S63 HOF Voting

Well, the HOF Committee came to the following consensus,  despite not hearing from our 7th member prior to this post.

Bruinsfan worked his magic again and came up with his "importance score" for the candidates:

1. Diego Trinidad, 13.5 Importance Score
2. Bridger Pressley, 11.2 Importance Score
3. Leonys Nieves, 10.0 Importance Score
4. Adam Lieber, 9.7 Importance Score
5. Luther MacDougal, 7.1 Importance Score
6. Phil Searle, 7.0 Importance Score
7. TIE BETWEEN: Max Kent/Julio Bennett/Ruben Nova, 6.0 Importance Score (AWARDS ONLY)
8. Renato Viriato, 5.8 Importance Score
9. Dwayne Pillette, 4.8 Importance Score
10. TIE BETWEEN: Jose Lee & Keith Tatum, 4.0 Importance Score (AWARDS ONLY)
11. Timothy Lewis, 2.9 Importance Score
12. Jesse Hammond, 2.1 Importance Score
13. TIE BETWEEN: Eric Brown, Geovany Diaz, Stephen Garcia, Sal Phelps, 2.0 Importance Score (AWARDS ONLY)
14. TIE BETWEEN: Brian Blair, Ryan Cloud, Abram Hall, Albert James, Al Montanez, Rafael Pimentel, Gustavo Tavarez, Stewart Dupra, 0.0 Importance Score (AWARDS ONLY)

In the end, after 6 members cast their votes, here were the results:

4 Votes:  Diego Trinidad, 13.5 Importance Score
0 Votes:  Bridger Pressley, 11.2 Importance Score
3 Votes:  Leonys Nieves, 10.0 Importance Score
0 Votes:  Adam Lieber, 9.7 Importance Score
4 Votes:  Luther MacDougal, 7.1 Importance Score

So, with that said, it looks like our two locks are Trinidad and MacDougal, with Nieves being our top sorta-kinda-maybe pick.  

-Stick

Season 62 Awards Snubs

 I didn't get a post up in time to make suggestions for Awards Voting last year, so this time around I will return to my roots and do a voting retrospective: Which guys should have won awards and got snubbed and whose hardware was deserved? 

AL MVP: Banks won w/18 votes

Charles Banks 9.42 

Alex Calvo 8.50 (2nd)

Emilio Jose 5.08 (3rd) 

Stormy De Paula 4.92 (4th)

Leonel Gomez 4.87 (5th)

Banks deserved his hardware so he does not make the shortlist of "snub" candidates. 

NL MVP: Fernandez won with 18 votes

Alex Fernandez 5.43

Francisco Chavez 7.11 (2nd)

Ronald Lewis 7.80 (3rd with 3 votes) 

Steve Lowe 6.30 (t-4th)

Miguel Fernandez 6.78 (t-4th)

Lewis had about 2.4 more wins than the actual winner, so he could definitely be in the running for largest snub.

AL Cy Young: Campos won w/14 votes

Wladimir Campos 5.04

Brad Jensen 3.09 (2nd)

Jerome McClain 4.47 (3rd) 

Magglio Garza 1.69 (t-4th)

Gregory Brush 5.12 (t-4th with 2 votes) 

Campos deserved his hardware so he doesn't make the list of snubs.

NL Cy Young: Moreno won with 25 votes

AJ Moreno 6.19 

Peter Donald 3.67 (2nd)

Jimmie Urbina 1.47 (3rd)

Shane Ashby 3.10 (t-4th)

Angel Camacho 2.78 (t-4th)

Moreno deserved his hardware, so he doesn't make the list of snubs. 

AL Rookie of the Year: Alcantara won with 18 votes

Moises Alcantara 0.95

Brandon Smith 2.63 (2nd)

Dallas Thompson -0.95 (3rd)

Jamie Yoshida 3.04 (4th w/2 votes)

Brian Thielbar 1.09 (5th)

Yoshida had about 2.1 more wins than the actual winner, which is pretty significant but not quite as much as the NL MVP snub. 

NL Rookie of the Year: Morton won with 23 votes

Niko Morton 6.58

Flip Kennedy 3.96 (t-2nd)

Irving DeRojas -1.09 (t-2nd)

Alvin White 1.65 (4th)

Wesley Wooster 4.01 (5th)

Morton deserved his hardware, so it looks like the biggest snub of the season is Ronald Lewis. 

                       The All Stars and the All Star game by Henry McKenna

                                        After 91 games contested

                                        And none of the games protested

                                        Making sure that all players are rested

                                        The best in both league are tested

                                       The National League with a 6 game lead in inter-league play

                                       And home field advantage on All Star day

                                       A day after two of their own battled their way

                                       Through the homer derby contest to have their say

                                       A guy named Pena won the derby and then prepared for the next game

                                       His team, the Nationals, seemed a team all with a similar name

                                      With a Sanchez, Chavez and two Fernandez you'd think they were all the same

                                      But it was Pena that ended that day with the  fame.

                                      Their opponents the Americans with their roster 30 men strong

                                      Faced a day that would be way to  long

                                      Future lyricist used this day for a sad song

                                      Because Pena would make their efforts all wrong

                                      Jose Pena of the Helena Rips

                                      On this day had no dips.

                                      And Jose had no slips

                                      Jose had a two run rip

                                      Thus an MVP tip

                                     

                                                                            

                         Another Saturday night drinking with the scouts at the Barleymoe

          Tonight Elijah Craig is joined by Jim Beam, Johnny Walker, and George Dickell

Elijah: Fellas we are at the all-star break. What do you think is going to happen in the American League South?

George: Well Elijah, Houston has the first challenge after the break. The Dropouts have 4 at home against the league leading Duoz.

Jim: Louisville has the best road record in the division and Houston is going to have to win at least three games to stay with Louisville.

