Meet Your Hall of Famer: Robert Jacome

 

Bio:   Robert Jacome was born in Penasco, NM (Pop. 1200 50 miles north of Santa Fe). Jacome was a 2-time All-State player in New Mexico before attending University of Louisiana at Monroe. At Louisiana Monroe he was a 3-year starter with his Junior year becoming a 2nd team All-American.

Draft: Was the 6th pick in Season 30 by Cincinnati (deandg).   Signed for $3.54 Million.

Scout Rodger Henry- “He is an above average pitcher in all aspects of his game.  Pluses: he can throw a lot of innings and is left-handed.  I project him to be a 2 or 3 starter. 

Career Earnings: $75,349,000

Career: Robert Jacome was the 6th pick in Season 30 by Cincinnati where he played 10+ seasons (Cincinnati, Ottawa, Tacoma).  He also played for Toronto, and San Juan.  He made his Major League debut in Season 33.  During his career, he won the Cy Young Award in Season 37 and won a World Series in Season 35 with Ottawa.  He also threw a No-Hitter in Season 39 while being a 5-Time All-Star throughout his career. Although he won the Cy Young in Season 37, Season 39 was his best season.  In that year he had 18 wins to 2 loses, 207.1 IN, 190 K’s, .201 OVA, 1.04 WHIP, and 1.74 ERA.  Over his career he won 200 games, threw 3016.1 IN, 2459 K’s, .229 OVA, 1.17 WHIP, and 3.09 ERA. 

Speech Highlight- “I have been doubted in baseball all my career. I am extremely grateful for owner deandg for taking a chance and drafting me.  I have tried to have an impact on others (fake baseball players, ha) as deandg did to so many who have played HBD long enough to of interacted with him.  He was no doubt one of the best owners HBD has ever seen.  And this enshrinement is a testament to him!"

Meet Your Hall of Famer: Donald Miles

Bio:   Donald Miles was born in Ridgway, CO (Pop. 924 located in the middle of the state in Western Colorado). Miles played his youth baseball in the Colorado Baseball Academy.  The highlight of playing at the Academy was throwing a no-hitter in the championship game of the Colorado Classic held in Denver.  A 96-team tournament with teams from all over the country.  He also led the high school basketball team to a playoff appearance.

Draft: Was the 1st pick in Season 33 by Kansas City (nacholibre).   Signed for $6.2 Million.

Scout Max Ligtenberg- “Great presence on the mound. He is a winner.  A few small adjustments to his mechanics could lead to great control.  His sinker, slider and curveball are above average pitches. And he pitches well to left handers.”

Manager (dfdarby): “Donald Miles was a true workhorse who could be counted on for 33 to 38 starts a season on his way to 761 career starts. He won 15 or more games in 11 straight seasons, including his 22-3 Cy Young campaign in Season 46.  He followed that with a no-hitter on Opening Day of Season 47 and compiled a season-best 1.06 WHIP.  And he stuck with our nomadic organization for 22 years as we moved from Philadelphia, to Detroit, Chicago, Montreal, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Sioux Falls, Toledo, and finally Chicago again.  A true Hall of Famer who finished with exactly 100 more wins than losses (326-226), he probably could have won 400 had we traded him to a perennial contender.

Career Earnings: $159,350,000

Career: Donald Miles was the 1^st pick in Season 33 by Kansas City and played his entire professional baseball career in that organization (8 different Cities).  He made his Major League debut in Season 35.  During his career, he won the Cy Young Award in Season 46 and was a 10-time All-Star.  He also threw a No-Hitter on opening day in Season 47. Although he won the Cy Young in Season 46, Season 49 was his best season.  In that year he had 18 wins to 4 loses, 251.1 IN, 176 K’s, .208 OVA, 1.07 WHIP, and 2.40 ERA.  Over his career he won 326 games, threw 5265.1 IN, 3624 K’s, .245 OVA, 1.27 WHIP, and 3.52 ERA.  He holds 2 Career World Records for Innings Pitched at 5265.1 and Quality Starts 492!  He also holds single season records for the current Cincinnati Franchise in OVA .208 (47), ERA 2.40 (49) IN 277.7 (43), Shut outs 4 (47), K’s 223 (40), WHIP 1.06 (47) and Wins 22 (46).  As well as Career marks for Cincinnati in OVA .245, CG 65, ERA 3.52, IN 5263.3, Shutouts 21, K’s 3624, WHIP 1.27, and Wins 326.

Speech Highlight- “All I ever wanted to do is win baseball games.  I felt I owed it to the fans to be on the mound every time it was my turn to pitch.  I was lucky enough to be able to do that with one organization my entire career.  I want to thank the Cincinnati organization for allowing me the opportunity to do that."

                                         Season 57 Annual Awards

McBain Award: Awarded to the franchise that breaks the single season record for wins 135.  Not awarded. Las Vegas won the most games last season --105.

Dean Award : Given to a player who overcomes an injury or some other hurdle and has a really good season.  The winner  is Geovany Diaz of the Las Vegas Galaxy.  Geovany had 1- 60 day stint on the Disable List in season 56. In season 56 he had 397 at bats hitting .237. After rehabbing his back injury in the off-season Geovany hit.317 in 605 at bats winning the Silver Slugger award for third basemen.

Kobelesky Award: Given to the franchise that wins the most games throughout all six playing levels.The winner is the Rogue One. They won 541 games;  a .664 winning percentage.

