Yardbarker: Brooks Robinson

This Week in Yankee History (5/31-6/6)

Sun, 31 May 2009 17:20:19 -0500

This Week in Yankee History May 31st - June 6thMay 31st1913 - Yankees obtained INF Rollie Zeider and 1B Bill Borton from the White Sox for 1B Hal “Prince” Chase. Yankees Manager Frank Chance had Chase traded because he thought that Hal Chase was betting on Highlander games. Chance would later be banned from MLB for gambling on games, costing him his MLB career and a chance to be elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame.1932 - The Yankees obtained P Dan Mac Fayen from the Red Sox for undisclosed amo...

Matt Wieters: We Can't Wait

Tue, 26 May 2009 21:59:20 -0500

The 23-year-old 6'5" catcher will make his major league debut this Friday against the Detroit Tigers, as announced by team president Andy MacPhail this evening. It's not like he's going to single-handedly drag the Orioles out of the basement of the AL East, but it'll be fun to watch him hit. Wieters, the O's top prospect, played three years at Georgia Tech before Baltimore used their fifth overall pick on him in the 2007 amateur draft. He then split time between the C...

Award Context: Tony Oliva's 1964 Rookie of the Year

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 07:15:52 -0500

When the Twins signed Tony Oliva out of Cuba in 1961, they assumed they had acquired a 23-year-old. Diligent research by the Twins public relations director Herb Heft revealed that the Twins had actually received a 21-year-old who was not named Tony but rather Pedro. Pedro Oliva, with the assistance of legendary Cuban scout Joe Cambria, switched records with his older brother Tony and decided to retain his namesake and birthday when he finally landed stateside. Thus, Pedro O...

Adenhart Remembered In Maryland

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:41:56 -0500

((HT: LA Times/Dan Connolly-Mike DiGiovanna))

Nicholas James "Nick" Adenhart ((pictured, thanks Luis Sinco/LA Times)), the 22-year-old Angels right-hander from western Maryland who was killed last week in a car accident, was buried Thursday after a private service attended by about 200 people.

Led by a Maryland state trooper, a procession of 70 cars drove five miles to the interment at Greenlawn Memorial Park.

"The community honored Nick Adenhart today," said Tim Mead, the Angels' vice president of communications, who was among 11 club representatives who flew to Maryland. "You just sensed -- certainly the hurt -- but the pride in this community for Nick. It was a very nice service."

Those in attendance included Angels owner Arte Moreno and his wife, Carole, General Manager Tony Reagins, Manager Mike Scioscia, pitching coach Mike Butcher, Angels pitchers Dustin Moseley, Jered Weaver and John Lackey, scouting director Eddie Bane and scout Dan Radcliff, who was credited with having signed an injured Adenhart for $710,000 after he was taken in the 14th round of the 2004 amateur draft.

The players and coaching staff flew in from Seattle on Wednesday night. After the service, Weaver, Lackey and Moseley flew to Minneapolis, where the Angels begin a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins tonight. Scioscia, Butcher, Reagins and Mead returned via private jet to Seattle, arriving about an hour before the Angels took the field for batting practice for Thursday night's game against the Mariners.

The manager, who has stressed all week that the focus should remain on the Adenhart family and not on how the Angels are coping, did not want to talk about the funeral.

"It was very private, and we're going to leave it at that," Scioscia said.

Reagins said the day "was a challenge, but you can't compare it to what the family is going through. . . .

"This is not about the Angels and what we have to go through. It's about them losing a son and what it meant to that entire community.

"You go through tragedies in your life -- I lost my sister, my mother and my father. This is one of those tragedies that will never leave the organization."

A public memorial service will be held today at Adenhart's alma mater, Williamsport High. Organizers were expecting at least 2,000 people to attend.

On April 8, Adenhart, the organization's top prospect, pitched the best game of his brief big league career, throwing six scoreless innings against the Oakland Athletics in his fourth major league start.

Hours later, he and two friends were killed in Fullerton, when the Mitsubishi Eclipse they were riding in was struck by a minivan that ran a red light. The driver of the minivan, Andrew Thomas Gallo, 22, has been charged with three counts of murder as well as fleeing an accident and DUI-related felonies.

One week later, family and select friends of Adenhart mourned their loss at Downsville Christian, Adenhart's childhood church, which is adjacent to a working farm and across the road from a general store that rents videos, sells sandwiches and has a full wall display of various pieces of fishing equipment -- a world away from the glitz of Southern California and the glare of the major league spotlight.

