Far Out Space Nuts

Tim McCarver said that the Yankees have "erased" Joe Torre from their history, the way the Nazis and Soviets used to do with former insiders, later "disgraced," in theirs.

I would have no problem with him comparing Yankee management to those totalitarian regimes... if what he said was true.

It's not. There are banners with Joe's picture on them in the new Yankee Stadium. True, Joe's Number 6 has not yet been retired, and his Plaque does not yet grace the new Monument Park... but neither has his Number 6 been given back out, either. (UPDATE: Torre received both honors on August 23, 2014.)

Nor has Bernie Williams' Number 51. But Roger Clemens' Number 22, Tino Martinez's Number 24, and David Cone's Number 36 remain in circulation. Goose Gossage's Number 54 and Dave Winfield's Number 31 have been continually given out; Reggie Jackson's Number 44 was worn by a number of coaches after he left, mainly Jeff Torborg and Mike Ferraro; and both Ron Guidry's Number 49 and Paul O'Neill's Number 21 were briefly given to pitchers who couldn't cut it, before the outrage was recognized and the numbers were taken away, and Gator's number has been retired, although Paulie's has not, yet.

Someone brought up the point that McCarver's best friend in baseball is his former St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies batterymate, Steve Carlton. Carlton was famous (or infamous, if you prefer) for not talking to reporters, leading to a joke in 1981: The two best pitchers in baseball don't speak English: Fernando Valenzuela and Steve Carlton.

But when Carlton did start speaking to the press, after his retirement, he said some far-out things. In 1994, prior to his induction to the Hall of Fame, he made comments about how the world is run by Jewish bankers in Switzerland, although he also suggested other groups such as the U.S. government, the Soviet government (guess he hadn't heard that the Soviets folded in 1991), British intelligence, and a committee of 300 in Rome (presumably Catholic rather than Jewish).

McCarver has suggested that Carlton's problem is that he reads a lot of things and believes them too easily. I find that doubtful: Carlton was one of the smartest players of my lifetime, and I can't believe he's that gullible.

I was at the 1994 Hall of Fame induction ceremony, because of Phil Rizzuto. Carlton was inducted at the same time, and a lot of people there were wondering if Carlton was going to, shall we saw, go off on a tangent in his acceptance speech. Or if he would choose not to talk at all. Instead, he spoke for a few minutes, solely about baseball and what it meant to him. He was fine, and gave no hint as to any eccentricity or controversy. He handled it with class.

Did listening to Carlton too much cause McCarver to make the statement he made last Saturday during the Fox broadcast? I don't know. I do know that, since the 1964 World Series (when he hit a big home run to help the Cards beat the Yanks), through his years broadcasting with the Mets, to a brief run on WNYW-Channel 5 where he did Yankee games but was highly critical of them, to his Fox national-network-broadcast tenure, he has been very anti-Yankee.

Well, that's his right... but he needs to get his facts straight. I don't know what would be worse for a man in his position: Lying, or being ridiculously, and easily proven, wrong. Probably the latter: Possibly the greatest insult you could give to McCarver is that he is insufficiently prepared.

On a somewhat related, and much lighter, note: One time, at the start of a Met game on WWOR-Channel 9, Ralph Kiner introduced him as "Tim MacArthur." That's not so strange, as Kiner had goofed many names over the years -- strangely, it's happened less often as he's gotten older -- and even called himself "Ralph Korner" on at least 2 verified occasions. At the end of the game, which the Mets lost, McCarver cited something said by the legendary general with whom Kiner had confused him:

McCarver: "You know, Ralph, Douglas MacArthur said, 'Chance favors the prepared mind,' and the Mets obviously weren't prepared today."

Kiner: "He also said, 'I shall return,' and so shall we, after these messages."

At least, on that occasion, Ralph didn't repeat a past mistake, by mangling the name of one of the Mets' sponsors, Manufacturer's Hanover, a bank since absorbed by Chemical Bank, itself now absorbed by Chase: "We'll be right back, after this message from Manufacturer's Hangover."

*

I should have done this last year, on the 40th Anniversary of the Moon landing.

Early in his career -- versions of the story disagree as to exactly when -- Gaylord Perry, a pretty good pitcher who made it to the Hall of Fame (some would say by cheating with illegal pitches), was taking batting practice, and someone said that man would land on the Moon before Perry hit a home run.

Well, Perry did indeed hit his 1st major league home run -- his 1st of 6, as it turned out -- on July 20, 1969, apparently just a few minutes after Apollo 11 landed on the Moon, but a few hours before Neil Armstrong stepped onto its surface. So did anyone actually make this dubious, but oh-so-slightly true, prediction? It's uncertain.

On July 20, 1969, the Yankees were playing the Washington Senators, managed by Ted Williams, at the old Yankee Stadium. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Roy White doubled, and Gene Michael (not exactly a clutch hitter, not exactly any kind of hitter for that matter) singled him home to win, 3-2.

Other games on Moonday:

* The Mets split a doubleheader with the expansion Montreal Expos at Jarry Park in Montreal. The Expos won the 1st game, 3-2, with a Mack Jones homer off Gary Gentry making a winner of Gary Waslewski. The Mets did recover pretty well from this one, starting with winning the 2nd game, 4-3, with a 10th-inning sequence very similar to the one the Yankees had in their game: A double by a starting outfielder with a lot of promise, in this case Ron Swoboda, followed by a game-winning single by a light-hitting infielder, in this case Bobby Pfeil. Don Cardwell started the nightcap for the Mets, but Ron Taylor blew a save before Jack DiLauro turned out to be the winning pitcher.

* The Phillies lost a doubleheader to the Chicago Cubs, 1-0 and 6-1 at Connie Mack Stadium, with Ferguson Jenkins outdueling Grant Jackson in the first game and Dick Selma beating Bill Champion in the second.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-5 at Fenway Park.

* The California Angels split a doubleheader with the Oakland Athletics at Anaheim Stadium. The Angels took the first game, 7-3; the A's won the second game, 9-6.

* Another doubleheader was played at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians in the opener, 3-2; the Tribe took the nightcap, 5-4 in 10 innings.

* It must have rained all over the country the day before, because a 5th doubleheader was played, at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The expansion Kansas City Royals swept the White Sox, winning the first game 8-6, then taking the second 3-2 in 11. (It was a Monday, but not a holiday Monday, so there's no civic reason for 3 doubleheaders in one day.)

* The Minnesota Twins beat the expansion Seattle Pilots (soon to become the Milwaukee Brewers), 4-0 at Sick's Stadium in Seattle.

* The Atlanta Braves pounded the expansion San Diego Padres, 10-0 at what was then known as Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Hank Aaron got 2 hits, but neither was a home run. The Braves did get a homer from a future Hall-of-Famer, Orlando Cepeda.

* And in the game where Perry hit his 1st big-league homer, the Giants were playing their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Giants won, 7-3.

Far out, man. That's one long article for a man, one giant waste of time for you, the reader.

Costly Win for Yanks

As so often happens (although it didn't last year, as I was in attendance as the Yankees won), the Yankees lost on Old-Timers' Day, failing to do the legends proud in a 10-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. But yesterday, they bounced back, taking a 9-5 win that included Alex Rodriguez's 598th career home run. 598 down... 165 to go.

Andy Pettitte had to leave the game with a pulled groin. (What? Pettitte has a pulled groin? Not A-Rod? Not Johan Santana?)

He's on the Disabled List and will miss a month. And A.J. Burnett had another bad outing.

Suddenly, not getting Cliff Lee no longer looks like no big deal.

*

The Yanks now lead the Rays by 3 games in the American League East, and the Boston Red Sox by 6 1/2 -- 7 in the AILC. (That's the All-Important Loss Column.) The Toronto Blue Jays trail by 11 1/2, and the Baltimore Orioles a whopping 29 back.

In the old days of single-division Leagues, a distance from 1st place that large was not all that uncommon, but in the Divisional Play era since 1969, especially in the 3-division era since 1994, being that far back at the end of the season isn't all that common; being that far back on July 19 is a disgrace.

In the AL Central, the Chicago White Sox lead the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins by a game and a half each, although in the loss column the Tigers are 1 back and the Twins 2. The Kansas City Royals are 11 back, and the Cleveland Indians, who should be better than this, 12 1/2.

In the AL West, the Texas Rangers are 4 1/2 ahead of the Anaheim Angels (that's what they should still be calling themselves, anyway -- you don't see the Rangers calling themselves the Dallas Rangers of Arlington, do you?), 7 ahead of the Oakland Athletics, and 17 ahead of the dashed-hopes Seattle Mariners.

In the National League East, the Atlanta Braves lead the Mets by 5, the Phillies by 5 1/2 (but both by 5 in the loss column), the Florida Marlins by 9 1/2 and the Washington Nationals by 14.

In the NL Central, the St. Louis Cardinals lead the Cincinnati Reds by half a game, 1 in the loss column; the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers by 9 1/2 each, the Houston Astros by 14 and the perpetually pathetic Pittsburgh Pirates by a putrid 18 1/2.

In the NL West, the San Diego Padres have rebounded nicely, and now lead the Colorado Rockies by 4, the San Francisco Giants by 4 1/2 , the Los Angeles Dodgers by 5 1/2, and the Arizona Diamondbacks by 20 1/2.

