Edgy MD

Getting Hank Azaria and not getting some Moe Szylsak or a verse or two of "Can I Borrow a Feeling"? feels like a miss.

Azocar covering a lot of ground in the outfield, on the other hand.

Nobody has yet commented on the Sotoless character of this game.

It is interesting that a lot of the usual suspects — including Valentine, Clemente, Parker, Winfield, and Dwight Evans — are righthanded-throwing rightfielders. The advantage is generally considered to go to lefties out there, but the real advantage, of course, goes to the guy with a massive arm. Dwight Evans needs a better publicist, by the way. He and Dave Winfield had very similar careers in pretty much the same era. Winnie went into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot and Dewey never got more than 10%.

Was that supposed to have been some sort of semi-official thing or just something the National Leaguers cooked up during their workout?

Here is an Ellis highlight reel, the real gem of which is him somehow throwing out Dave Concepción attempting to score from second on ground ball hit down the line all the way to the fence. You see where he fields the ball and you would likely conclude that Concepción should have been able to score running backwards. But nope. [media=youtube]CQwfvNtAFyk[/media]

The specific case on the record occurred in the 1970s. I believe Dowd first uncovered the account during his gambling investigation, so that would have been before Rose's eligibility. MLB initially sat on that information, I presume as part of an agreement with Rose that he accept the ban in order to keep the evidence gathered against him suppressed. Dowd revealed it later when Rose attempted to sue him.

I think we mostly all then agree that whatever professional standards other professions might have for their respective halls of fame, and whatever missions those halls might have, baseball but should hold to their own standards without regard to those other professions, and as fans are part of baseball, fans very much have a stake in enforcing those standards. Elihu Root, Cordell Hull, Aristide Briand, and other dubious historical figures have all won Nobel Peace Prizes. That doesn't mean we are all off the hook for holding to our own standard of peaceful co-existence and humanitarianism.* Ray Lewis' enshrinement only means to me that I have even less interest in my local football team, the NFL, and visiting Canton than I already might have had — and less interest in any cause or faith or version of citizenship that Lewis espoused. Pete Rose's legacy speaks for itself, and to honor it is almost entirely disgraceful, even if he got 10,000 hits. And just to be clear, the Manfredian notion that the redemption of the status of a dead person cannot fuck over living people is dead wrong, because anybody thinking of cheating or lying or stealing or fucking over their neighbor in the here and now no longer has the thought of "I would be disgraced into perpetuity" to deter them. A related thing that John Dowd offered is that, at the same time the league was investigating Pete Rose, they were investigating Lenny Dykstra, who was gaining and losing massive amounts of money in illegal card games. There was no evidence in hand that he bet on baseball or deliberately altered the outcome of games, but obviously any player as deep in the hole as Lenny could get himself was in danger of doing just that. Dowd said he explained this to Dykstra, who initially insisted this would never happen, but what ultimately stopped Lenny from gambling during his career was seeing Rose taken down. As delusional a figure as Dykstra was, he was able to suss out that if a towering figure like Rose was held accountable, he would be, too. There are a lot of Lenny Dykstras out there, who now no longer have that object lesson to guide them. One last thought is that, like a president handing out pardons in his last days in office, Manfred only pulled this now that he is on the way out the door with his days numbered. * Want to know who never won? Mohandes Gandhi!

Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan actively tried to negotiate a detente between Pete Rose and MLB, and not only did they fail, but I get the idea that it was deeply frustrating trying to save a guy who didn't want to be saved, as Bench said as recently as a few weeks ago that Rose did not deserve to be in the HoF. I saw John Dowd speak at a SABR event a number of years ago, and he said that his goal all along was to get Rose's cooperation and help bring him back into baseball's good graces. He would seek out Rose's teammates to act as intermediaries (as Morgan and Bench eventually tried to be), only to find out that — despite him having the greatest set of teammates anyone could ask for as far as being citizens of baseball — that none of them were his friends. All his closest friends were jamokes from Gold's Gym, many of whom were living out of his pocket and had no interest whatsoever in protecting him from his excesses. I went into that event not being much of a Dowd believer at all, but I was all in on him and all out on Rose by the time it was over. And then, later, Dowd became one of President Trump's defense lawyers and now I just hate myself.

