WJR's Hall of Fame Ballot - 2015

I love the Hall of Fame debate.  I could do it all day. In fact, I HAVE done it all day. The beauty of the Hall of Fame is there is no exact science for choosing who deserves enshrinement.  If there were, everybody’s ballot would be identical and we’d have nothing but 1st ballot inductees who all collect 100% of the vote. And it goes without saying that 100% of the fun and suspense would vanish as well.

Last January, the Baseball Writers of America Association (BBWAA) sent 3 very deserving retired players (Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Frank Thomas) to Cooperstown.  Several others who had excellent careers in the bigs were left to wait another year.  The clock is ticking for the likes of Alan Trammell, Lee Smith and Don Mattingly.  Time has run out for Jack Morris; only the Veterans Committee can help him now.

Up until recently, I didn’t see a need for another voting body (like the Veterans Committee or the newly formed “Golden Era” Committee) to overturn the will of the writers, but I am starting to understand how real good players get left behind.  First, let’s understand 3 very important rules around the voting process:

1.  Voters can cast for no more than 10 candidates on one ballot.

2.  For enshrinement in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, a candidate must be selected on 75% of the ballots cast.  This is an important point which we’ll get to in a minute.

3.  Candidates may appear on 10 consecutive annual ballots (provided that they are selected on at least 5% of the ballots cast each year).  Any candidate who does not meet the 75% requirement on the 10^th ballot will disappear the following year.

To say there is diversity of thought among those who hold real Hall of Fame ballots is an understatement, but one thing just about all of them have in common is they don’t cast for 10 candidates.  There are a few who have recently begun engaging  in the practice of turning in blank ballots, which accomplishes little more than cancelling out the votes of writers casting votes for a deserving player.  This drives me absolutely nuts, by the way.

Curt Schilling was one of the 6 names on my 2013 mythical ballot, but he fell off in 2014, not because I felt any differently about his body of work a year later, but because I ran out of room on my ballot.  In my opinion, Glavine, Maddux, Mussina and Thomas were 1^st ballot Hall of Famers (turns out I was wrong on Moose).  That’s 4.  I made Craig Biggio wait a year, but added him to my 2014 ballot.  We’re up to 5.  Nobody reached the 75% threshold in 2013, but my 6 guys were all still on the ballot a year later.  6 names to pick from, but room only for 5 names on my ballot.  For me, Schilling was the odd man out.

Of course, I could have kept Schilling on and made somebody else with a “longer runway” wait another year.  Some writers may do that, but my policy is when there are more than 10 guys deserving of enshrinement, vote for the 10 most deserving.  Schilling did not crack my list of 10 in 2014, and he won’t this year either.  Here are the 10 guys I would cast for if they handed me a ballot:

Craig Biggio - Other than Pete Rose and Derek Jeter, there is nobody with more career knocks that Biggio (3,060) NOT in Cooperstown.  And don’t get me started on Rose.  His plaque should be there.

Barry  Bonds - Prior to 1999, when he reported to Spring Training and was fitted for a hat 3 sizes bigger than the previous season, Bonds had collected 8 Gold Gloves, 7 Silver Slugger Awards and 3 MVPs. Whatever you think of him personally (and I think he’s an absolute jerk), study his career and you’ll conclude that he had built a Hall of Fame resume before he started with PEDs a few seasons into his years in San Francisco.

Roger Clemens – Most folks agree that he extended his very long career with illegal substances.  With that said, there is no evidence to suggest that Clemens wasn’t clean in a Red Sox uniform, and he was an incredible pitcher in his Boston years:  AL MVP in 1986, 3 Cy Youngs, 3 more top 6 finishes.

Randy Johnson (1^st ballot) – 303 career victories (including a perfect game at age 40 in 2004), 5-time Cy Young Award winner.  I would like to speak personally with any voter who leaves Randy Johnson off their ballot.

Pedro Martinez (1^st ballot) – Shorter career than Johnson, but achieved Koufax-like dominance for a 6-7 year stretch, and like Koufax and Drysdale, a textbook example of a Hall of Fame pitcher with fewer than 300 career wins.

Mike Mussina - 270 career wins over 18 seasons, 8 in Yankee pinstripes.  Never won the Cy Young Award, but finished in the top 6 in balloting 9 times over 17 seasons.   30 wins shy of the hallowed 300 number, but a very good pitcher for a long time.

Mike Piazza - 427 bombs highest among all catchers, higher Wins Above Replacement (WAR) total than Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey. He should have been in on the first ballot. 

Tim Raines - Another guy who’s been overlooked for a few years, but whose fine career looks even better through a sabermetric lens. Only Bonds and Pete Rose are left fielders whose WAR totals are higher than Raines. Stole 980 bags and that number may NEVER be matched again.

John Smoltz (1^st ballot) – Pretty much a coin flip between him and Schilling.  213 victory total is more impressive when you consider the season lost due to injury (2000) and almost 4 seasons as a very good closer of games.  Smoltz gets the edge over Schilling because he’s 1 Cy Young Award ahead of him (1-0). 

WJR's Hall of Fame Ballot - 2014

I love the Hall of Fame debate.  I could do it all day. In fact, I HAVE done it all day. The beauty of the Hall of Fame is there is no exact science for choosing who deserves enshrinement.  If there were, everybody’s ballot would be identical and we’d have nothing but 1st ballot inductees who all collect 100% of the vote. And it goes without saying that 100% of the fun and suspense would vanish as well.

In 2013, the Baseball Writers of America Association (BBWAA) took all the fun and suspense out of it FOR us, with not a single eligible candidate collecting the 75% of the vote required for enshrinement.  Craig Biggio (68.2%) and Jack Morris (67.7%) came the closest.  Many voters simply “took a knee” last year, turning in a blank ballot and forfeiting the opportunity to vote for as many as 10 candidates.