So in the 6 Divisions, no 2nd-place team is more than 5 games back with 12 weeks to go. Good races.

Tampa Bay leads Boston by 3 1/2 for the AL Wild Card, Detroit and Minnesota by 6 1/2 each, and the Angels by 7. Colorado and Cincinnati are tied for the NL Wild Card (the Rockies a game ahead of the Reds in the loss column), San Francisco a half-game back, the Dodgers and Mets a game and a half back. Close races there, too.

It should be a good 2nd half.

*

The Mets just barely avoided a sweep in San Francisco. Another performance by The Great Johan Santana was wasted as Francisco Rodriguez blew another save. A controversial play at the plate should have given the Giants the win, but the runner was incorrectly (the replay revealed) called out. The Mets won the game in the 10th, and K-Rod, still on the mound, celebrated the win like he usually does, like a complete ass.

Hey, K-Rod, it's good to be happy that your team won, but your team would have won an inning earlier if you hadn't fucked it up!

This is what happens when you love the glory, but you don't respect the game.

*

James Gammon died at age 70. He played Lou Brown, manager of the Cleveland Indians, in the 1st 2 Major League movies.

"Hayes, you may run like Willie Mays, but you hit like Jack Shit!"

I was surprised to see that he was only 70 -- which means he was 48 when the 1st movie was filmed. Like Wilford Brimley, who played manager Pop Fisher in The Natural, he always seemed older.

It could have been worse: Major League, for many obvious reasons, was compared with a film released a few months earlier, Bull Durham, and the man who played that film's manager, Trey Wilson, died a few months after it came out. He was just short of his 51st birthday at the time.

*

Better news: Yogi Berra, 85 years old, fell on Friday night, and was unable to attend Old-Timers' Day. But he was released from the hospital, apparently all right, and says he plans to attend the Baseball Hall of Fame's induction ceremony this coming weekend.

Going in are are former Expos and Cubs slugger Andre Dawson, former Royals and Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog, and longtime National League umpire Doug Harvey, who will thus become the only living ump in the Hall, several years after the last such ump, Al Barlick, died.

Swisher Caps the Boss' Night

It was set up so perfectly. The tributes before the game to George Steinbrenner and Bob Sheppard. Mariano Rivera laying two roses at home plate. Derek Jeter giving a short tribute speech. The military honors.

And then, the game. The opponent just had to be one of George's home towns, either Cleveland or Tampa. It was Tampa Bay, and the Rays led 3-1 and 4-3, but back-to-back homers by Robinson Cano and Jorge Posada forged one tie, then another was produced by a Nick Swisher blast.

George, an Ohio native, who married Joan Zieg, an Ohio State University graduate (the couple donated so much money to the school over the years that the facility for the great Ohio State band is named for them), would have loved to see Swisher hit that homer, which bailed out CC Sabathia, who pitched fairly well again, having won his last 8 starts and avoided the loss this time.

Then Mariano pitched the 9th -- I can't imagine that George, whose taste ran more toward classical and marches, liked "Enter Sandman" by Metallica or any other metal song -- and the Yankees got men on 1st and 2nd with one out. And who's up? The Captain. Derek Jeter. Of course. He was going to get the winning hit.

He was not, however, introduced by the recording of Sheppard, as he requested to always be done. On this night, the Yankees went without PA announcements during the game. So there was no chance for the audience to get chills by hearing Sheppard's voice announcing Jeter in this clutch situation. And it was really hot and humid, so they could have used a chill or two.

It was so perfect. All Jeter needed to do was get a hit. True, all 3 Tampa Bay starting outfielders have good arms, but the runner on 2nd was Curtis Granderson, who has good speed. All Jeter needed was a hit. It would have been perfect. Except for the weather, of course.

And Jeter... struck out. Struck out in a clutch situation? Who does he think he is, A-Rod? The A-Rod of 2004 to '08, anyway?

So that brought Swisher back up. It also brought up a flashback.

August 6, 1979. The Yankees have just come back from Thurman Munson's funeral in Canton, Ohio. And, unlike most other Yankee-legend deaths, this one was completely unexpected, and a terrible shock. Bobby Murcer had been Thurman's best friend on the team, and along with Lou Piniella gave one of the eulogies.

Then, in the nationally-televised game that night, the Yanks trailed the Baltimore Orioles 4-0 in the 7th, when Murcer hit a 3-run homer, and then won it in the bottom of the 9th with a shot down the left-field line that scored Bucky Dent with the tying run and Willie Randolph with the winning run.

Maybe Swisher wasn't the most appropriate guy to do it -- Jeter would have been -- but he was an Ohio guy, like Steinbrenner, and like Munson. Maybe he didn't get here soon enough to really get to know George, but he sure did something George would have loved. Like Murcer, he hit a big home run, and now, with the game on the line in the bottom of the 9th, he slashed one down the line (right field, in this case), and here came the winning run. Unlike the Munson/Murcer game, the play at the plate was close, but Rays catcher Kelly Shoppach (a former Yankee prospect) couldn't hang onto the ball, and Granderson scored.

The Stadium erupted. Swisher was immediately interviewed by Duke Castiglione for WWOR-Channel 9, which was broadcasting the game, and, since it was a walkoff hit, got a pie in the face from A.J. Burnett. Then he turned to the fans and posed. What a ham, but he earned it.

Steinbrenner was a big fan of General George S. Patton. Well, as both Georges might have said on this night, "Swisher, you magnificent bastard!"

I wonder if Ohio State man Swisher pointed out -- good-naturedly, I would hope -- to University of Michigan man Jeter that the Buckeye got it done after the Wolverine failed to do so.

It is a bad thing, though, that no Yankees went to Sheppard's funeral on Long Island. Brian Cashman went to represent the Yankee organization. And it's understandable that, with their own loss to deal with, no member of the Steinbrenner family went. But the players -- especially Jeter, who seemed to have revered Sheppard -- should have gone.

I'm glad I saw that game on TV, instead of actually going. The weather was awful (you could see players sweating right through their caps), the mood was somber (at least at first), and the game was tight. Not my kind of experience. Besides, at home, the food was already paid for.

Today is Old-Timers' Day, the holiest day on the Yankee calendar. It should be another highly emotional one. We never know until they're introduced which ones will show up. Hopefully, all the biggies will be there: Yogi, Whitey, Reggie, Gator, Goose, Bernie, Paulie, Tino, Coney.

*

Days until the New York Football Challenge at Red Bull Arena: 5. Next Thursday night, the Red Bulls play Tottenham... and Thierry Henry debuts against his former arch-rivals. What does he think of Tottenham? "Shit!" What does he think of shit? "Tottenham!" Thank you!

Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 600th career home run: 6 (an estimate I've moved back up).

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series: 20, starting Friday night, August 6, at Yankee Stadium II. 3 weeks.

Days until the new English Premier League season starts: 28. 4 weeks.

Days until the first football game at the new Meadowlands Stadium (still unnamed): 32.

Days until Rutgers plays football again: 49. 7 weeks.

Days until the first regular-season Giants game at the new Meadowlands Stadium: 57. 8 weeks.

Days until the first regular-season Jets game at the new Meadowlands Stadium: 58.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 68. Under 10 weeks.

Days until the Devils play hockey again: 84, on Friday, October 8, at home at the Prudential Center in Newark, against the Dallas Stars. 12 weeks.

Days until Rutgers and Army play the first college football game at the new Meadowlands Stadium: 91. 3 months.

Days until the Devils play another local rival: 100, on Sunday, October 24, at Madison Square Garden against The Scum. Then the Rags come to the Prudential on Friday, November 5. The first game of the season against the Islanders is on Friday, November 26, the day after Thanksgiving, at the Nassau Coliseum, followed the next day by the first game of the season against the defending Eastern Conference Champion Philadelphia Flyers, at The Rock.

Days until the next North London Derby: 127, on Saturday, November 20, at New Highbury. A little over 4 months.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving clash: 132. 19 weeks.

Days until Derek Jeter collects his 3,000th career hit: 307 (estimated).

Days until the Rutgers-Army football game at Yankee Stadium: 483.

Days until the last Nets game in New Jersey: 638 (estimated).

Days until the 2012 Olympics begin in London: 726.

Days until Alex Rodriguez collects his 3,000th career hit: 824 (estimated).

Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 700th career home run: 1,087 (estimated).

Days until Super Bowl XLVIII at the Meadowlands: 1,295.

Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 756th career home run to surpass all-time leader Hank Aaron: 1,750 (estimated).

Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 763rd career home run to become as close to a "real" all-time leader as we are likely to have: 1,774 (estimated).

Tampa Bay's All-Time Baseball Team

The Yankees begin a big series with the Rays tonight, although it's overshadowed by the deaths of Yankee owner -- and Tampa native -- George Steinbrenner and public-address announcer Bob Sheppard.

So, with the Rays as the opponent, here's one of the strongest of these squads, as North & Central Florida is a baseball-rich area...

Tampa Bay's All-Time Baseball Team

To be eligible for this team, you need to be from the Tampa Bay Rays' region, which includes every Florida County except the following: Broward, Collier, Dade, Lee, Martin, Monroe, Palm Beach and St. Lucie. Anyone from one of those will be assigned to the Florida Marlins' region, whenever I decide to do that region’s all-time team.

