Dick Allen Finally voted into HOF OPV

I have been campaigning sometime now for my first White Sox hero, Dick Allen to get into the the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown. Last night he finallt got voted in. I'm sure I'll have some more posts to add in the coming days but for now here are three videos I've pulled off of You Tube to commemorate his big moment.

First up a career retrospective from MLB

 

Next: Local Chicago Newscast reporting Allen's induction

 

 Finally: Philadelphia news story yesterday.

Better Late Than Never: An Open Letter to the White Sox regarding the Legacy of Dick Allen

A lot can happen in 3 years.  3 years ago I started the below blog post and for whatever reason left it in draft status.  Earlier this month I saw this announcement on the Baseball Hall of Fame website.  Seeing that  Chicago White Sox legend Dick Allen was again being considered for enshrinement made me want to do something on his behalf.  Then, I remembered I already did, well at least I started.  A lot can happen in 3 years.  

Aside from correcting multiple grammar and spelling errors, the de-mothballed post is the same as when I started it three years ago. The only exception is that I have color-coded the first three paragraphs, put important statements in bold, and italicized the entire tome (Not Jim Tome; that's a Hall of Famer of a different spelling). The green indicates that the statements are still valid some 1100 days later. The red indicates they are not. I'll be back at the end to further my point.

Dear White Sox Organization: 

 First and foremost, I would like to wish you a joyous and happy holiday season. Secondly, I would like to congratulate you on the fine baseball season you just finished. It is truly an exciting time to be a White Sox fan. I have been a Sox fan going on 50 years. I can not emphasize enough how the accomplishments of one player brought me into the White Sox fan base.  A  player who sadly I don't think your organization has spent enough time heralding his accomplishments while on the South Side.  This player is no other than Dick Allen, The 1972 AL MVP in his first year for the White Sox.

There are two things I'd like to see the Sox organization do to honor Mr. Allen's legacy.  The first is to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his MVP season in 2022.  The impact of Dick Allen on the White Sox is legend.  He revitalized the team mobilized the fan base and squashed all the talk of moving the franchise from Chicago to Florida.  His homers at Old Comiskey Park especially those rooftop shots are why a 7-year-old boy raised to be a Cubs fan flipped allegiances and spent his days wanting to emulate his new heroes like Bill Melton, Wilbur Wood, Bucky Dent, Jorge Orta, and especially Allen himself.  

I hope you guys have something like this in mind because a celebration on the scale that I'm thinking should have been planned years in advance.  

Secondly, I would love to see the White Sox publicly champion the HOF candidacy for Mr. Allen.  In my opinion, Allen is the most deserving player in White Sox history for enshrinement in Cooperstown.  Actually, I believe he is the most deserving former player in the entire league who is not yet been voted in.  I was very happy when Minnie Minoso got in this year on the Golden Days Era Ballot..This may seem like blasphemy at 35th and Shields but I feel Allen is more deserving than Minoso for a spot in Cooperstown.  I understand that looking at the advanced metrics bears my thoughts out.  I was heartbroken when Allen missed out by 1 vote again this year.  He now has to wait 5 more years before his case can be reviewed again.

A lot of this heavy lifting needs to be done by Allen's first team the Phillies.  He played the brunt of his career there and I am glad to see that there is a greater acknowledgment of the racism he endured while in Philadelphia.  What I ask of the White Sox is that in the next 5 years, they begin stating Allen's case every time they have the opportunity.  There are still very many White Sox fans of my generation and the generation previous to mine who understand the impact Dick Allen had for the Southsiders in the early 70's.  I ask that the management of the Sox while continuing to look to the future and endeavoring to bring more pennants and World Series championships to their fan base also look back at the past especially the accomplishments of Allen and celebrate what he brought to the team and lobby for his accomplishments to be recognized and honored by the powers that be at Cooperstown and beyond.

A few years back Jerry Reinsdorf lobbied hard for the HOF candidacy of Harold Baines.   I have long been a proponent of Baine's inclusion in Cooperstown.  Reinsdorf did the right thing by helping make the case for Baines.  Reinsdorf had seen firsthand the impact of Baines on the White Sox and knew in his heart that Baines was HOF material.  Dick Allen was long gone when Reinsdorf became owner of the Sox.  Reinsdorf and the White Sox need to understand that although they did not experience it Allen's impact on the White Sox and on baseball in that era was actually far greater than the impact Baines had.  Baines had HOF teammates like Carlton Fisk and Frank Thomas.  

That is where I left things off in 2021

Dick Allen (Circa 1965)
Public Domain

Here in the present (11/23/24) Dick Allen is a candidate once again for the enshrinement in Cooperstown that eluded him in his lifetime.  Having missed out on the highest individual honor in baseball by only 1 vote in his last 2 elections, he again is considered a front-runner.  This year he is joined by Ken Boyer, John Donaldson, Steve Garvey, Vic Harris, Tommy John, Dave Harris, and Luis Tiant.  All these players are certainly worthy of consideration, and many deserve their own plaque in Cooperstown.  I would still argue that none of these players are more deserving than Allen.  