For the past year, I have been trying to figure out that the writers were trying to prove or solve by shutting the door on Hall of Fame caliber players that are universally thought to be deserving of the honor.  The truth is it ticked me off a little, the thought of a writer casting a blank ballot with so many candidates worthy of consideration.  Blank?  REALLY?

Do the members of the BBWAA have a responsibility to enshrine players in Cooperstown?  I say yes.  The National Baseball Hall of Fame is a museum for baseball fans.  It is not funded by Major League Baseball in any way, but rather by private contributions.  Many of those contributions come in the form of admission fees and much of that is collected from folks intending to attend the annual enshrinement ceremony. 

The Hall exists for the sole purpose of connecting current and future generations to the proud, rich history of the game.  Fewer people visit when nobody gets in, and the connection weakens.  It is clear that the BBWAA does the Hall no favors when they fail to elect a single player, but it can also be argued that they are compounding the damage the Steroid Era inflicted on the game itself.

Every blank ballot cast, every deserving player asked to wait another year is a grim reminder that we’re still not past this very dark spot in the history of this magnificent game.  Measures have been taken to ensure history is not repeated.  Baseball is moving on.  Time for the high and mighty writers to do the same.

There are 19 new names on the 2014 ballot, including 4 with statistical bodies of work that easily pass my Cooperstown “eye test”, none of whom were the objects of suspicion of steroid or performance enhancing drug use.  These 4 names are going to make it much harder for a writer to turn in a blank ballot this year:

Tom Glavine:  305 wins over 22 seasons.  10-time All Star, 2-time Cy Young Award winner.  Won 20 or more 5 times over a 10 season stretch. 

Greg Maddux:   355 career wins, 4-time Cy Young Award winner, 5 additional top 5 finishes in Cy Young balloting.  8 time All Star.  One of the greatest righthanders ever.

Mike Mussina:  270 career wins over 18 seasons, 8 in Yankee pinstripes.  Never won the Cy Young Award, but finished in the top 6 in balloting 9 times over 17 seasons.   30 wins shy of the hallowed 300 number, but a very good pitcher for a long time.

Frank Thomas:  .301 batting average with 521 home runs over 19 seasons.  2-time Most Valuable Player (1994, 1994), plus 4 additional appearances in the top 4.  Played just slightly over half of his games as a 1^st baseman, the rest as a DH.

My case for Bonds and Clemens

For any player who ever used, it is impossible to understand or calculate what his “arc” of productivity would have been had he not made the choice to use.  Many voters don’t want to be burdened with such “mathematical gymnastics” and summarily cast aside literally everybody on the infamous list of PED users.  As 2013 balloting taught us, that position has grown in popularity, and I don’t consider it a thoroughly unreasonable one.  So why Bonds and Clemens then? 

As I evaluate a player, I remove from the evaluation any season where there’s a trail of PED use and any season AFTER that.  If you’re not a Hall of Famer before you start using, you’ll never get my vote after you retire.  No matter how productive you are.  Even if you only used ONCE.  The resume ends the very instant you start using.  Everything stops.

It might sound harsh, but it works both ways:  if you’re a Hall of Famer before you started with PEDs, you’ll have my vote at the end, no matter how much you used, no matter for how long.  The Hall is for the players who performed the best (without being caught cheating) in their respective eras.

Which brings us to Bonds.  Prior to 1999, when he reported to Spring Training and was fitted for a hat 3 sizes bigger than the previous season, Bonds had collected 8 Gold Gloves, 7 Silver Slugger Awards and 3 MVPs. Whatever you think of him personally (and I think he’s an absolute jerk), study his career and you’ll conclude that he had built a Hall of Fame resume before he started with PEDs a few seasons into his years in San Francisco.

Next to Bonds, the case for Roger Clemens is a bit harder to make in my opinion, but his stretch with the Red Sox (again, before he reportedly started using) was pure dominance: an MVP Award, 3 Cy Youngs, 3 more top 6 finishes before he left Boston.  I don’t have any video, but I am reasonably sure that he extended his career with something illegal. With that said, there is no evidence to suggest that Clemens wasn’t clean in a Red Sox uniform, and he was an incredible pitcher in his Boston years.

Reasonable arguments both, but two of the most dominant players of their respective eras will be left out forever because, well, you know why.

What about Pete Rose?

Most folks who call themselves baseball fans have an opinion on this guy, and now that you know where I sit on Bonds and Clemens, my opinion on Charlie Hustle should not surprise you.  Listing his statistical credentials is pointless because everybody agrees that Pete’s body of work is worthy of Cooperstown. 

He is not in the Hall because Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti banned him from baseball for life and the National Baseball Hall of Fame honored the suspension (although not obligated to do so in any way).  There is ongoing debate because there are many who agree that betting on the Reds during his managerial years cancels all of that out.  I do not hold that opinion.  Somewhere in the middle of 4,256 knocks, a staggering number that may never be equaled, Pete punched his ticket to Cooperstown.  When future generations visit the Hall of Fame, they should be able to learn about Pete and the way he played, because it is how baseball SHOULD be played.

Outlook for 2014 Voting + WJR’S Ballot

In shutting the doors to everybody on the 2013 ballot, the writers were making a point, but my theory is that it was also a metaphorical “reset button” and the dawn of new mindset for voting.  Look for the vote totals to actually climb for players who are under the cloud of suspicion.  Don’t get me wrong:  I don’t think Barry Bonds will ever earn enough votes (which is a crime), but as the list of players suspected of juicing continues to grow, I predict that out of sheer pragmatism, some of the writers will relax their position and cast for players they had previously overlooked.

