At 2 p.m. today, we'll learn that Barry Larkin hasn't been elected to the Hall of Fame.
I was talking to the Enquirer's John Erardi yesterday and someone he talked to said he expected Larkin to get 25% of the vote, John thought it'd be in the 30s and I thought around 45%. If he's in the 30s, I think he'll be elected eventually, 45 in the matter of five years -- 25, well, that'd be quite the hill to climb. It should be noted that all three guessing here believe Larkin belongs.
I think Andre Dawson, Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar will get the call today.
There are some people -- as I talked about yesterday -- who have different thoughts about the Hall than I do. I don't think someone's dumb because they don't agree with me -- I understand the case for Dawson, even though I'm not sure he belongs. I do wonder about those, though, who think they are protecting the Hall or something by making a decision that doesn't exist -- the mythical first ballot Hall of Famer. That, I think, is violating the spirit of the voting. Perhaps those who believe in that should trust the process more.
One thing I've always liked about the Baseball Hall of Fame is that it is exclusive -- I'd rather them err on the side of not letting in someone who belongs over allowing someone who doesn't. But I also believe you should allow the process to take its course and vote only for those who you truly believe belong and not for some made-up standard.
* I've been asked who would be on my ballot. I've got six years in the BBWAA, so I do not have a ballot, so I don't have a vote. Because I don't have a vote, I haven't done the homework I'd normally do for any award or honor like that, so I'm not sure how exactly I'd vote. But I think I'd likely vote for Alomar, Larkin, Blyleven, Tim Raines, Mark McGwire and Edgar Martinez. Dawson would be someone I'd really, really consider (He passed that "sniff" test of "you know a Hall of Famer when you see one" that I used to believe in, but as I've gotten older, I don't believe in that. I believe in looking deeper and doing more studying and trying to come up with facts to back up my decision). Another, who never passed the sniff test for me, but the more I look at things, I think I'm wrong, is Alan Trammell.
* Joe Posnanski on his Hall of Fame ballot -- and he talks about everyone on the ballot. A good read. I don't agree with every one (Dale Murphy), but Poz's ballot sounds solid to me. One note I liked -- Edgar Martinez is the only player with more than 2,000 hits, a career .300 average or better and a career OBP of .400 or better that is not in the Hall of Fame. (Poz also writes about Hall of Fame arguments.)
* More from Jayson Stark on Alomar, Larkin and Tim Raines, all guys I see as no-doubters.
* No doubt, really, that Randy Johnson will be in the Hall in five years. Jeff Pearlman gives a different eulogy to Johnson's career (with a shout-out to one of my favorite all-time players and a current Red, as well).
* My favorite thing I read recently? Tyler Kepner of the New York Times talks to Fred McGriff about the Tom Emanski videos.
* I heard Reds fans complaining about the Matt Holliday deal, but as Keith Law writes, it could burn the Cards in the long run. With this, the Cards will either have to do some serious spending in the next couple of years or lose some players better than Holliday.
* Former Red Austin Kearns is back in Ohio, signing a minor league deal with the Indians.
* The Marlins begin their un-Florida-ing by dropping the "Florida" from their away unis. They'll be the Miami Marlins beginning in 2012 when they move into their new stadium.
* The newest Facebook group I noticed was "Chris Dickerson for MVP." I like that Chris Dickerson joined it.
* The State College Spikes, a short-season Class A team, are encouraging fans to send letters and cards to a former player who is now serving in Iraq.
* I'm always happy to see a former newspaper person get a new gig. I like what MASN is doing. They've been set on doing that as opposed to paying lip service to it and ignoring it like certain places I know.
* If you liked UC's white helmets, you can get bid on an authentic one from UC.
* Brian Bennett of ESPN admits what a lot of people will have trouble admitting -- the BCS got it right.
Bennett also had that four UC assistants, including Tim Hinton, are expected to go with Brian Kelly to Notre Dame.
* I'm the first to bash the conference that can't count, but they put together a hell of a bowl season. Not that beating the ACC champ is that much of an accomplishment, but Ohio State's win against Oregon, Penn State over LSU were good wins for the conference. And Northwestern put up a heck of a fight (if not aided by officials).
