The Elusive Hall Of Fame

This post will be pretty short since I'm not a stats guy, but I know enough to say Bonds, Clemens and Piazza should be in the hall of fame. Bonds and Clemens didn't make it mainly because of their ties to steroids. While Piazza was denied on the suspicion of steroids or performance enhancing drugs.

To me the baseball hall of fame is a museum representing the history of the game, both good and bad. Some of baseball's most beloved players have known to use drugs, abuse women and be racist, so why would we deny these guys for using performance enhancing drugs?

These players belong in the hall and are part of the games history, not to mention they were the reason baseball was riding all time high ratings. At the time when MLB was looking the other way and promoting the monster home runs some of these players were hitting. Let these players in the hall and give them their own wing, let the general public decide if they want to honor these players or not. It's time to take sports writers out of the equation and start letting the stats speak. Right or wrong these players are in the history of the game.

After Stone Accident Stadiums Need To Revisit Safety

Was it only a matter of time before something tragic happened? Did a human being, a father to a 6 year old son have to die in order to open our eyes? If you are not aware of the terrible Shannon Stone story please vist Hard Ball Talk here to read it. This horrific event could have been avoided if we looked at the signs.

As people sometimes we need to be protected from ourselves and this is an example of what happens when our host fail to watch over us. Baseball is by far on of the most dangerous sports to watch along with hockey. I can remember watching the Lansing Lugnuts from the first base line at sunset, I could barely see the batter. Then a foul ball would rip right past my head  and a couple rows behind me, but these are the risk you take as a fan to sit close to the field. Hockey is the same way if you are just above glass level and someone misses on a slapshot it's coming up. My point is there will always be risk at games.

With Mr.Stone it was different, there was no foul ball or slap shot, just Josh Hamilton tossing up a ball at the end of the inning. Looking at pictures of  where the accident happened it is clear the MLB needs to mandate a higher railing system around the league or keep fans further back. Even if they installed some type of landing on the other side of the rails, this could have been avoided. We have seen this happen before at ground level when people reach for foul balls and go over the wall. Maybe now is the time to start elminating fans from the game and take a row or two out. Something must be done so nobody has to lose their life for us to learn a lesson.

Take Fan Voting AWAY!

If you want a good laugh today, check out the all-star voting for baseball’s mid-season classic.  I know all star games in pro sports have become nothing but popularity contests but this year’s baseball voting is downright comical and sad at the same time.  Generally every year there are players that get left off the roster that should have been on it and sometimes players will sneak on because of popularity but this year, so far anyway, the fans have got it very, very wrong.

First let’s talk about the leader at 1^st base, Mark Teixeira.  He’s having a pretty good year so far (16 HR’s, 38 RBI, .901 OPS) but is he really the best 1^st baseman in the American League?  Adrian Gonzalez is having a monster year (.918 OPS, AL high 46 RBI, .329 avg.), Miguel Cabrera is having another MVP type season (1.001 OPS, 40 RBI, .311 avg.).  Heck even DH David Ortiz, who if you had to put at a position would be 1B, is having a monster year (.964 OPS, 13 HR’s, 28 RBI).  So is Tex the best option at 1B?

Now let’s take it to the National League at the same position.  Albert Pujols currently leads the voting and is so far having one of his worst statistical years ever.  His batting line of .265/.335/.412/.746 and 9 HR’s, 31 RBI looks putrid next to Joey Votto (1.001 OPS, 7 HR, 32 RBI, .338 avg.) and Prince Fielder (.924 OPS, 11 HR, 42 RBI, .291 avg.) who are putting together fantastic starts to the year.  Why does Pujols belong this year?  Is it because of his past MVP seasons or maybe his hardcore St. Louis fan base flooding the ballots?

