FJM has gone dark for the foreseeable future. Sorry folks. We may post once in a while, but it's pretty much over.
You can still e-mail dak,Ken Tremendous,Junior,Matthew Murbles, or Coach.
He wrote this article about Raffy Palmeiro. I agree with the general sentiment -- that Palmeiro is a little bit slimy for ratting on Tejada. I would add, if I were reporting on the story, that Palmeiro was probably asked, under oath, about everything that he had injected into his body, and if he had injected Tejada's B-12 shot into his body, he should probably have told them about it. Whatever. The point is, here's how Celizic ends his article:
They say you don’t know a person’s true character until he faces adversity. Well, Palmiero has faced adversity, and he’s come up lacking in every way possible. Once known as a nice guy, he’s proved to be a rat and a slimeball, a guy who would try to smear an innocent teammate to save his own worthless butt.
Sing it, Mike! Now, take us home!
Get out of the game now, Raffy, and stay out. And good luck finding something to do with the rest of your life. I hear O.J. Simpson needs golf partners.
That, my friends, is the definition of hyperbole. Mike Celizic is equating, essentially, taking steroids and murdering two people. Congratulations, Mike. Stay tuned for next week's article, when he compares stealing signs to African genocide.
The impressive thing about Raffy is not that a lot of steroids gave him huge hitting numbers in any given year, rather that he was able to take modest amounts of steroids so consistently over the course of his career.
One thing about this story for which we can all be thankful is the massive amount of hilarious "performance enhancing drugs-Viagra" jokes that are flooding the internet right now.
Also, on a more serious note, I do not take back my pro-Raffy HOF arguments. Sure he was dumb enough to get caught, but come on. Everyone's on the juice, and he's put up better numbers than most.
Curious that Barry announces he's shutting it down for the season on the same day, though, no?
Frankly, I'm not sure I would wave Sosa in. His numbers jumps, physical appearance changes, and insane decline lead even the most naive cub reporter to conclude that he is juiced to the gills. Ditto McGwire. If I were a HOF voter, I think I would at the very least hold off on their first years of eligibility. Raffy, on the other hand, was dumb enough to stare people down and lie to them, under oath, in a new era where there was actually testing, and he got caught. History will not be kind fo McGwire and Sosa, but it will be unkinder still to Raffy, who made us all believe for a brief minute that some players in the Roid Era were actually clean. For this he gets no quarter from this non-HOF voter. And while I'm on the subject, can someone please, please tell me why no one is angry at Gary Sheffield, who publicly admitted to the exact same crime Bonds admitted to (the old "I didn't know what was in that stuff" defense), and who got off scott-free?
I have taken some shit, from both home and abroad, about the Elliot Kalb post below, in which I compare Japan to Chicago rec softball leagues. Perhaps that was a bit strident. But this is a blog, and where can one be strident if not in a blog?
The fact is, if one puts together one's list of the fifteen greatest first basemen, and one obnoxiously and purposefully does not include Rafael Palmeiro, but obnoxiously and purposefully does include a guy who played in another country, I am going to take issue with one.
I think it is fair to say that putting up Raffy's numbers against the hands-down best league in the world, featuring all the best international talent, is far more impresive (like, by a factor of five) than putting up silly numbers in Japan against only Japanese talent in a league where Bob Horner was revered as a megastar. Agreed?
Saying that Oh is the ninth best first baseman of all-time is insane. He hit 55 HR in 1964, which is the single-season record in Japan. Or, it was, until Tuffy Rhodes, who had a career OPS+ of 79 in MLB, tied it a few years ago.
Elliott Kalb, normally pretty rational, has this to say about Raffy Palmeiro's place on the Top 15 List of All-Time First Baseman: he's not on it. (I'm almost, but not quite, sick of this argument.) Here are some people who are on Kalb's 15:
9. Eddie Murray
Steady Eddie was similar to Palmeiro, only better. Murray led the major leagues in RBI in the 1980s. Murray had twice as many All-Star game appearances. Murray went to the World Series. Murray deserved his three Gold Gloves at first base.
Murray may have been better than Raffy. It's close. But the reasons for this are not, for the last fucking time, that Murray appeared in more all-star games, nor that he appeared in the World Series. How in the world can anyone, let alone, apparently, EVERYONE, keep using these things as measuring sticks?
11. Sadaharu Oh
Unlike the Negro Leaguers, Oh's numbers in Japan are well-documented. He swatted 868 home runs. He was the Japanese MVP nine times. His Giants won the pennant nine times between 1965-1973. He was a terrific fielding first baseman, who won the Japanese Gold Glove the first nine years it was awarded (1972-1980).
