Guest Vern Gagne Report post Posted May 15, 2003 Best Hitter, Best Pitcher....Feel free to add whatever category yu want. Pitcher-Randy Johnson. Got off to rocky start, and his hurt. He has nasty stuff. Mark Mulder is 1st in the AL Reliever-Eric Gagne. He's been unhittable this year. Hitter-Barry Bonds. Amazing he hits so many HR's with so many BB's Defensive player-Torii Hunter. A tough choice between him and Andruw Jones. Best Arm-Vladimir Guerrero. Best Manager-Joe Torre. Overall, Bobby Cox, Regular Season Best Coach-Leo Mazzone Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest bps "The Truth" 21 Report post Posted May 15, 2003 Guerrero's arm is sick. He'd be the first player I'd take if I were starting a team. So...I pick him as best. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest geniusMoment Report post Posted May 15, 2003 Best team: Cincy Best pitcher: Danny Graves Best closer: Scott Williamson Best hitter: Austin Kearns Best arm from the outfield: Jose Guillen Most power: Adam Dunn Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest geniusMoment Report post Posted May 15, 2003 Wait one more Most delusional: Me Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MaxPower27 Report post Posted May 15, 2003 Wait one more Most delusional: Me Obviously. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DerangedHermit Report post Posted May 15, 2003 Best Arm-Vladimir Guerrero. It was funny as hell last month when Mo Vaughn hit a line drive that dropped in front of Vladdy (he was decently deep in right). Vladdy throws to FIRST and Mo is safe only by half a step. Sure Mo is slow, but I honestly never saw anybody do what Vladdy could do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Mik at Cornell Report post Posted May 15, 2003 Best Base Stealer: Luis Castillo Best pure hitter: Bonds Best Overall: Vlad and Arod (tie) Best pitcher: Randy Best under 30 pitcher: Zito Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Shawn 5 Report post Posted May 15, 2003 Reliever-Eric Gagne. He's been unhittable this year. The Braves lit up Gagne the other night, while John Smoltz leads the majors in saves by a wide margin and has a sub 2.00 ERA. Not to mention the fact that the Braves have won the last 70 games that Smoltz has appeared in. IMO, that makes him not only the most dominant reliever in baseball, but also the most valuable pitcher in baseball (starters included). Best Hitter: Bonds - the man gets absolutely nothing to hit, but still puts up Ruth-like numbers. Best Starter: Mulder Best Defense: Andruw Jones - even though he gets lazy with some routine flies, he still gets to balls that other outfielders wouldn't come close to. Best Overall: A-Rod - hands down the best player in the game BY FAR. Best Manager: Bobby Cox - sure the Braves are playoff chokers, but with any other manager the Braves wouldn't won the division half as many times as they have. He does the most with the least talent. Most insiders were predicting the Braves to finish in the middle of the pack in the NL East, and here they are with the best record in all of baseball. Joe Torre is FAR overrated. He never won anything with the Cardinals, and only won with the Yankees because they always obviously had by far the most talent. It seems like all he does is fill out the lineup card and the lets the players play their game. Every shot of him in the dugout during games he looks like he's around ready to fall asleep from boredom. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest alkeiper Report post Posted May 16, 2003 The Braves lit up Gagne the other night, while John Smoltz leads the majors in saves by a wide margin and has a sub 2.00 ERA. Not to mention the fact that the Braves have won the last 70 games that Smoltz has appeared in. IMO, that makes him not only the most dominant reliever in baseball, but also the most valuable pitcher in baseball (starters included). Time out here. The Braves never lose under Smoltz because he's never brought in a losing situation, and rarely in a tie game. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest undisputedjericho Report post Posted May 16, 2003 Most hustle: Derek Jeter Mr. Intangible: Derek Jeter Best defense: Derek Jeter Best starter: Barry Zito Best reliever: John Smoltz Best position transition: Chipper Jones Best young talent: Albert Pujols; Alfonso Soriano Best eye: Bernie Williams Biggest surprize: Kansas City Royals/Tejada slump Worst offseason aquisition: Jose Contreras, Yankees Best offseason aquisition: Jim Thome, Phillies; Lou Piniella, Devil Rays Worst thing happening in the game: All Star/WS Homefield fiasco; Brand new stadiums drawing jack crowds because of pathetic teams (Detroit, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, and I've seen Cincy pretty baron) The next $200 million man: Vladimir Guerrero The next $150 million man: Miguel Tejada Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rob E Dangerously 0 Report post Posted May 16, 2003 I must say.. Tony Pena is the man, and it is only a matter of time before some fireworks go off big time. Pitcher - Randy Johnson may never age, but I figure there is an AL guy or two who is better than the Ageless Unit. Reliever - Not Koch. Probably Smoltz. Hitter - Now that people have either caught on to Ichiro, or he has just slumped, the best is probably somebody else. Best Clutch player- Ken Harvey. (Bias!) Next player to hit 700HRs- Barry Bonds Next player to hit 756HRs- Sammy Sosa Biggest challenger to 750HRs right now- ARod (But something tells me he might get injured bad