1B- Jeff Bagwell

2B- Chase Utley

3B- Chipper Jones

SS- Nomar Garciaparra

C- Jason Varitek

CF- Ken Griffey Jr.

RF- J.D. Drew

DH- Joe DiMaggio

SP- Justin Verlander

SP- Cole Hamels

SP- Bob Feller

SP- Tom Glavine

RP- Dennis Eckersley

CP- Trevor Hoffman

I have six starting pitchers, but one could be another reliever. Joe DiMaggio is at DH since Griffey is at the CF position.

What's making me opine about this today is the fine piece in the current Time Magainze about Twain and his relevance today:

News in the form of edgy drollery may seem a brave new thing, but it can all be traced back to one source, the man Ernest Hemingway said all of modern American literature could be traced back to: Mark Twain. Oh, that old cracker-barrel guy, you may say. White suit, cigar, reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated--but he died back in 1910, no? White, male, and didn't he write in dialect? What does he have to do with the issues of our day?

Read the article, read a Twain book.  You'll be smarter and happier for it!  Especially since, as Twain said, "Education is that which reveals to the wise, and conceals from the stupid, the vast limits of their knowledge."

Now let's just hope that Roger isn't a relative...

The syringes that former trainer Brian McNamee supplied to investigators came back with his DNA on them.

Clemens' reputation and career are more than likely destroyed now.

-Jim

Danke an alle, die am 3. Mai am Stadion des VfB Stuttgart spontan unser Vorhaben unterstützten !

There was the Dead Ball Era and most notably the Steroid Era.

Two completely different eras with completely different results.

This article will touch briefly, and i mean briefly, on both of these game-changing eras and what their lasting effects were/will be on the game.

The game of baseball has been America's past-time for many, many, many years and it will continue to be far into the future. As long as there are enough people interested in playing, coaching, and running this great game of baseball then it will remain a constant in American culture.

Baseball has continued to grow in other countries across the world as well. It is still having trouble latching on in Canada but has seen huge growth in Latin America, Japan and even Australia. Where baseball goes from here is decided by the people who are involved with its everyday operations.

The Dead Ball Era

This was, in my opinion, one of the most interesting Eras that baseball has ever been through. Each and every day pitching was at a premium and a constant. Rarely did you see teams putting up 10 runs every couple of games. Runs were hard to come by. Home runs were hard to come by. Babe Ruth's 54 home runs in 1920 were more than every other team (except for the Yankees-his team) and the Philadelphia Phillies. Entire teams didn't total the number of home runs Ruth hit in a season. That's quite a feat!

How dead was the Dead Ball Era? In 1927 Ruth totaled 60 home runs. Those 60 home runs were 14 percent of the home runs hit by his entire league.

Pitchers dominated, flat out dominated in the Dead Ball Era.

The Dead Ball Era, unlike The Steroid Era, brought us daily pitching duels-by the handful. It also brought us starting pitchers who would pitch 9, 10 or even 11 innings at a time and then pitch again on one or two days rest. The thought of having a closer or a set-up man was irrelevant.

Pitchers were the iron-men of the game long before Cal Ripken, Jr. came around. They were the reason that there had to be changes made to the game, because they just flat out dominated hitters to the point of frustration.

Roger Angell wrote an essay in titled "The Distance." The essay was about Bob Gibson and his tough-to-get-along-with personality. In it Angell also discusses the reasons as to why the Dead Ball Era ended and why hitters began their emergence as the premier player in the game.

One reason the Dead Ball Era disappeared was that the pitcher's mound was lowered so it could be closer to the ground and allow the hitters a better chance at the plate.

The Dead Ball Era quickly disappeared and baseballs began flying out of stadiums all across the country.

Blowouts are fun to watch, especially if it is your team putting up 15 runs, but sometimes I am in the mood to see a good-old pitching duel from start to finish. Rarely do baseball fans even see pitching duels in the minor leagues. Baseball has changed considerably since the Dead Ball Era, so much that it has gone through a Steroid Era and now a Post-Steroid Era.

Baseball will forever be America's Past-time but one can't look at the sport without seeing some glaring problems. One of those problems has been the use of steroids by minor and major league players to better their individual stats.

The Steroid Era

Even though steroids brought new life to the game of baseball in terms of revenue and returning fans to stadium seats, it also single-handily almost destroyed the sport that we all love so much.

Players went on strike during the 1994 season, one in which there was no World Series played, and damaged the image of the league for quite a few years.

Once the home run became a popular part of the game, players began to hit them at astronomical rates, in turn grabbing the attention of fans nationwide.

The home run race of 1998 will forever be remembered as the sole reason for the rebirth of baseball as America's most favorite sport. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa put on a home run spectacle that summer and fans loved it.

As baseball exited the steroid era it became clear that the use of those performance enhancing drugs was looked at as cheating, especially by the higher-ups of the league.

The Mitchell Report was released in December, 2007 and the ramifications weren't as disastrous as many thought they would be. Fans are still paying 40 dollars or more for tickets, are still voting in record numbers for the 2008 All-Star game and are still spending millions of dollars on MLB merchandise.

Steroids ruined the game of baseball in one sense--its purity. Records have been broken and reset by players who used HGH and steroids to enhance their ability and to hit balls harder, farther and more often. Baseball's purity is in the process of being restored now that the steroid era has come and gone.

With the massive influx of young players into the game today, who don't juice their bodies, baseball is becoming more popular than ever not only in America but in countries all throughout the world.

Steroids will more than likely be an ever present part of sports in our world today. MLB and the NFL are trying desperately to change the rules and regulations on performance enhancing drug use in their respective leagues and MLB is the organization that is having the most success.

For more information on baseball's new steroid policy check out my article regarding the topic at http://thetrafficman.today.com/2008/05/27/all-the-rage/.

Check in soon to my blog at http://thetrafficman.today.com for an article about the influx of young, talented players taking over the Major Leagues and how they have helped baseball in its healing process from the fallout of the Mitchell Report.