The rest of the National League however is pretty good.  The voting seems logical and all the leaders in other categories I could reasonably say deserve to go to the All-Star game.  The biggest travesty comes from the American League.  Your leading vote getter so far at the position of short-stop is….Derek Jeter.  What the…?  Derek Jeter?  Really?  He of the following stat line - .264/.328/.332/.660 with 2 HR’s and 16 RBI?  Wow.  Let’s see there are probably 7 other SS that should be ahead of him, but I’ll narrow it down for you to 3.  Asdrubal Cabrera of the Indians is having a beast of a year so far (.875 OPS, 10 HR, 39 RBI, .299 avg.) and should be the leading vote getter.  But there’s also Erick Aybar (.315 avg., .800 OPS, 3 HR, 20 RBI, 14 SB) and Jed Lowrie (.305 avg., .803 OPS, 3HR, 22 RBI) tearing it up right now.

I get it.  Jeter is iconic and legendary but the All-Star game is for what players are doing THIS YEAR!  It’s not what about you’ve done in your career.  I could see if this was Jeter’s last season in the league and we all knew he was retiring, then great, vote him in one last time and give him his curtain call, but we all know he’s going to continue to play mediocre baseball for the rest of his contract, so why is he the leading SS vote getter?

Maybe it’s me but I think it’s time to revoke the fan voting system MLB has in place.  If Major League Baseball is trying to push this game as “meaning something” and it does by giving the winning league home field advantage in the World Series it’s time to get the best players on the teams.  If it wants to continue with the fan voting popularity contest, then it’s time to remove the meaning of the game and let it be just an exhibition game.

With the game determining home field advantage for the World Series, then it’s in the best interest to have the best players at each position for each league.  Jeter should not be at shortstop and I’m sorry but Pujols shouldn’t be at first base this year.  Take away the fan voting and come up with a new system.  I’m sick of fan bases flooding the ballots to get their favorite players on the field when sometimes they just don’t deserve it.

Lastly, I’d like to point out that although I’m a Red Sox fan, I’m a baseball fan first and a baseball purist at that.  I don’t care that there are six Yankees leading the voting so far.  In fact I believe that 4 of those Yankees deserve to be in the game (A-Rod, Granderson, Russell and Cano) but let’s get rid of the ones that don’t deserve…

More Free Fights...

At what point will the UFC start offering more free fights? The UFC currently host one, but sometimes two PPV events a month and for the average fan that is $120 added to their cable bill. I am a huge fan of MMA and slowly have developed from a person who just wants to watch someone get knocked out to a more knowledgeable fan who understands the skills that it takes to compete. On the flip side we have seen some terrible fights over the years where fighters fail to engage and just dance around the ring for 3 rounds or the judges declare a “draw”. Sometimes we just don't feel like we get our monies worth from the events. With the acquisition of WEC and Strike Force the UFC should offer more free fights with larger names on the card. Their stable of fighters has grown so much over the years that in actuality they could charge for every fight and people would pay it. Maybe create a UFC channel and people could pay a monthly subscription for it like MLB and NFL network. I do appreciate that they do give 4 to 6 free fights throughout the year, but they could easily do more. Maybe scrap TUF and offer a weekly tournament “Bellator” style. There is a untapped market that the UFC is missing by charging for the major fights and not being aggressive after the casual fan.

Less Equals More

I read a couple weeks ago that MLB was thinking of adding another playoff team.Why? I think that MLB and the NFL have it right spot on with limited teams making the playoffs. The NBA and NHL water it down with some many teams in the playoffs.Yes more people watch but to say your team made the playoffs holds no value,it means nothing. In the NFL and MLB if your team makes the playoffs it has some value except for the Seattle Seahwaks. Im a Rockies fan so when they make the playoffs I am excited and on the flip side I am a Suns fan but could careless if they make the playoffs because almost every NBA team  does...

Smell of Summer....

I've been away for awhile,but now I have returned. I was inspired on my way home  today by a fresh cut lawn that reminded me of baseball. Going to a live game is something everyone should experience atleast once. My first choice would be Fenway but even a minor league game would do. I'm a die hard football fan but there is something about walking up those stairs as you enter a baseball stadium and seeing that freshly cut grass, the aroma of the ballpark food and the official start of summer.