I know this article has been written a million times before, but it's a lot more fun when Joe P writes it:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/joe_posnanski/07/21/top.100/index.html
Thoughts? Arguments? Concurrence?
― Your heartbeat soun like sasquatch feet (polyphonic), Wednesday, 22 July 2009 20:32 (fourteen years ago) link
oh man i <3 this guy
― igloo-fifty-four-quart-sports-ice-chest.jpg (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 22 July 2009 20:34 (fourteen years ago) link
i guess the obv quibble would be a-rod - the guy is getting old and is likely deteriorating, and his home run numbers are pretty obv juiced by playing in new yankee stadium - and if this was a "who would you draft" thing i dont know if i would want a guy who is hitting .250 as opposed to like... justin upton even
― igloo-fifty-four-quart-sports-ice-chest.jpg (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 22 July 2009 20:39 (fourteen years ago) link
I thought it was pretty audacious to put the grinkster in the #4 spot, even if his performance has maybe warranted it.
― Your heartbeat soun like sasquatch feet (polyphonic), Wednesday, 22 July 2009 20:41 (fourteen years ago) link
greinke, lincecum & haren are almost interchangeable as the #1 pitcher imo
― igloo-fifty-four-quart-sports-ice-chest.jpg (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 22 July 2009 20:42 (fourteen years ago) link
All the American League 1B at 14-17 seem silly to me.
― He was only 21 years old when he 16 (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 22 July 2009 20:58 (fourteen years ago) link
xp Agree, but I'd still take Lincecum marginally over the other two to pitch a single game cuz of the strikeouts.
― He was only 21 years old when he 16 (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 22 July 2009 20:59 (fourteen years ago) link
ya - greinke's slot was the first headscratcher to jump out at me.
― The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall, Wednesday, 22 July 2009 21:03 (fourteen years ago) link
Ibanez at 26 is just a joke.
― He was only 21 years old when he 16 (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 22 July 2009 21:10 (fourteen years ago) link
23. Derek Jeter, SS, Yankees
― velko, Wednesday, 22 July 2009 21:13 (fourteen years ago) link
Would take McCann, or Escobar, or Gallardo, or Phillips, or just about anyone behind Inge, prior to Inge.
― Stacey Pollen (Andy K), Wednesday, 22 July 2009 21:16 (fourteen years ago) link
McCann at 81 is fucking nuts. He's top 25 probalby.
― He was only 21 years old when he 16 (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 22 July 2009 21:22 (fourteen years ago) link
A-Rod at 6 or whatever and Chipper at 87 is mindblowingly weird.
― He was only 21 years old when he 16 (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 22 July 2009 21:25 (fourteen years ago) link
ibanez kinda makes sense if you follow his criteria of who is the best right now at this very moment
― "he said...all things passantino the night" (omar little), Wednesday, 22 July 2009 21:29 (fourteen years ago) link
― igloo-fifty-four-quart-sports-ice-chest.jpg (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, July 22, 2009 4:39 PM (58 minutes ago)
really dude? arod - .252/.401/.546 "justin upton" (i know u were just trolling but) - .291/.361/.525
and those arod numbers are including that awful start
― ehhh p. diddy miss (k3vin k.), Wednesday, 22 July 2009 21:51 (fourteen years ago) link
i'm like the only dude that doesn't like joe pos :(
― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 22 July 2009 21:58 (fourteen years ago) link
upton was probably a bad example because he doesn't walk much, but let's go with... idk matt kemp
a-rod - .252/.401/.546 kemp - 323/.390/.507
or mccan - .305/.379/.508
or votto - .345/.430/.592
take any of those four guys and switch them w/ a-rod (who has inflated home run numbers due to new yankee and has a million more rbi chances being on a team like the yankees than say the reds or dbacks) and they are having comparable if not better years
― igloo-fifty-four-quart-sports-ice-chest.jpg (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 22 July 2009 21:59 (fourteen years ago) link
"ibanez kinda makes sense if you follow his criteria of who is the best right now at this very moment"
I guess, but there has to be some forecasting to it too. I mean who'll be the rest for the rest of the season ya know?
