Fun Baseball Stuff

As another baseball season approaches the All-Star Break, I tend to start devouring all kinds of information sources about the game whether they be websites, interviews, and/or Baseball Bigfoots like Joe Posnanski at si.com.

In my opinion, Joe is one of the more credible writers about the game, and even though I disagree with his thoughts from time to time I generally enjoy his work. I came across a piece Joe wrote "14 Crazy Baseball Facts" and I have to say there are some facts listed here that I never would have guessed were reality. Some of the subjects covered with these facts are:

1. How similar Tim Raines and Tony Gwynn's numbers are.
2. How Harold Baines quietly amassed stats better than Joe DiMaggio.
3. Ron Kittle was better power hitter than Lou Gehrig.

Anyway, I thought it was a pretty cool piece. Enjoy!

Tidbits And Nuggets

Just a quick shot at some things I've noticed in the past couple days:

• The best NBA Bigfoot in the business Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports gave us a scathing story about how bad the LeBron-Spoelstra conflict has gotten, and that really Spoelstra is in a no-win situation even though the only thing he's guilty of is holding LeBron accountable. It really is amazing that for 8 years of being aware of who LeBron James is, we had no idea how much of a child he has always been. There is such a disconnect with LeBron's perception of reality and lack of overall maturity that it's scary it took us this long to figure it out. Thankfully we as Bulls fans aren't finding this out with James in a Bulls uniform.
• Here's a copy of the all the Free Agents this baseball offseason with up to the minute updates on who has signed where. There hasn't been much activity yet, but of those free agents that have signed, I noticed something strange. Not counting Omar Vizquel, 31% of the Free Agents who have signed are Ex White Sox players. Juan Uribe, Javier Vazquez, Jon Garland, Jose Contreras, and Geoff Blum making up that 31%. I have no clue what that means, but I just find it interesting, especially since there are more Ex White Sox still on the market, namely Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Olivo.
• Speaking of Baseball Free Agents, I'm so SICK of the non-story that is the Derek Jeter-Yankees "will they or won't they" movie. I'm not even going to waste time writing about who's right or who's wrong and the reason is simply this. Any reasonable and rational thinking baseball fan knows, that Derek Jeter isn't even CLOSE to being the #1 most sought after free agent. Matter of fact, I wouldn't even put him in the Top Ten like Yahoo did. Forget that he's Derek Jeter for a second and pretend it was someone else who's 36 years old, just hit .270 with a .710 OPS and despite the worst Gold Glove ever issued since Rafael Palmeiro in 1999, is a butcher defensively. Would anyone who follows baseball care where that guy ended up? I didn't think so...
• Finally, I just wanted to share something I read that far better articulated my outrage at what a Scum Of The Earth program Notre Dame has become in the wake of Declan Sullivan and Lizzy Seeberg's deaths. Not only is the column well written by Editor In Chief of politicsdaily.com Melinda Henneberger, but it particularly gives me hope because Melinda is a Notre Dame grad, and it doesn't stop her from having Brains as well as a Conscience strong enough to be on the right side of this. Give it a read here.

Random Baseball Question

One of my favorite blogs to visit is Cot's Baseball Contracts. One of the reasons why is because they have this section which details the biggest contracts of all time. Looking at the list below, not counting the guys on the Yankees, there are only two guys that won championships after signing for big money. So the question becomes, is it worth it to spend top dollar on free agents if you're trying to win a World Series? ;Looking at this list, I'd say it isn't worth it. You can read the entire page here.

Total Value



The most lucrative contracts in baseball history, by total value:

