Greatest Pitcher

   A few weeks ago, I was having dinner with my cousins and they asked me “who do you think is the greatest pitcher of all time?” I answered truthfully and said I was not sure. There are so many different answers to that question. No one answer is wrong. While I was thinking about it, I did some statistical research on this question to see if there is any clear cut answer.

    The first list I looked at was the all-time wins list. Four of the top five pitchers in this category pitched pre 1940. Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Grover Alexander and Christy Matthewson all had outstanding careers. The only post 1940 pitcher here is Warren Spahn. Does wins really matter? The first 4 pitchers on this list pitched almost every other day. As time came along, a 5 man rotation came along and having a 30 win season was very, very rare.  We all know that some records are meant not to be broken. Cy Young’s 511 wins, or even Walter Johnson’s 417 wins, will never be matched.

  The next stat I looked at was career Strikeouts. The top 5 all pitched from the 1960’s or later. The number of strikeouts in a pitchers career shows how much of a power was shown. Nolan Ryan still sits atop the career charts at 5714 strikeouts. Another record meant to not be broken. Nolan does have over 300 career wins, but is nowhere near the top of the all times win list. Unless Max Scherzer strikes out 300 plus batters per season, no one will reach even Randy Johnson’s total of 4875.

    After looking at strikeouts, I looked at the third leg of what is known as the “Pitchers Triple Crown”, ERA. Again, after looking at the top 5 in this category, not even 1 of them are in the top 5 in strikeouts or wins. Crazy right?? You would think that maybe the All Time ERA leader would be Walter Johnson or Cy Young because they played in the “Dead Ball” portion of the Modern era of baseball. The list that includes Ed Walsh, Addie Joss and Jim Devlin, isn’t very imposing.

    All 3 of those categories are legitimate to try and put a finger on who is the greatest pitcher of all time. Yet to me, of the top 5 in each category, there is not 1 pitcher that repeats itself in each category. I started to dig even further. There are “lists” to help determine the answer to this question. Here I looked at overall winning percentage. On the top 5 potion of the list is Spud Chandler, Clayton Kershaw, Whitey Ford, Dave Foutz and Bob Caruthers. All great pitchers in their lifetime, but yet again not 1 single repeat. This is so frustrating. 4 big categories and not 1 repeat offender.

   The above 4 categories have come to show me that there are so many great and different pitchers throughout the history of baseball. If I had to choose who the greatest pitcher in baseball history, it comes down to a tie, Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson. They faced each other numerous times in their career. I know Koufax’s career was cut short at the age of 30, but just that small sample size proved to us a lot of what he had to offer. Bob Gibson was unbelieve. He set a single season record for ERA. In 1968, he went and pitched 3 games in the World Series and won all 3 games for St. Louis.

    Never forget that Stats don’t always mean that a person is the greatest in their sport. Barry Bonds being the all-time home run leader, Pete Rose being the all-time hits leader or Rickey Henderson being the all-time steals leader does not mean that any of them are the greatest hitter of all time. Everyone has their own opinion in this category. Most of the time, you would not be wrong.

Hall of Blame

 It’s that time of year for baseball. We are truly in the depth of the offseason. The Winter Meetings in Las Vegas are wrapped up, but the Hot Stove still continuing to sizzle. There is a more compelling case though with baseball that I have come to discuss and that is the Hall Of Fame. I have wrote about this topic in various forms, but there has been new light there has been shed. During the first day of the Winter Meetings, it was revealed that Lee Smith and Harold Baines were voted into the Hall Of Fame by a mixed committee of Executives, former managers and players. Every year they rotate eras. They are a few problems I have with what transpired with the vote that was done.

   Many people’s first and only issue is how Harold Baines got voted into the Hall. Truthfully, that is a little further down on my list of issues. My first issue how the hell George Steinbrenner and Lou Piniella were not voted into the Hall Of Fame. George revolutionized the game in such a positive aspect, granted a few bumps along the way. He always put the team first before anything else. He prioritized winning and saw what it took to win. Money was never an issue and he made sure that he spent whatever it took to win. Besides for trying to sign the best players, he always had baseball people in the right places. He revolutionized the TV Networking with YES and made regional TV networks a thing way back in 2002.

