Wednesday January 7, 2004
 

TWINS THOUGHTS

WOLVES BEAT LAKERS

TV THOUGHTS (REALITY SCHEDULE)

SOME HALL OF FAME ANALYSIS

We found out in an announcement yesterday afternoon that Paul Molitor and Dennis Eckersley would be inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame. Neither was really surprising; Paul Molitor received 85.2% of the vote while Dennis Eckersley received 83.2%. Here is the complete breakdown of the vote. Remember that there were 506 votes, so a player needed 380 votes for induction.

Here are just some random notes from these numbers:

1.)     The Bert Blyleven percentage jumped from 29.2% last year to 35.4%. That’s a fairly significant jump. I think over the next year or two, we need to really sing the praises of Bert Blyleven (although, we shouldn’t have to as his numbers speak for themselves) and see if we can’t encourage the Baseball Writers to vote for him. Be sure to stop by Rich Lederer’s site and thank him for his efforts!

2.)     Blyleven’s 6.2% increase from last year to this year was the second biggest improvement. Ryne Sandberg jumped from 49.9% to 61.1%, up 11.9%. I would expect that he will go into the Hall of Fame next year, along with Wade Boggs. Bruce Sutter jumped 5.9% (Estimated induction, 2006).

3.)     The biggest decrease came from Lee Smith who dropped 5.7% from last year. Steve Garvey and Dale Murphy both dropped more than 3%. Murphy is getting eerily close to dropping off the ballot.

4.)     Keith Hernandez and Fernando Valenzuela both fell below 5% and will no longer be on the ballot.

5.)     Paul Molitor and Dennis Eckersley both were elected in their first year on the ballot. However, all of the other 13 on the ballot for the first-time received less than the necessary 5% to remain on the ballot. The biggest surprise to me was Joe Carter. I figured he would get at least 20% of the vote, yet received just 3.8%.

6.)     Relief pitchers - there is much debate over who should be in. I think that Eckersley, Gossage and Smith all should be elected before Bruce Sutter. However, check out the numbers, Gossage and Smith actually got a smaller percentage, while Sutter got even closer to enshrinement.

7.)     There is a lot of questioning of the voters when players such as Juan Samuel, Doug Drabek and Jim Eisenrich receive votes. Personally, I don’t have any problem with a voter using a vote on these guys. We all know that they won’t get elected, much less even get 5% of the vote. So I think that honoring a player by giving them just one vote is all right by me.

Check out Baseball Musings for his thoughts on why Paul Molitor should be a 2^nd-ballot electee, instead of getting in on the first-ballot. Interesting note.

What do you think of the Hall of Fame vote? Were the two that were elected the right choices? Who else should make it? Will they? Any thoughts? E-mail me.
 

TWINS THOUGHTS

The Twins Official website has pictures of a possible new stadium with a retractable roof. It really would be great if the Twins would get it!

Secondly, I would encourage Twins fans to drop by Al’s Ramblings where Al presents his all-RUTT team. The criteria for inclusion is: players must be 29 or under, make under $1.65 million, and not be a probable starter for their team. Two Twins made his All-RUTT roster. OK, I’ll give you their names (Lew Ford, Michael Cuddyer), but be sure to check out Al’s thoughts on them and the rest of the roster.
 

WOLVES 106 - LAKERS 90

Of course, the big story of this game is that the Lakers played without the injured Shaquille O’Neal and Karl Malone. And that is very fair. Those two players account for 40+ points and 20+ rebounds a game. The Lakers do not have the depth to account for such big losses. I mean, Karl Malone would contend with Kevin Garnett. Slava Medvadenko and Horace Grant can’t. Obviously the Wolves, like every other team, don’t have an answer for Shaq. However, the Lakers still had Gary Payton and Kobe Bryant.

The Wolves really dominated throughout the entire game though. They got an early lead and increased it in each quarter. The Lakers would cut the lead to 10 from time-to-time, but each time, the Wolves had the answer, whether it was a jumper from Sprewell or Cassell or a big rebound from Garnett. A big three-pointer from Fred Hoiberg, or an offense rebound by Trenton Hassell. Everyone contributed. It was a great win for the Wolves.

That said, the Big 3 did carry the team again. Latrell Sprewell scored 30 points with 5 rebounds. Sam Cassell scored 26 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds. Kevin Garnett contributed 26 points with 18 rebounds and 6 assists. In 38 minutes, Trenton Hassell didn’t score a point, but had 7 assists. Playing against his old team, Mark Madsen took just one shot in 20 minutes, but scored 5 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. It was a good team effort.

Any thoughts on the Wolves? E-mail me.
 

TV THOUGHTS (REALITY SCHEDULE)

The Real World: San Diego looks like it is going to be great. Last night was the first episode and the seven new cast mates met each other. They pretty much got drunk the first night and trouble already started. Seeing previews of what is coming during this season, we saw at least two of them get arrested, and plenty of arguments. Tuesday nights - 9:00 central time on MTV (all times will be central)

By the way, I watched the premiere episode of Average Joe: Hawaii. Larissa is a former Miss USA contestant who thinks she is going to Hawaii to meet the man of her dreams. Well, she gets to meet 18 very average individuals. I love this show.  I was at home over the holidays and a relative asked me what my deal is with Reality TV, so I explained. They then told me that I would be perfect for a reality show. I was all excited and said, “You know, I would love to be on Survivor, or Big Brother, or The Amazing Race!” And, this relative responded with, “No, I think you would be great for Average Joe. Ha! Joke on me, but it was pretty funny. Mondays at 9:00 on NBC.

The Apprentice is the new reality show on NBC where contestants vie for a job under Donald Trump. It premieres on Thursday night after Friends. It’s normal night will then become Wednesday nights at 7 on NBC.

Meredith was dumped by Bachelor Bob, but starting next Wednesday (1/14) she will become the new Bachelorette. Wednesdays at 8 on ABC.

Celebrity Mole: Yucatan starts up tonight at 9 on ABC. This installment has a couple of returning contestants, Corbin Bernsen and Stephen Baldwin. New players are Mark Curry, Angie Everhart, Tracey Gold, Ananda Lewis Keshia Knight Pulliam and Dennis Rodman! How fun!

Tonight, The Simple Life returns to Fox with a new episode at 7:30.

And finally, the new American Idol will be premiering on Fox on Monday, January 19^th (with new episodes on the 20^th and 21^st).

Leave it to Fox to come up with possibly the most outrageous reality show of the year. Following the premiere of American Idol is the premiere of My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé. This show looks hilarious!

So, now we are all caught up on the Reality TV schedule. I hope this simplifies things.

There you have it. Those are all of my thoughts for today. If you have any questions or comments on anything, send me an e-mail.

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