Let the stupidity begin regarding Tom Glavine

I wrote yesterday about how Tom Glavine should be among three unanimous Hall of Fame inductees in 2014.

There is no logical argument to keep Glavine out of the Hall.
But guess what?

That won't stop some people from making some illogical arguments!

Harold Friend wrote an article that sure looked well researched until you actually read what he said.

He claims that Tom Glavine never dominated. Really? You mean when he won his two Cy Youngs he wasn't a dominating pitcher? When he consistently lead the league in games started and would be among the league leaders in complete games and shutouts, he wasn't dominating.

He would have won at least two more Cy Youngs if not for Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson, who are two of the great pitchers of all time.

And he claims Glavine was the third best pitcher on his own team.
Um... not in 1991 when they won their first pennant.
Not in 1992 when they won their second pennant.

Sure he was the #2 starter with Maddux on the team. That's not exactly a dishonor. (I am sure Don Drysdale didn't mind being the #2 starter behind Sandy Koufax.)

And a quick glance at John Smoltz's regular seasons would reveal that he put up better numbers than Glavine during the 1991-1999 run exactly once. (That would be Smoltz's 1996 Cy Young season.)

And oh yeah, Smoltz is a Hall of Famer as well.

Please. (Then again the same article he says the fact that Mike Mussina never won a World Series game goes against HIS candidacy. Of course Mike Mussina won Game 3 of the 2003 World Series. He out dueled Josh Beckett. That took 3 seconds to find the box score on Google.)

I am starting to hear other moronic arguments against Tom Glavine.

"He was the beneficiary of playing on great teams."

Um... why were they great teams?
Did they have a murderers row line up?
Did they have a lock down bullpen?

No... they were great teams BECAUSE THEY HAD GLAVINE-SMOLTZ and later MADDUX!

"Look at his ERA+ and break down his stats compared to other Hall of Fame pitchers."

HE PITCHED IN THE STEROID ERA!

In 1998, the year of the great Sammy Sosa/Mark McGwire home run chase, Glavine went 20-6, posted a 2.47 ERA over 229 1/3 innings pitched. He was among the league leaders in hits per 9 innings and adjusted ERA+ and won the Cy Young Award. I think he held his own while batters were injecting God knows what into their system.

"He wasn't a great Post Season pitcher."



Sure. All he did was win the WORLD SERIES MVP!!!!

And 3 of his first 4 World Series starts were complete games.

And in 10 post season series he posted an ERA of under 2.00.

Try again!



In an era of batter dominance and offensive numbers that were nothing short of obscene, he was an ace year in and year out, posting numbers and winning awards that would get him into the Hall in ANY era.

He's a Hall of Famer.

Get the stupidity out now.

I expect Tom to get 100% of the Cooperstown ballot in 2014.
If you say "No" then thou art a moron.

This Johnny Damon saga is getting strange

Buster Olney of ESPN thinks Johnny Damon will take a one year $7 million contract and Olney has no reason to lie to me.

And if he does, I just wonder what the Giants must be thinking right now.

Damon's price is dropping faster than Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice after the Duke's cornered the market.

The Giants acquired questionable Aubrey Huff for $3 million.
For an additional $4 million, they'd be able to have a spark plug at the top of the order with championship experience and enough pop and speed to take advantage of the deep power alleys of AT&T Park.

I've been saying since January 1 for the Giants to pick up Damon... and in they end they won't to save $4 million.

Isn't having DeRosa at third and the Kung Fu Panda at first with Damon leading off better for the team than Huff at first, Sandoval at third and DeRosa in the outfield?

I'm repeating myself at this point, but I'll go out on a limb here:

Pitchers and catchers are reporting next week. According to Yahoo Sports, the Giants will have a payroll of $100 million.

Why not $107 million?

It's not too late Giants to do what you should have done a month and a half ago!

Are the Olympics even going on?

This morning, after getting the paper and buying a latte for my wife and mother in law, I sat down on my couch, turned on the TV and decided to watch part of the Olympics.

This wasn't even out of any desire to watch it... it was more of an obligation.

For Christsake it's the damn Olympics! The biggest sporting event of the year. And yet it has become algebra homework to me now.

"Alright... I watch it and be proud of America... if I have to." I thought.