Elijah: Johnny what do think of Houston's chances not in that series but for the duration of the season?

Johnny: In their first meeting  Houston beat the Duos 2 games to 1; and now they get the Duos at home. If they can win 3 games liked Jim said, then they should be able to hang with the leaders until the roster expansion, October 28.

Elijah: And the roster expansion is important to Houston--why?

Johnny: This season the average team has had 10 blown saves, in the American League it's 9. Houston has 14 already. Their Triple-A bullpen has been great. They can bring up Carl Gibson who has been a star quality closer converting 15 of 16 save opportunities. Also earlier Houston demoted reliever Alexi Chantres to Triple-A. The triple-A pitching coach, Allan Smalley, has straightened Chantres out. In 19 games since his demotion Chantres has an ERA of 1.82.

Elijah: So your point about Houston's playoff aspirations is that if the pitching gets better they have a chance?

Johnny: This season they have scored the fifth most runs in the American League; if they pitch better then I think they are in the playoffs.

Elijah: So Jim what do you see for the Duos the rest of the season.

Jim: Obviously the 4 game series in Houston will mean great deal about momentum in the second half of the season. The Duos do go to Houston on a three game winning streak. They have the second best offense in the American League in the runs scored category and have the best road record in the American league. I think the Duos are in a long dominant ride to the playoffs.

Elijah: George what can you say for the second place Herd.

George: The Herd are streakiest team we have had in several seasons. They have had 1 eight game winning streak , 2 five game winning streaks and 2 four game winning streaks. So if they play Houston or Louisville while they are on one of their torrid winning streaks they could catapult past both teams and ease into the playoffs. Comparatively their batting seems to be about the league average but their pitching is well above the league average.

Elijah: I asked Jose to come tonight and talk about Little Rock but he couldn't make it. Little Rock is only 6 games back in the division and if I'm correct has scored the most runs in the American League. Maybe they acquire some pitching  at the trade deadline and make us all look like jackasses. Someone call the uber it time for us to let the Barleymoe close.

                           Another Saturday night drinking with the scouts at the Barleymoe

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

Elijah: Fellows we need to figure out season 62. We need to get ahead of it. Ottawa won the world series in season 61, so we will start with Al-North.

George: So you're asking us to evaluate Ottawa, Buffalo, Fargo and Minnesota, is that right Elijah?

Elijah: Why can't we just start with the stats from last year. Wins, losses, run differential. payroll budget, payroll spent.

Jim:  Ottawa              100-62       +152             93mil                 90.33mil

         Buffalo               95-57       +125           109mil                102.75mil

         Fargo                  85-77       + 57              77mil                  67.33mil

         Minnesota          75-87       -110               73mil                 73.00mil

Elijah: George you take Minnesota.

George: Minnesota is a young club.  8 players 27 or older only 5 of those over 30. The lineup is virtually the same as last years. The changes they made were to the pitching staff 2 new starters and 5 new relievers.

Jack: I'll take the Mud Dogs, Elijah. They are not an older team but have more guys over 30 than the Twins. The thing that stands out to me is that 40% of their roster is between 26 and 28; primed for a run, if not this season then certainly in 63. No change to their line up. Although familiar faces are in new places. Last years right fielder is on first base. The first baseman is in left field and the left fielder has moved to right. On the pitching side they let 2 starters in go in free agency and signed Earnest Laker in free agency to be their closer. Six games into the season already two to their pitchers have landed on the DL.

Jim: The Miners are pretty much the exact opposite of Minnesota and Fargo. Almost half their roster is over 28 and only 4 players under 27. They added Bart Cooke, Brian Thielbar, and Moises Alcantara and only lost Apollo Berroa, who had been beaten out of the DH job. Cooke is a good one he created 99 runs last season in Seattle. The players who got demoted created 49 runs and the departed Berroa created 75. Can the Miners pitch better or does the rookie Thielbar have to create over 50 runs in his rookie season for the Miners to overtake Ottawa.

Johnny: Ottawa hasn't really lost anybody and they added Apollo Berroa from Buffalo. Half their players are under 28. This could be the new dynasty.

Elijah: Good job fellows! Well I'm going to predict that Buffalo makes it closer this year than the five games they lost by last year.  Fargo will lay in weeds for another season or two before they launch their next dynasty like they did from season 45 through season 53. And Minnesota is going to use this season to keep building their player system.

Meet Your Hall of Famers: Vasco Henriquez

 

Bio:   Vasco Henriquez was born in Edo Lara, DO (Can’t find it on Google maps).  Vasco came out of nowhere to start his baseball career.  He did not stick out at the youth level.  When he turned 18 he was at a tryout with Honolulu.  The team scouts would not let him participate since he was not invited.  As they were running the 60-yard dashes, Vasco jumped over the fence and ran past the 2 guys that were running.  Since he was so fast, they allowed him to hit and found out he had a great swing.  The rest is history.

International Signing: Signed for 11.2 million in Season 42 (5^th highest that year) by Honolulu (breeolad)

Scout Lucas Fick- “Vasco literally ran into our organization.  Not only does he have good speed, but he has above average power at the plate, with a good eye.  Being left-handed he will handle righties.  The defense is not great, but the bat and speed need to play.”

Career Earnings: $193,265,000

Career: Vasco Henriquez was an international free agent signed by Honolulu (breeolad) in Season 42. He broke into the Majors in season 44 and played 16 seasons.  He also played seven seasons in Honolulu before signing a max free agent contract with Seattle in Season 51.  He finished his career with stops in San Juan, Boise and Chicago after being in Seattle.   During his career, he was a 9-time All-Star, won 6 Silver Slugger Awards (46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52), and won 4 World Series Ring (52, 53, 56, 58).  His best year was Season 46 in Honolulu. In that year he hit .326 with an OPS of 1.081.  He added 197 H, 127 R, 42 2B, 8 3B, 50 HR, 133 RBI, and 29 SB.  Over his career he had 1740 R, 2569 H, 504 2B, 107 3B, 556 HR, 1713 RBI, 991 BB, 517 SB, .286 AVG, and .917 OPS. He holds the World Record for Saves in a season with 59 in Toronto, in Season 45 and Career Team Record for Toronto at 523.

