Tuesday December 2, 2003

MOVIE REVIEWS

NFL “EXPERT” PICKS

Before starting today’s posting, I would encourage everyone to head to Rich’s Weekend Baseball Beat to read a wonderful interview with baseball injury guru Will Carroll.

Also, David over at the D-Rays Blog needs your help. With the Yankees signing Gary Sheffield, what do the Rays do now? Who do they go after? Stop by his site and send him your thoughts!

For thoughts on the Richie Sexson trade, please check back to my thoughts from yesterday.

And, just one more thing.  I'd like to wish a Happy 22nd Birthday to Ms. Britney Spears!

HALL OF FAME BALLOT -

THE FIRST TIMERS

Be sure to read my thoughts from my visit to Cooperstown here.

To be eligible for Hall of Fame Induction, a player must be retired for five years. He must have played in at least 10 major league seasons. Here are the newly eligible players on this year’s Hall of Fame ballot. The Baseball Writers will take their ballots and determine which players they believe should be Hall of Famers. Each voter can vote for up to 10 players. Tomorrow, I will look at those players who are returning to the ballot. Today, I will discuss the players on the ballot for the first time. So, let’s start with the man who ended the 1993 World Series with a home run for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Joe Carter - Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, San Francisco Giants

Joe Carter came up with the Cubs briefly in 1986. Once he was traded to the Indians, his career took off. Never a contact hitter, Carter struck out a lot. However, he also hit a lot of home runs and really had a knack for driving in runs. Baseball Refence says that his most similar player match is Dale Murphy. Carter played on the back-to-back World Series Championship Toronto Blue Jay teams in 1992 and 1993.

I always liked Joe Carter as a player. When he came up, good things generally happened. His numbers are very strong, except for that batting average. I think Tony Perez is in the Hall of Fame because he drove in a lot of runs. Do I think Joe Carter is a Hall of Famer? Not at all. His 104 Adjusted OPS says that he was barely an above average player for his career. But that doesn’t mean that over a period of time he wasn’t a great player, because he was. He also had the personality that fans loved.

Danny Darwin - Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox, San Francisco Giants

Darwin played in the big leagues from 1978-1998. An All-Star in 1993, he went 15-11. In 1990, he had a career best 2.21 ERA.

Doug Drabek - New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros, Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles

Spent 1986-1998 in the major leagues. His best season was 1990 when he went 22-6 with a 2.76 ERA for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was also an All-Star in 1994.

Dennis Eckersley - Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Oakland A’s, St. Louis Cardinals

Dennis Eckersley’s Hall of Fame criteria may be the most confusing to voters in a long time, if not ever. He began his career as a starting pitcher in 1975. He was a starter for 12 years, and a good one, compiling a 151-128 record. In 1978, he won 20 games. In 1987, he made the move to the bullpen and pitched through the 1998 season, with a record of 46-43 with 390 saves (which is third place on the All-Time list). Eck played in 6 All-Star games. He pitched in three consecutive World Series with the Oakland A’s from 1988-1990, winning in 1989. Four times he finished in the Top 6 in MVP voting. In 1992, he won both the Cy Young Award and the MVP Award.

Jim Eisenreich - Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, Philadelphia Phillies, Florida Marlins, Los Angeles Dodgers

I listed Jim Eisenrich as the fifth best Minnesota-Born hitter back in June. He finished behind Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor, Kent Hrbek and Roger Maris, four very good players. Although never a star, I would consider Jim Eisenreich a very professional hitter who frequently came off the bench and put together solid at bats. His hitting approach was almost the mirror image of Molitors; very still and with very quiet hands. Eisenreich played on the 1993 World Series losing Philadelphia Phillies team and finally won a ring with the 1997 Florida Marlins.

Cecil Fielder - Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Anaheim Angels, Cleveland Indians

Debuted with the Blue Jays in 1985, he played very average through the 1988 season. He spent the 1989 season with the Hanshin Tigers in Japan. He came back to the USA and to the Detroit Tigers in 1990 and was a different player. He became a feared power hitter. He finished second in MVP voting in both 1990 and 1991. He was a three time All-Star and won a World Series ring with the 1996 New York Yankees.

Jimmy Key - Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles

I think Jimmy Key was vastly underrated for his career. Look at his career record, he won 61% of his decisions. He had a solid ERA. He was a four-time All-Star. He finished in the top 4 in Cy Young voting three times, twice coming in second. He also won two World Series rings, first with the 1992 Toronto Blue Jays and then with the 1996 New York Yankees. I would probably compare him favorably to Jamie Moyer.

