Open Thread: The best players in baseball
ByWhen it comes to the current best player in baseball, I don’t think anyone will argue with Albert Pujols. After all, we’ve even created a designation to separate him from the rest of the league: Non-Pujols Division. So when someone claims that so and so is the best player in baseball, it usually comes with the NPD qualifier.
Still, the discussion of the best player in the game at any given time fuels many a bar discussion. It becomes even more relevant around this time of year, when we argue about who deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. If a player was the best in baseball for a few years running, he should probably be in the HOF, right?
True to his (long) form, Joe Posnanski examines the best players in baseball from 1970 through the present. He covers every single year, but the analysis goes beyond that. For each year, Joe looks at each player’s Win Shares over a five-year period. So for 1970, Joe looked at Win Shares for all players from 1970 through 1974. Then for 1971 he looked for the highest Win Share total from ’71 through ’75. It leads to some pretty interesting results.
The standout players on the list: Joe Morgan, Mike Schmidt, Barry Bonds, and Albert Pujols. Hall of Famers, all of them, without question. Wade Boggs held the title for three straight five-year periods (essentially 1984 through 1990), and Will Clark had it from 1987 through 1992. Making a single appearance on the list: Ken Singleton, from ’75 through ’79, bridging the gap between Morgan and Schmidt; Tim Raines, ’83 through ’87, bridging the gap between Schmidt and Boggs; Craig Biggio, ’95 through ’99; and Jeff Bagwell, ’96 through ’00. The last two messed up Barry Bonds’s continued dominance. Win Shares had Bonds as the best player in baseball from 1989 through the ’94-’98 period, and then again from the ’91-’01 period through ’00-’04. Pujols takes over from there.
Noticeably absent from the list: Alex Rodriguez. He was “close” or “in the discussion” for every period starting from ’96-’00. JoePos does address this, noting the fallibility of Win Shares:
For instance, Alex Rodriguez never quite made it as the best player — thank you Barry Bonds and Albert Pujols — but he was close seven times. I think you could make a pretty strong argument that A-Rod was, at times, the best player in baseball.
The whole thing is a fascinating read, so head on over there and at least skim it. I don’t blame you if you don’t read through it all — it’s a typical Posnanski behemoth.
When you’re done, return for tonight’s Open Thread.
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I say this all the time, and this confirmed it, Ken Singleton is massively underrated.
As a broadcaster too!
Yeah, but he really needs to stop dying his hair. He’s starting to look weird.
Looks like a bad wig to me.
Chase Utley > Albert Pujols. Yup, I said it.
Utley plays a more valuable position, and he’s been really good, but over Pujols? Really?!
You trollin’, Boxxy?
Dave Cameron agrees:
http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb.....id=4742365
I’ll take Utley + league average 1B over Pujols + league average 2B.
Especially when you factor in their salaries. But even in a vacuum, I’d be tempted to go with CU.
Yes, but being the best player is completely irrelevant to who is the more valued asset when building a roster. Even as an elite-defending-and-hitting second basemen, Utley, on average, has been worth about a half-win fewer than Pujos since the 2005 campaign.
37.9 WAR for Utley from 2005-2009. Pujols in that time period put up 40.4, so it’s close.
Also, UZR doesn’t appear to be very good at projecting 1B, so his actual value may be even higher.
Utley’s definitely in my positional top 5, but not above Pujols.
1) Mauer
2) Pujols
3) Utley
4) A-Rod
5) Hanley (?)
I’m having trouble thinking of great CFs and where they’d fall on that list. Sizemore? Granderson? Beltran? Those guys aren’t even top 10.
Maybe it’s just me, but I remember growing up and having some great CFs. Griffey, Edmunds, Andruw Jones
Cat stepped on the button. But anyway, to continue, it just seems like there aren’t as many top-notch CFs anymore. Maybe it’s just me, but I find it odd.
One season and Mauer is now better than Pujols?
Pujols’ career is better than Mauer’s career year.
His hair is definitely greasier. And he’s definitely a better LHB than Albert. Probably plays a better second base too.
That’s about it.
The beauty of WAR is that it factors in defense and the value one attributes based on the position he pays; and even with such things factored in, Albert Pujols – as a first basemen – has been worth over 26 runs above Chase Utley since 2005, or when Utley became Chase Utley.
To start a team, Utley should and would go ahead of Pujols; however, in terms of who is the better player, Pujols is the unequivocal choice.
I’m going to disagree. If we throw out Utley’s two partial seasons (’04 and ’05), he’s a .301/.388/.535 hitter. Pujols, since his debut, is .334/.427/.628. OPS isn’t everything, but that’s ~.40 points of OBP and ~.95 points of SLG that Pujols has over Utley. Now, OPS isn’t everything, but .40 points of OBP is the difference between a league average hitter and Utley.
Now, Utley is a strong defender at a premium position, and is a better basestealer (77/10 SB/CS from ’06-’09, while Pujols is 32/15 over that period), but I’m not sure that’s enough.
Pujols is better then Utley.
There is not one GM that would say otherwise, not one.
And thats why stats like that shouldnt be used as the be all and end all. Thanks.
Nick Swisher.
How many innings did Bonds pitch? Exactly.
How many dishes does Will.I.Am Clark named after him in New York? Exactly.
How many international treaties did Pujols negotiate? Exactly.
NICK SWISHER.
Barry Bonds’ 2001-2004 period was the best individual four-year stretch of any hitter in Major League Baseball’s history. In those four seasons, Bonds produced 47.4 WAR,414 BRAR, and a .532 wOBA; in comparison Teddy Ballgame amassed 44.4 WAR, 369 BRAR, and a .530 wOBA. Babe Ruth – never having a dominant four-year stretch on the levels of Bonds and Williams – had three three-year periods – 1919-1921; 1926-1928; 1930-1932 – that were in the discussion as the best three-year stretch of any hitter in MLB – something I find more impressive than what Bonds or Williams did.
P.S. Ted Williams was at war in the 1943-1945 seasons, thus, his “four-year stretch” was actually comprised of his 1941, 1942, 1946 and 1947 campaigns.
It is amazing that Ted Williams went to fight in World War II, came back and then decided to continue playing baseball.
Why wouldn’t you decide to continue playing baseball? Especially if you’re a guy who loved the game as much as Teddy did.
What’s amazing is that Williams came back after a 3-year hiatus and played JUST AS WELL as he did when he left.
I’d classify the return from Korea as more impressive, since he was much older.
I mentioned it earlier. My top 5 hitters of all time:
Ruth
Bonds
Gehrig
Williams
Hornsby
If Pujols has 5 more years likes he’s already had, then he’s in the mix.
No Ty Cobb?
Plus, Gehrig as good as he was, he wasn’t better than Williams. Bonds Vs. Williams is interesting though.
By the way where’s Stan The Man?
Cobb and Musial are obviously tough to leave out, but its my top 5, not top 7.
