Tonight, the second highest lottery jackpot in United States history, $355 million (boils down to $225 million) could be awarded if someone has the matching numbers on their ticket.
The chances of winning are near impossible—one out of 170 million—but if you won, you could pretty much buy whatever you want.
Here is what sports-related things I would buy if I were to win the jackpot.
Please share your dream sports purchases in the comments section.
One of the all-time great sports debates has always been as to who deserves to be in the Hall of Fame and who doesn’t.
The sport that this debate is most interesting in, is baseball. Baseball is different from the rest as there are so many more things to consider when people vote for the HOF. One of the biggest problems that has come to fruition in recent years has been the use of steroids in professional baseball.
Nobody seems to be quite sure whether players who have taken steroids or other performance enhancing drugs should be allowed to be a member of baseballs most prestigious group.
Manny Ramirez has been one of the players who has entered the Hall of Fame debate as he quite obviously nears retirement. It was discovered in the “Mitchell Report” that Manny used steroids which added even more fuel to the fire. Some debated whether his attitude and antics should affect his chances of making the Hall of Fame.
The majority claimed that Manny’s numbers more than made up for his bad personality. When the steroid issue came along the argument became a 50/50 one that had baseball split on whether they thought Manny deserved a spot in Cooperstown.
The remainder of this article will discuss the different factors that may or may not get Manny into the Hall of Fame.
Manny Ramirez is without a doubt one of the most powerful and most productive hitters to ever play the game of baseball. Manny has had absolutely monstrous seasons and has received many awards and honors for his accomplishments at the plate. Manny is a career .313 which ranks him 74th all time, which some of you make think is really far from number one, and your right.
But, when you consider that Manny is a power hitter and not exactly a speedster, I would say 74th all-time is pretty darn good. Manny has 555 career home runs which makes him one of only 25 players in major league history with 500-plus. Ramirez also ranks 13th all time in home runs on the all-time list. Ramirez has driven in 1830 runs in his career as well which ranks him 17th all-time.
Manny has also won several awards and honors throughout his very decorated career. Man-Ram won the American League batting crown in 2002 (.349 AVG) and has led the league in home runs (2004) and in RBI (1999). Manny is a 12-time All-Star and has won the prestigious Hank Aaron award twice.
Manny is also a two-time World Series champion and in 2004 was the World Series MVP. Manny Ramirez has also won a silver slugger nine times and has lead the respective leagues in several different categories for extended periods of time throughout his career.
Manny’s reputation has not always been the best. Manny hasn’t always had his head in the game, sometimes he would just seem disinterested and other times he just doesn’t seem to care or want to do anything for that matter.
Most fans either love(d) him or hate(d) him. There didn’t truly seem to be an in between. Manny was lazy and just plain odd. He left almost all the teams he played for on terrible terms and hurt a ton of fans. Every organization he has been with has wanted Manny gone at some point.
The other factor for Manny is the steroid allegations and the controversy that surrounded it. Ramirez was one of the big names mentioned in the Mitchell Report that caught the eye of baseball fans everywhere. Manny did his apologizing and served his 50-game suspension.
Of course, Manny never really admitted to taking performance enhancing drugs. He instead made the claim that he was using medication to address his erectile dis function. Is it the truth? Probably not. But hey, maybe that was the case but we will never know.
In my opinion, I truly believe Manny Ramirez belongs in the Hall of Fame. At the end of the day, this isn’t a “Hall of Good Behavior.” The Hall is for players who have spectacular career stats and have dominated baseball.
Even though Manny has well, been Manny that doesn’t mean he needs to be shunned from the HOF. It means that Ramirez needs to take some classes on public appearance and behavior but I digress. Even with the steroids scandal surrounding him, like Barry Bonds and like Alex Rodriguez, you cannot possibly ignore the numbers they put up (not comparing Manny to them).
Manny deserves some credit.
Manny deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.
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On paper, Rafael Palmeiro is a sure-fire Hall of Famer. Unfortunately, in the real world he is not. He is the poster boy for the steroid era, and he in turn sullied the game the same way others like Rose and the Black Sox did.
Despite vehemently denying the use of steroids, he failed a steroid test, was named by Jose Canseco as a user and he was also named in the Mitchell Report. The amount of evidence against him is staggering, and because of that evidence, Palmeiro must be kept out of the Hall of Fame.
So far, the Hall has been able to keep itself uncorrupted from all the problems and illegalities that have plagued the game over the last hundred years. Letting Palmeiro into the Hall of Fame sets a precedent, allowing all other steroid users in, and justifying baseball’s gilded age. For the sake of the purity of the game, we must keep Palmeiro and all other steroid users out of the Hall of Fame.
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And the answer issss no. We’ll never see asterisks to mark some of the blatantly questionable performances of the denoted, approximate 15-year period ranging from the early 1990s until at least midway through the first decade of this century, because to do so is as much an indictment of Bud Selig and league ownership as it is many of the supersized players themselves.
The epic 1998 Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run race clearly brought baseball back into the first-class seating section of American sports, re-establishing the long-time fan fascination with the long ball, which goes back to the days of the charismatic Bambino, traveling through the handsome vagaries of Lou Gehrig, Jimmy Foxx, Hank Greenberg, the great Teddy Ballgame, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris.