Dennis Martinez - Baltimore Orioles, Montreal Expos, Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners, Atlanta Braves

El Presidente is the all-time leader in wins among Latin-born players. He played in 4 All-Star games. Never a great pitcher, he was always very solid. You could tell that he just enjoyed pitching and enjoyed the game. That became especially apparent when he almost refused to retire at the end of his career and moved to the bullpen. Martinez played in, but his teams lost, two World Series (1979 Pirates, 1995 Indians). Twins fans probably remember him most for hitting Kirby Puckett in the eye, which became Puckett’s final at bat in a big league game.

Kevin Mitchell - New York Mets, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Oakland A’s

Kevin Mitchell was an interesting character. He had the gold tooth. He made the barehanded catch in left field. He was a problem in a number of clubhouses and has even been moreso as a manager for a couple of independent league teams since his retirement. That said, he had a pretty solid career. When he was on, he was one of the best players in baseball. Look at his adjusted OPS. That number surprised me! He was a two time All-Star. He beat teammate Will Clark for the 1989 NL MVP with a .291, 47 HR, 125 season. He won a World Series ring with the 1986 Mets. He also starred in the 1989 World Series for the Giants.

Paul Molitor - Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays, Minnesota Twins

St. Paul’s Paul Molitor finished second in my analysis of the best Minnesota-Born Hitters behind only Hall of Famer Dave Winfield. Molitor was the 1993 World Series MVP. 7 All-Star appearances, 11 Top 10 finishes in batting average. Molitor should be an easy first-ballot choice. The lone argument against Molitor is that he racked up a lot of his numbers as a DH. But he’s 9^th on the All-Time Hits list. Here are the Top 10:

1.        Pete Rose 4,256

2.        Ty Cobb 4,189

3.        Hank Aaron 3,771

4.        Stan Musial 3,630

5.        Tris Speaker 3,514

6.        Carl Yastrzemski 3,419

7.        Cap Anson 3,418

8.        Honus Wagner 3,415

9.        Paul Molitor 3,319

10.     Eddie Collins 3,315

The only player on that list that is not in the Hall of Fame, other than Paul Molitor, is Pete Rose, who should never be allowed into the Hall of Fame. 3,000 hits is a magic number when it comes to the Hall of Fame.
How about another list to show that Paul Molitor is a sure-fire Hall of Famer? Here are the ten most similar players to Molitor according to Baseball Reference:

1.        Robin Yount

2.        George Brett

3.        Paul Waner

4.        Roberto Clemente

5.        Vada Pinson

6.       Lou Brock

7.        Al Oliver

8.        Al Kaline

9.        Goose Goslin

Of that list, only Vada Pinson, Al Oliver and Tony Gwynn are not in the Hall of Fame, and Gwynn will be in a couple of years.

Randy Myers - New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays

Along with Rob Dibble and Norm Charlton, Randy Myers was the best of the “Nasty Boys”, the early ‘90s Cincinatti Reds bullpen. That team won the 1990 World Series. Myers only other World Series appearance was in his final season, 1998, with the San Diego Padres. A four-time All-Star, Myers ranks 6^th on the All-Time Saves list with 347.

Terry Pendleton - St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Florida Marlins, Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals

Terry Pendleton was 0-5 in World Series appearances. He lost with the Cardinals in 1985 and 1987, then with the Atlanta Braves in 1991, 1992 and 1996. He barely beat out Barry Bonds for the 1991 NL MVP and finished second to Bonds in 1992 for the same award. Pendleton won 3 Gold Gloves at 3B.

Juan Samuel - Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Toronto Blue Jays

Juan Samuel stole a lot of bases. He also struck out a lot for a middle infielder. His first four full seasons in the big leagues, Samuel led the league in strikeouts. If only he could have put the bat on the ball more frequently, maybe he could have been really good. But still, he lasted 16 big league seasons. He actually played in three All-Star games. His lone World Series appearance was one at bat in the 1983 Series.

Dave Stieb - Toronto, Chicago White Sox

Dave Stieb would have been on this list five years ago, but he decided to make a comeback (for some reason). But Stieb was a very good starting pitcher winning a lot of games and keep his ERA fairly low.  He played in 7 All-Star games. His career essentially was over in 1983, but his 1998 comeback with the Blue Jays at the age of 40 resulted in a 1-2, 4.83 ERA season out of their bullpen.