Interesting. Those are some big numbers. THAT HE PUT UP IN JAPAN. Japan. In the 60's and 70's. Are you seriously telling me that Sadaharu Oh belongs on this list above Rafael Palmeiro? There are probably some guys in Chicago softball leagues who have like 1500 career home runs. Let's put them on this list.
14. (Tie) Keith Hernandez and Don Mattingly
Hernandez was the best throwing first baseman I've ever seen. He had the ability to lead a team, as well. Mattingly had the flipside of Rafael Palmeiro's career. He had a short period where he was the best player in the game, but a back injury derailed his chance to accumulate big career numbers.
Right. And see, that's the thing -- Mattingly got injured, so he didn't have that great a career. This is not a list of potentially better first basemen, you dolt. I also think that saying that even at Mattingly's zenith he was "the best player in the game" is downright silly. And as for Keith Hernandez, he was a great fielder. His "ability to lead a team" is a soft plus. And Palmeiro absolutely blows him out of the water in every meaningful statistic you can find. Plus, Raffy is no slouch as a fielder. If you would seriously take Hernandez over Raffy, I will gladly let you have him. My all-time team will blow yours out of the water.
Here's how Kalb finishes up his argument:
If you want to argue that Musial was a left fielder, and Killebrew a third baseman; I can accept that. If you want to toss out Buck Leonard and Sadaharu Oh, I have more problems with that. Even without those four players, Palmeiro doesn't rank in the top 10. He's about even with Jeff Bagwell. And Albert Pujols is going to quickly eclipse some (many) of the names on this list.
'Who's on First?' Not Rafael Palmeiro. This is one time when 3,000 hits and 500 home runs are nothing to get excited about.
Even if Raffy is the eleventh best first baseman in history -- or, crazily, the sixteenth -- isn't that something to get excited about? And it's not 3,000 hits and 500 HR. It's 3,000 hits and 568 HR. And counting. If he plays next year he'll probably get to 3,150 and 600. Will people finally stop whining about him then?
Also, and this is shooting fish in a barrel now, you don't think 3000 hits and 500 (568) home runs are anything to get excited about? How abut 2182 and 162? That's what Keith Hernandez had. Does that excite you, dummy?
Finally, saying that Pujols is going to pass him is meaningless. Pujols is going to pass everyone.
(EDITED to add Hernandez's lifetime H and HR totals. And for you SABR purists, fear not, Raffy has him at every turn there, too, as you probably guessed.)
Murbles beat me to attacking Bayless's article, which should literally get him (Bayless, not Murbles) banned from sportswriting, but I have to chime in.
Bayless's argument is essentially that when approaching the question of whether or not a player belongs in the Hall, instead of using a combination of: (a) the numbers that a player generates, and (b) a healthy, well-reasoned debate about this player's abilities (compared with others' abilities) and the era in which he played, we should instead use the fool-proof, rock-solid HOF litmus test consisting of whether or not Skip Bayless's gut instinct is that this player is a Hall of Famer. That, and whether or not the millions of idiots who do things like vote David Bell as the starting third baseman for the AL decided to vote for Raffy more than whomever.
Someone explain that.
Can we stop with the all-star game bullshit? This is simply not a valid argument, in any way, shape or form? And how is it that the people who bitch that Raffy never started an all-star game so he shouldn't be in the hall are often the same idiots who complain that the voters are moronic for not voting in Derek Jeter? Either the voters are infallible geniuses whose thoughtful and incisive voting patterns should decide whether or not players receive immortality, or they are drunk USC frat guys who, after loading up on Bud right before the 7th inning stretch beer deadline at the Big A, realize that Adam Kennedy looks EXACTLY like their buddy Snooze from Delta Sig so they call their other buddy Todd "Shitface" Morgan and have him organize an all-night beer pong/on-line vote-a-thon to vote for Adam Kennedy for the All-Star Game and rack up 102,000 votes overnight and force him onto the team while more deserving players sit at home.
And yes, I know Adam Kennedy wasn't an all-star.
The point is, since when does the fan vote determine anything about how good a player was?
And, just because there happen to have been several future hall of famers playing first base at the same time Raffy played first base, does that mean Raffy shouldn't be a hall of famer too? And, I might add, since when did playing at an incredibly high level for 19 years become a BAD thing? Why does Bayless want to punish longevity and consistency?
On a side note, I think that there is a certain kind of sportswriter who really enjoys saying the words "It's not the 'Hall of Very Good.'" This is the sportswriter equivalent of the guy who still thinks it is funny and interesting to point out that none of the things that Alanis Morisette labels "ironic" in her song "Isn't It Ironic" is actually ironic.
Skip Bayless's article, which I highly recommend reading in full, contains not one single good shred of argument for why Rafael Palmeiro should be denied entrance to the Hall of Fame. Murbles has already covered the reasons why, but it needs to be said a thousand times until we actually get one of these people fired.
