Joe Pos & Bill James riff on: Hype

It's not a typical* Posnanski article, but it's a fun read about players who have come up thru MLB with immense amounts of hype, including the newest hypester, Matt Wieters. A good read all around.

Bill: Still trying to define Hype. There is:
1) The legitimate excitement about a player that builds on his skills and his potential.
and
2) Hype, which is built not on the player's skills or his potential but on the excitement about them.

* By not typical, I mean no Posterisks, readable in one sitting, only one reference to his latest book project. I keed, I keed!

Quick shots on the HOF

Now that the nation's long nightmare appears to be over with Jim Rice being elected, we can look at those still on the ballot and a peek at those coming. I'm not a major HOF ranting guy --I just find ranting about who gets into a museum out of my scope-- so I will defer to those who do a far better job than I ever could.

On XM #175 this morning, they were discussing the four-some of Rice, Dave Parker, Dale Murphy and Andre Dawson. Joel Sherman (granted a NY-based writer) believes that Rice was the 4th best overall player of this group. Very interesting. He left Tim Raines out since the other four were power OF, not lead-off guys. I think Rock deserves a closer look and a boatload more votes than he got yesterday. Rice getting into the HOF because your peers refered to you as "the most feared" hitter of his day doesn't do it for me. Sorry. This has nothing --I repeat: NOTHING-- to do with his career-long team. But what makes Rice that much "better" than his peers?

I get it that Kirby Puckett carried his team to two WS titles and Mattingly only got to the playoffs once, and that might be the reason why Kirby's in and Donnie's out. Both had their careers cut short due to injury/disease. And I'm not clamoring for Donnie to get it, but I understand why he's not there.

A couple of things from Joe Posnanski:

Greg Maddux. That’s my next choice for unanimous. I simply cannot imagine how ANYONE will be able to vote against Greg Maddux. He has the core accomplishments — 355 wins, four Cy Young awards, 3,371 strikeouts, a terrific (for his time) 3.16 ERA. He has the intangibles — everyone loves what Maddux represented on the mound, and he seems utterly unblemished by scandal (with Maddux there never even seemed a motive for him to use steroids). His Hall of Fame call is five years away, but I’m already making the prediction: Greg Maddux will finish with the highest percentage in baseball history. And he has a shot at unanimous — I say he gets within five votes of unanimous.
[...]
[Robbie] Alomar is a 10-time Gold Glove second baseman with a .300 lifetime batting average — he scored a monstrous 193.5 on the Hall of Fame Monitor (100 is a likely Hall of Famer). I’m not saying these are the numbers that make him Hall of Fame worthy — you know how about I feel about Gold Gloves and batting average. Alomar has all sorts of great statistics. No, what I’m saying is … there’s no way a 10-time Gold Glove second baseman who hit .300 for his career is not a slam-dunk Hall of Famer.
[...]
So, let me kickoff the new “Project Shutout” by putting it this way:

Bert Blyleven has more shutouts than Bob Gibson. He has more shutouts than Juan Marichal. He has more shutouts than Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson — a lot more than either of them. He has more shutouts than Jim Palmer, Gaylord Perry, Fergie Jenkins or Robin Roberts. He, of course, has more shutouts than Koufax, who had his career shortened, and he has more shutouts than Phil Niekro who pitched forever. He has more shutouts than Three Finger Brown, more than Five Finger And Some Sandpaper Don Sutton, more than Early Wynn, who threw at batter’s fingers.

Bert Blyleven has more shutouts than Lefty Grove, Lefty Gomez, Lefty Hoerst, Lefty Tyler, lefty Hopper, Lefty Williams, Lefty Stewart and any other pitcher named Lefty including Steve Carlton, who was nicknamed Lefty.

Bert Blyleven has more shutouts than Bob Lemon and Jack Morris combined.

Bert Blyleven has more shutouts than Greg Maddux and Mike Mussina combined.