I like Gehrig over Williams because of one big reason (not necessarily fair reason, mind you)
He played every day for 13 1/2 seasons. Williams played in fewer than 140 games 11 times. I can assure you that the guy who replaced Ted in the lineup wasn’t nearly as useful to the Sox as Gehrig was to the Yanks.
Gerald Williams stunk!
I’m sorry, but I’ve always been a fan of Kenny Williams. That Linebrink deal was inspired!
Even if Bonds has needles in his ass while hitting, he should be in the Hall.
Possibly the greatest player of all time, steroids or not.
Really? Look up Ruth from 1919-1924. Insanity. He set the HR record, then broke it three times. He was outhomering TEAMS. And in 1919 he broke the HR record while making 15 starts for the Red Sox (and incidentally going 9-5 with a 2.97 ERA). The due was so good, it’s scary.
That does amaze me to this day. That he hit more home runs than a total team.
Not a total team, EVERY team in the entire league except for his own (duh) and the Phillies, who played in a ridiculously small ballpark.
Theo moving Ellsbury to left, Cam to center: http://sports.espn.go.com/bost.....id=4798852
Smart move by gorilla suit. I know the decisions arent exactly comparable, but I hope the Yanks follow suit and play Grandy in left and Gardy in center (assuming Cash doesnt bring Damon back or something).
I’m not so sure Gardner is as great a CF as everyone is giving him credit for. He had a nice UZR last year, but that’s a stat that requires multiple years to help validate it. Granderson has had a lot of success in CF, in terms of UZR. It dropped off last year, but fluctuations seem to be pretty common to that stat.
Yeah, you could be right, but since his UZR was so good last year, I think it’s worth it for the Yanks to gather more data (IE, let him play center next year).
Totally agree that we don’t know for sure that Gardner would be better than Granderson. We just haven’t seen Gardner play center long enough to know how good he really is out there.
But if I had to guess who would be the better defensive centerfielder with the little info we do actually possess, I think I’d go with Gardner. Younger, faster, has shown promise in the admittedly small sample of games he has played out there.
But we all know that this isn’t how decisions are made. If it were, A-Rod would have played short in 2004. My guess is Grandy plays center barring injury or a dramatic decline.
Yup. And also, Gardner still gives good value in LF due to the vast amount of territory. Stick with the status quo.
FWIW, I crunched the numbers on the 26th and a Granderson/Gardner alignment projects to be produce more WAR than Gardner/Granderson.
+1
Gardner is fast as hell, but I’m not sure he’s a +15-20 defender, and I’m not sure if he’ll continue to hit. (Not that his ’09 was an offensive onslaught, but it was acceptable)
I think it’s interesting how people are so quick to say Pujols is better than A-Rod. Look at the stats. A-Rod hit’s home runs at a faster rate and has been doing it for a longer time. No matter what you look at, A-Rod only has a worse BA than Pujols. A-Rod has had 3 50 HR seasons, Pujols has had none.
No doubt Pujols is a great player. But considering what I just mentioned, coupled with the fact that A-Rod has been more dominant for a longer period of time, and the fact that A-Rod has won a championship and Pujols has not, shows that A-Rod is the better player.
In the end, it’s really not worth it to debate this. They are separate, great players in different leagues. Just forget it. What it all comes down to is that A-Rod is a defending champion, and Pujols is not.
Pujols has a ring.
Whoa-ohh-ohh-ohh-whoa-whoa-whoa! All the single ladies!
Cards won it all in ’06.
Early bird gets the worm!
Ha, both timestamped 7:22. Mere seconds!
My hat’s off to you.
to be fair. arod has admitted to taking the ‘s’ word … pujols has not.
Salsa? The extra spicy hot kind?
“and the fact that A-Rod has won a championship and Pujols has not, shows that A-Rod is the better player.
”
Which is when I stopped reading… for a couple of reasons.
and the fact that A-Rod has won a championship and Pujols has not, shows that A-Rod is the better player
First off, Pujols has won a championship. 2006? Secondly, winning championships does not make a player great. Going by that criteria, Paul O’Neill + Luis Sojo > Ted Williams + Ernie Banks.
Also, Pujols beats A-Rod across the triple slash line, besting him in BA/OBP/SLG, and OPS/OPS+, all by pretty comfortable margins.
and the fact that A-Rod has won a championship and Pujols has not,
1. Pujols has a ring
2. Doesn’t really matter this shouldn’t be part of any equation.
What it all comes down to is that A-Rod is a defending champion, and Pujols is not.
Sure, if the discussion was whats the best player who is a 2009 World Champion, but its not.
With the obvious exception of the championship gaffe, I agree w/everything in the above post by JC. Is it not clear that A-Rod, the outstanding five-tooler, who has been facing the superior AL pitching all his career is a much better player than Pujols?
Alex Rodriguez was the best player in baseball in 2007. Too bad we had some shitty pitching that year both in relief and starting.
He timed it well. Ortiz’s best two years were 2005 and 2007. Ortiz was really, really good in 2007. So was Posada, for that matter. As was Ordonez. Lots of good shit that year.
I can’t wait when Bonds becomes eligible for the HOF, and some of the voters don’t vote for him because of suppose steroid use. Steriods or Steriods, the dude is HOFer, heck an imortal player for crying out loud.
2002 wRC+: 249 (!!!!!!!!!!!), i believe the best ever
13.3 WAR
Ivan, you remember the time you told me Eagles were “takin’ this” on Sunday and Dallas put an ass whoopin’ on your team.
Good times
Jeff Bagwell is one of my favorite players of all time, Houston had some amazing players back then. Definitely my favorite batting stance ever too.
Anyone else think Bags is a little underrated?
Maybe, I also think he was a juicer. not that there’s anything wrong with that. I think he gets lost in the shuffle of being a power hitting 1B in the steroid era.
I think Bagwell and especially Frank Thomas are underrated. The Big Hurt was an absolute wrecking ball in the batter’s box. He had a seven year stretch in which he hit .330-.452-.604 with a 528-835 K/BB ratio. 528-835!
Ridiculous.
I love when people question Frank Thomas as an HOFer. It makes me laugh. Heartily.
Here’s another good seven year stretch: .341-.442-.621, 557-712 K/BB
Any guesses who it is?
Todd Helton?
Ding ding ding.
Heh. It is Helton.
I mainly guessed that because you seem to come up with these crazy Helton stats every now and then.
Meh, he did it in a wiffle ball park, at the height of the sillyball era. I discount that heavily.
Jesus Montero!
Larry Walker?
Melvin?
He was Pujols before Pujols was Pujols!
Even better, actually.
He was the 1st player in my lifetime that I remember being compared to Ted Williams, and all of the numbers backed it up, it wasn’t just hyperbole. Of all the things the 1994 strike screwed up, Matt Williams and Griffey, Gwynn, what Frank Thomas was doing amazingly gets lost in the shuffle.
