Mattingly, Murphy, Baines and Kent

Yesterday, the Baseball Hall of Fame's Contemporary Era Ballot -- a piece of what used to be known as the Committee on Veterans -- elected Jeff Kent to the Hall.

The main argument for Kent is that he hit 351 of his 377 career home runs at the position of 2nd base, and that's a record for the position. The main arguments against him are that, even taking his position into account, it's not good enough; and that he's a jerk, as if there aren't plenty of those in the Hall.

As with the vote for recently-retired players taken annually by the Baseball Writers Association of America, 75 percent of the vote is necessary to gain election. This committee had 16 members, so 12 votes were needed. Here was the vote, as published last night:

Jeff Kent: 14

Carlos Delgado: 9

Don Mattingly: 6

Dale Murphy: 6

Barry Bonds: "Less than 5"

Roger Clemens: "Less than 5"

Gary Sheffield: "Less than 5"

Fernando Valenzuela: "Less than 5"

For the record: Bonds, Clemens and Sheffield still have, at the least, the suspicion of steroids. Kent, Delgado, Mattingly, Murphy and Valenzuela never have.

Getting less than 5 votes mean that Bonds, Clemens, Sheffield and Valenzuela will not be included on future "Contemporary Era Ballots." 

The next Contemporary Era Ballot will be in December 2028. The Contemporary Baseball Era Committee Managers/Executives/Umpires ballot will be considered in December 2026. The Classic Baseball Era Committee, which considers player, manager, umpire and executive candidates whose primary contributions to the game came prior to 1980, will consider candidates in December 2027.

If I'm doing the math right, Valenzuela, Bonds, Clemens and Sheffield will have to wait for their next consideration until, respectively, 2024, 2054, 2054 and 2056. Valenzuela is already dead. Bonds would be 90 years old, Clemens 92, and Sheffield 88. And guys who use steroids tend not to live that long.

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Yankee Fans not old enough to remember the Reggie Jackson era believe Mattingly should be in. People who became Atlanta Braves fans by watching "SuperStation WTBS" in the 1980s believe Murphy should be in. They don't think Kent should be in, just as they didn't think Harold Baines should be in. Baines has become the "poster boy" for players who shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame.

Let me explain this, so that even my 9-year-old niece -- who, sadly, has no interest in baseball, unlike her 18-year-old sisters -- can understand it:

Kent was a 2nd baseman, a position that generally produces lower hitting stats than 1st base, which Mattingly played; and both generally produce lower hitting stats than the outfield, which both Murphy and Baines played.

Mattingly played his entire career in a stadium perfect for his swing. Murphy played most of his career in the most hitter-friendly stadium in the National League at the time. Kent played most of his career in pitcher-friendly stadiums. Baines played the majority of his career in one of the most pitcher-friendly stadiums in the majors.

Mattingly had 7,722 career plate appearances. Murphy had 9,041. Kent had 9,537. Baines had 9,908. Kent had a season's worth more than Murphy, and Baines had 2 more. Compared to Mattingly, Baines had 5 more, Kent 4 more, Murphy 2 more.

Murphy got 2,111 hits, Mattingly 2,153, Kent 2,461, Baines 2,866. Kent had 2 more good seasons' worth than Murphy and Mattingly, Baines 4 more.

Mattingly hit 222 home runs, Kent 377, Baines 384, Murphy 398. Given the difference in ballparks, Murphy should have had considerably more than the others. Baines hit 2 more, and Kent 5 fewer, than Jim Rice, for whom home runs were his thing, and who had the Green Monster to hit to, and nobody is questioning Rice's worthiness.

Mattingly had 1,099 RBIs, Murphy 1,266, Kent 1,518, Baines 1,628. That's about 3 more good seasons' worth over Murphy for Kent, 4 for Baines. Over Mattingly, it's 3 more for Murphy, 4 for Kent, 6 for Baines.

At the age of 40, Baines batted .312, hit 25 home runs, and had 103 RBIs. At 39, Kent batted .302, with 20 homers and 79 RBIs. Murphy played his last game at 37, and had his last good season at 35. Mattingly played his last game at 35, and had his last full season at 32. Yes, he had a back injury, but peak performance should only be taken into account as, for all intents and purposes, a tiebreaker. Mattingly is not tied with the other 3. He is noticeably behind them.

Does fielding matter? It should. Mattingly was an exceptional fielder, but not enough to boost him to Hallworthiness. Murphy and Baines were good fielders, but not great ones. Kent was not a very good fielder, and that might have cost him until now.