Of course the Olympics have lost their luster since it became every other year. When it was both winter and summer Olympics every four years, yeah it was more exciting. When this year's ceremony began, I found myself thinking "Didn't we just have the Olympics?"

And yeah we did. And guess what? The Beijing Olympics were less than 2 years ago.

And after that INSANE opening they had in Beijing, what's the point of trying to top it?

It's Olympic overload. It reminds me of an episode of The Simpsons where Marge and Homer go to a bar where every night they count down the New Year and celebrate.

Marge turns to one of the waiters and says "This must be the happiest place in the world to work."

The waiter says "Kill me."




Maybe the death on the luge track cast a pall on the Olympics before the opening ceremony took place.

Maybe having kids and a job means I have less time to get really hooked on curling or some Swedes riding a toboggan.

Either way, I felt this morning that I should watch a few minutes. Who knows? Maybe that Swede in the toboggan will catch my attention.

Besides, I get hooked on American Idol and I don't care about music. I get hooked on Project Runway and I don't care about fashion.

So this Sunday morning I flipped on NBC... and saw Chris Matthews talking with Bob Woodward about Harry Reid's seat.

MSNBC had some talking heads talking about politics. (And sadly the talking heads weren't Talking Heads.)

CNBC had "paid programming."

No Olympic coverage!
I know it is early Sunday, but it was 11 AM Eastern Time... and there were plenty of events that I am sure there were events on tape delay.

I wanted to see some sledding, or skating or at least a snowball fight.

You had your window of opportunity to get Sully's attention, NBC. You blew it.

But don't worry... 2012 and London are right around the corner.

Hall of Fame voters in 2014 are on notice

In the past two days, the Hall of Fame ballot of 2014 just got very interesting.

On Thursday Tom Glavine officially retired, joining the Braves front office. His last game was indeed with the Rome Braves!

On Friday Frank Thomas hung up his spikes and began the process of mending any hard feelings with the White Sox. He'll have his number retired in Chicago and probably have his image painted on the outfield wall.

Neither Glavine nor Thomas played in the bigs in 2009 so their clock to Cooperstown started when the 2008 season ended... which means they will be eligible to be elected in 2014, along with Glavine's former teammate Greg Maddux (who retired at the end of 2008.)

So if you have a Hall of Fame vote in the year 2014, know that Sully Baseball is watching you.

I want to see Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and Frank Thomas to get 100% of the vote on the first ballot.

They are all no brainers.

Glavine won 2 Cy Young Awards. (He would have won more if not for Maddux. Four other times he finished in the top 3 in the Cy Young vote. ) He won 305 games and won 20 games 5 times in an age of bullpen specialists. He pitched for 21+ seasons. And he was the MVP of the 1995 World Series, throwing 8 innings of 1 hit ball as the Braves won their only World Series in Atlanta.

There is no argument against that resume. He's got the stats. He has the longevity. He's got the dominance. He's got the post season honors. And his Cy Young winning season in 1991 helped transform the laughable Braves franchise into a powerhouse.

He's a Hall of Famer. We all know it.


Maddux also has an eye popping resume.

In an age when winning 300 games is supposed to be impossible, he won 355. He won 4 Cy Youngs in a row. From 1989 to 2000 he was in the top 5 of the Cy Young vote nine times.

No matter what stats you use to judge a pitcher, Maddux dominated. He consistently led the league in wins, ERA, innings pitched and won 18 Gold Gloves. When batters were juicing up, he'd post ERAs under 2.00. He had the best walks to innings pitched percentage in the league nine times. He would consistently have the best adjusted ERA+ in the league. I don't even know what that means, but it impresses me.

Who can vote against him?


And who would DARE vote against Thomas?

The Big Hurt was a top 5 MVP candidate in 1991... and he was a top 5 MVP candidate in 2006. And he picked up a pair of MVPs along the way.

If you like traditional stats, he was consistently a 30-40 home run guy, driving in 100+ runs 11 times and winning a batting title. If you are more of a sabermetrics guy, then he was a big slugger who drew 100 walks 10 times. Four times he finished the season with the highest OPS and four other times finished in the top 5.