.353/.487/.729 with 38 HR’s in 113 games.
Damn.
Heh….so of course I go and look up Bagwell’s stats from the same season.
.368/.451/.750 with 39 HR’s in 110 games.
We rarely see those types of OBP’s in the game today.
Barry Bonds OBP for the entire last decade:
.517
Arod if he stayed at SS would have been a top 5 player of all time easily.
From 2001-2003, A-Rod was the best defensive shortstop in baseball, and simultaneously the best hitting shortstop ever, and one of the best hitters ever, period. The problem was that during that time, a monster by the name of Barry Bonds was busy putting up the most dominant offensive period in the history of baseball, and then when that guy was done, and A-Rod went from being a spectacular shortstop in his prime to an excellent third baseman leaving his prime, making him nothing more than a consistently elite hitter. This should have been fine, but by this point Pujols had cemented his position as exactly that, only even more consistent, and, arguably, slightly better.
Nevertheless, if you were to pick one player from one point in his career to start building your baseball team around (contract and steroids aside), you would pick Alex Rodriguez in his prime.
Wouldn’t Vizquel be a better defensive shortstop? Or Rey Ordonez?
I don’t think so, actually. I read somewhere that a 2001-2003 study (I think it was probably the first UZR publication or something like that – it was the same study that said Jeter was the worst defensive shortstop in baseball) said that A-Rod was #1 in that period defensively. Could be wrong, though, but he was an elite fielder at that time, which, considering his bat and position, made him about as valuable as any player ever.
He was a very good defender, but I’m not sure I’ll bite on “best.” Do you have any sources or citations I can check out?
I don’t know about the most dominant offensive period in the history of baseball. Ruth in I believe 21 outhomered every TEAM in baseball except for the Phillies, who played in a ridciulously small ballpark. That type of dominance will NEVER be matched. Bonds definitely comes closet, though.
*closest
that .609 OBP in 2004 is still mind-boggling. He still hit 45 home runs despite getting approximately 2 pitches to hit per week
Understood, but Bonds, while very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, (et cetera et cetera et cetera) far ahead of the rest of the league, was not as far ahead as Ruth. And Ruth only played 154 games (I think). Imagine if he played 162.
I agree–if not for a pretty darn good hitter hitting behind him, Ruth probably would never have seen anything to hit either and would have been…something like Bonds from 2001-2004. (side note on Lou Gehrig’s awesomeness–he had a then Major League record 175 RBIs in 1927, when the guy hitting in front of him emptied the bases for him 60 times. wow)
Since 1901, there have been 13 instances of a guy putting up a .500+ OBP in a season. Bonds and Ruth account for nine of them
“that .609 OBP in 2004 is still mind-boggling. He still hit 45 home runs despite getting approximately 2 pitches to hit per week”
Really, that’s what it came out too? Unbelievable.
I did no calculation whatsoever in coming up with 2 pitches per week, but it probably wasn’t far off
Suppose Holliday stayed with the Rockies through his age 34 season and produced like he did with the Rox before. What deal do you guys see him getting at that age?
I’m wondering if gets more than 3/40 because he just accepted 7/120 and the Rockies had offered 4/80. Did he probably lose some money by not accepting the Rockies offer? I think he did but I understand the importance of security over the potential for more money and better career stats.
Matt, a couple of Klaw tweets just for you incase you needed more ammo for Bert.
Jack Morris was given Wins in 25 games when he gave up 5+ ER. Bert Blyleven? Four.
Bert Blyleven was given Losses in 18 games where he allowed 1 or 0 ER. Jack Morris? Seven.
Which one does Jon Heyman think belongs in the HOF?
I love K-Law.
There was a great article on FG the other day about E-Mart’s “Jack Morris Moment,” as well.
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs.....ris-moment
that was bigger than Jack Morris–as much as it was a gut-punch to 9 year old me, that series saved baseball in Seattle
I liked the Jon Heyman tweet, something along the lines of –
‘those who truly watched JAck Morris knew they were watching a hall of famer’
Jack Morris career era=3.90
Jack Morris career playoffs era=3.80
You cannot deny that he completely stepped up his game in the postseason.
He always played his cards well…
Blyleven was pretty clearly a better pitcher than Morris, but I don’t think I need either in the Hall.
Why no Hall for either?
No doubt Bertus Erectus should be in the Hall.
The only way he doesn’t belong is if they blow it up, start over, and only put in the top 10 pitchers of all time.
Well, Morris was a workhorse, but he doesn’t really have a Hall of Fame peak. Unless you weight 1991 Game 7 more heavily than everything else, he pretty clearly doesn’t belong.
Blyleven was a great pitcher for many, many years, and his longevity is impressive. However, I can’t get past the poor won-loss percentage, especially since it seems he won less games than he should have, given his run support. He had a reputation as being the king of the 8IP CG, and it seems the numbers back that up.
given his run support
His run support was awful. Absolutely awful. See Steve H’s post above. His career run support was 3.77 runs per game.
Per Rich Lederer*:
“Rich Lederer, a baseball analyst and historian, studied Blyleven’s career and estimates that if he had received even league-average run support, his record would be closer to 313-224 than his 287-250.”
* http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=3169651
http://www.baseballthinkfactor.....l_of_fame/
There’s an interesting discussion of Blyleven here. Post #17 has a rebuttal of this point.
(Here is where I leave off, since we’ll just end up trading links)
That is actually a legit argument, and I respect that. My problem with (most of) the anti-Blyleven crowd is that its argument is usually no-where near that sophisticated.
However, I can’t get past the poor won-loss percentage, especially since it seems he won less games than he should have, given his run support.
Don’t these two sentences contradict themselves. You admit he should have won more games, but shouldn’t get in because of his winning %. He certainly pitched well enough to win more games. Pettitte has a ridiculously high winning %, but wasn’t nearly the pitcher Bert is. Put Bert on the 1995-2009 Yankees and his winning % would be thru the roof.
Not necessarily — he didn’t win as many games as you would expect given his run support, even though his run support was poor.
However, I can’t get past the poor won-loss percentage
/Heyman’d
I get the pro-Morris argument. I kinda sorta get the anti-Blyleven argument. I don’t get people voting for Morris and not Blyleven. That’s just retarded
Joe Posnanski hit the Blyleven nail on the head:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c.....index.html
Great stuff.
Al is the best player in the world.
With A-Rod on the most expensive year of his contract, what do you expect out of him. He got a surprisingly nice pass last year with the hip stuff at the same time as the steroid stuff, heck he almost looked like an underdog.
but with this being his highest paying season (along with ’09), what at what point will he have earned it. With all this talk about saving money, what line does a player have to get to justify $32 this year, $31 the next and so on.
if a-rod hits as he did last year but played out over a full season and without the early-season slump (so his HRs would probably go from 35 to over 40, and his RBIs up from 100 to 130 or so), then he’ll have earned it. I’m gonna say somewhere around .400+/.550+/.950+, with a UZR no worse than -5. The thing with A-Rod is that towards the end of his contract he’ll be making $16-17, but could very well still be wRC+ing 150, which by that time will be below his market value, in all likelihood.