Mattingly helped his team reach the postseason once -- and the Yankees won the Pennant in both the year before he arrived and the year after he left. Murphy helped his teams reach the postseason once -- and both the Braves and the Phillies won the Pennant the season after he left. Baines helped his teams reach the postseason 6 times, although they only won 1 Pennant. Kent helped his teams reach the postseason 7 times, albeit also with just 1 Pennant.

If Harold Baines and Jeff Kent don't belong in the Hall of Fame, then supporting Don Mattingly or Dale Murphy for it is a joke. If Mattingly and Murphy do belong, then you need to shut up about Baines and Kent.

Top 10 Athletes From Puerto Rico

July 25, 1952: Puerto Rico adopts its current Constitution, making it a Commonwealth of the United States, but not a State.

Top 10 Athletes From Puerto Rico

Remember: To qualify for this list, the person in question has to have been trained to play his or her sport in Puerto Rico. Where he or she was born, or went on to play, does not necessarily have any bearing on it. Therefore, Héctor "Macho" Camacho, born in Bayamón, and Héctor Camacho Jr., born in San Juan, do not qualify, because both were raised in New York.

As you might expect, baseball players and boxers dominate this list. 

Honorable Mention to José "King" Roman of Vega Baja. He came closer than any Puerto Rican to winning the Heavyweight Championship of the World, but George Foreman wrecked him in the 1st round in Tokyo on September 1, 1973.

Honorable Mention to Carlos Arroyo of Fajardo. Probably the best basketball player from Puerto Rico, he was a career backup in the NBA from 2001 to 2011, playing with the Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, Miami Heat and Boston Celtics.

He has had a considerably better career in European leagues, playing for such famous sports clubs as Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel, and Besiktas and Galatasaray in Istanbul, Turkey. About to turn 38, the point guard now plays in his homeland, for his original professional team, Cariduros de Fajardo, of which he is now co-owner.

Dishonorable Mention to Iván Rodríguez. I don't care that he's now in the Hall of Fame, and considered the greatest catcher of his generation: He cheated, and does not make the Top 10. Nor, for the same reason, does Pudge's Texas Ranger teammate Juan Gonzalez. (For the same reason, another teammate, Rafael Palmeiro, wouldn't make the Florida team I will eventually do.)

10. Monica Puig of San Juan. At 23, an age by which many women's tennis players have already peaked, she has yet to even come close to winning a Grand Slam event. But she won the women's singles title at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

9. Wilfredo Gómez of San Juan. "Bazooka" (that's a great nickname for a boxer) was Super Bantamweight Champion of the World from 1977 to 1983, Featherweight Champion of the World for much of 1984, and Junior Lightweight Champion of the World in 1985 and 1986.

8. Sixto Escobar of Santurce. The 1st Puerto Rican to win a World Championship in any of boxing's weight classes, he knocked Mexican fighter Rodolfo "Baby" Casanova out in the 9th round at the Montreal Forum on June 26, 1934, to take the Bantamweight Championship. This was appropriate, since a bantam is a rooster, and his nickname was El Gallito, the Little Rooster. (Better than "the Little Chicken.")

He held the title until 1938. In 1939, he won a fight at a stadium named for him in San Juan. Upon his discharge from the U.S. Army after World War II, he found it too difficult to make weight, and opened a liquor store. Unfortunately, like so many men who ran liquor stores and bars, he sampled too much of his own product, and his drinking combined with diabetes killed him in 1979, only 64 years old. The stadium still stands, and a statue of him has been added.

7. Carlos Delgado of Aguadilla. A 2-time All-Star, the 1st baseman led the American League in RBIs in 2003, including those he drove in when he tied the major league record with 4 home runs in a game.

He was a bit unlucky, being called up as a rookie with the Toronto Blue Jays too late to make their 1993 World Series roster. He only made the postseason once more, with the 2006 Mets, and was part of their 2007 and '08 collapses. Nevertheless, he hit 473 career home runs, was named to the Blue Jays' Level of Excellence (their version of a team hall of fame), and should be seriously considered for the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. He became eligible for it in 2015.

6. Carlos Beltrán of Manatí. A 9-time All-Star, the center fielder has won 3 Gold Gloves, was AL Rookie of the Year in 1999, and is a member of the 30-30 Club (30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a season).

After starting with the Kansas City Royals, he has reached the postseason with the 2004 Houston Astros, the 2006 Mets, the 2012 and 2013 St. Louis Cardinals, the 2015 Yankees, and the 2016 Rangers, and will do so again with the 2017 Astros.

He recently turned 40, but shows no signs of slowing down. Going into tonight's games, he has a .280 lifetime batting average, 2,690 hits including 433 home runs, and 312 stolen bases. Of all players with more career stolen bases, the only players with more career home runs are Willie Mays, Andre Dawson (in each case, barely), and 2 guys with asterisks, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez.

