MLB '24 Postseason thread

Bumgarner maintains eye contact with you for an uncomfortable amount of time

 

The 1984 Tigers didn't have a player voted into the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA, which tells me more about the voters and their lack of knowledge about the franchise, given that Al Kaline was the last Tiger to get inducted by sportswriters. (You'd assume that'll change with Cabrera and Verlander, but the BBWAA will find a way to screw that up, too.)

Morris and Trammell were veterans picks. And Lou Whitaker can't even get a sniff of Cooperstown. Oh, Whitaker's tied with Johnny Bench with 75.1 career WAR as the 84th best player in the history of the game, or almost 8 WAR more than Ryne Sandberg, who was on cable TV every game because the Cubs are lovable losers and Harry Caray was funnier drunk.

It's a nice museum and the library is awesome. I gave up on it actually representing the best players about the time I learned to shave.

 

The Dodgers have had a lot of success in Los Angeles the last 66 years without developing and keeping a Hall of Fame offensive player. As B-Baller points out, they have had a run of Hall of Very Good players. They have also produced a lot of rookies of the year who had a few good seasons and moved on or flamed out. They traded for or signed the three potential HoF bats they have now.

Kershaw is the only homegrown and kept HoFer since Don Sutton, who retired more than 35 years ago.

 

As much as I hate the recent itteration of the Dodgers, I have to root for them. My mother watched Duke Snider and I have the last Brooklyn Dodgers yearbook.

 

I covered that team and this portion of the thread really triggered thoughts. Your observation is spot-on.
Garvey was probably their most-likely HOFer, but he derailed his own career that devolved into people finding out what a phony he really was. Fernando could have been, too, but he flailed later in is his career and hung on too long. Reggie Smith was also derailed by injuries. Shoulder ailments cut him short. I saw him throwing darts one afternoon in Vero. I was an avid darts player, so I asked him if he played or was just trying to get his shoulder loose. He said the latter.
The labor dispute allowed Campanis and other upper management types to get closer looks at their minor leaguers and they decided Sax (and Niedenfuer) were ready for the big club and brought them up after the labor issue was resolved. Also, outfielder Mike Marshall was on the way to a minor-league MVP award and Greg Brock a home run title. That was the end for Lopes. Too many outfielders meant moving Guerrero to third base and that was it for Cey. Brock had more power than Garvey -- bye bye Garv.
The Dodgers of that era did win four rookie of the year awards in a row (Sutcliffe, Howe, Fernando, Sax) and a few years later had another five in a row (Karros, Piazza, Mondesi, Nomo, Hollandsworth). To your point, none of them were HOFers retained by the Dodgers. Piazza was a classic mistake, orchestrated by Fox ownership, which was trying to make a splash in Miami and traded him to the Marlins. That one cost GM Fred Claire his job, since he didn't know about the trade and immediately quit when he found out.
That some ex-Dodgers achieved HOF status after leaving L.A., that is probably the Campanis philosophy, originated by Branch Rickey, of trading guys a year too early than a year too late.

 

Man, I miss having spring training in Vero Beach. If there's one thing that best defines how spring training has become Big Business, it's leaving little bitty Vero Beach and it's non-roofed, no fence, no dugout fan friendly environment. Just players sitting in the sun a few feet from the paying customers. Something to be said for a time when things weren't really all about the almighty dollar.

 

Not saying he should make the Hall, but Reggie Smith is one of those guys who should get another look from the various veterans committees. By the time he got to L.A., he wasn't as fast and briefly morphed himself into more of a power threat, but in Boston and St. Louis he was a multi-tool player. A Gold Glove outfielder and he could run too.

Garvey was super popular, and though people denigrate it, there is something to be said for playing everyday. That said, advanced metrics aren't kind to him, so he does have the air of compiler - a word I don't like because you have to play to compile - but the shoe fits.

He absolutely does not deserve his Gold Gloves either. Keith Hernandez was active for nearly all of the ones Garvey won so that's disqualifying on that count alone. I can't really blame those who choose him, though. Range statistics just didn't exist at the time.

 

All that needs to be said about Steve Garvey is that he blew. Career OBP is awful. He came close, but never had a SLG% over .500.

 

I wasn't covering the team like Chris was, but was working as an usher at Dodger Stadium that season. It was Fernandomania and it was electric.
Sax came up after the strike and gave them a spark. The young ladies liked him too.
I worked at the stadium from 1980-85 and got a one-game playoff for the West in 80, a championship in 81, eliminated on the final day in 82 thanks to Joe Morgan and the Fat Tub of Goo, an NLCS loss to the Phillies in 83, a down year but the Olympics in 84, and an NLCS loss in 85 thanks to Tom fucking Niedenfuer and Jack Clark. It was quite a run for the team in the early to mid 80s.

 

It was wonderful for fans. The players had to walk a couple of hundred yards from the clubhouse to Holman Stadium. Those areas and walkways were open to fans. Besides the open dugouts, the bullpens were also open, just benches along the short fence down the foul lines. Fans could come to the fence and be inches from the players. One of my worst interviews with Garvey was there. I talked to him prior to the game about an interview. Of course, he said yes. He said that he was going to get two at-bats, then run in the outfield for a few minutes, then I should meet him in the bullpen where we could sit and talk. That's what we did, but he was overwhelmed by fans seeking autographs and, of course, he obliged. Our interview was so disjointed. At least it was OK for him, because he had his patented answers on the ready: Goals: 100-200-300 -- 100 RBIs, 200 hits, .300 batting average.

 

If my memory serves, Garvey was a coverted third baseman because he couldn't throw with any accuracy. Even after he moved to first, opposing players knew they had a better than average chance of scoring on a grounder.

Also, that was an era when the Dodgers seemingly cornered the market on starting pitchers with names of six letters ending in N: Osteen. Sutton. Hooton. Rhoden.

 

I understand why — everything is rigidly set in advance these days — but with nothing but early season NHL and NBA games going on tonight and tomorrow, sure would be a good time to start the World Series.