Also, check in at http://thetrafficman.today.com for continuing coverage of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft; including results, player signings, player assignments and any holdouts.

After devoting several posts to the substance of video dude Matt Walsh's meetings with NFL commish Roger Goodell and Sen. Arlen Specter, Brown takes a shot at Specter for pushing for additional investigation contrary to the NFL's stance on the matter:

Specter also criticized Goodell for his handling of the matter. So it doesn't sound like this thing is dead yet. What comes of it? Probably not much, aside from extra face time for Specter. There are more important things for a U.S. Senator to concern himself with, like lowering the price of gas.

Compare that with a post today:

Former Patriots employee Matt Walsh has apparently taped an interview with HBO Real Sports Bryant Gumbel this week, which will air tonight and the true advantage provided to the Patriots with their videotaping of signals will be brought to light. In excerpts from the interview released by HBO, Walsh explains how the Patriots were given an edge that I thought was very real, but the NFL chose to dismiss as minimal.

Now maybe Brown's thinking is evolving on this, or today's post reflects the fact that still more info may come to light, but it seems to me that if the fear is that New England's spying compromised the integrity of even just one game, doesn't it seem logical that the NFL, its teams, and its fans would welcome further investigation, for no other reason than to disprove that theory??

In other words, Specter has indicated he'd like to see a George Mitchell-esque investigation into this to determine just how much of an edge the Patriots gleaned by their taping. The NFL has tried to bury the story and dismiss each new little drip of info as irrelevant. But a leaky tub could eventually overflow. The NFL should face this issue head-on - cooperate fully with investigation (and compel teams to do the same), air any and all information it has at its disposal, reinforce its stance on taping, take whatever lumps it has coming, then move on. It's worked in baseball (steriods) and basketball (the bizarre referee scandal). Refusing to acknowledge the lingering concerns among its fanbase is not the way to go, something I thought someone as PR-savvy as Goodell would have considered a no-brainer.

The NFL's situation, at this point, is not unlike where Roger Clemens was when the Mitchell Report names surfaced. Read Jayson Stark's article at ESPN.com to see how that whole mess could have played out much differently.

It's not too late for the NFL.

Like Roger, I offer a generic, one-size-fits-all apology and allow you to fill in the details to your own satisfaction. Or predilections.

If you want to think me guilty of arson or mayhem, jaywalking or expectorating, I apologize. If you guage me a blasphemer, pickpocket, mountebank, slacker, stumblebum, corner-cutter, procrastinator, anticrastinator, carouser, drug-addled tippler, toppler, tappler or winker, I apologize. Take your pick.

Actually my brilliant, stunning, dazzling book, "Flotsam: A Life in Debris," has a chapter on apologies. And, while I apologize for the exuberant self-praise and then apologize again for the transparently bogus modesty, I recommend it.

Clemens' apology is a Jason Giambi mu mu sort of thing, craftily manufactured to appear to cover all conditions and offenses while leaving it to the poor victim to determine what in blazes the apology might be for, out of so many opportunities.  (Giambi, an outsized hypocrite perfectly crafted for Big Apple work, has bloated his body and statistics, cheating with artificial substances and chemcials, and apologizes for doing things, which could only be steroids or HGH. But he declines to be specific. Then, to demonstrate that he has a sense of humor on steroids, he demands that Major League Baseball apologize because there has been steroids in the game -- in the pluperfect forms of such as, well, Jason Giambi. What a fraud.) 

Politicians should glom onto this version. At the beginning of a campaign the candidate need only say, "I apologize for everything I've done wrong but for legal/family/whatever reasons I cannot go into details. Trust me, the apologizer." Thereafter everything that he or she gets caught at can be fobbed off to the apology.

This is a distinct improvement, and time-saver, over the standard fare: Apologies that are phantoms, mirages, apologies that do not actually apologize. It is the common form to say, "I apologize if anyone's feelings were hurt by my behavior or if anyone should take offense at my remarks." Not that the person is apologizing for doing something but, in fact, apologizes for the victim's response. The scoundrel is not saying, "I did the wrong thing." She or he is saying, "I am sorry that you caught me doing the wrong thing." Not the same.

Ah, but the baseball players have the better approach. The grand slam apology with no specifics, no details, no remorse, no consequence.

What a great game they play.

Karl Malone had a child with a girl who was 13 years old when she had birth! That means she was 12 years old when they "had relations". This is disgusting!

I pray there are no statute of limitations on his crime or Roger Clemens. I also believe these types of findings, if true, should prevent ANYONE from achieving any type of special award. NO MATTER HOW GREAT THEY WERE IN THEIR RESPECTIVE SPORT!

Let his ass deliver mail to his fellow criminals in a maximum state prison.

Clemens flew other women to him in his jet
Country star Mindy McCready apparently wasn’t the only other woman that family man Roger Clemens was getting busy with while his wife was getting injected with steroids in order to look better in a swimsuit. Word is that the Rocket had at least three other women, including a former Manhattan bartender, flown around the country in his private jet to meet up with him in various cities and that he bought at least one of them extremely expensive jewelry. (New York Daily News)

Pete...if this guy can get to Cooperstown...so can you....maybe he can fly you there???

Dan Burton is a tough as nails representative who isn't afraid to go after the truth like a bulldog. The clip above shows that he is a man of conviction, but even moreso that he is a seeker of the truth. When David Foster was killed by Hillary Clinton a few years back, Burton took a gun and a pumpkin and proved that Foster couldn't have created suicide. This is exactly the type of take no prisoners attitude that we need to continue to represent us in Congress.

Though Burton has made mistakes like fathering a child out of wedlock, he has owned up to them and didn't use them as a shield to stop him from getting into the Monica Lewinsky affair. People took his comment calling Bill Clinton a "scumbag" out of context, but frankly it fit. Burton is a strong proponent of a fairer less complicated tax system, expanded oil drilling in Alaska, and family values.  Dan is a social conservative who is solidly backed by the NRA and favors traditional marriage.  Personally, Burton is an avid golfer.  We heartily endorse Dan Burton and hope that anybody in the 5th District in Indiana will support Congressman Burton over Dr. John McGoff in November.