One thing is for sure: I will not make Billy Beane the general manager. A weak-hitting outfielder from Orlando, he's been GM in Oakland since the late 1990s. But anybody who’s a big-league GM for as long as he’s been, and has never built a Pennant-winner, is no genius. Maybe if the A’s still had "genius" manager Tony LaRussa (who I’ll get to later), LaRussa and Beane would have won one together. Maybe not.

1B Constantino "Tino" Martinez of Tampa. The Bamtino was a big part of the Seattle Mariner team that saved big-league baseball in the Northwest with that 1995 American League Western Division title, and he sure didn't let up in the Division Series against the Yankees.

So out went Donnie Regular Season Baseball, and in came Tino, who had worn Number 23 in Seattle, and didn't need enough reminders of who he was replacing. So he switched to 24, and, sorry, Robinson Cano, but it's going to be a while before I can imagine any other Yankee wearing the number.

With a lefty swing tailor-made for Yankee Stadium's short right-field porch, and a glove not that far behind Mattingly's, Tino helped the Yankees win the World Series in 1996 (immediately placing him ahead of Mattingly in my mind), 1998, 1999 and 2000, and almost in 2001.

In 1997, a year when the Yankees didn't win the Pennant, he got the hit that clinched the 1st-ever regular-season series against the Mets, which makes him a huge hero in my eyes. That same year, he hit 44 homers (most by a Yankee between 1961 and 2005) with 144 RBIs (most by a Yankee between 1985 and 2007). His grand slam in Game 1 of the 1998 World Series and his down-to-the-last-out, game-tying homer in Game 4 in 2001 still rank among the most thrilling homers in Yankee history.

The Yankees made a mistake in letting him go after 2001, especially since Jason Giambi never lived up to the hype. Tino went to St. Louis and helped the Cardinals reach the 2002 postseason, and did he ever get a nice hand in 2003 when the Cards game to The Bronx for an Interleague series. Tino played for his hometown Devil Rays in 2004 before one last, reasonably productive season with the Yanks. With 339 homers (192 as a Yankee), he'll never make the Hall of Fame, but so what. He'll make Monument Park at the new Stadium.

Very Honorable Mention to John "Buck" O'Neil of Carrabelle, in the Florida Panhandle. The longtime star and manager of the Kansas City Monarchs became a household name thanks to Ken Burns' miniseries Baseball, and afterward founded the Negro Leagues Museum, just a few blocks from the site of the Monarchs' (and minor-league K.C. Blues', and Athletics', and original Royals') ballpark, Municipal Stadium. That he is not in the Hall of Fame is, as the French say, worse than a crime, it is a blunder.

Honorable Mention to Fred McGriff of Tampa -- in fact, preceded Tino at Tampa's Jefferson High School by just a little bit, being 4 years older. The Yankees had him at Class A ball when, on December 9, 1982, they traded him, didn't-work-out speedster Dave Collins, and pitcher Mike Morgan to the Toronto Blue Jays for an injured Dale Murray and a never-made-it Tom Dodd.

How bad a trade was this? Aside from the Red Sox selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees with 665 homers to go, McGriff’s 493 post-Yankee homers may be the most round-trippers ever traded away. But the Yanks already had Mattingly, and McGriff still didn't reach the majors until 1986, by which point Mattingly was the best player in baseball, and they had plenty of DHs, so, really, what could the Yanks have done? Still, McGriff and Morgan were still productive players 19 years later -- and don’t forget, the Arizona Diamondbacks would not have won the 2001 World Series against the Yanks without Morgan.

McGriff made 5 All-Star teams, led each League in homers once, helped make the Jays respectable and the Atlanta Braves a quasi-dynasty, including 2 homers in the 1995 World Series. He became the 1st Tampa Bay-area native to play for the Devil Rays when they started in 1998, along with Wade Boggs. It’s a shame he couldn’t get the 7 more homers to reach 500, but he was done.

Honorable Mention to Prince Fielder of Melbourne -- as suggested by a reader (see comment below). I initially missed Prince because he was born in Ontario, California, but grew up in Melbourne and attended Eau Gallie High School (as did Tim Wakefield, listed below).

In just 5 full seasons, plus this half-season, he's already hit 180 home runs, with an OPS+ of a whopping 140, and this while playing his home games at Miller Park in Milwaukee, not exactly a hitter's paradise. He's also helped the Brewers nearly reach the postseason in 2007 and finally do so in 2008, only their 3rd berth in their 40-year history. He led the NL in homers in 2007 and in RBIs in 2009.

To give you an idea: He's only 26, the age at which his father Cecil broke out. Cecil last played at age 34, and finished with 319 homers. Hmmmm... We could say that both Cecil and Prince are too fat to be suspected of steroids, but look at David Ortiz. Still, while Cecil may never make the Hall of Fame, Prince may be on his way.

Honorable Mention to Glenn Davis of Jacksonville. A 2-time All-Star, in 1986 he led the Houston Astros to the National League West title and finished 2nd to Mike Schmidt in the Most Valuable Player voting. He was, for a time, the Astros' all-time home run leader, hitting 166 despite playing his home games in the pitcher-friendly Astrodome. A good fielder, too.

But a back injury in 1990 curtailed his career. Before the 1991 season, the Astros traded him to the Baltimore Orioles for Steve Finley, Pete Harnisch and Curt Schilling. It looked like a good trade for both teams, but it turned into a bad one for both. Finley didn’t get good until after he left the Astros, Harnisch had personal issues that wrecked his career, and Schilling didn't blossom until the Astros traded him to Philadelphia. As for Davis, the injury meant he wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the close RF wall at Camden Yards. His career OPS+ was 123, but because of the injury he was finished at 32, with "only" 192 homers.

Honorable Mention... sort of... to Steve Garvey of Tampa. Like Kirk Gibson, he played both baseball and football at Michigan State University. Ten times an All-Star, 5 times a Gold Glove, 5 times a 100-RBI man, once an MVP in the NL (1974) and twice in the All-Star Game.

He was the Los Angeles Dodgers' Mr. Clean, their Captain America, their... let’s face it, their Ken Doll. He was the red-white-and-blue good guy of the 1970s, in contrast to the green-and-gold gangbangers in Oakland; the funky, Afro-wearing (including a couple of the white guys) street hustlers in Philly; the garish, black-and-gold disco pimps in Pittsburgh; and the wiseass goombas in The Bronx. Or so the believers in the O'Malley/Lasorda/Garvey Dodger Blue myth tried to tell us. 

Garvey played every day (his 1,207 consecutive games played is still an NL record and 4th all-time), and he played well, winning 5 Pennants (4 with L.A. and 1, as Chicago Cub fans don't like to be reminded, with the San Diego Padres) and the 1981 World Series. That year, at a point in his career when it looked like he would one day rank among the game's all-time greats, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time.

So why isn't this guy in the Hall of Fame? On Baseball-Reference.com, their Hall of Fame Monitor, which has a Likely HOFer at 100, has Garvey at 130; but their Hall of Fame Standards, which has the Average HOFer at 50, has him at only 32. So what gives?

Well, it's not that he didn't just plain stop hitting, or get his career curtailed by injury: His last productive season was at age 37. But, while from age 25 to 31, he was one of the top 10 players in baseball, after that, he was only a pretty good one, not putting together the kinds of seasons true greats still do in their early 30s. Only once did he hit more than 28 home runs (granted, Dodger Stadium is a pitcher's park), finishing with 272, not a HOF total. He collected 2,599 hits, a very good total but not, by itself, HOF material. His career OPS+ was 116, very good but, again, not HOF level. And, with Reggie Smith and usually at least 2 really good pitchers, a case can be made that Garvey was never even the best player on his own team. Tha'’s why I have him behind Tino here: He wasn't that, either, and he's not in the Hall, but he helped his team win more.

It has nothing to do with the fact that Garvey's Mr. Clean image was shattered, leading to the bumper sticker (probably most popular with Giants and Angels fans), "STEVE GARVEY IS NOT MY PADRE." At least the Padres retired his Number 6; the Dodgers still haven't, and manager Joe Torre has it now.

2B Davey Johnson of Orlando. I cheated a little on this one: Davey went to high school in San Antonio, which would put him in the Houston Astros' region; but I didn't see another 2nd baseman in the Rays' region that I thought was good enough, and, besides, Davey's not going to finish above Rogers Hornsby in the race for Texas' best at that position.

While he's known now as the only living person to manage the Mets to a World Championship (rest in peace, Gil Hodges), Davey was a pretty good player with the Baltimore Orioles' semi-dynasty of 1966-71, including making the last out in the only other World Series the Mets won, in 1969. He was a 4-time All-Star, a 3-time Gold Glove, and had a little power.

Only once did he hit more than 18 homers in a season, but in that year, 1973, with the Atlanta Braves, he hit 43 -- with "only" 99 RBIs. Those of you familiar with Brady Anderson must have an alarm going off in your head, but it wasn't due to steroids, it was due to Fulton County Stadium being at the highest elevation in the majors in those pre-Coors Field days, and it became known as the Launching Pad; if the Braves had stayed in Milwaukee and Hank Aaron had stayed with them, he still might have hit 600 homers, but he wouldn’t have hit 755.

