BASEBALL 2011

[Brendan]

Yes, yes, who woulda thought that I would have started this thread? However... I came home from work just now to see some great news on the TV:



Roberto Alomar has been voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame!

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/story/2011/01/05/sp-alomar.html

Alomar voted to baseball's Hall of Fame
Last Updated: Wednesday, January 5, 2011 | 3:04 PM ET
The Associated Press

After coming painfully short in the voting a year ago, former Roberto Alomar got the news he wanted to hear Wednesday.

The former Toronto Blue Jays star infielder is headed to Cooperstown.

Alomar and Bert Blyleven were selected for induction into the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Alomar, a 12-time all-star who helped lead the Blue Jays to World Series titles in 1992 and 1993, was picked on 90 per cent of the ballots. Blyleven was listed on 79.7 per cent, just ahead of the 75 per cent needed for election.

Sluggers Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McGwire, Jeff Bagwell and Juan Gonzalez came nowhere close. Hall voters, for now, seem intent to prevent the cloud of the Steroids Era from covering Cooperstown.

Alomar collected 2,724 hits, 210 homers, 1,134 RBIs, 1,508 runs and 474 steals in 2,379 games. The 10-time Gold Glover had a .300 career average over 17 seasons and was named ALCS MVP in 1992.

Alomar was named on 73.7 per cent of the ballots last year in his first try. Blyleven had come even closer, missing by just five votes while getting 74.2 per cent.

Alomar and Blyleven will be joined by Pat Gillick at the induction ceremonies July 24 in Cooperstown. The longtime executive was picked last month by the Veterans Committee. Gillick helped earn his place with a trade that brought Alomar to Toronto.

Smart and acrobatic on the field, Alomar also was guilty in one of the game's most boorish moments. He spit on umpire John Hirschbeck during a dispute in 1996 and was suspended. They later made up and Hirschbeck supported Alomar's bid for the Hall.

Alomar joins four other former Blue Jays at Cooperstown — Phil Niekro, Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor and Rickey Henderson — but none of them have the team's cap on their plaques. Alomar has the potential to be the first given that many of his best years came in Toronto.

Blyleven, known for his wicked curveball, had 287 wins, 3,701 strikeouts and 60 shutouts. This was his 14th time on the ballot and his career stats have got a boost in recent years by sabermetricians who have new ways to evaluate baseball numbers.

"It's been 14 years of praying and waiting," Blyleven said on a conference call. "I'd like to thank the Baseball Writers of America for, I'd like to say, finally getting it right."

Palmeiro, McGwire, Bagwell and Gonzalez fared poorly in the election, with voters apparently reluctant to choose bulky hitters who posted big numbers in the 1990s and 2000s.

"The writers are saying this was the steroids era, like they've kind of done for Mark McGwire," Blyleven said. "They've made their point. It doesn't surprise me."

Having a player inducted to the Hall as a Blue Jay is one of the few accomplishments the franchise is missing.

Alomar came to the Blue Jays in a transformational Dec. 5, 1990 trade with San Diego. The Blue Jays also got Joe Carter in the deal in exchange for Tony Fernandez and Fred McGriff.

Alomar instantly became an offensive catalyst for Toronto, gaining a reputation among his teammates as a player who could be counted on to deliver the big hit.

The biggest one of his career came in the ninth inning of Game 4 in the 1992 ALCS, and it turned out to be a pivotal moment in franchise history. Oakland closer Dennis Eckersley ended the eighth by striking out Ed Sprague with two runners on, pointed and shouted at him, and then stared down the Blue Jays dugout.

Devon White then led off the ninth with a single and Alomar followed with a game-tying, two-run homer. The Blue Jays won the game 7-6 in 11 innings, took the series in six games and went on to claim their first World Series title.

"We took it personal," Alomar recalled in a 2008 interview. "Everybody wanted to get him, we battled back and that home run was the biggest hit I ever had."

It was also especially meaningful for a franchise that had a history of near-misses in the post-season.

"That hit pretty much put us in the World Series for the first time," former teammate and current Blue Jays bullpen coach Pat Hentgen said last year. "The team had come so close in '85, '87, '89, '91 — what a run for the organization — and to get put over that hump, that was huge."

The election was quite a climb for Blyleven, who helped pitch Pittsburgh to the 1979 title and Minnesota to the 1987 crown. Many years ago, he drew barely over 14 per cent in the BBWAA voting.