1. Shamed: Barry Zito.

The SF Giants just demoted pitcher Barry Zito, from starting rotation into the bullpen. The announcement came the day after Zito's worst performance of the season, a three-inning, eight-run outing in a 10-1 loss to Cincinnati. That dropped Zito's record to a Major League-worst of 0-6. The Giants signed Barry last year at the inflated sum of $126M on a seven -year contract. Zito, formerly one of the A’s best starting pitchers and a Cy Young Award winner, immediately fell apart under the pressure. (See The Ballad of Barry Zito) Suddenly he couldn’t find the strike zone, and he finished 2007 with an ERA of 4.53. During Spring Training word came floating out that Zito seemed to be doing better. Hah!

You can’t blame the Giants for finally taking action—but you can blame them for having paid so much for Barry in the first place. His overall performance didn’t warrant it: Zito had already experienced slumps in Oakland. He was 6-7 with a 5.01 ERA through late July 2001, began 2005 with an 0-4 record and an April ERA of 6.60, and was 7.54 through his first three starts of 2006. I wouldn’t be surprised if somewhere deep inside Zito knows his salary is over-sized, and his inner conflict is messing up his game. This is a hyper aware guy, a sensitive dude who practices yoga and meditates. He's acknowledged that he needs to tweak his mental outlook, naming his current problems “a mindset.”

I for one would love to see the Giants release Zito from his contract, and let him go back home to Oakland. There’s just something about the Athletics, something fun and familial. Hell, if Frank Thomas can go home again, why not Barry Zito?

2. Blamed. Roger Clemens.

First it was steroids…then he threw his wife under the bus…now comes word that the self-proclaimed quintessential Family Man had an affair with an underage singer. Why this has suddenly become front page news is anybody’s guess. I suppose once you start threatening lawsuits and throw around phrases like defamation of character, all your skeletons come clattering out of the closet.

I used to love Rocket Man Clemens. I loved his ferocity, his arrogance…he earned the right to be somewhat arrogant. I don’t give a shit what he does in his private life, but the fact that his love object was fifteen years old is a little disgusting (shades of Mormon polygamists). Worse even is watching a once admired and respected titan of the game go down in flames. As Mike Greenberg said today on Mike and Mike in the Morning, this is “a very unattractive story.”

With all his legal and public relations problems, Roger’s finally been forced into retirement. The big question now is, Will he get into the Hall of Fame? How can he not, given his record? It seems crazy to me, but the people who vote for Hall of Fame status—sportswriters—are likely to keep him out as a form of social censure. Apparently there’s no room in sports history for bad boys. Just ask Pete Rose.

3. Maimed: Jorge Posada

For the first time in his 14-year career, Yankee catcher Jorge Posada is on the Disabled List. His shoulder’s been giving him trouble, and an MRI showed that it’s torn. Poor Jorge is so mortified he’s been apologizing to his teammates: talk about integrity! I once blew away some guy who didn’t take female baseball mavens seriously—he mockingly asked if Derek Jeter was my favorite Yankee, expecting me to be crazy for the pretty boy on the team. No, I replied in all honesty, my favorite player is Jorge Posada.

To begin with, I’m in awe of catchers. While the rest of the team hangs in the dugout shooting the bull, the catcher’s out there, crouched on his calves, a physical position I cannot maintain for more than ten seconds without cramping. He deals with the personality quirks of psycho pitchers, stays alert for base-stealers, and runs around making outs by catching the fouls that come his way. He also controls much of the game, calling the pitches. If the catcher happens to be Jorge Posada, he does it with extreme competence and grace. While most catchers are Number 9 in the line-up, with not much bat action expected of them, Posada’s always put in the middle. Last year his batting average was .338.

At the age of 36, Posada’s coming face to face with his mortality. “It's very disappointing," Posada said endearingly. "It's the biggest disappointment in my career, probably, being on the DL and not being able to participate in games.” I tell you, the guy could just break my heart. His teammates aren’t thrilled about losing him either. As Joba Chamberlain said, "[The loss is] huge, not only on the field, but off the field, in his leadership."

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve gotta go write letters of support to Jorge and Barry. Roger? I think I’ll just stay out of that mess. It really is a very unattractive story!

Britney Spears. Paris Hilton. Jennifer Lopez. Roger Clemens?

Apparently now that the Rocket has unofficially retired from baseball, he has ceased being a professional athlete and is now simply another celebrity vulnerable to the same gossip and speculation.

What I'm talking about, of course, is the latest "news" to come out about the 7-time Cy Young Award winner. According to the NY Daily News and their "sources", Roger had a 10-year affair with country singer Mindy McCready that began when she was 15 and Clemens was 28.

(Deep Breath)

Ok, I could understand all the criticism and scrutiy thrust on Clemens in the wake of his disaster of a hearing in Washington. He brought that on himself, and he deserved it. I could even forgive the whole "did he go to Canseco's party" thing, even though it seemed somewhat irrelevant, because it spoke to his credibility.

But now it seems that sports journalism has taken a page from the PerezHilton.com playbook by launching an all-out investigation into Roger Clemens' personal life.

Fellow sports writers, we are already looked down upon by 'straight news' reporters across the world in terms of importance to the public. I mean, nobody's life is going to be changed by reading about Andruw Jones' early season struggles.

Tht only type of journalist we could turn up our noses at was celebrity journalists. While sports journalism can be considered irrelevant, it was never considered malicious and distasteful like the Papparazi-driven celebrity news. Well, congratulations NY Daily News, you have officially lowered us to the bottom of the totem pole.

I saw this trend beginning last year with Arod's alleged night on the town with a "busty blonde". I turned a blind eye, but I can remain silent no longer.