Season 57 Awards Voting

In discussions about the Hall of Fame and the All Time Team, I've been using a metric that I've taken to calling the "Importance Score." That is the player's WAR per year average as a baseline and then they can earn bonus points for World Series Rings, Pennants, MVPs, Cy Youngs, years with 4+ WAR and leading the league in certain categories. It occurred to me several days ago that this would also be a good metric to use to compare the candidates for the end of year awards (although the Cy Young/MVP bonuses wouldn't be applied in this case.) In an effort to use the Importance Score this season, I've taken a look at the league leader boards before doing the WAR math...here are the results:

AL MVP 

• Carlos Romero (LF-Jackson), 10.51 WAR
• Charles Banks (CF-Houston), 7.47 WAR
• Ronald Lewis (RF-New York), 8.94 WAR
• Eugene Lee (2B-Jackson), 7.67 WAR
• Gerardo Montanez (1B-Santa Cruz), 3.98 WAR

NL MVP 

• Kent Stoops (CF-Hartford), 7.27 WAR
• Alex Fernandez (RF-Santa Fe), 6.45 WAR
• Geovany Diaz (3B-Las Vegas), 6.81 WAR
• Dennis Morgan (RF-San Juan), 5.12 WAR
• Rich Winn (CF-Pawtucket), 6.15 WAR

AL Cy Young

• Gregory Brush (SP-Houston), 4.25 WAR
• Kendry Calderon (RP-Boston), 1.85 WAR
• Jimmie Urbina (SP-Ottawa), 3.89 WAR
• Tucker Burton (SP-Louisville), 2.85 WAR
• Cal Langfeld (SP-Houston), 2.73 WAR

NL Cy Young 

• AJ Moreno (SP-Las Vegas), 6.91 WAR
• Jeimer Rodriguez (SP-Hartford), 1.03 WAR
• Anthony Boudreau (SP-Seattle), 6.51 WAR
• Bud Rucker (SP-Santa Fe), 6.25 WAR
• Albert Perez (SP-San Juan), 3.37 WAR

AL Rookie of the Year

• Joel Glaus (SP-Jackson), 1.79 WAR
• Vince Fonville (RF-Ottawa), 2.01 WAR
• James Brock (SP-Santa Cruz), 3.07 WAR
• Jose Cervantes (RP-Houston), 1.72 WAR
• Francisley James (RP-Boise), 0.17 WAR

NL Rookie of the Year

• Bob Haywood (LF-Santa Fe),  3.08 WAR
• 
  

         Another Saturday night drinking at the Barleymoe

Tonight Elijah Craig is joined by Jim Beam, Johnny Walker  and Jack Daniels

Elijah: Fellas I think we haven't talked about defense in a long time. Tonight I thought I might like to pick your brains on the subject. We aren't that far from starting season 58 and the worst thing for a  franchise is if their fielding coach retires or won't resign. Let's start there in our discussion.

Johnny: Last year the average fielding coach made just over 1 million dollars. eleven guys made $750,000, 10 made $500,000, 2 made a salary between those numbers and one guy squeezed a team for a little more than $750,000. That leaves use with 9 fielding coaches making more than a million dollars.

Jack: None of those nine came close to the Mac Daniels contract signed in season 33 for 8.3 million dollars although one guy got 7.1 million.

Jim: Well that was Acosta. He always get paid big money. In the last 10 seasons he's been paid 23.7475 million dollars.

Elijah: Is there any correlation of money to results?

Jack: Acosta took a below average fielding team in season 56 and had them ranked 6th in season 57.

Johnny: Looking at the stats for the season I was  most surprised by Boise having 124 more plus plays than minus plays. Only 5 teams had over 100 plus plays and the Rogue One led all teams with 137 plus  plays.

Jim: I like to give a shout out for the Blue Hens who also had over a 100 plus plays and led the league with just 5 minus plays for the season.

Jim: The average runs scored last season was 4.78 runs per game. The most unearned runs given up by one team last year was 105. That almost 22 games  worth of runs.

Jack: Don't be stupid 105 runs isn't 22 games worth of runs; it's .65 runs a game.

Johnny: Either way it shows the importance of defense and why in the not so distance future managers are going to be bidding money that could go to prospects or free agents on guys that once the season starts are forgotten.

Meet Your Hall of Famers: Kris Watanabe

 

Bio:   Kris Watanabe was born in Monroe, MI (Pop. 20,733 located 40 miles south of Detroit). Watanabe made that 40-minute trip north to attend Clarenceville High School (Trojans) in Livonia, MI, a suburb of Detroit.  There he lead the Trojans to back-to-back Division 2 final appearances, coming up short in both chances.  He was selected to the Detroit All Metro team in his Junior and Senior seasons.  He also led the high school football team to a state finals appearance as the starting QB.  

Draft: Was the 1st pick in Season 34 by Albuquerque (danxmcgraw).   

Scout Paul McKnight- “A true 5 tool player, above average in all 5 areas.  Hits for good contact but does not sacrifice power.  Has above average speed and can steal some bases.   His defense is very good and could develop into a Major League SS with good range and a quality arm.”

