NORTHERN STATES LEAGUE

2015 HALL OF FAME ELIGIBLES

Class of 2014 Batters

Rich Aurilia- Rich put up a solid 13 year NSL career with 9 of those years on the Pounder roster. He was an offensive middle IF with only about 5 of his years as a starter, yet posted some decent numbers. In 2002, he batted .306 with 127 rbi for a post season bound Pounder team, and batted .300 in that Division Series. His best average year was 2000 for the Elite with a .309 mark, and in that year posted his 2^nd best rbi total with 84. He was originally a 4^th round rookie (see- value in the 4^th round!) of the East Hardwick Giants, was traded to New England for a 2^nd round Free Agent pick (gasp!) and wound up being dealt to Pa as Goody broke up the Holy Trinity (Thome, Tony Clark, and Frank Thomas) in a deal for Clark, Andrews, and Joe Oliver. He was an All Star in 2002 and was finished after the 2009 season. I know he was one of Jack Chalfant’s favorite players.

Paul Bako- Really? How did he hang around for 8 years anyway? Because he could catch, that’s why. He was traded 4 times and went through 4 Free Agent drafts. He was originally taken in the 3^rd round of the 1999 Rookie Draft by TMI.

Michael Barrett- Barrett was pretty interesting. In a time where we all had tons of offense, few of us did from the catcher position. Barrett looked as if he’d be a fine offensive catcher after being selected by Jericho in the first round of the 2000 Rookie Draft and batting .316 in 114 games with 35 doubles and 62 rbi. After a disappointing 2001, he rebounded with 19 HR and 95rbi over the next two years combined. But, surgery took its toll and after a horrid 2004, he had one more decent campaign before fading away. He was only 7 for 60 in the post season and really didn’t live up to the projections. He spent his final year in Gulf Breeze after the 2009 Waiver Draft.

Angel Berroa- I remember at one time he was projected to be the Oakland very day SS and I think Scoop did as well, taking him in the 2^nd round of the 2003 Rookie Draft. He did start and play daily for the Crushers of 2004 and 2005, and they were rewarded by a top 10 finish in errors both seasons (54 combined). Nearly half of his career HR numbers were totaled in 2004 (25) and he had 82 rbi that season. But the rest of the career is a blur and after a trade to Keystone in 2009, he was through.

Craig Biggio- His 2^nd ballot- Along with Julio Franco, Biggio has the 2^nd most games on the ballot this year. Plus we need to remember he was a catcher and second baseman- with our Hall showing limited amounts of both as members. Biggio was a rock- playing 10 years in Keystone before six in Magic City and a few late bounce around years. Craig was drafted in the 2^nd round of the 1989 Rookie Draft and after a couple of “getting to know you” seasons, his career took off in 1993 when he played all 162 games for the Comanches batting .276. He continued to play most every day and in the period 1997-2000 missed just 14 games. He backed it up with offensive numbers as well. Sure, some of his numbers may be longevity numbers, but he carved out 274 HR from a traditionally power-challenged position. 1363 rbi is great and he closed in on 3000 hits- missing by just 149. His stolen base total was much higher than I remembered (424). He was a 10 time All-Star including 9 of the 10 seasons from 1991-2000. He was on 5 All-League teams. In his career he appeared in 92 post season contests with 13 HR and 47 rbi. I think he should be considered overall against the rest of the ballot, and if you look at him compared to other 2B or catchers, he’s a shoo-in. Let’s see what happens.

Barry Bonds- His 2^nd ballot now- As time goes by I think we’re all softening our stance slightly on the steroid boys. Maybe you turn your head to the others, but it’s time for a big decision here. Yes, we all hate Barry and all think he was doping, but this is a fact- he leads the league in career HR (704), career rbi (2022), career doubles (648), and career BB (2082). Not only that, but he’s one of the very few players who have a positive BB/K ratio, he swiped 414 bases, and batted .284. He led the league in HR just once- 2002 with 71 and led in BB 6 times, including 2002-5. He was the #1 overall pick in the 1987 Rookie Draft by the Expansion East York 66ers, and through his career was able to hoist 7 Championships. He was a 11 time All Star and 9 time All League. He was the 2002 MVP with those 71 HR, an incredible 195 BB, 172 runs, and 174 rbi. His 32.5 automatic points are the most I’ve ever seen on the ballot. So, the new voting rules may affect things, and we’ll find out more about the league opinion on players such as Bonds. What I do know is that he was by far the best hitter in baseball and the best hitter in the NSL for at least 12 years. How does that equate to the NSL Hall of Fame? His career was pedestrian from 1987-92, and Mick thought he had just a run of the mill type player. But the career turned around in 1992- his first year of a positive BB/K ratio and the first year of the new hat size. From then, of course, he was the best player in the league until 2005, his final huge campaign with 46 long balls and 89 rbi. He appeared in 118 post season games with 35 long balls and 96 rbi. I don’t think it’s a question of being deserving as far as the numbers go.