On December 8th a 16-member Hall of Fame Panel will convene at the Baseball Winter Meetings to decide if any of these players will make it for 2025.  Anyone receiving 12 votes or more from the committee will become a Hall of Famer.  Anyone who doesn't will have to wait until 2028 to even be considered to be a finalist again.  Dick Allen shouldn't have to wait that long.

He actually shouldn't have had to wait this long.  Allen was not the malcontent nor rabble-rouser that people portrayed him as.  He had been vindicated from most of that in his lifetime.  Some of it remains from the atmosphere of racism that followed his career and his BBWAA-era candidacy.  If you're not aware of Allen's experiences as the first professional black baseball player in then-segregated Little Rock, Arkansas while a Phillies farmhand in 1963, this article is a good place to start. Moving to Philadelphia in 1964 and having one of the greatest rookie seasons in MLB history, didn't stop the unfair treatment.  He wasn't allowed 548to go by his preferred name Dick but was relegated to becoming the diminutive Richie, a move which can only be construed now some 60 years later as a thinly veiled attempt to keep him in his place.  

His place is in the Hall of Fame. Yes, injuries shortened his career and certainly, he would have been helped by a longer body of work, but what a body of work.  The 7-time all-star, according to Baseball Musings, Day by Day database the 1964 Rookie of the Year and 1972 MVP in his first 6 seasons (1964-1969) was ranked 20th in at-bats. but ranked higher in 9 other offensive categories  including 5th in runs, 3rd in triples, 8th in both home runs and RBI, 9th in walks, 10th in batting average, and  1st in slugging percentage. Allen's slugging percentage was .555 in that 6-year time. Here is a list of the 10 fellows directly behind him.

Frank Robinson      .552   HOF

Willie McCovey      .551  HOF

Hank Aaron             .548  HOF

Willie Mays             .539  HOF

Harmon Killebrew   .535 HOF

Roberto Clemente    .511 HOF

Willie Stargell          .510 HOF

Reggie Jackson        .508 HOF

Carl Yaztrzemski     .507 HOF

Ron Santo                .505 HOF

This is just one example of Allen's on-field accomplishments putting him among the elite players of his generation.  Allen is also revered by many players who played alongside him.  One is Hall of Famer Allen's former White Sox teammate Rich Gossage.  I'm going to end this post with a quote from Gossage for a 2014 USA Today article about Allen and the Hall of Fame.  Goose puts it more eloquently than I ever could.  

"I've been around the game a long time,'' Hall of Fame pitcher Goose Gossage tells USA TODAY Sports, "and he's the greatest player I've ever seen play in my life. He had the most amazing season (1972) I've ever seen. He's the smartest baseball man I've ever been around in my life. "He taught me how to pitch from a hitter's perspective, and taught me how to play the game, and how to play the game right. There's no telling the numbers this guy could have put up if all he worried about was stats. "The guy belongs in the Hall of Fame.''

100 Days of Summer Reading 2024

Summer is right around the corner and it is time for me to endeavor once again to get into one of my favorite past times: Summer Reading.  My Summer reading season generally goes from Memorial Day (tomorrow) to Labor Day (which is September 2nd this year).  By starting today and ending Labor Day, the season is 100 days long.  

I want to read at least 10 books during this period.  That is an absolute minimum goal.  I think I would actually be disappointed if I only read 10 books this Summer.  That is basically only one  book every week and a half.  I really have my eyes set on twenty, Which is 1 book every five days for a fortnight of weeks.  

Now when I say read, I really mean consume.  I may listen to some, and read some on a device, but the majority will be physical books which I will read from the printed page.  There are some books that I am in the middle of reading, if and when I finish them this Summer I will count them.  There are some reading programs that do not allow this,  but mine is not one of them.  To keep myself honest each year, I don't start reading any books the week prior to Memorial Day.  I've been so busy lately, that I don't think I've read any books for the last two weeks,  

My lack of recent reading could become problematic as I am out of habit.  Over the next few days I hope to remedy that by jumping back into the waters of reading.

Here is a list of 10 books that may be some of the first I finish this Summer.

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.

This is probably a good time to stipulate that some of the books I plan  to read this Summer, I actually will be re-reading.  Earlier this month, in my A to Z Reflection, I wrote about my plan of reading all the Narnia books again this year, and then doing the 2025 A to Z challenge on the series.  I wouldn't be at all surprised, If I finished all 7 prior to Labor Day

Walking With Sam by Andrew McCarthy

Many of the books I read during this program are books that I own.  I picked this one up last year at a meet the author event.  My wife has already read this story of McCarthy's walking trip with his son on the Camino de Santiago.  I read some of it last year but will be starting anew as I'm not sure where I left off.

Luke: The Gospel of Amazement - Michael Card

Michael Card is one of my favorite singers, but I also enjoy his writings.  This was going to another one that I started over from the beginning. I just page through it and I remember most of the introductory material from reading it earlier this Spring.  I'm going to start again on page 32 which is a chapter about Luke chapter 1.

Eugene Onegin byAlexander Pushkin

Years ago I lived on Pushkin Street in Khabarovsk, Russia,  This Summer I will again be attempting to read Pushkin's verse novel, Eugene Onegin,  I have been very off again Onegin (pun very much intended) with this one.  For the past few months I have been  consistently practicing Russian for the first time in decades.  If I can wade through the English translation, maybe next year I'll attempt it in Russian.