If you're going to report on the personal lives of athletes, you have every right, but keep it off the sports page. I'm sure TMZ.com has great rates for freelancers, and you'd be more properly serving your audience.

I'm just waiting to see a bawling, gender-confused Roger Clemens fan post a YouTube video pleading with the media to "Leave the Rocket Alone! I Mean It!" (WARNING: video contains profanity)

Seems silly, but that's the path we're walking.

1. Tom Brookens - 3B/SS - Tigers - 713 - Oh how I love the wacky glasses of the 80s. Tom's is no different. In fact my brother had the exact same pair, I bet he even has the croakies on to keep them from falling. Do you think he meant to have the bottom two buttons not buttoned on his jacket or did it just happen, so he could show all the ladies out there, what he's got underneath. Brookens was actually a starter (even though he has the slash) and went 0.241/13/59 in what was his biggest offensive output of his career.

2. Bruce Berenyi - P - Mets - 582 - Who?!?! Bruce was a middle reliever for the Mets, his last year was 1986 when he went 2-2/6.35/1.74. Hey and did you know that his album collection numbers over 400! What's an album?

3. Danny Gladden - OF - Giants - 46 - 1987 was Dan's first year on the Twins. He had a pretty good season to kick things off, he went 0.249/8/38 and had 25 stolen bases. Did you know, he enjoys competition water skiing and motorcycle racing, and he and his wife have one child. Do you think competitive motorcycle racing is on anyone's card nowadays?

4. Don Mattingly - 1B - Yankees - 500 - 1987 was another banner year for Donnie Baseball, he not only went to his 4th consecutive All Star game, but finished 7th in MVP voting, and picked up his 3rd (and last) Silver Slugger award. He went 0.327/30/115 that year , probably one of his best seasons. Did you know, that his birth certificate states that he was born in 1962, not 1961 as shown in most baseball records? That's something different, he is younger than he claimed to be.

5. Time Leary - P - Brewers - 52 - After a crack at his first full time starter role in 1986 when he went 12-12/4.21/1.43, he was traded to the Dodgers where he went back to spot starting duty. In 1987 he went 3-11/4.76/1.46. Did you know that he pitched for the US Team which finished 2nd in the World Cup Tournament in 1978?Notice they didn't say how he did.

6. Bob Shirley - P - Yankees - 524 -1987 was a rough year for Bob, he started with the Yankees, but got released halfway through the season. Then he got picked up by Kansas City, his total numbers were 1-0/6.31/1.65 in what would be his last season. By the way, he likes restoring antiques and watching Bill Murray movies. Can those two items really be together? I bet his wife makes him restore the antiques.

7. Steve Bedrosian - P - Phillies - 736 - I got Steve in the final pack of 1986 Topps, so it's nice to get him early in this set. 1987 was a big year for Steve, he won the Cy Young award, made his only All Star appearance, and was 16th in MVP voting. His statline for 1987 was 5-3/2.83/1.20 with 29 saves. Steve's hobbies include 4 wheeling and breeding dogs. After the Vick fiasco will any pro sports player ever claim to breed dogs?

8. Dan Pasqua - OF - Yankees - 74 - He may never have had too good a batting average, but man could he swat homers. In 1987 he went 0.233/17/42 in 318 at bats. Dan was All county in High School and an All American in college (William Patterson College). Oooooo!

9. Denny Walling - 3B/OF - Astros - 222 - Denny was a career backup and in 1987 went 0.283/5/33, nothing special to report about him in 1987. Except . . no did you know on the back of his card. That's sad!

10. Jim Rice - OF - Boston - 480 - In 1987 we were getting to the last few years of his career. Long were the days of 30 or 40 homer seasons, also starting for a full year. In 1987 he went 0.277/13/62 in just 108 games. Back to back no did you knows, that's just terrible!

11. Doug Sisk - P - Mets - 404 - If the Mets didn't win the World Series in 1986 I would have never known who Doug Sisk was. In 1987 he pitched a respectable 3-1/3.46/1.35. Did you know he received a BS degree in Criminal Justice from Washington State? Not heard of too often, guys who go four years in college and then turn pro.

12. Mark Portugal - P - Twins - 419 - Rookie card alert! After a rough 1986, Doug came back in 1987 and had one of the worst seasons, where you get to come back for another year. He went 1-3/7.77/1.86, how horrid was that? Here's what they dug up on Mark, he graduated from high school. I'm not kidding, they actually put that on the back of a card. Good for Mark!

13. George Bell - OF - Blue Jays - 681 - Heavy hitting papa Bell! 1987 was the single best year of his career. He won the MVP, appeared in his first all star game, and won his last Silver Slugger award. His stats for 1987, a whopping 0.308/47/134, and that's without 'roids, imagine what he could have done with some HGH? Did you know his hobbies was music and movies. That's the third of those I've seen so far and this is only the 2nd pack.

14. Joel Youngblood - OF - Giants - 759 - For the most part Joel was a backup most of his career. In 1987, with just 91 at bats he went 0.253/3/11, believe it or not this wasn't his last or next to last year.

15. Andy Hawkins - P - Padres - 183 - 1987 was the kind of year I grew to expect from Andy. He went 3-10/5.05/1.53 in a stunningly awful season that would get him traded the following year (to my Yankees). On a side note, He was the co-chairman of the San Diego March of Dimes Walk America.

16. Roger Clemens - AL All Star - 614 - In the 1986 All Star game he retired all 9 men he faced and won the game's MVP award. On the back of the card it shows AL leaders for wins in 1986. Roger was first with 24 wins.

17. John Butcher - P - Indians - 107 - 1986 was the Butcher's final year and he played with both the Indians and the Twins. He went 1-5/6.93/1.70 in 13 outings. Hey but did you know he played semi pro ball in Alaska. I bet he might still be there, maybe coaching now.