He arrived in 1990 when the White Sox were beyond irrelevant and only a few years removed from a proposed move to Tampa. In Thomas' 17 years with the White Sox, he played on 12 teams with winning records including 3 division champs. Ironically the Big Hurt was too hurt to play in the 2005 World Series, but the White Sox progression from also rans to champs began with Thomas.

And oh yeah, he also helped lead Oakland to the ALCS in 2006. And along with Griffey seems to be the only big slugger from this era who wasn't linked to PEDs, which makes his 521 homers seem even more impressive.


What possible argument could ANYONE have against these guys?

What, Maddux didn't get enough saves?
Glavine wasn't a good enough hockey player?
Thomas appeared in the movie Mr. Baseball, and you didn't like it?

No excuses.

These are three guys who put up the numbers, can be identified with a team and did it over the long haul and without major scandals.

And don't pull the whole "Hey, if Babe Ruth didn't get 100% of the vote than nobody can" nonsense.

Not to go all Susan Powter on you, but we need to stop the insanity.

The craziness that had Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford and Warren Spahn not make it on the first ballot has to stop.

The madness that got some people to NOT vote for Rickey Henderson has to end now!

If you have a vote in 2014, you WILL put these three on your ballot.

And if you left anyone of them off your ballot, your Hall of Fame voting privileges will be revoked.


By whom? BY ME!

I've got 4 years to get the power. I am working on it. I already have a blog. I already know people who work in baseball.

In four years I will have enough power to examine your ballots and say "You left Maddux off. I am taking your vote away."

Four years is enough time to to gain a lot of power.

Don't believe me? When 2004 started, did you know who Barack Obama and Sarah Palin were?

Didn't think so.

And my aim for power isn't quite as high as theirs.

So can we get Glavine, Maddux and Thomas in the Hall with 100% of the vote. YES WE CAN!

And is Sully watching you?
You betcha.

The only players I am POSITIVE are clean of steroids

Over the last few years, I think we all have our guard up regarding players getting caught doing PEDS.

If I heard anyone did them, I’d probably shrug and say “Yeah… I thought so.”

At this point there are only three players that I can think of that would stun me if they got caught with ‘roids.

Mariano Rivera would stun me.





Derek Jeter would stun me. (And remember this is coming from a Red Sox fan.)





Ichiro would stun me.






And Julio Lugo would stun me… mainly because he’s skinny and he sucks.

We interrupt Sully Baseball to help save Sully's job!

Hey dear readers. As some of you know I work as a TV producer as well as writing my insane baseball blog. As much as I would love to write baseball lists for a living, I actually earn my rent and supper by putting together interview segments for The Bonnie Hunt Show.

It's a fun show and Bonnie is a terrific host to work for.
She is also a big Cubs fan.

We haven't been renewed yet and we need to tell the powers that be that the show is worth keeping on the air.

Click on Save the Bonnie Hunt Show

Sign the online petition. It takes 2 seconds. And don't worry about the "donation page" that pops up. You don't need to send in any money.

Hopefully we can help keep the show on.

Here's a clip from an interview I helped produce with the great George Wallace.



Back to baseball.

Bud Selig is getting a statue?

Really?

A statue?

According to Yahoo Sports he is... and why would Yahoo Sports lie to me?

I can only hope they preserve him for all time shrugging while watching the All Star Game end in a tie.

Now why am I against Bud Selig getting a statue?

Well, I listed some reasons why maybe Bud might not exactly be statue worthy a year ago.
You can read those here.

I don't know what it says about me, but when I heard Bud was getting a statue, the image of ANOTHER statue came to my mind...

I am thrilled for New Orleans and their fans but...

Can people STOP saying "New Orleans has a reason to party"?

I've been to New Orleans. It's a great city, but they never have had trouble to find a reason to party.

It's a wonderful beautiful place, but let's face it... it is a Frat house that has a transit system.

People were out partying like it was V-J day and it was a Thursday!

There were people sleeping on the street... not homeless people. Drunk dudes who basically said "Man, I can't go any further. I'll just curl up on the corner of Bourbon and St. Louis street and rest up."

Enjoy the Super Bowl win New Orleans. And party like it is... well... Monday.

Jarrod Washburn writes an open letter to all 30 MLB Teams

Dear Owners and General Managers of the thirty Major League Baseball Teams,

It is now one week into February and I have yet to sign with a big league club. The offers haven't exactly been pouring in.