Davey finished with 136, but with 2 World Series rings (1966 and 1970) -- and, of course, a 3rd as a manager (1986), although with all the talent he had to manage in Flushing, Cincinnati, Baltimore and L.A., he should have won more, which is why he’s not also the manager of this team.

SS David Eckstein of Sanford. I had the good fortune to watch him a few times for the Trenton Thunder in their 1999 Division Title-winning season (though they didn't win a Pennant until 2007). But, with former Thunder player Nomar Garciaparra having a hammerlock on the position at the big-league level, the Boston Red Sox let him go, and he made his debut with the Anaheim Angels (as the team was then officially known)

In 2002, he batted .293 with 63 RBIs, and led the AL in both sacrifice hits and hit-by-pitch, and became the first Thunder alumnus to play on a World Champion, hitting .310 with 3 RBIs in the Series. The Angels traded him to the Cardinals in 2005, and he helped them win a Series in 2006. Now 35, he is still a productive player as the starting second baseman for the Padres. The Thunder have retired Nomar's Number 5 and Tony Clark's Number 33 (and, of course, Jackie Robinson's Number 42), so why not Eckstein's Number 22? He is, after all, if not their greatest, then their most accomplished player. (UPDATE: They have since retired it.)

Honorable Mention to Jay Bell of Pensacola, who split time between short and 2nd, and had 195 homers, but I couldn't bring myself to put him at either position on this team.

3B Wade Boggs of Tampa. I almost missed him, because he was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He won 5 batting titles, including a peak of .368 in 1985. Career batting average of .328, career OPS+ of 130. The only man to hit a home run for his 3,000th career hit. Only 118 homers, but a whopping 578 doubles. An All-Star 12 times... in a row. Six straight times, he led the AL in intentional walks, despite being in a powerful Boston lineup. Won 2 Gold Gloves.

After the heartbreak of the 1986 World Series with the Red Sox, finally won one with the Yankees in 1996, and who will ever forget him riding behind the police officer on the horse around the warning track at Yankee Stadium. The Red Sox have not yet retired his Number 26, nor have the Yankees retired his Number 12 or given him a Monument Park Plaque, but when he closed his career with his hometown Devil Rays, they retired Number 12 for him. Yeah, he had his issues, and maybe trying to avoid them makes me... chicken. So what.

(UPDATE: The Red Sox have since retired his number, and Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez have also made their 3,000th hits home runs.)

Honorable Mention... sort of... to Larry Wayne Jones Jr. of Deland. Yeah, Chipper. A 142 OPS+, 433 home runs thus far, 488 doubles, 2,468 hits, the 1999 NL MVP, and 11 postseason appearances for the Atlanta Braves... but only 1 ring. Baseball-Reference.com has him at 162 on their Hall of Fame Monitor and 65 on their Hall of Fame Standards, meaning he would make it... although he wouldn't exactly be the last player I'd suspect of steroid use.

Honorable Mention to Howard Johnson of Clearwater. By a weird occurrence, the Mets have won 2 World Series, and each time, the starting 3rd baseman was from the Tampa Bay area. In 1969, they platooned Ed Charles of St. Petersburg and Wayne Garrett of Sarasota (who also started on their 1973 Pennant-winners). After helping the Detroit Tigers win the 1984 World Series, the Mets got him for pitcher Walt Terrell, and he platooned with Ray Knight for a couple of years, including 1986. (Knight breaks the pattern, but not by much: He's from Albany, Georgia, but the Rays aren’t that much further to the south than the Braves are to the north.)

In 1987, '89 and '91, HoJo was the 2nd Met, after Darryl Strawberry, to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases in the same season; I often joked that he was actually a 30-30-30 man, having also made 30 errors, but the most he ever made was 24, not good but hardly an atrocious total for a 3rd baseman.

With a .249 lifetime batting average and 228 homers, he'll never make the Hall of Fame, but he's still the best hot-corner man the Mets have ever had -- and will be until David Wright wins a World Series (don't hold your breath). He’s now the Mets' 3rd-base coach, and has managed in their minor-league system, so some people think he'll be the next manager when Jerry Manuel is fired.

Honorable Mention to Larry Parrish of Winter Haven. An All-Star once with the Montreal Expos and once with the Texas Rangers, statistically he had a better career than HoJo (256 homers despite not playing in a hitters' park), but his only trip to the postseason was in 1981 with the Expos, so HoJo made a bigger impact. Not to be confused with Lance Parrish, nor any relation. Also to Jim Presley of Pensacola, a pretty good slugger for the mid-1980s Seattle Mariners, but burned out quickly.

Honorable Mention to Dean Palmer of Tallahassee. Also a 3rd baseman for the Rangers, and later for the Tigers. Hit 275 home runs and had 4 100-RBI seasons.

LF Tim Raines of Sanford. This seems like a tough one at first, because I could have gone with a very similar player, Vince Coleman of Jacksonville, who stole 752 bases in his career, including at least 107 in each of his 1st 3 seasons, but really tailed off before he was 30 years old. By contrast, "Rock" Raines batted .304 as a 21-year-old rookie with the 1981 Expos, and .290 as a 38-year-old veteran with the 1998 Yankees, making the postseason each time. He had to get to the Yankees to win a ring in 1996 and another in '98, but it was well worth it.

He led the NL with a .336 batting average in 1986, but fell victim to collusion, and in his first 2 games back with the Expos in '87, on May 1 and 2, torched the Mets -- I was at the May 2 game at Shea, and the Met fans gave him a nice hand because they knew he was a good guy who got screwed.

Actually, he wasn't always a good guy, as he had to overcome a cocaine addiction, but overcome it he did. Lifetime batting average .294, OPS+ 123, 2,605 hits and 808 stolen bases. He has been eligible for the Hall of Fame since 2008, Baseball-Reference.com’s HOF Monitor has him at 90 of a "necessary" 100, their HOF Standards has him at 47 out of 50. He belongs, but, as Coleman did to him, he may be suffering in comparison to Rickey Henderson. (UPDATE: He's now in the Hall.)

His son, center fielder Tim Raines Jr., played briefly with the Orioles, including the 2002 season with his father, joining the Ken Griffeys as the only father-son combo to play for the same team at the same time. Tim Sr. is now the manager of the Atlantic League's Newark Bears, and Tim Jr. plays for them.

I could have given an Honorable Mention to Luis Gonzalez of Tampa, a Jefferson High School teammate of Tino Martinez. Not to do so would suugest that I'm still upset over his World Series-winning hit against the Yankees in 2001. (Well, I am.) But he's just too suspicious. He debuted in 1990, and from then until 1997, his peak homer year was 18. Then, in 1998, at age 30, he suddenly starts jacking them out: Seasons of 23, 26 and 31, and then, in the Arizona Diamondbacks' World Championship year of 2001, 57. And, just like that, he drops again, to 28, 26, 17, 24, 15, 15, and 8 when he retired. He finished with 354 homers. Something's not right there.

CF Johnny Damon of Orlando. I missed him at first because he was born at Fort Riley, Kansas, where his father was stationed at the time (and where Jackie Robinson was stationed in World War II). But he grew up in Orlando, putting him in the Rays' territory.

A .288 lifetime batting average, he just passed the 2,500 hit mark, he has 213 home runs, he led the AL in hits and stolen bases in 2000 (with the Kansas City Royals), led it in triples in 2002 (with the Red Sox), and, along with Ramiro Mendoza and Eric Hinske, is one of only 3 men in the last 86 years to have won World Series with both the Red Sox and the Yankees.

RF Lou Piniella of Tampa. Now best known as a chunky manager, who led the Cincinnati Reds to the 1990 World Championship, the Mariners to every postseason berth they've ever had, and the Cubs to a couple of NL Central titles, he was one heck of a hitter.

He won the 1969 AL Rookie of the Year award with the Kansas City Royals, before being traded to the Yankees after the 1973 season, a great trade for the Yanks as all they gave up was aging reliever Lindy McDaniel. He had 6 .300 seasons, and although he always seemed to be platooning between left, right and the DH spot with Reggie Jackson and Roy White, he was productive when it counted. It seemed like he saved his best games for the arch-rival Red Sox (including 2 tremendously important defensive plays in the 1978 AL East Playoff), the ALCS against the Royals (revenge for getting rid of him, maybe?) and the World Series against the Dodgers (his 10th-inning single drove home White with the winning run in Game 4 in 1978).

He was known as "Sweet Lou" for his swing, not for his personality: While his teammates loved him, he had a temper that Carl Everett would have envied. I'll never forget him getting nailed at the plate in the '78 ALCS -- looking at the replay years later, it's clear that he was out -- and then going into a tirade that led one sportswriter to call him "the Wild Man of Borneo."

As manager in The Bronx, Cincy, Seattle, Tampa and North Side Chicago, everyone waited for bad calls by the umpires to see "the Eruption of Mount Lou." (He's been compared to Italian volcanoes Mt. Vesuvius and Mt. Etna, but is, in fact, descended from immigrants from Spain.) From the time I first became aware of baseball, he's been one of my favorite personalities in the game. If you don’t like Lou Piniella, you’re a sad case. Or a Red Sox, Royals or Dodgers fan.