Of course league ownership, media and the sensible fan knew something was going on. Forget that only two players in 70 years were able to touch the 60 plateau and suddenly Sosa, McGwire and Bonds were making successive mockeries of the mark.
For many of us with a watchful eye, it was the sudden, sensational emergence from offensive mediocrity to downright Mendoza line obscurity that can be attributed to the likes of a Brady Anderson, a .250 lifetime hitter with middling power who blasted 50 homers in 1996 or Benito Santiago who hit 30 homers for the Phils in ’96 at the age of 31 after totaling 35 home runs in the three previous seasons and never more than 18 in any of his 10 major league seasons to that point.
There were countless others that hammered home the point that it was way more than Wheaties that were driving the modern ballplayers’ engines in the approximate decade-and-a-half stanza when offensive statistics truly ran wild.
Certainly the issue of complicity is complicated and far reaching.
It can also be expounded upon at another time. Today we address the home run. If Major League Baseball won’t do anything to engender a little statistical perspective on the greatest long ball hitters of all time, we will—with a few liberties no doubt—but those have been taken in the most plausible way and the rearranged listing may just hit you about right.
One to Five: Ruth, Aaron, Griffey, Mays, Bonds
Babe Ruth: 714, Projected 774: The fact that the Great Bambino was a dominant left-handed pitcher over his first four seasons with the Boston Red Sox, combined with his later offensive exploits, in many minds makes him the greatest baseball player of all time.
Despite the lingering perception that Babe’s training regimen included little other than hot dogs, beer and the ladies of the night, his long ball acumen—so thrilling for fans that it precipitated the use of a livelier ball and eventual elimination of the spitter to make the home run and enhanced offensive output more widespread amongst major league minions—is unsurpassed in terms of consistency over a peak period of play.
From 1920 to 1931, 12 seasons (two of which were injury or attitude plagued), Ruth averaged 47 home runs and 150 RBI. He had six seasons where he hit .370 or better, peaking at .393 in 1923. If you add a mere 15 home runs per season for his time spent as a full-time hurler his projected total of 774 puts him on top of our reconstructed list.
Henry Aaron: 755, No change: More of a line drive hitter than classic long ball type, “Bad Henry” still generated enough power and length on his fearsome rips to take advantage of reasonably cozy parks in both Milwaukee and Atlanta.
He excelled in the late 50’s and 60’s during a time when major league pitching, especially in the National League (Gibson, Koufax, Drysdale, Marichal) was at its best. He hit 40 or more home runs in a season eight times, and had nine seasons with 118 or more RBI. He did his thing in a quiet way, and in the end, when he was really chasing down Ruth’s ghost, he had to put up with serious racist backlash from fans all over the country.
While he wasn’t exactly the type to come out and say so, it certainly did appear Aaron, amongst numerous other purists, resented Bonds taking the career mark from him.
At least here he doesn’t have that problem.
Ken Griffey Jr.: 630, Projected 735: As great as he was, Griff’s name will always be synonymous with one thing: Injury.
Well, maybe two things, injury and unfulfilled expectations. As amazing as some of his final numbers were (1,662 runs, 524 doubles, 1,779 RBI), the man very frequently referred to as “The Kid” or “The Natural” lost approximately 500 peak career games over his 22 years in the Major Leagues.
Not even accounting for the overall impact or toll the injuries took on his career, if you measure him up for a mere 35 homers per during a time when he was readily bashing 50, you come to the projected total of 735, and in truth that is a very conservative estimate.
Willie Mays: 660: Projected 720: One of the five greatest all-around players in the history of the game, Mays could beat you any way: bat, arm, legs, glove.
Like fellow superstars Aaron, Frank Robinson and Roberto Clemente, his career spanned a pitching-rich period for the NL, so his seasonal numbers are not consistently mind-boggling, but more so highlighted by incremental extraordinary achievement.
Long ball-wise, he twice hit 50 home runs in a season, and from 1961 to 1966, between the ages of 30 to 35, he averaged 44 HR a year amidst some of the toughest home run hitting conditions in the majors in San Francisco’s Candlestick Park.
He gets his adjustment for a pair of missed seasons to the Korean war effort in 52 & 53. You can say that’s a conservative number but he was still young and developing his power, hit 20 in 1951 and 40 in 1954, so an average of 30 in between seems fair.
(It was 250 ft. to the hanging tier in left that Bobby Thompson immortalized in ’51, so any further adjustments for the tough conditions in S.F. have to be countermanded by the less than plush, but ultra friendly home run confines of the once renowned Polo Grounds.)
Mays was a two-time MVP and finished in the top six 12 times. Whatever the adjustment the man struck fear in the collective hearts of the opposition like few players ever have and even if the Say Hey Kid never hit a homer in his life, he’d still be one of the greatest to have ever stepped on the field!
| “Baseball is a game, yes. It is also a business. But what it most truly is, is disguised combat. For all its gentility, its almost leisurely pace, baseball is violence under wraps.” – Willie Mays |
Barry Bonds: 762, Adjusted Downward Number 679: Through the age of 27, Barry Bonds averaged 25 home runs a year in a ballpark, Three Rivers, that was reasonably cozy dimension-wise, especially down both lines at 335 feet.