The service lasted nearly an hour.

"It was hard. It was heartbreaking," said Dean Albany, the Orioles' East Coast cross-checker scout, who managed Adenhart for several years with the high-level select team, the Maryland Orioles. "The hardest thing for me is I still don't believe it happened. You want to pinch yourself and wake up, but you just don't wake up from this."

While at the service, Albany said he could sense what Adenhart meant to the community.

"We all have our own heroes growing up. [Orioles greats] Jim Palmer and Brooks Robinson were my heroes," Albany said. "Nick Adenhart was a lot of people's hero around there. So this was tough on a lot of people, a lot of small kids in that little community."

Butcher, after arriving back at Safeco Field late Thursday afternoon, declined to talk about the service.

The Hall of Fame Case for Ron Santo (Part 2 of 3)

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 03:37:35 -0500

On Monday December 8th, the Baseball Hall of Fame will announce the voting results of the Veterans Committee.A In a three part series, guest columnist and reader, "Dying Cub Fan" takes a look at the candidacy of former Cubs third basemen, Ron Santo. We ran this piece two years ago, but it's lost in Internet limbo and well, Santo deserves it, so we're running it again. Plus, the voting process has changed this year, as there are only 10 players for the committee to consider, so here's hoping this is the year.A You can join the revolution on Facebook as well.

Brooks Robinson

In 1964, third basemen won the MVP award in both the American League and the National League. Brooks Robinson won in the AL, playing for an Oriole team that won 97 games and finished third, and Ken Boyer won in the NL, playing for the Cardinals, who won 93 games and the pennant. The Cubs won 76 games and finished 8th. Santo had a better year than either Robinson or Boyer and finished 8th in MVP balloting. 6

RBI

OBP

SLG

OPS+

Boyer

628

100

185

119

.295

.365

.489

130

Santo

592

185

114

.312

.398

.564

164

Robinson

612

194

118

.317

.368

.521

145

Santo had more home runs, a higher on-base percentage and a higher slugging percentage than either Robinson or Boyer. Santo won the Gold Glove over Boyer, who had won it the previous five years. Playing for teams that scored significantly more runs and had higher team on-base percentages than the Cubs, both Robinson and Boyer had more RBI than Santo; Robinson led the AL in RBI and Boyer led the NL (Santo finished second).

It is widely acknowledged that the MVP award does not always go the best player in the league, but it tends to go to players on teams that either win the pennant or come close. While there have been exceptions, very good players on mediocre or bad teams tend not to do as well in MVP voting as similar players on good teams. In the 1960s, no MVP winner in either league played for a team that won fewer than 90 games.7 The Cubs won 90 games or more once in that entire decade, in 1969 (with 92 wins).

Robinson finished in the top ten in MVP voting seven times in his career. Santo finished in the top ten four times. Some of this disparity can probably attributed to the fact that Santo's teams were, by and large, much worse than Robinson's. For example, both the Orioles and Cardinals were significantly better in 1964 than the Cubs were, at nearly every position one examines other than third base. The Orioles, aside from Brooks Robinson, had two other Hall of Famers in Luis Aparicio and Robin Roberts, as well as a wealth of very good young players, including pitchers Milt Pappas, Wally Bunker and Dave McNally. Boog Powell, at 22, was probably the best offensive player that the Orioles had; despite playing only 134 games, he had 39 homers, 99 rbi and an OPS+ of 176. The Cardinals, aside from Boyer, had Lou Brock and Bob Gibson, both Hall of Famers, and also had Ray Sadecki, Curt Simmons, Bill White, Curt Flood, Tim McCarver and Dick Groat. The Cubs had Santo, Billy Williams and Ernie Banks, although Banks was no longer a great player in 1964 (Banks' OPS+ that year was actually below that of Norm Siebern, the Orioles' first baseman). Larry Jackson did win 23 games for the Cubs that year, although as a whole the Orioles' and Cardinals' pitching was much better than the Cubs'. Both Boyer and Robinson were fine players, and I don't mean to suggest that they were undeserving of their MVP awards. However, Santo was better than they were in 1964.

