Knuckle Curve - Baseball News

February 2nd, 2008

More Fun with Career Projections

While I’m waiting for Puppy Bowl IV to arrive, I thought I’d flip through the STATS 1997 Baseball Scoreboard for inspiration. I’ve already used this source to re-examine Barry Bonds and now I see that there are a few more projections in here.
This time we’re looking at projected career hits. Specifically we’re looking at the […]

By Geoff Young -- 0 comments

January 8th, 2008

Hall of Fame Voting: A Closer Look

Okay, here’s the full vote. My thoughts below the table…

2008 Hall of Fame Vote

Player
Votes
Pct

Courtesy MLB.com.

Rich Gossage
466
85.8%

Jim Rice
392
72.2%

Andre Dawson
358
65.9%

Bert Blyleven
336
61.9%

Lee Smith
235
43.3%

Jack Morris
233
42.9%

Tommy John
158
29.1%

Tim Raines
132
24.3%

Mark McGwire
128
23.6%

Alan Trammell
99
18.2%

Dave Concepcion
88
16.2%

Don Mattingly
86
15.8%

Dave Parker
82
15.1%

Dale Murphy
75
13.8%

Harold Baines
28
5.2%

Rod Beck
2
0.4%

Travis Fryman
2
0.4%

Robb Nen
2
0.4%

Shawon Dunston
1
0.2%

Chuck Finley
1
0.2%

David Justice
1
0.2%

Chuck Knoblauch
1
0.2%

Todd Stottlemyre
1
0.2%

Jose Rijo
0
0%

Brady Anderson
0
0%

As promised, my take:

The voters finally stopped screwing Goose Gossage. This business about Bruce Sutter paving […]

By Geoff Young -- 8 comments

January 8th, 2008

There Is a Goose in Cooperstown

   Photo by ewen and donabel   some rights reserved
Congratulations to Rich “Goose” Gossage on his election into the baseball Hall of Fame. Gossage received 86% of the votes. He will be the only member of the Class of 2008.

How did the Hall of Fame voters do?

I’ve seen worse

I demand a recount

Who cares

Totally nailed it

View Results

Tags: baseball, class_of_2008, […]

By Geoff Young -- 0 comments

January 4th, 2008

Bernie Williams for the Hall?

No, I don’t think so, but Steve Lombardi makes an interesting comparison between him and Jim Rice over at Stat of the Day that forces me at least to consider the possibility. I’m not sure if it’s possible for a guy who spent his entire career with the Yankees to be underrated, but if it […]

By Geoff Young -- 2 comments

January 2nd, 2008

More Hall of Fame Madness

Vegas Watch has compiled a list of reasons voters have offered in support of their selections for the Class of 2008. Some of them are pretty funny if you’re willing to separate yourself from the fact that these folks are entrusted with something that a lot of people hold sacred.
Jeff at Brew Crew Ball goes […]

By Geoff Young -- 3 comments

January 2nd, 2008

Hall Pass for the Hawk?

Michael Knisley and John Shea debate Andre Dawson’s Hall of Fame credentials over at ESPN. Dawson, to my way of thinking, is the very definition of a borderline candidate. Check out his list of Top 10 most similar players according to Baseball-Reference:

Billy Williams (133 OPS+)
Tony Perez (122)
Dave Parker (121)
Al Kaline (134)
Harold Baines (120)
Dwight Evans (127)
Ernie […]

By Geoff Young -- 0 comments

December 28th, 2007

Is There Room for a Goose in Cooperstown?

I seem to be on a Hall of Fame kick lately. Maybe it’s because I actually visited the place this summer. Or maybe there’s not much else going on right now (seriously, don’t make me bust out some transaction haiku on the Darin Erstad and Miguel Olivo signings). Whatever the case, that’s where my head […]

By Geoff Young -- 4 comments

December 27th, 2007

When It Raines, It Pours

Dan McLaughlin has a nice article up at Hardball Times (full disclosure: I contribute to THT) on the Hall of Fame worthiness of Tim Raines. In it, Dan compares Raines to other great “tablesetters” — guys whose skills were best suited to the top of the order — throughout baseball history.
The most important finding […]

By Geoff Young -- 0 comments

December 26th, 2007

Hall of Fame: Who Do You Like in ‘08?

I’ve been meaning to say something about the Hall of Fame for a while. To help us out, Sean Forman has created nice little reports for batters and pitchers eligible in the current balloting.

If you could choose one player for the Hall of Fame in 2008, who would it be?

Bert Blyleven

Goose Gossage

Tim Raines

Alan Trammell

Andre Dawson

Don […]

By Geoff Young -- 3 comments

September 17th, 2007

Thome Hits 500th Homer, Enough for Cooperstown?

I forgot to mention that Jim Thome knocked his 500th career home run over the weekend. In light of Thome’s homer, the inevitable question of whether he is a Hall of Famer has surfaced. My first reaction was that he’s an absolute no-brainer, but then I looked at his numbers, which tell a different story.
The […]

By Geoff Young -- 1 comment