EVIL~! alkeiper

Jim Rice is probably the most overrated player on the ballot. Jim Rice received 337 votes, while Will Clark received 23. If you really study the players, Clark was a better player. Jim Rice was one dimensional, and the most prolific double play victim of his time. Too many baseball writers fall prey to glamourous counting stats, like home runs, RBIs and saves. To suggest that Bruce Sutter was a better pitcher than Bert Blyleven, or even Jack Morris or Tommy John, is madness.

Announcement is tomorrow at 1pm ET. MLB.com's carrying it live.

Today's the deadline for signing players who turned down arbitration. Five players are effected, the noteable one being Jeff Weaver. If Weaver and the LA Dodgers do not agree on a contract tonight, and indications are they will not, Weaver will be unable to re-sign with the club until May 1.

Finally saw the film myself. I think this is very much true. Baer's character hardly seemed based on his real persona at all, except that he did clown around in the ring too much. Baer did kill one boxer, Ernie Campbell, and felt so bad about it that he quit boxing for several months. The Campbell fight sapped much of Baer's killer instinct. Ernie Schaaf died after he fought Primo Carnera (that Carnera was the fighter who "tapped" Schaaf was not mentioned in the movie). Schaaf's injuries were attributed in part to the Baer fight, but that's hardly uncommon. Cinderella Man was a good movie, but filled to the brim with exaggerations. Corn Griffin was hardly one of the top contenders. He had lost three times before fighting Braddock and would lose nine of his next ten. And the Braddock-Baer fight was one of the more dull affairs in heavyweight title fight history. One NY Times reporter stated the fight gave no excitement whatsoever to the fans. Braddock looked bad, and won because Baer looked worse. It's a shame to see Baer portrayed so negatively. He was a top-flight jewish fighter in the 1930s. His son portrayed Jethro Clampett on the Beverly Hillbillies.

For me it's late June through August. I'm a two hour drive from nearly ten major and minor league ballparks.

For the record, it can't be Pittsburgh if Stock enters the draft in 2008. The draft alternates the top draft choice between leagues, so the 2008 Draft will give the first pick to the team who finishes last in the American league in 2007.

That's hardly humiliation. Every baseball player has a bad night here and there.

Hall's batting average jumped by 53 points. It's quite possible that Hall's season represented a jump in performance, but also possible that he had a fluke season. If he drops to say .270, he's just a marginal hitter at third base. Hall's best season matched what Koskie produces in an average season. And in a case of uncertainty, I don't think there's anything wrong in adding depth.

At worst, it provides a nice 3B platoon with Hall and Koskie. Hall had a nice season, but I think he'll decline somewhat.

Since I picked up Baseball America's Almanac, here are their picks for the best player at each age... 12: Delino DeShields Jr., of 13: Vinny Ponce, c 14: Miles Head, c/1b 15: Robert Stock, rhp 16: Cody Johnson, 1b/of 17: Brett Anderson, lhp 18: Andrew McClutchen, of (Pirates' org.) 19: Delmon Young, of (Devil Rays) 20: Brandon Wood, ss (Angels) 21: Huston Street, rhp (Athletics) 22: David Wright, 3b (Mets) 23: Dontrelle Willis, lhp (Marlins) 24: Jake Peavy, rhp (Padres) 25: Albert Pujols, 1b (Cardinals) I don't agree with Street. Jeff Francouer, Jeremy Hermida, Brian McCann, Prince Fielder, Scott Kazmir and Ryan Zimmerman are all better choices than a closer, in my view. Mik will surely argue Miguel Cabrera over David Wright, and I probably agree.

I root for East Stroudsburg, my current school. They reached the Division II Semifinals this season.

Reviewing the post thus far, this post makes me laugh. Not only did the Marlins pick up two men that are never wanted back in Mariners territory (ever again), but they're actually being praised for doing so. Al, who is usually dead-on with what he says, talks about Olivo being taken for his defense. Olivo has trouble catching the ball behind the plate and Pokey Reese was out all of last year (getting paid a huge salary to do so.) He's supposed to be pretty good on defense, but will hardly bring anything to the plate. Anyway, the Mariners aren't doing anything (yet again), so I foresee another cellar finish, possibly losing 100 games. Their pitching prospects (aside from Felix Hernandez) that were brought up last year were Jeff Harris and Jorge Campano, who are both 30 years old+. The M's need to get their act together because it's looking like the late 80's/early 90's again. It's called damning with faint praise. Pokey Reese isn't a guy I'd want starting on my team if I had a hope of contending. But if you review the Marlins' options, he is the guy most likely to produce anything in 2006. There's no one else with more than a whiff of MLB experience. Same deal with Olivo. He's not a guy I'd want starting on a contending team. I know he has a problem with passed balls. You have to understand the Marlins have a player in their system named Josh Willingham who can crush the baseball. However, there are questions about whether Willingham will even catch in the big leagues, or if he'll be moved off the position. If Willingham does not catch, Olivo's the man, and not because of his defense. Next to Olivo, the Marlins have Matt Treanor (.212 career BA), and Ryan Jorgenson (ZipS projects a .200 average). I'm not praising these players, just noting where they fit in the Marlins' hierarchy. As for the Mariners, they replaced their catcher by committee with a star catcher from Japan (Kenji Johjima). They signed Jarrod Washburn for their pitching staff. Bobby Livingston is coming up strong. The M's also have Yorman Bazardo, who they picked up from Seattle. They have Shin-Soo Choo coming up to play center field and lead-off. I can't promise future glory, but there is definately talent in the system.