1964 was by far Robinson's best year. He never came close to being as productive at the plate again. Santo, on the other hand, followed his 1964 season with three consecutive seasons that were nearly as good as his 1964 season, having OPS+ years of 146 in 1965, 161 in 1966 and 153 in 1967. Robinson never had another year where his OPS+ exceeded 125. Aside from 1964 and the three seasons cited above, Santo had an OPS+ greater than 125 in 1963, 1968, 1969 and 1972.

Santo was a significantly better batter than Robinson. He had far more power, walked a lot more and had a higher career batting average. Santo's peak offensive value was considerably higher than Robinson's, and Santo's peak was longer and more sustained. Santo hit far more home runs in 15 seasons (342) than Robinson did in 23 (268). Santo could also be counted on to drive in more runs in a given season, to hit for a higher batting average, to walk far more often and to score more runs.

Defensively, the statistics support the conclusion that Robinson was better than Santo.8 Robinson committed fewer errors and was involved in many more double plays. Although their career range factors are quite similar, Robinson had more years with high range factors than Santo (although Santo's peak years in terms of range factor, 3.56 in 1966 and 3.60 in 1967, exceeded Robinson's highs of 3.49 in 1967 and 3.43 in 1974 by a wide margin). Robinson won 16 Gold Gloves; Santo won five. However, Gold Glove voting is probably not a definitive measure of fielding prowess; in all probability it is less reliable than MVP voting for making definitive assessments about a player's worth. Many players have won more than one Gold Glove9, and there seems to have been a tendency for voters to award them based on past reputation. While I don't doubt that Robinson was an excellent defensive third baseman late into his career, I have some trouble believing he deserved at least the Gold Gloves he won in the 1970s, when younger players such as Don Money, Graig Nettles and Aurelio Rodriguez could not pry the award out of his hands until the Orioles finally realized that his bat precluded him from continuing as a regular following the 1975 season.10 However, Robinson was generally regarded as perhaps the best defensive third baseman of all time.

Robinson was a better defensive third baseman than Santo, and was perhaps the best of all time defensively. However, I have trouble seeing how Robinson's defensive superiority can offset Santo's clear and substantial advantages on the offensive side, particularly in light of the fact that Santo was a very good defensive third baseman.11

Let's compare two players who played second base in the Hall of Fame: Bill Mazeroski (career OPS+ of 84) and Nellie Fox (career OPS+ of 94). Mazeroski won 8 gold gloves; Fox won 3. Fox led the league in hits 4 times, led the league in triples once and won an MVP award; Mazeroski never won an MVP and never led the league in any offensive category, other than one year when he led the league in intentional walks. Fox scored 100 runs or better 4 times and finished in the top ten in the league in runs scored seven times; Mazeroski never scored more than 71 runs in a season and never finished in the top ten. Mazeroski's career OBP was .299; Fox's was .348. Mazeroski is regarded as perhaps the finest double play man of all time, but can anyone make a reasonable argument that he was a better player than Fox? Both were relatively light hitters (Fox hit .288 lifetime, Mazeroski hit .260 and their career slugging percentages are quite close, even though Mazeroski hit 100 more home runs), although Fox was clearly a more productive offensive player.

Consider another example from players who played shortstop: Cal Ripken had a career OPS+ of 112 while Ozzie Smith had a career OPS+ of 87. Ozzie Smith clearly had much more range than Ripken and is generally acclaimed as one of the best defensive shortstops ever (winning thirteen Gold Gloves), a claim never made about Ripken (although he did win two Gold Gloves). Which one was the better player? How much does Smith's defensive superiority offset Ripken's clear offensive superiority? I would think that most major league managers and GMs, if they had to choose, would take Ripken over Smith and Fox over Mazeroski without losing too much sleep over it, preferring a good defender with good offensive value over a superlative defender with marginal offensive value. Santo's career OPS+ was 125, Robinson's 104. Do Robinson's defensive advantages outweigh Santo's offensive advantages? For me, I don't see how they can; the offensive deficit is too large. Even factoring in his 1964 MVP year, Robinson was a fair offensive player (and, at times, actually a below-average one), a .270 hitter with some power who did not walk often. Santo was considerably better at the plate. I don't see the defense making up the difference.