What does my ballot look like?  The current rules allow for voters to cast for as many as 10 eligible candidates.  While the idea of 10 players joining manager inductees Tony LaRussa, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre on stage makes for one long awards ceremony, my ballot has 10 names on it.  You already know about Bonds and Clemens, and 4 new names on the ballot that will have my checkmark next to them (Glavine, Maddux, Mussina, Thomas).  Here are the other 4:

Craig Biggio - One of my favorite ballplayers.  A career similar to Roberto Alomar (HOF 2010), not as flashy with the glove, a little more pop with the bat. Bobby Grich has a higher career WAR (Wins Above Replacement) total than Craig Biggio, and you shouldn’t have to say that about any 1st ballot Hall of Famer, which is why I left him off my mythical ballot a year ago, but other than Charlie Hustle himself, there are no Hall of Famers with more career hits than Biggio (3,060) not in the Hall.

Mike Piazza - 427 bombs highest among all catchers, higher WAR total than Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey. He should have been in on the first ballot.  Don’t over think this one.

Tim Raines - Raines is another guy who’s been overlooked for a few years, but whose fine career looks even better through a sabermetric lens. Only Bonds and Pete Rose are left fielders whose WAR totals are higher than Raines. Stole 980 bags and that number may NEVER be matched again.

Alan Trammell - Passed over by the writers for 12 straight years, Trammell is one I have changed my mind on quite recently.  There are only two shortstops with higher career WAR totals than Trammell’s:  Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. Tram went about his business very quietly in the Motor City, but his distinguished career is worthy of enshrinement.

WJR's Hall of Fame Ballot for 2013

I love the Hall of Fame debate. Could do it all day. In fact, I HAVE done it all day. The beauty of the Hall of Fame is there is no exact science for choosing who deserves enshrinement. If there were, everybody’s ballot would be identical and we’d have nothing but 1st ballot inductees who all collect 100% of the vote. And it goes without saying that 100% of the fun and suspense would vanish as well.

Yes, for the seam heads who walk amongst us, the real joy is in the debate itself, but as much as we preach that selecting Hall of Fame members is an art, we spend obscene amounts of time pouring over acres of statistics, searching for the “truth” in the numbers.  I have become a big fan of the Wins Above Replacement (WAR) metric when I participate in The Great Debate. WAR is a meticulously calculated sabermetric statistic that is used to show how many more wins a player would give a team as opposed to a "replacement level", or minor league/bench player at that position.

It is easier than it sounds. 2012 American League MVP and Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera (.330 BA, 44 HR, 139 RBI) achieved a WAR total of 6.9 last season. That means if he hypothetically suffered a season ending injury in Spring Training, forcing the Tigers to call a “replacement” up from the minors, it would have cost the Tigers approximately 7 victories, and they miss the playoffs.

A WAR score over 3 is pretty good, over 5 is the stuff of All Stars. 7 or higher is MVP territory (Albert Pujols has achieved a score of 8.0 or more for 7 of his 12 seasons). WAR is a fabulous statistic that will forever change the way we compare pitchers and position players across eras, something that is very difficult to do given how the game has evolved over the past century, by boiling the entire body of work down to one number.

A Hall of Fame conversation generally doesn’t go very far before somebody brings up steroids. The Steroid Era is a topic that is relatively new to the Hall of Fame debate, now that players who have either been suspected of or officially reported to have used substances that gave them an edge on the diamond for a portion of their careers are becoming eligible for election.

Opinions on how Hall voters should handler these players are all over the map: Three camps have formed: (1) Leave them all out; (2) Let them all in; and (3) judge each player and his unique set of circumstances individually. I’m definitely a Camp #3 guy: It is irresponsible to summarily dismiss a group of guys from consideration based on what you think (or were TOLD) they did, and it is equally as irresponsible to pretend that none of it happened.

This year, three players whose careers are under a cloud of Steroid Era suspicion have been added to the ballot: 7-time MVP Barry Bonds, 7-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens, and 7-time All Star Sammy Sosa. If I were handed a ballot this year, I would cast for 4 guys in their first year of eligibility, including 2 of the 3 I just mentioned, and 2 others who the writers have passed over year after year. So without further delay, the Hall of Fame Class of 2013 if I have anything to say about it:

IN:

Barry Bonds - Prior to 1999, when he reported to Spring Training and was fitted for a hat 3 sizes bigger than the previous season, Bonds had collected 8 Gold Gloves, 7 Silver Slugger Awards and 3 MVPs. Whatever you think of him personally, study his career and you’ll conclude that he had built a Hall of Fame resume before he started with PEDs a few seasons into is years in San Francisco.

Roger Clemens - This one’s a little harder, but his stretch with the Red Sox (again, before he reportedly started using) was pure dominance: an MVP Award, 3 Cy Youngs, 3 more top 6 finishes before he left Boston. I don’t have any video, but I am reasonably sure that he extended his career with something illegal. With that said, Clemens punched his Cooperstown ticket years before he started that.

Alan Trammell - Passed over by the writers for 11 straight years, Trammell is one I have changed my mind on quite recently, and we have our old friend WAR to thank for it. There are only two shortstops with higher career WAR totals than Trammell’s: Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. Tram went about his business very quietly in the Motor City, but his distinguished career is worthy of enshrinement.

Tim Raines - Like Trammell, Raines is another guy who’s been overlooked for a few years, but whose fine career looks even better through a sabermetric lens. Only Bonds and Pete Rose are left fielders whose WAR totals are higher than Raines. Stole 980 bags and that number may NEVER be matched again.

Mike Piazza - 427 bombs highest among all catchers, higher WAR total than Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey. He should get in on the first ballot. Don’t over think this one.

Curt Schilling - 216 wins may seem a little light, but he was a 6-time All Star and finished in the top 4 in Cy Young balloting 4 times. Had some of his finest moments in October, and the writers will factor that in like they did with Kirby Puckett. Achieved a WAR total that is higher than 36 pitchers already in the Hall.