Honorable Mention to Derek Bell of Tampa, one of the "Killer B's" with Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio on the Astros' 1997-98-99 NL Central Champions. He also helped the Mets win the 2000 NL Pennant, but got hurt and was out of baseball after just one more year. Had he played longer, he might have the starting nod here.

Dishonorable Mention to Gary Sheffield of Tampa. Dwight Gooden's nephew seems to have Hall of Fame credentials, including the 1992 NL batting title, a career OPS+ of 140, 2,689 hits, 509 home runs, 467 doubles and, surprisingly, 253 stolen bases. And, let's face it, we all had to applaud when he faced that guy who was trying to extort his wife, who posed for some racy photos before becoming a gospel singer. Sheff called first his bluff and then the cops. Great.

But... Eight different teams wanted to get him, but all 8 teams ended up wanting to get rid of him. He reached the postseason with 3, but only won 1 Pennant, winning the 1997 World Series with the Marlins. When the Yankees got him in 2004, I was against it, using the cliche "clubhouse cancer." Well, he didn't look like it through that regular season, but he disappeared at the plate during those last 4 ALCS games against the Red Sox. He put up another great regular season in 2005, but again didn't get the job done in October. In 2006, he got hurt, and didn't get the job done in any month, including the embarrassing ALDS loss to the Tigers, and my prophecy was, sadly, fulfilled. He played with the Mets last season, and gave them some big hits at age 40, but got hurt again, and was released.

And then, of course... Seriously, Gary, you didn't know "the cream" had a steroid in it? He may be many things, but he's not stupid. But he didn't respect the baseball establishment, or baseball fans, enough to give us the truth, or even enough to give us a plausible lie. He does not make this team, and, while he's currently not on any roster, and thus stands to become eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2015, I hope he doesn't get in.

DH Hal McRae of Sebring. One of the first players to make his name as a designated hitter, he helped the Kansas City Royals to 10 postseason appearances -- every one they've ever made, including the 1980 Pennant and the 1985 World Championship. A career OPS+ of 122, he led the AL in doubles in 1977 and in doubles and RBIs in 1982. He was less successful as a manager, and although his son Brian McRae also played in the majors, he wasn't nearly as successful as his father.

UT Chone Figgins of Brandon -- originally missed by me because he was born in Leary, Georgia. He's played every position except 1st base, catcher and pitcher, and not just once or twice: Each position he's played, he's played at least 27 times, with 3rd base his most frequent position.

A rookie with the Anaheim Angels' World Champions of 2002, he drove the Yankees crazy in the 2002, '05 and '09 postseasons, and was a big reason why the Angels reached the postseason 6 times in 8 years. He's now with the Seattle Mariners, and at age 32 has a .285 lifetime batting average and 322 stolen bases, leading the AL with 62 in 2005.

C Al Lopez of Tampa. A very good defensive catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates, and in fact once held the record for most games played at the position. Not a great hitter, but did bat .301 in 1933. And the next-best catchers for the Rays' region are Mike Heath of Tampa, Thurman Munson's backup on the 1978 World Champions, who later became a starter in Oakland and Detroit; and Zack Taylor, Gabby Hartnett's backup on the 1929 NL Champion Cubs, who is better known as the St. Louis Browns manager who Bill Veeck usurped for "Grandstand Managers Night" in 1951.

Speaking of managers, Lopez is also the manager of this team. From 1949 to 1964, only twice did the Yankees not win the American League Pennant. That was in 1954 with the Cleveland Indians, and in 1959 with the Chicago White Sox. Both teams had Lopez as their manager. He makes it ahead of Tony LaRussa of Tampa. True, LaRussa has now joined Sparky Anderson as the only managers to win World Series from both Leagues, but if he was really a "genius," he'd have a better World Series won-lost record than 2-3 in series and 9-12 in games, and would have a lot more than the 2 titles in 10 trips to the postseason. In other words, if Bobby Cox were from this region, I wouldn't take him over Lopez, either.

What Lopez did, beating out the Yankee Dynasty of Casey Stengel, was a lot harder. And that, more than his catching, is what got Lopez into the Hall of Fame. Actually, it's amazing how many managers the Tampa Bay area produced, because I could also have tried Davey or Sweet Lou.

Honorable Mention to Anthony John "A.J." Pierzynski of Orlando. Went to Dr. Phillips H.S. with Damon. A 2-time All-Star, he reached the postseason with the 2003 Minnesota Twins, before becoming a key figure in the Chicago White Sox' 2005 World Series run, with that controversial missed 3rd strike in the ALCS. A lot of people who aren't White Sox fans hate him. I think he's a gamer, and if the Yankees ever got him, I'd be fine with it.

SP Jack Billingham of Orlando. Helped the Cincinnati Reds win 3 Pennants and 2 World Series in the 1970s, on his way to 145 career wins.

SP Don Sutton of Pensacola -- originally missed by me because he was born in Clio, Alabama, which also happens to be the birthplace of another somewhat disreputable character, George Wallace. True, Sutton was caught cheating (sandpaper taped to his glove hand, good way to hide it until, of course, he couldn't), but he apparently didn't do it for his entire career. He only won 20 once, in 1976, but won 324 games in his career, and struck out 3,574 batters. Of pitchers with more wins – Nolan Ryan has exactly as many – only Roger Clemens and Steve Carlton have more strikeouts. His career WHIP is 1.142.

Hall of Fame, Number 20 retired by the Los Angeles Dodgers, whom he got to the postseason in 1974, '77, '78 and (through a one-game Playoff for the NL West title) '80. He also reached the postseason with the Houston Astros in '81, the Milwaukee Brewers in '82, and the California Angels in '86. He never won a World Series, though: He was re-signed by the Dodgers in 1988, but was released in August, just before they won the Series (as they had in '81, when he was in Houston).

He was also an occasional panelist on Match Game, one of many Dodgers to take advantage of Hollywood being nearby. He has parlayed that into a broadcasting career for the Atlanta Braves.

SP Dwight Gooden of Tampa. At age 19 and 20, Doctor K was one of the best pitchers we'll ever see. From 21 to 26, he was one of the best pitchers in baseball. From 27 to 35, he was just another pitcher as he battled his demons, which, don't forget, included injuries as well as drugs. And at 35, much too soon, he was done.

He should have been 194-112 at the 2/3rds mark of his career, but that was his final record. But he did pitch a no-hitter (as a Yankee, not a Met), and he did win 3 World Series (1986 as a Met, 1996 and 2000 as a Yankee).

SP Mike Hampton of Crystal River. He helped the Astros to 3 straight postseason appearances, going 22-4 in the last of those seasons, 1999. So the Mets made him a rent-a-star in 2000, and he led them to a Pennant, pitching the NLCS clincher in Game 5 at Shea. But the Mets chose not to sign him to a new contract, and he chose to sign with the Colorado Rockies. So, Hamp, how good are the schools in the Denver area?

Injuries have dogged him ever since. Officially, he's not retired, but it looks like his current career record of 148-115 is going to hold.

SP Tim Wakefield of Melbourne. Since 1995, the Boston Red Sox have reached the postseason 8 times in 15 seasons, and he's been there for all of them. He's still at it at age 43, having won 192 games, including Games 1 and 4 of the 2003 ALCS, before giving up Aaron Boone's homer in Game 7. Still, he has been as much a part of the Sox' success, throughout their history, as anyone.

Honorable Mention to Zack Greinke of Orlando. He won last year's AL Cy Young Award, going 16-8 with an ERA of 2.16, an ERA+ of 205, and a WHIP of 1.073, all leading the League. A far cry from the 5-17 he had with the Kansas City Royals in 2005. For a career, he’s only 55-61... but he's only 26, and the next-best choice for a 5th starter for the Tampa Bay region was Brett Myers of Jacksonville. Greinke will be there, especially if he can get away from Kansas City and get to a contender.

Dishonorable Mention to Kenny Rogers of Plant City (initially missed by me because he was born in Savannah, Georgia). True, he went 219-156 for a .528 winning percentage, and his career ERA of 108 isn't bad, but his career WHIP is 1.403, and he's a known cheater and a massive jackass.

Plus, how many players can say they screwed over both New York baseball teams? The Yankees came back from 6-0 down in Game 4 of the 1996 World Series, but the reason they were in that hole is because Rogers, 12-8 that regular season but with a 14.14 ERA in the postseason, put them there. And he threw the biggest base on balls in baseball history in Game 6 of the 1999 NLCS, walking Andruw Jones with the bases loaded to give the Atlanta Braves the Pennant against the Mets. His name may have been Kenny Rogers, but it was a manager bringing him in who was "The Gambler."

RP Tom Gordon of Avon Park. A pretty good starter for the Royals, he became a great reliever for the Red Sox. In 1998, he saved 46 for the Sox, and Sox fan Stephen King wrote a fantasy novel titled The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.

This is how strong the Curse of the Bambino -- if it actually existed -- was: Gordon got hurt the next season, which may have prevented the Sox from beating the Yanks in the '99 ALCS. He was with the Yankees in 2004, and... lost in the ALCS to the Red Sox! He finally got a ring with the 2008 Phillies. At age 41, he appears to be done, with 138 wins and 158 saves. But a good career.