Career Earnings: $160,609,000

Career: Kris Watanabe was the 1^st pick Season 34 by Albuquerque and made his MLB debut in Season 37. He played the first 11 years of his career in the Albuquerque/Wichita organization before finishing the final 9 years in New York.  During his career, he was a 7-time All-Star with 5 Silver Sluggers (41, 42, 43, 44, 46) and 1 Gold Glove (52). Season 44 was his best season when he hit .301 AVG, 45 HR and drove in 166 runs.  He added 143 R, 202 H, 35 2B, 5 3B, 73 BB, 31 SB and .939 OPS that season. Over his career he accumulated .282 AVG, .853 OPS, 1695 R, 2766 H, 516 2B, 84 3B, 482 HR, 1625 RBI, 1052 BB and 438 SB. He holds single season records for Albuquerque/Wichita (currently Colorado Springs) in Runs 143 (44), and RBI 166 (44).

Speech Highlight- “I have always tried to live up to the city of Detroit.  Hardworking and earning everything I accomplished.” 

Meet Your Hall of Famers: Jeimer Ortega

 

Bio:   Jeimer Ortega was born in Monte Cristi, DO (Pop. 42,657 located northwest region of the country in the coastal lowlands near the border with Haiti.) Ortega was found by scouts after he hit 8 homeruns playing in the World Baseball Classic for the Dominican Republic (8 games). 

International Signing: Signed for 19.1 million in Season 36 (2^nd highest that year) by Toronto (Seventy_77)

Scout Paul McKnight- “Is a true power hitter.  The ball sounds different when he squares it up.  He has above average contact and a good eye to go along with his power.  Fielding is below average but the bat overshadows it.”

Manager (Seventy_77): “Best player for our franchise ever.  Unbelievably consistent.  Kind of funny, but back when I made that blockbuster trade with Las Vegas to acquire the stud pitcher De Los Santos and dealt 2 of my top 3 prospects.  In less than a week later I was gifted Ortega in IFA.  He did get to play his entire career in Toronto.  Got lucky the year he went into free agency that it was same year as Rey Jung was also a free agent and was a few years younger and everyone was bidding on him and Ortega just happened to sign early and I got him cheaper than I thought I would.  And Ortega and Jung seemed to battle it out for MVP’s in the NL until Jung went to the AL.”

Career Earnings: $109,887,000

Career: Jeimer Ortega was an International Free Agent in Season 36 by Toronto and made his MLB debut in Season 39. He played his entire 21-year career in the Toronto organization.  During his career, he won 6 Most Valuable Player Awards (41, 44, 45, 47, 48, 50), and was a 9-time All-Star. He also won Rookie of the Year in Season 39 and 10 Silver Sluggers (40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50). He was also part of the World Series Campion team in Season 45. His third MVP award in Season 45 was his best season.  In that season he hit .311 AVG with a 1.065 OPS, and added 135 R, 28 2B, 3 3B, 49 HR, 118 RBI, and 15 SB. That lead him to amass career numbers of .300 AVG, .957 OPS, 1760 R, 2688 H, 403 2B, 31 3B, 652 HR, 1570 RBI, 1256 BB and 288 SB. He holds single season records for Toronto in Hits 217 (50), and 171.86 RC (50). He also has Career records for HR 652, R 1760, RC 1996.55, and BB 1256 for Toronto.

Speech Highlight- “I lived the baseball dream, from my youth leagues in the Dominican to playing in the World Baseball Classic to the tops of the Major Leagues.  I have been able to accomplish it all and now to top it off with being inducted into the Hall of Fame.”

TEAM OPS, TOP 15 ALL-TIME HIGHEST RANKINGS:

 

1.  0.982 - S4 Colorado (Mr_Stickball) *

2.  0.940 - S2 Colorado (Mr_Stickball) *

3.  0.933 - S5 Colorado (Mr_Stickball) **

4.  0.931 - S1 Colorado (Mr_Stickball) ***

5.  0.917 - S3 Colorado (Mr_Stickball)

5.  0.917 - S6 Colorado (Mr_Stickball) ****

7.  0.916 - S7 Colorado (Mr_Stickball) **

8.  0.908 - S39 Colorado (Mr_Stickball) *

9.  0.907 - S10 Tuscon (BillHowell75)

10.  0.903 - S12 Tuscon (BillHowell75)

11.  0.891 - S13 Tuscon (A Dawg) ***

11.  0.891 - S40 Colorado (Mr_Stickball)

13.  0.890 - S8 Colorado (Mr_Stickball) *

14.  0.884 - S57 Colorado (Mr_Stickball) (INC - Current Season)

15.  0.883 – S4 Hartford (Sved)

 

* Division Title

** DCS Winner

*** LCS Winner

**** WS Winner

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY

 I added a few things to the HoF spreadsheet:  Pick Drafted, IFA year, signing bonus, total salary earned throughout their career and total earnings with signing bonus.  I know I am missing any signing bonus when added to a free agent contract.  This is just for Hall of Famers!!!

Stickball Hall of Fame Spreadsheet

Most Money Earned (Signing bonus and Salary)