Pack number two and I managed to avoid the double plague. This was a pretty nice pack. We had a Clemens AS, Mattingly, Bedrock and Liberty Bell. So overall I will give this pack 3.0 stars. What the heck, it's not every pack you get an MVP and a Cy Young award winner in the same pack. Are you guys liking this format? Let me know what you think by leaving some comments. Until tomorrow....

1. Dusty Baker - OF/1B - A's - 645 - When you see the slash on a player it usually means that he is a young guy trying to make the team and plays as many positions as possible to get the most playing time. In Dusty's case it means, he is past his date of freshness and he was finding positions he could play and not be worried with how old he was. 1986 was his last season he went 0.240/4/19 in order for him to just play one more season.

2. Padres Leaders - 306 - Dean of the Padres is Terry Kennedy. The offensive leaders were Tony Gwynn and Steve Garvey. The Pitching leaders were LaMarr Hoyt and Andy Hawkins.

3. Gorman Thoms - DH - Mariners - 750 - Many people don't know who Gorman is, but let me assure you he was one of the hardest hitting guys of his era. Think Rob Deer but with a slightly higher average. He was from Wisconson so you know his loved playing with the Brewers. In 1986 he was with the Mariners, then Brewers and hit 0.187/16/36. It's fine when you slug 35 homers and hit 0.240 but when you hit 0.187, it's not so good. This is why 1986 would be his last year in baseball.

4. Dennis Boyd - P - Red Sox - 605 - Oil Can as he was known was in his 5th year in 1986. He was still with the Red Sox and coming off a 15-13 season. In 1986 he went 16-10/3.78/1.25 and was a key factor in leading his team to the World Series.

5. Daryl Boston - OF - White Sox - 139 - I remember Boston, but really just because of his last name. He was never really a starter, but he was a very serviceable back up. In 1986 he went 0.266/5/22 and slowly worked his way up to more at bats.

6. Roger Clemens - P - Red Sox - 661 - I was wondering when this card was going to surface. A hell of a pack so far and this is the cherry on top. He was dominating the minor leagues when he came up in 1984 and went 9-4. Then in 1985 he went 7-5, and we knew we were going to be in for a treat in 1986. That year he went 24-4/2.48/0.97 and won the MVP and Cy Young award.

7. Jorge Bell - AL All Star - 718 - On the back of this one we have the 1985 AL Home Run leaders. Of which Mr. Bell is not a top 10 member of. He hit 28 that year which would have put him tied for 11th. So not too far away from the top 10.

8. Pedro Guerrero - OF - Dodgers - 145 - Man, this pack is rocking. I can't believe how many great players I have come across already and we are just past the half way mark. Pedro was another big time slugger. Fresh off a top 10 MVP season he went 0.320/33/87/12. In 1986 he had a tough season because he missed almost the entire season due to injury.

9. Jim Morrison - 3B/2B - Pirates - 553 - This is not the Doors singer. But I guess you already knew that. Looking at his stats, I am thoroughly confused about why he was never a starter. When he did start, he always did well. Take for example his 1986 season.0.274/23/88. But you'd never guess he'd be able to do it from his 1985 season when he went 0.254/4/22. Like I said, when he got the reps, he did well, when he didn't he sucked. A real head scratcher as to why no one saw this.

10. Tony Bernazard - 2B - Indians - 354 - Here is another head scratcher and I tried to figure out what happened. In 1986 he was with Cleveland and was only 29 years old. His numbers were 0.301/17/71/17. Very nice numbers indeed. After the 1987 season he disappeared for 7 seasons and returned in 1994. Anyone know what happened?

11. Neil Allen - P - Yankees - 663 - Neil moved around a lot in his big league career, but at least for one season he stayed with the same team all year and that was in 1986. He was with the White Sox and went 7-2/3.82/1.23, in what would be an average season for him. Not a great season by any stretch of the imagination, but not bad and overall he was a not bad kind of player.

12. Jose DeLeon - P - Pirates - 75 -In 1985, he went 2-19. They say only great players can lose 20 games in a season. Since he only lost 19 I guess he isn't a great player. But I guess if you don''t know who he is, it goes without saying. In 1986 he went 5-8/3.87/1.31, not too awful, but definitely better than 1985.

13. Rod Carew - 1B - Angels - 400 - Double, first reviewed in pack 13.

14. Tom Brookens - 3B - Tigers - 643 - Double, first reviewed in pack 10.

15. Terry Kennedy - C - Padres - 230 - Double, first reviewed in pack 21.

Overall, what a pack! I think this one has to rate fairly high, like at the 5.0 star level. We got Clemens and Carew in the same pack. Also I liked the Boyd, Guerrero, and Thomas cards. This was a delight to review and it was definitely nice to be able to review more than 7 cards. This is definitely an aberration, but still a nice one. Please let me know, if you know what ever happened to Tony Bernazard.

Roger Clemens: 4916 2/3 IP, 354-184, 4672 Ks, 3.12 ERA, 7 Cy Young Awards, and an MVP  

Greg Maddux: 4814 1/3 IP, 347-214, 3273 Ks, 3.11 ERA, 4 Cy Youngs

Pedro Martinez: 2673 2/3 IP, 209-93, 3030 Ks, 2.80 ERA, 3 Cy Youngs

A quick glance at the numbers above, and it seems as though this post could write itself. Clemens is the most dominant pitcher of his generation. He pitched in the more offensively potent AL throughout his entire career, has put up unbelievable numbers, and is one of only two pitchers to win an MVP since 1985 (the other being Dennis Eckersley). But I want to investigate this topic a little bit more, with one caveat:

Let's throw out the possibilty that Clemens, Maddux, and Martinez took steroids. As hard as that seems in light of the recent allegations involving Clemens, I'd rather just judge these players purely on performance. It's difficult and unfair for us to be too judgemntal about the Performance Enhancing Drug accusations considering we neither fully understand the scope of steroids' presence in baseball over the last two decades, nor do we know how much steroids can positively affect one's performance on the diamond. With this in mind, let's take a closer look.