   The bigger crime though was not inducting Lou Piniella as a manager into the Hall. I get the he “missed” by one vote, but that’s the true crime. Lou is 14^th on the all-time wins list for managers, ahead of Hall of Famer managers Tommy Lasorda and Earl Weaver. With all due respect to Tommy and Earl, Lou was just as good, if not better, a manager as they were. If you want to be honest, Piniella and Weaver seemed to have very similar managing styles. Lou took an underdog Cincinnati Reds team all the way to the World Series and won! As well, he managed a Seattle Mariners team to a regular season record of 116 wins, even though they didn’t win the World Series that year, it’s still impressive.  As well, Lou had the task of managing multiple personalities on a same team of Ken Griffey, Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Edgar Martinez, and Randy Johnson to name a few. That’s something a manager needs to deal with on a daily basis. If he can manage multiple personalities and make it work, then that also helps him out.

   When these results came out (we are still waiting for the BBWOA results), Chris “Mad Dog” Russo had a highly heated debate with Hall of Fame Manager Tony LaRussa. As most of us do, we respect LaRussa’s baseball knowledge and what he’s done throughout his professional career, but he was stumped on why Baines should be in the Hall. The voters who did not vote for George Steinbrenner and Lou Piniella should also be stumped. If you are not going to vote 2 deserving people into the Hall, then maybe you should be voting for who should go into the Hall at all.

NFL Questions

     We are now in the “Dawg Days of August.” The baseball pennant race is narrowing down and heating up in certain parts of the country, but in a lot of other areas of the country people are starting to get ready for football season. The atrocity known as the NFL Preseason has started. The regular season starts in less in than 4 weeks. Many people are starting to gear up for their fantasy football drafts (myself included).  As for any other season, there are many questions we have heading into the season. Let’s ask and see how many can truly be answered.

    The easiest question is will the Cleveland Browns be any better this year than the past 2 years combined? My simple answer is yes! They have had a whole bunch of new additions via the draft, free agency, and trade acquisitions. The added a stable veteran quarterback in Tyrod Taylor, as well as a potential franchise changer in Baker Mayfield. No matter who they go with here, I believe they are set up for years to come at this position. As well, they added Jarvis Landry to their receiving core. They can have a great receiving core if Josh Gordon can stay on the field. How often can a team add a running back still in his prime? That’s what happened with the signing of Carlos Hyde. The defense seems to be growing well together. I say the Browns easily have anywhere from 4-7 wins this season. I will not be shocked if Broadway Baker is starting by the end of the season.

    The next question comes from worst to best. As much as I hate to say it (I am a Giants fan), the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Eagles, do have a slight quarterback situation on their hands. Before he got injured, Carson Wentz was having a MVP-caliber season. When he got hurt, Nick Foles came in to replace and won every single game he was supposed to for them. He won the Super Bowl MVP with some spectacular play. The Eagles started off hot with Wentz, but who’s to say they would have won, let alone made it to, the Super Bowl. The question is when Wentz is ready and if Foles is playing hot, do you start Wentz or Foles?

    I remember 2 months leading up to the draft, the question was “What are the Giants going to do?” Don La Greca got so upset at Bill Pollian that day, he went on a rant and broke the mic! Check it out when you get a chance it’s hilarious! The reason he was so upset was because he did not want the Giants to take Barkley, but to pick a replacement for Eli Manning. There is an argument to both sides of the spectrum.  On the one hand, Eli is getting older and you want someone young to learn behind him because he will not play forever. On the other hand, if you put the right cast around Eli than you maybe able to squeeze another Super Bowl run out of him. The Giants went with the later and picked Sequon Barkley. They also drafted a top notch guard in Wil Hernandez, as well as signing Nate Solder. The question is will this good team on paper translate to a playoff run?

   Here is question number 4. When the Jets traded up in the draft to number 3, everyone praised their efforts, rightfully so. They were determined to pick a franchise quarterback. Which quarterback to be picked as all determined by the Browns and Giants. . and then Sam Darnold fell into their lap and they stole him and ran all the way to the bank. Now the Jets have 3 quarterbacks on their rosters. Truthfully, Teddy Bridgewater is the most expandable, but my question is why should you start Josh McCown? He is worse than Ryan Fitztragic and he had an OK season last year. It’s not like Sam Darnold is learning from Kurt Warner like Eli did, he’s learning from Josh McCown!! Why is McCown still around? If I were the Jets, I’d rather pick up Sam Bradford or Case Keenum. The main question is what week will Sam Darnold take over the starting quarterback position?

   Last year, the Eagles, the Rams, and Jaguars all took that elite jump from non-playoff team to playoff team. Two of them made it to their respective conference championship, one even winning the Super Bowl. My last question of the night is which team(s) are this years Eagles, Rams, and Jaguars? Will it be the Colts? The Raiders? The old saying “Patience is a virtue” will have to wait out until Week 17. Let the fun begin!!

