EVIL~! alkeiper

Here is one I have been looking forward to, Jim Rice. 1. Was he ever regarded as the best player in baseball? Did anybody, while he was active, ever suggest that he was the best player in baseball? Rice was the MVP in 1978, but I do not think he was ever regarded as the very best player in baseball. 2. Was he the best player on his team? No. Fred Lynn was actually a better player while he was on the team, and after Lynn's departure, Dwight Evans was the best Red Sox player. 3. Was he the best player in baseball at his position? Was he the best player in the league at his position? Jim Rice was the best left fielder in baseball in 1978 and '79. After 1979, his production declined and Rickey Henderson rose to stardom. 4. Did he have an impact on a number of pennant races? Yes. Rice was a member of three AL East champion teams, and two pennant winners. Rice hit .314/.368/.530 in September in his career. 5. Was he good enough that he could play regularly after passing his prime? Somewhat. Rice played well into his 30s, but fell rapidly in 1989 and retired at 36. 6. Is he the very best baseball player in history who is not in the Hall of Fame? No. 7. Are most players who have comparable statistics in the Hall of Fame? Four of Rice's ten comps are in the Hall. Three of the other six are ineligible, but unlikely to gain admittance. 8. Do the player's numbers meet Hall of Fame standards? Yes. Rice scores 33 on the Black Ink test, 176 on the Gray Ink test, and meets 42.9% of HOF standards. 9. Is there any evidence to suggest that the player was significantly better or worse than is suggested by his statistics? Yes. Rice hit 320/374/546 at home at Fenway Park, but just 277/330/459 on the road. Those numbers do not show up on the top 100 lists of anything. It is very fair, in my view, to claim Rice's hitting stats were inflated by Fenway Park. 10. Is he the best player at his position who is eligible for the Hall of Fame? No. Minnie Minoso is. 11. How many MVP-type seasons did he have? Did he ever win an MVP award? If not, how many times was he close? Rice won one MVP, and finished in the Top Ten six times. 12. How many All-Star-type seasons did he have? How many All-Star games did he play in? Did most of the players who played in this many All-Star games go into the Hall of Fame? Rice played in eight All-Star games, a good total. 13. If this man were the best player on his team, would it be likely that the team could win the pennant? In 1978, yes. Otherwise no. 14. What impact did the player have on baseball history? Was he responsible for any rule changes? Did he introduce any new equipment? Did he change the game in any way? None apparent. 15. Did the player uphold the standards of sportsmanship and character that the Hall of Fame, in its written guidelines, instructs us to consider? Rice shoved his manager in 1989 after being pinch-hit for. Of course, one event should not define a career. Conclusion: Rice had two great years, and otherwise he was middle of the pack. His numbers were great, but his rate stats do not rank among the greats, and that is before we adjust for park factor. Fenway Park used to be the best hitters' park in baseball, and no player benefit more than Jim Rice. As proof of the effects of Fenway, check out the Sox' team home/away splits for the late 1970s.... 1976 H 288/348/449 A 238/301/355 1977 H 300/367/516 A 264/325/417 1978 H 291/362/475 A 244/310/375 1979 H 306/368/521 A 261/321/395 The Sox teams of those four years also post extreme differences in W/L records between home and away. You can check this all yourselves at Retrosheet.org. I do not think Rice deserves the Hall of Fame.

No love for Outback Jack?

Hopefully now that there's no chance of 7 Golds, we'll be able to appreciate Phelps for what he is.

Get a load of this one. The Red Sox started Doug Mientkiewicz tonight, at SECOND. I don't know what to think of it. Considering Mientkiewicz's defensive rep at first, why not? I applaud the innovation.

The ERA hurts yes, but the W/L record means little. Bruce Sutter, Jeff Montgomery, Jeff Reardon, Tom Henke, and many other accomplished closers had sub-.500 records.

That's a junk stat. Remember the rules of a save opportunity. Up three or less, with three innings or less to go. So if a middle reliever comes in with the lead in the seventh, that's technically considered a save opportunity. So when a middle reliever blows a lead, they're charged with a blown save. However, since they are not the closer, they rarely finish the game and actually earn the save. So their statistics are sharply skewed towards one side. Look up almost any career middle reliever, and you will notice this pattern. Ray King has 1 save and seven blown. Alan Embree has seven saves and 18 blown. Paul Quantrill has 20 saves and 43 blown. B.J. Ryan has 4 saves and 12 blown. Rheal Cormier has 2 saves and 22 blown. This isn't meant to defend Farnsworth. Just to caution about using saves and blown saves. Recognize the context.