My first question is, if you had one Hall of Fame vote which one of the three would you give it to? When looking at Clemens' SEVEN Cy Youngs, his rare MVP award, and his strikeout totals (he ranks second all time!) the only question that arises is which cap he's going to wear on his HOF plaque after he gets my all important vote. Throw in a couple of World Series rings and the famous 20 K game, and he's the one, right?

You know where this is going. Check out his page on baseball-reference.com. He has some unbelievable seasons 1986, 1990-1992, 1997-1998, and 2005 stand out. So 7 out of the 20 years in which he pitched at least 140 innings were great (I'm using this cut off so that his first two and last two seasons don't count), his highest ERA in any of these seven years was 2.65 and he averaged over 19 wins throughout those years. On the other hand, Clemens has 7 seasons over this span where his ERA was at least 3.60 - including 4 seasons where his ERA was over 4 - and he averaged 12.5 wins and about 10 losses per season over those seasons. With Clemens you got a lot of inconsistency, you didn't know which Clemens would show up from year to year. Aside from that three year span in the early 90s, Clemens frequently went from a season or two with an ERA below 3 to one with an ERA above 4.

Let's look at Maddux, after all he ranks second among these three pitchers with 4 Cy Youngs. Combine that with the lofty win total, and the surprisingly high 11th all-time ranking in Strikeouts, and he could very well garner my vote. Starting with 1992, his last season in Chicago and going all the way through to his second to last season with the Braves in 2002 you get one amazing season after another, in fact only ONE of those 11 years saw Maddux's ERA climb above 3.00! Maddux also won a World Series during that time and was the Ace on one of the best teams of his era. He was the go-to-guy during the majority of the Braves 14 consecutive division titles. To add to this impressive resume, during the 16 seasons that make up the meat of his career, Maddux's ERA was below 4 every year. While Clemens had some great seasons 20 years apart, Maddux's stretch of great seasons was slightly shorter, but he managed to consistently perform during that smaller time frame.

Before artists start sculpting Maddux's plaque, I'm going to look at Pedro's stats. Obviously Pedro doesn't have the longevity of Maddux or Clemens, and barring several years of a clean health slate (ok, so barring a miracle) his career will wind down within a few years after the last of the 52 million dollars he is owed through the end of this season comes his way. He is some 2,000+ innings behind the aformentioned workhorses, and based on nothing but my observation has little more than 600 Major League innings left. Nevertheless, he has amassed some impressive numbers, and more importantly some ridiculous campaigns. I would argue without much doubt that Pedro's stretch from 1997-2003 was the most impressive seven year stretch (or any set of at least three consecutive seasons) since they lowered the mound prior to the 1969 season, and perhaps ever.  

His totals over these 7 seasons are 1408 IP, 118-36, 2.20 ERA, 1761 Ks. The average season over this span saw him accumulate a 17-5 record with 201 IP, 2.20 ERA, and about 252 Ks. Obviously the innings are a little bit low - the knock on Pedro, after all, was that he was never consistently healthy - but those ERA and Strikeout numbers are ridiculous. Now, consider the fact that the years 1997-2003 were probably the height of the Steroid Era. These were the seasons preceeding baseball's testing program and in the middle of the HR craze. Throw in the fact that outside of his 1997 season, Pedro pitched in the AL. So, Martinez was putting up these seasons during what is quite possibly the greatest offensive era in the history of his sport, in the superior offensive league, and in perhaps the best offensive division in that league. This is reflected in a stat called Adjusted ERA+, which measures, by ratio, how much better a pitcher was in a given season than the average pitcher adjusted for the appropriate home ballpark. So, in Pedro's case, compare the average pitcher's ERA, adjust that for Fenway Park, and then divide that number by Pedro's ERA. Pedro is the all-time leader in this statistic. Better than Sandy Koufax, Cy Young, Walter Johnson, and certainly better than Maddux and Clemens. Pedro has done a better job of preventing runs than either Clemens or Maddux, unfortunately in decidedly less innings.

So the decision comes down, for me, to Maddux and Pedro. Maddux has the extra Cy Young award, but Pedro has the best winnings percentage of any pitcher with at least 200 wins. Maddux has the extraordinary longevity, Pedro has, perhaps the most impressive seven year stretch of any pitcher in the history of baseball. Yeah, I said it. I challenge anyone to come up with a 4-7 season span of pitching that impressive. Other pitchers may have slightly better numbers but keep in mind the era in which Pedro achieved those numbers. (Check out Pedro's 2000 season, the best season ever by a pitcher. 18-6 with a 1.74 ERA and 11.8 Ks per 9 innings.) Maybe if all three were available to me as rookies I would choose Maddux because I'd be garanteed a consistently excellent and longer career, but the Hall is reserved for the best, and so If I had one vote I would give it to Pedro and perhaps the most dominating seven year period this game has ever seen.

-Abfus

P.S. I will learn how to write more succinct posts, hopefully better reads than these last few very technical ones.

"The boys are back in town."

"The boys of summer."

"America's Past-time."

"The Mid-Summer Classic."

"The Fall Classic."

"The Home Run Derby."

"Pennant Races."

The teams are spending time in Florida and Arizona (the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues), have cut the grass, lined the fields, and are ready to return home.

It's that time of year again. Time to 'PLAY BALL!!!!' America's Pasttime is preparing for another season of thrills, chills, surprises, and lots of excitement. The 2007 season might go down as one of the craziest in a long time, but 2008 has a lot more in store for fans come opening day.

In an offseason plagued with the release of the Mitchell Report in December and Congressional hearings on the topic since then, baseball is hoping that the 2008 season on the field will help to return some' normalcy' to the sport.It's time to put the ramifications of the Mitchell Report behind us, at least while you read this article.

The 2008 Spring Training season is close to coming to an end with teams frantically cutting their rosters down to 25 players, weeding out the youngsters and sending them to Minor League camp. Who will be the surprise team in each league in 2008? Who will the division winners be? Who will the League winners be? How about World Series champion? All of these questions will be answered right here (or at least predicted for the time being) in this two-part article.