Bert Blyleven has more shutouts than Whitey Ford and Don Gullett combined.

Bert Blyleven has more shutouts than Bob Feller PLUS Roy Halladay.

Bert Blyleven has more shutouts than Tom Glavine PLUS John Smoltz and you could throw Babe Ruth’s 18 shutouts on top of that and still not get there.

Bert Blyleven has more shutouts than Curt Schilling PLUS Pedro Martinez PLUS Johnny Sain PLUS Two Days of Rain PLUS Roy Oswalt.

Bert Blyleven had more shutouts in 1973 than Johan Santana has in his career.

Let’s put it this way: Since 1920 — the beginning of the lively ball era — Bert Blyleven ranks fourth in shutouts. Only Warren Spahn, Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver have thrown more shutouts. Spahn has three more. Ryan and Seaver each have one more. They are all in the Hall of Fame, first-ballot, never a doubt. I’m just not sure what we are waiting for.

Don’t make me do this same exercise with strikeouts. Because I will.

Resistance is futile

I've tried to keep away from the Farnsworth signing, but I just couldn't resist after reading this:

Removing situation from the equation, Farnsworth would have contributed less to the Royals bullpen last year than Jimmy Gobble. I wasn't sure that was possible.
.....
Who am I kidding? This is a bad contract for a below average pitcher. This is not how the Royals should build their bullpen.

Good luck, Royals fans.


UPDATE (12/12/08, 10:20am): Just getting thru Pos' latest manifesto and he touches on the Farnsworth deal and well, I just couldn't resist. It's futile.

I do not at all like the Kansas City Royals signing of reliever Kyle Farnsworth. I do not like it in a house. I do not like it with a mouse. I do not like it for two-years, $9.25 million, but I would not like it if it was two-years, 17 bucks and a box of Ho Hos. Royals general manager Dayton Moore asked me what I thought about it, and I told HIM I do not like it. Not that he should care about that.

But I do not like it, do … not … like … it. I do not like it because Farnsworth hasn’t even been league average the last three years. I do not like it because he throws a million miles an hour and can’t get people out. I do not like it because he once slammed reliever Jeremy Affeldt to the turf during a brawl and later could not even explain why. I do not like it because I would NEVER go out and spend $4-plus million on a volatile seventh or eighth inning reliever. I’m hoping that I am making myself clear here — I DO NOT LIKE THIS SIGNING.

Don't be THAT guy, Joe

Joe Pos asks the question: Should a grown man wear a sports jersey with your name on the back?

Answer: Never. Ever. Never.

(and Joe, I'd pay you for the Brewers jersey, if you first signed it then donated my "price" to the American Cancer Society!)

Pos likes bread. Good bread. Really good bread.

What this has to do with baseball or sports in general, I'm not sure. What I am sure of is that I was somehow completely mesmerized by the typical meanderings that only come with a Joe Pos-hosted blog that I felt compelled to push you his way. If you've ever been uncomfortable in a meeting or party, you know from where Joe's speaking.

Just read it.

And remember, “Get yourself a private plane”

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

Joe Posnanski, over at his newish SI.com digs, dishes on a new way of looking at relievers, using Bill James' work as a basis. You should go have a read because, well, most things from Joe Pos are worth reading (even if they are less Pos-like than his blog).

But, to quote The Who: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss:

Here goes nothing: these were the best closers in 2008 (20 or more save opportunities):

1. Mariano Rivera, Yankees
...I'm fascinated by the guy's ability to get people out for a decade and more with, essentially, one pitch. Plus, I have this theory that I'm working on that Rivera has been even more valuable than his reputation, but for a very odd reason.
......
See, we all know that nothing sucks the life out of a fan base more than the local heroes blowing a late lead. I don't know if it has a measurable effect on the team -- I haven't studied it -- but it definitely seems to have an effect on the general atmosphere, the energy level, the manager's enthusiasm, the talk radio tenor and so on. These things are multiplied in New York. And basically, in the case of Mariano, one guy has more or less eliminated that negativity from the equation.

