The Edgar Martinez Quandary

Is Edgar Martinez a Hall of Famer?

This isn't a clever question I am asking that I am confident in the answer to and will spend the rest of the blog answering.

I truly don't know the answer to it.

He sure LOOKED like a Hall of Famer while he played.

My Goodness he was such a tremendous all around hitter when he played that he could actually out shine Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson in the 1995 playoffs.

He won batting titles, led the league in on base percentage three times, was an OPS champ and had great power and run producing abilities. He had 8 exceptional years and many other good ones over his 18 year career.

And he was no doubt about it the best DH of the post strike era.

But there lies the rub... the post strike era.

There hasn't been a whiff of controversy about Edgar Martinez and his stats, so I won't go there. For all he know he's as clean as a whistle.

But the era he played in was an era where the numbers were so exaggerated that to compensate, only the biggest numbers should be considered.

All he had to do was hit. I doubt he even owned a glove after 1999. And yet in an era where players passed milestone numbers with startling and sometimes suspicious regularity, Edgar never came close.

And while he was great during that 10 season stretch, he barely passed 300 homers... he didn't come close to 2,500 hits, let alone 3,000... his career batting average was a terrific but not eye popping .312.

He was a great player, but was he great long enough?

But should he be rewarded for coming through the other end of the decade without scandal? With the inevitable hand wringing that will come about when Bonds, Sosa, Ramirez, A-Rod and Clemens come on the ballot, shouldn't someone like Edgar be saluted... a guy who stayed with one team and played with heart and no trace of scandal?

It's a real quandary

Hall of Fame Ballot Insanity

Last year I suggested Jay Bell’s election to the Hall of Fame and Rickey Henderson’s exclusion could help end the nonsense of “First Ballot Hall of Famer” being a special title and unworthy players getting odd sympathy votes.

Well I wanted to take a more literal look at the distinction of NOT being a First Ballot Hall of Famer… and show some of the sillier Sympathy Votes.

Here are a list of Hall of Famers who did NOT make it on the first ballot.

GROVER CLEVELAND ALEXANDER (Third Ballot)
MICKEY COCHRANE (Sixth Ballot)
JOE DiMAGGIO (Fourth Ballot)
JIMMIE FOXX (Seventh Ballot)
HANK GREENBERG (Ninth Ballot)
ROGERS HORNSBY (Fifth Ballot)
CARL HUBBELL (Third Ballot)
NAPOLEON LaJOIE (Second Ballot)
TRIS SPEAKER (Second Ballot)
CY YOUNG (Second Ballot)

Now these were the crazy early days of voting… and it seemed that by the 1960s, sports writers were going to vote in worthy players on the first try (the likes of Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, Stan Musial, Bob Feller, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron didn’t have to wait around.) But there are still some genuine head scratchers.

YOGI BERRA (Second Ballot)
ROLLIE FINGERS (Second Ballot)
WHITEY FORD (Second Ballot)
EDDIE MATHEWS (Fifth Ballot)
WARREN SPAHN (Second Ballot)

I can’t understand how some of the players aren’t elected in unanimously (Seriously, who DIDN’T vote for Willie Mays? Ted Williams? Cal Ripken? Tom Seaver?)

But how could there be enough sports writers looking unimpressed at Yogi Berra’s resume to say “Not sure he belongs in!”?

Was it the moronic “He’s not a FIRST BALLOT Hall of Famer!” mentality?
Who exactly remembers he wasn’t a First Ballot guy? Is he less of a Hall of Famer now? Or is he possibly the most loved living ballplayer?

And conversely take a look at the players who have in the last two decades received more than one Hall of Fame vote.

Anyone can take a single writer out to dinner and grab a vote. But these guys had VOTES… plural. And on their first ballot no less:

JAY BELL (2 votes)
CESAR CEDENO (2 votes)
TRAVIS FRYMAN (2 votes)
MIKE GREENWELL (2 votes)
DAVE HENDERSON (2 votes)
RICK HONEYCUTT (2 votes)
CARNEY LANSFORD (3 votes)
RICK MONDAY (2 votes)
JEFF MONTGOMERY (2 votes)
LARRY PARRISH (2 votes)
MICKEY RIVERS (2 votes)
JUAN SAMUEL (2 votes)
GARRY TEMPLETON (2 votes)
ANDRE THORNTON (2 votes)

Look, all of those players had nice careers… but I wonder if the two sports writers who checked their names left off an actual Hall of Famer from their ballot because of the moronic “Not a first ballot” mentality.

Do we really want writers saying “Yes” to Juan Samuel while wringing their hands over the eligibility of Whitey Ford?