For anyone that believes Donnie Baseball should be in the Hall of Fame, what separates him from Will Clark? (unless you think he’s in too). Personally I think Clark>>>>Donnie, but they both fall short. I guess I should ask Jon Heyman too, but unless Clark was a Boras client he’s probably never heard of him.
If DB didn’t break his back, he might have gotten in. Who’s to say, though? That said, you look at their total careers and Clark definitely trumps Donnie.
Ultimately, Clark didn’t hit for enough power or play an important enough position to warrant his inclusion, in my opinion. A 1B getting into the Hall should put up really, really, really good offensive numbers. Clark’s just weren’t that good.
I’m also a small Hall-type, FWIW.
Yeah, I agree he was likely on his way, but we can’t just assume how his career would have unfolded had he not gotten hurt. Of course somehow they did that for Puckett, while also ignoring the ridiculous signs of steroid use as well.
Anyone else miss Phil Hughes’ slow curve? I was watching some highlights, and the slow curve is much more aesthetically pleasing than the hard one.
(I realize the hard curve is probably a more effective pitch, but it’s less fun!)
This randomly popped into my mind as we discussed value/Pujols/Utley, etc.
I remember growing up how many awesome CF there were like Griffey, Andruw Jones, Torii, Edmunds, Lofton, Bernie Williams.
Now I look around and I struggle to think of one guy who puts up great numbers at CF and played great defense. Beltran, Granderson, Cameron and Sizemore are the only names I’ve come up with, but at first glance, I don’t see any of them (spare Beltran) on par with the above names.
Where would you guys rank the current center fielders playing today?
Who are the 5 best center fielders of all-time?
DylanDylan
Dylan
Dylan
and Dylan
Ellsbury
Ellsbury
Ellsbury
Ellsbury
and Ellsbury
Seriously though, there aren’t many topflight centerfielders out there.
Sizemore
Kemp
ummm…
I guess if you include Sizemore you should include Ichiro even though Gutierrez gave him the bump.
I guess if C-Grand can hit lefties again he’d be up there.
Whoops, forgot Beltran.
At least the future is bright with Andrew McCutcheon, Grady Sizemore, Franlin Guttierez, and Adam Jones.
The tailspin that is Andruw Jones and Vernon Wells really kills this position’s depth.
Yeah, it definitely has potential. But of those names, only Jones and Sizemore project to hit really well.
I’d also add Colby Rasmus, Cameron Maybin, Dexter Fowler to the possible list, though Fowler is more similar to McCutcheon in my understanding.
Guttierez’s defense is the only one I’d put up there with guys like Andruw Jones in his prime or Hunter or Griffey. The others, while good, aren’t at that level.
Yeah, and somehow I forgot Matt Kemp. I’ve been on his bandwagon since he hit the bigs. Dude is a superstar in the making… not sure if and when he will outgrow the position though.
well he is hooking up with Rihanna, so that should help his superstar status.
Double star status if he punches, chokes her.
/went there
I shouldn’t have but I laughed.
/nods head in shame alongside Pop
1.Ellsbury
2.Cameron
3.Casey Kelley
4.Bill Hall
Your point is dead on though, CF is definitely lacking from the previous era. Without much research I’d throw up a top 5 of:
Beltran
Kemp
Sizemore
Upton (expecting a bounce back)
Granderson
Probably stretching on Grandy for obvious reasons, though no one below him is cleary a superior player, or not that I can think of anyway.
I’d go with
Kemp
Beltran
Sizemore
Upton
Granderson
Adam Jones
Guitierez
McCutcheon
Rasmus
Fowler
Hamilton
Hunter
Carlos Gonzales
Ellsbury
Maybin
Not many sure things on that list. The established guys either have injury problems, wacky splits or stink at defense (looking at you, Tacoboy). The young guys are mostly potential right now and most of them don’t project to have much power. Jones, Rasmus, Maybin might, but the others aren’t goiing to be hitting 25+ home runs. Not many at all. Even with this list, it’s nowhere close to the previous generation of CF.
Yeah, other than I’d say the top 3, the rest is just a crapshoot.
Exactly. I just threw out guys in the order I remembered them. It would be a totally worthless academic exercise to rank them from 1-20.
I’d say that the quality of C, 1B and 2B is higher than it was in the previous era but I’m too lazy to start going through advanced metrics. The only really noticeable difference, to me, again, is the decline in CF.
Freaking Rays and their freaking Desmond Jennings.
2009
6’2″ 180 22 years old
AA/AAA
318/.401/.487/.888
11 HR
31 2b
67 BB
67 K
52 SB
That kind if plate discipline with that speed is pretty much Ricky-esque.
Definitely him too. Let’s see what he does in the big leagues first, though. I could have also added Drew Stubbs, but omitted him for the same reason.
Redskins signed Shanahan for 5 yeats at about 7 mil. Shocked…NOT!
Link me up Salt man.
I haven’t heard anything official yet.
Not Shanahan, but a good read for a Skins fan like yourself:
http://voices.washingtonpost.c.....ortis.html
What can you say about that..
I’m really not a Campbell fan, his inconsistency has driven me crazy since he got the job.
Bottom line, when Portis is healthy he will produce over 1500 yards. When Campbell is healthy he may show up or may throw the ball 10 yards out of bounds on a fly route.
Campbell can sit there and say “There’s a reason guys get selected as captains, and there’s a reason guys don’t get selected as captains.” Yeah, there’s also a reason Jim Zorn was hired as head coach.. Just because a decision was made doesn’t make that decision correct.
All in all, who the captain is on a 4 win team really means nothing to me.
As a Giants fan, I love Campbell!
He’d also a be a perfect pitchman for those obnoxious soup commercials.
http://media.ebaumsworld.com/m.....508295.jpg
Heh. LaDanian is jealous.
Campbell has literally had about seven different offensive coordinators since he was a frosh at Auburn. You can’t expect someone to have much of success with that type of instability.
I understand that. That doesn’t change a curl, an out route, a fly route, a post… The dude can make a great throw one play then throw a screen pass over the backs head. It may be his mechanics, it may be his comfort level with the system or his comfort in the pocket, it may be a combination of a lot of things. If you’re telling me he’s only inconsistent because of the volatility of our coaching staff then I’d beg to differ.
Link?
Is he bringing John Elway too? I think Shanny is a good coach, and a great hire for the Skins, but I also think he’s a little overrated.
That was a good read. I think Portis has set a fire in Campbell. I hope Shanny boots Portis off the team.
Shanahan loves Portis.
My top five players:
Ruth
Williams
Mays
Dimmaggio
Gehrig
In terms of actual greatness, or in terms of your favorite great players?