Honorable Mention to Bobby Thigpen of Tallahassee. For a few years, he was a great closer with the Chicago White Sox. In 1990, he saved 57 games, a record that stood until 2008. But injury cut his career short at age 30, with 201 saves. He did make it into a World Series, with the Phillies in 1993.

Anaheim's All-Time Baseball Team

With the All-Star Game in Anaheim, I was going to do the all-time team for the Angels' region, and then George Steinbrenner died, requiring a postponement.

Here it is, with Orange and Riverside Counties being the contributing areas:

Anaheim's All-Time Baseball Team

1B Mark Grace of Tustin. Born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, so I initially missed him, but it's not where the player was born that qualifies him for one of these regional teams, it's where he was trained at baseball.

No player had more hits in the 1990s than Grace, who collected 2,445 for his career, including 511 doubles and 173 home runs. Lifetime batting average .303, OPS+ 119, 3 All-Star Games, 3 Gold Gloves.

He helped the Chicago Cubs reach the postseason in 1989 and 1998, before finally winning a World Series with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001 -- defying one of baseball's oldest "curses": Not that of the Billy Goat, but "the Ex-Cub Factor." Three of more former Cubs on a World Series roster means a team will lose. From the Cubs' last Pennant in 1945, it's only been overcome 3 times: The 1960 Pirates, the 2001 Diamondbacks, and the 2008 Phillies -- that last only because both the Phils and their opponents, the Tampa Bay Rays, had exactly 3 ex-Cubs.

Grace became eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2009. Should he get in? According to Baseball-Reference.com, their Hall of Fame Monitor, for which a "Likely HOFer" is at 100, has Grace at 60, well short. Their Hall of Fame Standards, for which the "Average HOFer" is at 50, has Grace at 38, a bit short. Their 10 Most Similar Batters to him include just 1 player who is in, Enos Slaughter; but also 3 who arguably should be in, Keith Hernandez, Mickey Vernon and Al Oliver.

Honorable Mention to Alvin Davis of Riverside. The 1984 American League Rookie of the Year, he sometimes seemed to almost singlehandedly make the Seattle Mariners respectable. Hence, he, not Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson, Edgar Martinez, Ichiro Suzuki or, God forbid, Alex Rodriguez is still known as "Mr. Mariner."

He had a career OPS+ of 127, had 2 100-RBI seasons. He was the 1st inductee into the Mariners Hall of Fame. Strangely, in 1991, when he was just 30, he stopped hitting, going from a .283 batting average the season before to .221. He was out of baseball a year later. This must be the hitting equivalent of Steve Blass Disease: No known injury, illness, substance abuse, personal issue, nothing -- he just... stopped... hitting. He has returned to Riverside, as head baseball coach at Martin Luther King High School.

2B Jeff Kent of Huntington Beach. Not the most likable guy, but he had a 123 OPS+, 2,461 hits, 8 100-RBI seasons in a 9-year span, 5 All-Star berths and the 2000 National League Most Valuable Player award. His 377 home runs are the most by a 2nd baseman.

He bounced around a lot -- the Mets gave up David Cone to get him in 1992 and gave him up to get Carlos Baerga in 1996, both bad trades -- but reached the postseason with 4 different teams, reaching the World Series with the San Francisco Giants in 2002.

He will be eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014. On Baseball-Reference.com, their "Hall of Fame Monitor" has him at 122 where a "Likely HOFer" is around 100; their "Hall of Fame Standards" has him at 51, where the "Average HOFer" is around 50. Their 10 most similar batters to him are Dave Parker (will never make it but a case can be made), Jim Rice (in), Luis Gonzalez (will never make it), Ryne Sandberg (in), Chipper Jones (could make it), Andres Galarraga (now eligible, probably won't get in but maybe he should), Ron Santo (not in but definitely should be), Carlton Fisk (in), Billy Williams (in) and Ernie Banks (in).

Honorable Mention to Ken Hubbs of Riverside. National League Rookie of the Year and Gold Glove with the Chicago Cubs in 1962. Killed in a plane crash right before spring training in 1964. He was only 22. We'll never know.

SS Joseph "Arky" Vaughan of Fullerton. Born in Clifty, Arkansas (hence the nickname), he was one of the most underrated players in the game's history. This is partly due to having played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1930s and early '40s, a small market (as we would say today), and except for a 1938 collapse the Bucs didn't even come close to a Pennant. To make matters worse, he played in the same position in the same city as Honus Wagner, so even while some have called him the 2nd greatest shortstop ever, he was only the 2nd greatest in his own team's history.

In 1935, he batted .385, and he put together a lifetime batting average of .318 with an OPS+ of 136. The Pirates traded him to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1942 -- a year after they won a Pennant. With Pee Wee Reese ensconced at short, Vaughan was moved to 3rd base, but was soon, like Reese, drafted into World War II. By the time he came back, his batting eye had begun to fade, and while he did appear in the 1947 World Series for the Dodgers, 1948 was his last year, at age 36.

Unfortunately, in 1950, at only 40 years old, he died in a fishing accident. And because he wasn't around to toot his own horn, it took until 1985 for him to be elected to the Hall of Fame.

3B Tim Wallach of Huntington Beach. He was part of those nice-but-not-great Montreal Expo teams of the 1980s with Andre Dawson, Tim Raines, and (for a while) Gary Carter. He twice led the NL in doubles, 260 home runs despite playing nearly all his home games in the Montreal Olympic Stadium and Dodger Stadium, 5 All-Star berths, 3 Gold Gloves.

Honorable Mention to Phil Nevin of Placentia. (Please, save your Robin van Persie jokes.) He had a couple of very strong seasons for the San Diego Padres in the early 2000s, and finished his career with 208 home runs.

LF Dusty Baker of Carmichael. Johnnie B. Baker Jr. is his full name, and Johnnie B. very good. He was on deck for the Atlanta Braves when Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run. He came into his own with the Los Angeles Dodgers, twice an All-Star, including a fantastic catch in the 1981 All-Star Game. He won 3 Pennants and the 1981 World Series with the Dodgers, had a lifetime OPS+ of 116, 242 homers, and almost 2,000 hits.

He's also the manager of this team, having taken the San Francisco Giants to a Pennant (a rare occurrence), and nearly did the same the next year with the Chicago Cubs (since 1945, a seemingly impossible occurrence). He now manages the Cincinnati Reds, currently in first place in the NL Central Division. And made the toothpick a far cooler baseball accessory than U.L. Washington ever did.

Honorable Mention to Ryan Klesko of Westminster. He had a career OPS+ of 128, and 278 home runs. Helped the Atlanta Braves reach the postseason 5 times, and the San Diego Padres twice. Retired after the 2007 season, but don't expect him to get into the Hall of Fame.

CF Jim Edmonds of Fullerton. One of the few Orange County natives to play for the Angels, he made some of the most amazing catches the position has seen this side of Willie Mays. He was a great hitter, too, with 386 home runs despite playing most of his home games at Anaheim Stadium and the second Busch Stadium, 4 100-RBI seasons, and a great OPS+ of 131.

A 4-time All-Star, he won 8 Gold Gloves, and reached the postseason 7 times -- one of the few to do it with both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs. He wjon the 2006 World Series with the Cards, but was gone from the Angels by the time they won it all in 2002. Still active, with the Milwaukee Brewers, Baseball-Reference.com has his HOF Monitor at 88 and HOF Standards at 39. Considering his hitting and his fielding, I think he'll get in.

Honorable (sort of) Mention to Lenny Dykstra of Garden Grove. Whatever his flaws, he led both the Mets and the Phillies to Pennants, either of which is an incredible accomplishment. Known as "Nails" in Flushing and "Dude" (which is what he called everyone else) in Philly. Career OPS+ of 120, twice led the NL in hits.

Injuries and booze cut short his career, his last good year (the Phils' Pennant year of 1993) coming at age 30, and he was done at 33. And he's gotten into serious legal and financial troubles. But from Poughkeepsie to Rehoboth, from Montauk to Wildwood to Lancaster, a lot of people love the guy. His son Cutter Dykstra is currently in the Brewers' minor-league system.

RF Bobby Bonds of Riverside. Son Barry, a left fielder, grew up in San Mateo, in Giants territory, while his father played for them. Barry produced such an amazing career that it's easy to forget how good Bobby was.

Although he struck out 187 times in 1969 and 189 times in 1970, both new MLB records (since broken), he was also the 2nd player, after his Giant teammate Willie Mays, to surpass the 300 mark in both home runs and stolen bases -- 332 homers and 461 steals. (Barry, of course, became the 1st 400-400 and the first 500-500 man.) In 1973, Bobby missed by 1 homer becoming the first single-season 40-homer/40-steal man. (There are now 3, namely Barry, Jose Canseco and Alex Rodriguez... uh, wait a minute... ) Bobby was also the All-Star Game MVP that season. His lifetime OPS+ was 129, and he won 3 Gold Gloves.

True, a lot of teams got rid of him... but a lot of teams wanted him, too. After the 1974 season, the Yankees traded the beloved Bobby Murcer to get him. Despite 32 homers and 85 RBIs (not bad when your "home" park is Shea Stadium), the Yanks traded him after just 1 year to the California Angels, getting the much-needed Mickey Rivers and Ed Figueroa in the process.