Speech Highlight- “I have been told no in my baseball career numerous times.  You just have to keep believing in and making opportunities for yourself.”

                         Another Saturday night drinking with the scouts at the Barleymoe

                Tonight Elijah Craig is joined by Basil Hayden, Henry McKenna , and Evan Williams

Elijah: Tonight let's talk about the rookies we are going to see this season.

Evan: Elijah a lot of teams haven't played two games, what gives , why so early?

Henry: Can I answer that Elijah.

Elijah: Sure, when have I ever been able to shut you up? 

Henry: San Francisco's Steven Kubel was claimed off waivers but still started the Giants opening day game.He went 8 innings giving up 10 hits and two runs in an opening day victory. 

Basil: Not bad for a waiver guy. If he keeps it up it will change the dynamics of the AL-West competition. I think more impressive than Kubel was T. J. O'Keefe's opening day effort. A rule-5 draft pick he went 8 innings for Trenton, giving up 6 hits and 1 run.

Elijah: So guys we already have two rookies to watch and I'm sure as the season goes on there will be others. In my mind this is the year of the rookies. You guys just keep watching the rookies and we will get together and maybe we can pick the rookie of the year.

Evan: Do you really think that the managers in this league would really listen to us? Elijah, you've been drinking too much of your barrel proof.

                  Another Saturday night drinking with the scouts at the Barleymoe

        Tonight Elijah Craig is joined by Jose Cuervo, George Dickell and Johnny Walker

Elijah: I thought we would talk about Wilin Doubront and what he represents.

George: Who the heck is he?

Johnny: He's the first international signed in season 62.

Jose : Wilin Doubront is a pitcher from Moncion, DO. He was signed by trapapoodle for 1.6 million a couple of days ago.

Johnny: I scouted him. I see him as a long reliever with quality pitches and good splits but the periphery stuff is questionable. He will should make the majors, and depending on how is developed and used is likely to be a very usable member in a strong bullpen.

George: It is well known that I'm frugal...

Elijah: Frugal my ass, you're cheap George!

George...but 1.6 million is a lot for a bullpen member.

Johnny: I think anyone who questions the trapper this early in season is making a mistake. This could be like season 58, when the trapper signed 11 international free agents.

Jose: That was the year the trapper was very agressive in the international market and signed Max Macias. Max will have a great career in the majors.

George: In the  international market, you always have hits and misses. I just think that 1.6 ...

Elijah: There you go again George it's not the talent it the dollars; with you

George...takes away a lot of flexibility for signing prospects as the season goes on.

Johnny: Elijah, I will order the last round of drinks but do any of us want to compare ourselves to the Trapper.

Elijah: Johnny, do you want to end our Saturday meetings. That's way too high a standard for what we are  doing at the Barleymoe.

Jose: I will order the uber.

               Another Saturday night drinking with the scouts at the Barleymoe

     Tonight Elijah Craig is joined by Johnny Walker, Jim Beam and Jose Cuervo

Elijah: Well what do you guys think of free agency this year?

Johnny: Is this our regular topic; which means we are only discussing the type-A free agents.

Elijah: Of course.

Jose: Well the 18.5 million Santa Fe is spending this season is obviously POKEYSAN 's way of saying making the playoffs and being eliminated in the first round last year is just not going to be tolerate this year.

Jim: Do you think he overpaid on Eswalin Duran. He's been on the 60 day DL 6 times in his career.

Johnny: I'm sure POKEYSAN has a plan to keep him in the lineup.

Jose: In the realm of the rich get richer, Las Vegas signed David Oropesa.

Johnny: That is just amazing. Vegas's roster was stocked, with infielders, before adding Oropesa.

Jose: The rich get richer. Do you think they will win over 120 games this season?

Jim: Jose it's too early in season for that kind of talk.

Elijah: How many teams had multiple Type-A signed ; so they are loaded for the draft?

Johnny: Little Rock had two; and will have 5 picks in the first 100 picks,.Jackson had two; and will have 3 picks in the top 100 picks. Toronto had two; and will have 7 of the first100 picks. Seattle had two; and will have 6 of the first 100 picks.

Elijah: The draft will be on Sept 30th. All you guys be prepared for another discussion before the draft. Johnny will you call the Uber and Jose buy us another round.

               Another Saturday night drinking with the scouts at the Barleymoe

Tonight Elijah Craig is joined by George Dickell, Jack Daniels and Jim Beam.

Elijah: George did you get my email?

George: Elijah, you know I don't read emails or check for voicemail; I'm an old guy if you haven't noticed.             What was the email about?

Elijah: I wanted you to rank the top prospects in the league for the coming 62 seasons.

George: Oh that. Doris read that email and told me to do it.

Jim: Your wife reads your emails?

George: Oh hell no, I'd be in divorce court if she did. Doris is just a very good friend I have when I'm scouting out of town.

Jack: George, don't you live in Bucksnort Tennessee? There is nobody in your home town to scout. You're always on the road when you're scouting.

George: That is why I need a really good friend like Doris.

Jim: How many of these really good friends do you have on the road?

George: I'll take the fifth on that , you guys can just imagine what you want.

Elijah: Can we get back to the prospects; have you got a list?

George: I've got all kinds of lists about prospects. I decided that to make the list a player had to have played below double-A ball last year. My list is:

                    Best Player: Elian Ozuna of the Syracuse franchise

                    Best Pitcher: Roger Kazmir of Cincinnati

             Other top players- Henderson Moriarty, Viosergy Carpenter, Paxton Owen, and Dan Leach.