If actual greatness, not sure Joe D. belongs there. He just didn’t do it long enough. He is the 2nd greatest Yankee CF though.
Kind of a mishmosh of both. I fully understand that I’m biased. This list is leaning heavily on Yankees (though I do have a Red Spck on there).
If not Dimmaggio, perhaps Cobb. Maybe. Hmmm…
Red Sock on there
I had a nice long subjective analysis of your top 5 that must’ve got caught up in the filter or something.
In short:
Ruth – extra credit for pitching and being a household name
Williams – extra credit for military service
Mays – extra credit for defense and being first african-american superstar
Joe D – extra credit for nailing Marilyn, but didn’t play long enough
Gehrig – extra credit for playing everyday, meaning no Wilson Betemit or Cody Ransom’s in the lineup.
Ruth had a stretch from 1919 to 1924 that was batshit insanity. The only player who comes to close to his dominance over the league is Bonds, and honestly, in terms of dominance, even he wasn’t that close.
Don’t get mer wrong. In pure overall numbers he might have been better, but compared to the rest of the league Ruth did things with a bat unheard of.
Robinson was definitely the first AA superstar.
Yeah, not so sure about that.
I think (and it was way before my time) that Willie was probably “accepted” and beloved by more white people than Jackie was, thus making him a bigger celebrity.
Part of it was because Willie was a better player, and also because he came along a few years later.
Willie was a better player, but I guess this comes down to the definition of “celebrity.” Robinson was certainly as well known, though probably not as well liked for obvious reasons.
Does that make him less of a star?
Personally I think Babe Roth, Lou Gerig, Mike Mantle, and Regis Mariss were better.
LOL, the only misspelling I caught the first 3 times reading that (besides the original DiMaggio gaffe) was “Regis Mariss.”
My top 5 position players would be:
1. Ruth
2. Bonds
3. Wagner (as in Honus, assuming the stories are true about him being on par with Ozzie Smith defensively)
4. Mays
5. Cobb
(honorable extremely honorable mention to Ted Williams)
I thought of Wagner and I think I’ll replace Dimmaggio with him. Right now, since A-Rod switched to 3rd base and Hanley needs to do it longer, he is still the best SS of all time.
One of the best hitting shortstops of all time, and he did it during the deadball era. His numbers would be good enough that if retired today, he’d still be first ballot (3415 hits).
Combine that with his supposed unbelievable defense at the toughest position in the game and the fact that his baseball card is really really expensive make him too interesting and well rounded of a player for me to disregard.
No Mantle?
A-Rod plays in the American league. A-Rod > Pujols.
So if Pujols played in the AL, who would you think is better? Just because the NL is weaker, it doesn’t mean Pujols isn’t quite likely the best player in baseball. Was Barry Bonds not the best player in baseball because he played in the NL?
FWIW, Pujols in interleague: .355/.441/.657
A-Rod would be. The quality of pitching in the Al East is 2nd to no other division imo.
What if Pujols played in the AL East?!
He’d be Jesus Montero.
OH SHIT!
In a very small sample size, Pujols has, not surprisingly, destroyed the AL East.
You said it yourself, in a very small sample size.
I’m not stating my opinion either way but you basically just provided your own rebuttal.
But there’s no reason to believe Pujols wouldn’t destroy the AL East. It’s a SSS, but it’s right in line with his career numbers. If he, in interleague play had a .280/.370/.500 line, I’d see some validity in the argument, but there is no reason to think Albert Pujols, in the AL East, wouldn’t still be the best player in baseball.
Fair enough.
Like I said, I wasn’t really posting an opinion, just pointing out that his point was very easily shot down.
Not sure your logic applies in this scenario. There’s plenty of good pitching in the NL… their stats on the whole just look better because of the pitcher’s spot, and there is two more teams in that league.
If Alex > Pujols because he plays in the AL, then who is = Pujols? Youkilis = Pujols?
no, that is false. pujols> a-rod, regardless of the league/division
It is his opinion so it’s not false. One thing we do know is that the NL is generally a weaker league. Is Pujols arguably the best player in the world? Yepp. So is Alex. If someone wants to hold it against Albert that he plays in JV that is their prerogative. I do think Pujols’ numbers would drop slightly if he faced the pitching that Alex faces on a day in day out basis.
ok, and my opinion is that his opinion is false. The NL is weaker, but pujols would still put up better numbers than a-rod in the al east. a-rod can’t hit 330 and he probably won’t hit over 45 homers again either.
If he plays at least 158 games next yearAlex will hit over 45 hr’s next year.Book it.
Agreed there. Though I definitely think Pujols is better, even accounting for any weaker league disparity. When comparing hitters, the difference in leagues isn’t nearly as vast as the difference for pitchers.
Yeah, it’s tough for me to be unbiased because Alex is my favorite player.
Bottom line.. Pujols is a freak. Al is a freak.
Declaring one better than the other merely because of the league they play in is just faulty logic.
It would certainly be easier for me to compare them if they played the same position in the same league but that’s not how it works.
Agreed, Al is my favorite (active)player too, and I think the fact that he plays 3B certainly closes the hitting gap. It really is disputable, but my main point is that a blanket statement that A-Rod is better because Pujols plays in the NL is nonsense.
Of course we’ll get to decide once and for all when the Yankees sign Pujols to DH.
/espn’d
Anyone think the Rangers could get Ilya Kovalchuk from the Thrashers if these trade rumors are true?
Gaborik and Kovalchuk would be a sick insane?
would be insane*******
That would be pretty bananas. Maybe they could dump Roszival in the deal to balance out to money.
/dreaming
Are we talking about water polo?
Marco!
Fish out of water!
i don’t know if anyone here watches the nets at all, but it is just fucking terrible. i’ve never watched anything more frustrating in my life. the worst part is that devin harris sucks, and he’s supposed to be the best player on the team. good thing lebron will be here next year
Dude, I’m as frustrated as anybody watching this team but Devin Harris doesn’t suck.
CD-R is improving, Brook is solid. I’m hoping for LeBron too but I’m not counting on it.
If the Nets get Lebron, I will watch basketball.
harris sucks this year. he’s shooting like shit, turning the ball over too much, and just overall not playing anywhere near like he did last year.
CDR and Brook are great. Lee isn’t bad either. But then there are the guys like hassel, najera, and boone that i would probably shoot if i saw walking down the street.
Heh. Harris is still coming back from injury. /reaching
But I hear you, he hasn’t played up to expectations himself. I can’t stand Hassel or Boone either but whatever. This team is in a transition. Yi was playing great a few games ago, now he’s back to being passive. When aggressive he can be a solid ballplayer but I don’t know man..
i like the core of the team going forward, but yeah i’m not sure about yi. if i had to guess i’d say he figures it out long term and becomes a solid starter. they have to sign somebody great this offseason though. if they actually got lebron/wade and maybe a decent role player they’d be a very good team.