I don't really like him either, CAD.
― He was only 21 years old when he 16 (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 22 July 2009 22:00 (fourteen years ago) link
Uh aren't Votto's #s inflated by playing in Bandbox Park?
― He was only 21 years old when he 16 (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 22 July 2009 22:01 (fourteen years ago) link
And it's not like A-Rod's going to stop playing in New Yankee Stadium so really who cares about that.
Agree that McCann and Kemp are seriously underrated though.
― He was only 21 years old when he 16 (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 22 July 2009 22:02 (fourteen years ago) link
― igloo-fifty-four-quart-sports-ice-chest.jpg (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, July 22, 2009 5:59 PM (15 minutes ago)
okkkkk but 1) who cares about rbis and 2) arod had a horrible start, he's still a better player than those dudes
― ehhh p. diddy miss (k3vin k.), Wednesday, 22 July 2009 22:17 (fourteen years ago) link
read some of the comments section re this list and ppl rightfully kind of livid over him missing out on markakis AND adam jones and even brian roberts
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 23 July 2009 12:19 (fourteen years ago) link
nflandrumArlington , VABrian Roberts leads the AL in doubles not Pedroia, is tied in runs scored with Pedroia, has more RBIs, total bases, and steals and plays on a worse team. He has also grounded into 10 fewer double plays. Glad to see major market teams getting the standard bias. This list is rediculous.
hmmmm.......
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 23 July 2009 12:22 (fourteen years ago) link
tragic that roberts' peak has been wasted on the o's imo
― call all destroyer, Thursday, 23 July 2009 12:24 (fourteen years ago) link
soo many people in the comment are mega butthurt over cole hamels not making the list - the guy has a 5.82 era and a .337 baa ON THE ROAD
lots of lols from "HOW CAN THE MVP FROM WHEN IT MATTERS THE MOST NOT MAKE THIS LIST!"
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 23 July 2009 12:27 (fourteen years ago) link
lots of stl fans getting butthurt over no yadi - dude is an amazing defender but...
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 23 July 2009 12:30 (fourteen years ago) link
what catchers made it? he's no less than the 5th best catcher in baseball right now isn't he?
― call all destroyer, Thursday, 23 July 2009 12:45 (fourteen years ago) link
Jair Jurrjens should be on this list even if he didn't have the best name in the game.
― GM, Thursday, 23 July 2009 23:09 (fourteen years ago) link
no mccann until fucken 81??? eatadiccup posnanski
― the shitbirdification of america's youth (cankles), Friday, 24 July 2009 02:35 (fourteen years ago) link
i normally love poz but this is DOGSHIT i hope he is brutally murdered
it kinda feels like he just went to his yahoo league, sorted players by their ranking, and copy/pasted it into a SI column
― the shitbirdification of america's youth (cankles), Friday, 24 July 2009 02:44 (fourteen years ago) link
uh this has nothing to do about this article, just a general question and i assume some ppl will open this thread:
how do you have a lower obp than BA, as yuniesky bentancourt has had in his time with the royals?
― a narwhal done gored my shortstop yunel (J0rdan S.), Thursday, 30 July 2009 02:32 (fourteen years ago) link
sacrifices lower your OBP but not your BA
― (*゚ー゚)θ L(。・_・) °~ヾ(・ε・ *) (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 30 July 2009 02:35 (fourteen years ago) link
thank u shasta
― a narwhal done gored my shortstop yunel (J0rdan S.), Thursday, 30 July 2009 02:39 (fourteen years ago) link
Finished with the first 10 on his 100-Greatest-Ever list:
100. Curt Schilling99. Cool Papa Bell98. Ron Santo97. Lou Whitaker 96. Ichiro Suzuki95. Mariano Rivera94. Paul Waner93. Craig Biggio92. Old Hoss Radbourn91. Robin Roberts
Prediction, based on stray comments he's made here and there: Mays, not Ruth, will be #1.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 10 December 2013 04:17 (ten years ago) link
I know all the arguments against Ryan (#87), they've been widely discussed. But wow at this:
Since Deadball ended — it was a different game in Deadball — who has thrown the most no-hitters?A: Nolan Ryan. Of course. He threw the seven no-hitters, most ever even if you include Deadball.
