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