NOT YET:

Kenny Lofton - The real life Willie Mays Hayes has a WAR total that lines up with Andre Dawson, a borderline Hall of Famer who was forced to wait 8 or 9 years before he got in. I’m going to make him wait, and I think the writers will too.

Craig Biggio - One of my favorite ballplayers. Probably has a better shot this year than Bonds or Clemens, and the writers like his 3,060 hits. A career similar to Roberto Alomar (HOF 2010), not as flashy with the glove, a little more pop with the bat. Bobby Grich has a higher career WAR total than Craig Biggio, and you shouldn’t have to say that about any 1st ballot Hall of Famer.

Jeff Bagwell - Bags had a great career, but his numbers tailed off badly as soon as they started drug testing. Wasn’t named in the Mitchell Report, never been pointed out in any books, exposes or articles. Just got a weird feeling about this guy. Need to know more, and the writers apparently do too.

Larry Walker - Was surprised to see a career WAR total higher than the great Tony Gwynn. Had some crazy good seasons playing a mile above sea level in Colorado, and I might cast a ballot for him someday. But not this year.

Edgar Martinez - Still trying to sort this guy out. Barely even touched a glove after his 3rd season in the bigs, poked it around pretty good for 18 years, all of it in Seattle, baseball’s equivalent of the Witness Protection Program. Might be under-thinking this one, but I don’t cast unless I’m sure, and I’m not sure about Edgar.

NEVER

Jack Morris - Collected 66.7% of the vote, a big jump from the previous year, and he has a real shot this year if the writers decide to thumb their noses at Bonds, Clemens and the rest. Morris was a grinder, a good pitcher for a long time, a GREAT pitcher for a short time, and the greatest pitcher ever one October night in 1991. But this is the Hall of Fame. Sorry Jack.

Lee Smith - Passed up a 10th consecutive year, time is running out on Smitty, who collected 50% of the vote a year ago. For me, if I were to make a “Best of the Rest” All Star team of guys who never made it into the Hall, Smitty would be the closer, but he's a notch below Eck, Goose Gossage and Trevor Hoffman, and everybody is a notch or two below Mariano Rivera.

Sammy Sosa - 609 career home runs is impressive, but Sammy falls on the wrong side of the argument when you try to extrapolate what his career “arc” would have looked like had he never used PEDs. Unlike Bonds and Clemens, he had not compiled a HOF-worthy body of work prior to when he started using, which is believed to be the 1998 season. I love the Cubs, and I loved it when Sammy was raking, but this is the Hall of Fame, and you can’t cheat your way into the Hall. I will never change my mind on Sammy.

100 Years of Misery

My dad, who is the biggest St. Louis Cardinals fan in the world, introduced me to the game of baseball at a very young age. I thanked him by pledging my allegiance to the Cardinals arch-rival, the Chicago Cubs.

Rooting for the Cubs came so easily to me. When cable TV came to my town, they were always on TV. I'd bust out of school and rush home to watch the last 3 or 4 innings and hear Harry Caray and Steve Stone break down the game. Harry and Steve were generally not very happy during the telecasts, because the Northsiders were pretty lousy.

Throughout my childhood, the Cubs' futility was one of those constants that helped assure a young boy in Iowa that there was order in the world. You could always depend on the Cubs. Always, that is, until 1984, when a young 2nd baseman named Ryne Sandberg came in and wrecked everything.

In 1984, I was a freshman at the University of Iowa, and I was still a rabid Cubs fan. All the Cub fans knew that the Sandberg kid was going to be good as soon as he joined the club in '82, but he was just one guy, as Dad reminded me, and it was still the Cubs. After all, they traded future Hall of Fame reliever Bruce Sutter away (to the Cardlinals no less), and got somebody named Leon Durham in return. With a roster full of has-beens and never-will-be's surrounding Ryno, most observers had no reason to believe that this team with one post-season appearance since World War II wouldn't be mathematically eliminated by Labor Day.

But then something bizarre happened. Something that had never happened for any sustained period in my lifetime. The Cubs started playing with skill. Veterans Ron Cey, Larry Bowa and Gary Matthews blended with younger guys Bob Dernier and Jody Davis. Closer Lee Smith was lights out and made us all forget about Bruce Sutter very quickly. Leon Durham was so good that the Cubs traded Bill Buckner to Boston, where he would make some history of his own a couple of years later. Meanwhile, Ryne Sandberg was having a season that would define his career. Everything, literally everything, was working, so how were the Cubbies going to screw this up?

On June 13, two days before the trading deadline, the Chicago Cubs were in first place, but needed to shore up the starting pitching if they were going to get through the dog days of summer. Prospects Mel Hall and Joe Carter were sent to Cleveland for righthander Rick Sutcliffe. A lot of Cub fans, including me, thought the Cubs gave up too much for a guy who was 4-5 with the Indians. Finally, we thought, the Cubs screwed the pooch, the spell broken, order restored.

Wrong. It went the other way. The Cubs caught fire after the Sutcliffe trade, winning 32 of 46 games during one stretch, including a thriller on June 23 where Sandberg homered twice off Bruce Sutter to beat the Cardinals 12-11. Sutcliffe went 13-1 in Cub pinstripes and was borderline unhittable. The Cubs went 18-10 in July, 20-10 in August, and on a cool September night in Pittsburgh, they clinched the National League Eastern Division. My beloved Cubs were 3 wins away from the World Series, and the only thing standing in the way were the San Diego Padres.

It was only after the Cubs clinched that I started to visualize what I hoped would happen next: Cubs sweep Padres and take the National League Pennant, I run through the streets screaming "THE CUBS WIN THE PENNANT!", something I had been waiting to do for most of my short life. Gratuitous abuse of alchohol, a lifestyle I discovered earlier in my college career, would almost certainly follow.