Some Cy Young winners like Bret Saberhagen didn’t do too well in the Hall of Fame vote. But I am sure they can take solace over the fact that CY YOUNG didn’t get in at first either.

Trying to get excited about a Post Jim Rice Hall of Fame Ballot

Every year from 1995 to last January I got emotionally caught up in the Hall of Fame announcement. One of my childhood heroes was up for election, Jim Rice.

I was a year out of college and toying with idea of becoming a stand up comic.

Since then I did comedy, lived in New York for another 10 years, made short films, produced for The Daily Show, appeared on HBO, made a movie, appeared on HBO again, appeared on NESN, got married, became a father of two, moved to the Bay Area, appeared on Monk, got an Emmy nomination, wrote for Dennis Miller, moved to L.A., produced a show in Sturgis SD... and all the while kept waiting for Jim Rice to be elected.

The only anticipation I can equate to that was waiting between 1980 and 1983 for Return of the Jedi to come out.

Yeah that was only 3 years, but I was an 8 year old kid when Han Solo got frozen in carbonite and nobody knew if Darth Vader was lying about being Luke's father.

When I finally saw Jedi at the Chestnut Hill Theater, I had spent nearly 1/3 of my life in agonizing anticipation.

And after I saw it 5 times that summer, there was a little let down.

Summer movies no longer had the anticipation they had before Luke took down Jabba the Hutt.

Oh yeah, Ghostbusters and Back to the Future and Temple of Doom were all cool, but the build up was not the same.

I am feeling that way about this Hall of Fame ballot.

Yeah I made my case for Bert Blyleven... but I don't have the same emotion about Blyleven as I do about Rice.

I'd like to see Barry Larkin, Jack Morris, Robbie Alomar or Dave Parker get in... but I really won't lose any sleep if they don't get in.

I'd be eager to see if David Segui, Shane Reynolds or Todd Zeile get that strange sympathy vote that some players get.

But without that one guy to get emotionally behind, it feels a little strange... like a tremor in the force.

The Adrian Beltre signing is wicked smart

The Red Sox are just a few years removed from a World Series title, but also coming off of a humiliating sweep in the Division Series (including a heart breaking elimination in Fenway.)

In the off season they pick up a slick fielding third baseman whose power has mysteriously disappeared. And along the way jettison their previous third baseman... the one who was a huge post season hero... the one who helped deliver a World Series title.

Now am I talking about the Red Sox bringing in Adrian Beltre to replace Mike Lowell?

Or am I talking about Mike Lowell replacing Bill Mueller?






Sox fans can't and shouldn't get swept up in nostalgia.

I love Lowell... hell I loved Mueller.

But Lowell was hurt for chunks of 2008 and 2009 and is having thumb surgery.

Say what you want about Theo, but he knows when NOT to get sentimental.

The Red Sox are as cold hearted and vicious as the Yankees are underratedly sentimental.

If he was sentimental, he would have offered Nomar 5 years back in 2004... and that contract would be just coming off of the books.

If he was sentimental Pedro, Mueller, Millar, Damon and Manny would all have gigantic unmovable contracts... and the likes of Beckett, Dice-K, V-Mart and yes even Lowell wouldn't have worn the Sox uniform.

It's better to have a guy help you win the World Series and break down or get suspended on someone else's dime.

You want to see what a team looks like that has big name players but also a lot of veterans breaking down? MEET THE METS!!!

Plus Beltre is signed to a one year with an option contract... in other words "Have a monster season and you'll get a BIGGER deal next year!"

This off season for the Red Sox has been deceptively solid.

Think about the moves that have been made...
John Lackey... Mike Cameron... Adrian Beltre... Marco Scutaro...

What two things have the Red Sox improved?

That would be the pitching and defense, which I am going to go out on a limb and say is kinda sorta important.

I've seen enough Red Sox teams that can mash the ball but not pitch or catch it.

Now the Red Sox have Beckett, Lester and Lackey in the rotation... three guys who have pitched and won a World Series clincher.

Throw in Buchholz and Wakefield...

And if Dice-K comes back, it will be like acquiring a 15 game winner for nothing (except that posting fee!)

And also take a look at the fact that the big prospects and young players like Buchholz, Bowden, Ellsbury, Bard, Westmoreland, Kelly, Tazawa, Anderson, Fuentes, Rizzo and Iglesias are all still in the organization.

And with Bay skedaddling they'll still be picking in the first round.

So if Lowell gets dumped or bench, we should all salute him, then get right back to the business of rooting for the Sox and waiting to see if Beltre can be the third straight Red Sox third baseman/World Series hero.

(Never forget... I loved the Gagne deal when that happened... so this could all suck.)

Sully Baseball offers the NHL a suggestion

The Winter Classic once again was great.