"I could not be happier if it was my own son," Twins Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew said. "I played in the first game Bert pitched for the Minnesota Twins in 1970. ... I wish it wouldn't have taken so long but now that he is in, it's wonderful."

Palmeiro was listed on just 64 of a record 581 ballots (11 per cent) in his first try despite lofty career numbers -- he is joined by Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray as the lone players with more than 3,000 hits and 500 home runs.

But Palmeiro failed a drug test and was suspended by Major League Baseball in 2005. The penalty came a few months after he wagged his finger at members of Congress and told them: "I have never used steroids. Period."

Palmeiro recently reiterated the anabolic steroid that caused his positive test came in a vitamin vial given to him by teammate Miguel Tejada.

Bagwell got 41.7 per cent in his first year on the ballot. His career stats are among the best for first basemen since the Second World War — .297 batting average, .408 on-base percentage and .540 slugging percentage. He hit 449 home runs, topped 1,500 RBIs and runs and ran the bases hard. He was Rookie of the Year, NL MVP and a Gold Glove winner.

Bagwell never tested positive, there were no public allegations against him and he was adamant that he never used illegal drugs. Still, many voters and fans aren't sure yet how to assess the big numbers put up by the game's biggest hitters.

McGwire got 19.8 per cent, a drop from 23.7 per cent last year. This was his fifth time on the ballot, and first since the former home run champion admitted he took steroids and human growth hormone.

Juan Gonzalez, a two-time AL MVP implicated by Jose Canseco in steroids use, received 30 votes, just above the 5.0 per cent threshold for remaining on the ballot next year.

Barry Larkin and Tim Raines showed gains in this year's voting. Pete Rose received three write-in votes.

© The Canadian Press, 2011

I remember those early 90's years of the Toronto Blue Jays. That was without a doubt the best roster they've ever had and probably ever will have. Hell that was probably even one of the best rosters to ever be in baseball.  Everything clicked those two years in 1992 and 1993 and unfortunately there's that "what if..." feeling if the 1994 MLB strike hadn't have happened. Regardless... I'm happy Alomar is being inducted as a Blue Jay (though really... why wouldn't he have been?) and I hope Joe Carter can get in one day. Alomar deserves it not only for his work in Toronto but his career as whole too.

[KC]

Congratulations to Roberto Alomar (and Bert Blyleven).

[The Schofield Kid]

AUSTRALIAN baseballer Grant Balfour has rejected an offer from Major League Baseball giants the New York Yankees to agree to an $8.1 million two-year deal with Oakland Athletics, with a $4.5 million option for a third.

Sydney Morning Herald

Would you have liked him in a Yankees uniform KC?

[KC]

Naw. Walks too many people.

(Grant Ball Four ... get it? )

Seriously, that's the first I'd heard he'd had an offer from the Yankees. I guess I wouldn't have minded it if they'd got him but it seems to me the bullpen is pretty well set. It's another starting pitcher they need.

[The Schofield Kid]

Naw. Walks too many people.

(Grant Ball Four ... get it? )

Yes, you've mentioned that once or twice before.

[KC]

He does have the WORST name for a pitcher, ever!

[KC]

About time to bump this thread. Opening Day is Thursday!

Anyone got any predictions for the 2011 season?

[Richard Earl]

The Texas Rangers swept The Red Sox! 3- 0 so far!

[KC]

Good for the Rangers! Here's hoping they can sweep the Sox every time!

[Richard Earl]

Texas Rangers 6-0!

[KC]

And the Red Sox and Rays 0-5!

Darn it, Yankees should be 4-1. But they lost in most ridiculous fashion last night (and got rained out today), so they're 3-2.

[Richard Earl]

And the Red Sox and Rays 0-5!

Darn it, Yankees should be 4-1. But they lost in most ridiculous fashion last night (and got rained out today), so they're 3-2.

Do not worry KC! Never count out The Yankees!

[The Schofield Kid]

A question in the today's quiz in the paper has me puzzled. The answer must be a mistake.

Q: What was the original name of the New York Yankees?

A: Baltimore Orioles

Is this right? 

[KC]

Yes, sort of. Here's how Wikipedia explains the origins of the current New York American League franchise, known as the Yankees:

Origins: the Baltimore era (1901–1902)

At the end of 1900, Western League president Ban Johnson reorganized the league, adding teams in three Eastern cities, which formed the American League. Plans to put a team in New York City were blocked by the National League's New York Giants, who had enough political power to keep the AL out. Instead, a team was put in Baltimore, Maryland, a city which had been abandoned when the NL contracted from 12 to 8 teams in 1900.