As I recall, winning the World Series wasn't even on the radar. The American League Champion Detroit Tigers, winners of 35 of their first 40 games that season, appeared invincible to me and most observers. So all I wanted was to get past the Padres and take our best shot the Motor City Kitties. Win or lose, flying the "National League Champions" flag over Wrigley for the first time since 1945 sounded pretty good to me, and certainly no team in those ghastly brown and yellow uniforms could stop us.

The first two games of the best of 5 National League Championship series were like a dream. Bobby Dernier led off Game 1 with a home run, Sutcliffe himself launched one onto Sheffield Avenue and shut out the Padres 13-0. In Game 2, lefty Steve Trout was sharp and the Cubs won again 4-2.

In my dorm room, watching the games on the TV my grandparents bought the day the astronauts landed on the moon in 1969 (the last year the Cubs were in the playoffs), I was beside myself. I imagined what it was like in Wrigley as they sent the boys off after the Game 2 victory. The feeling was overwhelming: this was the year. Padres are COOKED. Jinx over. Bring on the Tigers. It was almost too easy.

The Cubs left town with a very simple mission: win 1 out of the next 3 in San Diego, win the pennant, end the drought, but everybody knows what happens next. Padres take Game 3, Garvey homers in the 9th to tie series, Cubs blow a 3-0 lead in Game 5, Leon Durham makes 2 errors in a 4 run 7th, Padres never look back. Cubs lose, order restored.

Years later, I still cannot define with words the heartache I felt in the moments after Game 5. What I can tell you is that it has never been the same with me and the Cubs after that. I am and always shall be a fan, but after 1984, I have never pushed in my whole stack of chips on the Northsiders. So while I can tell you that it stung when the Giants and Will Clark did them in 5 years later in the NLCS, I lived. The playoff failure in '98? No sweat. The Steve Bartman Debacle of 2003? Handled it. And in 2008, with the Cubs galloping to the best record in the National League and getting swept (SWEPT!) by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series, I watched quietly, shook my head and shut off the TV.

Nothing lasts anymore, but the Cubs have given us all a great gift that has endured 100 years: the rock steady feeling that in these uncertain times, there are a handful of things that you can count on. The Coyote never gets the Road Runner, James Bond always gets the girl and the Cubs will always find a way to spit out the bit. Reliable as the tides, predictable as a Disney movie. Someday the curse will end, and if I'm alive and still able, I will update the blog, but until then......

2008 Baseball Season

FIGHTING ROZMANS 10, RUMBLING REYERSONS 9
Our Opening Night was worth the wait, and the game could not have been closer without ending in a tie. We had some nice hits and a web gem or two in the field. All in all, exactly what a coach wants out of his team: play hard, get dirty, shake hands after. If we do that all summer, we’ll win a mess of games and have a ton of fun.
(5/09)

FIGHTING ROZMANS 10, RUMBLING REYERSONS 8
The Fighting Rozmans did it again, scoring 4 runs in a furious last inning rally for a come from behind 10-8 victory. Sean, Martin and Bud each had 2 hits for our guys, and Jesse and Tim recorded their first hits of the season. Another close one, and we came out on the short end again, but that will make the first win of the season all the sweeter.
(5/13)

TOURNAMENT TEAM GOES 0-3 @ SLP SLUGFEST
12 of our boys got their first taste of tournament play at Slugfest this weekend. As an emergency replacement for a Chaska team that dropped out last Monday, we landed in a pretty tough pool and got roughed up a bit in our first two games, losing by scores of 27-1 to Eagan and 17-1 to Brooklyn Park . Saturday afternoon the guys really put it together and played a real good team from Champlin pretty much even steven. The final score of 7-2 is not a good indicator of how close the game was and how well the boys played. All in all, I thought it was a good experience for the guys and will only make us better for league play this summer.
(5/19)

Good Day Cafe 11, Edina Giants 10
First win of the year!
A bases loaded walk to Billy Bird forced home Raymond Stonacek to give Good Day Cafe a thrilling 11-10 win over the Edina Giants at chilly Carlson Field Monday night. The win is Good Day's first of the year after opening the season with 2 narrow losses. Good Day exploded for 10 in the 2nd inning to take a 10-2 lead, but Edina chipped away with a few hits in between some home team miscues. The lead finally evaporated with a final Edina rally in the 7th, but Good Day broke the tie in the bottom half without getting a hit. The Giant reliever walked 4 straight, and Raymond trotted home, making a winner out of pitcher Josh Ruud, who recorded the final 6 outs of the game. Starting pitcher Martin Schlegel-Wiener had 2 hits in the winning effort, and Collin Reyerson, Tim Prohofsky, Billy Bird, Bud Evers, Jake Omodt and Trent Walsh all had hits in the 10-run 2nd inning. Super-Sub Billy Bird also made the play of the day, knocking down and infield grounder and throwing out the batter from his knees to snuff out a 5th inning Giant rally. Good Day Café will try to get back to .500 on Wednesday with a game at Edina , under the lights at 8:00. No official word yet on if John Delke’s dad John will come with the ultra-cool vintage 1948 Cleveland Indians jersey, but he did last night and I think it helped some! When you’re 0-2, you’ll take all the karma you can get!
(5/20)