* I really like this idea -- the Mountain West Conference should raid the WAC and take Boise State, Fresno State and Nevada. It would kill the WAC, but man, it would be a really good conference -- and one the BCS would have to take seriously.
* And an easier side to defend -- Fox sucks.
* Boomshackalacka! NBA Jam is coming back. Oh, the college classes I missed because of Detlef Schrempf. It would be much better, though, if they had early-90s players.
* Our RedHawkey blogger John Lachmann checks in how the CCHA will work with 11 teams and some suggestions to make it better.
* A look at the World Cup ball future and past.
* Thanks to reader Tom for the link on Cincinnati's own Rich Franklin.
* A study confirms what I've been saying for years -- we're reading more than ever these days.
* My friend Buddy shared some great videos on the ol' Facebook yesterday, including the Mii Lebowski and another Mii Lebowski (the Jesus scene)
* If you ever wanted to try heroin but just weren't sure how to shoot up, the city of New York is here to help.
* A San Diego lawyer is fighting Bank of America over increased credit card interest rates.
I was talking to the Enquirer's John Erardi yesterday and someone he talked to said he expected Larkin to get 25% of the vote, John thought it'd be in the 30s and I thought around 45%. If he's in the 30s, I think he'll be elected eventually, 45 in the matter of five years -- 25, well, that'd be quite the hill to climb. It should be noted that all three guessing here believe Larkin belongs.
I think Andre Dawson, Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar will get the call today.
There are some people -- as I talked about yesterday -- who have different thoughts about the Hall than I do. I don't think someone's dumb because they don't agree with me -- I understand the case for Dawson, even though I'm not sure he belongs. I do wonder about those, though, who think they are protecting the Hall or something by making a decision that doesn't exist -- the mythical first ballot Hall of Famer. That, I think, is violating the spirit of the voting. Perhaps those who believe in that should trust the process more.
One thing I've always liked about the Baseball Hall of Fame is that it is exclusive -- I'd rather them err on the side of not letting in someone who belongs over allowing someone who doesn't. But I also believe you should allow the process to take its course and vote only for those who you truly believe belong and not for some made-up standard.
* I've been asked who would be on my ballot. I've got six years in the BBWAA, so I do not have a ballot, so I don't have a vote. Because I don't have a vote, I haven't done the homework I'd normally do for any award or honor like that, so I'm not sure how exactly I'd vote. But I think I'd likely vote for Alomar, Larkin, Blyleven, Tim Raines, Mark McGwire and Edgar Martinez. Dawson would be someone I'd really, really consider (He passed that "sniff" test of "you know a Hall of Famer when you see one" that I used to believe in, but as I've gotten older, I don't believe in that. I believe in looking deeper and doing more studying and trying to come up with facts to back up my decision). Another, who never passed the sniff test for me, but the more I look at things, I think I'm wrong, is Alan Trammell.
* Joe Posnanski on his Hall of Fame ballot -- and he talks about everyone on the ballot. A good read. I don't agree with every one (Dale Murphy), but Poz's ballot sounds solid to me. One note I liked -- Edgar Martinez is the only player with more than 2,000 hits, a career .300 average or better and a career OBP of .400 or better that is not in the Hall of Fame. (Poz also writes about Hall of Fame arguments.)
* More from Jayson Stark on Alomar, Larkin and Tim Raines, all guys I see as no-doubters.
* No doubt, really, that Randy Johnson will be in the Hall in five years. Jeff Pearlman gives a different eulogy to Johnson's career (with a shout-out to one of my favorite all-time players and a current Red, as well).
* My favorite thing I read recently? Tyler Kepner of the New York Times talks to Fred McGriff about the Tom Emanski videos.
* I heard Reds fans complaining about the Matt Holliday deal, but as Keith Law writes, it could burn the Cards in the long run. With this, the Cards will either have to do some serious spending in the next couple of years or lose some players better than Holliday.
* Former Red Austin Kearns is back in Ohio, signing a minor league deal with the Indians.
* The Marlins begin their un-Florida-ing by dropping the "Florida" from their away unis. They'll be the Miami Marlins beginning in 2012 when they move into their new stadium.
* The newest Facebook group I noticed was "Chris Dickerson for MVP." I like that Chris Dickerson joined it.