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien 

At the beginning of this year, I wrote a post about my plan to read FOTR (I have never finished it) by September 2nd, which is the 53rd anniversary of his death.  I am about 1/2 way finished and if I only read 1 book this Summer it needs to be this one.  If I'm not done by 4th of July I will start listening to it as well as reading it.

1984 by George Orwell

Speaking of books that I've  never finished.  2024 should be the year I finally finish 1984.  I've had to return a copy to the library twice this year, but I'll order one today from them and should be finishing it very soon.

Concise Theology by J.I. Packer

The 3rd book so far with initialized authors.  I have read this book multiple times over the years.  This year has been a little different as I've been reading one chapter at a time and highlighting that chapter as I read. There are 94 chapters and I have completed 24.  It is very possible I will not get through all 94 by Labor Day.

The Cooperstown Casebook by Jay Jaffe

  In my sports blog, Crazy Uncle Dave's Sports Blog, (which has now been incorporated into this blog), I write a lot about Baseball's Hall of Fame.  Jaffe writes in this book about who he thinks are Hall of Fame worth candidates.  I am looking forward to finishing it soon.  

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle

As of yesterday, all my children are officially finished with their secondary education.  Which of course means they are all finished with their primary or elementary education as well.  I, on the other hand, will probably never be finished with  children's literature.  To that end, I'm dusting off a favorite tome from our home school days and planning to enjoy it anew this Summer.  

 Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

Now that school is over, I am looking forward to re-reading Allen Levi's fiction debut.  I believe I gave my copy away.  So, I may need to wait until I get a summer job and a summer paycheck before I get to this one.  

Don't be  too surprised if I finish other books before or instead of some of these  these 10.   I will try to post a review of each book as I finish them.  I'm not always successful when it comes to that part of the program, but we shall see.  3 short weeks after Labor Day I will turn 60, so this is my last Summer Reading Challenge of my 50's.  I think that will make it that much more enjoyable.  

3 Former Bears in 2024 NFL Hall Of Fame Class.

The NFL announced their 2024 Hall of Fame class yesterday in advance of Super Bowl LVIII.  You can watch the announcement on YouTube by clicking here. The last 3 players announces Steve "Mongo" McMichael, Devin Hester, and Julius Peppers all played for the Chicago Bears.

F is For 42

 A to Z Challenge

A Month At The Movies

Hello and welcome back to A Month at the Movies,  my contribution to the A to Z challenge for 2023.

This year I am copying from a myriad of other A to Z  challengers by reprinting the same synopsis about my theme with every letter.  You can skip over this part if you want to.  

I love movies and have decided to share with you a movie each day that I have enjoyed to one degree or another.  With each entry, I'll give a brief synopsis of the film, share a positive and negative review from Rotten Tomatoes ( a website, I didn't use much at all until preparing for the challenge), discuss its resiliency (the theme of the A to Z challenge this year), and other tidbits like whether the film may appear in my top 100 film list, which I have been revamping this year. I think that's enough in the way of introduction, considering you'll be reading it (hopefully) 20 more times this month.

Film: 42

Director: Brian Helgeland

I grew up loving baseball. I didn't think much of it.  Baseball was always there.  I could watch it on t.v. I could play it with my friends and I could dream about being my favorite players Dick Allen or Hank Aaron. 

These players were black and I was white. At that time I had never met a black person, but that didn't bother me.  My heroes were great baseball players and I wanted to be like them.  That I could do that is  a tribute to Branch Rickey, the general manager who helped integrate baseball and to Jackie Robinson who was the first black player in the modern era of baseball.

Image by Welcome to All ! ツ from Pixabay

Positive Tomato: Well-paced and often riveting, and manages to inspire while remaining true to sport and to the player who changed it and all of the professional sport forever. Bruce DeMara - Toronto Star

Negative Tomato:  42 is a hackneyed, cookie-cutter film that manages to tell us absolutely nothing about a turning point in American history. AP Kryza - Willamette Week

Chadwick Boseman shines as Robinson. He gives us a glimpse of how difficult it is to be the first. 

Harrison Ford transforms himself into Branch Rickey.

Resiliency: When Rickey tells Robinson his plan to have him be the first black player in baseball, they have this exchange...

Robinson: You want a player who doesn't have the guts to fight back?

Rickey: No. No. I want a player who has the guts not to fight back.

This resiliency to take the verbal abuse, the discrimination, to receive the hate mail and death threats is shown scene after scene.  

Top 100: Regardless of whether it makes my top 100 (I imagine it will) it will always be my top 42.

A to Z Connections: This is the 3rd sports film (Breaking Away and Chariots of Fire) and the second film with Harrison Ford (The Empire Strikes Back). 

Next Time: G is for Gene Noir 

Jim Kaat Full Baseball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Speech and Jim Kaat on Dick Allen

Amy gave me some White Sox Ticket vouchers as a Christmas gift and while I am excited for the future of the White Sox, I still love the past of the White Sox. Here are some videos featuring HOF pitcher Jim Kaat, The former White SOx hurler. The first is his induction speech at the Hall if Fame last summer.

 

The second is an interview he did on the MLB network after the passing of Dick Allen.