Robinson's teams did far better than Santo's, winning five division titles, four pennants (including one in 1966, before there was a division split) and two World Series. All told, Robinson played in 9 postseason series. Robinson was World Series MVP in 1970; in that series, he made several legendary defensive plays. There is no question that this should be given some weight, and should factor in Robinson's favor. The question is, how much? Brooks Robinson was unquestionably an integral part of the Orioles' success. However, the Orioles did not win a pennant until they acquired Frank Robinson in 1966, and did not win another during Brooks' career after they traded Frank away after the 1971 season. The Orioles in the late 60s and early 70s won for a lot of reasons: great pitching (they led the league in team ERA in 1969, 1970 and 1971), great offense (they had team OPS+ numbers of 122 in 1966, 119 in 1969, 114 in 1970 and 122 in 1971 and led the league in runs scored in each of those years except 1969, when they finished second), great defense and great managing. Brooks Robinson's OPS+ numbers in the four years Baltimore won the pennant (1966, 1969, 1970 and 1971) were below the Orioles' team OPS+ numbers in each year except 1966, when his OPS+ was 124 and the team's was 122. In 1969 he batted .234 with an OPS+ of 92. At least three or four Oriole players in each of those years were more valuable offensively than Brooks Robinson. Aside from Frank Robinson, those Oriole teams had superb leadoff hitters in Curt Blefary and Don Buford and significant power from Boog Powell. Merv Rettenmund, Paul Blair and Davey Johnson also contributed more offensively than Brooks Robinson.

There are a lot of players who played on pennant winners and World Series champions who are not in the Hall of Fame. Although playing on a winner should be given some weight, the fact that someone played on a winner is not sufficient, in and of itself, to put someone in the Hall of Fame. For example, there were many fine players on the 1950s Yankees, such as Gil McDougald, who are not in and should not be in. Similarly, performance in a World Series or playoff series should be given some weight, but no one will put Joe Rudi, Tommie Agee or Graig Nettles in the Hall of Fame simply because of outstanding defensive play in a World Series. I would agree that in an otherwise marginal case, factors such as play for a pennant winner or post-season performance can make a difference in determining whether someone should make the Hall of Fame, but I don't think either Robinson or Santo is an otherwise marginal case. Santo never played for a division winner or pennant winner, but, again, how much of that is his fault? As for giving Robinson an "edge" over Santo, I don't see how a great performance in one World Series can tip the scales in Robinson's favor when Santo's entire career was better. If you give credit for Robinson hitting .429 in the 1970 World Series, shouldn't you also take away credit for his hitting .053 in the 1969 World Series, which the Orioles lost? How much credit do you give to Robinson based on the fact he played on a great team? While the Cubs had improved from 1964 and were competitive in the late '60s and early '70s, the Orioles were markedly better than the Cubs at that time (the Orioles averaged 106 wins a year from 1969 through 1971). I do not see Robinson's presence on these teams making up the difference that Santo's offensive numbers give him.

None of this is meant in disrespect of Brooks Robinson. Bill James in 2001 ranked him as the 91st best player of all time, and he is deservedly in the Hall of Fame. However, Santo was a better player.

Traynor and Lindstrom

In his 1994 book on the Hall of Fame, Bill James pointed out that throughout baseball history, Hall of Famers have accounted for approximately 10% of all at bats. He demonstrated that this was true not only when examining baseball history as a whole, but also when examining individual years and decades, with the notable exception being the period from 1925-35, with the percentage of Hall of Fame at bats being over 20% in each year during that period except one and being as high as 24% in 1929. James argues from these numbers that the players in those years are "disproportionately represented in the Hall of Fame, overrepresented by about 100 percent. There are about twice as many players from that generation in the Hall of Fame as there are from any other."12 Part of this is probably due to the unusually high batting statistics from that era. However, as discussed briefly above, many of those numbers were not that remarkable in the context in which they occurred. Lindstrom and Traynor, neither of whom was an elite offensive player when compared to his contemporaries, are from that era. Traynor was elected by the BBWAA in 1948. Lindstrom was selected by the Veteran's Committee during the 1970s, and has proved to be a highly controversial choice, one that bas been cited as evidence of incompetence and cronyism by the Veteran's Committee during those years.13 As was shown above, neither Lindstrom or Traynor stood out amongst their contemporaries the way Santo did.