I feel like I’ve said this to you already, but if they got Lebron and the first pick in the draft, this team would be silly-good.
Wall, Harris, Lebron, Who Gives a Shit, Lopez.
Net games are also kind of fun to go to. I usually get two tickets for under a total of $15 bucks, and since the arena is pretty much empty, I sit wherever the hell I want.
The cheerleaders are terrible, which is funny; the mascot is like a Mendel genetics project gone wrong (Chucky Cheese, Abominable Snowman, Master Splinter had a threesome); they shoot burritos out of air cannons; the half-game show are generally retardedly awesome.
Bonus if you speak Russian.
Hmm, Who Gives a Shit Lopez, I think he was teammates with Jorge Vazquez in the Mexican league before giving up baseball.
You missed the comma!
are wall and harris playing next to each other? idk if that’d work if thats what you’re saying. but agree that they would be nasty with lebron/wall. thats a rotation of harris/lee/lebron/yi(unless they find an upgrade)/lopez/wall/CDR/twill/etc.
filthy
No, I was just listing some of the talent. It would probably be Wall, CDR, Lebron, ???, Lopez. The question mark would be whoever they got in a trade for Harris, which could also clear some salary.
John Wall goes coast to coast faster/easier than any college point guard I’ve seen in a long time. That may be a bit of an exaggeration but he is just so fast and has great handles.
He can’t shoot very well though from what I have seen, and his shot seems to take longer than a lot of other players.
W/e though, I still want him with the #1 pick. Hopefully Nets get it.
John Wall is incredible.
Calipari can pick em. He and Pearl are far and away my favorite NCAA coaches, NCAA infractions be damned.
I couldn’t care less about NCAA infractions. Those kids bring in billions of dollars to the schools collectively. Sure, they get a free ride (like it matters, how many stars complete their degrees?) and get to dick around, but the school definitely makes out way better than the kids.
There should be no limits on when kids can be recruited, how many visits there are, what kind of cars you give them, the house you buy their parents, the sperm you use to harvest more super athletes, etc.
I want to see something just above anarchy.
Fuck yeah, that money is going straight to the big corporate entities. Let the kids get a piece of the action, who gives a shit?
I hope more and more kids go to Europe to circumvent the system. Brandon Jennings is my favorite rookie just because of that.
+ a lot to both of you.
Devin Harris is no good, and the appeal of going to a Nets game is about 95% related to them being horrible.
Damn, Devils are putting a hurting on the Stars.
And Elias needs 1 goal for the hat trick.
Ellsbury to left.
http://sports.espn.go.com/bost.....id=4798852
Yup. They will likely have one of the best defensive teams in the league but the Yanks aren’t that bad themselves. It’s going to be a real battle this time for the AL East.
Excuse me while I giggle.
Anyone else a Better Off Ted fan? Portia De Rossi kicks total ass on this show.
I’m a big fan of Better Off Dead. I want my two dollars!
Haha, great call.
Love it (and Portia). Was also a big fan of hers on Arrested Development.
I totally missed the AD boat and I hate myself for it.
Missed it as in didn’t watch? Or didn’t like?
If missed as in didn’t watch, let me tell you about these things called DVD’s…..
Seriously though, not many seasons, so it wouldn’t be tough to catch up on. It’s worth it imo.
The former. I’ve been way too slow on the AD DVDs, too. I’ve gotta correct that.
Better Off Ted? I’ve seen the previews. I’d rather take a cheese grater to my nut sack than be subjected to watching that show.
Yeah but you’d pick that over just about everything…except tire chicks.
I’d Alabama Hot Pocket really attractive dead girls. Again, I’ll take what I can get.
Damn man, you’re never afraid to take it to that next level.
Nice that you mention “really attractive”, is that a pride thing? You’re not fooling anyone.
Did you just call me “Johnny Damon”?
Why don’t you take the cheese grater to the nut sack while watching that show?
So instead of choosing two painful events, I combine them as a hydrogen bomb of “Oh shit, that hurts”?
Pass.
I’m in mourning, I don’t think I could take that. I took Mr. Nipples to the vet today. He had to find the big litter box in the sky (which, ironically, he never used during his time here).
Sorry to hear about Mr. Nipples, I’ll miss your stories. On the bright side, your suit shouldn’t smell like (cat) piss for your next interview, right?
Yeah, and I might be getting fired soon, too. Layoffs are a comin’, I hear. Good thing I have backup plans.
Whoring yourself for money?
He’s usually on the other end of those transactions.
desperate times…
Well, I saved basically my entire salary from July through today, plus I’d get a severance package. My only expenses are cell phone, transportation, some food and some fairly inexpensive student loans (less than $120 a month).
So I could work in journalism (also borderline crazy), go to law school, or continue to find another job in real estate/demographic research.
If all else fails, there’s always cosmetology school! (Unbelievable surplus of stupid chicks to bang.)
Anyone else hear Marv Albert make the Kid N Play reference when talking about Brandon Jennings. I found it quite funny.
Side note: Gilbert Arenas is kind of an idiot.
Kind of?
Understatement of the year.
He signed a contract that’s paying him 18.5 million a year for six years. So, that’s why it’s ‘kind of’.
Come on, Braves. Hurry up and sign someone for the OF that is not named Johnny Damon.
haha right? JD is surely running out of suitors.
+1
I’d love having Damon back for the right price. The lineup will be wonderful if he comes back.
Defense takes a hit but Gardner/Hoffmann can play a few games to rest Damon.
Murderers row plus Cano part deux? It would be nuts.
Except Curtis Granderson instead of Melky Cabrera.
Not to worry, they signed Eric Hinske!
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/.....raves.html
Which of course also means that it will be a Yankees-Braves World Series in ’10.
This is pathetic man. Down by 17 to the Bucks after a great start.
Sigh.
Brandon Jennings>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Jordan Hill
Jordan Hill>Awesome 8th Grader (but barely).
Yeah, the Knicks messed up bad there.
My buddies were actually at the draft(couldn’t make it cause of work), I texted them right when Hill was selected.
We were all pretty shocked.
I couldn’t fucking believe it when I heard his name called. I thought Walsh was kidding around and was gonna shout, “Psyche! We were just fucking around. Jennings, get on up here,” at David Stern as Hill began walking to the podium.
But there was no psyche. It was just sad.
8th grade girl?
8th grade hermaphrodite.
Thought about this the other day but forgot to mention it.
What was all that bullshit about Lowell for Castillo? I know the Mets FO is questionable at best and they’d probably love to part with Castillo but Lowell has played a total of 4 games at 1B. That was back when he was in our system 12 years ago. Where the hell would Lowell play on the Mets?
It doesn’t make a ton of sense for the Sox either. Maybe the Mets leaked it. Remember, if Theo is interested in someone, they must be a great player, therefore driving up Castillo’s price before Theo swoops in.