Didn't think this was worthy of its own post, but I just saw Ozzie Smith on Cold Pizza do a bracket elimination of the greatest shortstops playing today. In Ozzie Smith's opinion, Jeter doesn't make it out of the first round, losing to Omar Vizuel.
Ken and I have talked about this, but regardless...
In re: The "It's not the Hall of Very Good" argument. It's also not "the Hall of Awesome," "The Hall of the Excellent," "The Hall of the Best," or "The Hall of Whatever Is Substantially Better Than Very Good."
It's the Hall of Fame. They have their own guidelines for voting somebody in. And doing anything other than following those rules is ridiculous, especially if you're actually going to go ahead and point out what the Hall of Fame isn't.
Some idiot on "Cold Pizza" (the worst show on television, including "Girlfriends") argued tonight that Raffy Palmeiro shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame. Why not? Because he's never started an all-star game.
A thing that does not matter.
A thing that is determined by the opposite of logic -- namely, fan opinion.
Not voting for someone because he never started an all-star game is like not voting for a congressman because he was never voted "most likely to be a congressman" in high school.
Palmeiro will soon have 3000 hits. He has 563 HR. He is a model of consistency. His lifetime RC27 is almost 7 (higher than, among others, Dave Winfield and Willie Stargell), including one year over 10. Think he only achieved the stats because of his home parks? His career OPS+ is 132 (Eddie Murray 129, Yaz 130, Frank Robinson 139).
Baseball-reference.com lists the following 10 guys as the most similar through age 39:
Eddie Murray (898) * Frank Robinson (884) * Carl Yastrzemski (816) * Fred McGriff (812) Al Kaline (805) * Reggie Jackson (792) * Willie Mays (783) * Dave Winfield (755) * Mike Schmidt (736) * Andre Dawson (725)
I know that reasonable people may disagree on this, but in my opinion, he is a hall of famer. Maybe not very first ballot, but he is a hall of famer. To me, Fred McGriff is the borderline case (very similar RC27 and OPS+ to Raffy, not as good raw numbers), and Canseco is the "not a chance in hell" case, even before the steroids flap. Raffy is, to me, a pretty clear-cut "he's in" case.
Regardless, the point is, whether you think he's in or not, "he never started an all-star game" is a completely, utterly, thoroughly irrelevant and stupid and meaningless thing to bring up in the argument. Take that, "Cold Pizza."
"fame" (one measure of which might be all-star game starts) is not a criteria for induction into the hall of fame:
5. Voting — Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.
i found this other rule amusing:
6. Automatic Elections — No automatic elections based on performances such as a batting average of .400 or more for one (1) year, pitching a perfect game or similar outstanding achievement shall be permitted.
Totally unrelated to this post but worth mentioning-- Phil Mushnick in today's NY POST:
"Also, in the top of the inning, the Mets had Marlon Anderson at second, Ramon Castro at third, none out, when Jose Reyes grounded to short. Castro scored, Anderson held at second.
Joe Morgan then went into one of his Baseball World of Joe Morgan riffs, the ones that leave us to consider whether Morgan's world and the real world are worlds apart.
Morgan gave credit to Reyes for driving in the game's first run, then said Reyes should have done more; he should have allowed Anderson to get to third. "A better play would have been to hit the ball to the right side," Morgan said.
OK, but if Jose Reyes could hit Randy Johnson where he chose to hit Randy Johnson, Randy Johnson wouldn't be Randy Johnson and Jose Reyes wouldn't be batting .267.
While it stands to reason Reyes might have been pleased to have hit the ball anywhere, Morgan, as he often does, would have us believe that all batters can "take" all pitchers in any direction they choose."
Kruk says this on BBTN a lot also. I want to believe that, if Reyes's ball had found the hole, Morgan would still have chastised him for hitting a two-run single instead of making the smart play, namely taking a weak, defensive chop at the ball to push it directly at the second baseman, assuming he makes contact on Johnson at all. I still believe that a world exists in which Joe Morgan says this on the air, but then I am an idealist.
Oh, and the complete list of baseball players who have hit 500 home runs and have collected 3000 hits: Hank Aaron Willie Mays Eddie Murray
Individually, each of those figures used to mean automatic inclusion into the HOF. Soon, Palmeiro will have both. Ken, I implore you to stop watching "Cold Pizza" for many reasons, not limited to but including poor sports analysis.
I don;'t usually watch the show -- I was flipping by and saw a repeat. But, isn't poor sports analysis a fantastic reason to watch the show, considering how much of my time I devote to this blog? What do you want me to do instead? Read books, go to work, and spend time with my fiancee? Come on, dude.