He was 28 when he moved over to San Francisco, and his 46 home runs, 123 RBI and .336 average, all career-highs, seemed plausible enough for a great young player coming into his prime.
Simply, Bonds dominated the game for the next 10 years, and at the age of 36 had what has to be considered one of the top two or three seasons in the history of the game, hitting 73 home runs, walking 177 times, hitting .328 with an on- base of .515.
At the age of 39, Bonds hit 45 HR, hit .362 and walked a mind-boggling 232 times. He was on base 61 percent of the time.
Try and fathom that last figure.
There is no disputing Bonds’ greatness. Early on he was a five-tool player, and late in his career he became the greatest power hitter the game has ever known. Of course that’s where the serious question marks rise.
Nobody will ever know to what extent Bonds’ game was elevated by the use of steroids, but in lieu of the fact that we only know of one player, Roger Maris, who definitively was not on steroids and managed to top Ruth’s single season mark, albeit in 162 games, one has to presume marginally in the least.
Yes, it undoubtedly requires inherent skills to play the game. I don’t think steroids positively impact the eyes, but as far as bat speed and strength, at 35+, even the most ardent Bonds fan can’t argue that his latter career stats were an enhanced anomaly, and that he really never should have been able to break Aaron’s career record, much less Ruth’s.
Bonds averaged just slightly over 30 home runs per season through the age of 34. Even if you give him 35 per season for 2000-2004 and you leave his last two seasons be, where he totaled 54 home runs at the age 41/42 coming off what might have been a career-ending injury in 2005 at the age of 40, you very generously come up with the figure of 679 home runs.
And even that supposes the greatest late career production of any player in the history of the game.
Six to Ten: Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Jim Thome, Frank Robinson, Harmon Killebrew.
Ted Williams: 521, Projected 671: The rivalry between the Great DiMaggio and Boston’s Ted Williams was certainly notable. DiMaggio was once asked, “Joe, what do you think of Ted Williams as a ballplayer?”
DiMaggio’s response, “Greatest left-handed hitter I’ve ever seen.”
DiMaggio was then asked the same question, “But, Joe, what do you think of Williams as a ballplayer?”
DiMaggio’s response, “Greatest left-handed hitter I’ve ever seen.”
The point being, Ted Williams may not have had DiMaggio’s all-encompassing skills, but with a bat in his hand, the Splendid Splinter could really do no wrong. A .344 lifetime hitter and the last Major Leaguer to hit .400, he slugged 521 career home runs despite missing five peak seasons to the mid-20th century war efforts in Europe and Korea.
Without a doubt, you could bag up 30 home runs a year during that period for a total of 671, and that’s also a conservative number. Williams might have challenged Ruth’s record if not for his time as a fighter pilot.
If you ever get a chance, the HBO special on “The Kid” is simply must see T.V.
Mickey Mantle: 536 ~ Projected 600: Idolized by children everywhere, loved by as many women while still being revered by adult males. ‘The Mick’ played through almost every imaginable injury and nearly as many states of debilitating inebriation.
He was a three-time MVP with nine top-five finishes. He won the Triple Crown in 1956 and led the league in eight different offensive categories. His natural ability to play the game was otherworldly, but his broken body left him as a mere shell of the great ballplayer enshrined in Cooperstown and forever commemorated in the Yankees’ own Hall of Fame—Monument Park.
What could he had done if not for the injuries and ample proclivity for one hellbent nightlife?
Mantle’s long ball power was the impetus for the term “tape measure home run” as his 565-foot shot out of old Griffith Stadium in Washington was actually measured just this way by traveling secretary Red Patterson. He was reputed to have hit one 635 feet out of Tiger Stadium in Detroit and twice hit the upper facade at old Yankee Stadium—a feat only accomplished by one other man, mythical Negro League catcher Josh Gibson.
He was without a doubt one of the single most feared hitters ever to step to the plate. A switch hitter with astonishing power from either side, 600 home runs would have been a walk in the park if the man would have been the beneficiary of better health and the practitioner of a slightly more conservative night life.
Jim Thome: 589 and counting: I guess you could call Jim Thome an unspectacular player who has put up some pretty spectacular numbers. One-hundred ninety homers between 2001-2004. Hit 25 last year in a surprise for the Twins, and looks like a good bet to surpass 600.
Frank Robinson: 586: No Change: Two-time MVP (six times in the top four), hands down the toughest late inning out I ever saw live and in person. (The guy killed the Yankees like nobody else.) Didn’t get the notoriety of a Mays, Aaron or Clemente, but what a five-tool ballplayer!
They called him “The Judge,” basically because you couldn’t get away with anything when he was at the plate. Definitely one of the great nicknames in baseball lore for one of the greatest players to ever grace the green pastures.
Harmon Killebrew: 573, No change: As pure a home-run hitting force that exists on this list. From 1959 to 1970, he hit 40-plus eight times. Six top-four MVP finishes and the winner in 1969 when at the age of 33, he hit 49 and drove in 140. The man simply destroyed baseballs and was very aptly nicknamed “Killer” Killebrew.
