Valadius
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Everything posted by Valadius
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Well this is fucking wonderful. Who do we have at N'awlins that can replace Easley?
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DocTee wrote: Rhode Islander Rocco Baldelli merits some love. Indeed. If only he weren't so injury-prone!
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D-Wright smacked a double to bring in our speedy double-play combo and give us a 4-2 lead.
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Now, on to Colorado. The best position player, and best Met, from Colorado is John Stearns. However, the contest for best pitcher and best overall player is a heated one, between Goose Gossage and Roy Halladay. Ultimately, I think Gossage comes out on top of this one, but that could change in a few years' time.
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Nationals have 2 errors in only three innings.
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Next up: Rhode Island. Here, the best position player and best overall player is certainly Nap Lajoie, although other good Rhode Islanders include Gabby Hartnett, Paul Konerko, Davey Lopes, and Hugh Duffy. Pitching is a different story, however - careerwise, Clem Labine is the best pitcher here. The best Mets here are Labine, Bill Almon, and Dan Wheeler.
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Is it just me, or has Perez looked really jittery lately?
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Next state to examine: Idaho. Harmon Killebrew runs away with being best position player and best overall player. Who to choose for best pitcher, though, is more difficult. Larry Jackson or Jason Schmidt? I'm going with Jackson, who has a better ERA+, but feel free to dispute me on this one. Note: no Mets have been born in Idaho, but that might have changed had we held onto Matt Lindstrom.
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We're up 1-0 on a Castillo KABOOM!
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Running through our easier places to analyze, we next come to New Mexico, home of Gov. Bill Richardson, who famously claimed for years to have been drafted by the Kansas City Athletics when he never was. The best position player, and far and away the best overall player, is our good buddy Ralph Kiner. The only other position player worth mentioning is Vern Stephens. The pitchers from New Mexico aren't much to look at, with the best of them being Duane Ward, followed by Steve Ontiveros. No Mets players have been born in New Mexico.
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Next, we'll run through the District of Columbia, which is a little bit more interesting, though not really when you actually examine who was born there. The best position player and overall player is Maury Wills by quite a large margin. The crop of pitchers, though, is very poor here. The best pitcher here is a deadball-era player named Doc White, with Brendan Donnelly getting an honorable mention. Craig Anderson is best Met by virtue of being the only Mets player to have been born in our nation's capital.
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What a way to begin a career. In his second career major league game, Tigers uber-prospect Cameron Maybin hit his first career home run - off of Roger Clemens at Yankee Stadium. Sheffield's gone nuts on his former team with 3 hits in 3 at-bats.
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Well I figured I'd try and get the easy ones out of the way before I went after the harder ones, including Alabama (Aaron vs. Mays). Alabama is one where I figure we try and assemble a whole team (imagine Satchel Paige, Don Sutton, and Early Wynn in your rotation!)
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Another one that shouldn't be a problem: Nevada. Twenty-two players have been born in Nevada. Of these, Barry Zito is the cream of the crop, easily the best pitcher and best overall player of the bunch. Marty Cordova is the best position player out of them all, and the only position player to do much of anything, really. No Mets have been born in Nevada (yet).
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I think we can start with one we'll all be able to agree on: Alaska. Nine players have been born in Alaska. Of these, the best is Curt Schilling by an ENORMOUS margin. Josh Phelps gets an honorable mention as best position player. The only Met to come out of Alaska is Dave Williams, which by default makes him Best Met.
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Who were the greatest players from every state? That's the question I put to you. While some states have produced few major leaguers (Alaska, Wyoming, Montana), others, of course have many ballplayers to debate over. So here is what I am proposing: let's compile a list of the greatest baseball players from every state (plus DC), as well as other U.S. territories, other countries, and the like. The data we'll be using will be here, at Baseball Reference, under Players by Place of Birth. I'm thinking that for the states/countries, etc. that are large enough, we can try to come up with All-Star teams. If that isn't possible, then a Best Position Player and Best Pitcher, and if that isn't possible, then Best Player. Later, this can evolve into creating regional All-Star teams, international All-Star teams, and the like. Let's begin!
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Another Mets Minors oddity: Joe Hietpas is making a comeback to the majors as a pitcher??? He's 4-2 with a 2.60 ERA in 21 appearances at St. Lucie.
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This I did not know. Good lord, has he really dropped off the face of the earth since that two grand slams in an inning thing in St. Louis.
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Hall of Fame Voting: This Year, Next Year, and Beyond
Valadius replied to Valadius's topic in New York Mets Talk
Without the steroids cloud, McGwire gets more votes. But Bagwell was the better, more complete ballplayer. Basically, you'd rely on McGwire when you absolutely needed a home run, and on Bagwell for all-around play or simply a hit. -
Hey Edgy, you have mine, right? Could you give us a list of who's submitted and who hasn't?
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Holy shit! Jose is awesome, no doubt about it.
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Hall of Fame Voting: This Year, Next Year, and Beyond
Valadius replied to Valadius's topic in New York Mets Talk
I think you can, JD. "Beyond" would permit that. -
Good lord. The weird fusion of Knicks uniform onto Mets sleeves is horrendous.
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Hall of Fame Voting: This Year, Next Year, and Beyond
Valadius replied to Valadius's topic in New York Mets Talk
The problem that HOF voters I guess had/have with Keith is that he didn't put up power numbers like most first basemen are called on to do. I think Keith merits inclusion, but I guess the baseball powers-that-be have decreed that you have to hit lots of home runs if you're to be considered a "great" first baseman. That's just stupid, to try to define greatness by trying to fit you into a box statistically. Now in Vizquel's case, as a shortstop, he fits into the pre-Ripken/A-Rod mold that used to characterize the position. So I think he compares favorably to those already in the Hall. -
Hall of Fame Voting: This Year, Next Year, and Beyond
Valadius replied to Valadius's topic in New York Mets Talk
No, I really don't think that should be the standard. But if Ozzie Smith is in the Hall mostly because of his superb defense, then Vizquel should have the opportunity to be considered in the same light. The fact is, Vizquel is certainly the best-fielding shortstop since Ozzie Smith. He may even be better defensively than Ozzie Smith. Vizquel has a career .984 fielding percentage, the best all-time among shortstops. He broke Smith's record for double plays by a shortstop this year. And of course, he has 11 Gold Gloves (to Smith's 13). So if the same grading scale that got Ozzie Smith elected applies, Vizquel is nearly equal defensively, perhaps better. And in comparing offensive statistics, Vizquel is better than Smith in virtually every category, the only big exception being stolen bases - Smith stole 580 bases to Vizquel's 377. So I think Vizquel deserves to make it in, not just because Ozzie Smith is in, but because the Hall does allow room for excellent fielders who were decent with a bat.