1. Alex Rodriguez, $275,000,000 (2008-17)
2. Alex Rodriguez, $252,000,000 (2001-10)
3. Derek Jeter, $189,000,000 (2001-10)
4. Joe Mauer, $184,000,000 (2011-18)
5. Mark Teixeira, $180,000,000 (2009-16)
6. CC Sabathia, $161,000,000 (2009-15)
7. Manny Ramirez, $160,000,000 (2001-08)
8. Miguel Cabrera, $152,300,000 (2008-15)
9. Todd Helton, $141,500,000 (2003-11)
10. Johan Santana, $137,500,000 (2008-13)
11. Alfonso Soriano, $136,000,000 (2007-14)
12. Vernon Wells, $126,000,000 (2008-14)
13. Barry Zito, $126,000,000 (2007-13)
14. Ryan Howard, $125,000,000 (2012-16)
15. Mike Hampton, $121,000,000 (2001-08)
16. Jason Giambi, $120,000,000 (2002-08)
17. Matt Holliday, $120,000,000 (2010-16)
18. Carlos Beltran, $119,000,000 (2005-11)
19. Ken Griffey Jr., $116,500,000 (2000-08)
20. Kevin Brown, $105,000,000 (1999-2005)
21. Carlos Lee, $100,000,000 (2007-12)
22. Albert Pujols, $100,000,000 (2004-10)
23. Carlos Zambrano, $91,500,000 (2008-12)
24. Mike Piazza, $91,000,000 (1999-2005)
25. Barry Bonds, $90,000,000 (2002-06)
26. Torii Hunter, $90,000,000 (2008-12)
27. Chipper Jones, $90,000,000 (2001-06)
28. Scott Rolen, $90,000,000 (2003-10)
29. Ichiro Suzuki, $90,000,000 (2008-12)

Couple Steps Back From The Ledge

There has been plenty of angst and frustration about both Chicago baseball teams at the beginning of this young season. Both teams fans are not happy about sub .500 records, and there has been plenty of "Season's Over" feelings of panic to go around. Before I felt the need to go the ledge with my baseball emotions, a friend of mine brought this to my attention today. It goes back through the last ten seasons and shows teams that had awful starts to their seasons, yet eventually made the playoffs. Here's the link to it here. So despite how icky the season feels so far, it's still VERY early.

1. 2009 Yankees were 13-15 on May 7

2. 2009 Twins were six games under (56-62) on August 17 and won the division

3. 2008 Phillies were 4-6 and then 8-10

4. 2007 Rockies were 5-8 and then 18-27 and went to the series

5. 2007 Yankees lost 7 straight from April 20-27 to fall to 18-23 and were 26-31 in early June but rebounded to make the playoffs

6. 2006 A's were 23-29 at one point and reached the ALCS

7. 2005 Astros started 15-30 and went to the series

8. 2003 Twins started 9-12 and won the AL Central

9. 2002 Angels started 6-14 and won the World Series

10. 2002 A's started 19-25 and won 103 games

You Might Want To Re-Think This One O-Dawg

I meant to write about this yesterday but I was too busy re-attaching my crotch because it fell off when I initially read this. Orlando Hudson can't really be convinced Jermaine Dye isn't playing strictly because of racism can he? Hudson's not that clueless is he? Let me point a few things out to him, and anybody else who might agree with him:

1. Jermaine Dye has received at least three offers this offseason, two of which came from contenders in the Cubs and Brewers. The Nationals were the third team that's offered Dye a job. Dye turned down all three offers.

2. The money reportedly offered to Dye was around $3 million a season which for a 36 year old who can't play the field anymore and hit a walloping .179 and 7 home runs in the second half last season, is pretty fair compensation.

3. Jarrod Washburn and Braden Looper are out of work too. Washburn went 9-9 and was traded for at last years trade deadline. Braden Looper won 14 games last year. They also both happen to be white and (drum roll) OLD.

4. If Hudson is looking for a reason why Gary Sheffield is out of work, he only needs to look at his teammate Jim Thome. Thome is also a first ballot hall of famer, is also turning 40 this year, and is only working because he accepted a $1.5 million dollar deal which is HALF of what Dye was offered. Thome in case Hudson wasn't sure, is white.

5. Speaking of Jim Thome, he was also denied an offer from the White Sox this past offseason along with Jermaine Dye. Was he the victim of racism too? I'd like to think that wasn't the case. Also, is it really possible to claim Dye was not brought back by the White Sox because of racism when their general manager is black, and their manager is Venezuelan?

Hudson seems to be backing away from what he said according to this, but obviously he still feels racism is still a deciding factor in baseball decisions. That opinion is right up there along with Torii Hunter's "imposter's" theory regarding Latin American Black players in terms of unabashed ignorance.

If Hudson is looking for an -ism to explain Dye and Sheffield's predicament, ageism would be more accurate. Major League Baseball's days of throwing large dollars at guys 34 or older are long gone, especially in light of Testing for Performance Enhancing Drugs being implemented. Better still, Hudson can look at the contract of Alfonso Soriano. At 34, Soriano is clearly a player with diminished skills, yet his contract has him scheduled to be paid $18 million a season from now until 2014 when he will be 38 years old. Other General Managers see this, and it serves as quite the deterrent for them.