soon) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Grand Slam Report post Posted May 16, 2003 Worst thing happening in the game: All Star/WS Homefield fiasco; Brand new stadiums drawing jack crowds because of pathetic teams (Detroit, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, and I've seen Cincy pretty baron) To be fair, at least in Cincy, the weather has been really nasty here since the beginning of the season. I think the Reds slow start hasn't helped, but a lot of the attendance (which despite reports is up over Cincergy) issues I think have been caused by the 30 degree weather for most of April. Last Saturday they got almost 35,000 in attendance for a game against the Brewers, which is a huge jump from last year. And I think there are 5 sell-outs this year already, which is 4 more than last year at Cinergy (Opening day always sells out in Cincy). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Shawn 5 Report post Posted May 16, 2003 The Braves lit up Gagne the other night, while John Smoltz leads the majors in saves by a wide margin and has a sub 2.00 ERA. Not to mention the fact that the Braves have won the last 70 games that Smoltz has appeared in. IMO, that makes him not only the most dominant reliever in baseball, but also the most valuable pitcher in baseball (starters included). Time out here. The Braves never lose under Smoltz because he's never brought in a losing situation, and rarely in a tie game. Smoltz's streak is still a Major League record. So what if he only comes in the game when the Braves are ahead or tied, the guy just does not blow games. Ever. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted May 16, 2003 Worst thing happening in the game: All Star/WS Homefield fiasco; Brand new stadiums drawing jack crowds because of pathetic teams (Detroit, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, and I've seen Cincy pretty baron) To be fair, at least in Cincy, the weather has been really nasty here since the beginning of the season. I think the Reds slow start hasn't helped, but a lot of the attendance (which despite reports is up over Cincergy) issues I think have been caused by the 30 degree weather for most of April. Last Saturday they got almost 35,000 in attendance for a game against the Brewers, which is a huge jump from last year. And I think there are 5 sell-outs this year already, which is 4 more than last year at Cinergy (Opening day always sells out in Cincy). Cincy has been HAMMERED by Rain Storms lately but if we can get 35,000 for the fucking brewers...pretty good... Best Pitcher: Mike Mussina. Best Hitter: A-Rod. Best Closer: Smoltz Best Glove: Andruw Jones Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
B. Brian Brunzell 0 Report post Posted May 19, 2003 I'm surprised no one has mentioned Mark Prior as best SP. The guy is only 22, yet has the maturity of a 10 year veteran. He's averaging 10 K's for every 9 innings pitched, is 5-1, and leads the NL is ERA. Kid K is having a pretty good year so far as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest alkeiper Report post Posted May 19, 2003 Another pitcher that deserves a mention: Javier Vazquez. Almost 12 Ks per 9 Innings, and an 8:1 K/BB ratio. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DrTom Report post Posted May 19, 2003 I'm still chuckling at Jeter for Best Defense. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest alkeiper Report post Posted May 19, 2003 I thought the same thing but I've learned the futility of arguing at this point. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Some Guy Report post Posted May 21, 2003 Best Manager: Bobby Cox - sure the Braves are playoff chokers, but with any other manager the Braves wouldn't won the division half as many times as they have. He does the most with the least talent. Most insiders were predicting the Braves to finish in the middle of the pack in the NL East, and here they are with the best record in all of baseball. Joe Torre is FAR overrated. He never won anything with the Cardinals, and only won with the Yankees because they always obviously had by far the most talent. It seems like all he does is fill out the lineup card and the lets the players play their game. Every shot of him in the dugout during games he looks like he's around ready to fall asleep from boredom. I disagree on both counts. I think Cox is overrated. The Braves would have won all those divisions without Cox. They had Maddux, Glavine, and Smotz. Viturally any team with three Cy Young award winners in their prime will win. Torre is a good manager and the Yankess didn't have all that much more talent than the Braves and they won in 96, 98, 99, and 00, beating the Braves in 98 and 96 (after losing the first two games). Torre knows the game and treats his players with respect (as does Cox) and that's all you can really ask for. It's up to the players to do their job. I think Buck Showalter is the best manager. He built the Yanks' dynasty and got axed the year before they clicked, he built the D-Backs and got axed teh year before they won the WS. He'll build the Rangers inot contenders as well. He'll have them drop a few of teh bats ad invest teh money into good young arms and tehy'll win with their defense and remaining bats. Best Player: A-Rod, no question about it. The guy is amazing. Best Hitter: Bonds and then Manny, there's no better RBI guy Best Defense: Hunter, Jones drops routine fly balls on occasion. Best pitcher: Pedro, when he's healthy he is unhittable. Best closer/reliever: Smoltz, his splitter is amazing. 