Good Day Cafe 15, Edina A’s 7
Schlegel-Wiener slam sinks Edina
For folks who do not follow SLP baseball, a Schlegel-Wiener slam may sound like something you get off the breakfast menu at Denny’s, but for us, it was the big blow in Good Day Café’s convincing 15-7 victory over Edina last night at Braemar. Martin Schlegel-Wiener’s 2nd inning blast came with the sacks full and broke a 6-0 game wide open, but was just part of the offensive story for Good Day Café. There were 11 hits in all, including 2 each by Nolan Rockers, Sean Gordon and Collin Reyerson. 9 of the 10 boys scored and everybody reached base at least once. Defensively, the boys showed real improvement, with Trent Walsh, Raymond Stonacek, John Delke and Nolan Rockers all making nice plays in the field to hold Edina ’s offense in check. 4 pitchers worked the game, striking out 12 Edina batters, and Good Day Café heads into the Memorial Day break with a 2-2 record. NICE GAME GUYS!
(5/22)

Citizens Bank 5, Good Day Cafe 2
Citizens strikes early, holds on to stay perfect

After retiring Good Day Cafe in order to start the game, Citizens raced to a quick lead in the bottom half, parlaying 4 hits, 2 walks and a couple of errors into 5 runs. It was all they would get, but all they would need in a 5-2 victory between the raindrops at Paul Frank last night.

4 Citizens pitchers held the Good Day Café offensive machine in check for most of the night. After roaring into the Memorial Day break with 26 runs in two wins vs. Edina teams, Good Day Cafe (2-3) managed just 2 hits and 6 walks. Citizens right-hander Mitchell Rotert pitched out of a jam in the 5th, recording a couple of key strikeouts and stranding 3 baserunners, and Mitchell Thomas pitched 2 scoreless innings to close it out, striking out 3.

After the wobbly start, Good Day Café’s pitching and defense took over. Martin Schlegel-Wiener, Sean Gordon and Nolan Rockers combined for 5 scoreless innings. "Double Play" Ray Stonacek, Tim Prohofsky, and Jesse Ewaldt all made nice plays in the field to keep Citizens Bank stuck at 5.

With the loss, Good Day Cafe's winning streak is over at 2, and its next win against Citizens will be the first one. The cross-town rivals meet again Saturday at Carlson. First pitch scheduled for 10:00 a.m.
(5/30)

Citizens Bank 14, Good Day Cafe 6
Citizens continues mastery over Good Day
Citizens Bank scored in each of the first 4 innings and extended it winning streak to 5 games with a 14-6 win over crosstown rival Good Day Café on Saturday at Carlson Field. Good Day’s offensive showing was an improvement over Thursday’s 5-2 loss, but they were still sluggish, running into 3 outs at home plate and stranding 6 runners over 5 innings. On the mound, Good Day Café (2-4) worked 6 pitchers on Saturday and struggled with a tight strike zone, issuing 8 bases on balls. Righthander Josh Ruud pitched a very efficient inning of scoreless relief, retiring the side in order in the 5th inning. The play of the day was a diving catch of a sinking liner by rightfielder Trent Walsh. The catch saved at least two runs and ended the inning with the bases full of Citizens. Good Day Café will get one last crack at Citizens this coming Wednesday at Paul Frank (6:00), but first, it’s off to Richfield this evening for the second road game of the year.
(6/02)

Richfield 8, Good Day Cafe 2
Good Day battles, falls short in Richfield
Good Day Cafe responded to a weekend walloping at the hand of Citizens Bank with a much better effort in its second road game of the season, battling a very skilled Richfield team but losing 8-2 Monday night. The bats were quiet again, with RBI knocks by Bud Evers and Jake Omodt accounting for all the offense. The lower end of the order coaxed some walks off Richfield pitching, but the key hit from the top of the order never came. The lack of run support put pressure on the pitching and defense, but Good Day rose to the challenge and kept it close until a 4 run 6th broke it open for Richfield . Relievers Nolan Rockers, Collin Reyerson and Josh Ruud worked the middle 4 innings, allowing just one run between them, and the play of the day came from second baseman Tim Prohofsky, who scrambled to his right and threw a Richfield batter out by an eyelash to cut short a 4th inning rally. Now 2-5 on the season, Good Day Café will get another crack at Citizens Wednesday at Paul Frank (6:00).
(6/03)

Citizens Bank 20, Good Day Cafe 4
Another Citizens uprising
Some sloppy play in the field spelled for Good Day Café in a 20-4 loss to Citizens Bank last night at Paul Frank. Citizens needed only 8 hits to plate 20 runs, but they also benefited from 9 bases on balls and numerous errors and passed balls. Nolan Rockers and Trent Walsh had back to back doubles in a 3 run 6th inning, and “Double Play Ray” Stonacek and Josh Ruud both had nice hits, but in the end, it just wasn’t Good Day’s night out there. Good Day Café (2-6) will host Richfield Monday night at Paul Frank. First pitch at 6:00.
(6/03)

Richfield 11, Good Day Café 5
Good Day battles, falls short, skid reaches 5
Still struggling to find the pre-Memorial Day offensive mojo, Good Day Cafe battled a tough Richfield team for 7 innings but lost 11-5 last night at Paul Frank. Josh Ruud had 2 of the 6 Good Day hits, all singles, and Tim “Scrap Iron” Prohofsky's RBI groundout started the scoring in the 3rd inning. The game was close early thanks to some sharp pitching by Nolan “Rocket Man” Rockers and Sean Gordon, but the Richfield bats came to life in the 5th, twice splitting the outfielders and chasing home 4 runs. They would add 4 more in the last 2 innings, and a 3 run Good Day rally in the bottom of the 7th was not enough. With the loss, Good Day’s record falls for 2-7, and they’re off to Robbinsdale on Thursday with a game under the lights at 8:00.

