EVIL~! alkeiper

Good interview so far. Congratulations Graham on landing this interview. I found Valient's comments on Kayfabe in regards to his wrestling camp quite interesting... Obviously, you don't want to run around explaining your secrets, and wrestlers probably shouldn't. I would question how detrimental that could be for an aspiring wrestler. But I guess that is how the old timers learned. Fred Blassie described a similar experience in his book. Alot of us tend to draw upon our own experiences, and Jimmy Valient is no exception.

Both.

Don't look at us. The more I think about the Cory Lidle trade, the more it pisses me off.

Billy Beane on PTI!

To my knowledge, no one has it live in the states.

A thread to discuss tonight's Olympic Ceremonies.

Jon Stewart comes to mind.

Why not place Albert Belle's bat on the list. That was a much better story anyway, with Jason Grimsley sneaking through an air duct into the umpires' room to switch Belle's bat with a different one.

Ties I don't mind, but the Overtime Win crap has got to go.

If I'm not around, feel free.

I think for the Olympics, I'm going to have daily chat threads. Is everyone ok with that?

Superball? Please educate us youngins. Essentially, Graig Nettles broke his bat in a game, and six superballs tumbled out of the bat. For whatever reason, he was not suspended for the infraction.

We've got Philly @ New England, NY Jets @ New Orleans, and Kansas City @ NY Giants.

With all the games final I might as well unpin this baby.

We've got some good series coming up this weekend. The Twins visit the Cleveland Indians. If the Indians sweep, the impossible occurs and the Indians will share first place in the Central. The Giants visit Philadelphia for an important Wild Card battle (fire Bowa), and first place clubs meet as the Cardinals visit the Atlanta Braves.

If it comes to the White Sox and me in the Playoffs, I'm not worried. I'm throwing Sheets, Clemens, Johnson, Santana and Perez out there. I'll win in wins, Ks, hopefully ERA and WHIP, and hope my offense carries the day.

Surprising news from Cleveland. The Indians have released Alex Escobar. Escobar's stock has plummetted the last few seasons. Hard to believe he was once one of the five best prospects in baseball.

I really have to protests keepers. I joined the league unaware that we would have keepers, and thus drafted two 40+ pitchers. If I had to worry about keepers, I probably wouldn't have done that. However, changing rules midstream really fucks that up.

I change of pace, as I'm doing a player relevant to current news. Feel free to debate this. 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? This is the toughest standard. Most players who answer yes to this question can probably skip the next fourteen. As for Edgar, the answer is no, although Win Shares sees him as the best player in the American League in 1995, and Total Baseball sees him as the best in baseball that season. 2. Was he the best player on his team? Martinez was the best player on the Mariners in 1995. For the rest of the decade, he finished behind either Ken Griffey Jr. or Alex Rodriguez. Since 1995, no Mariners player has led the team in Win Shares two seasons in a row. 3. Was he the best player in baseball at his position? Was he the best player in the league at his position? From 1995 until 1997, Martinez was the best DH in baseball. After 1997, Frank Thomas became a primary DH, and he and Martinez traded the advantage back and forth. 4. Did he have an impact on a number of pennant races? Yes. Martinez's teams made the playoffs four times. Martinez hit consistantly throughout his career, and September was no exception. Martinez hit 316/429/500 career in September. Martinez also hit 266/365/508 career in the postseason. 5. Was he good enough that he could play regularly after passing his prime? Yes. Martinez remained productive even after he turned 40. 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? Only three of Martinez's ten most comparable players are eligible for the Hall, and one of those (Chuck Klein) is in. 8. Do the player's numbers meet Hall of Fame standards? Martinez scores 20 on the Black Ink test, 107 on the Gray Ink test, and meets 48.1% of HOF Standards. That HOF Standards score is very strong. Martinez has the 20th best OBP of all time, and the 35th best OPS of all time. Martinez ranks 33rd all time in Adjusted OPS+, and 36th all time in walks. 9. Is there any evidence to suggest that the player was significantly better or worse than is suggested by his statistics? None apparent. 10. Is he the best player at his position who is eligible for the Hall of Fame? Yes. There are not many designated hitters who are currently eligible who have any kind of case. 11. How many MVP-type seasons did he have? Did he ever win an MVP award? If not, how many times was he close? Martinez finished in the top ten just twice. 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? Martinez played in seven All-Star games, a fair total. 13. If this man were the best player on his team, would it be likely that the team could win the pennant? Yes. The Mariners won the pennant with Martinez in 1995. 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? Some credit Martinez's game winning hit in the 1995 Divisional Series against the Yankees as the clincher for winning approval for a new stadium. 15. Did the player uphold the standards of sportsmanship and character that the Hall of Fame, in its written guidelines, instructs us to consider? Absolutely. Martinez was praised as one of the game's gentlemen. Conclusion: Martinez has two problems. One is that he was a full time designated hitter for most of his career, and two in that his career was not of optimum length. I think his pros overshadow that. Martinez ranks 32nd in OPS+. Only two modern hitters who rank above him (Dick Allen and Charlie Keller) are not in the Hall, and they both played less games than Martinez. His OBP is even more impressive. No stat in baseball is more crucial to offense than On Base Percentage, and Martinez was one of the All-Time greats in that regard. I think Martinez deserves the Hall.

Yes he was.

They're on pace to lose 94 now. They've got growth potential, and 12 of their last 48 games come against the Baltimore Orioles. I peg their chances of 100 losses at 20-25%.

Well, in March of 1995, the Strike was ongoing, with no end in strike. The owners decided to try using replacement players in order to keep a product on the field. The idea had its obvious flaws, the main one being the quality of talent. Other problems included the issues with advertisers and sponsers, who would have possible problems with their own unions for supporting the owners, and would not wish to continue with a subpar product. Training camps opened in Florida with the replacement players, and they proceeded with spring training. Peter Angelos and the Orioles did not participate. The teams planned to commence the regular season with replacement players. The plan didn't fail as much as it was usurped by the conclusion of the strike. To this day, when you play an MLBPA liscenced video game, you'll notice a handful of players missing, such as Shane Spencer, Todd Pratt, and Damian Miller. These are some of the replacement players, and as replacement players, they are barred from joining the players' union.

Anything specific? Why it didn't succeed?

For those who wish to discuss the ongoing games. Chicago @ St. Louis Atlanta @ Baltimore

Luck. The Expos were 2-4 against the Reds. I'm not saying they were worse, but in a short series, its easy for a good team to upset a very good team. An odd note. The Expos were 12-0 against the Padres that season.