Retirement is a real possibility for me.

And I have one question for all of you.

WTF!

Seriously. Nobody will step up and offer me a contract.

First of all I am left handed, I can throw a ball sixty feet six inches and I have a pulse. Shouldn't that qualify me for lifetime employment in baseball?

For Christsake, Shawn Estes got a contract from the Nationals the other day. Yes... it's the same Shawn Estes who the Giants had back when they played in Candlestick... or 3COM... or whatever the hell they were calling it.

I wasn't even sure Estes was still alive.
Yup, he's alive and evidently can make up to a million tomatoes.

I spit my Frosted Mini Wheats all over my newspaper when I read that.

Oh and virtually every team out there is looking for pitching depth. The Mets signed Kelvim Escobar to guaranteed money.

Over the last two years he's pitched in one more game than Gloria Stuart, the old woman from Titanic.

Not to belittle her skills... but she is going to be 100 in June... when Escobar will no doubt be in the disabled list.

Meanwhile I am good for 170 innings almost every year.


OK, fine. I was crap down the stretch last year for the Tigers. Do you also sucked down the stretch for the Tigers last year? THE TIGERS! I can't be blamed for the while nose dive.

Besides, even with the lousy finish, I posted a 3.78 ERA last year. My ERA was under 3.00 until mid August. If you pitch to a "quality start" each time out (3 runs over 6 innings) you'll have a 4.50 ERA!

Yeah yeah yeah, my one Cy Young caliber season (2002) was a fluke. But are you telling me NO team needs 10 wins, decent ERA and 170-190 innings out of a left handed starter with World Series experience?

Really Texas? You are loaded with talent?

Really Mets? Last I heard you were trying to reactivate Ron Darling.

Really Brewers? You can't bring this native Wisconsin boy home?

Really A's? You bring Ben Sheets aboard even though the odds are 50/50 that his arm will snap off in spring training?

Really Nationals? You don't want any experience pitchers ready to tutor Strasberg?

Really Dodgers? Is the divorce so bad that you can't bring little ole me to fill in the hole left by Randy Wolf?

Really St. Louis? Can you imagine what magic Dave Duncan can pull with me?

Come on Angels! You lost Lackey. Can't you bring me back?

For old time's sake!

So come on. I've got a left arm that can pitch. I can't hang up my spikes yet. I am a commodity.

Don't let me walk away from the game like this.

Thank you for your attention and please send all contract offers to info@sullybaseball.com

All the best,

Jarrod Washburn

Things are just different in Japan

Please watch this ad…



I am not 100% sure what the product is. Whatever it is, the executives felt the best way to sell it is a violent surreal ad where bones break, finger nails snap off, heads bleed and batters hallucinate.

This was the baseball equivalent to the video in The Ring.

Can Boston fans endure seeing these three win within the same year?

There was an interesting article in ESPN the magazine about NFL Fans this past week.

It seems that every single fan base for every single NFL team will be rooting for the team in their team’s conference this Super Bowl. AFC fans will be pulling for the Colts. NFC fans will be cheering on the Saints.

There was one exception… New England fans are rooting for the Saints according to their survey.

Notice I said “interesting” and not “surprising.”

I know nobody wants to give Boston fans a break after the obnoxiously successful decade that transpired between Adam Vinatieri’s kick to defeat the Rams and the Celtics victory of the Lakers in 2008.

But starting in 2009, the tide suddenly turned in Boston…

Can the region of New England bear the sight of Peyton winning in less than 12 months since Kobe Bryant and Alex Rodriguez be crowned champions?

I wonder if it is better to swallow those pills all at once or have it spread out over the years.

Either way, if the Colts do indeed win, there will be some teeth grinding in sports bars between Harford and Boothbay Harbor.

Even the Mets FUTURE wants out!

It's one thing that no veterans want to play for the Mets.

Yorvit Torrealba is the latest in the parade of free agents who were rumored to go to the Mets but sign elsewhere.

But now Fernando Martinez seems to want out.

Who can blame him?

I am telling you, the Mets are going to regret not listening to my advice.
This team needs to be blown up NOW!

10 reasons why the Pirates should sign Jermaine Dye

Seriously... it makes all the sense in the world for both Dye and the Pirates.

Don't believe me? Let me list the reasons...