 

I was very glad to see Kaat finally make it to Cooperstown. It's too bad Allen did not make it in his lifetime, I hope that He will make it soon. Love, Crazy Uncle Dave

What Jim Edmonds Greatest Career Catches has to do with my ADD

My ADD gets in the way of my everyday life but it often leaves a pleasant wake in it's path.  Today, right now in fact,I was getting ready to leave the house on what will be a very busy day. I couldn't find my phone and when I found it it was totally uncharged so I needed to charge it.  I noticed it had earbuds in it that were not working on my phone last night when I was trying to listen to Moby Dick before I went to bed.  So, instead of plugging in the phone and continuing to get ready to leave.  I took the earbuds plus the phone to the computer to check if the earbuds worked on the computer, which they did.

I thought the best way to check it, would be to go to YouTube .  Instead of going to the video I was going to look up, I got distracted by a Jim Edmonds video and began watching the video of his 8 amazing catches.  I liked it so much, I decided to post it here. I also googled Jim Edmonds HOF and found this good article about his qualifications to be voted in by the veteran's committee.  I was right about to go back in my archives and see  if I voted for him on my mock ballot when he was eligible, when my wife walked by and asked if I found my phone and then reminded me it still needed to be charged.  I'm going to go back now to my busy day, which I just made a little busier for myself. Thanks ADD!.

When I post this in a few days, the today referenced at the top of this (6/24/2022) will actually be in the past.  How long in the past? Only my ADD can say for sure.  For now: enjoy this video of great Edmonds catches that my ADD left in it's wake. 

Y is for Yin, Yang, Yaz and Young

 Good morning and welcome to day 24, the penultimate of the A to Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. 

Part I: A to Z Limericks

I don't give a darn or a dang

for the yin or even the yang

Don't meant to alarm ya

I'm just not into karma.

I think God controls whole shebang.

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

 

Carl Yastrzemski played his entire career  (1961-1983) with the Boston Red Sox. Yaz is 39th overall in homeruns over his career with 452.  (Nelson Cruz will tie him with his next homer and surpass him with the one after that.) From 1961 to 1963 Yastrzemski pummeled 44 homers for the BoSox in his first 3 years in the Bigs.  From 1964 to 1975 he established himself as a hall of fame caliber outfielder hitting 273 homers with a .290 batting average and a slugging percentage of .480.  In that Era he was 1 of only 4 players to be in the top 40 of homers, doubles and stolen bases along with Dick Allen, Hank Aaron, and Jimmy Wynn.  Yaz hit 135 more dingers for Boston in his final 8 years with the team.

  

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

My March 25tg starting word was young. 

Y O U N G- I guessed one letter (o) correctly but not in the reight place...

S T O R E - Added 2 more letters (T and  E) still nonr in their correct positions.

O C T E T-  It took 8 people to get the t in the right place.

D E P O T - Depot in 4.

For more A to Z challenge click here.  

V is for Vladimir, Vladimir and Voice

Good Morning and welcome to day 22, the 2nd day of the final week  of the A to Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. 

Part I: A to Z Limericks

I know this guy Vladimir

He is a true friend ,very dear

His name in Russian means swan

I would like to go on

But a limerick's lengths very clear

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

Speaking of Vladimir our home run hitter under V is Vladimir Guerrero.  Vladimir in Russian literally means one who rules the world.  Vladimir Guerrero rules the world of Montreal Expo home run hitters with 234 in his 8 years with the team.  Ryan Zimmerman now owns the franchise record but all of his 4 baggers came after the team move to D.C>) 

over his career The hall of famer  hit 449 homers from 1996 to 2011 while maintaining a batting average of .318.  From 2000 to 2010 Guerrero hit 357 of those 449 homers. Putting him 17th among the prestigious sluggers of the 1st decade of the 21st century.  He was one of only 3 during that era with a batting average of .300 or higher. (The other 2 were Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera) and his .318 was the best of the bunch. During that period Vladimir sr. hit 173 of those homers with the Angels, 142 with the Expos and 29 with the Rangers before ending his career in 20011 with the Orioles where he hit an unlucky 13 dingers finishing 1 short of 450 for his career.

I say Vladimir, Sr. because his Son Vladimir, Jr. now plays for the only remaining Canadian team in the MLB, the Toronto Blue Jays where he has hit 77 homers since beginning his career in 2019.  Maybe if we revisit this list again in a few  years we will have anither world ruler to contend with.

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

My March 22nd starting word was voice. 

V O I C E - The O is in the word but in the wrong place.  I removed vice from my next guess. 

D R O O P - The only thing I learned in this guess was where the O went. 

S H O O T- This was a mistake as I already knew there was only 1 O. 

S L O S H-  Slosh in 4..

For more A to Z challenge click here.  

T is for Tupelo, Thomas & Tower

 Good evening and welcome to day 20 of the A to Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. 

Part I: A to Z Limericks

Yesterday's limerick was pep talk to others in the challenge.  This one's more for me.  

8 years ago we had a bit of a polar vortex in Illinois.  I got myself in a little bit of a Roller Vortex and write a limerick on my Facebook page about the 28 degree difference in temps between the Chicago are and Tupelo, MS.

