Results tagged ‘ Baltimore Orioles ’
Cooperstown bound?
In a move that can be classified in the “did he really need to announce this” file, former Major Leaguer Sammy Sosa officially announced his retirement last week. With that, Sosa joins the likes of Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmiero, Roger Clemens et al whose numbers will be scrutinized closer than ever before.
The best year of Sosa’s 18-year career, you’ll remember, was 1998. That was the year
he battled Mark McGwire to be baseball’s home run king en route to claiming the National League MVP award with 66, including 20 in a memorable month of June for the Cubs.
With the news of his retirement coming out, the Chicago Tribune polled it’s 8 BBWAA members who are eligible to vote for the Hall of Fame. The results were as follows:
Yes – 5 (Mark Gonzales, Dave van Dyck, Phil Rogers, Fred Mitchell, Dan McGrath)
No – 1 (Phillip Hersh)
? – 1 (Bob Verdi)
* – 1 (Paul Sullivan)
Those who said they would vote yes (as of this weekend) primarily cited the lack of any hard evidence against Sosa. Gonzales, the paper’s White Sox beat reporter wrote, “Sosa helped invigorate baseball at a time when the sport needed it.
Until there’s significant evidence he cheated, Sosa gets my wobbly vote.”
Rogers, the National baseball columnist, added, “It’s ridiculous that 540-some BBWAA voters have to come up with their
own standard to deal with the steroid issue. The Hall of Fame’s board
needs to meet and give us a directive on how they want the question
factored into voting.”
On the flip side, Hersh, a former baseball writer who currently focuses on Olympic sports, was firm in his dissention. He writes, “I will continue to vote in Hall of Fame elections until the day I die is to do my part so the likes of Sosa, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro and Manny Ramirez do not track the slime from baseball’s steroid cesspool into Cooperstown.”
Sullivan, the Cubs’ beat writer, is championing some construction in Cooperstown: “I’m calling for a separate wing for the Hall of Fame for candidates
like Sosa, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez and others who have
been suspected of bulking up with improper chemicals.”
Finally, Verdi, a semi-retired columnist, would like to use the mandatory five-year waiting period to digest the numbers and facts.
If I had a vote for the Hall of Fame, I would vote for Sosa, and McGwire for that matter. The two men combined to hit 1,192 career home runs and 136 in 1998 alone. The fact is, if they were injecting their bodies with illegal substances, it hasn’t been (and likely cannot be) proven. It’s a shame that a dark cloud hangs over that era, but Bud Selig’s administration, knowingly or unknowingly, allowed to it take place. Honestly, it’s depressing to me that it happened, but it did. And now, we’ll all just have to wait and see.
Photo Credit:
Sammy Sosa
Fine Nine
Sure, they’ve only played a handful of games this season, but I want to take a look at how the Top 9 8 picks from the June 2008 draft are playing in a small town near you. Partially because I’m curious myself, but mostly because I like typing Minor League team names.
1. Tim Beckham (Rays) : The shortstop drafted out of Griffin High School in Georgia has been assigned by the big club to the Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods of the South Atlantic League (SAL). In 11 games this season, Beckham is hitting .326 (14-43) with a homer and eight RBI. He’s off to a much better start than last summer when he hit just .243 (43-177) with two home runs and 14 RBI in 46 games with the Princeton Rays in the Appalachian League (APPY).
2. Pedro Alvarez (Pirates) : The former Vanderbilt star is playing third base for the Class A Lynchburg Hillcats. The slugger’s power numbers are there through 11 games with three homers and 16 RBI, but his average sits at .250 (9-36). The RBI number is impressive, however, keep in mind that he collected four on Opening Day and six on 4/16 against the Winston-Salem Dash (Warthogs, R.I.P.). In that game, he hit a walk-off three-run blast to lead the Hillcats to a 9-6 win.
3. Eric Hosmer (Royals) : Kansas City made the left-handed slugger the third overall pick and the second high schooler taken in June. Hosmer is playing first base for the Class A Burlington Bees in the Midwest League. Hosmer played well in the Bees’ opening series against Clinton, batting .364 (4-11) with two doubles and an RBI, but since then he has just one hit in his last five games, bringing his average down to .172 (5-29).
4. Brian Matusz (Orioles) : The southpaw was the first pitcher taken in the 2008 draft and joins Alvarez in the Carolina League, throwing for the Frederick Keys. In three starts in ’09, Matusz is 1-1 with a 3.45 ERA (6 ER/15.2 IP). He’s averaging 10.7 K/9.0 IP and has walked seven batters this season.
5. Buster Posey (Giants) : One of the hottest hitters in all of Minor League Baseball to start the 2009 campaign, Posey was named California League Co-Batter of the Week (4/8-19) along with teammate Brandon Crawford. Posey is hitting .391 (18-46) with four doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI in 12 games for the San Jose Giants. He has reached base safely in every game and collected three hits on three different occasions thus far. Posey launching a three-run homer (1):
6. Kyle Skipworth (Marlins) : The Marlins followed the Giants’ lead in grabbing a catcher, only they dipped into the high school ranks. Skipworth has tremendous talent at the plate and is beginning the season with the SAL Greensboro Grasshoppers. The left-handed batter is hitting .235 (8-34) with three doubles, a homer and eight RBI in the early going. Like Beckham, he received some heavy playing time last summer with the Gulf Coast League Marlins where he batted .208 (33-159) with five homers and 21 RBI.
7. Yonder Alonso (Reds) : The power-hitting Alonso was the first college first baseman selcted in the draft, ahead of USC’s Justin Smoak who went later to Texas at No. 11. Like Hosmer, Alonso has gotten off to a bit of slow start, batting .200 (8-40) through 10 games with the Sarasota Reds of the Florida State League.
8. Gordon Beckham (White Sox) : Beckham begins the season at Class AA Birmingham, the highest of all the Top 10 picks. He opened eyes in Spring Training and even made a push to make the Opening Day roster as second baseman. So far with the Barons, Beckham is hitting .366 (15-41) with four doubles, two homers and seven RBI in 10 games. He has played nine games at shortstop and one at second base so far. Like Posey, Beckham is making a name for himself and could be getting promoted to Class AAA Charlotte by the All-Star break. Here’s Beckham turning a double play against Chattanooga (2):
9. Aaron Crow (Natinals Nationals) : Did not sign. The right-hander will be eligible to be selected in the June 2009 draft.
There you have it, a brief synopsis of how some of the top picks from June are doing today. Alvarez has shown flashes, Hosmer and Alonso are off to slow starts and Posey and Beckham are on the fast track to the show.
1 – https://www.sedonamg.com/sjgiantssecure/ConPics/Con1669/Posey,_Buster_by_Chris_Talley_web.jpg
2 – http://blog.al.com/birmingham-news-sports/2009/04/large_Beckham%20throws.jpg
3 – All stats are from Howe Sports Data
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