Greatest Athletes

   While listening to the Humpty, Canty, and Rothenberg Show a couple of weeks back, something they talked about clicked in my head. They were talking about how Serena Williams is such a great athlete, possibly one of the greatest of all time. Personally, I do not follow tennis but I could certainly agree with them. On a previous post I’ve written, years ago, I wrote an article about “What makes an Athlete?” Here my question is more, “If you had to choose a top 10 greatest Athletes of All Time, of any sport, who would be on this list?” All day I was thinking of who I would put on the list and not in any particular order.

     As much as I am not into hockey, if Wayne Gretzky was not on my list of top 10 athletes of all time I would be that stupid. The great one just had it all. He was able to score and maintain greatness through different decades and generations of players. He is the all-time goals leader for a reason.

   Michael Jordan helped to transcend the sport of basketball. Every year he played, he only got better. The competition he played against was by far some of the greatest competition of all time, whether it was the Bad Boys Pistons, the 90’s Knicks and Heat team just to name some. When all aspects of your game are elevated, it truly shows how good of a player you can be. Not only was MJ clutch on the end of games, but he also knew how to defend the ball and make the ball handlers sweat.

    Muhammed Ali showed me really how great an athlete can be. He beat a bigger and better Sonny Liston in 1964 held the World Heavyweight Title for quite some time. Then his boxing license was suspended for 3 years due to his unwillingness to be drafted in the army. To come back after 3 years at beat the likes of Joe Frazier 2 times and George Foreman shows someone’s true athleticism. A lay off like that makes you think that the body is used to inactivity, not Ali.

   You may think I am crazy here, but I think that both Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays are better athletes than Babe Ruth. “ATHLETES” not “Baseball players.” I would actually put both of them in my top 10 athletes of all time. They both played the position in baseball that probably requires the most athleticism, centerfield, for quite a long time. You have to cover so much ground and put your body in so much pain. Willie Mays was able to defend centerfield like he was out in the wild. Last I heard, Mickey Mantle was the one hitting baseballs outside of the stadium, not Babe Ruth.  Home run bashing is not an easy feat, it takes a lot more strength to hit home runs.

    Serena Williams is up here as well. First and foremost, for anyone that knows me I DO NOT think golfers are athletes. On the other hand, even though I do not follow tennis, I do believe tennis players are athletes. If Serena wins Wimbledon, it will be her 24^th major. She is doing this run less than a year after giving birth. She even won a major WHILE SHE WAS PREGNANT. If that is not athletic and freaky, then I don’t get that. She has to be up there. 

  These are just some of my top 10 athletes of all time. You may disagree with me, but to dispute the validity of even some of these athletes as the greatest of all time is crazy. Over the course of time, things may change, but let’s not forget that these athletes work hard to get where they are just like the working class. There is no reason to not celebrate their greatness.

How Would George React?

   Back in the early 90's, George Steinbrenner was suspended indefinitely as an owner from Major League Baseball. No one knew truly when he would be back. Honestly, looking back on things now, that suspension was a great thing for the organization. The right people were put in place. They drafted well, signed key free agents and had the right management.
   1994 was the first year that this really took to fruition. If there was no strike, the Yankees were playing like champions. We never know what could have happened. In 1995, some more of the core four were brought up and the Yankees made it to the first ever ALDS, losing to the Mariners in thrilling 5 games. In 1996, Derek Jeter was officially a starter and the Yankees went on a roll winning 4 out of the next 5 World Series.
   In the next decade or so after losing the 2001 World Series, George Steinbrenner seemed to kind of revert back to his old ways. How so? He kept on having to go after the big name and spend more money. Yes, most teams now(like the Mets) would kill for owners to want to spend like George wanted too. Once he passed away, things slowly started to change. His sons took over and they started focusing on drafting players, even though they handed out bad contracts from time to time(i.e. Jacoby Ellsbury). 
   My thought is if George were still alive today, would the Yankees focus on bringing their salary down and focus on getting more athletic and younger? We all know George was stubborn as a mule. He hired and fired Billy Martin 5 times! At least he cared about putting a winning team on the field. Truthfully, as excited as I was about the mid 90's dynasty, I am more excited about this potential dynasty. The Yankees have so much potential and they are just so much fun to watch.
    If George was still alive, I think there would be a shot the he listens to Cash and his son, Hal on how to go about running the team. Do I hate the analytics approach? Hell yes I hate it. Do I like the getting younger and more athletic approach? Hell yes I do. I believe George would have come to a compromise, he would have said get younger and more athletic but screw the analytics!