 If I spent the day in Tupelo

Where it's 14 above not below

While water would still freeze

28 more degrees 

Would increase by old get up and go

From my Facebook account in the winter of 2014

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Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

Choosing some  players for this list has been more difficult than others.  There was absolutely  no difficulty in choosing Frank Thomas for this list.  I drove from Chicago to upstate New York to see him enshrined in Cooperstown, so it's no trouble at all to reserve a letter for him.

Thomas is tied for 20th all time in homeruns with Ted Williams, and Willie Stargell with 521.  He hit 301 of those in the era of 1988 through 1999 all with my beloved White Sox. He hit 448 total dingers with the ChiSox and knocked 73 more between the A's and the Jays at the end of his storied career. Only 8 players hit more homers than the Big Hurt in the 1990's and none of those 8 had a better batting average than his .320 for the decade.  He finished his career with over 500 homers and a batting average of .301. Among the 6 other players who have accomplished this are Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Ted Williams and Willie Mays.  When your career stats match favorably with what could easily be considered the Mount Rushmore of hitting you are in grand company indeed.  

.

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

My March 20th my starting word was tower. It had been Sears the day prior and this was because I was in Chicago proper running a 1 mile and 5 mile race that weekend and my starters were an homage to the Willis Tower FKA Sears Tower.  

T O W E R  - My first guess netted 3 letters but none in the right place 

S H R E W - Got the EW sorted and still had the r in the wrong place.

R E N E W-  For the first time since March 14th I renewed my acquaintance with the feelings of getting a wordle in 3 guesses.

For more A to Z challenge click here. 

 I

O is for Orange, Oliva, and Overt

 Good morning  and welcome to day 15  of the A to Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. 

Part I: A to Z Limericks

From the thet can't all be winners department ...

Orange, is a wonderful fruit.

And has vitamin C to boot.

While it's no crime,

That it has no good rhyme.

It does make me want to say "shoot!"

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

Tony Oliva got elected to the Hall of Fame by the veteran's comittee this year receiving 12 of the 16 votes he needed.  Oliva played for the Minnesota Twins from 1962 to 1976 and hit all but 1 of his 220 career homers from 1964-1975.  

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

C 

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

My March 15th starting word was overt.

O V E R T - Guessed the E and T the T but not in their proper place.

T E P I D-  Got the T and E in their proper spots.

T E A C H  - Added a third letter in the right spot.

T E A S E - Correct in 4 guesses

For more A to Z challenge click here.  

I is for Illinois, Ibanez and Imago

 Good morning  and welcome to  a new week  of the A to Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. 

Part I: A to Z Limericks

If me, you want to annoy

Go ahead mispronounce Illinois

Please be compliant

Let the s remain silent

And no, I am not being coy

The first 4 lines of that limerick stayed on my open computer screen all night as I could not think of an adequate final line.  This morning I asked my wife who volunteered the closer.  Thanks Amy. How fitting that the limerick dropping on our 24th wedding anniversary  shows yet another example of how wonderful it is to be on a team with you.

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

When I was thinking which homer smasher I would choose for the letter I.  I did not immediately think of Raul Ibanez.  I immideiately thought of Jason Isringhausen, forgetting for a moment he was   and gave up far more homers (85 in a 16 year career) than he hit (2).  My thoughts then went to Pete Incaviglia for a moment before settling on Ivan (Pudge) Rodriguez. With 311 dingers, Pudge does have more homers than any other I player.  I was pretty settled on I-Rod when I did a little more stat surfing.

In the period between 1988 and 1999 Incaviglia hit 149 bombs. Pudge only hit 109.  In the period of 2000 through 2010 Rodriguez hit 161 homers while Raul Ibanez slammed 204 (99 for the Mariners, 55 for the Royals, and 50 with the Phillies ). That means that I-Rod was the I with the most homers in either time period.  Ibanez hit only 6 less (305) career homers than I-Rod so I decided to give not to Raul.

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

In March when I was going alphabetically to pick my opening wordle words some were just random, and some held a great bit of meaning to me. Imago was one of the latter.

For several years my family and I went to the local college film festival called the Imago Film Festival click  on Wikipedia for more information about this festival.

I M A G O - Got M and O but in wrong places.

M O U N D-  M and O were correctly placed on my 2nd guess and I added n as well.

M O R O N- I felt a little like a moron not getting any more info from my 3rd guess as I did on my 2nd. 

M O N E Y -Throwing money on your problems, doesn't always solve them.  This maxim came true on guess 4, but I did get my N in the right place.

M O N K S - 5th guess got me no further than the fourth.

M O N T H - This was not the only 6 guess wordle I have had.  But it's the only one that took me a month to get.

For more A to Z challenge click here.  

H is for Hammer, Hank, and Hairy

 Good morning  and welcome to Day 8 of the A to Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. 

Part I: A to Z Limericks

Today's limerick is also about today's home run hitter.  I don't consider Hank Aaaron a home run hitter.  I consider him the home run hitter.  On April 8,1974 he hit his 715th al time home run to break the record of Babe Ruth.  I am writing this post on Friday April 8th just a few hours before Saturdays H post drops.  That means 48 years ago I watched Hank Hammer 715 on television.  Here is what it looked like       

On April 8 '74

Hammering Hank #44

Hit home run 7 1 5

I felt so alive

To be part of such great baseball lore.