He should be headed for the Hall of Fame. In spite of his failure to swing on the final out of the 2006 National League Championship Series, Met fans voted him -- not Tommie Agee, Mookie Wilson or Lenny Dykstra -- the center fielder on their 50th Anniversary Team in 2012.

5. Roberto Alomar of Salinas. There are reasons to not like him, but his career is loaded. He was a 12-time All-Star and a 10-time Gold Glove. He had a .300 lifetime batting average, and 2,724 career hits, including 210 home runs, and 474 stolen bases.

He won back-to-back World Series with the 1992 and '93 Toronto Blue Jays, and also reached the postseason with the 1996 and '97 Baltimore Orioles, and the 1999 and 2001 Cleveland Indians. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and his Number 12 is the 1st number retired by the Jays, who also elected him to their aforementioned Level of Excellence.

His brother Sandy Alomar Jr., and their father Sandy Alomar Sr., can be considered Honorable Mentions.

4. Félix Trinidad of Fajardo. He was Welterweight Champion of the World from 1993 to 2000, and Middleweight Champion of the World briefly in 2001.

3. Orlando Cepeda of Ponce. His father Pedro Cepeda was a great player, known as Perucho, The Bull, but was kept out of North American pro ball for being black. His son, known in Puerto Rico as Peruchin or the Baby Bull, was fortunate enough to debut after integration.

An 11-time All-Star, the man also nicknamed Cha-Cha for his dancing ability was the 1958 NL Rookie of the Year and the 1967 NL Most Valuable Player. He led the NL in home runs with 46 and RBIs with 142 in 1961, and led it in RBIs again with 111 in 1967.

He won Pennants with the 1962 San Francisco Giants and the 1967 and '68 St. Louis Cardinals, winning the World Series in '67. He also reached the NLCS with the 1969 Atlanta Braves and won another Series with the 1972 Oakland Athletics, although injuries kept him off the World Series roster. He batted .297 for his career, and hit 379 home runs. The Giants retired his Number 30, and he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

2. Miguel Cotto of Caguas. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, but raised in Caguas from age 2, he has held titles ranging from Light Welterweight to Middleweight from 2004 to 2015. An 11-year run as a top contender is impressive enough, but that's 11 years as a World Champion, regardless of how much boxing's titles have been fragmented the last half-century.

1. Roberto Clemente of Santurce. Was there ever going to be a doubt that The Great One -- a nickname he had after actor Jackie Gleason, but before hockey player Wayne Gretzky -- would be this list's numero uno? He was a 15-time All-Star, a 12-time Gold Glove, a 4-time NL batting champion, and the 1966 NL MVP.

He played in 14 World Series games, and got a hit in every one of them, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates win the 1960 World Series, and being named the MVP of the Pirates' win in the 1971 World Series, which raised him from Caribbean icon to American icon.

Although he played most of his home games at Forbes Field, whose dimensions were similar to the pre-renovation original Yankee Stadium, limiting him to 240 career home runs, his lifetime batting average was .317, his OPS+ 130, and he collected an even 3,000 hits.

We know how the story ends, on New Year's Eve 1972. It's worth noting that, in that season, at age 38, he batted .312, and had 10 home runs and 60 RBIs, despite missing most of July with an injury, and helped the Pirates reach their 3rd straight NLCS. He got hits in 21 of his last 31 games that season. He batted .341 the season before.

This was, at most, a first step toward age-related decline. He was selected for the All-Star Team in 1972, and it wasn't a gift to an aging player from a public unwilling to disappoint a proud man: He earned it. Hank Aaron and Willie Mays were both still legitimate All-Stars at age 40, and playing at 42. There's no reason to suspect that Clemente, had he been spared by tragedy, wouldn't have matched them.

The Pirates retired his Number 21, erected a statue of him outside Three Rivers Stadium, moved it to PNC Park, and made the right field wall at that park 21 feet high in his honor. The 6th Street Bridge, connecting downtown Pittsburgh with the ballpark and the Steelers' Heinz Field, is named for him.

He was the 1st Caribbean-born player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and was the highest-ranking Hispanic player, Number 20, on The Sporting News' 1999 list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players. In 2003, George W. Bush posthumously awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

A Split Doubleheader -- A Bananas Split

Anybody who says they understand baseball is LYING.

Today, each team scored 15 runs. Each team looked brilliant. Each team looked like a bunch of bums. And tomorrow and the next day, we do it all again.

Game 1: Mets 15, Yankees 6, after the Yanks had a 4-3 lead.