Emil Brown- Let’s follow up to Bonds with the deserving Emil Brown! Cool first name anyway. Originally selected by East York in the third round of the 1999 Rookie Draft and it was clear right away that he’d have a lousy career- batting just 9 times for the 66ers. He was cut then went into a few Free Agent Drafts before finally sticking with the Wizards in 2002 for a .156 campaign in 38games. Where’s the good part? He was selected in the 1^st round of the 006 Free Agent Draft by TMI and had a couple of successful seasons for the team, posting a nice .288, 55 XBH in 142 games for the 2007 Tigers, but it was all a mirage as he was peddled to Canaan and after 2 years hung ‘em up.

Sean Casey- The Mayor. Of course like you, my thoughts go right to Ken Staab, OUR Mayor. He is missed by us all. Casey spent 11 seasons with the Keystone Comanches of Jim Barnes and while the power was not a strong point, batting average and every day play was. The weak spot was HR-a career best 24 in both 2000 and 2005, but 292 career doubles and 652 rbi are pretty nice for the team. He batted .358 (4^th in the league) in 2000 and drove in 119 that year, but did not get on any All League or All Star teams in his career. He was originally selected by Magic City in the first round of the 1999 Rookie draft and was immediately packaged in a deal to Keystone for a return of Biggio and others. I know- I was in Si’s living room when that happened. Sean closed things out with a solid .307 average in 2009 in 64 games. His lone playoff appearance was in 2008- .283 in 12 games. So he was a solid contributor of basically 8 seasons as an everyday 1B. Unfortunately for him, it was during the age of the power hitting 1B.

Jose Castillo- He has the 2^nd lowest game and at bat total on the ballot. No wonder- he was York’s 2^nd round pick in the 2005 Rookie Draft and after pair of lackluster seasons, went to New England and on to Pennsylvania to finish it up. Sixteen HR and 65 rbi for the Elite in 2007 was his career highlight and he was actually part of a package sent to the Pounders for Frank Thomas.

David Dellucci- He got the most out of a 11 year career as a 4^th OF as you can possibly expect. He did play in as many as 118 games for the 2006 Stallions, but an average of about 80 games per season was the norm. He actually batted .400 once (2000 Jericho, 95 AB) and he got to the post season once for the Stallions in 2006 batting .273 in 11 at bats there. Jericho took him in the 5^th round of the 1998 Rookie Draft and he spent 3 campaigns there before being cut, and reappearing in the league with the White River Sharks in 2002- Bob’s 1^st round pick. Then he was fairly pedestrian until 2006 with Sparrow Lake where he chipped in 28 long balls and 72 rbi on a .237 mark- all easily career bests.

Ray Durham- We’ve spoken a little bit about the era we have just recently come out of- that being the steroid and long ball era, and the large influx of power and offense from previously not thought of positions such as SS and catcher. It is pretty true that Durham didn’t help much with the glove (an incredible 350 boots in 14 years) including 8 straight seasons in the top 10. But let’s look elsewhere on the career tablet. Ray played in more than 100 games every season of his career and his 1904 games are 71^st on the career list. 7220 career at bats is in the top 10 of the ballot this year and his career batting average of .268 is solid if not spectacular. Durham was the beneficiary of some dynamite Hit Men clubs of the early part of the century and went to the playoffs 5 straight years with 18 post season rbi in 69 games. 1234 career runs is good for 39^th all-time and his hit total is 75^th. He did steal 197 bags (88^th on the list). So this is a career solid player with lead off skills despite the iron glove. The senior Rapp grabbed him in the 1^st round of the 1996 Rookie Draft and he spent his entire career on that club. Nice, solid performance at a usually non-offensive position.

Damion Easley- I looked at his name and said, “a career UT guy, move along”. But he wasn’t that necessarily. He was a true starter in 5 seasons before being relegated to part time UT status. Looking at those “good” 5 seasons, it is just not a surprise to see him have 4 of them with East York, then be traded where he had one good season and was done. He played for 6 NSL franchises including East York twice. From 1998-2000 he had 78 HR and just 70 in his other seasons. No steroids here, right? Although his career numbers don’t jump out at you, if looked at in the 98-00 segment you’d think he was a star. He did go to the post season 3 straight years for the 66ers with 11 BB and 14 rbi in 24 games. He was originally a Creekside Crusher (3^rd round of the 1993 Rookie Draft), was cut after 1995, and wound up in East York selected in the 2^nd round of the Free Agent Draft of 1997. He was then dealt to the Walden Stingers and played 2 years, then back into the Free Agent Draft of 2005 and selected in the first round, by… drum roll please… East York. Two seasons later it was on to Jericho and later Kalamazoo when he retired after the 2009 campaign.