Can I say that racism has been eliminated from baseball, sports, or life? Absolutely not. Unfortunately for those of us living on planet earth, racism is still very much a part of our lives. What I can say for certain is that the days of the "Gentleman's Agreement" that prevented black players from playing 60-90 years ago, are thankfully long gone. Hudson and others can find evidence of this existing in Major League Baseball sponsored programs like R.B.I., and the annual Civil Rights Game that is played to honor the Civil Rights Movement, to embrace the history of Black players in Major League Baseball, and to generate interest for future black players in playing the game. Or better yet, Hudson and others can watch both white and black players wear #42 tomorrow to celebrate the legacy of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier 63 years ago. #42 being the ONLY number permanently retired throughout Major League Baseball.

Let's hope Hudson can permanently retire his antiquated and over-simplistic ideas that racial intolerance is the sole reason Dye and Sheffield are no longer playing, rather than dollars and cents/sense.

Cocaine's A Helluva Drug...

Keep it short and sweet today just before the Madness begins. This one is from the "Just When You've Seen It All" department: Texas Rangers Manager Ron Washington tested positive for cocaine last season. Washington is 57 years old, which is hardly a typical age of someone who wants to "experiment" with cocaine, nevertheless he maintains that was the only time he's used the drug (I have a feeling his nose was growing when he said that). There's a couple of different questions and issues that come up with this one. The most obvious being Washington's credibility and judgement. Other issues would be how can Washington maintain any respect in the clubhouse, particularly a clubhouse with long time drug abuser Josh Hamilton in it? So far everyone seems to be coming to his defense, which isn't too unexpected since everyone who's ever met Washington seems to rave about him. I would just think it's a little hard for a player to take him serious whenever he asks them to focus or maintain discipline while Washington would be doing his best Tony Montana imitation.

Sizzle Huh?

*Ed. Note: Thanks to Mike Silva's NY Baseball Digest for providing the links.



Normally I don't pay too much attention to the Cubs, or their media coverage, however this little nugget from The Mad Leprechaun AKA Chicago Tribune scribe Paul Sullivan caught my eye. Hey look, there's nothing wrong with pointing out a teams winning record in spring training, if that sort of thing excites you. That's not what caught my attention, nor why I'm writing this blog post. It did get me curious however, to see if there is any link between a having the best spring training record, and whether or not a winning record indicates strong odds of winning the World Series. I decided to check it out. Please use the following links to look at the record books for yourself here and here.

Going back to 1984, there have only been two teams that had the best record in spring training and won the World Series that season. They are the 1991 Minnesota Twins, and the 1997 Florida Marlins. So there goes that theory. Also, as Silva points out, the Kansas City Royals have had the best record in the AL in three of the past ten spring trainings. Somehow I haven't noticed the Royals even make the playoffs, let alone win the World Series in the past decade, have you? Also in the past ten years the 6 out of the 10 teams that won the World Series had winning records, so no discernible, or concrete link there either. One of the teams that won the World Series despite a losing spring training record happens to be the 2005 Chicago White Sox.

Anyway, hope always springs eternal, but I just thought it was cool to actually have hard data to compare spring training versus regular season performances. Enjoy.

Storm Coming?

In case you have forgotten (and Steve Henson of Yahoo Sports hasn't), Doctor Anthony Galea is still in a lot of trouble. Galea is still facing charges in Canada for selling a drug called Actovegin (which is an unapproved drug extracted from calf's blood), and his assistant is facing charges in the U.S. for trying to cross the border with HGH. Galea's official specialty is using a blood spinning technique, in which the blood is literally spun in a centrifuge and re-injected into the injured joint in order to accelerate healing. That sounds somewhat different or cutting edge at first glance but apparently it's not. Despite this apparently rudimentary treatment, it certainly didn't stop a whole lot of athletes and sports figures from travelling north of the border to seek him out. It should also be mentioned that Galea himself has admitted he uses HGH for himself, but never prescribed it to athletes (my B.S. Detector just exploded as soon as I heard Galea say that btw).

When news of Galea's arrest broke, the first "name" patient that emerged was Tiger Woods. As time and the investigation have moved forward, some other superstar names have come to the forefront. Alex Rodriguez, Huston Street, Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, and Carlos Delgado either have spoken to or have appointments to meet with the Feds regarding the Galea case. What was said to the Feds is unknown at this point. It may just simply be the athletes confirming that Galea worked on their knees, and they never received HGH or any other Performance Enhancers from Dr. Galea. However, the term Benefit Of The Doubt, does not fly on this blog, especially when it comes to possible Drug Cheating.