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

Yesterday I talked about Ken Griffey Jr. the 7th leading homerun hitter of all time.  For over 33 years Hank Aaron was the all time leading home run hitter.    He is now 2nd behind Barry Bonds.

I was born in 1964.  I was 9 years old when Aaaron broke Ruth's record.  Aaronhit his first homer in 1954 and his last in 1976.  From 1954 to1963 Hank hit 342 home runs.  This was 5th most of all players over that time period and only 40 less than Willie Mays who hit the most in that time period.

From 1964 to 1975 Aaron hit 403 homers  387 for the Braves and 16 for the Brewers.  Aaron led all of baseball by 46 homers during that period.  In 1976 Aaron hit the last 10 of his 755 dingers while finishing his HOF career in Milwaukee. Aaron batted .305 in the course of his career so he was much more than just a home run hitter.

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

Playing wordle every day can be a big hairy deal.  On March 8th I began my wordle with ...

H A I R Y - I may as well have been bald as none of those letters were in the answer

Q U E S T -  This got me a e and t in the right places and s in the wrong one.

S W E P T - On my third guess I was exteremely closing getting 4 of the letters in the right position.

S W E E T - .  How sweet it was to get it in 4.

For more A to Z challenge click here.  

G is for Grief , Griffey, and Geode

 

Good morning  and welcome to Day 7 of the A to Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. 

Part I: A to Z Limericks

As I prepare to write the limerick for April 8th it is A pril 7th and today is the 13th anniversary of my brother's death.  He was 38 years old and died of a heart attack in a nursing home in what is now my home town of Elgin, Illinois.  Today's limerick is dedicated to him, Keith Bertram Roller.

The funny thing about grief

Is that time only gives some relief

Whether 1 year or thirteen

I know one thing for certain .

I know that I'll always miss Keith.

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

Of the 6 home run specialists we've profiled this month only 1, Cal Ripken Jr. has been in the to 50 in career long balls.  Ripken's 431 blasts put him exactly 50th on the all time list.  Today and tomorrow we get back to back players in the top 10.  

Only 6 players in MLB history have gone yard more times than Ken Griffey Jr.. Griffey hit 398 of his 630 homers between 1988 and 1999.  All of these were with the Seattle Mariners his original team.  Those home runs alone would tie him for 60th all time with Dale Murphy.  After 1999 he hit   210 with his Dad's former team the Cincinnati Reds and 3 more with my beloved White Sox before hitting 19 more for the Mariners after returning to Seattle for his final 2 seasons.

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

A geode is a rock contained with crystals or other mineral matter. My best friend form my college days grew up on farmland not far from the university.  There is a dried up creek bed on the property and we have collected geodes from there on multiple occasions.  So on March 7th, I used geode as my opening word for that day's wordle.

G E O D E - I went digging with Geode and I came up with the O and the D in incorrect positions.

B L O O D - Blood was my first of 2 illogical guesses as I had already determined that the O was not in the medial position.  I was able to determine that the D was in the final position.

S O U N D - On my third guess I still only had the O and the D which I had since geode, but now I had them in their proper places.

H A R D Y - This was my second illogical guess as I neglected to use the O altogether and I put the D in what I knew to be the wrong place.  Some people do place this way I like to only guess words that have a chance of being the word.  That being said the guess did reveal all5 letters needed for the actual solution.

H O A R D - I may have actually solved it sooner if I stuck with logical guesses. I did find it interesting that I started with geode and ended with hoard because when my kids were growing up I used to hoard their geodes so they could use them at nature swap at our local zoo.  

Todays topics were a mixture of many emotional memories in my life.  My memories of my brother, my friendships over the years, my love for baseball and being able to share all those with my wife and children are some of the truest treasure of my life.  For more A to Z challenge click here.  

C is for Capital Punishment, Cal, and Codex

 

Good morning and welcome to Day 3 of the A to Z Challenge.  This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB Sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z Wordles.  For more information about these themes click here.  

Part I:  A to Z Limericks

2 years ago my theme was state capitals.  Last month in preparation for this years challenge. With memories of that challenge  I wrote this limerick...

I once had a friend in Cheyenne

Who hated his cell phone plan

He got charged for roaming

Without leaving Wyoming

He's better off with a string and a can.  

Written in March 2022 in anticipation of the challenge.

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

When you think of Cal Ripken you don't necessarily think of home runs.  I think of the streak.  I think of the period between May 30, 1982 and 9/19/1998 when he started 2,632 straight baseball games.  Whit Merrifield of the Kansas City Royals currently has a 467 consecutive game streak. Merrifield would have to play more than 13 seasons to get near that record.  Merrifield is already 33 years old.  Ripken was 38 when the streak ended.  

Yet Ripken was a prolific homerun hitter.  He hit 431 homers in his hall of fame career, 242 between 1988 and 1999 all with the Baltimore Orioles. 

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

On March 3, 2022 I started with codex.

C O D E X - This gave me an O in the right place so I followed up with aorta.

A O R T A - In addition to the O, I got a T out of position. My next guess was robin.

R O B I N - This gave me the O and the N and also the R as there was no other space for it.  That helped me get Mourn in 4.

