2016 BBWAA Hall of Fame Ballot Announced

Today, the 2016 BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot was announced, and to no one's surprise, it is headlined by an all-time great, Ken Griffey, Jr.  The election results will be announced on January 6th, and it is a foregone conclusion that "Junior" will be elected.

He wasn't my favorite player growing up, but he was near the top.  Even when my friends in school were getting Jordans, I had Griffey Nikes.  Man, I wish I could find a pair of those now.  They were some cool shoes.

Griffey was amazing to watch when he played.  He is one of those players that I will tell my son about, pretty much in the same way folks told their kids about Willie Mays or Hank Aaron.  I truly believe that Griffey was one of those players who transcended generations.  I think I'll have a hard time finding someone who disagrees with me.

Furthermore, I think Griffey may be the reason I am waiting for Mike Trout to do something amazing.  Don't get me wrong, Trout is a really good baseball player, but I think I was spoiled by watching Griffey for so long, I'm waiting on Trout to hit 80 homers and have 200 RBIs or something.

Of course, some idiot will turn in a blank ballot, and other idiots will hold Griffey off of theirs because "no one has ever been a unanimous choice, so no one should ever be..."  Those people need their voting privileges taken away.  Seriously.

Griffey isn't the only big newcomer to this year's ballot.  Former ace closer, Trevor Hoffman is also eligible for the first time.  Recently, the voters have become more accepting of the closer role, so maybe that will help Hoffman get in.  I'm not 100% convinced that he will get in on his first ballot, though.  We will see.  I do anticipate Mike Piazza finally getting in.  Maybe Tim Raines will see a boost in his voting as well.  I think this year will see two guys make it, and if stars align, maybe a third.  I doubt it will be more than two being voted in though.

For more information on the Hall of Fame ballot, check their website HERE.

2016 Baseball Hall of Fame Pre-Integration Committee Candidates Announced

Screenshot Taken From Baseballhall.org webpage

It is that time of year, again.  The two-month stretch where the Baseball Hall of Fame elections for the various "Veterans" committees and then the BBWAA ballot.  I use the term "Veterans" committees with quotes because that isn't what they are referred to anymore.  They are now a cyclical group that alternates between years and recently, the Hall has announced the selection of ten players, managers, umpires and executives who helped shape the game before 1946 that will be up for consideration this year.

This year's candidates are:

Former Players - Marty Marion, Wes Ferrell, Bill Dahlen, Doc Adams, Frank McCormick, Harry Stovey, Bucky Walters

Former Executives: Chris Von Der Ahe, Sam Breadon, Garry Herrmann

Here is a brief look at the candidates:

Walters - (b 1909 - d. 1991) played in the majors from 1934 to 1948 and 1950.  Compiled a record of 198-160 with a 3.30 ERA.  He was the 1939 NL MVP and won the World Series with the Reds in 1940.

Stovey - (b. 1956 - d. 1937) played from 1880 to 1893 when the game was very different than it was today.  He had 1,771 hits, 122 home runs and a .289 batting average.  He led the league in home runs five times.  His Hall of Fame scores on baseball-reference are really high for someone who only played 14 seasons.  Check here and take a look.

McCormick - (b. 1911 - d. 1982) played from 1934, 1937 to 1948.  Had 1,711 hits, 128 home runs and a .299 batting average.  He led the league in hits his first three full seasons.  He was the 1940 NL MVP and a member of the 1940 World Series Champion Reds.

Adams - (b. 1814 - d. 1899) was a member of the famed New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club in the very early days of the game.  He is credited as the creator of the shortstop position, positioning himself so he could take short throws from outfielders.  He was the Knickerbocker president six times.  He also manufactured baseballs and oversaw bat production.  He was also a member of early league boards that saw a great number of rules and regulations be put into place.

Dahlen - (b. 1870 - d. 1950) played from 1891 to 1911.  Had 2,461 hits, 84 home runs and a .272 batting average.  He was a member of the 1905 World Series Champion New York Giants.

Ferrell - (b. 1908 - d. 1976) North Carolina's own, Wes Ferrell, played from 1927 to 1941 with a 193-128 record.  He pitched to a 4.04 career ERA.  Brother of Hall of Famer, Rick Ferrell, it has been said that he was the more deserving of the Ferrell brothers to be enshrined in Cooperstown.  If he were to get in, his 4.04 ERA would be the highest among pitchers in the HOF.