I'm not a fan of the term "moral victory", but I can tell you that we took away plenty of positives in spite of the loss. We gave away far fewer bases and outs than in previous games. We made the vast majority of the plays that needed to be made. We made crisp, purposeful throws from all over the field. Jesse Ewaldt played 7 (seven!) consecutive innings in right field and never hung his head once. John Delke got a 2 out, 2 strike hit when we absolutely had to have it. We backed up bases, we ran out all grounders and pop-ups. Chatter, toughness, hustle, teamwork....ALL THE STUFF that successful baseball players do all the time. We showed a lot of it last night.
(6/10)

Robbinsdale 14, Good Day Café 6
Rebels rally, extend Good Day skid to 6
In a tale of two games, Good Day Café started right, but Robbinsdale rallied in the final 2 innings to post a 14-6 victory under the lights in New Hope last night. On offense, Bud Evers, Trent Walsh, “Double Play Ray” Stonacek and Jesse Ewaldt all posted runs batted in, as Good Day Café used 4 hits and 7 bases on balls to tally their 6 runs. Nolan Rockers pitched 3 strong innings to start the game, and was assisted by 2 double plays, but the Rebel bats started finding some holes as the game wore on, sending home 12 runs in the final 2 innings before the umpire called the game at 10:15. Now 2-8 on the season, Good Day Café travels to Richfield Monday night for the first of 3 games next week.
(6/18)

Richfield Tournament Update
Comeback Kids strike twice on Saturday, advance to semi-finals
Sean Gordon's 7th inning RBI single broke a 7-7 deadlock and capped a furious 2 out Oriole rally, sending St. Louis Park to the semi-finals of the Richfield tournament with an 8-7 win over Bloomington. Gordon's walk-off hit was a nice finishing touch on a day where SLP twice erased big deficits in their final at-bat, triggering a thunderous home plate celebration.

SLP held a 4-3 lead after 5 strong innings of pitching by righthander Mitchell Thomas, but Bloomington parlayed 4 hits and a couple walks into 4 runs to take a 7-4 lead. In the top of the 7th, Bloomington had something going again when Park turned a tasty 5-4-3 double play, and Alex Rozman made a diving catch of a sinking line drive. In the bottom half, John Delke, Mitch Rotert and Collin Reyerson each had clutch 2 out singles to extend the game and set the stage for Gordon.

The Saturday magic actually began much earlier in the day, with SLP mounting a 7th inning rally to tie Princeton 9-9. The first 6 Orioles to bat in the 7th all scored, and SLP, wiped out a 9-3 Princeton lead. Nolan Rockers and Trent Walsh each went 2 for 3. SLP takes a record of 1-1-1 to the semi-finals, earning a #2 seed over Princeton by merit of the "runs allowed" tie-breaker criteria (28-27).
(6/21)

Good Day Café 14, Richfield 4
Bats come to life, Good Day rolls
Good Day Cafe jumped on their opponent early and never looked back in a 14-4 romp over Richfield last night at Donaldson Park . Pretty much everybody got into the act, with 11 of the 12 boys reaching 1st base at least once, as Good Day outhit Richfield 12-3. The bottom of the order really got into it, with “Double Play Ray” Stonacek and Jesse Ewaldt each knocking in 2 runs with nice singles. Tim “Scrap Iron” Prohofsky and John Delke each drove in a run as well. Bud Evers legged out a triple into the gap in right field, and Martin Schlegel-Wiener cleared the based in the 6th with a towering double. Nolan “Rocket Man” Rockers tossed 3 scoreless innings for the win. Good Day Café improves to 3-8 on the season and hosts Robbinsdale this evening at Paul Frank. First pitch at 6:00 p.m.
(6/24)

New Hope 6, Good Day Café 1
No clutch knocks for Good Day; New Hope wins
Apparently having used up all their hits two nights ago in Richfield , Good Day Cafe scratched out only 4 hits in a 6-1 loss to New Hope last night at Paul Frank. Sean Gordon doubled in Collin Reyerson, who singled to lead off the 7th, for the lone Good Day run. Trent Walsh and Bud Evers kept their hot bats working with the other two Good Day Hits. Good Day had opportunities in the 4th and 5th, but stranded 5 runners over those two innings. Martin Schlegel-Wiener tossed 3 strong innings in his longest outing of the season, and Gordon and Nolan Rockers were effective in relief to keep it close. Now 3-9 on the season, Good Day will get another shot at a Robbinsdale team tomorrow night at Paul Frank. 1st pitch 6:00.
(6/25)

Robbinsdale 18, Good day Café 1
One of those nights
Tough night for the hometown team, as Robbinsdale pounded out 12 hits and drew 12 walks en route to a convincing 18-1 win last night at Paul Frank Field. Good Day (3-10) scratched out only 4 singles and Robbinsdale was awarded the win after the 5th inning by the 10 Run Rule. Tim Prohofsky made his debut on the mound last night, struggled with the strike zone a little (like most new pitchers do), but recorded 3 outs. Bud Evers put on the gear for the first time this season and showed good skills behind the plate for a couple of innings. Overall, I was disappointed to see the boys play like that with so many family members watching last night, but we’ll write it off as one of those games. It was a good Robbinsdale team we played, but not 18-1 good. Very poor effort from the guys last night.
(6/28)

Richfield 20, Good Day Cafe 17
Richfield explodes, then escapes
In an exciting but very "messy" game of 13-year old baseball, Richfield rode a 10-run 4th inning and hung on for a 20-17 win at Paul Frank last night. Good Day Cafe (3-11) matched Richfield rally for rally, but couldn't overcome the disastrous 4th inning. Offensively, the hits and walks came from everywhere in the lineup, with all 12 boys reaching 1st base at least once, and 9 of them reaching twice. Bud Evers, Nolan Rockers, Trent Walsh and "Double Play Ray" Stonacek accounted for 8 of the 13 Good Day hits with 2 each. Trent ’s hits, a blistering double and a sharp single, were good for 3 RBIs. On the mound, our guys threw better than their lines will indicate, but some errors in the field and a tiny strike zone that never stopped moving the whole game didn't help matters. In the end, Richfield was just as sloppy as we were, but they had a few more big hits that provided the margin of victory. Tonight's game ball goes to Unofficial Official Scorekeeper Jeff Prohofsky, who somehow managed to navigate through all the passed balls and pickoffs and keep track of things! 37 runs, 29 hits, 17 walks. One pencil. Never complained once. Here's to Jeff!
(7/01)