M O U R N

For more A to Z challenge click here,

Hall of Fame Part III: Who I Would Vote For

 Each year members of the Base Ball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) are given a hall of fame ballot with the names of the players eligible for consideration of enshrinement in Cooperstown. They are instructed to vote for as many as 10 of the players on the ballot.  This years ballot contains 30 players so the writers can vote for up to 1/3 of players on the ballot.  If a player receives 75% of the writers votes they are admitted into the Hall of Fame.  If they receive under  75% but more than 5% they are retained on the ballot for the next year.  The players have up to 10 years on the ballot to earn the 75% needed for enshrinement.

I am not a member of the BBWAA and I do not have a vote but to again  paraphrase Rob Lowe as the Grinder "What if I were? and What if I did?"

I ask myself that question about this time each year. Here is what I've come up with for 2022.

First of all a little about my process.  Each year I imagine what would happen if I was a member of the BBWAA and was asked to vote for a certain number of players  and only that number, no more, no less.  Than I imagine that I was asked to vote for one less than that original number, than one less than one less, until I was asked to just vote for one player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.  By imagining a world like this I add a ranking component that the BBWAA lacks and I am able to shed a little light onto what players achievements I value more than others.  

I also imagine a world where I am able to vote for as many players as I feel worthy of enshrinement. When I hit that number, which is 6 this year, I call that my Official Unofficial Ballot or OUB for short.  

If I had 12 votes ...

Yes, I know that I just said that each BBWAA voter gets as many as 10 votes.  But I also said, I am not a member.  As a non member in good standing, I reserve the right to modify their rules whenever I please.  

My 12th vote would go to Barry Bonds .

My yearly prognostication into all things Cooperstown started a few years before Bonds was on the ballot.  In the nine previous years he has been on the ballot, the all time leader in home runs  has never made my list before.  The reason is very simple, I would never vote for him if I was given a real ballot.  I have also never talked about why I would not vote for him. I just made my list and went on with my life.

So, why am I adding him this year?  Well first of all, I am not adding him to mu OUB, I am not even adding him to the list of 10 players (the maximum BBWAA voters can choose),  But that doesn't really answer the question as to why after 9 years of ignoring him am I putting him on my list this year? The answer is quite simple, even with all the reasons I would never vote for him the truth is had he not participated in that chapter of his life, he would have been a certain Hall of Famer. He may not have bypassed Aaron for the home Run record or even Broke McGwire's single season record, but he would have certainly been in the Hall of Fame by now and  possibly on the first ballot.  So in honor of his contributions to baseball that are not in question and because this is his last year on the ballot, one way or the other, I choose him 12th.

If I had only 11 votes, my 11th vote would go to Roger Clemens.

The 2 paragraphs I just wrote about Bonds could as easily have been written about the Rocket.  I think the only difference is Roger Clemens would have been a certain first ballot Hall of Famer if his name wasn't so linked to the scandal that I endeavor so hard not to mention by name

If I had only 10 votes, my 10th vote would go to Jeff Kent. 

I voted for Jeff Kent 6th last year here is what I said then:

He's like my poster child for outside looking in.  Even thinking about it here, I'm tempted to have Jones and Rolen leap frog him.

Last year, I did not yield to my temptation of voting for Jones and Rolen before Kent.  This year, I did (more on those players a little later).  As Kent is listed as what certainly seems to be his penultimate appearance on the BBWAA ballot, I have decided that in my mind and in my vote Kent is just not Hall of Fame material.

If I had to vote for exactly 9 players this year my 9th vote would go to Scott Rolen.

I voted for Rolen 7th last year and here is what I said then:

Not only would I pick Rolen 7th, 7 is also the number of his gold gloves and all star appearances for this former Rookie of the Year.  I have not picked him in the past but a closer look this year shows me he's right on the cusp of making my OUB.

This year, I am still pondering whether Rolen  will ever make my OUB.  It will have to be in the future as I'm still not  100% convinced he belongs there.  

If I had to vote for exactly 8 player this year my 8th vote would go to Andruw Jones.  

I voted for Jones 8th last year and here is what I said then:

If Jones retired in 2007 when he left Atlanta or if He had Atlantaesque numbers in his final 5 seasons of baseball He'd have a better chance of making Cooperstown than he does now.

The truth is that I'm not sure that Andruw Jones taking a giant step down in his performance in his final 5 years is as much of a detriment to voting for him as I've made it me.  His star is definitely on the rise and I can imagine a time when my evaluation of him would increase to the point where I'd vote for his place in the hall.

If I was told that I had to vote for exactly 7 players on the 2022 BBWAA ballot the 7th vote would go to Omar Vizquel.

I voted for Omar Vizquel 2nd among 4 players on my OUB last year, and hers is what I said then:\

Vizquel is one of those players for whom advanced metrics can't tell the full story of.  He played the game at an extremely  high level for many years. Some say his defense is over rated, I disagree.  He is a Hall of Fame caliber defender and worthy of Cooperstown.

I have not stepped away from any of those opinions in the year since I last voted.  I still think he's a hall of fame type player.  However, some of the controversy that has swirled around his nomination has made me decide to put a pause on voting for him this year and look at him with new eyes next year.

If I was told that I could vote for a many players as I wanted to this year for the Hall of Fame but they all had to be candidates that I was 100% certain I wanted in the Hall the number of players would be 6.