The conditions under which Lindstrom and Traynor played were very different from those in place during Santo's career. First, the level of play was more competitive in 1968 than it was in 1930. For one thing, in 1930, major league baseball was still whites only; in the 60s there were many very talented African-American and Latin ballplayers in the National League. Also, many of the hitting-friendly ballparks in existence in 1930, such as Ebbets Field, the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia and Sportsman's Park, were no longer in the National League, replaced by parks that were much more favorable to pitchers, such as Dodger Stadium, the Astrodome, Candlestick Park and Busch Stadium, with deeper fences and more foul territory. Gloves were better in the 1960s. Night baseball did not exist in 1930. Relief pitchers were not used as effectively in 1930 as they came to be used later. As described above, the mid- to late-sixties also featured an enlarged strike zone and elevated mounds. Lindstrom and Traynor did not compete in the environment Santo did; in their era, hits and runs were far more plentiful and worth less. The inflated batting statistics of that era, and their superficial appeal, have led to overrepresentation of players from that era in the Hall of Fame.

It is far easier to say that Santo fits within the top 10% of players playing regularly (to whom the number of total at bats in any period can be attributed) during his years in the game than it is to argue that Traynor or Lindstrom belongs in the top 10% during their time. Having said that, Traynor's case for being in the Hall of Fame is a decent one even though Santo's offensive numbers (other than batting average) relative to his contemporaries were better. Lindstrom's case is much less strong. Although Lindstrom had a few good years, he simply did not have enough of them and, even in his best years, was not at the level of Santo's best years.

Bill James on Fred Lindstrom: "As an offensive player he was by no means one of the top players of his time, and as a defensive player he was so outstanding that he was shifted to the outfield in mid-career. His selection to the Hall of Fame, while it ignores players like Ken Boyer, Ron Santo, Ed Yost and Stan Hack, was a bad joke." (1988 Historical Baseball Abstract, p. 368). Lindstrom was only a regular for seven seasons. He did not play after he was 30, and did not play as a regular after he was 27.

A great deal of the appeal of Traynor and Lindstrom to Hall of Fame selectors would seem to have come from their batting averages. Traynor and Lindstrom each had a higher career batting average than Santo. Traynor hit .320 for his career. During his career, the league batting average was .295, meaning that his career average was 8.47% higher than the league average. Lindstrom hit .311 for his career. During his career, the league batting average was .290, making his career average 7.24% higher than the league average. Santo hit .277 for his career. During Santo's career, the league batting average was .268, giving him a career average that was 3.36% higher than the league average. A player who had a batting average that was 8.47% or 7.24% better than a league average of .268 would hit .290 or .287, respectively. A player who had a batting average that was 3.36% higher than a league batting average of .295 or .290 would hit .305 or .300, respectively. Of course, it would be wrong to assert that, had Traynor or Lindstrom played in the 1960s, or had Santo played in the '20s and '30s, such averages represent how they would have performed, because we cannot know that. However, as noted above, a key measure of a player is the player's performance relative to his peers at the time he played. While there are those who would argue that a .320 career batting average is impressive under any circumstances, it clearly does not represent the same level of achievement in the era that Traynor played as it would have in the era that Santo played. Furthermore, although Traynor and Lindstrom were better relative to their contemporaries in terms of batting average than Santo was relative to his contemporaries, when on base percentage and power are factored in, Santo has a distinct advantage, as the OPS+ numbers above show.

References

6 Dick Allen, who also played third base that year, also had a better year at the plate than Robinson or Boyer, with an OPS+ of 162 in his rookie season.

7 Cf. http://espn.go.com/mlb/columns/bp/1409616.html, an article by Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus.

8 Here I insert the obligatory caveat concerning defensive statistics: that they may well be driven by factors that are not measurable and that are beyond the control of the player. For example, an infielder's range factor may vary due to whether he plays on a team with a ground ball pitching staff, and the number of double plays of an infielder may vary due to the skill of teammates.

9 See http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/gold_glove_nl.shtml#multi.

10 By contrast, when Santo won his first Gold Glove in 1964, he beat out Ken Boyer, who had won the five previous Gold Gloves at third base in the NL and who was, as noted above, awarded the 1964 NL MVP. That Santo knocked off a defending repeat winner is perhaps a particular validation of his worth as a fielder in 1964.

11 Santo shares the NL records for third basemen for having led the league in putouts and assists 7 times each. Santo shares the major league record for having led the league in double plays 6 times and having led the league in chances 9 times.