1. It's good for Dye because it is employment!

The options for Dye are drying up pretty fast.

The White Sox said good bye.
The crosstown Cubs went with Xavier Nady and Marlon Nyrd.
The Red Sox brought in Mike Cameron.
The Rangers signed Vlad Guerrero.
The Giants oddly avoided Johnny Damon and brought in Ryan Garko.
The Mariners traded for Milton Bradley for unknown reasons.

Spring training is starting in a few weeks... and technically the Pirates are still a big league club.



2. It's good for the Pirates because he won't be THAT expensive.

Over the past 17 seasons, the Pirates have operated with three constants:

They will draft poorly...they will trade away all their good players for little returm... and they will ALWAYS slash the payroll.

In an age where the low budget Twins have a $90 million payroll and the Marlins locked up Josh Johnson and Hanley Ramirez to deals, the Pirates remain special with their miserly way. What other team can see a $48 million payroll in 2009 and think "SLASH IT!"?

With a projected $34 million payroll going into 2010 (which is less than the combined annual salaries of Barry Zito, Vernon Wells and Luis Castillo) the Pirates can afford to offer Dye $5 million and still have a sub $40 million payroll.

Maybe don't pocket ALL the revenue sharing!!!


3. It's good for Dye because he won't be on the bench in Pittsburgh

Most of the teams still looking for outfield help are basically looking for depth and a potential DH.

The Pirates have room in the starting line up... and what better way to show your way to a better contract than proving you can start for a big league club.

(Technically, the Pirates are a big league team.)


4. It's good for the Pirates because they'll have a little bit of depth

Yeah the Garrett Jones story last year was great... but are you really expecting a career minor leaguer to keep up his torrent second half pace?

And if he does continue to hit, he could move to first... or give the Pirates depth.

Now Pirate fans younger than 25 have no idea what "depth" means. Look it up.



5. It's good for Dye because he'll probably make the All Star team.

Or at least he will have a better shot with the Pirates.

Once again coming off an All Star season, even one worthy of the Mike Sharperson Award, is good for contract negotiations.



6. It's good for the Pirates because they might have an All Star people have heard of!

One glance at the current roster doesn't bode well for picking a legit All Star.

Zach Duke is a former All Star from last year... but in the last two seasons they have jettisoned off former All Stars Freddie Sanchez, Nate McLouth, Jason Bay and Jack Wilson.

And those guys weren't exactly household names then either.




7. It's good for Dye because he gets to be the respected veteran who has walked the walk

Remember when Terry Pendleton joined a last place Braves team after the 1990 season?

The club had a lot of young players and very few experienced veterans. And they were a loser year in and year out (including 97 losses in 1990.)

Pendleton came in and was the guy who had been a winner and led by example. The other players looked up to him and followed his lead (which included a batting title.)

Stats wise, Barry Bonds had a better year statistically... but Pendelton's prescience made him the MVP.

In 1996, Pendleton's final year with the Braves, Dye made his big league debut with Atlanta.

Now I am not saying Dye will lead the Pirates to the World Series. But the Braves were an embarrassing and irrelevant team... kind of like the Pirates are now.

And I am guessing it would be cool to have an entire team looking up to you... kind of like that scene in Bull Durham when Crash Davis was describing his cup of coffee in the show.



8. It's good for the Pirates because Dye could be Crash Davis to Lastings Milledge's Nuke LaLoosh

Sorry to throw two Bull Durham references into this post, but it makes sense.

This signing would have as much to do with Milledge as it does Dye. Think of it as a chance to turn around the mindset of an immensely talented player that the Mets and Nationals gave up on... and those two teams aren't exactly brimming with young talent.

Take the multi million dollar talent with the 10 cent head Milledge and have him follow Dye 24/7.

If Milledge do what Dye says and fulfill his talent, maybe he can play for 15 seasons, make some All Star teams, get some MVP votes, win a World Series MVP and make tens of millions of dollars in the process.

And it will make Milledge even more valuable when the Pirates trade him just before he becomes a free agent.


9. It's good for Dye because he will be traded to a contender at the deadline.

It's what the Pirates do... anyone of worth has their bags packed by the end of July.






10. It's good for the Pirates because they can shed his salary in July

And as we know, shedding payroll is what the Pirates do best!