These 6 players would be the ones who adorned my official unofficial ballot for 2022.

The 6th of these players would be A.J. Pierzynski.

I know, it seems like I'm making a joke.  Let me assure you that I am not.  I take my role as an imaginary arbiter of Hall of Fame worthiness very seriously. As such, I think one of my responsibilites as a fictitious voter is to champion local players and keep the discussion going so their exploits can be celebrated (and debated) for more than one single season.  At first sight Pierzynski, does not scream out Cooperstown.  But I will say I have hated A.J. Pierzynski (during his 6 years with the Twins) and loved A.J. Pierzyski (starting with his 8 years for the White Sox and enduring throughout his playing career until now) for basically the same reasons,  He plays to win and does his very best night in and night out to give his team the edge.  Yes he is a ferocious competitor but he is also a beloved teammate.  I think his playing days being the embodiment of those qualities make him very worth of continued Hall of Fame conversation.

If I was told that I could vote for only 5 players on my 2022 ballot my 5th vote would be for Curt Schilling.

Last year Schilling broke onto my OUB and was ranked in 4th place. Here is what I said about him then:

I have not been advocating Schilling as a candidate for Cooperstown until very recently.  In 2020 I would have put Schilling 8th on my list and not in my OUB. He never got a mention from me in his first 7 years on the ballot.  This year as I did my research many of my earlier qualms about his candidacy seemed to disappear into the vapor.  He definitely has the resume for it ...

Last year Schilling received more votes than any other player and only missed enshrinement by 3.9 % of the vote.  He then in the Curt Schilling caricature that he has portrayed himself over the course of his candidacy he asked for his name to  be removed form consideration during his final year on the ballot.  The Hall of Fame did not remove his name but I am certain that kind of request will bring down his percentage and eliminate any chance of him getting to Cooperstown via the writer's ballot.  That doesn't change the way he played the game which is the only reason he has my vote this year.

If I was told I could vote for only 4players on my 2022 ballot my 4th vote would be for Todd Helton

Last year I voted for Todd Helton on my OUB and he was ranked third.  Here is what I said about him last year: 

...  I eventually didn't hold it against Edgar Martinez that he played most of his career as a designated hitter, I don't begrudge Helton for playing his entire career for the Rockies.  

The more I think about it the more I see Helton in the Hall. I hope that his numbers trend up this year and that a few years from now we can be celebrating his getting in.

If I was told I could only vote for 3 players this year my 3rd vote would be for David Ortiz.

I have a hard time voting for players for the Hall of Fame based on a certain issue.  This year I am putting that aside and voting for Big Papi on my OUB.  Years ago his name was leaked for failing a ped test that was supposed to be voluntary and confidential.  The players who volunteered for this test proved to be the catalyst for the mandated testing that came in it's aftermath.  The test resutls were never published so it's still unknown what he tetsted positive for.  The facts remain that he never failed a mandated test and that he's always maintained his innocence.  In this one case I let his numbers which are prodigious speak for themselves and gladly vote for his induction.

If I was told  could only vote for 2 players this year my 2nd vote would be  for Mark Buehrle.

Last year I voted for Mark Buerhle on mY OUB and I ranked him first above all other players.  Here is what I said about him then: 

He is a pitcher from another era, that's for sure, but those players of his caliber from that era are already in the hall of fame.

Last year 11% of the voters agreed with me and he's up for consideration on his 2nd year on the ballot. Smart money would say his 2nd and final year on the ballot as it doesn't look like hill get the 5% of the vote needed in this years proceedings,  I would certainly vote for him only time will tell at this point.

If I could vote for only 1 player on my Official Unofficial 2022 Hall of Fame ballot that player would be a write-in candidate.  I would write in the name of the player not in the hall of fame who most deserves to be there and that player is Dick Allen.

Last year I wrote Dick Allen's name on my ballot and ranked him 5th just shy of my OUB.  Here is what I said about him then: 

Allen who passed away late last year should already be a hall of famer. I think he will probably make it to  the next time the veterans committee of his era re-convene.  If not then he may be revisiting this list in the years to come.  

Allen came up one vote shy on the veteran's committee for the 2nd time in a row.  The battle against performance enhancing drugs was an important battle for MLB to engage in. It is not more important than the battle against racism and it's racism pure and simple that kept Allen out of the Hall of Fame.  His numbers are there.  I have written much about this in the past and I will continue to do so.  Allen will be up for reexamination bty the Golden Era committee in 5 years until then expect to see Allen's name at the top of my subsequent OUB's.

Now a quick prediction.

I think that only one player's name will be announced later today and that player will be David Ortiz.  Of the remaing players on my OUB I believe Pierzynski will get no where near the 5% needed to be on the 2023 ballot.  Schilling will have his lowest voting percentage in the last 3 elections and will have no one to blame but himself. Todd Helton will probably climb 10 percentage points this year poised to make a run for enshrinement in the next couple of years. Buehrle will not get near the 11 percent form last year and miss or make the 5% cutoff by 3 votes or less.  Dick Allen is not on the ballot, so he probably won't make it this year.  

This was fun.  It is every year.  I'll be back in a few days with a follow up piece.