                                             Total Earned

1.  Willie Gonzalez               $349.976 mil

2.  Antonio Charleston          $253.332 mil

3. Juan Hernandez                 $242.274 mil

4. RJ Santana                         $203.953 mil

5. Tom Moore                        $203.157 mil

Most by Positional Players

1. RJ Santana                        $203.953 mil

2. Angel Chavez                   $189.704 mil

3. James Kwon                     $189.295 mil

4. Placido Pelaez                  $188.462 mil

5. Yeico Johnson                  $178.307 mil

Most by Pitchers

1. Willie Gonzalez                $349.976 mil

2. Antonio Charleston           $253.332 mil

3. Juan Hernandez                 $242.274 mil

4. Tom Moore                        $203.157 mil

5. Rigo Delgado                    $193.098 mil

Lowest Total Salary for a Hall of Famer

1. Jesus Duran                     $51.149 mil

2. Carl Lee                          $57.035 mil

3. Bruce Sandberg              $60.983 mil

4. Fautino Saenz                 $61.183 mil

5. Dan Porter                       $64.328 mil

Lowest Draft Pick to be a Hall of Famer

1. Carl Lee        Pick 40

2. Bruce Sandberg    36

3. Sean Woodson      31

4. Pete Pryor             24

5. Geoff Reuschel     22

Lowest IFA Signing Bonus to be a Hall of Famer

1. Fautino Saenz               $6.5 mil

2. Albert Franco                $10.6 mil

3. Emmanuel Belliard       $11 mil

4. Yunesky De Los Santos $11 mil

5. Emilio Tavarez               $12.7 mil

Meet Your Hall of Famers: Clarence Paul

 

Bio:   Clarence Paul was born in Waseca, MN (Pop. 9,410 located 70 miles south of Minneapolis, MN).  From his Waseca home, he traveled 25 miles east to Mankato East Senior High School (Nickname: Cougars). Paul helped lead Mankato East to back-to-back AAA State Titles (AAA is the second biggest classification in Minnesota).  His Senior year broke the state strike out record recording 101 in just 45 innings.  He was also an All-State Hockey player his Senior year.

Draft: Was the 2nd pick in Season 33 by Washington DC (Saffron). 

Scout Paul McKnight- “Has a live arm with a deceptive delivery.  A very high priority coming from a left-hander.  A few minor adjustments to mechanics could lead to great control.  An all-star in the waiting.”

Career: Clarence Paul was drafted in Season 33 by Washington DC and made his MLB debut in Season 36. He played 18 of his 23-year career in Washington DC, finishing the final 5 years in Vancouver.  During his career, he won 3 Cy Young Awards (39, 40, 47), and was a 9-time All-Star. He threw a no-hitter in Season 40 and won a World Series Championship with Washington DC in Season 43. His first Cy Young award in Season 39 was his best season.  In that season he had 20 wins to just 4 losses and threw 232.2 innings.  He had a career high 232 k’s, a .192 OAV, 0.89 WHIP and 1.97 ERA. Over his Career he accumulated 277 Wins over 3779 Innings in which he posted 3541 k’s, .224 OAV, 1.11 WHIP and 2.72 ERA. He holds single season records for Washington DC in OAV .192 (39), ERA 1.79 (36), Strikeouts 232 (39), WHIP 0.89 (39), and Wins 21 (40).  He also has Career records for OAV .219, ERA 2.57, Strikeouts 3049, WHIP 1.07, and Wins 240 for Washington DC.

Speech Highlight- “I have been blessed to accomplish all most everything in baseball.  A lot of people have helped me along the way.  I owe a great deal to all my coaches and teammates.”

                Another night drinking with the scouts at the Barleymoe

Tonight Elijah Craig is joined by Jim Beam, Johnnie Walker and Jack Daniels

Elijah: Tonight is the 57th rule 5 draft for our league. I asked you guys to look through the history of the draft and give me some insight as to what will happen tonight.

Jack: Elijah, in last ten years half the drafts went 5 rounds. Only one went 10 rounds and the shortest was season 54, which only went 3 rounds.

Jim: No player selected in the rule 5 draft has made the Hall of Fame yet, maybe tonight-who knows.

Johnny: A couple players  have made 4 All star games; Phil Combs and Alton Howard. Combs was drafted in season 9 and Howard in season 14.

Jack: One interesting guy was Steve Beer. He was picked in season 27 in the fifth round  and played 15 years in the big leagues.

Johnny: We never had a guy named Steve Beer, what are you talking about?

Jim: You now how he gets when he drinking. I bet he is thinking of Esteban Cerveza.

Jack: Yes that is the guy. He had 766 pitching appearances in his career.

Elijah: Anything else you guys noticed about the rule 5 draft?

Jim: It seems like a good place to acquire gold glovers, Billy Ray Goulet had 7 gold gloves after he was drafted in season 34 by Milton in the third round.

Johnny: I noticed that Milton really works the rule 5 draft. Takes a lot of players and keeps them around for several seasons.

Elijah: Well boys what do you see happening tonight?

Jack: Typical rule 5. A couple of special guys and a whole bunch of role players. The uber is here Elijah it time for to go.

                                      Season 56 Annual Awards

McBain Award: Awarded to the franchise that breaks the single season record for wins 135.  Not awarded. Hartford Blue Frogs won more games last season than any  other franchise --114.

Dean Award     : Given to a player who overcomes injury and has a really good season.  The winner  is Miguel Fernandez of the Los Angeles Galaxy.  Miguel had 2, 60 day stints on the Disable List in season 55. In season 56 he played in 139 games, had 42 homers and drove in12.87%of the Galaxy's runs.

Kobelesky Award: Given to the franchise that wins the most games throughout all six playing levels.The winner is Boise Rogue One. They won 582 games;  a .607 winning percentage.

                         

Meet Your Hall of Famer: Fautino Saenz

 

Bio:   Fautino Saenz was born in San Juan De La Maguana, DO (Pop. 169,032 located in western region of Dominican Republic founded in 1503.).  He was the starting catcher for the Junior Olympic team where he earned all-tournament honors. 