             Other pitchers are: Sandy Shelby, Timothy Gray, Willie Fernandez, and Alejandro Martinez.

Jim: What strikes me as interesting is that Viosergy Carpenter was included in a trade already this season.

Jack: Burton traded  Viosergy Carpenter, Samuel Cooper and Ricardo Montanez for Erasmo Lima, and Dariel Adams.

George: Samuel Cooper was on the long list of top prospects. I think that was a big deal and Burton seems like he's in a win now mode.

Jack: I'm not sure you guys know this but my contacts tell me that Paxton Owen might make the jump from high-A to the majors this season.

George: One last thing Elijah, on the really long list I had Willie Scavuzzo. Willie was blocked in the El Paso  system by Fred Logan and had a really disappointing season last year and retired. I think if he had stuck it out he would have surprised people.

Elijah: Thanks for the information. Let's have another round of drinks and call it a night.

Season 61 Awards Voting

 After a season away, the annual look at end of season awards have returned 😊 As I have done in past years, I will start by using Wins Above Replacement to compare the candidates, and added in some bonus points for those who led Stickball in various categories to come up with a metric that I call the "Importance Score". Here's how the ballots shake out this season:

AL MVP

• Carlos Romero (RF-Jackson), 9.10 WAR...0.17 for 3Bs, 0.66 for OPS = 9.93 Importance Score
• Lance Vogelbach, 5.10 WAR...0.66 for RBI = 5.76 Importance Score
• Groucho Wolf, 4.57 WAR...0.33 for H = 4.90 Importance Score
• Alejandro Lugo, 2.69 WAR...0.17 for AB = 2.86 Importance Score
• Geovany Toregas, 4.71 WAR...no bonus points = 4.71 Importance Score

NL MVP

• Francisco Chavez, 8.37 WAR...0.66 for HR, 0.33 for SLG = 9.36 Importance Score
• Max Campos, 8.20 WAR...0.50 for R = 8.70 Importance Score
• Joe Lange, 8.57 WAR...0.17 for 2B, 1.00 for AVG = 9.74 Importance Score
• Isaac Holland, 7.72 WAR...no bonus points = 7.72 Importance Score
• Emil Vazquez, 6.36 WAR....no bonus points = 6.36 Importance Score

AL Cy Young

• Wladimir Campos, 6.14 WAR...no bonus points = 6.14 Importance Score
• Magglio Garza, 1.95 WAR...no bonus points = 1.95 Importance Score
• Brad Jensen, 3.24 WAR....no bonus points = 3.24 Importance Score
• Addison Mieses, 1.33 WAR...no bonus points = 1.33 Importance Score
• Jerome McClain, 3.60 WAR....no bonus points = 3.60 Importance Score

NL Cy Young

• Julio Pujols, 5.52 WAR...0.33 for W = 5.85 Importance Score
• AJ Moreno, 7.29 WAR...0.33 for K, 0.33 for OAVG, 0.33 for OppOBP, 0.33 for OppSLG, 0.33 for WHIP, 0.66 for ERA = 9.60 Importance Score
• Jimmie Urbina, 6.55 WAR...0.09 for t-CG, 0.17 for t-SHO, 0.33 for IP = 7.14 Importance Score
• Felipe Lee, 5.19 WAR....no bonus points = 5.19 Importance Score
• Giancarlo Colome, 1.20 WAR...no bonus points = 1.20 Importance Score

AL Rookie of the Year

• Danys Uribe, 3.37 WAR...no bonus points = 3.37 Importance Score 
• Cesar Chantres, 1.75 WAR...no bonus points = 1.75 Importance Score
• Juan Romero, 3.77 WAR...no bonus points = 3.77 Importance Score
• Ernest Stone, 0.53 WAR...no bonus points = 0.53 Importance Score
• Luis Tejada, 1.35 WAR...no bonus points = 1.35 Importance Score

NL Rookie of the Year

• Ernest McPherson, 3.93 WAR...no bonus points = 3.93 Importance Score
• Ismael Figueroa, 1.24 WAR...no bonus points = 1.24 Importance Score
• Woody DeLucia, 3.51 WAR...no bonus points = 3.51 Importance Score
• Esteban Lopez, 2.22 WAR...-0.09 "bonus" points for t-CS = 2.14 Importance Score
• Edgar Bastardo, 2.60 WAR...no bonus points = 2.60 Importance Score

Meet Your Hall of Famer: Miguel Margot

 

Bio:   Miguel Margot was born in Guanabacoa, CU (Pop. 581,753 is a province of Havana, CU to the southeast).  He was a late bloomer and did not have any notable achievements in his youth career.  His career took off at a Cuban baseball academy after high school before he was an international free agent at the age of 21.

International Signing: Signed for 13.8 million in Season 42 (4^th highest that year) by Seattle (Seventy_77)

Career Earnings: $105,701,000

Career: Miguel Margot was an international free agent signed by Seattle (Seventy_77) in Season 42. He played 13 seasons for the Seattle/Toronto franchise, making his Major League debut in Season 43.  He also played one season in Ottawa before finishing with 4 seasons in Colorado Springs.  During his career, he was a 10-time All-Star, won 7 Fireman of the Year Awards (45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 53), was Rookie of the Year in Season 45, and won a World Series Ring with Toronto in Season 45.  His best year of Season 50 when he won one of his Fireman of the Year awards. In that year he was 53 of 55 in Saves, in 58.1 Innings.  His other stats that season were .165 OAV, .199 OSLG, .81 WHIP, 0.93 ERA and struck out 63 in his 58.1 innings.  Over his career he had 575 SV, 20 W, 966 IN, 871 K, .219 OAV, 1.11 WHIP, and 2.55 ERA. He holds the World Record for Saves in a season with 59 in Toronto, in Season 45 and Career Team Record for Toronto at 523.

