Month: December 2008

Sandberg movin’ on up

Looks like that the Cubs are playing musical chairs with their minor league staff.  Mostly precipitated by the promotion of Pat Listach from Cubs triple-A team in Iowa to a coaching position for the Washington Nationals big league club. 

Ryne Sandberg who has been at the helm for the Peoria Chiefs will move up a notch and manage the double-A team, the Tennessee Smokies.  This will be a bit of a change for Ryno as he will play under NL rules for half the season.  that will be a first for him. 

Meanwhile, former Smokies infield and bunting coach Bobby Dickerson will take over for Listach at Iowa. 

So who’s going to manage the Peoria Chiefs?  Marty Pevey, who comes to the Cubs from the Toronto Blue Jay organization.  He’s bounced up and down from minor league manager role to the Blue Jay coach (most recently in the first base coach role).  His big claim to fame so far is being awarded the Florida State League Manager of the Year when Dunedin went 84-54.  Currently, Pevey has a minor league manager record of 541-510. 

Carrie Muskat has the whole list of minor league staff moves at mlb.com.

HOF ’09: Andre Dawson

“No player in baseball history worked harder, suffered more or did it better than Andre Dawson. He’s the best I’ve ever seen.”

Hall of Fame secondbaseman Ryne Sandberg

 

Over the years, I’ve gone back and forth on the Andre Dawson question.  Lately though, I’m beginning to feel the Hawk belongs.  The votes have been close lately, receiving the most votes in 2008 to this point. 

Dawson Facts

  • Drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 11th round in 1975
  • Played for Mon, ChiC, Bos, Fla (1976-1996)
  • Seven time All-Star, Eight Golden Gloves
  • Hit for the cycle April 29, 1987
  • 438 HR, 1591 RBIs, 314 SB

 

After a brief cup of coffee for the Montreal Expos in 1976, Andre Dawson’s rookie season in 1977 pretty much summed up the kind of player he was.  A five tool athlete could hit (.282), hit for power (19 HR), run (19 SB) and field.  For his efforts, Dawson was awarded the Rookie of the Year award. 

Though his hitting dipped (.253), his sophomore year was no jinx (25 HR, 28 SB) and for that matter so were the next five or six years.  As a matter of fact, he hit over .300 three years straight.  In 1984, he did hit only .248 but managed to drive in 86 runs anyway.  Dawson’s big year with Montreal was in 1983.  That year, he hit the century mark in runs (104) and rbis (113) while cranking 32 homeruns and stealing 25 bases. 

andre_dawson_expos As part of the Expos famed outfield with Ellis Valentine  and Warren Cromartie, Dawson at least made baseball interesting to watch in Montreal. 

As a free agent, he signed with the Chicago Cubs for $700,000 in what everyone found out to be a collusion effort throughout baseball on the owners’ part.  The Cubs got their money’s worth at least from Dawson.  Despite the Cubs cellar-dwelling performance, Dawson hit 49 homeruns and 137 rbis.  He won the NL MVP award, the first player to win while playing for a last place team. 

By the 1990s, Dawson’s knees were getting the best of him and his speed had gone.  He was a smart baserunner and an instinctive in the field.  His bat still had some pop (27 HR in 1990, 31 HR in 1991) and he batted .310 in 1990. 

In 1993, he was signed by the Red Sox.  After two relatively productive years (13 and 16 HRs), he came back to the NL to play for Florida but he was pretty much finished by then squeezing out less than 300 at-bats in two years.

Pros:  If  you use the “dominate his era” argument for the Hall, you can make a good case for Dawson.  Not only is he a seven-time All-Star, he won 8 Golden Gloves.  Add to that his MVP (he came in second twice) and Rookie of the Year award, you have enough mantle metal to justify it. 

Dawson didn’t rely on one or two stats to contribute to his team.  He was a five tool player and maybe that will hurt him in the end in getting to the Hall.

Cons:  Dawson was a free swinger and thus his OBP was low throughout his career (.323).  His highest walk total for a season was 44.  His career totals don’t scream “Hall of Fame!”  He didn’t hit any of the automatic milestones (438 HR, 2774 hits… something by the way, I’m beginning to tire of).   Lastly, playing for Montreal and Chicago Cubs for the bulk of his career and therefore not getting a whole lot of postseason time (he got as far as the NLCS with Montreal in 1981, lost in the NLDS with the Cubs in 1989) won’t help. 

Maybe I’m being a Cubs homer here but I’m putting Dawson in. 

 

Hall of Fame
 

Hall of Very Good
  Why is he even on the Ballot?

 

While we wait for January 12 ballot results, The Baseball Zealot will be profiling those players who are on the 2009 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.  Read the rest the of the profiles.

Penn State Baseball goes Green

Penn State’s stadium has been making the news lately.  First, they made Rivals.com’s top ten list of best college baseball stadiums and now it’s number one for being green. 