Darin Erstad- I had to laugh this year as I’m sure you did seeing that he got one vote for the “real” Hall of Fame. I mean are you that desperate to fill out a ballot? Did Mrs. Erstad have a vote? Did he get someone’s kitty out of a tree? Erstad was the 5^th pick overall in the 1997 Rookie Draft by New England, and after that season, went to Creekside in a deal which included Tim Raines among others. One would think that he was a solid every day OF for Creekside for the next 12 seasons, but you’d only be part right. It’s true he had a few great years- his best was 2001, an All Star season when he batted .339 with 21 HR and 95 rbi- easily career bests. But scattered between pretty nice seasons are clunkers- 29 games in 2000 and a .199 in 89 games in 2002. His .277 career batting average is nice and 134 career SB is more than I ever remember but the power was just never there. Remember, Darin, chicks dig the long ball. He batted .255 in 22 career post season games with 3 HR and 13 rbi.

Cliff Floyd- What happened to this guy anyway? Seems like he was okay for a while, but then everyone turned on him ala Bonds and Bonilla and he became one of those guys who everyone hated. I remember when he broke his wrist playing 1B in the real world and I don’t think he ever truly recovered from that. Parker City selected him with the 2^nd overall pick in the 1995 Rookie Draft and he just never really lived up to that. He was okay his rookie year, then missed all of 1996 due to injury. After a mediocre 1997, Jack cut bait and traded him to New England where he stayed for a fortnight, then to East York where he’d spend the next 3 seasons with a nice 1999 (.270, 49D, 102 rbi, but then it was off to Jericho for 8 fairly nice seasons, one of which, 2002 was an All Star year batting .333 with 30 HR and a career best 110 rbi. He hit 32 HR in 2006, but drove in just 86 for an offensively challenged Jericho club and was another 2009 cut by the ‘zoo. He did amass more than 200 career post season atbats driving in 27. Hardly what was expected with a 2^nd overall choice but decent- not great- numbers.

Ryan Freel- I can’t say one year wonder here as he played 6 years, but despite a career with a low BA (.226) and miniscule power (16 HR) he played for some good teams and left his mark in the league. Appearing in a low 5404 career games, he was able to get into the post season 3 times, playing for all the marbles in those 3 seasons, getting in to 39 games with 18 BB and 8 SB. He did have nice career SB numbers with 35 in 2005 for the Greys and 30 for the 2006 66ers, but was only a true starter in 2005. Coach Kerr initially drafted him in the 4^th round of the 2004 Rookie Draft and later he was traded to East York in big name trade, Adam Dunn and Freel to EY for Smoltz, Hampton, and Hinske. So his impact might have been more in the post season than the regular season, but even that impact was minimal.

Nomar Garciaprra- Nomah! Here’s a stand up and notice kind of guy. In the winter of 1997, Dave and Bill and their spouses got together for dinner, knowing that Dave had the #1 rookie pick coming up in February. Lori Waller posted a sign as she was ready to host stating no baseball talk! Well, I’m sure somehow that Dave and Bill got something rolling and Nomah was the subject. Indeed a few short weeks later, Dave took him with the #1 overall pick in that 1998 Rookie Draft and the rest is history. But you know, today, he’s only 42. His career ended in 2009 at age 36- way too early. It was clear that he couldn’t play SS anymore, but DH? 1B? Ah, maybe the legend was bigger than the man. But then again, check out the stats man! His .317 career batting mark is good for 4^th in league history. He has more than 200 hits 5 different times. We’ve talked about offensive production from unusual positions, and as a SS 208 bombs and 869 rbi is fantastic. He won the batting title in 2001 (.380) and led the league in doubles with 56 in 2003. He won the 1998 Rookie of the Year with a .328 BA, 124 rbi, and 90 XBH. He was an All Star 6 times and All League 4 times. He appeared in 48 post season games and had 19 rbi and 7 long balls in those games. All this in only a 12 year career, barely making 162 games in his final 3 years combined. Perhaps the Sawx saw something on the horizon when they traded him in the 2004 season. His last 5 years were sluggish and he spent 2002 basically injured, so we have another situation of what could have been. Chances are you won’t be able to find Lori’s sign anymore and there’s a better chance you won’t see Mia Hamm at the winter meetings. But Nomar- a Sox fan you couldn’t have asked for much more.