We will split the article into the American League and the National League.We will open things up with the American League.

The 2007 defending World Champion Boston Red Sox are the favorite to win the American League East Division, after winning it in 2007 for the first time in nine years. The Yankees won the previous eight in a row. There haven't been many changes for the BoSox-additions or subtractions-but one key cog of the club was re-signed to a 3-year contract early on in Spring Training. Manager Terry Francona was re-upped for another 3 years, until 2011. Since his arrival in Boston, the Red Sox have won two titles and have made the playoffs all four years he has been on the bench. His career playoff managerial record is 22-9. He is also the first manager in history to win his first eight consecutive World Series games. The BoSox return their young group of talented players who made huge strides a season ago: Jon Lester, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Jonathan Papelbon. Mix them with the veterans on the team and you have a recipe for back-to-back titles. One note of importance: outfielder Manny Ramirez exclaimed that he hopes to retire with the BoSox. He doesn't wish to finish his career anywhere else.

Continuing with the AL East, the 26 time defending Champion New York Yankees will begin the 2008 season with someone other than Joe Torre at the helm for the first time since 1995. Torre's 12 year reign (1996-2007), came to an end in late October when the Steinbrenner boys didn't renew his contract. In his 12 seasons in New York, Torre guided the Bronx Bombers to the playoffs all 12 times. Replacing Torre is his former bench coach, former Yankee catcher, and former Florida Marlins manager Joe Girardi. The transition should be flawless, being that Girardi has played with or coached a good chunk of the players on the 2008 roster in previous years.

Following the Red Sox and Yankees in the East are perennial contenders the Toronto Blue Jays. They return career 500 home run hitter Frank Thomas and have added former Cardinal0 Scott Rolen. Rolen was traded for Troy Glaus after it was released that he was not seeing eye to eye with manager Tony LaRussa. Hhm?! That is the second manager Rolen has not gotten along with during his career in the big leagues. Maybe its you Scott and not the managers...maybe you can't handle a tough manager. The Blue Jays will contend for the majority of the season in the East but will begin to fall behind as late July and August rolls around.

The Baltimore Orioles have done little to nothing during the off season to improve heading into the 2008 campaign. They have subtracted rather than adding. Shortstop Miguel Tejada was traded to the Houston Astros for former Phillies prospect Mike Costanzo, who had been traded earlier in the winter to the Astros in a five player deal. Tejada was one of the players listed in the Mitchell Report but Astros GM Ed Wade has reiterated countless times that they stand by trading for Tejada and intend for him to remain in the starting lineup all season long. Back to the hapless Orioles. They traded Eric Bedard to the Seattle Mariners, yet again, subtraction not addition. In return they received five prospects in return: OF Adam Jones, LHP George Sherrill, RHP Chris Tillman, RHP Kam Mickolio, and LHP Tony Butler. Jones might be the only one in the lineup come opening day for the Orioles.

Rounding out the A.L. East is the Tampa Bay Rays. A young, talented team, who changed their name and logo during the winter, the Rays will more than likely finish the season ahead of the Orioles in the division. B.J. Upton will be joined by Evan Longoria in Tampa Bay and Troy Percival in the bullpen. The Rays will showcase their youth, speed, and offense this summer but still have to deal with a more than suspect pitching staff aside from Scott Kazmir.

To conclude the A.L. East it is prediction time. The Red Sox will win another division title, followed by the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays, and finally the Orioles.

Let's head west a tiny bit and travel to the Central Division in the A.L. Won by the Cleveland Indians in 2007, they are the frontrunners heading into 2008 to repeat as division champions, especially with the trade of Johan Santana to the Mets in the National League. The Indians return the majority of their starting nine, rotation, and relievers. Not many changes were made to the Central Champions, who blew a 3 games to 1 lead in the ALCS to the Red Sox. Manager Eric Wedge and his staff should be competing for a trip to the World Series come October. If not, there might be wholesale changes in Cleveland before the season comes to an end.

The Detroit Tigers will be breathing down the necks of the Indians for another season, trying to reach their second World Series in three years. The Tigers made possibly the best off season acquisitions of the winter, grabbing LHP Dontrelle Willis and 3B Miguel Cabrera from the Florida Marlins for a handful of players. This makes them instant favorites to contend for the Central crown and a possible A.L. championship. Justin Verlander, and hopefully a healthy Kenny Rogers will anchor a veteran starting rotation in 2008 under third year manager Jim Leyland.

The Twins, a team that finished 79-83, good for 17 games behind the Indians in the division, got much worse during the winter. They traded star pitcher and former Rule 5 Draft Pick from the Astros, Johan Santana, to the Mets for four prospects. They are hoping that young phenom Francisco Liriano can stay healthy in 2008 and lead the rotation against the Central Division. If not, this team won't even come close to the 79 wins they posted in 2007 and will fall to the bottom of the division in 2008, in turn costing manager Ron Gardenhire his job.

The White Sox are looking to regain the success they had in 2005 when they won the World Series heading into the 2008 season. They are coming off a miserable season, one in which they posted a 72-90 record and lost the division by 24 games, only three ahead of last place Kansas City. This might be the year where GM Kenny Williams says goodbye to his manager Ozzie Guillen if the team doesn't get off to a hot start. If the team fails to return to the playoffs, this might be the end for not only Guillen but Williams as well. The White Sox have a lot of work to do to upend the reigning division champion Indians and leapfrog the now World Series favorite Tigers.

Rounding out the division is the hapless Kansas City Royals. Manager Buddy Bell stepped down after his team finished 69-93 in 2007, 27 games out of first place. Taking over for the well traveled Bell is former Japanese manager Trey Hillman. This is Hillman's first managerial job in the Majors. The Royals might be able to finish ahead of the Twins in the division after they broke a string of three straight 100-loss seasons in 2007. Look for the Royals and Twins to battle it out for last place in the Central.

