Tag: Sammy Sosa

If I had a Hall of Fame vote

Just think how much fun it would be to have a have a vote for the MLB Hall of Fame. There are many deserving candidates on the list this year as there are every year but this years ballot seems extraordinarily loaded. You have three pitchers with 300+ wins, you have five hitters with 500+ home runs, two players with 3,000+ hits, a player with 800+ stolen bases and a closer with 478 saves.

According to MLB HOF rules, electors may vote for as few as zero (0) and as many as ten (10) eligible candidates deemed worthy of election. Write-in votes are not permitted.

Any candidate receiving votes on seventy-five percent (75%) of the ballots cast shall be elected to membership in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.

For me that is where the “kicker” comes in to play. The words integrity and character are specifically mentioned in the voting rules. I know that not all the players in the Hall are saints but what is in the past is not something I can change. If I had a vote today I could not vote for players that have been accused of cheating. I know all about innocent until proven guilty but that is not how things really are in life. These players that are being accused of cheating are hiding behind the veil of time and waiting for time to pass by. If these players were really innocent, I think they would be putting forth some effort to show that they are innocent. Come on, step up and show me why you should not be lumped in with that bunch of cheaters. When and if the Hall decided that Shoeless Joe Jackson and Pete Rose can be enshrined in the Hall, I will be open to placing a vote for players like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Rafael Palmeiro. Until then, these guys have to wait on the bench.

 The Twins Trivia Hall of Fame ballot for 2013 would look like this.

Greg Maddux

Frank Thomas

Craig Biggio

Edgar Martinez

Tom Glavine

Jack Morris

Tim Raines

Tony La Russa, Joe Torre and Bobby Cox were unanimously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
Tony La Russa, Joe Torre and Bobby Cox were unanimously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

Congratulations to Joe Torre, Bobby Cox, and Tony LaRussa on their election to the Hall of Fame.

Ben Zobrist: a day (and night) to Remember

Ben Zobrist

April 29, 2011 – Tampa second baseman Ben Zobrist entered play on Thursday having driven in eight runs over his last three games and he matched that total, going 4-for-6 with eight RBI in the Rays’ 15-3 victory in the first game of a day/night doubleheader at Minnesota. Zobrist’s eight RBI on Thursday afternoon matched the highest single-game total by a second baseman in the last 60 years. The other keystoners to do that since 1951 were the Angels’ Adam Kennedy on April 18, 2000 and the Rockies’ Ronnie Belliard on Sept. 23, 2003.

Zobrist then went 3-for-4 with two RBI in the night game, finishing with seven hits and ten RBIs in the Rays’ day/night two-game sweep of the Twins. Since baseball began officially recording RBI in 1920, only three other major-league players amassed at least seven hits and ten RBI in one day: the Cardinals’ Jim Bottomley (July 6, 1929: 7 hits, 11 RBI), the Tigers’ Pete Fox (June 30, 1935: 8 hits, 10 RBI) and the Padres’ Nate Colbert (Aug. 1, 1972: 7 hits, 13 RBI).

Zobrist now has recorded 18 runs batted in over his last five games. Over the last 40 years, the only other major-league players to drive in that many runs over a five-game span were Sammy Sosa in August 2002 (a high of 20 RBI, and two sets of 18 in three overlapping five-game stretches) and Steve Finley in May/June 1999 (18) . Source: ELIAS