He'll never make the Hall of Fame, but he's not that far below it: Baseball-Reference.com has him at 36 on its Hall of Fame Standards, with 50 being the "Average HOFer."

DH Mike Sweeney of Ontario. For a long time, he was the only reason to watch the Kansas City Royals. Now with the Seattle Mariners, he has been hurt so often that, on the parody-song website AmIRight.com (to which I also contribute), a song has been posted, to the tune of "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd," that goes, "Attend the tale of Sweeney's bod."

He's batted .300 5 times, with a peak of .340 in 2002. He picked up a whopping 144 RBIs in 2000. His career OPS+ is 118, and he has 213 career home runs despite playing most of his home games at Kauffman Stadium. He made 5 All-Star teams, and not just because at least one Royal had be selected. He hasn't had a full season since 2005, but he deserves a place on this team.

C Gary Carter of Fullerton. The Camera Kid delighted a lot of people with the Montreal Expos, and annoyed the hell out of some people (me, for example) with the Mets. But he was a legit HOFer, with a 115 OPS+, 324 homers (a great number considering he was a catcher and most of his home games were at the Montreal Olympic Stadium and Shea), 4 100-RBI seasons, 3 Gold Gloves (despite sharing the NL with Johnny Bench and Ted Simmons), and 11 All-Star appearances (including 2 MVPs).

The Expos retired his Number 8, for all the good that did, as the Washington Nationals put it back in circulation after the move. Incredibly, the Mets have not, even though he's currently 1 of only 2 HOF players they can legitimately claim. (Tom Seaver's the other.)

Honorable Mention to Del Crandall of Fullerton. Imagine, he's no longer even the greatest right-handed hitting catcher from Fullerton. An 8-time All-Star, he won the NL's first 4 Gold Gloves for the position. He was part of the attack that led the Milwaukee Braves to the 1957 World Championship, the 1958 Pennant, and a Playoff for the Pennant in 1959. Not to cast aspersions on Joe Torre, but the Milwaukee edition of the Braves did seem to decline when injury struck Crandall in 1961, leading to Torre's rise as their starting catcher.

Crandall returned to Milwaukee in the 1970s to manage the Brewers, and also managed the Seattle Mariners in the 1980s.

Also to John "Chief" Meyers of San Bernardino, a Native American who starred for the New York Giants in the 1910s, reaching 3 World Series with them and, incredibly, another with their arch-rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers, although was on the losing side in each. Had there been an All-Star Game at the time, he would have made it several times.

Also to Lance Parrish of Diamond Bar. An 8-time All-Star, the most productive hitter with the 1980s Detroit Tigers, he did seem to stop hitting after signing as a free agent with the Phillies in 1987. Revived his career somewhat with the Angels, and finished with 324 home runs, a great total for a catcher.

SP Steve Busby of Fullerton. He won 16 games, including a no-hitter, for the Royals in 1973, when they were not yet ready to really contend. He won 22, including another no-hitter, in 1974. He won 18 in 1975. All this, and he was just 25, and the Royals were just about ready to take the AL by storm.

But he got hurt, appearing in just 53 more games, his last at age 30. The Royals played 43 postseason games over the next 10 seasons, by the end of which Busby was 35 and could still have been a contributor; but he appeared in a grand total of none of them. One of the true what-if stories of baseball: If a healthy Busby, rather than Pomona native Doug Bird, had been on the mound against the Yankees in Game 5 in 1977 and Game 3 in 1978, maybe the Royals win those Pennants. He finished with just 70 wins; given a relatively injury-free career, he could have had another 200 in his arm.

SP Randy Jones of Fullerton. In 1974, he lost 22 games for an awful Padres team. But in 1975, he won 20 for a team that was not much better. In 1976, won 22 -- including 16 by the All-Star Game, enabling him to start it against Mark Fidrych. Sports Illustrated had him on the cover as a "THREAT TO WIN 30." Boom, hit by the Dreaded SI Cover Jinx. (Then again, in the next season's spring training, so was Fidrych.)

He was also famous (or infamous) for his hairstyle, so curly that it reminded people of Harpo Marx -- or, as malaprop-prone Padre broadcaster Jerry Coleman said, "On the mound for the Padres is Randy Jones, the lefthander with the Karl Marx hairdo."

Thus far, Jones had won 57 games, for a weak team, and was only 26. His injury problems weren't as bad as Busby's, or Fidrych's, but he only won another 43 games in the majors, finishing up with the Mets in 1982, age 32.

He became a broadcaster for the Padres, who retired his Number 35, and was elected to the San Diego Hall of Champions, the city's sports hall of fame. Like Boog Powell, Greg Luzinski, Luis Tiant and Gorman Thomas, he has opened a barbecue stand at his team's ballpark.

Not to be confused with the Randy Jones who was Dave Brubeck's drummer, or with the Randy Jones who's a defenseman for the Los Angeles Kings, and definitely not to be confused with the Randy Jones who was the cowboy in the Village People.

SP Dave Stieb of Santa Ana. Still the greatest pitcher in Toronto Blue Jays history, his Number 37 has not been retired, but he is honored (or, since it's Canada, "honoured") at the Rogers Centre's "Level of Excellence" display.

He won 176 games, with a career ERA+ of 123 and WHIP of 1.245. He pitched a no-hitter in 1990 after several close calls. A 7-time All-Star. He pitched in the ALCS for the Jays in 1985 and 1989. Although injuries kept him off the postseason roster in 1991 and 1992, he did receive a World Series ring in 1992. Ironically, the next season, his last full season, he was with the Chicago White Sox, and they made the ALCS and lost to the Jays.

SP Mike Witt of Buena Park. The only Angels pitcher to throw a perfect game, and the only pitcher ever to do it with his "hometown team." He did it against the Texas Rangers on September 30, 1984, the final day of the season, although it wasn't quite enough to get the Halos into the postseason, losing a tough AL West race to the Royals. He did appear for the Angels in the 1982 and 1986 ALCS, but never reached the World Series. Injuries left him a wreck by 1990, and won only 117 games.

SP Darryl Kile or Norco. He Pitched for postseason teams with the 1997 Astros and the 2000 Cardinals, having won 133 games by age 33. But he suffered a heart attack during the 2002 season and died on a Cards' roadtrip to Chicago. He also pitched for the Colorado Rockies. None of the teams for which he pitched has ever officially retired, but neither have they reissued, his Number 57.

Honorable Mention to Phil Hughes of Santa Ana. Okay, he just became the 1st AL pitcher to lose the All-Star Game in 14 years. But he's 11-2 for the Yankees this season, after going 8-3, mostly in relief, for the 2009 World Champions. And he's only 24. Granted, he's in a similar position to where Busby was in '75 and Jones in '76... But, at this point, nobody is thinking the Yankees made a mistake after the 2007 by not giving him up in a trade for Johan Santana.

RP Trevor Hoffman of Anaheim. Baseball's all-time leader in saves with 596 (as of the 2010 All-Star Break; Mariano Rivera has 546). Strangely, he has only led the NL in saves in 2 seasons, 1998 and 2006. In that 1998 season, he led the San Diego Padres to the Pennant. Coming in to the tune of AC/DC's "Hell's Bells," "Trevor Time" became the most intimidating time in the League, especially in the postseason, when 64,000 fans would pack Jack Murphy Stadium, waving their white towels. Of course, he had to pitch to Scott Brosius in the World Series...

His career ERA+ is a whopping 141, his WHIP a nasty 1.059. Now running out the string with the Brewers, he looks done, but he should go into the Hall of Fame in 2016 or '17. Maybe he was never better than Mariano, but he was better than just about every other reliever of the 1990s and 2000s, and the only bad thing I can say about him is that he bears a striking resemblance to my ex-brother-in-law.

Honorable Mention to Troy Percival of Moreno Valley. Saved 358 games, 316 of them for his "hometown" Angels, and led them to the 2002 World Series, the team's 1rst Pennant and first World Championship. Baseball-Reference's Hall of Fame Standards isn't a very good guide for relievers, as so few are in the Hall yet, but their Hall of Fame Monitor has him at 96, where a "Likely HOFer" is at 100.

Also to Al Hrabosky of Anaheim. He wasn't great for long, pretty much just from 1975 (with the Cardinals) to 1978 (with the Royals), before injuries took their toll. But for that brief time, "the Mad Hungarian" was one of the game's most intimidating relievers and greatest characters. He has gone back to St. Louis as a Cards broadcaster.

Reasons to Appreciate George... Or Not

This is a repeat/update of a post I made on May 11, the day Bill Madden's new biography of George Steinbrenner was published.

I have had my problems with George Michael Steinbrenner III. Contrary to the words of Paul Anka (who wrote "My Way" for Frank Sinatra, and of course it was masterfully done by Elvis Presley as well)... Regrets? I've had a few, and they're not too few to mention. Let me mention three:

1. He often treated his employees very badly. He said that he never asks anyone to work any harder than he does, and, to his credit, while he was working, he did work hard. Call him any name in the book, as long as it's not a variation on "lazy." Fine, ask people to work hard. But don't lose your cool when things aren't precisely to your specifications. Such an occasion is a time to speak calmly. To guide. To teach, in effect.