That being the case, there are a few things that arouse my curiosity, some of which include why would all these players, specifically New York based players, actively seek out a Canadian Doctor for simple knee treatment? How did they find him? How did the guys referring these players to Galea know how to find him? Apparently Dr. Richard Steadman, the same doctor whose clinic operated on Kobe Bryant's knee in 2003, is among one of the main referral sources for Galea. Still though, it seems a little too random that they would all be so willing to travel to Toronto on a referral for simple knee treatments?

Another curious question that comes up is why indeed are the Feds talking to all of these players with such frequency and urgency? The most obvious case where this type of behavior from the Feds took place was BALCO . As a result of the investigation, and some nice Grand Jury testimony leakage, the biggest Doping In Sports scandal was exposed, of which Major League Baseball-specifically the past decade, has never fully recovered from.

All these little coincidences and reminders beg the overall largest question to be asked which is : Is this the beginning of another storm of drug cheating surrounding Major League Baseball players, Olympians, NFL players, and The Goliath Of Golf? Is this as big, or possibly bigger than the BALCO case, in terms of inter-agency cooperation, public disclosure, and re-examination of the legitimacy of certain sports achievements? Or is this simply a case of a whole lot of smoke but no fire?

The problem is, we might never know. It took a crooked lawyer talking to two reporters in order for BALCO to fully come to light. ESPN certainly won't be devoting anyone to this story full time since they are still in bed with MLB. One thing's for sure though, if this were to be BALCO Part II, Bud Selig might finally understand that there is no "moving on" from the steroid era, unless he really is interested in getting to the bottom of the steroid era. Somehow I don't see that happening either...

Ken Rosenthal Loses His Damn Mind (And His Sense Of Geography)

So Fox Sports posts this bewildering, and nonsensical item written by long time MLB Scribe (and Fox Schill) Ken Rosenthal discussing the possibility of realignment. Aside from posting a map that has the Cubs in Indiana, the Twins in Winnipeg, and the Indians in Youngstown among other errors, Ken proposes a self described "modest" and "radical" possibilities for realignment to take place during the next collective bargaining period. Why does realignment need to take place in Ken's world? Well he feels that the competitive balance is not where it needs to be, and a dramatic shift of this nature would help jump start it again.

(Ed Note: I'm not going to touch his "Revenue Realignment" proposal since it involves moving the A's to New Jersey-ridiculous). His "modest" proposal would involve sending the Boston Red Sox to the AL Central, the Detroit Tigers to the AL East, and the Houston Astros move to the AL West, so that each league would have 15 teams. Besides being geographically challenged, this move doesn't make any sense. The Beard is all for minimizing the number of times the Yankees and Red Sox play each other during the season, but unfortunately breaking them up would leave too much money on the table for the owners to pass up.

His "Radical" proposal has 11 teams switching leagues, the divisions switching names, the Cubs and White Sox in the same division-a National League Division at that, and just an overall middle finger to the history and tradition of over 100 years of Major League Baseball identity. His argument for this realignment would be an increased emphasis on the rivalries between teams in the same city, and the Red Sox and Yankees would get two more teams to play that have similar high revenues in the Mets and Phillies. First of all, I can barely stand it when the Cubs and White Sox play each other 6 times a season, let alone 19. Secondly, I fail to see how the Yankees and Red Sox playing the Mets and Phillies is going to do anything for competitive balance? The Mets do have high revenues and payrolls, but that hasn't stopped them from producing absolutely awful teams over the years. Which leads me to my main argument against this...

The competitive balance in Major League Baseball isn't held back by a lack of inter-city rivalry games, or divisions lacking teams with similar payrolls, or teams not spending the same amount of money as the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, and Cubs. After all, only three teams have won the World Series after spending over $100 million on their payrolls (2004 Red Sox, 2007 Red Sox, 2009 Yankees). It's held back by a combination of a diluted talent pool, some terrible front offices that are allowed to remain in place (I'm looking at you Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals), and an unwillingness by Major League Baseball to cover any other teams as ferociously as the Yankees and Red Sox.

