Not So BIG Papi

Give me a break Peter Gammons! What do you mean no one knows what is wrong? How could you say Terry Francona has no clue? The Red Sox and Theo Epstein are uncertain how to handle this?

David Ortiz was and obviously is no longer a steroid user. In the wake of the Mitchell Report his batting average dropped nearly 100 points. I don’t want to hear about his ailing wrist and I don’t want to hear about Manny Ramirez being traded. The guy was user plain and simple. Anyone who does not see that is blind. All of the sudden he can no longer hit? Give me a break.

One thing we have learned from all this: those who protest the most are most likely guilty themselves. Anyone who spoke out against steroids after the Mitchell Report was released as did Ortiz can kiss my pale side. Including you Curt Schilling. Each and every player had an opportunity to speak out against this long before they were forced to admit what they did after having been caught and Ortiz is no exception.

Wake up everyone. Dont believe the hype and dont let the spin ESPN puts on it cloud your vision of the truth.

IT IS WHAT IT IS

HOF: Mike Mussina?

Is Mike Mussina a Hall of Famer? Perhaps, but if I may, to paraphrase Mussina himself if what he did before this year was not enough to make him a HOFer why then should a 20 win season on an underachieving team with the highest payroll in baseball, make or break that decision?

As we enter the post steroid era the players that become eligible for the Hall of Fame will clearly be judged by a new standard although perhaps the same criteria. Many that were eligible before this era may be “automatic” in hindsight. Mike Mussina’s numbers are unique yet bare comparison to a few former players that have not yet made the HOF. The bench mark for which the comparison will be made is 300 career victories. However it will not be the only factor for which Mussina is judged by the voters.

Mussina’s consistency is perhaps his best asset. He has won at least 10 games in 17 seasons. Something only five other pitchers have ever done. Four of whom are HOFers and the fifth is Greg Maddux (all are 300 game winners). Only five other pitchers (all 300 game winners) have won as many or more games than Mussina and have a higher winning percentage including Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson.

There are 31 pitchers with more career starts than Mike Mussina. Ten of which are not Hall of Famers. That number drops to 6 if you consider Clemens, Glavine, Johnson and Maddux again all 300 game winners. Of the other six, four have more wins than Mussina. Including Bobby Mathews who in 15 seasons had 297 career wins. The other 3 Jim Kaat 283, Bert Blyleven 287 and Tommy John 288.

I will leave you with this. Three of the top ten pitchers with the most post season wins do not have 300 career victories, are not hall of famers and played in the same era roughly over the same time period. Is Mike Mussina clearly better than all of these men? John Smoltz, Andy Pettitte and Curt Schilling.  So much so that he deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame and they do not?

The Boston Red Suxs (Red Sox)

The Boinger

The only disgrace in Boston is Boston is itself! The organization, both ownership and front office personnel,  the media and team. Especially Curt Schilling the most outspoken advocate in the world for egregious acts of wrong doing against athletes who mysteriously remained quiet during his entire tenure as a teammate yet somehow found a way to delicately trash Manny on “The Big Show with Glenn Ordway”. Are we to believe that they suffered for the last 8 years with Manny Ramirez? The guy was a disgrace to the uniform before they brought him in. He loafed and complained and could not play LF when he was in Cleveland, what made you think it would be any different in Boston? Now that he is hitting .400 yes FOUR HUNDRED in L.A. and single handedly carrying that team to the playoffs they want to throw him under the bus and claim somehow they are the victim here. You did it to yourselves!
Now certainly we all know that this guy made the Red Sox. When they all embraced him and his idiocy in 2004 they made that their identity calling themselves the “idiots”. That was their mantra; HELLO? Earth to Boston. You did not create the monster, you let it out of the cage. Here we are four seasons and two World Championships later and somehow all of the sudden he’s not worth it anymore. Why?
Shawn Chacon shoved Astros GM Ed Wade to the ground and was immediately suspended from the team. Let me repeat that: IMMEDIATELY SUSPENDED FROM THE TEAM! A day after his suspension the Astros put Chacon on waivers so they could release him and terminate his contract. Now who knows what really happened or why it happened. It does not matter. You shove a team official to the ground and your are out of here. Imagine going to work one day and just shoving the guy who hired you to the ground would you expect to be back the next day?
A week later in Houston Manny Ramirez shoved traveling secretary Jack McCormick to the ground over an “unfortunate misunderstanding” regarding tickets. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This is the same Manny Ramirez who took a swing at Kevin Youkilis in the dugout in Boston just a few weeks prior. Why was he not immediately suspended from the team and sent on his way? WHY? Why was Boston even allowed trade this guy and get something back in return for him? If this were the NFL do you think Roger Goodell would have stepped in regarding “personal conduct”? Where was Curt Schilling during all this? Oh right he was still talking about leaving Boston and going to pitch for the Yankees because he was upset with the organization too. I guess they must have kissed and made up.