A Tainted Five: A-Rod, McGuire, Sosa, Palmiero, Manny
A-Rod: 613, Projected 555: There’s no denying A-Rod’s greatness. He’s a five-tool player with incredible instincts for the game. He was the best shortstop in baseball and has turned himself into a pre-eminent third sacker with the Yanks.
People love to hate him, but he’s definitely one of the best players to ever cross the lines. There’s no way you can lend any credence to his claims of short-term juicing though. We maxed him out at 40 per year outside of Seattle, and that may or may not be generous.
Sammy Sosa: 609, Projected 509: Sosa’s blatant steroid-enhanced production has, along with McGwire and Bonds, made a mockery of seasonal home run marks. He went from hitting 35 a year (1993-1997), to 58 a year over a five-year stretch 1998-2002.
Still, his battle with McGwire in ’98 and general enthusiasm for the game has been credited with bringing fans back to the ballpark after the disappointing strike-shortened season in 1994. That, and all the big numbers notwithstanding, the only way Sosa sees the inside of the Hall of Fame is as a glorified visitor.
Although we were loathe to even include him in the 500 club, he was only docked a straight 100, basically 20 per year over the last mentioned five-season stretch.
Mark McGwire: 583, Projected 548: Really, one of the best guys in baseball and unlike Bonds’ mocking of Babe Ruth, he paid big-time respect to Roger Maris and his family during the epic ’98 run.
Again, using the 40-a-year max formula, we docked him 85 home runs from 1996 to 1999 when he hit 245. We gave him back 50 though for dramatically injury-shortened seasons in ’93 and ’94, and kind of looked the other way when he hit 61 in 186 games over two injury-plagued years in 2000 and 2001 when he finally retired at the age of 37.
Maybe he was juicing in the very early days in Oakland as Canseco claims and doesn’t even belong in the 500 club. He had all the power hitting tools though, a short stroke and explosive power. If he had played in Fenway or Wrigley instead of windy, cavernous Oakland or spacious Busch, he could have hit 600 in walk.
Steroids were legal during his career, so it’s hard to say he made a mistake. But he’s another guy who will carry around the stigma and will never make the Hall of Fame.
Rafael Palmeiro: 569, Projected 462: We maxed him at 30 a year, which seems pretty fair considering the guy made a complete idiot out of himself with his finger-pointing before Congress, and barely distinguished himself in a more flattering light by pitching Viagra at the age of 35 before a nationwide audience.
It’s a shame too because all the Havana-born Palmiero—1,835 RBI, three Gold Gloves, 569 home runs—had to do was keep himself clean at a time he should have really been retired anyway, and he might have been looking at the Hall of Fame.
He’s lost that, and we think he’s lost his Viagra ad-man status as well.
Palmiero’s definitely a guy who should lay low for awhile.
Manny Ramirez: 555, Projected Unknown: Who wold have thought a major league player wearing his hair down to the middle of his back for this long could have gotten away throughout without being called a pansy?
It’s had something to do with that electrifying bat. As a Yankee fan, I’ve watched Manny Ramirez lay wood to the ball for way too long to write him off as a steroid-using anomaly. Maybe he went from more of a power alley, 40-45 doubles, 25-30 home run guy, but there’s just no way to tell.
During his prime years from 1998-2008, an 11-year period when he wasn’t even always playing his top game, he hit more than 400 home runs. Granted, his fairly recent indictment and a total of 28 home runs the past two years speaks volumes, but the last time I checked, steroid use doesn’t affect the batting eye. I’ve also seen stretches of games where there was just no way to get Ramirez out.
If there’s one guy besides A-Rod on this tainted list who might slip by and make the Hall, it’s Ramirez. No matter how you break it down, he’s one of the greatest hitters in the history of the game.
The Best Of The Rest: Reggie, Schmidt, Jimmy Foxx, Stretch McCovey, Frank Thomas.
Quickly now, because my head is spinning. No projections here, just career numbers.
563: Reggie Jackson: His three-homer performance against the Dodgers in the ’77 World Series is as memorable as any in the history of the game. The moniker Mr. October says it all.
548: Mike Schmidt: Only A-Rod’s switch precludes his consensus choice as the best third baseman ever. Three-time M.V.P.
534: Jimmy Foxx: As ominous a right-handed power hitter as has ever played the game. A .325 lifetime B.A., knocked in more than 160 runs three times, 58 homers in 1932 for the old (Connie Mack) Philadelphia Athletics.
That team won three straight A.L. titles in between 1929-1931 and won two World Series and finished second to the Yanks in ’32 before being sold off in parts post-1933 by a cash-strapped Mack, with both Foxx and southpaw ace Lefty Grove heading to the Boston Red Sox.
521: Willie “Stretch” McCovey: One of the most ominous left-handed power hitters to ever play the game. At least by appearance. Five hundred-plus home runs, with half his games coming in a windy Candlestick, is no mean feat.
