TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. “History never looks like history when you are living through it” – John Gardner, former Secretary of Health
Vargas, 6-0 in June, wins 12th and evokes Saberhagen
Jason Vargas
A much-anticipated pitching duel between the Royals’ Jason Vargas and the Twins’ Ervin Santana turned out to be no contest, as Kansas City scored seven runs off Santana en route to an 8-1 win. Vargas had entered the game at 11-3 and Santana at 10-4, in what was only the second matchup of pitchers with double-digit wins totals before July 1 over the last 20 seasons. (The other such meeting came on June 16, 2002, in a Red Sox-Braves game in which Derek Lowe, at 10-2, opposed Tom Glavine, 11-2.)
Bret Saberhagen
Vargas secured his 12th win on Friday night, becoming only the second pitcher in Royals history to win 12 games before July 1 (Bret Saberhagen stood at 13-2 entering July in 1987). Vargas finished off a clean sheet for the month of June: six starts and six wins. The last Kansas City pitcher to win six games in a month was Saberhagen in September of 1989, after Bret had earned seven victories in August of that year!
Congratulations to Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas on getting elected to the Hall of Fame in their first year on the BBWAA ballot. All three cleared the 75-percent threshold required to gain election to the Hall of Fame and thus will be inducted in ceremonies July 25-28 at Cooperstown, N.Y. According to the BBWAA web site, “Maddux was the leading vote getter with 555 votes of the 571 ballots, including one blank, cast by senior members of the BBWAA, writers with 10 or more consecutive years of service. That represented 97.2 percent of the vote. Glavine received 525 votes (91.9 percent) and Thomas 478 (83.7).
Tom Glavine
In his second year on the ballot Craig Biggio missed getting elected by just two votes. Former Twins pitcher Pitcher Jack Morris received 351 votes (61.5) in his final year on the ballot and will be eligible for the Expansion Era Committee consideration in the fall of 2016. Former Twins reliever Todd Jones who had asked that no one vote for him for the HOF was granted his wish and he will be dropped from the ballot. Former Twins outfielder Jacque Jones and pitcher Kenny Rogers each received but one vote and will also be dropped from future HOF ballots. Rafael Palmeiro only received 4.4% of the vote and will also be dropped from future voting. You can see the complete voting results at http://baseballhall.org/voting-results .
Frank Thomas
I am very disappointed that Tim Raines (46.10%), and Edgar Martinez (25.20%) received such low vote totals, I don’t understand how some of the voters can not vote for these and other baseball greats. It appears that the DH role continues to plague some players and I just don’t understand that. DH is a position created by major league baseball and yet voters do not give it the credit it deserves. Each position has unique characteristics and has to be looked at in its own right. Wake up voters, the DH has been around for 40 years and it is not going away in the near future so give the men that play the DH role the credit they deserve. Closers only pitch an inning or so in about 60 games a season, often lose more games than they win and damn near never hit and yet you have no problem electing them to th HOF and yet most DH’s are kept out? STUPID!
On a side note, the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA) hit it right on this year by selecting Maddux, Glavine and Thomas to be elected to the HOF. You can see how we voted here.
Maddux, Thomas, Glavine Recommended by Blogger Organization for Cooperstown
The Baseball Bloggers Alliance today recommends three players from the official Hall of Fame ballot to be inducted into Cooperstown this summer. Pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, most closely associated with the Atlanta Braves, and long-time Chicago White Sox first baseman/designated hitter Frank Thomas reached the 75% threshold when BBA members cast their ballots.
Greg Maddux
Maddux, a four-time Cy Young Award winner for the Braves, pitched from 1986 to 2008 and won 355 games while posting a 3.16 ERA and striking out over 3,300 batters. He had a career WHIP of 1.143 in just over 5,000 innings and an ERA+ of 132 over that span. His best season was 1995, when he fashioned a 19-2 record with a 1.63 ERA, good for a bWAR of 9.7 that year.
Frank Thomas
Thomas played from 1990 to 2008, all but the last three season on the south side of Chicago. He has a career slash line of .301/.419/.555 and fashioned an OPS+ of 156 during his playing days. He put up his highest single-season bWAR in 1997, when his 1.067 OPS and 35 home runs played a large role in his mark of 7.3.
Tom Glavine
Glavine’s career spanned roughly the same time frame as Maddux’s, with Glavine starting in 1987. He won the Cy Young in 1991 and 1998 and finished runner-up two other times. His career ERA was 3.54 and he won 305 games during his tenure with the Braves and the New York Mets. Glavine had a 1.314 WHIP for his career and an ERA+ of 118.
The voting of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance has often been close to what the baseball writers eventually decide, though the correlation is stronger with the year-end awards. A quick look at the past few years:
In 2010, no player reached the 75% mark in BBA voting, while the writers inducted only Andre Dawson.
In 2011, the BBA selected Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven and both were inducted into Cooperstown that summer.
In 2012, Barry Larkin and Jeff Bagwell were selected by the BBA, but the writers only took Larkin.
Last year, the bloggers again picked Bagwell, while the writers could not agree on anyone to honor.
Bagwell lost support in this year’s voting, coming up roughly 10% shy of recommendation. The final vote totals are as follows:
Greg Maddux 94.51%
Frank Thomas 80.22%
Tom Glavine 75.82%
Mike Piazza 72.53%
Craig Biggio 70.33%
Jeff Bagwell 64.84%
Barry Bonds 60.44%
Roger Clemens 59.34%
Tim Raines 54.95%
Edgar Martinez 41.76%
Curt Schilling 39.56%
Mike Mussina 32.97%
Alan Trammell 30.77%
Jack Morris 25.27%
Mark McGwire 21.98%
Larry Walker 17.58%
Jeff Kent 15.38%
Lee Smith 14.29%
Don Mattingly 9.89%
Fred McGriff 8.79%
Rafael Palmeiro 7.69%
Sammy Sosa 4.40%
Moises Alou 3.30%
Eric Gagne 2.20%
Luis Gonzalez 2.20%
Sean Casey 1.10%
Kenny Rogers 1.10%
Richie Sexson 1.10%
J.T. Snow 1.10%
Armando Benitez 0.00%
Ray Durham 0.00%
Jacque Jones 0.00%
Todd Jones 0.00%
Paul Lo Duca 0.00%
Hideo Nomo 0.00%
Mike Timlin 0.00%
The Baseball Bloggers Alliance was established in the fall of 2009 for the purpose of fostering collaboration and communication among bloggers from across baseball. The BBA currently has approximately 240 blogs in its membership, including some of the most prominent blogs on the Internet, spanning all major league teams and various other general aspects of the game.
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.