Nicknamed the Orioles, the team began playing in 1901, and were managed and owned in part by John McGraw. During the 1902 season, McGraw feuded with Johnson, and secretly jumped to the Giants. In the middle of the season, the Giants, aided and abetted by McGraw, gained controlling interest of the Orioles and began raiding it for players, until the AL stepped in and took control of the team. In January 1903, a "peace conference" was held between the two leagues to settle disputes and try to coexist. At the conference, Johnson requested that an AL team be put in New York, to play alongside the NL Giants.[10] It was put to a vote, and 15 of the 16 Major League owners agreed on it, with the only opponent being John T. Brush of the Giants. As a result, the NL agreed to let the "junior circuit" establish a franchise in New York. The Orioles' new owners, Frank J. Farrell and William S. Devery, found a ballpark location not blocked by the Giants, and Baltimore's team moved to New York.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankees

Or, as Baseball Almanac puts it more succinctly:

New York Yankees

They began modestly enough as the New York Highlanders in 1903, owned by a couple of New York bartenders who laid out $18,000 to buy the Baltimore franchise and bring it north.

http://baseball-almanac.com/teams/yank.shtml

They weren't called the Yankees officially until 1913. According to another site cited by Wikipedia (Sports E-cyclopedia), the nickname came about because they were New York's American League team. The Brits call Americans Yanks or Yankees, so newspaper writers began using it because it was shorter than "Highlanders."

The origins of the current Baltimore franchise also go back to the founding of the American League,  but it began in Milwaukee and moved to St. Louis, not arriving in Baltimore until 1954, when it took the name of the Orioles that the Yankees had abandoned a half century previously.

The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers before moving to St. Louis to become the St. Louis Browns.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_Orioles

[The Schofield Kid]

Well there you go. I felt for sure it was an error. Thanks KC.

[KC]

There's another Baltimore-Yankees connection ... the most famous Yankee, Babe Ruth, was born in Baltimore, as I'm reminded by the following:

abe Ruth’s bat on display this weekend

Fans traveling to Baltimore for the Yankees’ series with the Orioles this weekend will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hold a piece of history during their visit. Throughout the weekend, Babe Ruth’s 1927 record-setting homerun bat will be on display at the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum. This bat is kept in the archives and is not usually on public display.

Ruth was born in Baltimore on February 6, 1895 in the row house (216 Emory Street) located around the corner from Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The house opened as a national shrine to Ruth in 1974. Exhibits depicting the historic home and Babe’s life & times were installed under his family. Among the unique artifacts/mementos in the Museum are Ruth’s 1914 rookie card, the bat given to Ruth by Shoeless Joe Jackson and Ruth’s first known autograph.

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2011/04/21/a-logo-and-a-lawsuit-plus-some-other-notes/

[The Schofield Kid]

It is a small world. Aussie baseballer Grant Balfour that I posted about above, his mother is the cousin to the wife of one of the guys at golf that I play with.

Thought you'd like to know that bit of useless info.

Now back to the game. Are the Yankees in a slump? Everytime I looked in the paper at the scores the last few days they have not won!!

[KC]

The Yankees have now won two in a row. But just before that, they were swept at home (in a three-game series) by their bitterest rivals, the Boston Red Sox, who clearly never intend to lose again and are now leading the division by two games.

And speaking of Grant Balfour, the Yankees are in desperate need of bullpen help, having lost several arms to injury this season. It's assumed their general manager is working the phones in an effort to acquire someone ... and one of the names I've heard bandied about is that of the Aussie hurler (currently toiling for the cellar dwelling Oakland A's). But, we shall see.

[KC]

I'm watching the replay of the Old Timers Day game the Yankees had today before their regular game. And they mentioned that one of the oldtimers, Pat Kelly, had come all the way from Australia, where he's apparently working for Australian baseball in a couple of posts.

When he was active as a player, he played for a team called the Brisbane Bandits in the 1992 Australian Baseball League season.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Kelly_%28infielder%29

[The Schofield Kid]

Was just channel surfing and came across the Brewers/Yankees game and the Yankees hit a home run but the ball didn't clear the fence. It bounced back into the mitt of a Brewer's fielder, but was still called a home run. How come?