Watching NBC at the moment. Is anyone else annoyed by how disgustingly negative some commentators can be? This diving lady is bothersome, and if I heard the ping pong announcer earlier say "they couldn't get it done" one more time, I was going to trash my television.

Here's something amusing. Last year on this date, the Cubs had a worse record than they do today. And Shane Spencer signs a minor league contract with the Yankees.

No, Al, you're wrong! Like somebody just said, sure, there are relievers that may statistically look worse, but they don't MATTER. Rocky Biddle is one of the bottom 10. Big deal! He pitches for the Expos! The Expos were picked to do something between jack and shit this summer. Numbers-wise, the numbers just don't properly gauge Farnsworth's suck. 3.86 ERA? You can't go just by the stats, you've gotta just look at the key situations that we entrust Farnsworth with, and watch the batsmen get hit and the runs come in. He's not the worst in the league if you're a stat boy, but if you watch the high-profile situations, Farnsworth is the worst. He needs to be fired. Fired to send a message to the rest of the Chicago bullpen: when you come in the game, you're going to have to function under pressure. If you can't deal with the pressure, you don't belong here. Kyle Farnsworth had a stretch this year where he went scoreless in fourteen out of fifteen appearances. Smart fans know that future performance cannot be predicted from a player's last handful of games. Is Kyle Farnsworth the closer of the future? Of course not. But he still is capable of being a useful reliever. He'll snap out of this slump eventually.

Hasn't pitched for nearly two years, and its doubtful he'll ever return. They're out of it BECAUSE they pitched scrubs like Hernandez. Cubs fans are making too much of Farnsworth. He's pitching extremely badly this month. He also pitched well last month, except for the Cards game. He's not a future relief ace, but he's far from one of the worst relievers in the game.

Matt Herges closed games for the Giants. Robertson and Jimenez pitched poorly for the Indians, who would be in first if not for their bullpen. Weber pitches for the Angels. Hernandez pitches for the Phillies.

ESPN2 has Cincy vs. St. Louis tonight. Other notable games include Atlanta @ San Diego, Cleveland @ Texas, and Florida @ Los Angeles.

I REALLY hate that cliche. So that wasn't passing I saw today?

It outlines my argument for Edgar Martinez, by comparing his stats with those of 1Bmen already in the Hall. I think he compares favorably.

For comparison, here's BPro's 10 Worst relievers this season..... Rocky Biddle Ryan Wagner Mike DeJean Matt Herges Ben Weber Roberto Hernandez Gabe White S. Colyer Jerome Robertson Jose Jimenez If your least favorite pitcher missed the cut, its likely playing time.

Out of curiosity, did you catch my column yet? I don't want to rehash something you might have already read.

How so?

I love hearing the announcers explain the lack of a crowd..... "Well its a Sunday, its a religious holiday....." Ok then. So why the hell did they schedule the damned event on this day?

There are differences in the defensive rules, what zones are allowed, the paint is different, and several others. Someone more versed in basketball than myself could probably give better examples.

I think that is nonsense. I didn't see a bunch of egos. The players were more than willing to pass, and play a team game. How exactly is learning in college better than learning in the NBA? Perhaps the similarity to the international game would help, but I think fans rush to judgement against players who skip college, when there's really no indication that these players are worse off than the ones who attended college. This is of course allowing for the failures, who would have been weeded out of the process in college.

Not to single out Mike here, but this is indicative of comments I've seen. That the quality of NBA players is poor because they fare poorly in the international game. Carlos Arroyo is a backup guard in the NBA, and nothing special. And he dominated this game. That indicates to me the problem is with the setup, and not the quality of the players. To me, the problem is threefold. First, a team that has had little time to practice playing against players who have trained together for quite awhile. Two, the differences in rules between the NBA and International Games. Three, the international players have vastly improved over the last twenty years.

Check it out..... http://thesmartmarks.com/artman/publish/article_1539.shtml I make a constructive argument for Edgar Martinez, rip into Bud Selig, and rip into Phillies management.

A three game sweep at the hands of the SF Giants. They have GOT to fire Bowa at this point.

Yes. He's a ticking time bomb. The Cubs are much better off with Hawkins.

Not that I pay attention to the Cubs, but this sounds just like when the Mariners had Jose Mesa back in 2000. Everytime he came into a game any Mariner fans I knew would start yelling "Fuck it's Mesa we're gonna lose." As a Phillies fan, I know the pain.