International Signing: Signed for 6.5 million (8^th highest that year) by Louisville (xmasjjm)

Scout Paul McKnight: “Fautino was average catcher that had above average power but had great control of the strike zone and hits righties exceptionally well.  His intangibles are what set him apart.  He had great makeup and was the on-field manager.”

Manager (xmasjjm): “I was elated that I had just enough cash to sign him late as an IFA.  His bat and plate discipline were lineup changing as he was in the heart of many playoff and championship teams.  Truly a difference making hitter.  Was he the best defensively, no, but that’s what backup defensive catchers are for! Hell of a career.”

Career: Saenz was signed in Season 33 by Louisville and broke into the Majors for one game in season 35. He went 1-2 with a 2-run homer and 2 BB.  He played his entire 22 pro baseball career with Louisville.  During his time, he was a 10-time All-Star, 7 Silver Slugger (37, 40, 41, 44, 46, 47,49) and won 2 Gold Glove Award (42, 46). He was also on 3 World Series Champion teams (38, 40, 44). His best season was Season 47 when he had an .323 AVG, 1.001 OPS, 84 R, 142 H, 19 2B, 4 3B, 28 HR and 80 RBI.  Over his Career he accumulated stats of .300 AVG, .886 OPS, 1331 R, 2413 H, 339 2B, 15 3B, 357 HR, 1286 RBI, and 1227 BB.  He still holds the career record for Louisville for with 1436 walks.

Speech Highlight: “I did not really worry about myself, I just wanted to make everyone else and the team better.” 

Meet Your Hall of Famers: John Lofton

 

Bio:   John Lofton was born in San Antonio, TX (Pop. 1,434,625).  He attended Lutheran High School (Nickname: Mustangs) where he was a 2-sport athlete (Football and Baseball).  At Lutheran, he was a 2-year starter for the Mustangs (6-Man football smallest classification).  In baseball he set a small school record with 12 homeruns in only 18 games. 

Draft: Was the 7th pick in Season 36 by Jacksonville (b2goofy). 

Scout Paul McKnight- “John is not the biggest player but gets everything out of his swing.  Big time power and great speed.  Fielding is ok but not great.  Could play 1B or COF.  Should project to be an All-Star with his bat.”

Career: Lofton was drafted in Season 36 by Jacksonville and broke into the Majors late in Season 39.  During his career he played most of his career in Jacksonville/Houston (13 seasons), and Louisville (5 seasons).  During his time, he was a 4-time Most Valuable Player (44, 45, 46, 48), 4-time All-Star, 5 Silver Slugger (40, 44, 45, 46, 48) and won a Gold Glove Award (48). It is interesting how he won an MVP in Season 48 when he was not an All-Star.  His best season was Season 46 when he was a 40-40 player with 51 Homeruns and 40 stolen bases.  He also added an .316 AVG, 1.102 OPS, 118 R, 173 H, 34 2B, 9 3B, and 137 RBI.  Over his Career he accumulated stats of .299 AVG, .960 OPS, 1454 R, 2270 H, 408 2B, 100 3B, 529 HR, 1544 RBI, 829 BB, and 325 SB.  He still holds season records Jacksonville/Houston organization of 59 HR (44), 146 RBI (44), and 13 3B (40).  He also has career records of 985 R, 245 SB and 68 3B.

Speech Highlight- “I have been able to live the perfect baseball dream, from 1^st rounder, to All-Star, to MVP, to Hall of Fame.  I owe a lot of people who helped me along the way.”

An Update on HOF Calculations/Metrics

 As I mentioned at the end of my previous blog post about the HOF, I am in the middle of calculating park adjusted Wins Above Replacement totals for a number of the leading candidates because I find that makes comparing careers faster and easier (once the numbers are crunched.) This past season I used the following scale as my initial judge of HOF worthiness: 100+ WAR = Slam Dunk HOF Candidate, 70-99 WAR = Definitely HOF Worthy, 50-69 WAR = Strong HOF Case and 49 or fewer WAR is a Weak HOF Case.  

However, I am going to make a couple of tweaks to that particular system going forward: first of all, I am going to add a category at the bottom ("No HOF Case At All") so that I might save myself some time in the future and only make deep dives on guys with a legitimate chance at the HOF. The other change that I'm going to make is that I'm going to start using a metric that MLB.com made up to rate the best free agent signings of all time...in the article they published where they introduce it they call it "a junk stat" that is "hastily thrown together and somewhat arbitrary" but I like it a lot. The reason I like it a lot is that it combines the two aspects of professional sports that are usually debated as being the most important into one metric: winning titles & individual performances (aka stat-stuffing.) 

In case you didn't click the link above and read what they wrote, here's how they combine those two aspects rather quickly and efficiently: The "Baseline Score" is a player's average WAR/year and then they get bonus points for World Series Rings, Pennants won, Cy Youngs, MVPs and each year they produced at an "All Star Level" (which they define as 4+ WAR.) 

The last piece of the puzzle is turning my previous scale into a scale that makes more sense with this metric. Since my previous scale was based on MLB totals, and MLB players have to play at least 10 seasons to be HOF eligible, this is where my mind goes right off the bat, as it were: 

100 WAR over 10 seasons = 10.0 WAR/year = Slam Dunk HOF Candidate

70 WAR over 10 seasons = 7.0 WAR/year = Definitely HOF Worthy

50 WAR over 10 seasons = 5.0 WAR/year = Strong HOF Case

and this is where the new category comes in:

30 WAR over 10 seasons = 3.0 WAR/year = Weak HOF Case

29 or fewer WAR over 10 seasons = 2.9 WAR/year or less = No HOF Case At All

So my thought is that starting next season, I'll look at players who averaged 3.0 WAR/year or better and see where their various awards get them on the scale presented in italics above. 