Speech Highlight- “I loved pitching at the end of games.  The game sat in my hands and wanted to be the guy that had the ball.  I looked forward to every opportunity.  Especially after high school I figured my dreams of playing in the MLB were dashed, but I kept working and turned in a fine career.  To be enshrined with the names of all the other Hall of Famers is a tremendous honor.”

Meet Your Hall of Famer: Rey Jung

 

Bio:   Rey Jung was born in Wildomar, CA (Pop. 36, 875 located 75 miles Southeast of Los Angeles).  He attended Elsinore High School (Tigers) where he set the state California record with 15 homeruns in just 24 games.  He was a California Super State selection as a Senior.  He then went to Columbus, OH and played one year of Independence ball while attending Columbus State Community College.

Draft: Was the 1st pick in Season 40 by Cincinnati (burton2231).   Signed for $4,000,000 million.

Scout Lucas Fick- “Rey is a can’t miss prospect.  The power for a 19-year-old is unbelievable.  The ball explodes off his bat.  With all the power he absolutely will not chase outside the zone.  He has great discipline of the zone.  He has above average speed but does not run the bases well.  If he can project to play CF, the power makes him a superstar.”

Career Earnings: $234,073,000

Career: Rey Jung was drafted 1^st by Cincinnati (burton2231) in Season 40. He played for four franchises at the Major League level in his 19-year career.  He made his Major League debut in Season 42 with Chicago.  During his career, he was a 12-time All-Star, won 3 MVP’s (43, 46, 49), 9 silver sluggers (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51), and 4 Gold Glove (50, 51, 52, 53).  His MVP year of Season 49 was his best year. In that year he hit .309 AVG, 136 R, 183 H, 32 2B, 5 3B, 56 HR 135 RBI, 112 BB, 21 SB.  Over his career he compiled 1808 R, 2555 H, 425 2B, 46 3B, 600 HR, 1735 RBI 1678 BB 286 SB, while hitting .285 AVG.  He holds the World Record for Career Walks at 1678.  He also has the single season record for BB for New York (125, season 46), Kansas City (124, season 51), and Buffalo (114 season 55) and records for OBP with New York (.441, season 46) and Kansas City (.438, season 51).

Speech Highlight- “I have been blessed with the ability to play this game.  Being voted into the Hall of Fame shows me that people have appreciated all my effort to put that talent on display.  And they enjoyed watching me compete every day.  Thank You to all those fans.”

NEW PAGE: Stickball Almanac

 Attached to this page is a spreadsheet that contains a wide range of historical data for Stickball world. Here is a quick overview of the different tabs on the sheet and what each one documents: 

• Lg Leaders: Hitting = list of who led the league in all of the different categories since the start of S56 that can be found on the "League Leaders" page. The WAR/yr values listed are for Importance Score calculation purposes. 
• Lg Leaders: Pitching = list of who led the league in all of the different categories since the start of S56 that can be found on the "League Leaders" page. The WAR/yr values listed are for Importance Score calculation purposes. 
• Lg Leaders: Fielding = list of who led the league in all of the different categories since the start of S56 that can be found on the "League Leaders" page. The WAR/yr values listed are for Importance Score calculation purposes. 
• Players of the Week = List of who earned Player of the Week honors for previous seasons starting in S56, the winners for the current season can be found on the Player Awards page. 
• $20M IFA's = List of guys who signed IFA contracts of at least $20M since the start of S56 and a quick look at which signings have proved to be the best deals (sorted by WAR per $1M.) 
• Max Contracts = List of guys who signed Max contracts of at least $20M since the start of S56 and a quick look at which signings have proved to be the best deals (sorted by WAR per $1M.) For the purposes of this exercise, a "max deal" is defined as 5 x $20M but does not need to include the full bonus. 
• #1 Overall Picks = List of guys who were drafted #1 overall since the start of S56 and a quick look at which signings have proved to be the best deals (sorted by WAR per $1M.) 
• Playoff Stats: Hitters = Database of playoff stats for hitters that includes career totals and rate stats for the purposes of establishing "top 5 all time" lists...currently the list includes all members of the HOF (through S61 elections) and three active players but I can and will add anyone that is of interest to this community. 
• Playoff Stats: Pitchers = Database of playoff stats for hitters that includes career totals and rate stats for the purposes of establishing "top 5 all time" lists...currently the list includes all members of the HOF (through S61 elections.) I can and will add anyone that is of interest to this community. 

Meet Your Hall of Famer: Carlos Chantres

 

Bio:   Carlos Calles was born in Nigua, DO (Pop. 40, 589, 23 km Southwest of Stanto Domingo).   He had a stellar youth baseball career where he was the winning pitcher of the Little League World Series Championship game.  Then he played on the Dominican Republic JR Olympic Team.  He was on these teams with fellow Hall of Famer Carlos Calles.

International Signing: Signed for 27 million in Season 37 (Highest that year) by Fargo (thebigdogs)

Scout Dean Phillips- “Tremendous all-around pitcher. Above average in control and velocity. Extremely tough on righties and his sinker plays down in the zone.  Has the making of an All-Star.  Only knock is he tires easily and cannot throw more than 60-70 pitches.”

Manager (bigdog): “Chantres was the cornerstone of our championship teams.  He was the best of a great pitching staff and could shut down anyone.  The team had a feeling of we were going to win when he took the mound.”