It’s unlikely to happen but it would be a stupid move to the Mets.
It’s the 2005-2008 Yankees again. Good offense, shitty pitching and defense.
Wow Posnaski is a ridiculously good writer, have not really read that much of his stuff, looking forward to it now though
agreed
This is random and I haven’t put too much thought into this… And I haven’t been around much lately so forgive me if this has been discussed… But I saw the conversation above about the Sox moving Ellsbury to LF and playing Cam in CF and whether the Yanks should do the same with Gardner/Granderson and I was just thinking… Might they be hesitant to do so because it’ll be easier to find a backup/platoon partner for Gardner in LF than in CF? I’m interested in seeing Gardner in CF and Granderson in LF if that’ll be the better defensive alignment, and I don’t think what I’m saying here is anything groundbreaking or that would be too persuasive when it comes down to it, but it’s gotta be something they’re considering, no? Nobody, not even the most ardent Gardner defender, has argued that the Yanks should just hand him an OF job and not think about having some sort of safety net in case he flops or just can’t handle an every day job… So we’re assuming the Yanks will handcuff to someone to Gardner… And isn’t it just more likely they’ll be able to find a suitable handcuff-partner who can play a decent LF than one who can play a decent CF? (Obviously I’m assuming they won’t want to move Granderson back and forth between LF and CF too much, so if they decide to put Gardner in CF and Granderson in LF, then Granderson’s your LFer and isn’t covering for Gardner’s absences in CF too often.) Might this be a reason why they might be intending to keep Gardner in LF and Granderson in CF to start 2010?
I definitely see that point.
“I saw the conversation above about the Sox moving Ellsbury to LF and playing Cam in CF and whether the Yanks should do the same with Gardner/Granderson”
The Sox are doing the same thing the Yanks are. They are moving there young, capable CF to LF in order to accommodate a veteran CF that plays strong defense.
But the Sox are moving the better CF into CF. We truly probably don’t know who plays a better CF between Gardner and Grandy. With the Sox it’s easy, Cameron>>>>>>Ellsbury.
I think it was extremely clear that what I meant is that the Sox are moving the better defensive CFer to CF and that people are discussing whether the Yanks should do the same (while assuming that Gardner will be the better defensive CFer). The Sox are moving the better CFer to CF, and many people would like to see the Yanks move Gardner to CF for the same reason. I’m not sure what you’re trying to say with your response.
This makes sense, and to add to it, the Yankees might very well trade for a left fielder during the season. LF is the most easily upgradable spot for the Yankees, so there are a lot of options available for them. They probably won’t fuck with Granderson’s comfort level because of that.
Mondesi, absolutely.
Granderson is the Yankees CFer for the next 3-4 years. Gardner is VERY unlikely to be a starter over that period, and is more suited to the 4th OFer role.
as sson as they can find a suitable upgrade, they will get one. no point in moving Gradnerson only to move him back.
Yeah, you said it better than I did. I think a lot of people are unable to see the forest for the trees on this issue. Gardner might be, and perhaps is even likely to be, the better defensive CFer right now, but the chances that he’s going to stick in the Yankees starting lineup as a regular for the next few years are pretty slim. There’s no point in shifting Granderson around too much, and it’s easier to find backup/platoon options for Gardner if he’s in LF as opposed to CF. Granderson’s going to be the CFer here for the next few years, you can’t be changing his position every time some defensive specialist shows up.
Bonds from 2000-2004- 339/.535/.781
Holy. Fucking. Shit. I mean, I knew he was ridiculous but that, especially the slugging, is absolutely mindblowingly good
So Barry Bonds got out less than half the time he was at the plate over that 5 year stretch.
Fuck.
Unbelievable.
So Barry Bonds got out less than half the time he was at the plate over that
5 year8 year stretch.2000-2007
.322/.517/.724/1.241
Heck, throw in the comparatively less amazing 1999 and the OBP is still .505. He had a .476 OBP from 1992 until his retirement
Barry Bonds: good at baseball.
Barry Bonds:
good atbaseball.Yepp.
Off topic, but…
Bay introduced at Citi Field
What was Omar Minaya about to say?
Seriously.
ROFL.
“To not only bring up the player but the person and everything that we’ve fu- heard about…
How long into the deal do the Mets start to regret making it?
How long into the deal
do the Metsdoes Bay start to regret making it?2 years to the first, 2 months to the second
Crazy prediction: Jason Bay will put up a UZR of -5 or better next year.
Seriously.
It’s an open thread. How could that be off topic?
Here’s my response to your comment:
I remember I was a senior in high school and I went to this girl’s house. I think her name was Meg. Anyway, we’re drinking 40s, hanging out with two other people and then her dog comes by. Cute, tiny little dog with really curly fur. It continued to roll over and beg me to pet its belly. Finally, I agreed. I noticed that the nipples appeared to be abnormally large, particularly for a male dog–especially what I thought was a nipple. This is where I remind you I was fairly drunk and certainly confused. I investigated more thoroughly. It was then that the girl walked in and said, “Why are you touching my dog’s cock?”
Awkward.
Turns out the dog had some sort of glandular problem that caused the nipples to be abnormally large.
Meg and I didn’t hang out much after that.
/what were you saying?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUwd737mioM SFW
Dude, Meg is a fucking prude if accidental interaction with her dog’s mutant-penis caused her to not put out that night.
I’m assuming she didn’t put out that night. Bitch!
The dog penis wasn’t mutant-like—it was just kinda hairy. The nipples were like the rolling hills of Ireland, except large, unsightly, hair and oddly shaped. That was the root of the confusion. I thought the penis was the really, really weird looking nipple and it was a girl dog. It wasn’t.
But yeah, she didn’t put out (wasn’t my intention; had a girlfriend at the time). Bitch.
Was that dog the original Mr. Nipples? I mean, if the shoe fits, right?
No, Mr. Nipples developed the name because he had this strange interest in making biscuits on people’s nipple regions.
He was too aggressive to keep. He put Chloe Monster in the animal hospital the other day and we can’t give him away because he pees all over the palce. There was no other recourse.
Eh, then fuck it. It netted you a random anecdote to share with Brent and the rest of RAB.
It can be tough to differentiate the genitalia of household pets. My family adopted a litter of 6 kittens from some vagrant shithead whose own whore-cat birthed them. Anyway, we missed the vagina on two of ‘em when we first got ‘em and so a couple neuter jobs surprisingly turned into spays at the vet’s. Luckily we had given them both uni-gender names (Emu and Marbles).
Hah. I like the names. I’ve ridden on an emu. That shit is scary. You gave away the other four cats, I’m guessing? We had five cats until today and frankly, it’s just way too much.
We’re like pet hoarders. At one point, in 2000, we had three dogs, seven cats, two turtles, fish, and a hamster. It’s fucking insane. Never have more than three pets. Unless you’re a breeder or a trainer.
Naw dude, family kept them. Its craziness.