Yep, Mo is still #1. Sure K-Rod got more opportunities and is ridiculously expressive/silly-looking. Papelbon's an animal and, to me, the heir apparent to Mo's throne. But Mo still holds court. For that, I am thankful!

The genius of Manny

Joe Posnanski has a fun article on Manny. In typical Joe Pos form, though muted more on SI.com, he weaves a great story about Manny and his ability to hit at a level that has other pros shaking their heads.

He has a number of quotes from baseball insiders attesting to the genius that is Manny:

"When it comes to hitting, the guy's mind works on a whole other level," [Allard Baird, a longtime baseball scout and executive (and Boston Red Sox advisor)] says.
......
"You can't judge Manny like you judge anybody else," says one former big league manager. "Again and again, he will make you wonder if it's worth it. But then you will watch him hit, and you will remember: 'Yeah, it is.'"

Say what you will about the way he weaseled his way out of Boston, the man is flat out destroying the NL.

Jeter vs. Rose

I like Joe Posnanski as much as the next seamhead, particularly his wandering, meandering longer rambles. Here's one of his that debated Rose vs. Jeter, chock full of chunky stats and creamy goodness.

Have at it.

More Pat Jordan

Following my posting (Productivity buster alert) that featured the Pat Jordan article about Canseco, I found a great roundtable discussion featuring Yanks fan/blogger/author Alex Belth and Jordan. Belth has a book coming out featuring Jordan's best works over his career: The Best Sports Writing of Pat Jordan.

Here's a snippet of the roundtable:

[Interviewer]: Let me start off with you, Alex. On the surface, you and Pat have nothing in common other than your love of baseball and writing. Now that is not insignificant by any means. But, my goodness, how in the heck did a new school, soon-to-be 37-year-old liberal New York Yankees fan and resident of the Bronx hook up on a book with an old school, 67-year-old conservative former minor league pitcher-turned-baseball author from the paradise known as Ft. Lauderdale?

Alex: First, I try to avoid talking politics, not only with Pat but with just about everyone else, you included. So that cuts through our differences to start. Actually, when I started my blog, I wanted to run long interviews with sports writers. I thought it would be a great way to drum up some attention for the site. I had read both of Pat's memoirs and loved them, so he was on my short list of guys to contact. And when I called him out of the blue, he sounded happy to hear from me and was more than willing to be candid. Now that I know him, he always sounds miserable to hear from me. Where did I go wrong?

Pat: Actually, Alex was thrilled I was still alive when he called. So was I. He said he wanted to interview me for his blog. I said no problem. What the fuck's a blog? I figured what harm could it do. Blogs, Internet. What do I know? I write on a typewriter. Besides, Alex was one of the few people who read any of my books, and seemed to like them...I must admit for the right reasons. It's always nice when people know what you tried to do in your books. Alex is my ideal reader. If he doesn't like something, I have to think three times about it. Most of the times he's right. Sometimes not, but he has a better batting average than anyone on the Yankees right now. As for his politics, I'm waiting for him to grow up and become a Republican. I bought a new gun just for him.

So I emailed Alex afterwards, commenting about his blog, his work, Jordan and to introduce him to my site here.

Alex was kind enough to send the following back, more links to more Pat Jordan:

Pat's three round curse a thon at Pos:

• http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2008/04/18/not-especially-safe-for-work-or-anywhere-else/
• http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2008/04/20/jordan-leads-swear-off-whos-the-better-bowler/
• http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2008/04/21/all-hail-patty-the-king-of-them-all-yall/

Pat's interview on Playboy's blog:

• http://www.playboy.com/blog/2008/04/pitch-and-catch-with-pat-jordan.html#more

Thanks to Alex for the links. Also, Alex's Bronx Banter blog has been added to the blogroll to the left.