Career Earnings: $149,254,000

Career: Carlos Chantres was an international signing during Season 37 by Fargo (thebigdogs).  He played for the Fargo organization for 18 seasons.  He then played for Ottawa, Vancouver, and Helena for his final 5 seasons. He made his Major League debut in Season 40 when he won Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young in his first season.  He ended up winning 7 Cy Youngs (40, 45, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52) and 4 World Series Rings (47, 48, 49, 51) to go along with 10 All-Star appearances.  His best season was in Season 51. In that year he threw 173 innings, and posted a 1.04 era, .182 avg, .87 WHIP had 171 K’s, and was 17-0 on the year.  Over his career he racked up stats of 304 wins, 25 saves, 2608 K’s, .196 avg, .97 WHIP, 2.16 ERA over 2805.2 innings.  He holds the World Records for a single season in Opp. Avg. .157 (50), ERA 1.04 (51), WHIP .77 (50), and Wins 35 (49).  He also holds the World Career Records of opp avg. .196.

Speech Highlight- “Es un sueño de los niños jugar en las Grandes Ligas de Béisbol. Tengo que vivir ese sueño y algo más. Mi carrera estuvo llena de grandes momentos, pero no podría haberlos logrado sin mis compañeros y entrenadores. Los recuerdos y la relación son lo que recordaré”.

“It is a kids dream to play in Major League Baseball.  I got to live that dream and then some.  My career was full of great moments, but I could not have accomplished them without my teammates and coaches.  The memories and relationship are what I will remember.”

Meet Your Hall of Famer: Carlos Calles

 

Bio:   Carlos Calles was born in Nagua, DO (Pop. 79,420 Northest Dominican Republic) where he had a tremendous youth baseball career.  He first played on the Domincan Republic team that won the Little League World Series.  He then moved on to play for the Dominican Republic in the JR Olympic Team.  He played on these teasm with fellow Hall of Famer Carlos Chantres.  

International Signing: Signed for 16.2 million in Season 36 (5^th highest that year) by Pawtucket (Davidacevedo)

Scout Bill Bates- “Controls the strike zone as well as an 18 year old I have ever seen.  He does not chase pitches.  Has great speed and projects to play CF and should be able to steal some bases.  Could project in to a good leadoff hitter if he develops.”

Manager (bigdog): “We traded for Calles in Season 43 and he was the table setter for our offense in the Fargo years.  He might be the best leadoff hitter the world has ever seen.”

Career Earnings: $137,771,000

Career: Carlos Calles was an international signing during Season 36 by Pawtucket (Davidacevedo).  He played in that organization (Pawtucket, Augusta, Minnesota, Pittsburg) for 6 seasons.  Then was traded to Fargo where he spent 16 seasons and had a 2 year stop in Honolulu. He made his Major League debut in Season 37 and became a 10 time All-Star, won 3 Gold Gloves (40, 47,49), 4 Silver Sluggers (43, 44, 45, 49), and 4 World Series Rings (47, 48, 49, 51).  He was very consistent, but his best season was in Season 49. In that year he hit .315 AVG, 208 H, 20 2B, 9 3B, 15 HR, 68 RBI, walked 103 times, while scoring 149 Runs and stealing 78 bases.  Over his career he racked up stats of 2241 R, 3725 H, 367 2B, 108 3B, 184 HR, 1224 RBI, 1641 BB and 1108 SB and a career avg of .296.  He holds the World Records for his Career in hits 3725, Runs, 2241 and Stolen Bases 1108. 

Speech Highlight- “I just tried to be the best version of me I could be.  I wanted to show up and play hard every day.  I always focused on the little things and did the things I could and do them very well.  I have experienced a lot of milestones in this game and being elected to the Hall of Fame tops it off.”

Meet Your Hall of Famer: Yan Nunez

 

Bio:   Yan Nunez was born in Villa Altagracia, DO (Pop. 169,655 located in south central Dominican Republic).  Yan went pretty much unnoticed throughout his youth baseball career.  Until he made a splash for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic in Season 43.  He went 24/38 with 17 extra base hits.  He ws signed by Vancouver shortly after that effort.

International Signing: Signed for 14 million in Season 43 (4^th highest that year) by Vancouver (arcticlegend) 

Scout Lawrence Wright- “Yan is an average hitter with slightly above average power.  He projects to a .260 AVG and 15-20 HR a year.  His fielding and base running are above average.  He projects to play 3B in the Majors.”

Manager (xmasjjm): “Had to trade Destin Kennedy to get him but he was a middle of the lineup force and great fielder.  Solid player all around and did all he could to challenge the Fargo dynasty in the playoffs!  A clear fan favorite in Louisville history!”

Career Earnings: $139,021,000

Career: Yan Nunez was signed by Vancouver (arcticlegend) in Season 43. He played for a total of 5 franchises at the Major League level in his 15-year career.  He made his Major League debut in Season 44 with Vancouver.  During his career, he was a 10-time All-Star, won an MVP with Louisville in Season 49, 3 silver sluggers (47, 49, 52), and one Gold Glove (48).  His MVP year of Season 49 was also his best year. In that year he hit .314 AVG, 129 R, 217 H, 42 2B, 4 3B, 48 HR 148 RBI, 57 BB, 24 SB.  Over his career he compiled 1491 R, 2327 H, 434 2B, 64 3B, 435 HR, 1421 RBI 849 BB 329 SB, while hitting .276 AVG.

Speech Highlight- “To all those kids out there that have the dream of playing in the Majors, it does not come easy.  It took me till I was 21 to get noticed.  Continue to push for your dreams.  I am very grateful for Vancouver to give me my chance and for all the organizations I played for.  They all deserve to be accepting this award with me today.”

Meet Your Hall of Famer: John Servais

 

Bio: John Servias was born in Guyton, GA (Pop. 2289 28 miles northwest of Savannah, GA) where he attended South Effingham High School (nickname: Mustangs). Servais lead the Mustangs to back-to-back state final appearances, winning his Senior year. He led the AAAAAA class in hitting with a .723 average.

Draft: Was the 1st pick in Season 31 by Burlington (milton7). Signed for $7.920 Million

Scout Lawrence Wright- “Has great command of the bat through the zone. Above average power, especially to the gaps. Great range and could settle in at 2nd base. Speed is ok. Could make multiple All-Star games.”