Meet Your Hall of Famers: Carl Harvey

 

Bio:   Carl Harvey was born in Winona Lake, IN (Pop. 4,908, 50 miles South of South Bend, IN).  He attended James Whitcomb Riley High School (Nickname: Wildcats) where he was a 2-sport athlete (Football and Baseball).  At Riley, Carl led the football team to back-to-back playoff appearances as QB.  He was also a 2-time baseball All-State pitcher and holds the AAAA (biggest classification) State Tournament record of 16 k’s in a playoff game (7 inning game).

Draft: Was the 2^nd pick in Season 26 by New York (brentcnb).  

Scout Paul McKnight- “Carl has a live arm.  He tops out at 96 mph with his Split FB toping out at 88.  His mechanics can be cleaned up to help with control and add more velocity.”

Career: Harvey was drafted in Season 26 by New York and broke into the Majors in Season 30.  During his career he played for New York/Indianapolis, Pittsburg, and Huntington/San Antonio.  During his time, he was a 6-time All-Star and won a Gold Glove Award (32). His best season was Season 38 when he won 15 games, had a .198 OAV, 1.00 WHIP, and 2.37 ERA, while striking out 221.  Over his Career he accumulated stats of 183 Wins, 2804.2 Innings, 2684 K’s, .234 OVA, 1.21 Whip and 3.20 ERA. 

Speech Highlight- “Ever since I started playing baseball, I knew it was all I wanted to do.  I was blessed with ability to be able to do it.  This award is for all those that took a chance on me.”

WHAT DO YOU VALUE AS AN OWNER?

by Mr_Stickball

We all value different things in our teams, but one thing I have always put value in is NP/PA (number of pitches seen per plate appearance).  On the other side of the ball, I at least try to put emphasis on strong defense up the middle.  The main idea here is to attempt to put stress on your opponent's Starter by stretching out each out as much as possible, while lessoning stress on your own Starter by gaining some extra outs with good defense.

In Season 23, Ripken0713's  San Antonio Papaya (Today's San Antonio Rustlers) attained Stickball World's Best NP/PA of 3.76.  AND they were very strong up the middle.

That Papaya team, which won 102 games and the WS Title, had some real stars on it's roster.  Anchoring the lineup were two future HOF'ers: 

1. Playing Left Field, the truly amazing Will Stevenson (.302|.391|.570, with 42 HRs and 110 RBIs); and, 
2. Catcher/DH, Bruce Sandberg (.296|.360|.587), with 39 HRs, 97 RBIs, and a career high ERA Against of only 3.42.  He happened to make the All Star Team and win the Home Run Derby that season as icing on the cake.

Adding to that duo, although not HOF Inductees, the S23 Papaya offense featured some other incredible All-Star talent:

• Playing a flawless 1B, Miguel Andujar hit (.292|.385|.588) with 43 HRs and 113 RBIs and made the All-Star team;
• Playing Center Field, Harry Sanchez, who was nearing the end of his amazing Gold Glove laden career, managed to hit (.271|.337|.406) and although declining, fielded well; 
• Despite his weak bat -- which makes the team NP/PA record even more impressive -- playing a quite rangy (RF 5.33) Shortstop and truly shoring up the defense was the then quite young Philip Jackson.  Jackson managed to win a Gold Glove that season; and, 
• Shoring up the middle infield defense at Second Base was a platoon of veteran Alton Howard (3 time All Star who, while declining, still managed a RF of 4.81) and then rookie, Hack Brown (who played a decent 2B despite his inexperience, and managed to draw a lot of walks with his good batting eye).  Considering Brown played a defensive position, he finished that season with a NP/PA of a not-too-shabby 3.71.

And that combination of a high NP/PA (which tires out the opponent's starter) and strong defense up the middle, with some very good pitching to be fair, led to one of the more impressive teams in the World's History.

It's worth noting that in Season 26 Ripkin won another WS title with a similar formula. He still had Bruce Sandberg (C), Miguel Andujar (1B), and for half of the season had the then-aging Will Stevenson (LF), but by then Phillip Jackson  (SS) was an All-Star as well as a GG winner, and Ripken had managed to actually improve at CF with the Silver Slugger and All-Star, Morgan Venafro. 

In all, we lost a great owner when Ripken hung it up, but I think his formula for success was quite sound.  

As of this posting, Redsox666666's Chicago Charge is on pace to tie the World record, with Mr_Stickball's Colorado Stickballers nipping at the record with a close-but-no-cigar NP/PA of 3.75.  Can either of these squads dethrone Ripken's S23 SA Papaya?  And do these metrics really matter very much in your opinion?  What do you value most as a GM/Manager?

   The New Jersey Gaming Commission has posted the odds for the up coming Stickball 56 season.