All of that aside though, the key to competitive balance is already in place, and it's called revenue sharing through the luxury tax. Through revenue sharing, small market teams are given resources to be able to compete, and it's paid off with teams like the Minnesota Twins being perennial playoff contenders each year. There just needs to be more accountability for the teams that take the revenue sharing money, and don't spend it like say...the Florida Marlins. They were accused of exactly this by MLB, and immediately threw money at Josh Johnson within 3 days of the accusation. Perhaps the owners explore a minimum salary cap like the NBA? Maybe.

One thing that is certain with The Beard however, is that teams hands being forced to spend money on players would be way more productive in restoring more competitive balance in baseball, rather than mutilating and deforming it with modest or radical division and league realignments.

Weekend Outlook

Some weird free agent baseball signings and uh "retirements" taking place in the last 48 hours. The Mets trading for Gary Matthews Jr. The Phillies signing Jose Contreras. The Kansas City Royals signing Rick Ankiel to their roster full of other teams garbage prospects who didn't work out. Then there's the bizarre case of Oakland A's prospect Grant Desme leaving his would be baseball career behind to enter the priesthood. This one is pretty silly and strange to The Beard. Grant has his whole life to enter the priesthood. He's only got a brief amount of time to play Major League Baseball. I understand the whole "calling" people feel but it's perfectly logical to ask why? Why throw it away when he doesn't have to? Didn't his god give him a gift to play? Isn't it a sin to waste the talents his catholic god gives him? It's very odd to say the least...

All the baseball dealings aside, this weekend is all about the NFL Championship Games. These games are always interesting, and most of the time they end up being better than the actual Super Bowl itself. All four of these teams are different from each other on both sides of the ball, and present interesting match ups. It's also interesting to note, that once again the NFL is still so over saturated, that a team with a 9-7 record is threatening to go to the Super Bowl for the second season in a row. Lets get to some predictions:

Jets v Colts : A lot of the spotlight is being focused on Peyton Manning's offense vs Rex Ryan's defense as the key match up for this game. I would submit that the focus should be the other way around. I think the big determining factor in this game will be the Jets offense, and how well they will be able to run the football against that very light front seven of the Colts. If the Jets are able to dominate the Time Of Possession, it keeps the ball out of Manning's hands and it will keep the Jet defense rested. Baltimore had a similar strategy last week, and it would have worked had they not fumbled 3 times. Shonn Greene is known to fumble, but Thomas Jones never does. The Jets also might have the best offensive line in football with 3 Pro Bowlers. Yeah Peyton Manning will get his yards, and the Colts might get a couple of TD's, but my prediction is Jets 26 Colts 20.

Vikings v Saints : We're being told that this is the game that will "vindicate" Brett Favre, and if the Vikings win, we should all not hate him anymore because all of this drama has led to a Super Bowl appearance. I guess we shouldn't hate Ray Lewis anymore because he won the Super Bowl too, if we follow that logic. Obviously since Ray Lewis doesn't get the benefit of the doubt from people with three digit I.Q.'s and long memories, Favre shouldn't get the benefit of the doubt either.

Favre's ultimate legacy will be that of a petulant, me-first, crybaby, and bald face LIAR he has been over the past 3 seasons. He lied twice to both the Packers, and Jets about his retirement. He also lied to the Vikings about it when he initially said thanks but no thanks because he didn't want to go to training camp. He threw so many people (Ted Thompson in particular) under the bus because they were guilty of the grievous crime of taking his "I'm Retired" press conference seriously and moving on with their franchise. He is all about Brett Favre, and Brett Favre only. Everyone else on the team is just going along for the ride.

It will all be for naught however, as the Saints offense will be too high powered for the Vikings defense to slow down. Saints 30-Vikings 23.

Have a great weekend everybody!

A Real Hall Of Famer

I know that Albert Pujols is tirelessly giving 100% of himself to the situation in Haiti, and can't stand it when someone wants to ask him about anything else. If he can somehow manage to take a 5 minute break and read this, maybe he'll have a better understanding of why questions about Mark McGwire and the rest of the Steroid Era will never go away until we get to the bottom of it.

I don't have many man-crushes in sports, but one of the few I have made the news this afternoon. Carlton Fisk came out swinging against Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and the rest of the guilty people involved in the Steroid Era today. He pulled no punches, offered zero empathy, got down to exactly why it's cheating, and acted like a true authentic Baseball Hall Of Fame member should act with regard to this entire situation. Bravo Carlton...bravo.