521: Frank Thomas: At his peak, Thomas could do it all with the bat. Back-to-back A.L. M.V.P. in 1993 and 1994.
And that’s all, hope you enjoyed it.
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This week on the McCovey Chronicles, a debate roared whether Gary Monseigneur Brown would be spectacular in the majors.
While his draft position may not be Posey-like, he can become Rondell White and span 14 major league seasons.
Think of Brandon Belt: He was a fifth round pick, but came in second in the minors in batting in 2010.
Belt’s final numbers for 2010 include an incredible .352 BA, 136 G, 492 ABS, 99 R, 173 H, 43 2B, 10 3B, 23 HR, 112 RBIs, 305 TB, 93 BB, 99 SO, 22 SB, 8 CS, .455 OBP, .620 SLG, and 1.075 OPS.
Belt will come off the unemployment rolls if he can step up to the majors next year.
The answer to the question is up to you.
Who is Gary Brown is most similar to?
Scouting Report for Gary Brown Provided by MILB.com:
Hitting ability: Brown consistently gets the barrel on the ball. It’s not pretty, his feet are moving but the bat is always in the right place, particularly against fastballs.
Power: He doesn’t look like he should, but he’s got some surprising pop.
Running speed: He’s got plus, plus speed.
Base running: He wreaks havoc on the basepaths, though he’s still raw and needs to learn the nuances of baserunning.
Arm strength: His arm is not quite average and isn’t really a part of his game.
Fielding: When he first started playing center, he did not look good out there. But he’s improved quickly in his routes and reading the ball off the bat.
Range: With his speed, he’s got more than enough range for center.
Physical Description: Brown is an athletic, though not overly big, speedster. He’s got a Reggie Willits body type.
Medical Update: Healthy.
Strengths: Plus, plus speed. Better hitting skills than expected.
Weaknesses: He’s still raw in many facets of the game.
Summary: There may not have been another hitter in the 2010 Draft class who got off to a hotter start than Brown.
Speed is his best tool and he can wreak havoc on the basepaths. He’s got more strength and power than it would seem, and while his approach is unorthodox, he’s got good overall hitting skills.
Relatively new to the outfield, he’s come a long way in terms of his defensive skills in center. Pure speed guys who can hit don’t grow on trees, and if Brown keeps hitting the way he started out the year, he’s going to hear his name called sooner rather than later on Draft Day.
2010 Winter Ball League Numbers for Gary Brown: .152 BA, Projected SBs 32.
If you would like to ask me any questions email me at rayb.ucla@gmail.com alumni address
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It took 52 years, but the San Francisco Giants are World Series Champions. I can now cross that first and foremost item off my sports fan bucket list.
The San Francisco Giants have given their fans numerous heartbreaks, too many to list in this article, but now, all is forgiven. I have put together a fun piece to showcase the true Giant “hot dogs” who donned the orange and black.
This article is designed to allow us to reminisce about some of the most fun, stylish and charismatic players we have had the enjoyment of watching in San Francisco over the years. These are not always the best players, in fact, many are not. They are, however, some of our fan favorites because of the way they played the game.
Our list is a tribute to those individuals that played the game with a certain flair that made them fun to watch. These are the true “hot dogs” of the San Francisco Giants. Enjoy our list for what it’s worth, 100% fun, just like the players mentioned, who played this wonderful game and entertained us all.
With Alex Rodriguez’s recent 600th career home run causing many fans to roll their eyes or talk smack about the 13 time All-Star, I rank the top 25 most significant steroid driven seasons of all time. All of these players are believed to have used steroids during the seasons mentioned. The only catch is that no player appears on this list more than once. Every player ranked below has either admitted to using illegal steroids, has been suspended for use, has appeared on the Mitchell Report, or at the very least, has been heavily rumored to have cheated.
25. Eric Gagne, 2003, (1.20 era, 55 saves, 0 blown saves, 137 k’s in 82.1 innings) This was the second of Gagne’s three consecutive dominant closing seasons for the Dodgers, as Gagne became the first relief pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in 11 years. Gagne broke the record for consecutive saves, eventually reaching 84 during the 2004 season. Ironically, while Gagne did not blow any saves during the regular season, Gagne blew a save during the 2003 All-Star Game, which helped the A.L. earn home field advantage in the World Series.
24. Brady Anderson, 1996, (.297, 50, 110). Before 1996, Anderson had been a solid leadoff man for many years in Baltimore, whose previous career high was 21 home runs. But in 1996, Anderson shocked the world by hitting 50 home runs while helping Baltimore reach the postseason for the first time in 13 years. Anderson was voted in to his first All-Star game in 1996 after hitting 30 homers by the All-Star break, and was also voted into the 1997 All-Star Game, likely due to the popularity he gained from hitting 50 home runs the season before. Anderson never went on to hit more than 24 home runs in a season, which raises the question: Are we supposed to believe this guy didn’t do steroids?