Seattle               2-1                             Hartford   3-1

Washington       4-1                             Santa Fe  6-1

Jackson             8-1                             Burlington 17-2 

  Louisville        21-2                            Charleston  21-2 

  Boston          10-1                              Chicago (NL)    11-1                                                                                                                 

Chicago(AL)    11-1                            Toronto    11-1 

  Pawtucket        12-1                          Las Vegas   12-1

San Francisco  12-1                            Detroit     12-1

 El Paso  23-2                                     Colorado  Springs     25-2

Honolulu  25-2                                    Houston   13-1

St. Louis 29-2                                     San Juan    16-1

Jacksonville 31-2                               Santa Cruz  31-2

Ottawa 33-2                                        Colorado   33-2

New York (AL) 35-2                           San Antonio   35-2

Vancouver  35-2                                  Boise  37-2 

 New Your Metro  50-1                      Fargo   60-1

Season 56 Hall of Fame Review

 First and foremost, I want to say thank you for having me and letting me help with both the HOF Committee and the blog...those are the things that made me really excited to join this world and it has certainly lived up to the hype so far! 

Now that introductions are out of the way, I want to take a few minutes to review the HOF process and explain a little more about the Wins Above Replacement metric that I brought to the discussion this season. There are two WAR metrics that I typically use: one is a rough estimate that only takes a few minutes to calculate (and is position adjusted for position players) and the other one takes significantly longer but is also park adjusted for both hitters and pitchers. 

However, I also knew that unlike my other leagues where I'm pretty much a one-person HOF Committee, there were other people here who were much better qualified to speak to the HOF worthiness of the various candidates. My metrics are mainly intended to be a starting point for discussions rather than providing a list of people who should be voted for and overruling the Committee decisions. Keeping this in mind I stayed with the estimated WAR totals for this year and let the rest of the Committee know the scale that I typically use, which is the following: 100+ WAR = Slam Dunk HOF Candidate, 70-99 WAR = Definitely HOF Worthy, 50-69 WAR = Strong HOF Case and 49 or fewer WAR is a Weak HOF Case. 

At the suggestion of the Committee, I started by evaluating those players who were nearing the end of their HOF eligibility and we went from there. As of right now, here are all of the Estimated WAR totals that I have calculated along with a quick description of their HOF worthiness and an MLB comparison where I could find one: 

                            (Note: Those highlighted players have been elected to the HOF)

These numbers did get all three of our suggested locks (Lofton, Saenez & Carl Harvey) elected, but as I mentioned before I find the park adjusted totals to be a much better judge of a player's candidacy. Additionally, I'd like to get to the point where we can say things like "the average HOF player at this position had a career WAR total of X, and this candidate had Y career WAR so they do/don't deserve to be elected", so my plan going forward is to evaluate the three who were elected this year plus the next five vote totals who fell short this season using the more in depth method to see how things go. 

In short, I want to have park-adjusted totals calculated for the following players by next HOF voting season: John Lofton (elected this year), Fautino Saenez (elected this year), Carl Harvey (elected this year), John Servais (8 votes short), Willis Tanner (8 votes short), Darren Harvey (9 votes short), Gabriel McKain (11 votes short & highly debated) and finally Roosevelt Curtis (12 votes short.) 

Meet Your Hall of Famer: Chuck Brewer

Bio:   Chuck Brewer was born in La Porte City, IA (Pop. 2.284, 20 minutes Southeast of Waterloo, IA).  He attended Union Senior High School (Nickname: Knights) where he was a 3-sport athlete (Football, Basketball and Baseball).  At 6-6 he was an All-Stater in all three sports.  In baseball is known for going 15 for 15 in their State Tournament run. Still an Iowa record for consecutive State Tournament hits.

Draft: Was the 12^th pick in Season 31 by Colorado (mr_stickball).  

Scout Rex Brantley- “In classic small-town lore, I stopped to eat in a café in Ames (2 hours away), and this group of 4 older gentlemen was talking about this high school baseball player that was the best hitter they ever saw.  I finally caught the name Brewer and told them I was a scout and, on my way, to see him.  One of the guys said “sign him up, he is Hall of Fame caliber already.”  That’s when I knew he was something special.”

Manger (mr_stickball)- "He stayed with the franchise through thick and thin, even during the dreadful Portland days, for two full decades.  Easy player to get to re-sign. Managed to play an "okay" 1B despite his ratings never being close to what you'd call "non-DH". His pithing efforts were hilarious, but on the other side of the ball he was "Mr. Clutch". He leads the franchise with a total of 717 RBIs with two outs! He spanned the time between some of the world's all-time greatest hitters during his career.  He filled the stands after nobody thought we'd see as exciting of a player as Jose Johnson, and was a major influence on today's Colorado "big draw", Marty Sisler. 

Career: Brewer was drafted in Season 31 by Colorado and broke into the Majors in Season 33 for 44 games, where he hit .364.  He played his entire 22 year in the Colorado/Portland organization.  During his time, he was a 3-time All-Star and won a Silver Slugger Award (44). He also won a World Series Ring in Season 34.  His best season was Season 35 when he hit .350, 1.031 OPS, 101 R, 39 2B, 33 HR, 153 RBI and stole 6 bases.  He did not have any huge seasons, but had 17 very solid seasons to accumulate career stats of .311 Ave, .899 OPS, 1595 R, 3059 H, 465 2B, 44 3B, 425 HR, 1829 RBI, and 26 SB.  He still holds the Colorado/Portland career records for 2B (465), hits (3059), runs (1595), rbi (1829) and walks (1490).

Speech Highlight- “My goal in baseball was always to entertain people.  I loved this game and wanted other to enjoy me playing it.  I give mr_stickball and the entire Colorado/Portland organization for the opportunity to do that. ”

 Another Saturday night drinking with the scouts at the Barleymoe

Tonight Elijah Craig is joined by Hiram Walker, Johnny Walker, and Jack Daniels

Elijah: Well fellas we are about to start random free agency. What are your thoughts about the coming season.