Penn State University’s rag, the Daily Collegian reports that Medlar Field at Lubrano Park has become the first LEED-certified stadium in the world.  LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and the certification deems it an environmentally friendly facility. 

Some facets of the park that helped it get certified:

Features that earned Medlar Field points include automatic lights throughout the park that turn off after five minutes of no movement and waterless urinals in men’s restrooms, McCoy said. The stadium is also connected to a gray water system, which allows for reuse water that is less refined for field irrigation and other uses.

Medlar Field is also the home to the State College Spikes. 

Influential Sports Businessmen: how do you rank them?

Street and Smith’s Sports Business Journal in their special report lists The 50 most influential people in sports business.  Oh, cut the crap and just say businessmen ’cause I didn’t see any women on the list. 

George Bodenheimer, prez of ESPN and ABC Sports heads the list.  Bud Selig came in at sixth. 

Two points of contention…

I would have raised Bob Bowman,  president and CEO of MLB Advanced Media from his position of 29 on this list.  I’m not exactly a fan of Bowman with his digital rights managements issues but no one can argue what he has done for MLB in the past few years.  He’s brought video (and audio) content to the fans, developed a high quality web site for the game of baseball and now he’s going to set up a network for the game (that major cable systems will actually carry). 

Scott Boras is at 42.  Is there any business man in baseball who holds such influence in where many players play, how much they make and how long they play?  He sets the bar for the players he represents and in turn, the ones he doesn’t. Again, not necessarily a fan but I’m surprised to see him ranked so low. 

Skating at Wrigley

The Cubs with the help of the National Hockey League will host a “neighborhood skate” on January 4th, 2009.  This comes on the heels of the Blackhawks-Red Wings match on the temporay rink set up at the Friendly Confines which will be played New Year’s Day. 

Don’t bother looking for tix for the game… they’re already sold out.  It’s the first such hockey game at a baseball venue. 

As for the open skate, invites were sent to local residents and groups.  The $10 charge will go to Cubs charities.

Bleed Cubbie Blue has some photos of the construction going on for the events. 

HOF ’09: David Cone

“The Yankees’ David Cone, who could have played linebacker, is what I call a junkyard dog because he’ll knock you out of the box without blinking. He’s got a better-than-average fastball and a real hard slider. Those two pitches help set up one of the best change-ups in either league.”

Umpire Durwood Merrill in You’re Out and You’re Ugly Too

Despite not being a household name, David Brian Cone put together a pretty good career between the years of 1986-2003.  Though he missed the 200 win mark at 194 victories, his .606 winning percentage ranks among the best (95th all-time). 

  • Cone Facts
    Drafted in 3rd round by Kansas City Royals in 1981
    Played for KC (twice), NYM (twice), Tor, (twice), NYY, Bos
    Four time All-Star, won Cy Young 1994
    Pitched perfect game 1994
    12-3 postseason record

 

Cone won a Cy Young award in the shortened season of 1994 with a 16-5 record and a 2.94 ERA.  Typical of his style, his K/BB ratio was excellent that year at 132 to 54. 

One of Cone’s most outstanding seasons came in his first full year in the majors.  In 1988 for the Mets, he went 20-3 with an ERA of only 2.22.  He struck out 213 that year.  Cone’s other 20-win season came ten years later in 1998 while pitching for the cross town rivals, the Yankees.  Along with his 20-7 record, he struck out 209 while walking only 59 with an ERA of 3.55. 

coned A hard thrower, Cone led the league in Ks in 1990-91 and K/9 1990-92.   He has 2668 career strikeouts which is good for 22nd all-time. 

Mostly by virtue of playing for the Yankees, Cone had the privilege of playing on World Champion teams.  Five to be exact.  What was his World Series record?  5-0 with a 2.12 ERA.  Nice.  His ALCS record?  5-1. 

He probably won’t make it to the Hall but in my eyes it’ll be closer that people think.  Let’s face it, the idea at least in my opinion, is to induct players who dominated in their eras.  At least for a short while, Cone did that.  And the postseason performance doesn’t hurt either.  Let’s put him in the Hall of Very Good.  

 

  Hall of Fame

Hall of Very Good
  Why is he even on the Ballot?

 

While we wait for January 12 ballot results, The Baseball Zealot will be profiling those players who are on the 2009 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.  Read the rest the of the profiles.

HOF ’09: Matt Williams

matt_williams_autograph

When Matt Williams was coming up through the San Francisco Giants system there were comparisons to Mike Schmidt & Cal Ripken. Matty started out as a shortstop, a big man like Cal, but Williams would move over to the hot corner almost immediately upon his arrival in the majors. Like Schmidt, it took Matt a little while to find his way above the Mendoza-line (.200 batting average), hitting .188, .205, & .202 in limited play in his first three seasons.