This is one of the things George and I actually had in common. I have also been known to lose my temper over little things. One of the easiest ways to get me to flip out when I was young was to say, "It's only a game." Right, something that's "only a game" turns into a multi-billion-dollar industry. Something that's "only a game" results in some of the finest writing in the English language and some terrific films, fictional, based-on-true-stories, and documentary.

We fans all think we could run our teams, whatever the sport, better than the owner(s). But would we? Surely, we would all flip our lids at the least little thing. Check out WFAN, particularly the Met fans calling in: One week, the manager is a bum, he has to be fired; the next, he's a genius; the next, he's a bum again and they gotta get him outta there. And that's when the manager has not been changed.

The difference between ordinary fans thinking this way and George Steinbrenner thinking this way is that George had the power to make it happen.

2. The Howie Spira situation. George and Dave Winfield had a contract dispute. Dave was brave enough to stand up to George over it, and smart enough to find out how, in a way that drove George bananas. Bananas enough to appeal (sorry for the atrocious pun) to Spira, a private detective and compulsive gambler, and pay him $40,000 for damaging information on Dave. Apparently, Spira never found it, but the result was that George traded Dave, Spira talked, and Commissioner Fay Vincent suspended George.

I wonder what would have happened if Spira had not also been a gambler. Sports, and particularly baseball, have been nutso about gambling from the beginning, well before the 1919-21 Black Sox Scandal.

3. The loss of the original Yankee Stadium. Forgotten now are George's constant threats to move the Yankees to New Jersey, mainly because, as usual, the State Legislature was really screwed up at the time, and couldn't find a way to build a ballpark at the Meadowlands Sports Complex or anywhere else.

George worked with then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani to build a superstadium atop the West Side Rail Yards, across 33rd Street from the Jacob J. Javits Convention Center and a short stroll from Madison Square Garden and Penn Station. The stadium would have been home to the Yankees, the Jets, and the 2012 Olympics. When Giuliani left office without getting it approved, new Mayor Michael Bloomberg took up the idea.

But negotiations fell through, and George made a new deal, to build a new stadium across 161st Street from Yankee Stadium. Once New York was rejected as the site of the 2012 Olympics (they'll be in London), the Jets backed out of the stadium deal, and got together with the Giants, and made a deal with the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority to build a new stadium next to Giants Stadium.

That stadium is now complete, and has already hosted events (international soccer, college lacrosse, and its first concert, by Bon Jovi), and will take up football in the fall. The new Yankee Stadium is in its second season. So is Citi Field. The Prudential Center has completed its third season.

Steinbrenner's monument to himself is up. John Mara's monument to his father Wellington/Woody Johnson's monument to himself is up. Fred Wilpon's monument to the Brooklyn Dodgers is up. Sharpe James' coat of paint on his rusted city is up. Bloomberg's monument to himself will have to be not a stadium but his own failed mayoralty.

Still, I never wanted to lose the old Yankee Stadium. As good a job as was done on the new one, it is a terrible thing that the old one is gone. I've said many times that I didn't know who George was really building it for. If it's for the fans, most of us didn't want to lose the old Stadium. If it's for himself, how much longer would George live? How long would he enjoy it? I've said that he will have to answer to God for this. Well, if Bill Madden was correct about George's health, then he had already suffered enough by the time he died this morning.

*

But let me give you...

The Top 5 Reasons to Appreciate George Steinbrenner

5. He Brought the Yankees Back. Twice. The second time, it was from his own screwups. But the first time, the Yankees were without question the second team in New York. They had fallen so far off the radar of championship contention, that they might as well have been, if not the Philadelphia Athletics (they didn't move), then certainly what the Toronto Maple Leafs have become, or what the Green Bay Packers were before Mike Holmgren came in.

He made the Yankees matter again, and then he made them Champions again. He, and general manager Gabe Paul, and manager Billy Martin, and the players they brought together. They made the Yankees back into The New York Yankees.

4. Charity. George founded the Silver Shield Foundation, to aid widows and orphans of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty. He gave local kids jobs. He saved the careers of several given-up-on players. He gave more than anybody realizes, because, in this regard, he is genuinely humble: When his contributions were made, it was "the New York Yankees" that were making them, not "George Steinbrenner." He didn't need the credit for them.

3. Loyalty. George was actually more loyal than people realize. He usually felt guilty about letting people go. He usually offered them other jobs in the organization, and very few ever left him on bad terms. Bob Lemon became a Yankee scout. Lou Piniella became general manger. So did Clyde King. Gene Michael became chief scout and later general manager. Bucky Dent and Stump Merrill, who had both managed Yankee farm clubs before becoming big-league manager, would manage Yankee farm clubs again. And, of course, George could never send Billy Martin away for good.

In early 1999, broadcaster Suzyn Waldman said to him, "I'd like to talk to you about Yogi." And George, thinking of the then-dying Joe DiMaggio, thought Yogi might be sick now as well, and said, "Why? What's wrong?" Suzyn later said she knew instantly that George was open to repairing the rift with Yogi.

George went to Yogi's museum at Montclair State University, apologized for sending Clyde King to fire him as manager in 1985. Yogi had been fired as a manager twice before, once by the Yankees in 1964, once by the Mets in 1975. Both times, it was done to his face, and Yogi said words to the effect of, "Well, that's baseball," and he moved on. But in 1985, George didn't have the guts to do the dirty work himself. In 1999, George apologized for it, and Yogi, as only Yogi can do, said, "It's over." They were okay for the rest of George's life.

Even Ralph Houk and Buck Showalter later accepted that George wanted to mend fences. I don't think Bill Virdon and Dallas Green, both still alive, held any grudges with him. As far as I know, the only manager with whom George ever parted who held a grudge was Dick Howser; since he's dead now, it's hard to say if they ever patched things up, but I find it hard to believe Dick had it in his character to still hold it against George at the end. Joe Torre? I guess only Joe knows for sure, but I can't imagine Joe holding a grudge.

Players? Reggie Jackson and Dave Winfield patched things up with him -- although I notice Dave's Number 31 is still in circulation and he doesn't yet have a Monument Park Plaque. Bobby Murcer and Mel Stottlemyre straightened things out with him, although in both of their cases it was likely Gabe Paul who was the guiding force in getting rid of them in the 1974-75 off-season; Mel and George had a later falling-out that's been repaired.

George was a nut. But, as he often said, he was not an ogre.

2. He Loved New York. "They're battlers," he's often said of his Yankees, "and New York is a city of battlers. You battle for everything in this town: For cabs, for tables in a restaurant, for everything." I wonder if he's ever watched people negotiate with ticket scalpers outside The Stadium. If he has, then that'll just back him up more. He never really wanted to go to New Jersey. (I wonder what he would have done if he'd known in the 1980s that there was a New Jersey native living in Michigan who would be the linchpin of his next dynasty, kid name of Jeter.)

And Reason Number 1 is obvious:

1. He Wanted to Win. He loved money, to be sure. He loved power, to be even more sure. But he knew that money comes from winning, every bit as much as the other way around. As I said, he ran the team as if he were a fan. And he truly appreciated it when they've won. At every victory celebration from 1976 to 2003, he would say what a great thing it was for Yankee Fans and for the City of New York.

George Steinbrenner got it. Would that every owner did. Especially the ones who are even wealthier and choose not to spend that much.

George Steinbrenner, 1930-2010

Yesterday, the Voice. Today, the Boss.

As Kris Kristofferson wrote of his dear friend Johnny Cash, George Michael Steinbrenner III was "a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction."

He drove millions of people crazy, including some of his employees who were beloved by his team's fans. He did things that we found impossible to understand, and things that we found impossible to accept.

And yet, he did a million things that were incompatible with the image that we were fed by the media: Helping out ex-players in trouble, charities large and small, the Silver Shield Foundation for the widows and orphans of cops & firemen, donating money for a ballfield at the Florida high school that Roger Maris' kids attended, donations to his alma mater (Williams College) and his wife's (Ohio State), everything the organization did after 9/11.

"I never fired anybody," he said, "I always offered them another job in the organization." Said jobs weren't always accepted, but often were. Many of the people he drove crazy forgave him -- and he forgave, too.

He tore down the only Yankee Stadium I ever wanted... and built the most magnificent ballpark ever. (UPDATE: In hindsight, the true blame for tearing the old Stadium down lies with the City government, mostly Mayor Mike Bloomberg.)

He built a dynasty, ruined it, then built another -- among baseball-team owners, a feat matched only by Connie Mack, who was another bundle of contradictions, both loved and hated.

Yeah, he was a rich kid to whom a lot of things came easy... but he never forgot that most of the people who paid their money to help him make the New York Yankees the greatest megalith in North American sports -- up there with such titanic soccer clubs as Manchester United and Real Madrid -- were not especially rich.

"I never ask anybody to work any harder than I do," he liked to say. And he did work hard, at the shipbuilding company, and with the Yankees. And he backed it up. He showed how much he appreciated the hard work of others. He loved cabdrivers and truckers, deliverymen and doormen, chefs and bartenders.

He took so much... and he gave so much.

I'll never understand him... but where would we be without him? So long, George, rest well.

UPDATE: George was buried at Trinity Memorial Gardens in Trinity, Pasco County, Florida, north of Tampa.