Career Earnings: $102,857,002

Career: John Servais was the 1st pick in Season 31 by Burlington (milton7) where he played 8 years (Burlington and Chicago). He also played for Hartford, Ottawa, Seattle, Toronto, and El Paso over his 17-year career. He made his Major League debut in Season 34. During his career, he was a 3-time All-Star, won 3 Silver Slugger (35, 37,44) awards and one World Series Ring with Toronto in Season 45. He also hit for the cycle in Season 48. His best season was in Season 42 when he split time between Hartford and Ottawa. In that year he hit .321 AVG, 190 H, 42 2B, 7 3B, 38 HR, 134 RBI, walked 69 times, while scoring 104 Runs. Over his career he racked up stats of 1366 R, 2468 H, 483 2B, 55 3B, 327 HR, 1316 RBI, 772 BB and 203 SB.

Speech Highlight- “Baseball is grind, with many up and downs. I have experienced many from being drafted first overall, to thinking my career was over after my injury in Season 36, to All-Star appearances, then more injuries, and finally atop the mountain winning the World Series. My journey is unique, but all of these Hall of Famers have experienced some of the same. And to be included in this group, is truly amazing.”

Meet Your Hall of Famer: Shane Giles

 

Bio:   Shane Giles was born in Monson, MA (Pop. 8150 Suburb of Springfield, MA) where he attended Shepherd Hill High School (nickname: Rams). Giles was the baseball player of the year in Division 2 in Massachusetts.  He was also a Super-Stater for being a part of the All-State team despite division.  He set a state record with 119 strike outs in just 45 innings of work.

Draft: Was the 20th pick in Season 10 by Florida (strang).   Signed for $4,700,000 Million.

Scout Lawrence Wright- “He has above average command to go along with his above average velocity.  He is extremely tough on right handers because of the run on his fast ball.  His curveball is his best pitch with a great 12 to 6 break.  Could project to be a number 2 or 3 starter.” 

Career Earnings: $203,604,000

Career: Shane Giles was the 20th pick in Season 10 by Florida (strang). He played for a total of 9 cities in his 20-year career.  He made his Major League debut in Season 12 with Norfolk.  During his career, he was a 5-time All-Star, won a Cy Young with Boise (Season 22) and one World Series Ring with Syracuse in Season 28.  Even though he won the Cy Young in season 22, his best season was Season 24 in Boise. In that year he won 20 games, in 200.2 INN.  He had 160 K’s, .213 OAV, .270 OBP, 1.05 WHIP and 2.51 ERA.  Over his career he racked up 252 wins, 2924 K’s, .217 OAV, .283 OBP, 1.12 WHIP and 3.04 ERA. 

Speech Highlight- “I was blessed to play in 9 different cities.  Or maybe I was not good enough to stay in 1 city for a long time (chuckle). Either way I have experienced a lot of the great traditions of this game.   Those are the memories I will remember of my time in this game.”

          Another Saturday night drinking with the scouts at the Barleymoe

      Tonight Elijah Craig is joined by George Dickell, Jose Cuervo, and Clyde May

George: Why is Clyde here, Elijah? This isn't our normal group.

Elijah: Clyde saw something on the chat board and he wanted to bring it to our attention. Clyde, why did you ask to join one of our meetings.

Clyde: I saw that chat from that jackass croninkin about the magical mystery tour and thought we should consider if we should drug test some of the players.

Jose: Que decir? Excuse me that is so far out there I reverted to Spanish. SAY WHAT, Clyde.

Clyde: The damn fool, croninkin, all but admitted to cheating. I'm thinking his team was eating some of those Willie Nelson mushrooms. 

George: Clyde, we aren't exactly the temperance union here.

Clyde: I know that George. For generations ball players have been known for drinking our products. Occasionally a guy has a bad experience...

Jose: Oh my god Clyde are you talking about Ed Delahanty. Are we really going to drag all of baseball's sordid history in to the Barleymoe?

Clyde: It's that players can drink a little and it helps our business. If the players start smoking or eating products to release the incredible pressure of a Stickball League schedule we could see it hit our bottom line.

Elijah: So you have a list of guys you think should be tested.

Clyde: The first guy I'd like to bring to your attention is Bobby Quinlan. His regular season stats were a .272 batting average with a.737 OPS. In the playoffs the stats were .383 with an OPS of .946. How do you explain that Jose?

Jose: A lot of teams had players excel in the playoffs. Ottawa's Vince Fonville  had season stats of .272 with an ops of .822. In the playoffs he's hitting .381 with an OPS of 1.22. Madison had Del James hit .278 during the season with an OPS of .850. In the playoffs against Burlington and Ottawa, James had stats of .286 and OPS of 1.429.

George: You might have a crazy idea about mushrooms but if you look at the history of baseball some guys are just clutch. Who do you think were the guys who we think were clutch.

Clyde: On El Paso  Hector Skipworth after a .260/.683 season was .371/.905 in playoffs, also on the same team Guilder Gabriel was .268/.735 until he was  .33/1.210 in the  playoffs.

Jose: So you're only drug testing Boise and El Paso? No other teams

Clyde: There  were also irregular stats in Ottawa Vince Fonville had a season total of, .272/,882 ;but exploded of in the playoffs with a .381/1.22 line.

George: I suppose you have one for Vegas?

Clyde: YES! PitcherA J Moreno had an ERA of 2.42 and an OPS allowed  of .623 . In the playoffs his line is 1.07 and .444.

Elijah: So none of these guys are clutch, Clyde? You think they are all on the juice. Time that we had another drink ,fellows maybe it will sober Clyde up.