Yes, Kennedy was struck by two of the three bullets that Oswalt fired.

Indeed. This one doesn't even have any names!

The Phillies' signed Ryan Franklin to a one year, $2.6 Million deal. Franklin becomes the team's 10th best option in the rotation, behind Brett Myers, Cory Lidle, Jon Lieber, Ryan Madson, Robinson Tejeda, Gavin Floyd, Cole Hamels, Edwin Moreno, and possibly Daniel Haigwood. This deal could work out if most of Franklin's fly balls are shagged by Aaron Rowand. But he's a homer prone pitcher moving from a pitchers' park to a hitters' park. This could get ugly.

I'm letting the article go for now, but please remember that posting ESPN Insider articles could be copyright infringement, and thus a TOS violation. It's safer to spread these via PM.

How many players does the average fan remember besides Gibson and Orel Hershiser? The '81 Dodgers would be a more interesting case, as Fernando Valenzuela was a real phenomenon at the time.

There has always been a hatred of the New York Yankees, and it is almost entirely due to their extended success. MLB actually created a rul after the 1939 season that the defending World Champions could not add players, after the Yankees won their fourth consecutive World Championship. It's nothing new. Absolutely they bent the rules. ALL teams bent the rules, but the Orioles were the worst offenders. They're clearly the most famous team of the 1890s, except possibly the 1869 Red Stockings (a traveling exhibition team), and the 1899 Cleveland Spiders (famous because they were so terrible).

Interesting premise, but what really separates them from the '38 or '37 squads? Those late '30s Yankee teams may have been the greatest team of all time, but if you polled Yankee fans they might not top fourth place among Yankee squads. There's some good debate on the 1940s teams as I expected. There are memorable teams that many have mentioned, but none stand far above the pack. And the Black Sox? They're clearly most famous, but I can see reasons for excluding them. The 1911 A's are likely next with the $100,000 infield. There's renewed interest in the McGraw/Mathewson teaming these days as well. What about the '06 Cubs?

I have a friend that felt old the first time he saw Willie Randolph in an old timers' game. It's bad enough that there are All-Stars now younger than me. Agreed. Someone above made the comment that the 2005 White Sox were to be discounted because of the poor World Series ratings. I would wonder if the same applies to those A's, one of which finished 11th in the league in attendance. The 1979 Pirates are an interesting bunch. They would be my personal favorite, but I wonder if anyone else is as fond of them. Lot's of memorable players, such as Willie Stargell, Dave Parker, Bert Blyleven and Kent Tekulve. Phil Garner and Dale Berra sat on the bench. '86 Mets get a lot of attention. The Running Redbirds were an interesting bunch, but I've never seen a book written about them. There's regional interest in the '80 Phillies, but anything beyond that? I honestly don't know. Looking at a recent perspective, no other Yankee team in history managed to shake the hated rival moniker quite like the '98 squad. Writers like Daniel Okrent (former SI editor) who grew up hating the Yankees admired their class and dignity. I think it'll stick. After all, most fans still pine for the players of that team.

It's hard to say. Herr would have still needed to outperform Steve Sax and Glenn Hubbard to win the award. After 1988 Roberto Alomar would've been in the mix as well.

The best story is probably the best factor. The best team was probably the 2001 Mariners who won 116 games. But they were bounced from the playoffs and were largely a one year wonder. 2001 was the best series, but then again not many people wax nostalgic about the 1991 Twins. And I don't mean to downplay those Diamondbacks in any way.

I'm not even sure Hanley Ramirez is ready for AAA, let alone the majors. A starting infield job is Pokey's to lose at this stage. I still can't believe the Marlins non-tendered Joe Dillon. Sadly, despite Olivo being a .227 hitter, he's still their best option short of punting defense for Josh Willingham.

I'm a little surprised that you didn't mention the Amazing Mets of 1986 for the 80's. I will confess the Mets were just before my time when I started watching sports. I just remember how big a phenomenon the Bash Brothers were in their heyday. Of course when ESPN listed the top teams of the last 25 years, they (nor any other '80s team) made the list. They're still the only team from that decade to win three league pennants. As with Porter and the White Sox, it's really a matter of personal preference. That team was a fun team, but for me they just don't have the history.

I'd love to see a World Sports summary, catching us up on international sports such as soccer and the like. American media ignores virtually everything outside our borders.