Game 2: Yankees 9, Mets 0.

Dan Giese didn't have it. But Sidney Ponson? He was given up for baseball-dead. And Pedro: WHO'S YOUR DADDY? I love beating that punk.

The Ernie Banks phrase "Let's play two" has been bandied about a bit the last 24 hours. I don't think this is what Ernie had in mind.

In the first game, Carlos Delgado set a Met franchise record with 9 runs batted in. In fact, he had as many RBIs in the game as he'd had in the month to that point. Another guy who'd been given up for baseball-dead.

You've got a 9-0 lead, and you let Kyle Farnsworth and Kei Igawa each pitch an inning? Joe Girardi, just because your hair went gray in a hurry doesn't mean the rest of us want to suffer the same fate!

I could've handled losing the 1st one in a well-played game, but that was a disgrace. The 2nd one was satisfying, but it was getting served a steak dinner knowing that the ice cream you bought after lunch melted and dripped all over your fridge.

The last Yankee Stadium/Shea Stadium doubleheader was like seeing a hot cheerleader: A split is acceptable, but you wanted more.

Along those same lines, to paraphrase Angels fan Gwen Stefani, this split was bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

Willie Randolph and the Chicken Feathers

I've read some blogs from the Flushing Heathen saying that Willie Randolph did not do the job he was hired to do, and that's why he was fired; and, for that reason, the time of the season, the game of the day, and even the location of his firing don't matter.

These guys have a point. Willie did not do the job he was hired to do, which was to turn the Mets into World Champions and New York's Number 1 baseball team.

The Mets came within one run of a Pennant in 2006, came within one game of a Playoff berth and a Division Title in 2007, and now in 2008 are a sub-.500 team in a not very strong Division. And the Yankees, for all their difficulties since the bottom of the 9th inning on November 4, 2001, remain what they have been since the Met "dynasty" collapsed in 1992: New York's Number 1 baseball team.

What does this mean? It means that Met general manager Omar Minaya did not do the job he was hired to do: Get his manager the players he needed to do his job. You can't make chicken salad out of chicken feathers, to use a cleaned-up version of a classic analogy.

Jose Reyes is Rickey Henderson circa 1988, i.e. a player with a lot of talent but a bad attitude who has thus far underachieved while fooling fans and media into thinking he's great. Henderson eventually got sent to a team that was good enough for him to make the difference, and he did. He proved he had what it takes. Reyes may one day become a 1989 Rickey Henderson, but can he do it with this bunch? So far, no.

Carlos Beltran is a SPORT magazine article short of being what Reggie Jackson was in the spring of 1977. Minus the three World Championships, that is. (Lucky for him, SPORT went out of business in 2000 -- coincidentally, the last year the Mets won a Pennant.)

David Wright is a can't-miss prospect. Which is also what he was 2 years ago when the Flushing Heathen thought Willie Randolph knew how to manage.

Carlos Delgado is a switch-hitting Mo Vaughn -- minus about 50 pounds.

John Maine and Oliver Perez are starting to look like Aaron Small and Shawn Chacon, pleasant surprises when they weren't being counted on to be regular members of the starting rotation, but when they were counted on, so much for all that early promise.

Billy Wagner... Let's just say if he stood up as well on the mound as he does in the locker room, he'd be closer to Mariano Rivera than to Kyle Farnsworth.

And Johan Santana and, when able to pitch, Pedro Martinez, have made no difference at all. At least Santana's not a headhunter.

Just 3 months ago, the Flushing Heathen were so sure that this team was going all the way. And, thanks to the Three Stooges -- Fred Wilpon, Jeff Wilpon and Omar Minaya -- they have gone all the way down the drain. As they always do.

At the rate the Washington Nationals are going, Willie could be their next manager. Wouldn't that be something, Willie leading the Nats against the Mets 18 or so times a year, 9 or so times a year at Citi Field, and showing the 46,000 or so fans -- 20,000 or so coming dressed as empty seats because they don't want to see a crummy team -- what they wanted gone.

Willie Randolph has the moral high ground. Met management, and the Met fans who wanted him gone, wouldn't know a moral high ground if it bit them in the Keith Hernandez. (Maybe Kramer and Newman were right about him. After all, as a broadcaster, he's spit on plenty of people.)

Something is rotten in the neighborhood of Flushing Meadow. The food is spoiled. Blame the distributor. Not the cook.

Chef Manuel, I don't envy you your new job. Here's your, uh, chicken feathers. See what you can make of it. I'm just glad I'm a Yankee Fan and I don't have to eat it.

Met fans, the Flushing Heathen, can eat it.