* The State College Spikes, a short-season Class A team, are encouraging fans to send letters and cards to a former player who is now serving in Iraq.
* I'm always happy to see a former newspaper person get a new gig. I like what MASN is doing. They've been set on doing that as opposed to paying lip service to it and ignoring it like certain places I know.
* If you liked UC's white helmets, you can get bid on an authentic one from UC.
* Brian Bennett of ESPN admits what a lot of people will have trouble admitting -- the BCS got it right.
Bennett also had that four UC assistants, including Tim Hinton, are expected to go with Brian Kelly to Notre Dame.
* I'm the first to bash the conference that can't count, but they put together a hell of a bowl season. Not that beating the ACC champ is that much of an accomplishment, but Ohio State's win against Oregon, Penn State over LSU were good wins for the conference. And Northwestern put up a heck of a fight (if not aided by officials).
* I really like this idea -- the Mountain West Conference should raid the WAC and take Boise State, Fresno State and Nevada. It would kill the WAC, but man, it would be a really good conference -- and one the BCS would have to take seriously.
* And an easier side to defend -- Fox sucks.
* Boomshackalacka! NBA Jam is coming back. Oh, the college classes I missed because of Detlef Schrempf. It would be much better, though, if they had early-90s players.
* Our RedHawkey blogger John Lachmann checks in how the CCHA will work with 11 teams and some suggestions to make it better.
* A look at the World Cup ball future and past.
* Thanks to reader Tom for the link on Cincinnati's own Rich Franklin.
* A study confirms what I've been saying for years -- we're reading more than ever these days.
* My friend Buddy shared some great videos on the ol' Facebook yesterday, including the Mii Lebowski and another Mii Lebowski (the Jesus scene)
* If you ever wanted to try heroin but just weren't sure how to shoot up, the city of New York is here to help.
* A San Diego lawyer is fighting Bank of America over increased credit card interest rates.
Missing the link to bid on the white UC helmets.
added. thanks. looks like bids are up past $200.
It's absurd that Larkin would only be on 25% of the ballots. I didn't expect him to get in first ballot or anything, but 25%? That's nuts.
Baseball Think Factory's "Hall of Fame Ballot Gathering Machine" has Larkin at ~55%... not bad at all...
http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:ijqxJIi9q8MJ:www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/newsstand/discussion/2009_hall_of_fame_ballot_gathering_machine/+baseball+think+factory+hall+ballot&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
(this is a cached version as the current seems to be down)
yeah, i've been watching the baseball think factory -- those are from internet published reports. i was using that for my 45ish...
my reasoning is that those voters who are internet savvy and use the internet well are more likely to be statistically inclined, and that's where his base is
The Big 10 did put up a good showing this bowl season. I've been telling people it was more impressive this year that Ohio State wone the Big 10 because Iowa, Penn State, and Wisconsin were all good teams. Of course their response was, they are still Big 10! At any rate, they all return a lot next year too and should be another good year in the Big 10.
I'm not sure if the MWC adding teams and becoming a great conference helps the system we have though. I agree it is something they should do, but I don't know if they should join the BCS if given an invitation. Seems like if there was one really good conference out there that refuses the BCS and has teams the continue to play they way TCU, Utah, and Boise have done, that it would force the system to change.
I think it's just going to take a crazy old Billionare like T Boone Pickens to say here's a few 100 mil, let's set up a playoff, to get this mess to change. That said, I liked the BCS matchups this year overall. I think Texas may be tougher than people think. They have a shot.
Randy Johnson, 5 time Cy Young, World Series MVP, and the first thing I think of when I hear that name is a bird exploding. Yes, not the achievements or a name and nickname both fitting for porn, I'll remember the unluckiest bird on earth flying into the path of his 98mph fastball and the huge poof of feathers that followed. The odds of the powerball are probably better than the odds of that bird flying in at that angle at the exact time that ball was flying by. Truly remarkable sports moment lol.
oh the irony
during the same week, two of the biggest sports topics are
- lack of a college football playoff
- lack of competition in the late weeks of the nfl
how virtually nobody puts the two issues together would boggle the mind, but average sports fans are generally pretty sheepish and reactionary. most 'opinions' are simply statements parroted from somebody else.