10 cats and 1 dog (our other dog died of tum-tum cancer about a month ago)
In fairness to the parental units, the last 7 of those cats and 1 of the dogs were all rescued somehow and then the family grew attached. Nice, big house though. Its not the horrible feline hell it sounds like, though someone who is allergic to cats would fucking die upon entrance.
11? My Mo, I just had an epileptic flashback. All we get are rescues and sometimes they’re wonderful pets. But other times, oh shit, it’s bad-news-bears. Some are neurotic, others are aggressive and neurotic, others are petrified shy to the point where you won’t see them for weeks. They create high-school cliques and even mini-gangs that feud over the stupidest of shit. Some shit and piss everywhere. You need tons and tons of litter boxes and food. Some are unhealthy and require expensive medication.
We had one pet (Griffin-dor) rack up, and I shit you not, over $25,000 in medical bills over the last five years of his life! He was a great cat but that’s just too much.
I don’t think it’s the size of the house that becomes a problem, it’s just that there’s a lot of psychological/behavioral problems that become magnified when you have that many pets from troubled backgrounds in one household.
Just my experience.
Hmm…not with us. All the cats are mad chill, same with the dog (Ralph but we all call him Mr. Boy)
They’re big, fat, lazy, and love to play and get scratched. Kind of like me.
Every animal we’ve gotten has been less than a year old (that litter of 6 were like 3 weeks old, still blind when we adopted ‘em). The expenses are manageable but they’re all getting faaaaat, I’m sure that’ll turn into a bitchload of medical bills in the future but fuck it.
The social hierarchy is hilarious though, its like they all go to high school.
Yeah, it’s probably better when they’re very, very small kittens. Most of the ones we’ve gotten were from the streets, were picked up and put in a shelter, where we grabbed them.
They were probably total fucking head cases but we didn’t notice for the hour we were there.
I notice the same hierarchy in elementary schoolers, not so much HS kids. Cats aren’t that Machiavellian.
Heh. That last statement is classic.
IETCVVVVM
That was the biggest “WAT” I have ever experienced on RAB.
Thank you.
Awesome.
Looks like Shanahan has officially inked with Washington:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/.....id=4799532
Ah damn, I was just about to post the link Drew and someone else asked for above. That ESPN story is probably better. Mine was from the Denver Post and it wasn’t as sure of a thing when I said it.
hinske just signed with the braves. damon any less likely over there now?
Could be, it’s not like they can give Hinske any ab’s at DH.
mark bowman tweet from earlier today: “Braves GM Frank Wren said he is just looking for one more small piece to fill his offensive needs. Basically needs a primary pinch hitter.”
hinske fits the bill. looks like one less landing spot for damon. are there any others? guess maybe the giants
Yes. But more importantly, THE BRAVES ARE OFFICIALLY GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!!!!
3 straight, right?
Yeah. I wish he would’ve signed with The Orioles or Blue Jays to keep the AL East streak going though.
Well, he came up with the Jays–played there for four and a half years
Yeah, forgot about that for a sec. ROTY and all that shit.
The Orioles then, god dammit.
Nate McClouth is a star.
/Diet Coke, please
“He’s got a good look to him… his hair flops around when he throws the ball”
-Michael Patrick “Mike” Francesa, Jr.
The South Park where Cartman enters the Special Olympics and Jimmy uses steroids is on. Classic.
Calling Giambi/Bonds/McGwire big stinky pussies for using steroids, very funny shit.
I saw that, I’m now watching colbert!
i probably cant afford any, but does anyone have any idea when Yankee season tickets will go on sale ?
or individual game tickets ?
The best players in the game currently:
1. Rivera
2. Pujols
3. Mauer
4. Arod
5. Howard/Utley
6. Jeter
7. Lee
8. Halladay
9. Adrian Gonzalez
10. Zack Grienke
Rivera reminded anyone why he has redefined the position of closer.
Pujols is great, but against the NL’s best line up, Mariano was bored.
I love Mo but eh … he probably wouldn’t even make my top 50 players in the game. A closer can only do so much.
He absolutely dominates as a reliever, and just about any other closer isn’t even worth discussing in a conversation like this. But still, there’s just not enough bulk impact that you can get out of him compared to a starter who throws 200 or more high quality innings, or a position player that plays every game every day.
/heresy
Am I forgetting a Lee? That sure as Mitre better not be Cliff.
Derek or Carlos are the two other possible ones.
Hmmm should have reloaded the page first.
Would you put Derrek or Carlos as the Lee on the list?
Nice troll. You’ll get some bites on that one.
7/10
Just to be sure, say something about the Red Sox, Obama or global warming next time. You’ll get a better score.
That’s a troll? RAB must have some nerdtastic Yankee blog reputation if its known you can cause a ruckus with Mo being mentioned as the greatest player in the game.
Are we talking value?
Pure skill?
Offensive contributions + Defensive contributions?
Hinske to the Braves.
He is a good luck charm.
Scott Miller of CBSSports.com is reporting that Atlanta has signed veteran utilityman Eric Hinske to a one-year contract, pending a physical. The 2002 Rookie Of The Year hit .242/.348/.432 in 224 plate appearances with the Pirates and Yankees last season.
I really don’t agree that Pujols has been better every year since 2001 than A-Rod. He’s been a better hitter, but I wouldn’t say a better player. A-Rod played a much more demanding defensive position (SS) than Pujols. He’s had a strong, accurate arm. Pujols at 1B hasn’t had to show his. He’s stolen bases more consistently and more accurately than Pujols has over the decade. Although A-Rod had a few 30-40 HR years, he’s also had three 50+ HR years, showing that his power peaks higher than Pujols’ power.
As a hitter Pujols is better, he gets on base more, and hits for a very high average with great power and run-producing ability. I think the conversation is a lot closer than people give A-Rod credit for. I think he gets put aside because of the steroid allegations more than anything. Also people don’t seem to like A-Rod for whatever reason.
I think that when people consider these things, they really only focus on the hitting. People rarely consider things like baserunning, defense, etc.
While Pujols was a better hitter over the 2000s, I really think A-Rod has been the better 5-tool player over the decade. Really, he’s probably one of the greatest 2-3 5-tool players of all time.
I don’t care what you think about Alex Rodriguez but any discussion of the best players in the game that does not include him is not worth reading.
Posnanski wrote the article to go along with his HOF ballot, going out of his way to talk down Don mattingly’s candidacy. So here is the baseball-reference.com link to Andre Dawson and Don Mattingly:
Dawson: http://www.baseball-reference......an01.shtml
Donnie: http://www.baseball-reference......do01.shtml
So besides the fact that Dawson played 22 years vs Donnies 14, and averaged 7 hrs more (and 2 LESS RBI) where is the sheer dominance to equate to hall/ No hall?
Just saying…these voters are so stuck in their ruts.
No Blyleven either?
Did these writers actually watch the game?