was Jersey Joe's fifth challenge. Walcott defeated Charles via unanimous decision to retain his title in a rematch. Walcott next defended against a boxer whom many considered a great puncher, but not tremendously skilled. Walcott dominated Rocky Marciano for twelve rounds. Trailing on all three scorecards, Marciano unleashed the greatest punch in boxing history. Marciano KO'd Wolcott in the first round of a rematch. Walcott retired after the fight. Next up, Marciano fought Roland LaStarza, who gave Marciano a challenge in 1950, losing via split decision. Unable to solve LaStarza's guard, Marciano punched through it; punching LaStarza's arms until LaStarza could not lift them, and then knocking him through the ropes. A fifteen round war with Ezzard Charles followed, with Marciano winning via unanimous decision. Still, the exciting fight prompted a rematch. Charles split Marciano's nose wide open. Marciano by some accounts had one more round left before it would be stopped. The cut The next year Marciano TKO'd Don Cockell of Britain. As a running theme, Britains were proud that Cockell put up a game fight. Later that year, Marciano fought the legendary Archie Moore, who moved up from light heavyweight. Moore had won the light heavyweight championship from Joey Maxim in 1952. The description of Moore going down like a sinking warship seems apropros. Marciano retired following the fight. Archie Moore received another shot at the vacant title, this time facing 30-1 Floyd Patterson, another fighter who came up from the light heavyweight ranks. Patterson ran up a streak of KO victories. Tommy Jackson, Pete Rademacher, Roy Harris and Brian London. Rademacher was the 1956 Olympic Gold medalist, making his professional debut. On June 26, 1959, Patterson met another Olympian, Ingemar Johansson. Johansson had been disqualified in the olympic final for backpeddling from opponent Ed Sanders. His record as a professional stood at 21-0, and he had just KO'd contender Eddie Machen in the first round. In their fight, Johansson clocked Patterson with a knockdown punch in the third round. Out on his feet, Patterson suffered six more knockdowns before the fight was finally stopped. I am unable to find a clip of the fight. Needless to say though, the fight should not have continued as long as it did. That left Ingemar Johansson the heavyweight champion as the decade closed. Floyd Patterson would yet receive a rematch. Meanwhile, a contender named Sonny Liston was in the midst of a string of knockout victories. Another young boxer named Cassius Clay was gearing up for the 1960 Olympic games in Rome.

Hoffman was homer prone playing in Petco Park. How's that going to look in Miller Park? And what's wrong with Milton Bradley? He's been a better hitter than Mark Teixeira the last two years.

Slasher Flick: Regarding TSM Slasher Flick: Can you announce to the draft folder that my computer broke Slasher Flick: And that I should be skipped until its fixed or whatever There ya go.