23. Rafael Palmeiro, 1999 (.324, 47, 148). When the Cubs traded Palmeiro to Texas after the 1988 season, the Cubs organization hinted that it was due to Palmeiro’s lack of power. Palmeiro was a frequent .300 hitter and made multiple All-Star appearances throughout his 20s, but did not put up serious power numbers until the Steroid Era. From 1995-2003, Palmeiro hit at least 38 home runs in a record 9 consecutive seasons. Also worth mentioning, Palmeiro is one of four players in history with 3000 hits and 500 home runs over a career. Palmeiro’s most significant season was probably 1999, when he set career highs in Batting Average, Home Runs, RBI, On Base percentage, and Slugging Percentage, while leading the Rangers to a franchise high 95 wins.
22. Greg Vaughn, 1998, (.272, 50, 119) From 1996-1999, Greg Vaughn rejuvenated his career by hitting over 40 home runs three times in his 30s, including 50 in 1998. At the time it was easy to overlook Greg Vaughn’s impressive home run total in 1998 because his 50 home runs ranked just 3rd in the National League, behind McGwire and Sosa.
21. Richard Hidalgo, 2000 (.314, 44, 122) Richard Hidalgo hit 44 home runs out of nowhere for the Houston Astros in the first year of Enron Field, which immediately earned him a 30 million dollar contract at the age of 25. Hidalgo proved to be somewhat of a bust, never reaching 30 home runs ever again, while hitting under .260 throughout the rest of his career.
20. Bret Boone, 2001 (.331, 37, 141) This was Boone’s 10th major league season, but he miraculously shattered his previous single season career highs by 13 home runs, 46 RBI, 93 total bases, and 64 points in his batting average, all for the 2001 Mariners who won 116 regular season games. Boone went on to have just one other All-Star season before being released by the Mariners and Twins in 2006.
19. Javy Lopez, 2003 (.328, 43, 109, .678 SLG ) Javy Lopez is one of the better hitting catchers of all time, but unfortunately steroids were likely a factor. Javy Lopez hit 43 home runs in 2003, including 42 as a catcher, which remains the all time record for a single season.
18. Jose Canseco, 1988 (.307, 42, 124) Canseco admitted having used steroids as early as 1988. Now famous for being one of the most outspoken players regarding the steroid era, Canseco won the A.L. MVP in 1988, became the first 40-40 player, and led the A’s to 104 wins and a World Series appearance.
17. Kevin Brown, 1998, (18-7, 2.38 era), Brown won a career high 21 games back in 1992 with Texas, but did not become a consistent dominant force until the steroid era. In 1998, Brown struck out a career high 257 batters, while leading the Padres to their only World Series appearance in the last 25 years. Brown’s 3 year run of dominance from 1996-1998 earned him a 105 million dollar deal for 7 years, the biggest contract ever at the time.
16. Mo Vaughn, 1995, (.300, 39, 126) Vaughn had several great seasons from 1995-2000, including an MVP season in 1995. The Red Sox, led by Vaughn, won the AL East in 1995; their only division title from 1991-2006.
15. Albert Belle, 1995, (.317, 50, 126) Belle had his best season in 1995, hitting a career high 50 home runs, and could have hit even more had the season not started 18 games late due to the strike. 1995 was an unbelievable season for Belle, who led the A.L. in home runs, as well as doubles.
14. Juan Gonzalez, 1998 (.318, 45, 157) Juan Gonzalez was one of the best hitters in baseball from 1992 until 2001, hitting 35 home runs 7 times in those 10 years and winning 2 MVPs. His 157 RBI in 1998 were the most in the American League in 49 years.
13. Jeff Bagwell, 1994, (.368. 39, 116) Bagwell was rumored to have started taking steroids in 1993, the first .300 BA and 20 home run season of his career. 1994 was Bagwell’s best season, though strike shortened, as he won the NL MVP and posted an extremely high 1.201 OPS.
12. Andy Pettite, 2005 (17-9, 2.38 era) Pettite will be remembered most as a Yankee. However, arguably Pettite’s best season was 2005 when he had a career best 2.39 era and helped the Houston Astros win their franchises only 2 post season series, before losing to the White Sox in the World Series.
11. Ken Caminitti 1996 (.326, 40, 130) 1996 was Caminitti’s only 30 home run season, as he helped lead the Padres to a division title. Caminitti won the MVP that season and became a very popular San Diego player, until he later admitted that he took steroids during the 1996 season.
10. Jason Giambi, 2000 (.333, 43, 137) The Oakland A’s, from 1999-2006, were best known for their big 3 starting pitchers; Hudson, Mulder, and Zito. However, from 1999-2001, Jason Giambi tore up the league for the Oakland A’s. Giambi enjoyed an MVP season in 2000, while the Oakland A’s scored 947 runs with a lineup built around Giambi, who had a .476 on base percentage for the playoff bound A’s.
9. Mike Piazza, 1997, (.362, 40, 124) Piazza put up probably the best hitting season for a catcher of all time in 1997. His .362 BA tied an MLB record for catchers and his 40 home runs were one short of Todd Hundley’s record for catchers, but this was likely the product of a 62ndround pick exceeding expectations in big part due to steroids.
8. David Ortiz, 2003 (.288, 31, 101) David Ortiz was released in 2002 by the Twins, but miraculously turned his career around the following season, in 2003 with Boston, and ended up averaging 41 home runs from 2003-2007, while helping the Red Sox win 2 World Series.