Marion - (b. 1917 - d. 2011) played from 1940-1950, 1952 and 1953.  Had 1,448 hits, 36 home runs and a .263 batting average.  He was the 1944 NL MVP and won the World Series with the Cardinals in 1942, 1944 and 1946.  He was also regarded as one of the best fielding shortstops of his era.

Breadon - (b. 1876 - d. 1949)  A former MLB executive who was the majority owner of the St. Louis Cardinals from 1920 to 1947, during which time they won six World Series (1926, 1931, 1934, 1942, 1944 and 1946) and appeared in three others (1928, 1930 and 1943).

Herrmann - (b. 1859 - d. 1931) Former president of the Cincinnati Reds from 1902 to 1927 and former president of the National Commission from 1903 to 1920.  His Reds won the World Series in 1919.

Von Der Ahe - (b. 1851 - d. 1913) Purchased the bankrupt St. Louis Brown Stockings in 1882 for $1,800 and joined the American Association.  Very much a showman, pre-dating te likes of Bill Veeck and Charles Finley, he is sometimes credited as the first to sell hot dogs at games (although this has been disputed) and is also credited with coining the term fanatics/fans.

The last time the Pre-Integration Committee was up for election, they chose Hank O'Day, Deacon White and Jacob Ruppert to enter the Hall.  It is difficult to predict which, if any, of these guys will get in.  If I had to guess, I would say that Stovey and Breadon had the best chances to get in.  Adams could get in, as well.  Walters has the better stats of the rest of the players, but I doubt he, or any of the others would have a shot at getting in.

That being said, I do have some hope that Marion would make it.  He passed away not too long ago, and was a really good TTM signer.  For my own selfish reasons (that would add a ball to my HOF collection), it would be cool for him to get in.  There are players with worse numbers than him in the Hall.

To be elected, a player must receive votes on at least 75% of the ballots cast from the 16-member electorate who will be determined later by the Hall of Fame.  The results will be announced during the Baseball Winter Meetings in Nashville, TN between December 6 and 7, 2015.

To read more about the candidates and rules for selection, check out the Baseballhall,org webpage.

Thinking of Bruiser

In August, I lost my cat, Jericho and was very devastated because of it.  Today, I learned that my younger brother, Andy's, dog, bruiser has a ruptured disc in his spine.  He got the injury a couple days ago when he fell after jumping off of Andy's bed.  He is doing ok, but will require surgery to correct the problem.  Otherwise, he will have a long rehab that will likely change his quality of life, forever.  Poor little guy can barely move, and now has to be carefully transported so that he can go outside to do his business.  He will have to stay in his crate for at least a month (unless Andy can afford to get the surgery done).

I feel really bad for my brother.  When Jericho passed, it was really quick, so I didn't have to see my friend in any real pain (save from that last bath), but with Bruiser, at least he has a good chance of being ok.  I just hate that the surgery will cost a young college-aged kid thousands of dollars.  I called him when I found out, and gave him some ideas, such as starting a GoFundMe page, or asking for a couple estimates from veternarians and seeing about financing plans.

Andy and his girlfriend took my advice and started a GoFundMe page for Bruiser's surgery, so I'm hoping that helps.  He's a cool little guy, who has been over to visit a couple times now. I hope he will be well enough to come and visit again, soon!

I'm not asking anyone for donations, but if you ARE interested, here is a link to Andy and Camryn's (his lady-friend) GoFundMe page.  Good luck, Bruiser!

https://www.gofundme.com/sy8wzsxw

Some Halloween Pickups

On Halloween, my wife and I took our son to the local comic shop since they were having some Halloween festivities.  We didn't have time to get into our costumes, but they were having a costume party, a bouncy house, free comic giveaways and a comic book artist was there to draw stuff for people.  He was also giving away free sketch cards to people, and also had some for sale.  I picked up a couple that I thought were really cool.  The above Alien (Xenomorph) card was pretty cool.  Since Aliens is my all-time favorite movie, I had to pick this up.  I got this one for free.