The methodology was driving me crazy. He would eventually make corrections for stuff like career length but only after going on and on and on about total assists without correcting. He acknowledged that earlier baseball figures would have more assists, but rather than find a sophisticated way to adjust for the different approaches of the era, he just picked an arbitrary date and tossed out all data before that. Some of the best outfield arms don't belong to assist leaders, but to guys who runners were frequently afraid to challenge. He acknowledged that there is data on extra bases taken and not taken, but since it doesn't go back forever, he didn't really work with it. That said, I largely agree with the Jesse Barfield conclusion. What Dave Parker was for one beautiful day in 1979, Barfield was for about seven years during the reign of Davey Johnson's Mets On the question of Youngblood versus Valentine, Ellis probably had the National League's best arm when he was with the Expos, and it was still impressive with the Mets, but the discipline and mechanical excellence had gone out of his game by then, while Youngblood was a terrific all-round athlete who happened to play baseball. I would say that Valentine could still put more distance on a throw, but Youngblood was more likely to be on the mark and get his man.

Just before Brett Baty's at bat in the seventh, one of my friends declared, "I'm feeling optimistic about this at-bat." I told him I didn't share his optimism. No sooner did those words leave my mouth did Baty slam the ball into the gate atop the left field wall. I screamed to my friend, "I'm never doubting your optimism again!" [fimg=300]https://media.entertainmentearth.com/assets/images/36f5937b086f434a8f2ebc93eb5b4aaclg.jpg[/fimg] Believe, ya gotta!

I did not think Acoonie would get that ball, and it turned out he was standing right there waiting for it. Props to the infield positioning plan. How about another encore? [media=youtube]i67zZeF-kXI[/media]

If only Stanek was more intense.

Stanek coming on like a locomotive.

Baty and Vientos in the same lineup is The Way.

You can't fault people for a condition of the game at the time. Sure I can. I can fault people for whatever I want. But as noted, they have not been banned, and many have not been disciplined at all. But if you want them enshrined, there is certainly an argument for that, but I don't think "You can't fault people for a condition of the game at the time" is that argument. There is way too much that is assumed and looked past there. As for pedophilia, it isn't really pedophilia to be into a 14-year-old — thought it is certainly statutory rape. Being into partners in Tanner stages 2 to 3 of physical development (approximately 11–14) makes him a hebephile. In fact, saying he thought she was 16 makes him a hebophile that is claiming he thought he was only an ephebophile. I AM SO GLAD I COULD BE IN ASSISTANCE IN SPLITTING THIS IMPORTANT HAIR! More seriously, Pete Rose is gross, and I think he should be a first-ballot choice for the American Grossness Hall of Fame. Also, since nobody has written this yet, I will — while I am not saying I see the president's fingerprints all over this, I certainly think it is worthwhile to dust for them.

Maybe I am actively fighting the current betting allowed in MLB. Reinstate Eddie Cicotte, too, while you're at it. I guess you didn't read the linked article.

Yuck. I would gather that the reinstatement of Shoeless Joe is to make the Rose pill go down easier. I guess there is hope for Pat Hoberg and Ippei Mizuhara, also. “In my view, once an individual has passed away, the purposes of Rule 21 have been served. Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game. Moreover, it is hard to conceive of a penalty that has more deterrent effect than one that lasts a lifetime with no reprieve. Therefore, I have concluded that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual, and Mr. Rose will be removed from the permanently ineligible list.” I disagree that a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the game.

Welcome to The Show, Emmie Joy.

Amazing that, with this strange new rules regime around reducing the risk of injuries from collisions at home plate, Oswaldo Cabrera brutally injures himself avoiding a collision at home plate.

Still missing Keith Hernandez and his brother Manny.

Encore! [media=youtube]K2vjGGEnE6U[/media]

Edgy MD wrote: Weird inning, but the Mets still have a good grasp on their fate. Grasped well.

Weird inning, but the Mets still have a good grasp on their fate.

Hays beat the throw.