12 The Politics of Glory at 251-52. A similar bias has been identified in James Vail's book, The Road to Cooperstown: A Critical History of Baseball's Hall of Fame Selection Process, McFarland (2001), in which the author examined the statistics of players who met the Hall of Fame's ten-year service requirement and who had been elected. Players from the 1920-45 era currently comprise about 33% of all Hall of Fame members.

13 Lindstrom was selected when Bill Terry and Waite Hoyt, two former teammates, were on the Veteran's Committee. See The Road to Cooperstown at 107. See also The Politics of Glory at 162-171. During the time Bill Terry and Frank Frisch served on the Veteran's Committee in the late 60s and early 70s, several players were elected whose Hall of Fame credentials were extremely weak, but who had played with Frisch or Terry on the Giants or the Cardinals.

Mets Back in First

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:06:00 -0500

What doesn't kill them will only make them stronger. Devastating loss? Who cares? The Mets turned the tables on the Phillies, scoring four runs with two outs in the eighth inning, winning by a score of 6-3. The Mets are disappointing people everywhere by refusing to collapse. They're now on top of the NL East again by a half game. Carlos Delgado was a monster in this game. He warmed up with an RBI single in the first inning. I was almost hoping the Mets wouldn't score in the first. It might jinx them. In the sixth, Delgado drove one into the right field stands. And with two outs in the eight, he smashed an opposite field homer to tie the game. Is it crazy to think he might be creeping up in the MVP race? He's now hit 30 home runs 11 times in his career After the first baseman knotted the score at three, Carlos Beltran (three hits) singled and stole second. The Phillies then intentionally walked Ryan Church to set up a Brad Lidge-Daniel Murphy matchup. In the biggest at-bat of his short career, the rookie snapped an 0-16 slide with a double off the untouchable reliever to drive in the eventual winning run. Brian Schneider capped things off with a bloop down the left field line, which plated the last two runs. Johan Santana kept the Mets in the game, with six strong innings. He gave up five hits, struck out six and walked three. The only runs he let up came on long balls by Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth. Is Werth the new Pat Burrell? I'm not sure who that makes Burrell, but he's losing his "Met killer" tag. And I guess Howard is the new Dave Kingman - you get a home run or a strikeout, and not much else. Brian Stokes picked up the win, throwing a scoreless seventh inning (and pitched two shutout innings on Tuesday). Pedro Feliciano and Joe smith took care of the eighth, with some help from David Wright, who made another Brooks Robinson play throwing out Shane Victorino. He probably didn't deserve to win the Gold Glove last year, but this season is another story. Luis Ayala was perfect in the ninth, notching the save. Charlie Manuel and the Phillies helped out the Mets enormously in this game. The Phils had runners on first and second with nobody out in the sixth, and Manuel elected not to have Victorino bunt. Instead, the center fielder struck out (why the heck is he batting fifth, anyway?), and Santana set down Werth and Pedro Feliz with ease to wiggle out of the jam. In the seventh, Jimmy Rollins stole second with two outs and Chase Utley at the plate, which cleared the way for the Mets to intentionally walk the second baseman, setting up a righty-righty matchup between Stokes and Burrell. Burrell grounded out weakly to third. Rollins really has no clue when to steal a base and when to stay put. How many times this year have we seen him try to steal third with two outs, and even two strikes on the batter? Not smart. The biggest Manuel blunder was not inserting a warmed-up and ready-to-go Lidge to face Delgado in the eighth. Manuel was willing to use his closer in the eighth, because he eventually did bring him in. Only it was too late by then. The Mets are now 10-5 against Philadelphia. The two teams meet for the final time on September 5th-7th at Shea. I'm sure those last three games will be as much fun as all the others have been.

You Are The GM?..For Casey Blake

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:25:00 -0500

WFNY readers have been playing GM for the Cavaliers since the playoffs ended. Well Tribe fans, the 'off-season' has come early for this year's team. So we want your help. We will take a look at the Indians roster and determine who we should try and trade, who deserves an extension, and who we should simply 'let it ride'. Franklin Gutierrez, Ryan Garko and Jhonny Peralta's fates have been voted on, now it's time for Blake? It's funny, Casey Blake seems to...