Since I used my free card on the Xenomorph, I went ahead and pain the guy for this Ghost Rider sketch card.  Ghost Rider was my favorite comic book when I was a kid, so I made sure to take one of these home.  Any cards after the freebie were a dollar, so I was fine with that.  The card just looks cool, so I'm glad I grabbed it.  I'll tell you why Ghost Rider was my favorite comic hero when I was little:

As you can see, the flaming skull really stands out.  When I was very little, we would play a card game in my grandparents' basement on Sunday afternoons.  It was an old Marvel game, kind of like Old Maid, but featured Dr. Doom.  My brothers and I would beg our grandfather to play the game, and would have a lot of fun.  If it was the winter time, Grandpa would build a fire in the fireplace in that basement, and we would all stay down there until Grandma called us up for dinner, or until we would have to go to Youth Group.  We played that Marvel game a lot, until Grandpa taught us how to play Michigan Poker.  Anyway, Ghost Rider always stood out to me, so when I became old enough to read and enjoy comics, he was the hero I went after.  It's funny, he was my favorite hero, and Dr. Doom was my favorite villain.  I'm certain that ties back to the card game as well.

Finally, Chris picked this Jason sketch as his freebie.  Chris loves the Friday the 13th movies, so when he saw this Jason sketch, he had to get it.  I'm holding onto it for him, since he tends to lose things.  I rather enjoy the Friday the 13th films as well, so this would have been something I would have probably picked up for myself as well.

The artist gave me a business card, but I misplaced it.  I believe his name is Chris McJunkin.  I'm sure a google search will bring up his information.  He signed the backs of each sketch card for us, and I also bought a larger print, but that will be put to use later.

I really enjoyed the trip to the comic shop.  I hope they continue to have these promotions.  It seems like Chris really enjoyed it.  He still has a hard time getting interested in reading, but I'm hoping the comics will help.

Thoughts on 2015 Topps Update

I busted a jumbo box of 2015 Topps Update when it first came out.  The contents of the box weren't really much to be excited about, but the set is pretty nice.  I don't believe I will be putting the set together.  Also, the Orioles in the series are only OK.  I mean, there are All Star cards, and all, but the only Oriole I was really excited to see in the set was Tyler Wilson.  I did pull his base card, so that was nice.  The Darren O'Day card was a good one, too.  I might pick up some of the different versions of it.

As always, there are some really good photographic shots in this set, as seen in the Joey Gallo rookie debut card above.  I think these Gatorade shower cards are really cool.

I was pretty happy with my Update box.  I got the Nolan Ryan manufactured coin card, which is in a pending trade.  I got an auto of Jason Rogers (never heard of him), but it is sold to my friend, Bryce.  I also got a Paul Goldschmidt All Star relic card that I plan on hanging onto for the time being.  I did get a SP card, the sabermetric stats Gerrit Cole.  Not bad.

Belated Birthday Present From Andrew - Chris Davis Booklet

I got a package today from my very good friend, Andrew, that had my birthday gift that he had been meaning to send me for a while.  He has been really busy with school and cross country, so he hasn't had much time to get to the post office.  That's ok, though, because that makes it so I can stretch my birthday out as long as possible!!

Andrew really hit it out of the park with his gift.  He picked up this 2014 Panini National Treasures booklet of Chris Davis with an amazing patch.  The booklet is numbered 2/15.  I had some booklet toploaders, but I used them all on the ones I got from Blaine, so I need to grab a few more.

I have all of my booklets on display in my display case, using the booklet toploaders and card stands.  They all look really cool staggered together on the glass shelves.  I'm really happy with the setup.  Otherwise, I'm not too sure how they would be stored.  I feel like they have to be displayed.

I really appreciate the awesome gift, Andrew.  This patch is so amazing.  Thanks so much!

Belated Birthday Present From Ben

I got a birthday package a few weeks ago from my friend, Ben.  The highlight of the package was this 2003 UD Sweet Spot Classic relic card of Cal Ripken.  I actually didn't have this card in my collection, so it was a real hit for me.  There were a bunch of other Orioles cards in the package, as well, but adding a Ripken that I didn't already have is a huge bonus.

I really appreciated the thought from Ben, especially since he has been so busy lately with school, work, and baseball.  The fact that he took time out to think of me really meant a lot.

Thanks for the gift, Ben!