OK. Next. Since Deadball, who threw the most one-hitters?A: Nolan Ryan. He’s tied with Bob Feller with 12 one-hitters.
Since Deadball, who threw the most two-hitters?A: Nolan Ryan. He threw 18 of them.
Since Deadball, who threw the most three-hitters?A: Nolan Ryan. He threw 31.
Think about this for a moment. Nolan Ryan threw 69 complete games where he allowed three or fewer hits. That’s more than Roger Clemens...and Pedro Martinez...and Randy Johnson. COMBINED. It’s more than Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale combined, even if you throw Greg Maddux on top.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 11 December 2013 19:38 (ten years ago) link
I have a hunch that it's a lot less impressive that it seems ... i.e. how many walks and runs did he give up in those games? He threw "only" 61 shutouts, so in most of those three hitter or less games he probably gave up runs and maybe didn't win the game.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Wednesday, 11 December 2013 20:57 (ten years ago) link
thats covered pretty well in the remainder of the article
― frogbs, Wednesday, 11 December 2013 21:01 (ten years ago) link
OK, I hadn't read it yet.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Wednesday, 11 December 2013 21:13 (ten years ago) link
Couldn't resist checking, so I went through his game logs. Not nearly as onerous as it might seem. The games in question were easy to spot, so it only took about 45 minutes.
I only came up with 66, so I must have missed three. I kept track of IP, H, ER, and decisions, not walks and strikeouts. I wanted to do it quickly. Some of the walk totals were indeed crazy--8 or 9 sometimes--and the strikeouts were indeed awesome. We already knew that, though--I wanted to see if the walks led to runs, and if the runs led to losses. For the 66 games I found:
IP: 590.2H: 138ER: 36ERA: 0.55W-L: 62-4
It's hard to know whether those games are less impressive than they seem, because there's nothing to compare them to--no one else threw that many low-hit games. If Greg Maddux had thrown those games, obviously they would have been light-years tidier in terms of walks. He probably would have given up fewer runs, too, although maybe he would have given up more home runs than Ryan (who didn't give up many). Sixty-six games of Pedro doing that would have been more impressive, I'm sure. But that's all hypothetical--they didn't do it. If Johnson or Koufax were in the 40s or thereabouts, maybe that'd form some basis of comparison.
― clemenza, Thursday, 12 December 2013 00:03 (ten years ago) link
Nice work ... I looked at a few years of game logs ('77 + '78 and '89 and '90) and it was about what I expected -- the first group had games of the 2 H 6 BB 8 K 0 ER variety, and the second group was more like a Justin Verlander special, 2 H 2 BB 12 K (except for the pitch totals ... just ridiculous ... several 140+ pitch games in '89, including a 164 pitch, 8 IP 13 K game). Pos claims that Ryan just wanted to dominate hitters and couldn't care less about the walks, but something obviously changed between the late 70's and late 80's. How much of it was the hitters and how much of it was Ryan learning how to control his pitches?
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Friday, 13 December 2013 12:53 (ten years ago) link
I think it was the latter. What's kind of amazing is that it coincided with a drop in his strikeout rate (actually that's not amazing) but no real drop in effectiveness (kinda interesting) but then rose like crazy again in the latter part of his career (okay that's bonkers). Also the comparison between Fangraphs and B-R WAR is really striking for Ryan. Like if you just focus on peripherals he looks amazing (esp. at the end) but in terms of actual outcome he's basically more than a win worse for every year played.
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Friday, 13 December 2013 14:43 (ten years ago) link
w/out looking, he figured out how not to walk ppl when he was about 35, right?
― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Friday, 13 December 2013 15:06 (ten years ago) link
31 (1978) is the last year the walk rate is just bonkers (over 5). It trends down after that (some spikes though). It never goes below 3 a game though (mostly between 3.5 and 4.5).