93 and drops of the face of the earth. Most overrated everyday player: Jeter. He's clutch and a great baserunner, but his defense is questionable at times and so is his hitting. I know he's hitting .360 right now, but his power numbers, avg, OBP, etc.. have all dropped over the last few years and he's only 27 or 28. Most overrated pitcher: Mike Mussina, the guy is a choke artist. Look at some of his playoff and WS performances. He's very good, but not an elite pitcher. Colon is another overrated guy. One good year doesn't discount several mediocre ones, like he's having right now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vern Gagne Report post Posted May 21, 2003 Hey SG. Who's a better defensive SS. Nomah or Jeter? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Some Guy Report post Posted May 21, 2003 ::Ever so reluctantly:: Jeter. I might be a die hard Sox fan, but at least I don't lie. Nomar boots too many easy plays and makes too many questionable throws (throws he shouldn't have made that tend to end up 17 rows or so in the stands. He defends that by saying that he feels pitchers would rather he try than just swallow the ball). But his range is better than Jeter's and he's a better hitter. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Y2BigJ Report post Posted May 21, 2003 I also think Nomar's wrist injury has affected his defense alot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vern Gagne Report post Posted May 21, 2003 Prior has yet to put it together for a full season. Although he's the player I'd start my team with, and Vazquez hasn't been consistent enough. Throughout his career he hasn't always pitched has well as he's capable of. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest undisputedjericho Report post Posted May 22, 2003 "Most overrated pitcher: Mike Mussina, the guy is a choke artist. Look at some of his playoff and WS performances." Mussina got blown out in Game 1 in the '01 Series. But he had a clutch Game 5. Much like Pettitte in '96, he got slaughtered in game one and came back to mow them down in game five. Also, the most important game of the year 2001, Division Series Game 3, he outdueled Barry Zito for a 1-0 win. (This is also the game of Jeter's backhand flip to nail Jeremy Giambi, which I think is one of the best games I've ever seen) "Most overrated everyday player: Jeter. He's clutch and a great baserunner, but his defense is questionable at times and so is his hitting. I know he's hitting .360 right now, but his power numbers, avg, OBP, etc.. have all dropped over the last few years and he's only 27 or 28." His power numbers have dropped...I think he had a career high in HR's last season. Jeter is not a power hitter so I don't really see the argument there. I don't think he is over rated...people just think he is because he's up there among the best SS with Nomar, A-Rod, Tejada, but doesn't have the HR totals. He doesn't need to be a power hitter in that line-up. Sounds like bias, and, well, it is, but I do know what I am talking about, I'm not just another idiot Yankee fan. (PS: Someone said the Yanks beat the Braves in '96 and '98, they beat San Diego in '98 and the Braves in '99) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest alkeiper Report post Posted May 22, 2003 Over his career, Mussina has pitched extremely well in the postseason. 4-2, 2.93 ERA, and 76 Ks in 70 innings. Check his '97 numbers with Baltimore. Simply dominant. Jeter, IMO, is a terible fielder. He makes a few plays because he's got a great arm, but he's generally not a good fielder. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DrTom Report post Posted May 22, 2003 Jeter, IMO, is a terible fielder. He makes a few plays because he's got a great arm, but he's generally not a good fielder. Precisely. Jeter makes the leaping, spinning throw from deep in the hole better than anyone, but that's about all he does exceptionally well. I'd definitely put the other members of the AL's Fab Four shortstops ahead of him in defense, without question. As a roto stat geek, I can also tell you that Jeter's offensive numbers are definitely on the decline. He's still delivering, but the erosion is there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted May 22, 2003 So What? I'd still take Jeter's Clutch over any of those other guys. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vern Gagne Report post Posted May 22, 2003 I'd definitely put the other members of the AL's Fab Four shortstops ahead of him in defense, without question. As a roto stat geek, I can also tell you that Jeter's offensive numbers are definitely on the decline. He's still delivering, but the erosion is there. A-Rod yes. Nomah and Tejada I disagree. Nomah was last in Fielding % among SS's and this years he's made 9 errors and ranks 8th. Tejada already has 10 errors, and ranks 9th. Nomah and Jeter suffer from the same problem. Strong arm, but they make mistakes on the more routine play. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest alkeiper Report post Posted May 22, 2003 So What? I'd still take Jeter's Clutch over any of those other guys. Jeter hit .148 in the 2001 WS. A lot of good clutch hitting there. You can have your clutch hitting. I'll take a guy who figures out how to hit ALL game. And for the record, Nomar is slugging .936 career in the postseason. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted May 22, 2003 I also factor in his fielding as CLUTCH... Besides Ted Williams had a horrible Post season History...Would you still take NOMAH over him? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