The Central Division will be won by the Detroit Tigers, who will have to keep the Indians at bay for the majority of the season. Don't count the Indians out though, who will contend for the wild card until the very end of the regular season.

To wrap up the American League we shall head to the West Division, won in 2007 by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who will be looking for their 4th division title in 5 years.

The Angels are the clear cut favorite to win the West, again! They added more outfield depth in the offseason when they signed free agent centerfielder Torii Hunter away from the Twins for 5 years and $90 million to join an already dangerous lineup. Hunter is fresh off his seventh straight gold glove award. The Angels also picked up veteran pitcher Jon Garland from the White Sox for shortstop Orlando Cabrera to bulster their rotation. This might be the best team talent-wise that manager Mike Scioscia has had during his tenure at the helm of the franchise. Look for the Angels to fight the Tigers for a spot in the League Championship.

The Seattle Mariners will be the toughest competition for the Angels out west but won't be able to crack the top spot come playoff time. The Mariners will be competitive, as they are each season, but won't be talented enough to even clinch the wild card berth for the American League. Ichiro Suzuki remains one of the mainstays in the outfield and will lead the second best starting nine in the division. The team did improve the pitching staff by signing free agent Carlos Silva from the Twins and trading for Orioles lefty Erik Bedard. The rotation now boasts an impressive 1-2 punch with Bedard and Felix Hernandez at the top followed by Silva as the number 3 starter. The pitching staff should hold up on the starting end but the bullpen will be questionable throughout the long season.

Next in the West is Texas, yes the same Rangers who walloped the Orioles 30-3 last season. The Rangers will come in a distant third in the division in 2008 after finishing 2007 with a record of 75-87 good for 19 games out of first. They won only 28 games on the road last year. Their pitching staff is dismal to say the least with Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla at the top of the rotation and a lackluster bullpen. The team still hasn't re-signed reliever Akinori Otsuka, who posted a 2.15 ERA in a season in which he didn't pitch after July 1 because of a sore shoulder. He is still a free agent because he had surgery early in 2008. The Rangers will close in on the cellar of the West Division. Their lineup will keep them in games only for so long. Their pitching staff might be the worst in the American League.

The Oakland Athletics are working through another rebuilding process as GM Billy Beane traded another starting pitcher in the offseason, Dan Haren, to the Diamondbacks. He did receive six prospects in return, five of them were within the top 12 of Diamondback prospects in the system. He also shipped power hitter Nick Swisher to the White Sox for Gio Gonzalez and other prospects. Expect closer Huston Street to be moved at some point this season as well as Rich Harden if the team falls out of contention early. The A's might be a little bit better than the Rangers but will battle with the Rangers for last place within the division.

The West will be won by the Angels for the 4th time in 5 years with only the Mariners giving them competition throughout the season.

The Angels and Red Sox will battle for the LCS with the Red Sox coming away victorious. My World Series winner will be picked in the National League article.

The AL ROY will be Evan Longoria.

The AL Cy Young winner will be C.C. Sabathia.

The AL MVP will be Alex Rodriguez.

The AL Comeback Player of The Year will be Troy Percival.

The AL Manager of the Year will be Mike Scioscia.

Coming soon: my National League preview article for the 2008 season picking division winners, the league champion, and the World champion.

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Do you hate the Red Sox?  Does their recent success kill you as a Yankees fan?

How about the evil empire?  Are you a Yankee hater? 

Pick a side and join the fight.

1) Well, the first bit of news for today is that Brian McNamee, Roger Clemens' former friend and accuser, crashed his car into a NYC bus at around 12:30 pm in Queens (another car was involved as well). McNamee apparently fainted at the wheel, which ultimately caused the crash. explanation for the crash was that he has an ongoing medical problem. For some reason (call me crazy!), I feel as though this won't be the last we hear of this accident.

2) Next up, while we've all been slightly worried about Phil Hughes' recent rough outing (verse the Pirates), maybe even overly worried (it is just ST), Ian Kennedy continues to impress, as demonstrated by his performance against the Blue Jays. Joba Chamberlain also came in to the game knowing his role for the season (for now), and promptly struck out 3 Jays (I always want to say BJ's but it sounds bad). Also, for all you Wilson Betemit fans (...), he had a big blast and a double to cap off his day.

3) Finally, Joe Girardi isn't telling us about his bullpen or his bench, just yet. However, he has given us some decent clues and some good information to let us figure it out on our own. A few weeks ago, Joe Girardi stated that he would like to have a lefty (and a long-reliever) in the pen, but yesterday, he also stated that it is not a necessesity because he has faith in his righties. Basically, the bullpen has 3 open spots. I think Scott Patterson has earned one, I think Billy Traber will be in there (Girardi says it doesn't matter but you get the feeling that he enjoys the matchup lefty option), and I say, give Chris Britton a shot (unless Girardi goes with Karstens as a long-man). A lot of new blood, but why not? Fill the pen up with guys who can throw strikes. Your other realistic options are Bruney, Ohlendorf, Veras, and Albaladejo and do you really have confidence in any of them to the point that you want to put them in the pen right away? Let them work on their stuff in AAA and if another guy totally impresses you, or if a reliever gets injured as the season progresses, you still have plenty of good in-house options that you can call on.

Girardi's bench is also a mystery, as Wilson Betemit looks like the guy who'll see the most time in the IF (SS, 3B, 2B) along with Shelley Duncan, who will only play 1B and the occasional OF. The Yankees basically have one other spot open, and I'm thinking it'll go to Morgan Ensberg (not a utility guy like Nick Green, Ransom, etc.). Ensberg has showed his hitting abilities in the past and he'll be a solid right-handed bat for Girardi to turn to. Girardi also called Ensberg a "strong candidate" if that even means anything. Maybe Ensberg can revitalize his career in NY. He's still relatively young and his struggled these past few years could be attributed to an assortment of injuries.