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Friday, 13 December 2013 15:10 (ten years ago) link
Ryan's total # of career pitches must be insane
― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Friday, 13 December 2013 15:13 (ten years ago) link
Randy Johnson just got better and better controlling the strike zone:
1988-92: 5.7 BB/9 (range: 2.4-7.9)1993-98: 3.3 (2.7-3.8)1999-03: 2.5 (2.1-2.8)2004-09: 2.1 (1.6-2.9)
His K/9 never dropped below 10.0 from '91-02, peaking in Arizona.
― clemenza, Friday, 13 December 2013 22:06 (ten years ago) link
Johnson was definitely amazing. Way better pitcher than Ryan even was.
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Friday, 13 December 2013 22:38 (ten years ago) link
randy would've had ten consecutive 300k seasons without the strike and injuries.
― christmas candy bar (al leong), Friday, 13 December 2013 22:45 (ten years ago) link
and w/ryan, his three best WHIP seasons came during his first three seasons in texas (his age 42-44 seasons!)
i mean really if he'd learned to pitch earlier in his career he could have been one of the top five pitchers ever.
― christmas candy bar (al leong), Friday, 13 December 2013 22:49 (ten years ago) link
Ken Griffey should be top 5. He had the Nikes and he had his own game. He had an iconic look and ofc he was very good. And he’s still involved in the game regularly.Also, this video made me laugh. He had that personality as a player too, like when Buck Showalter said he was “disrespecting” the game by wearing his hat backwards and he was like BUCK HASN’T GOT A 24 YEAR OLD GOOD ENOUGH TO CARRY MY JOCKSTRAP.https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvIXk_2JAct/
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 16:44 (one month ago) link
How ya sound be? You're better off a quitterI'm on the mound G, and it's a no-hitterAnd my DJ the catcher, he's my manAnyway he's the one who devised the planHe throws the signs I hook up the beats with cloutI throw the rhymes to the mic and I strike em outSo it really doesn't matter on how you intrigueYou can't fuck with those in the major leagues
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 16:45 (one month ago) link
Unless I'm forgetting something obvious, don't think anybody in the last 50 years resonated in a pop song like DiMaggio did in "Mrs. Robinson."
― clemenza, Wednesday, 14 February 2024 16:47 (one month ago) link
don't forget about Fernandomania, Big Papi, Doc Gooden
― omar little, Wednesday, 14 February 2024 16:55 (one month ago) link
are curt schilling and john rocker gonna make the list?
― the defenestration of prog (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 16:58 (one month ago) link
what about deion sanders?
― the defenestration of prog (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 16:59 (one month ago) link
Rickey will be on the list pretty high, I'm sure.
also Kirk Gibson of course. Sammy Sosa, too.
― omar little, Wednesday, 14 February 2024 17:04 (one month ago) link
Pretty sure the one non-player he'll have on the list (see criterion #3 above) is Steinbrenner.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 14 February 2024 17:06 (one month ago) link
Steinbrenner was also the subject of jokes in the Simpsons and Seinfeld
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 17:08 (one month ago) link
national fame vs regional fame is kind of a key distinction here, probably. to me, ozzie smith is an incredibly famous baseball player. everyone around here knows ozzie smith. albert pujols. mark mcgwire in the late 90s was very famous (on a national level there, for a while, too).
i just polled a non-sports fan who grew up in kansas city. they answered "albert pujols. mike moustakis. oh, and a-rod". they recognized barry bonds name, and when i asked what they knew about him, they said "he cheated. and he took his socks off"
― z_tbd, Wednesday, 14 February 2024 17:10 (one month ago) link
I think McGwire, Pujols, and Ozzie will all be on the list. Agree with your basic point. In Toronto, Moseby, Stieb, and Kelly Gruber are still famous.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 14 February 2024 17:13 (one month ago) link
I think Ozzie will make it on the strength of "Go crazy, folks!," The Simpsons, his cartwheel, and his nickname (above and beyond his playing credentials).
― clemenza, Wednesday, 14 February 2024 17:15 (one month ago) link
i wonder if george brett would make the list? pine tar + "the george brett story" on youtube
― z_tbd, Wednesday, 14 February 2024 17:26 (one month ago) link
If you didn't follow baseball in the '70s, this will befuddle you (and if you did, you might hate it), but--just posted--#49: Steve Garvey. (Haven't read the entry yet.)