My 2024 MLB Hall of Fame Ballot

 OK, I feel like I should start this post off with a disclaimer: I don't actually have an actual vote for the MLB Hall of Fame. But a large part of the discussion that baseball fans have, especially during the offseason, is about who they would vote for if they did. And over the seasons of HBD, I have developed a pretty standard method of figuring out which fictional baseball players to vote for in the HOF. 

That method, as you all know, is fairly involved and time consuming so I like to give myself a bit of a reality check each February to make sure all that effort is worth it. The way that I do that is to apply my voting criteria to the MLB Hall of Fame ballot and see who I would vote for in real life if I could. 

In HBD, I look at the five guys who get the most votes and fall short of election to see if my support can push them over the edge...so if I had an MLB vote, I'd do the same thing but look at the top ten since MLB voters have up to 10 votes to use. In case you haven't seen them yet, the results of this year's MLB Hall of Fame voting are below: 

With Rolen getting in, the top 10 who fell short would be: 1) Helton 2) Wagner 3) Andruw Jones 4) Sheffield 5) Beltran 6) Kent 7) A-Rod 8) Manny 9) Vizquel and 10) Pettitte. My preferred metric for HBD is one that I borrowed from MLB.com and is a combination of WAR/year and bonus points based on personal accolades. If I had an MLB vote, I'd probably take the time to run the numbers on the guys I just mentioned but since I don't actually have the vote I'm not going to do that for this post because the HOF Monitor Score (a Bill James creation) will probably give very similar results in terms of HOF worthiness. This is what that metric says about each of the ten guys I listed above:

• Todd Helton: 175 HOFM Score = Slam Dunk HOF'er & Vote #1 from me
•  Billy Wagner: 107 HOFM Score = Strong HOF Case & Vote #2 from me 
• Andruw Jones: 109 HOFM Score = Strong HOF Case & Vote #3 from me 
• Gary Sheffield: 158 HOFM Score = Slam Dunk HOF'er...the numbers say there's no question but I can't remember if he was convicted of using steroids or not. If the answer is yes, I'm passing. If the answer is no, he'll get my next vote. 
• Carlos Beltran: 126 HOFM Score = Strong HOF Case & Vote #4 from me...I read a bunch of stuff this year from people saying they weren't going to vote for him because of his role in the trash can saga. I'm not saying we should forget and/or overlook that, but I am saying that he wasn't banging on trash cans for most of the time he was putting up crazy numbers. 
• Jeff Kent: 123 HOFM Score = Strong HOF Case & Vote #5 from me. 
• A-Rod: 390 HOFM Score = Slam Dunk HOF'er. This is the highest score I've ever seen from an MLB player. By miles. But he's also been proven to have used steroids pretty frequently so I'm going to pass. And the petty Red Sox fan in me can't help but smirk and think of the picture of him kissing his own reflection as I actively pass on him. 
• Manny Ramirez: 226 HOFM Score = Slam Dunk HOF'er. OK, this is the second highest score I can remember seeing from an MLB player (which shows you how ridiculously good A-Rod was...) but I am going to hold the line and pass on Manny as well even though the petty Red Sox fan part of my brain wants to give him a sympathy vote despite the multiple PED suspensions.  
• Omar Vizquel: 120 HOFM Score = Strong HOF Case & Vote #6 from me. This one seems to be quite controversial in real life, but I have zero problems giving a guy like Vizquel some love. He might not have produced a ton of value with his bat, but the numbers say that he was overall a valuable player, and quite a valuable one at that. Value is value in my book, no matter where it comes from. 
• Andy Pettite: 128 HOFM Score = Strong HOF Case & Vote #7 from me. 

            Another Saturday night drinking with the scouts at the Barleymoe

Tonight Elijah Craig is joined by Jose Cuervo, Henry McKenna and Evan Williams

Elijah: Fellas, tonight we are going to talk about the lost position of shortstop in our league.

Jose: Why do you say it's a lost position ?

Elijah: Only one guy in our Hall of Fame is listed as a shortstop.

Henry: You really can't claim Jeimer Ortega as a shortstop. He was mostly a left fielder. He never played shortstop in the majors. Shamrocks signed him as a free agent and played him 5 games at shortstop in low-A before he retired. So our Hall of Fame really has no shortstops. We have some guys who played a season or two at short.

Jose: If I remember correctly Scot Sexton started at short before moving to third base where he put up most of his numbers.

Henry: Another guy in the Hall, Alfredo Diaz , played 472 games at short before moving off the position. He played over 500 games in center but was mainly a second baseman.

Elijah: I brought this up because the last two seasons a shortstop has been drafted with the first and fourth picks.

Evan: Elijah you can expand that to season 57 and you have 6 high picks being shortstops. The 57 draft took shortstops 1st and 5th. And 4 of those guys are still playing short.

Jose: That doesn't compare to the international class of season 52, when the four highest bonuses were given to shortstops. 77.1 million paid out to the 4 guys. Down in the islands they call them "Gloves of Gold" for all the money they got.

Henry: If I remember correctly the 51 season had a high bonused shortstop and 53 had two.

Elijah: Only Stolmy De Paula is still a shortstop.

Jose: You're looking at this all wrong Elijah. These guys are moved off shortstop for defensive specialist. Their bats are still in the lineup and the defense is not only improved buy the specialist at short, but when you move them you improve the defense at whatever position you put them.

Elijah: Well I think some team should keep a big bat at shortstop. The competitive advantage of a guy hitting .275 over guy who hits .225 seems important to me.

Henry: Elijah, who taught you baseball Abner Doubleday? Your big bat can play anything except pitcher and catcher. The bat is still in the lineup.

Elijah: You're missing the point about competitive advantage. This is the one position where you can be much better than the other team. If an average player gets 500 at bats it's a difference of 25 hits for the season. How many of these defensive specialist are a positive 25 on plus or minus defensive plays. We play this game way to defensively.

Evan: I understand your point Elijah and I'm happy you're a drinking scout and not a manager.