Bob Tewksbury - New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres, Minnesota Twins

Bob Tewksbury is known for one thing, control. An extreme control pitcher, you can see that in his career he averaged less than 1.5 walks per 9 innings. Nine times he had less than 25 walks for an entire season. Because of that, he was able to eat up a lot of innings for his teams. Of course, he was hit and his record was barely above .500.

SUMMARY

First, I have to point out that all of these players were very good ball players, and even very good major league baseball players. You don’t make the major leagues without being good, and you certainly don’t stay in the league for more than a decade, if you’re not good. That said, the Hall of Fame is for the best of the best. I am going to list these 15 players in order of what percent of the vote I think they will get. Remember, to get elected into the Hall of Fame, a player needs to receive 75% of the vote:

1.)     Paul Molitor - 88%

2.)     Dennis Eckersley - 77%

3.)     Joe Carter - 32%

4.)     Dave Stieb, Jimmy Key, Dennis Martinez - 4%

5.)     Cecil Fielder, Kevin Mitchell - 3%

6.)     Randy Myers - 2%

7.)     Doug Drabek, Danny Darwin, Bob Tewksbury, Jim Eisenreich, Terry Pendleton, Juan Samuel - 0%

If I am right, I think that Paul Molitor and Dennis Eckersley will be elected to the Hall of Fame. I think that Joe Carter will get a solid vote, but not enough to be elected. I don’t think that any of the others will reach the 5% necessary to remain on the ballot.

Well, that’s it for today. I have voted for two players for Hall of Fame induction. Tomorrow, I will go through the other players who are on the ballot again and cast my votes for any of them I feel should be in Cooperstown.

Do you agree? Am I missing something? E-mail me and let me know what you think.
 

MOVIE REVIEWS

OK, I have seen a couple of movies since the last time I did any reviews, so I should get caught up.

Finding Nemo - I guess I am a fan of the animated movies. I think this movie is hilarious. I found myself laughing out loud frequently. Essentially Nemo is taken by a deep sea diver who takes him back to his dentist office in Sydney, Australia. The dad, Marlin, sets off across the ocean. He runs into Dory, a fish who struggles with amnesia. Ellen DeGeneres is the voice and the character is great! There are so many funny parts to the movie, yet it is something that can be watched by anybody of any age. My favorite characters are the seagulls who claim “everything” and the sea turtles.

Bruce Almighty - A great movie for Jim Carrey who plays Bruce. He gets back to some physical comedy that made him famous. I actually found myself thinking that he may have even gone overboard with the physical actions, but that just works with him. Morgan Freeman plays God and he decides to go on a vacation for a while. Bruce, a guy for whom nothing seems to go right, is so upset with God that he screams at him. So God answers and gives Bruce the job of God. Now, there is my lone problem with the movie. No matter what else is going on in your life, if you’re dating and living with a character portrayed by Jennifer Aniston, your life isn’t so bad! Aniston plays Bruce’s girlfriend who is such a great person, always looking out for others. Bruce gets his powers and uses them all to his own benefit, rather than thinking about others. So, you can see, there is the moral of the movie. But it isn’t a preachy movie by any means. It’s just a fun comedy that I think everyone can enjoy. I would definitely recommend it.

Elf -  And finally, my sister Heather and I went to a Saturday matinee of Elf. I thought it was a great movie. I’m sure many may not have liked it, but if you knew the kind of movie you were going into, you probably would like it. I mean, Will Ferrell plays a human (Buddy) who lives on the North Pole among elves until he finds out he is, in fact, human. He finds out about his dad in New York City who is on the “Naughty List”. It’s not a serious movie at all, but in the end it does have a good Christmas story to it. But it’s classic Will Farrell. If you’ve seen and enjoyed Old School or Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, or any of his skits on Saturday Night Live, you’ll enjoy this movie. And, for the record, we really like Zooey Deschanel .

NFL “EXPERT” PICKS

Here are the updated standings in our Football Picks. With the Jets win over the Titans, Ben Jacobs tied Aaron Gleeman for the overall lead, with Mike Brasel lurking one game behind. Four weeks to go, should be fun!

 
OK, that’s it for today. If you have any questions or comments on my Hall of Fame votes or thoughts, please send me an e-mail and let me know what you think. Tomorrow, I will vote for those who have been on the ballot before. Have a great Tuesday!

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