Brett, I'd say 100%--pine tar, chase for .400, epic post-seasons, hemorrhoids, The Simpsons, on and on.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 14 February 2024 17:32 (one month ago) link
Didn't realize he was running for the Senate in 2024. You know for which side...
https://stevegarvey.com/
― clemenza, Wednesday, 14 February 2024 17:41 (one month ago) link
I assumed he was a Republican without knowing anything about him cos most are, website confirmed that, but he could be a fairly standard democrat with those views, and the website is deceptive!
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 17:50 (one month ago) link
I think he's very much a Romney type of Republican, not so much a Trump guy, but in 2024, who knows. One thing I remember is him citing (during his playing days) Gerald Ford as his political hero for stepping in and (paraphrasing from memory) calming the country after Watergate. Later on that day, he went out and fathered three children.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 14 February 2024 17:59 (one month ago) link
lol
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 18:58 (one month ago) link
aahhh - I don't think Brett was on the Simpsons tho?
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 18:59 (one month ago) link
I thought he was in the Griffey/Ozzie episode, I guess not. He was in Modern Family, though.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 14 February 2024 21:36 (one month ago) link
george brett comes with a hank scorpio energy so i understand the simpsons confustion
― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 23:13 (one month ago) link
Also Kent Brockman when he won the jackpot that timehttps://64.media.tumblr.com/7fa2befb9037814a399c93853a736807/tumblr_oihjvzLbtC1uruw4so1_500.png
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Wednesday, 14 February 2024 23:15 (one month ago) link
#48, Tommy Lasorda. I take it he doesn't consider managers "non-players"--he must have meant a separate category for people not on the field. Because surely Steinbrenner's on there, and there's no way Lasorda's the most famous manager of the past 50 years.
― clemenza, Thursday, 15 February 2024 20:11 (one month ago) link
I mean, he's close. I'd say Billy Martin was more famous in the late '70s and into the '80s, maybe Torre, maybe Earl Weaver.
― clemenza, Thursday, 15 February 2024 20:21 (one month ago) link
Slim fast my dudes
― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Thursday, 15 February 2024 20:49 (one month ago) link
Sega Genesis gamesTommy Lasorda: 1Billy Martin: 0
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 15 February 2024 21:39 (one month ago) link
This was pretty famous in its day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOVHc4hcCX4
Close call--I don't know which of the two is more famous. Maybe Lasorda just by virtue of outliving Martin by three decades.
― clemenza, Friday, 16 February 2024 00:01 (one month ago) link
(Also, the true trademark-owner of "You're fired.")
― clemenza, Friday, 16 February 2024 00:02 (one month ago) link
Can't find a clip on YouTube, but in Spike Lee's Girl 6, Lee himself plays a card collector who's planning to retire one day on all the Ken Griffey Jr. '89 Upper Deck rookie cards he's hoarded.
― clemenza, Monday, 19 February 2024 22:01 (one month ago) link
#47: Don Mattingly.
These are all going to be behind a paywall, but I'll post a brief excerpt each day:
In the moment, Mattingly was often called the best player in baseball--Carlton Fisk, among many others, was quoted saying that. I don’t think, looking back, that he actually was the best player in baseball, or even the best player in the league. I think, even in his prime, Rickey Henderson, Wade Boggs and Cal Ripken Jr. were definitely more valuable, and perhaps also Alan Trammell and Eddie Murray and George Brett and Lou Whitaker. Mattingly didn’t walk much, so, even though he hit for such high averages, he never had a .400 on-base percentage. And after his age-26 season, his power numbers tumbled.
But such stats might cause people to miss the larger point of Don Mattingly: He was both this larger-than-life ballplayer and the guy who lives next door. He was this extension of Yankees royalty--a direct descendant of Gehrig and DiMaggio and Mantle--and also a reminder of what the Yankees used to represent. People love to talk about the meaning of the pinstripes. Well, the pinstripes did look right on him.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 20 February 2024 19:31 (one month ago) link
#46: Jim Palmer. (With the headline "A Good Head of Hair"--before I scrolled down, my first thought was "Seriously? Oscar Gamble?!")
