Friday's Links - 7/22
Lots of material today, and fortunately, some time to actually post it. It's a welcome reprieve from a busy week.
Baseball
Article 1 - "That guy" is back.
Article 2 - An underdog story.
The Palmeiro Debate
Probably on the instructions of their editors, but possibly on their own, there have been a few columnists suggesting that Rafael Palmeiro doesn't belong in the hall of fame. That's a sham. Skip Bayless flat out refuses him, Ray Ratto questions him and the NFL's Tim Brown. Even Bill Simmons chalks up his stats to a juiced era. But come on. Raffy may have had some help from a few beautiful hitter's parks, but the fact is he's been consistent for a solid 13 years, doing the same thing year after year (after year after year...). You could see his power coming in the early 90's when he was racking up the doubles (which usually turn into HRs, see Brian Roberts for a more recent example of this phenomenon). In his entire career, he's never been on the disabled list. He's part of a 4-member club (3K hits, 500 HRs). What are we punishing him for? Not being a loudmouth? Not holding out in contract negotiations? Not swearing at his manager? For Christ's sake, the Orioles held him out of games at the end of last season to avoid paying a built-in contract bonus, and he still re-signed with them.
More compelling evidence comes from a guy named Greg Maddux, who as of today has 2998 career strikeouts and over 300 wins. And he'll be another first-ballot guy. But people don't berate Maddux by pointing out that he benefitted from playing the bulk of his career under the best pitching coach in all of baseball, on a team that relied on pitching to win 13 straight division titles (and counting). OK, I'll give you that Maddux has a lot more hardware on his mantle (Raffy hasn't won a World Series or an MVP-- in fact, he hasn't even been in the top 4 in MVP voting). But still. You play on a winning team, you'll get your wins. You play in a hitter's park, you'll get your hits. Palmeiro's been quietly doing his thing for a decade and a half, and it's about time we give him some props.
Odds and Ends
Family Guy - Despite the fact that they debunked the myth about the guy's name, it remains that the resemblance is creepy.
Obituary - Death of an American pioneer.
Roenick speaks! - I love this guy. I really do. And as a Rangers fan, I happen to agree with him on this issue. Even if you don't follow hockey, Roenick's always worth listening to, if only because he says the things nobody else has the balls to say.
Dear God What's Happened to You?!?!?
Case study 1 - A good cause. Donate now.
Case study 2
Remember when Christina Ricci used to be cute? Hot even? Like back when she made The Opposite of Sex? I miss those days.
posted by BJC @ 10:54 AM
Your thoughts (6 so far)
6 Comments:
In response to the Peter Griffin investigation:
"Whoa! Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa!....Lois, this is not my Batman glass."
D
Now hold on. The Rangers aren't the Knicks. The Rangers still sell out the Garden for every game. Spike Lee doesn't secretly command the front office.
Sure, the current management is beyond incompetant and the team has sucked for years, but that doesn't mean this wouldn't be a wise business decision. Bringing Crosby to NY is like Gretzky in LA. You need him in a big market so you can market him. Imagine Jarome Iginla playing in a city with more than 500 people-- he'd be huge.
The team might still suck (Gretzky's Kings never won the Cup), but it's the exposure that counts.
I might be an idealist but I'm also capable of thinking like an economist in these situations, and putting a fledgeling superstar (who's only really known so far in Canada, where the game's doing just fine) is a good business decision. Not that it'll happen (it won't), but it doesn't mean it's not a good idea.
People like to believe that because the most visible fans in NY (read: celebrities) aren't going to games, the rest of the city won't either. But that's crap. NY likes its hockey... unless it's the Islanders.
I don't buy that fans will ditch NY-- I think they'll have a much more competitive team in a few years under the new agreement, but the first few will be a little rocky at best. They have too many players under huge contracts, and they'll have to buy them out, leaving a small, expensive nucleus to build around, and I just don't think it's going to happen.
And that last sentence is what my English teachers would call "run-on."
Oh, and if I seem "upset" about the whole hockey thing, it's because it gets really old having all the popular sports columnists needlessly bashing the sport. It's the second dumbest bandwagon ever, next to Mike Tyson.
By the way, Derek, really liked the reference. Nicely done.
I am glad that Pittsburgh got the first pick even though I was keeping my fingers crossed for Vancouver.
I agree, Pittsburgh's a decent choice. I don't think you can argue against it, which is the nice part. It's a solid hockey market, already has star power (and not just in hockey), and most importantly, THERE'S ICE THERE IN THE WINTER!!!
If the #1 pick went to Nashville or Tampa Bay I would have abandonned all hope.
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