Fisk has always been a watchdog/crusader of sorts as to how the game should be played. Don't believe me? Go ask Deion Sanders. The irony of course is that Fisk indirectly had a hand in sparking interest in weight training being a gateway to prolong a Major League Baseball career. To the point where's Oakland A's then GM Sandy Alderson saw Fisk hit 37 home runs at age 37 in 1985, and instituted a weight lifting program across the entire A's organization the very next season.

Regardless, it still doesn't stop Fisk from being 100% correct, even though his math might have been a little off. Here's hoping more Hall Of Fame members follow Carlton's (and Goose Gossage's) lead and speak out against the players who have been caught, strongly suspected, or otherwise guilty until proven innocent of juicing. The fact of the matter is, MLB doesn't have a commissioner who's interested in getting to the bottom of it. The Players Union certainly isn't interested in getting to the bottom of it. The media and the fans can only go so far. Therefore, in the absence of real leadership, it's now up to members of the Hall Of Fame to take a stand. Let's hope that Fisk's comments today, are just the beginning...

Cubs Are "Cancer Free"

As we are all aware by now, the Cubs found a taker for Milton Bradley. As my astute cousin pointed out, the Cubs are now "cancer free", and I couldn't agree with him more. The details are as follows : Mariners get Bradley and the rest of his $30 million dollar dumb contract, in return for Carlos Silva and the rest of his $48 million dollar dumb contract, and an additional $9 million bucks from the Mariners, for in essence $6 million bucks in salary relief.

Reaction has, believe it or not been mixed, due to some observers actually being worried about Silva and his retarded contract. Sure, it's a lot of money for a bum pitcher. Silva is known for not walking anybody and pitching to contact too, and he still has a career ERA OF 4.72. It's expected that number would go up even higher in the National League where he would have to throw more fastballs.

In this blog's view however, none of that matters. It doesn't matter if Silva's arm falls off and he never pitches again, it's still a great deal for the Cubs, and a pointless deal for the Mariners. First of all, it was a foregone conclusion the only way Bradley was going anywhere is if the Cubs took on a bad contract from someone else. That was unavoidable. It turns out that Silva's bad contract plus some $ from Seattle was the bad contract they could live with.

Secondly, Silva will never :

1. Run the risk of constant ejections
2. Have near assaults of umpires
3. Have cry-baby tirades to the media of how he thinks the world is out to get him
4. Accuse his fans of making racial taunts without having the testicular fortitude to get into specifics
5. Speak of the "negative culture" that supposedly permeates the Cubs organization
6. Have to be given the "JUST GET THE F*CK OUTTA HERE" type of suspension from Jim Hendry.

In other words, Silva is not nearly the cancer on a stick that Bradley is. Cubs Nation should have a little more pep in their step knowing they will not have to put up with this jackass anymore. Seattle on the other hand, after making some very bold moves recently, might have derailed their own cause with this move. It's only a matter of pressure and time before Mount Bradley erupts, and even in a placid city like Seattle, he still will find a way to ruin a great situation.

Interesting Debate

Not much happening in the world of sports that is really captivating today. I don't really feel like joining in, nor criticizing the NFL's handling of Chris Henry's pointless death as a "tragedy". The Colts victory of Jacksonville tonight was interesting, yet expected. The Chicago Bulls beat a New York Knicks team that I STILL have no idea how they managed to avoid being named the worst NBA team of the decade according to Sports Illustrated.

SI DID however provide some food for thought today. Joe Posnanski wrote an article debating the Hall Of Fame candidacy of one Tim Raines, and I must say he makes a pretty good case. While admittedly a fan of Tim Raines in general as a player, I hadn't really taken a long, hard look at his numbers when stacked up against the rest of the field. Posnanski did that for us today, and I start to see why the SABR nerds hold Raines in such high esteem. For those that don't remember, in his prime with Les Expo in the 1980's he was indeed Rickey Henderson's equivalent in the National League. Total Baseball had him ranked as one of the top 5 best players in the game from 1983-1987. He went on to have a very lengthy and productive career. .294 career lifetime batting average, .385 OBP, 1571 career runs scored, 808 career stolen bases plus had the highest success stolen base percentage of any basestealer including "Don't Worry Rickey, you're still the best" Henderson, makes for a very interesting debate. If Lou Brock, and Rickey are in, it makes you wonder if Raines has a place in Cooperstown considering he was, in many ways, equal or better than both of them.

The only issue I would have with this, is there are two other players that have similar careers as Raines, and they are Kenny Lofton and Johnny Damon. If Raines gets in, they have to logically be let in too don't they?