MLB: Halfway There Hardware

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:55:56 -0500

Josh Q. Public: Big time. I'm on my way, I'm making it. Big time. I've got to make it show, yeah. Big time. So much larger than life. -Peter Gabriel Public Service Announcement: Ok, here we go! Eighty-one games in the books. Time to do this. Like we always knew this. I do the Smurf, the Popeye, and the Jerry Lewis. I also hand out awards. Midseason awards. If you pleasin' awards. Grade A guaranteesin' awards: Willie Mays Award (Best Player on the Planet): Fresh off...

Drink Brooks and Eddie Like Fine Wine

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 08:30:23 -0500

Until today, that headline would have been metaphorical; an appreciation of two of Baltimore's finest ballplayers. But, no, it's meant more literally: Eddie Murray & Brooks Robinson have launched their own wine labels. The players will not profit a single dime. Instead, 100% of their proceeds will support The Baltimore Community Foundation. Expected retail is [...]

A Few Words ... Five Questions with Oriole Legend Brooks Robinson...

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:52:47 -0500

The blog had the opportunity last year to have a brief chat with Hall of Famer and Oriole legend, Brooks Robinson. Well, I decided to catch up with Brooks a year later and see what he's been up to, plus ask about current issues in the game. Throughout his career, he was known as "The Human Vacuum Cleaner," as he is known until this day as one of the greatest third baseman, much less infielders of all time. Robinson played 23 seasons, all for the Orioles, setting major league ...

Brooks Robinson Honored in York, Pa.; The York Revolution Fan Fest

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 20:38:27 -0500

They started off cloudy and chilly up in York afternoon; however, it became sunny and a lot warmer once Brooks Robinson took center stage in York, Pa., this afternoon at Sovereign Bank Stadium. Today, Oriole legend and Hall of Famer was honored up north today as a statue of his likeness when he was in the minors as a member of the York White Roses was unveiled this afternoon. The event kicked off the York Revolution Fan Fest, and it seemed like a large chunk of fans who came from nearby...

Agent Spotlight: Ron Shapiro

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 15:12:39 -0500

Combining a great understanding of sport with an impeccable intellect makes for quite a potentially successful agent. Baltimore, MD based Ron Shapiro embodies both elements as one of the most popular baseball agents who also happened to graduate cum laude from Harvard Law School. The USA Today and Sporting News have even thrown him some awards ("one of baseball's most respected agent-attorneys," and one of the "100 most powerful people in sports.") for being at the top of the agent industry. Representing Cal Ripken, Jr., Jim Palmer, Brooks Robinson, Kirby Puckett, and Eddie Murray may have had something to do with Ron receiving those honors. Not only has he taught at several institutions of higher education (including a couple of law schools), he has also authored over 20 law journal articles and is an author of brilliant negotiating books. His most famous work is The Power of Nice: How to Negotiate So Everyone Wins- Especially You! He hopes that The Power of Nice is eclipsed by his most recent published book, Dare to Prepare: How to Win Before You Begin, which was released earlier this month. He really does not need me to help give his newest book some press. He has Oprah on his side. Oprah's magazine, O, is considering running a feature on the book, which would lead to a sure spike in sales. Ron Shapiro is liked by Oprah, he has negotiated clients for some of the best professional athletes, and he has even has chaired over 25 boards of charitable and community organizations. What else has the man done? His selection for inclusion in the next edition of The Best Lawyers in America has to be somewhere near the top of his lengthy list of achievements. And I might as well throw out the fact that his son is Mark Shapiro (GM for the Cleveland Indians) and his son-in-law is Eric Mangini (head coach of the NY Jets).

Canton Call

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 02:08:19 -0500

As you may have heard, Cal Ripken Jr. was recently inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. You might also be aware that we are currently at war in Iraq and Paris Hilton was recently in jail. Maybe you've even caught a glimpse of this Beckham character as well. In any case, the media blitz on baseball's holy grail commenced with Baltimore's native son being immortalized among the greats of the game with a bronze plaque hung in the hall at The Hall. A momentous day in the history o...

A Few Words ... A Q&A with Orioles Legend and Hall of Famer, Brooks Robinson...

Sat, 10 Mar 2007 12:30:40 -0500

I recently got to do a Q&A with legendary Orioles third baseman and Hall of Famer, Brooks Robinson. Throughout his career, Brooks Robinson was known as "The Human Vacuum Cleaner," as he is known until this day as one of the greatest third baseman, much less infielders of all time. He played 23 seasons, all for the Orioles, setting major league career records for games, putouts, assists, chances, double plays and fielding percentage for a third baseman.