Seeing hockey in Fenway Park was nothing short of surreal (and if anything was messed up in the outfield, they have months to fix it.)

We've now had outdoor hockey in Edmonton, Buffalo, Chicago and Boston which is very cool (in all meanings of that word.)

But I think the NHL should add a second outdoor game... call it the Valentine's Day Special. It will be a love letter to big hockey fans.

Here's how it works:

Take two franchises that play in warm weather cities (and are probably keeping their noses barely above the unfrozen water.)

For purposes of this suggestion, let's say the Atlanta Thrashers and the Nashville Predators... two teams that aren't exactly packing them in.












Schedule a game on February 14th between the Thrashers and the Predators.

But not below the Mason - Dixon Line... in fact don't even put it on American Soil!

Find a hockey starved city in Canada.

At first I was going to say Winnipeg or Quebec City, whose teams were taken away.

But then I thought a team that NEVER had an NHL team would go bananas for a regular season NHL game.

So say it with me...
WELCOME TO MOOSE JAW!!!


That's right. I am proposing for one game, two Southern teams who could be contracted are welcomed like heroes with a parade down the heart of The Friendly City!

After a parade and a rally where fans pick which team they'll root for it will be time for the game.

But NOT at the Civic Center, home of the Moose Jaw Warriors...

The teams will travel 35 kilometer away to Old Wives Lake... which should be frozen solid on February 14.

And yes, we will play NHL hockey on a pond, as it was meant to be!

Yeah I know it is a wild life preserve, but the birds can make room for screaming Moose Jaw fans for one day! Besides, the smart birds will have flown to Atlanta or Nashville for the winter. Consider it a swap with the Thrashers and the Predators!

And if there is a crack in the ice and a player falls in... or a bear attacks Ilya Kovalchuk in the penalty box... SO BE IT!

Come on... Valentines Day with the people of Moose Jaw watching NHL hockey on Old Wives Lake.

HOW CAN THIS NOT SUCCEED????

Hey Giants... sign Johnny Damon already!

Seriously. Sign him.
It looks like he isn't going back to the Yankees.
The Red Sox aren't bringing him back and chances are the Angels, Mariners and Cubs aren't in the running.

Where is he going? St. Louis?

The guy is a winner, he would be a great spark plug and this would be a new challenge for him after winning on both sides of the great Red Sox/Yankee rivalry to win in San Francisco.

He already made a Bay Area cameo with the A's in 2001... he'll fit right in.

Besides, he is exactly the kind of offensive player they need. They aren't getting a big power hitter to come to San Francisco and see their home run totals tumble.

They need a guy like Damon who can hit a ball into the gap and take two. (Don't be fooled by his inflated home run total last year... he was taking advantage of the wind tunnel in the new Yankee Stadium.)

He'd be a perfect fit in San Francisco. And spare me any concerns for his defense. The Giants trotted out Barry Bonds all of those years when he had worse range than the statue of Willie Mays outside of the ballpark.

Giants, sign him already. Offer him a 2 year deal. Who exactly are you bidding against?

And Johnny... go to the Giants. You are a perfect fit there.
Who knows? You might be able to grow your beard back!

Happy 2010

And it is the beginning of a new decade of baseball and for Sully Baseball.

And please spare me any nonsense that this ISN'T a new decade. It is. The numbers turned over in the "Tens" column. That's how you know it is a new decade.

When the numbers turn over in the "Hundreds" column it is a new century.

When they turn over in the "Thousands" column it is a new millennium.

I had to hear all of that silliness that the year 2000 wasn't the start of a new millennium and I am not about to listen to it again.

Yeah I know the argument. There was no "Year Zero", so the first decade AD ended at AD 10... but I'm still not buying it.

How do we know there wasn't a "Year Zero?"

Some Monk named Dionysius Exiguus figured out when Christ was born. But here's the thing... there isn't a historian or even a religious figure that you will ever meet who thinks he was right. He was off by at least 3 years. Maybe even more.

So we are going to be a stickler for accuracy based on the mathematics of someone who got the math wrong?

That's insane.

I remember getting into an argument with someone over this at the turn of the millenium (which took place on January 1, 2000... when ALL the numbers changed.)

I asked my friend (who is educated and smart on most matters) "Do you consider 1990 to be part of the 1980s? Was 1980 part of the 1970s?"

He answered yes to both... which of course is "smearing fecal matter on the wall" level nuts.

I now declare there WAS a "Year Zero."
It was an uneventful year. Nothing worth remembering.

And it was a good 1,846 years before the first recorded baseball game was played... so it's not worth looking up any stats from then.

It's a new decade.
And for Dionysius Exiguus' sake let's move on from his little mistake.