Citizens Bank 5, Good Day Cafe 4
Whale of a game at Paul Frank
It is very rare to see a team of 13 year old play 7 innings of nearly mistake free baseball and still lose, but that is what happened Tuesday night as Good Day Cafe gave Citizens everything they could handle before falling 5-4 on a gorgeous night for baseball at Paul Frank. Good Day struck early, parlaying hits by Trent Walsh, Sean Gordon, Jake Omodt and Collin Reyerson into a 4 run 1st inning. Nolan "Rocket Man" Rockers pitched magnificently for 5 innings, and was aided by some fine defense, including a tasty double play pivot by 2nd sacker Tim Prohofsky, and an absolute missile from the hole by shortstop Gordon, nailing Mitchell Rotert by a step at 1st. Catcher Martin Schlegel-Wiener was excellent behind the plate, ensuring that Citizens would have to work for everything they got last night.
(7/03)

Good Day advances to Tournament Semi-Finals
Evers’ game winner caps a wild one at Countryside
Bud Evers' 6th inning single drove home Collin Reyerson with the winning run as Good Day Cafe came from behind 3 times to beat the Edina Yankees 17-16 on a warm night at Countryside Park. The 17 runs were the highest total by the boys all season, and the win sends Good Day Cafe (4-12) to the Prairie League semi-finals, 6:00 Wednesday at Braemar.

Collin led off the 6th with a walk, and made it all the way around to third by way of a passed ball and a Yankee error. Trent Walsh and Sean Gordon both walked to load the bases, setting the stage for Bud, who roped a "no doubt" single to center, ending the game, triggering a celebration at home plate and making a winner out of pitcher Nolan “Rocket Man” Rockers, who tossed a scoreless 6th.

The 6th inning never would have happened were it not for a furious 5th inning rally, where Good Day scored 5 times to tie the game 16-16 and extend the game. Martin Schlegel-Wiener and John Delke both had key RBI knocks in the 5th.

Good Day made the most of its 10 hits last night. Tim "Scrap Iron" Prohofsky, Josh Ruud and Jesse Ewaldt each had a hit, Ewaldt's hit a towering triple to left, to kickstart a 5 run 2nd inning.

Great effort by the guys all the way around. Bud played great behind the plate for 4 innings in the heat, and the guys just never quit last night. Was really happy to see them advance to the winners bracket.
(7/15)

Good Day Café 7, Edina Cardinals 4
Comeback Kids advance to Tournament final
The boys appear to be saving some of their best baseball for the very end, as they twice erased deficits and played error-free in the field to top the Edina Cardinals 7-4 in the Prairie League semi-final last night at Braemar. Sean “Flash” Gordon had 2 of the 5 Good Day Café hits, including an RBI single in the 4-run 5th inning, and recorded the last 6 outs of the game in relief of starter Nolan Rockers, who tossed the first 4 innings. Collin Reyerson, Trent Walsh and Tim Prohofsky all had RBI knocks last night, as Good Day Café rallied from deficits of 2-1 and 4-2 to improve its record to 5-12 on the season.

In the nightcap, Citizens Bank rode the bat and right arm of Mitchell Thomas for a 9-8 victory in the other tournament semi-final, setting up an SLP vs. SLP final Friday night. The big blow was Mitchell’s 3rd inning grand slam to left, which gave Citizens a 7-3 lead, and Mitchell also recorded the last 6 outs of the game on the mound.
(7/17)

No Championship Game
Mike and I have so far been unable to land on a day and time when we have a field, an umpire and enough players to hold the Championship Game. Lots of families planned vacations around the end of the season (which was supposed to be tomorrow night).

I want to toss something out there for families to consider: After all the guff we took from the good people of Edina this week, I submit that beating Edina in both semi-final games last night, ensuring that the first place trophy winds up someplace other than Edina, is the highest possible reward.

Instead of holding a championship game with a whole bunch of boys missing, let’s get the teams together for a Beat Edina Party in late July, grill some burgers, have a few laughs and cook up a good-natured way of determining who gets the 1st place and 2nd place hardware we earned last night.

It’s been a fun summer of baseball, and I would like to have as many boys and families on hand, even if it’s a week or two down the road, to celebrate a great season that could not have ended in a more positive way.

Thanks for a Great Season!
Short note of thanks to all families for your support all spring and all summer, and thanks to everybody for coming out tonight to wrap up our season with a few hot dogs and a few laughs. Lastly, thank you very much for the Granite City gift card. Hardly necessary but very much appreciated....I love that place!

It had been over 25 years since I coached a team. Some of the stuff I picked back up right away, some stuff took a while, but the guys were great and I thoroughly enjoyed the practices and games. Over the season, I think the guys' baseball skills improved steadily, and that is satisfying for parents and coaches to see. I can say with confidence that every kid on the team contributed BIG to at least one of our wins: Jesse Ewaldt's triple in the Edina tournament, John Delke legging out the infield single in the Richfield Tournament, Tim "Scrap Iron" Prohofsky turning a big double play to snuff out a rally. EVERYBODY had a piece of this thing.

Also, thanks to Jeff Prohofsky and Stephen Wiener for all their time on the diamond with the boys this summer. No way one dad can do this. Stephen, thanks for bringing the grill and ketchup tonight too....the hot dogs wouldn't have tasted the same with out you!

Thanks again everybody, and see you at the ballpark next spring!
(8/07)