Over the last 100 years, here are the lowest WHIPs—walks and hits per inning pitched—in high-leverage situations:
1. Jim Palmer, 0.9932. Sandy Koufax, 1.0073. Tom Seaver, 1.0294. Juan Marichal, 1.0325. Mariano Rivera, 1.070
Now, here is the career WHIP for each of those pitchers:
1. Jim Palmer, 1.180 (118th all-time)2. Sandy Koufax, 1.106 (30th)3. Tom Seaver, 1.121 (40th)4. Juan Marichal, 1.101 (24th)5. Mariano Rivera, 1.000 (4th)
You explain that. You explain how Jim Palmer had the lowest WHIP ever in high-leverage situations--when the game was basically on the line--and a less-than-legendary WHIP the rest of the time. It’s not like Palmer was especially skilled at preventing baserunners. He did lead the league in WHIP once, late in his career, but he also walked 100-plus batters three times (and 99 batters once) and four times was among the top 10 in most hits allowed.
What allowed him to turn it up when the heat was at its highest?
Just skimmimg, there's no mention of Baltimore's legendary defense. I realize that's part of the answer, but I also think Palmer really was the rare player who, over a very large sample size, was "clutch." Like the famous stat where he never gave up a grand slam in 213 bases-loaded situations; obviously, that had nothing to do with his defense.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 21 February 2024 18:50 (one month ago) link
the flexibility and breathability of jockey men's briefs, of course
― z_tbd, Wednesday, 21 February 2024 19:22 (one month ago) link
I'm surprised he didn't use one of those ads for the accompanying photo--pretty close!
https://i.postimg.cc/v8gtRPNB/palmer.jpg
― clemenza, Wednesday, 21 February 2024 19:29 (one month ago) link
(Having read it now, there is brief mention of the Orioles' defense--including Palmer getting angry at DeCinces for not getting in front of the ball, a feud, and then Palmer later apologizing that he'd been spoiled by Brooks Robinson.)
― clemenza, Wednesday, 21 February 2024 19:32 (one month ago) link
Palmer is also famous for hardly ever giving up grand slams but also walking home more runs than other good pitchers. The guy knew what he was doing
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 21 February 2024 20:55 (one month ago) link
Interesting. That would more go along with what I meant--not that he had some magical ability to get out of jams, more that he was a smart guy who could weigh the possible outcomes and would concede a run to avoid a big inning (and his defense definitely would have helped there, giving him the confidence that walking a run in was okay).
― clemenza, Wednesday, 21 February 2024 21:12 (one month ago) link
In the future, everyone will count down famous baseball players for 15 minutes...seems to have stalled for some reason.
― clemenza, Monday, 26 February 2024 21:21 (one month ago) link
Bizarre--literally two minutes after posting that, the new one showed up.
#45: Kirk Gibson
Gibson’s fame was certainly mixed. He never played in an All-Star Game. He played 140 games in a season only three times. He hit 255 home runs and stole 284 bases—when he retired he was one of only nine players to have 250 homers and 250 steals—and yet there was always this sense that his career was a disappointment, that it had fallen short of what might have been. But I tend to believe careers are often what they’re supposed to be, and I’m not sure that a mercurial player like Kirk Gibson—who played with such wild abandon—can stay healthy or be metronome consistent. He was a bright-lights performer. He was a ferocious competitor. He was a football player. Had he stayed in football, who knows, his bust might be in Canton right now. But baseball wouldn’t have been the same.
I don't know if it was the only time he was on the cover of SI, but the issue accompanying the piece is early:
https://i.postimg.cc/zDK1P1mT/kirk.jpg
― clemenza, Monday, 26 February 2024 21:31 (one month ago) link
how do you do that, win an MVP, and *never* make the all star team?!
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Monday, 26 February 2024 21:41 (one month ago) link
I don't know if he's the only guy ever to accomplish that, but definitely strange. I thought he would have been part of the '84 game, but he did get off to a so-so start: .273/.349/.483, 12 HR, 46 RBI. (The Tigers were 57-27 at the break.)