Baseball in New York City

    Baseball season is in full effect. We are about half way through the season and there is so much going on with the season. In New York City alone, both teams are creating their own headlines. Overall, the Yankees are creating positive headlines and the Mets are creating negative headlines. This seems to be a trend over the past decade (with the exception of 2015). If you want to know the truth, the opposite can be true for either team. Let’s put both teams in review.

     The Yankees are one of the top 3 teams of Major League Baseball this season. They can score runs, drop home runs, and has a bullpen that can dominate. They also have a top of the rotation pitcher in Luis Severino. Last week alone, they came from down 5-0 to win 7-5. Yesterday, even though they lost, they came down from 4-0 to lose 7-6 in 12 innings. The Yankees have resilience.  What can they can do to improve? They need 1-2 more starting pitchers. Whether it’s from the minor leagues or a trade, Domingo German and Sonny Gray are just not cutting it.

     The Yankees do not need get a Jacob deGrom type of pitcher, but if they can get a 2-3 level type of pitcher like JA Happ, it can work. They can trade for Happ and bring up someone like Justus Sheffield. CC is a free agent after this season and Jordan Montgomery is out until 2020 due to Tommy John surgery. Honestly, this can be a blessing for the Yankees. Even if they get Happ, he is a free agent this off season as well. Domingo German has the raw stuff, but he can’t seem to be put together.

   About putting it together, let’s look in Flushings. Sandy Alderson, Fred Wilpon and Co seem to just be flushing the Mets down the toilet. The season for them is lost. For those who actually think they should salvage the season . . . ha what you thinking? Jacob deGrom is having the season of his life and the Mets are not having the season of their life. They should be selling him at all costs. They should also trade Asdrubal Cabrerra who’s having the season worth getting something back. These 2 pieces can help with a rebuild.

   The Mets are going nowhere fast. Their management has no idea what they are doing with this team. The health of these players are not getting any better even with the change they made this offseason. If they were smart, they would sell the assets they actually have (minus Nimmo) and start a true rebuild. Sandy should also be canned. He has not done anything worthwhile (going to the World Series does not count, that was lighting in a bottle).

   See while the Mets truly hate the Yankees (why I am sure), they both have what the other wants. They should work something out. I do not care how many trades they have or have not made. The right thing for Cash to do is pick up that phone. The right thing for Sandy to is listen and possibly deal. Don’t do anything stupid, just think about it and maybe it would be the smart thing.

Draft

   Tonight, we have the NFL Draft and it should be a doozy. There is so much speculation, especially with my New York Football Giants. Many questions have been asked leading up to tonight's draft, for example, which quaterback will the Browns take first? Will the Giants take Sequon Barkley with the 2nd overall pick? Did the Jets really move to the 3rd pick to get Baker Mayfield? These are just some of the topics that have been brought up through the draft. Let's analyze just a little bit.
   With the number 1 pick the Cleveland Browns select. . quaterback Sam Darnold. The Browns, with there notorious quaterback carousel would be stupid to NOT take Darnold here. He is the most pro ready quaterback of all the top QB's out there. Whenever they would decide to replace Tyrod Taylor, who will be serviceable for them, Sam Darnold would be a consistent prescience for the Browns. Easy choice for the Browns with this pick.
  With the number 2 pick the New York Giants select. .    Saquon Barkley. This is a pick that honestly I have been very up and down with this pick. The Giants can go many different ways here. They can take Josh Allen or Rosen to take over for Eli Manning. They traded Jason Pierre-Paul to the Buccanners, so they can take Bradley Chubb with this pick. They can even upgrade their offensive line with Quentin Nelson here. The reason I chose Barkley here is because I think he will be a difference maker and he will form some kind of dynmaic duo with Odel Bechkam, Jr. the same way we have Antonio Brown and Levion Bell in Pittsburgh.
    With the number 3 pick the New York Jets select. . . Josh Allen(the smart pick). It's been rumored that they moved up to get "Broadway" Baker Mayfield. I don't think that this will happen for a few reasons. Firstly, he's a Heisman Trophy winner. Recent history shows us that Heisman Trophy winners have not have not had much luck in the NFL(Reggie Bush and Darren McFadden to name a few). Next, he is considered a "short" quaterback at 6 feet. He is not known to have any mobile skills which would work against him
  The draft has so much craziness I can not describe. If I am wrong with these top 3 choices, then this
means that there is so much craziness. I hope all these teams do the right thing for their rosters. Let's go teams, Let's go Drafts!