7. Manny Ramirez, 1999, (.333, 44, 165) No player in the last 60 years has had more RBI in a single season than Manny Ramirez had in 1999, driving in 165. That season, the Cleveland Indians had one of the best offenses of all time, scoring a rare 1009 runs, with Ramirez in the middle of the lineup, driving in Lofton, Vizuel, and Alomar on a nightly basis.
6. Alex Rodriguez, 2002, (.300, 57, 142) A-Rod recently admitted to steroid use during his 3 years in Texas, from 2001-2003. Rodriguez had great statistics in all 3 of his seasons with Texas, but his 2002 season featured a career high 57 home runs, 1 more than Ken Griffey Jr. ever hit in a single season.
5. Roger Clemens, 1997, (21-7, 2.05 era) Clemens was arguably the best major league pitcher from 1986 until 1992, a span in which he won 3 Cy Young awards, winning at least 17 games all 7 years. However, Clemens failed to win more than 11 games in any of his last 4 years in Boston, before somehow turning things around in Toronto. Clemens won the Cy Young award and the pitcher’s triple crown in each of his 2 season with Toronto, and his 2.05 era in 1997 was the lowest of any of Clemens’ record 7 Cy Young seasons. Clemens later went on to win 2 more Cy Young awards, with the Yankees and Astros, at the ages of 39 and 42.
4. Luis Gonzalez, 2001, (.328, 57, 145) Luis Gonzalez was one of the better hitters in the league from 1999- 2003, but nobody expected the kind of protection Gonzalez enjoyed in 2001, as Gonzalez demolished his previous season high of 31 homers by cranking out 57. This season also included Gonzalez enjoying the game winning hit in the bottom of the 9th in game 7 of the World Series, as well as a Home Run Derby title. 2001 defined Luis Gonzalez’s career and was one of the best seasons of all time, but was likely influenced by steroids.
3. Sammy Sosa, 1998 (.308, 66, 158) It was difficult to decide between 1998 or 2001 as Sosa’s most significant season, but while Sosa hit 64 home runs and drove in a career high 160 runs in 2001, Sosa won his only MVP award in 1998 and hit a career high 66 home runs, becoming just the 2nd player ever to crack 61 at the time. Sosa averaged 57 home runs from 1998-2001, hitting the most homers ever by a player in a 5 year period. Somehow Sosa managed to have 3 seasons in which he hit 63 or more home runs, but did not lead the NL in homers.
2. Mark McGwire, 1998, (.299 70 147) 1998 was the year of the epic home run race between McGwire and Sammy Sosa, and the year that most defines the steroid era. McGwire’s 62nd home run excited America, breaking the 37 year old, record. However, these days it seems like people forget how great of a moment it was at the time, after all of the steroid allegations. McGwire posted unbelievable statistics in 1998, with not only 70 home runs, but a .470 On Base Percentage and .752 Slugging Percentage; numbers that were exceeded by Bonds in the first half of the 2000s.
1. Barry Bonds, 2001, (.328 73, 137) Bonds was one of the best all around players before the steroid era really began and may have been clean throughout that period. Towards the end of 1999, after an elbow injury, Bonds’ career seemed to be on the decline . However, Bonds suddenly tore up the league like nothing we have ever seen in the the first half of the 2000s, highlighted by 2001, when Bonds broke the all time single season home run record, set 3 years before by McGwire. Bonds set several OPS records from 2001-2004 and Bonds remains the all time leader for both single season home runs and all time home runs. Notably, Bonds never hit more than 49 homer runs in any season other than 2001.
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Last week, Doug Glanville of ESPN.com posted a piece about Barry Bonds new opportunity to be an ambassador for Major League Baseball.
Glanville basically discusses the idea that with the Giants having won the World Series, the stage is set for Bonds, to rise to the spot light. The man who holds the two most notable baseball records—home runs in a season and career home runs—could now use his presence to do good things.
The problem is that Barry Bonds is positioned about as well to be an ambassador for baseball as Don Imus is to be the spokesperson for NOW.
Here are five reasons why the canonization of Barry Bonds won’t happen:
1. The league doesn’t like Barry Bonds
There are two ways to define “the league”. There is the franchises that make up Major League Baseball. Then there is that face and voice of the league as a business entity; Bud Selig. Whichever you use, the truth is the same—Barry Bonds is not well liked.
The league basically ignored him the season after he left San Francisco. He was a free agent with not just a big bat, but the biggest bat ever, who got zero job offers. Even from an AL team who could have used him as a DH.
Selig has looked upon bonds the way Ford Frick looked upon Roger Maris, only Selig had much better arguments. Selig despised the idea that Bonds was the one to beat the career home run record of Hank Aaron, a man that Selig is close to.
Also, whether deserved or not, Bonds represent the steroid era more succinctly than perhaps any player other than Mark McGuire. Baseball should and will pick its own ambassadors and Selig won’t pick Barry Bonds.
2. Bonds has a court case looming
Whether innocent or guilty, Bonds is about to be embroiled in a federal perjury trial, the outcome of which could require jail time.