― clemenza, Monday, 26 February 2024 21:47 (one month ago) link
(Chet Lemon made it; .307/.377/.540, 12 HR, 51 RBI. Close, but clearly better.)
― clemenza, Monday, 26 February 2024 21:50 (one month ago) link
Gibby w/o a moustache is so weird
― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Tuesday, 27 February 2024 04:40 (one month ago) link
Typical Posnanski: he starts the most-famous countdown, gets six entries posted, then begins a pre-season countdown of the teams, #30-1 (for me, not nearly as interesting; there are a zillion pre-season rankings). So he seems to have put most-famous aside for at least three weeks. He did that a few times with the Top 100--took him three or four years to complete.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 5 March 2024 18:27 (three weeks ago) link
Resumption. #45, Manny:
He was supernatural with two outs and runners in scoring position. The highest OPS ever in such situations with at least 1,000 plate appearances:
1. Babe Ruth, 1.2032. Ted Williams, 1.1283. Lou Gehrig, 1.0654. Jimmie Foxx, 1.0565. Manny Ramirez, 1.050
And when asked how he did it, MannyBManny said: “I don’t know. I just hit.”
He did just hit. The rest of the game held little interest for him. But in that way, he wasn’t really much different from another Red Sox leftfielder named Ted Williams. He was flakier than Ted and less profane than Ted and just plain odder than Ted. It’s unlikely that Ted Williams would have delayed a game looking for his diamond earring in the infield dirt or smiled after getting picked off in the World Series or left the outfield in the middle of the game to go the bathroom or run back to first base after stealing second or dived to cut off Johnny Damon’s throw for no apparent reason or kept a water bottle in his pocket...
― clemenza, Thursday, 7 March 2024 14:50 (three weeks ago) link
Millar: (Julian Tavarez and Manny) had this drink. It was like whiskey and it was this Latin cocktail they’d shake up in this old bottle, like a big old Perrier bottle. They put all this stuff in it: a shot of whiskey, honey, lemon. Well, Manny had the idea of throwing in Viagara pills and didn’t tell anybody. We were all taking shots of this stuff and it was like: “Let’s go play!”Arroyo: Manny loved a laugh.Leskanic: You know how they have the Silver Slugger award? I told him that this year they were going to give out a Silver Glove award. So we all spray-painted his glove silver and hung it in his locker. He said: “Lesky, I told you I was going to win the Silver Glove award!” McCarty: For all the s— he took about his defense, he really worked at it.Garciaparra: Manny put in the work.Leskanic: We would go out and have some drinks together. All his drinks had Red Bull. I’d say: “Manny, every time I see you, you’ve got a Red Bull in your hand. Why do you drink so much Red Bull?” And he would say in his dreams he could take longer batting practice because of the energy.Millar: Only Manny.Arroyo: Manny was so cheap, when we would check out of a hotel, all his incidentals he would freaking send to Edgar Rentería’s bill every time. You’d see Edgar arguing with the hotel manager that he didn’t have all this food.Leskanic: That’s true! Terry Adams was checking out, and I was right behind him. Terry was like: “I didn’t get four massages. I wasn’t even here for four days, how the hell would I get four massages?” Manny put it on his bill!Foulke: Manny would do the same thing to Julian (Tavarez). Julian knew him really well. He’d go into his wallet and get money out. Leskanic: Schilling made these “why not us” T-shirts. Manny took them all, put them all in his locker, 25 shirts, and he wore a different one home every night. Arroyo: Manny would open up his man purse and he’d have $10,000 in there.Leskanic: I just loved the guy.
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Thursday, 7 March 2024 15:04 (three weeks ago) link
Most of today's entry was about how little MVP support he garnered during an astounding seven-year run.
― clemenza, Thursday, 7 March 2024 15:06 (three weeks ago) link
I often think of Manny as my favourite player
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 7 March 2024 15:22 (three weeks ago) link
Why do you drink so much Red Bull?” And he would say in his dreams he could take longer batting practice because of the energy.
In his dreams
he is batting practice viking
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 7 March 2024 15:40 (three weeks ago) link
manny ramirez (best player)
― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Thursday, 7 March 2024 16:43 (three weeks ago) link