Johnny: Too much money is paid to too many players.

Hiram: Johnny, now is not the time to be frugal, or as the Ontario natives say scottish.

Johnny:Are you slurring my ethnic background, my clan?

Hiram: You know I'm not Canadian. I was born in Massachusetts. I got my first scouting job from kcg67  with the Boston Irish II. But my distillery is in Canada and that is what the local people call frugal people, scottish. They call people from Scotland -Scots. 

Jack: Before this conversation gets off the rails, does anybody know how these contracts work out.

Hiram: I was looking at the 10 players that signed contracts before this season that will be paid more than 10 million dollars for season 56. Of the 10 only 4 made an all star team after signing the big contract.

Jack: Who got the biggest contract?

Hiram: Aurelio Wong signed a 5yr 91million dollar contract prior to season 55. A two time all star, one time silver slugger with 4 world series rings. In the first year of the contract he hit .283 with 53 homers and slugged .604.

Johnny: He was beaten out for the all star game by Enrique Gamboa who hit .305 with 45 homers and slugged .614.

Hiram: Don't go all scottish on me. He was paid 9.25 million for the year; he still got paid a lot of money.

Johnny: About half of Wong's money.

Jack: Point taken

Hiram: The most accomplished player with a big contract is Rey Jung. Jung is a three time MVP, Rookie of the year. Twice he was the All Star game MVP out of his ten all star appearances. He signed for 62 million over 4 years. He did make the all star game after signing for big bucks.

Elijah: Are you telling me that it paying a lot of money doesn't guarantee success.

Jack: It is no worse than injuries. Just part of the game.

Johnny: That doesn't explain the relief pitchers in Ottawa.

Hiram: Somebody is joining to claim them.

Elijah: Next time fellas we will know who are the free agents signing with new clubs. the uber just pulled up.

 Another Saturday night drinking with the scouts at the Barleymoe

Tonight Elijah Craig is joined by George Dickell, Jose Cuervo and Jim Beam.

Elijah: Fellas did you notice that Alex Boscan retired.

George: Elijah lots of guys retire, why should we be so surprised that a 39 year old pitcher retired.

Jose: George how many guys retire with the season he had?

George: Was there something unusual about his season?

Jim: George maybe if you drank less ...oh never mind

Jose: Boscan made the All Star team for the second time last season; then was waived by Jacksonville. Vancouver then signed him and had him pitch in the rookie league and low-A. how many guys make the All-star team and pitch in the rookie league in one season?

Jim: My guess is that picc818 signed him to have the inside track on him being a pitching coach this season.

George: Didn't the Voodoo's first pick also pitch in both the rookie league and low-A last year?

Jose: Yes Ronnie Gil did. So you think Boscan was picked up to mentor the stud draft pick? picc818 got a look at who might be a great pitching coach and developed his first round pick at the same time.

Elijah: You fellas are missing my point. You seem to be saying that picc818  is playing three chess, which he always does, but your'e not looking at it from iam4real's point of view.

Jim: I get your point Elijah. iam4real is also playing upper level chess. He picks up an aging starter moves him to the bull pen, gets a good half season out of him. Later in the season he needs a platoon player to match with Neftali Mota and gives the new left fielder Boscan's spot on the roster.

George: You guys are going a little fast for me. Can you do that again in 33?

Jose: George, Neftali Mota is the a good player that doesn't hit lefties. When iam4real acquired a guy that kills lefties, Brian Blair, he has to drop a player. The choices are demoting a young player or releasing a very old pitcher that the team has already gotten more than they expected from.

Jim: Boscan had to go. Sooner or later he was going to hit the wall. iam4real saw it coming and acted before he hurt the team. Boscan was a good major league player. started 500 games in the majors.Won 172, lost186. He had an era of 4.01. In season 55 pitching only in relief had a 2.27 era. There was no way he would last to the end of the season with out blowing up.

George: Are you telling me that iam4real cut his losses before he had losses.

Jose: Now you're figuring it out.

George: Isn't that like eating your cake and having it too?

Elijah: Obviously we've been here to long, drank too much. I've called the uber

                                            Season 55  Louis Roederer Report

         How Seattle won the World Series in season 55

Total Coaches Payroll: 9 million

Total Payroll: $121,000,000

Number of pitchers with significant innings- 9

Number of position players with over 250 at bats- 8

Players Acquired through the draft: 7

Number of first round picks on the team: 7

Players Acquired by International signings: 10

Players acquired by trade:1

Players acquired as free agents:1

Player acquired through he rule 5 draft-0

Diamonds in the rough -0

                       The Stickball League names our awards after our retired owners.

The McBain award is given to a franchise that breaks the single season number of wins . In season 47 Fargo won 135 games. Seattle led our league last year with 107 wins. So the McBain award still belongs to the thebigdogs.

The Dean award is given to the player who has overcome a 60 day disable listing the season before. This year's player is Pat Carter of the Wharf Rats. Season 54 saw Carter limited to 4 starts and 19 innings. In season 55 he overcame a forearm injury to make 34 starts and win 14 games in 185 innings.

Previous to this season we had a Branch Rickey award for the franchise that won the most total games at all levels. Starting this season the award will be named the kobylesky  award. kobylesky was an original owner in this league and the original blogger.

The kobylesky award this year goes to dyoungquist and the Boise franchise. Rogue One won 546 games. All his teams made the playoffs. He won the world series in all the minor league levels except the rookie league.