Bonds’ testimony in 2007 regarding BALCO is in question and a guilty verdict will not only cement Bonds’ reputation as a juicer, but also define him legally and practically as a liar.
Perhaps if he comes out on the other end of the court case with a verdict of innocent there might be a chance of his personal marketability, but certainly not before.
3. Barry Bonds and the press don’t get along
Over the time that Bonds was a Major League baseball player, he developed a relationship with the press that was tense at best, venomous and vitriolic at worse. Barry treated the press like the villains in his romantic biography, a group of liars and connivers whose only goal was to destroy Bonds.
It would be safe to assume that a baseball ambassador would not only have to open himself up to the press, but actually embrace them as a tool to accomplish… well, whatever he wished to accomplish as the poster boy.
4. No Hall of Fame, no ambassador status
For the man holds the career home run record, if you are not in the hall of fame, if you are still only a visitor when you show up, you are not the spokesperson you want to be. Now, if after his obligatory five years, if Bonds is inducted, it will be a different story.
The idea is not that you must be a HOF member to be a face for the sport. The issue is more that Barry Bonds should be in the HOF, based on his on-the-field exploits. More than that, if you only look at his play, he should be a first ballot hall-of-famer. The fact is he will not get in on his first ballot. Perhaps because of his off-the-field exploits, he’ll never get in at all. It’s a sticking point standing in the way of his public relations standing.
5. Barry Bonds is the ultimate anti-spokesperson
Take away the steroid allegations. Pretend for a moment that there is no such thing as “The Clear” or BALCO, and that there is no upcoming perjury trial as a result.
Without that large elephant in the room, you still do not have a persona worthy of what Glanville suggests.
Bonds has a history of distrust with the media. He has been accused of tax fraud. There have been stories of his having been an adulterer. For as big a star as he was at one point, he never did things to bring his fans closer (One example being his disallowing use of his name in any video games that the players association endorsed.)
Once Bonds focused on statistics and stopped just being a great player, his play suffered. There were no allegations of slackening play early in his career, but in the late years in San Francisco, Bonds was one of the new group of prima donna players who didn’t need to run hard to first if they didn’t feel like it.
If you think of all these things like pieces of a collage, it’s hard to imagine an arrangement that would look appealing to the world at large—especially one that is skeptical of Major League Baseball. Isn’t that, after all, why the game might need an ambassador in the first place.
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Many a person have made “Best of World Series” lists in recent years. With the conclusion of the 2010 World Series, it is time to rank the 2010 World Series with those of recent years.
For convenience’s sake, I have reserved this list to include just those since 1990, when the wild card, PEDs, Braves and Yankees dynasties and the end of a few curses arrived.
I have ranked these series based on, not only on the drama of the series, but in the backstory and heart of the teams playing in them as well. With that in mind, let’s begin.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Giants on winning the 2010 “Fall Classic” (TM), otherwise known to the rest of the world as the “World Cup,” 4-1 in front of a thrilled national audience of approximately fifteen people from outside the San Francisco area (almost thirty if you count their various pets). It was truly a hard-fought battle that involved many impressive feats of strength and struggle that I’m sure would have been amazing had I actually watched any of it. I considered tuning in last night for the finale, but then a new DVD of NCIS came from Netflix, and no mere mortal can overcome the allure of the Gibbs.
I would also like to extend sincere and heartfelt gratitude toward the Giants for choosing to wait and win their first championship since the fifties until well after Barry Bonds was forced into retirement via national popular vote and/or grand jury indictment. I can only hope his vast collection of bobble-head memorabilia will give him comfort on those lonely, cold winter nights when he has nothing but an array of international super-models, millions of dollars and dozens of MVP trophies to keep him company. It must be quite a challenge to live with such shame. I wonder how he can cope.
I do feel a little bad for Texas, mostly because of their star outfielder Josh Hamilton, who overcame a serious and life-threatening addiction to Grand Theft Auto before making his first post-season appearance this fall. You may remember him as that guy who hit 217 home runs in the 2008 Home Run Derby before passing out from exhaustion and not waking up until almost August. I was hoping that he would win a trophy this year, considering all the trials he has endured over the years, but I can take solace in knowing that he is still far richer than I will ever be, even if I sell both of my kidneys on the black market.
I will offer genuine praise for one player, however, and that is Tim Lincecum. He is a man that is so awesome, so talented, so special that you are almost able to overlook just how tiny he is compared to everyone else in the league. He looks how I imagine a fifteen-year-old kid would look if he tried on a uniform made specifically for Dwayne Johnson and tried to pitch. The only difference is, this fifteen-year-old is the product of some bizarre and illegal government-run genetics experiment, the result of which has caused him to be able to see ultraviolet light and throw 137 MPH, even after eating Italian. I have high-hopes for this man’s future, and can only hope that he becomes so spectacular that he becomes unaffordable to the Giants and signs with the Red Sox.
Until next season, I hope that all seven baseball fans in San Francisco enjoy this special day and remember that real cities celebrate championships by setting fire to random vehicles and committing acts of violence. I have yet to see flames on the news, so it’s time to get to it! I hear the Prius smells lovely when burned with mesquite.
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