Baseball Hall of Fame ballot released

Ooooooooh, Waylon has challenged me. I guess I'll have to spend the rest of my night pouring through stats to prove my point.

By the way...it Bobby Thomson.

 

There are an infinite number of reasons for why a player performs at a certain level at a certain time. He is happy or unhappy or just had a kid or just broke up with his woman or his mom died or his house burned down or he has herpes or he just spent his signing bonus on a sweet ride or he changed his swing....etc. That is the human element at its most basic form.

But in baseball, that player's performance is quantifiable. We can put numbers on it, not that much differently than how we can quantify how well a salesman does. When reviewing actual performance in key moments: mediocre players are mediocre, good players are good, great players are great.

 

So Mariano Rivera has been been randomly almost 100 percent nails for 15 years. Gotcha.

 

No, Mariano Rivera has the most unhittable pitch in baseball history. He is also a great player who manages to be great in clutch moments. What a concept!

 

And that of course takes no special mind-set or fortitude, huh?

 

And I would be so much more impressed with strikeouts if they carried a greater value than a pop-up to shortstop. But they don't. They're both outs.

And hasn't the "Poor Bert always pitched for bad teams" myth been pretty well debunked?

 

Steve Hirdt would strangle you if he knew you attributed shit stats to Elias. He hates them more than most.

 

So you can't compare switch hitter Mickey Mantle to anyone, or to everybody?

 

Bullshit. Strikeouts are the most important pitching statistic there is. Every time a ball is put into play, something bad can happen. The best strikeout pitchers are typically the best pitchers, period. Strikeouts take defense out of the equation.

 

If Mariano Rivera has a special mindset, did he forget it at the hotel against the DBacks in Game 7 or against the 04 Red Sox? Is his fortitude a key chain good luck charm?

If statheads are the guys with the slide rule, then the "human element" guys are the ones sniffing jockstraps wishing they had the magic mental talents to be as awesome as the athletes they cover. Mariano Rivera's cutter is the most unhittable pitch in baseball history. He is also a smart guy who can read hitters. That doesn't mean he possesses some magic mental makeup unavailable to lesser mortals.

 

Ah, so Jerry Koosman was better than Jim Palmer then? And Chuck Finley was better than Catfish Hunter? Got it.

Now, are offensive strikeouts much more damaging than pop ups to short? Because the lack of contact means that nothing good can happen. Therefore, strikeouts should carry more weight than contact outs.

 

You embarrassed yourself with that.