In 1990 at the age of 24, Williams claimed the Giants thirdbase job. Making the All Star team, Matt did it with the bat, hitting .277, with 33 homers, and 122 RBIs (a career high of 138 strikeouts), and with the glove, shifting over from SS, 3B presented him with no problems in the field. He also earned his first Silver Slugger Award. He would be named an All Star four more years (1994-96, 99), be a four time Gold Glove winner (1991-94, 97) and earn the Silver Slugger three more times (1993-94, 97).

1994 was his best year with the Giants, but it was also the year of the strike, in only 115 games, Williams hit 43 (career best) home runs (on a pace to break Roger Maris’ single season mark, calculated over a full year), driving in 96. Then the next year he broke a bone in his right foot, causing him to play in only 76 games, he batted .336 with 23 long balls & 65 RBIs.

Matt Williams had arguably his best overall season with the Diamondbacks in 1999, a .303 batting average, 35 HRs, and 142 RBIs, leading Arizona to a first place finish. Over his 17 year career, Matt hit 378 home runs, drove in 1,218, while hitting .268.

I loved this guy like a brother. A foul ball off his bat at Wrigley Field went straight up the elevator shaft and came down to the left of homeplate, two feet away from my left foot. He played most of his APBA days for my Chicago Champions of the Illowa APBA League, where he hit 62 homers, with 168 RBIs, using his strike card, incredibly his IAL stats are very similar to his real life totals (387 HRs, 1,137 RBIs, .258). BTW, he’s not in the IAL HOF.

Interestingly Vinny Castilla’s career is most similar to Matt Williams according to the Baseball Reference, others mentioned include Ron Cey & Robin Ventura. Would I be way off base if I were to mention comparing Ron Santo’s numbers to Matt Williams? That said, What is this guy doing on the ballot?

  Hall of Fame
 

Hall of Very Good

Why is he even on the Ballot?

 

While we wait for January 12 ballot results, The Baseball Zealot will be profiling those players who are on the 2009 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.  Read the rest the of the profiles.  

Bronx Bombers Land #3 Starter: A.J. Burnett

aj-burnett A.J. Burnett, the 31 year old, 6’5″ righthander out of North Little Rock, Arkansas, picked the perfect time to have his career year, right before becoming a free agent. The Yankees bit, signing Burnett to a five year, $82.5 million dollar deal. A.J., the man with the nasty fastball & the filthy stuff, has had trouble staying healthy, but looked solid in 2008, posting career highs in starts, innings pitched, and wins (34 221′ 18). Before last year the most wins he ever had in a season was 12. Over his ten year big league career, despite his overpowering stuff, his record is only eleven games above .500

If he stays healthy, and that’s a big if (10 trips to the disabled list in 10 years), Burnett should experience success slotted into the #3 position, behind C.C. Sabathia & Chien-Ming Wang. A.J.’s fastball will look like it’s going 200 MPH after hitters bat off Wang’s sinker the day before. This signing still is pending following a physical.

RULE V: DRAFT DAY MAKES ME HAPPY

One of my favorite days of the baseball year is the Rule V Draft Day. Call me weird, alot of people do, but there are gems out there, and I can’t help but wonder what diamonds in the rough will become household names of tomorrow. Some of yesterday’s Rule V selections have gone on the become superstars of today, guys like Joakim Soria, Johan Santana, Dan Uggla, and bad boy Josh Hamilton. Interestingly enough Hamilton was selected by the Chicago Cubs out of the Tampa Bay Rays organization, now the Cubs are looking for a lefthanded hitting outfielder, funny how that works, wonder if they’d like to have Josh back, rather than picking him, and trading him off? Wonder if he might’ve gotten the Rays over the hump, if he’d been protected, but the Rays were in the process of getting rid of bad boys, like Delmon Young & Elijah Dukes.

This year’s first round selection was a righthander out of the Cincinnati Reds organization named Terrell Young, selected by the Washington Nats. On June 12th he allowed five runs without retiring a batter, after the All Star game, he posted a 1.86 ERA, with 20 strikeouts in 29 innings. Advice to DC don’t pitch him on 6/12, seriously though, he has a live arm, but needs to stick with big league club if Nationals are to keep him.

With the 16th pick in this year’s draft the Milwaukee Brewers selected the big Cuban Eddie Morlan out of the Tampa Bay Rays organization. I’ve seen this guy pitch, he can really bring it. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t stick with the Brewers, and help them win some games out of their pen.

The San Diego Padres might’ve stolen one away from the NY Yankees, Ivan Nova is a 21 year old 6’4″ 210 pound righthander that may still be growing into his body, right now he’s not a big strikeout pitcher, but that may come, he has good control for a youngster, San Diego might be able to hide him away on their rebuilding big league roster.

It’s always a crap shoot in the Rule V, what better place to do it, than Las Vegas, BABY!!!