Joey Gathright- I thought he was still in the league. Maybe not. Not much to look at but the SB and he appeared in more than 70 games just once over his 5 year career. Originally he was selected by Albany in the third round of the 2005 Rookie Draft and in 2006 stole 43 bases and was caught 9 times in just 68 games. See- it started early! But Joey was peddled on to Canaan, then New England, and finally Mud Creek where he closed it out. Didn’t he try and race a thoroughbred at a horse track one time? I think he did- maybe it’s someone else.

Chris Gomez- I know what you’re thinking! But wait, he was able to stick around for 16 seasons. How did he do that anyway? Glad you asked. Originally drafted in the 4^th round of the 1994 Rookie Draft by Jericho, he was traded an amazing 12 times over the next 15 seasons He just reeks of UT IF, and maybe that was the story of his career- but he was the everyday SS for the East Hardwick Giants in 1999 and enjoyed his one and only All-Star appearance that year. He batted .325 with 67 rbi that season in 128 games for a putrid offensive club, yet couldn’t get the long term contract he thought he deserved thereafter. That was the only season he hit over .300 or had more than 46 rbi. I’d list all the teams he was traded to and from but there is a space limit.

Luis Gonzalez- This is the original (Luis Emilio) not to be confused with the imposter (Luis Alberto). You know, something just isn’t right here. Bonds, McGwire, Sosa- all these guys are linked to the ‘roids and Luis is not. Yeah- he still stayed relatively small and was in small marker areas, but his HR totals from 1997 to 2006 went like this, with roughly the same amount of games played per year: 15-12-23-26-33-48-29-31-13-16. We all have our own opinions but something turned Luis on. Maybe it was just that time in his career. This Gonzo was drafted in the 2^nd round of the 1992 Rookie Draft by Parker City and stayed with that club through 2004, when he left or New England, then Longstown for 3 before a final season with the Pounders. He was an All Star 5 straight years 2000-4 and as you already know, had 167 long balls in those 5 years as well as 573 rbi. Plus, this team was not an offensive dynamo. His career average is fine, 47^th in career HR and 28^th in rbi. Plus with 549 2-baggers, he’s 8^th on the All Time list there. In 33 post season games he had just 1 HR and 12 rbi. He did have 200 hits once (2000) and batted over .300 4 times. The 48 HR with 121 rbi in 2002 in 162 games was the best on his board.

Toby Hall- Quick, how many Tobys who played in the majors can you name? Hmmmm. Toby Harrah. End of my list- what about you? Oh yeah- Toby Hall. Jim Gillen got a few good years out of him as he started for Johnson in 2004 and 2006, and he didn’t really hurt anyone with a .262 and .303 averages respectively, but it was pretty hollow (100 rbi in the 2 seasons combined) and not much more strikes you on his career totals. He wound up being drafted as it turns out way too high- the #9 overall pick in the 2002 Rookie Draft by Parker City and spent his final 2 years in Cleveland.

Geoff Jenkins- What happens to some guys? You know, Pedro Munoz, Greg Gay, Jimmy Hoffa- guys like that. They just disappear and who knows where they went. To me at least, Jenkins was very similar. It seemed he was still productive yet vanished. Oh I know he thought he was worth 3 million and the teams trying to sign him thought less, and maybe he even went to Japan or Korea or Czechoslovakia, who knows. Jenkins was a solid unspectacular OF who didn’t take off like Gonzalez, yet toiled in mediocrity for 4 different teams. He was originally drafted by the Walden Stingers in 1999 (4^th round) and did okay there for 4 years before moving to East York where in 4 years he tallied 200 XBH including a career best 43 doubles and 105 rbi in 2006 with 28 HR before 13 rbi and 4 R in 17 post season tilts. He hit just .188 for the 2009 First Caps and was gone, but it was a fairly nice 11 year career despite the disappearing act. Guess he wanted to spend more time with his family. But it still remains- where did Pedro Munoz go?

Jeff Kent- He was the anti-Barry if you will, until he messed himself up riding that motorcycle. He had a really nice career and to top it off did it from the 2B position. In his 17 seasons he has the following longevity rankings- Games 2229 (26^th all time), 331 HR (49^th), 2214 hits (36^th), 1327 rbi (24^th), 1328 runs (29^th), 1573 K (17^th), and 7 doubles (5th). All this is pretty impressive. He was an All Star 3 times and All League twice. Yet he was traded 9 times and played for 8 different NSL teams, one twice (can you guess which one in Barre, VT?). He had double digit HR in all but his rookie year and drove in 100 twice. He was in the top 10 in doubles in the league each year 2001-5 amassing 243 doubles in that segment of his career. He’s looking better the more I type. Keystone grabbed him in the 2^nd round of the 1993 Rookie Draft and that same day went to East York in a 5 player swap. He played in 64 post season affairs with 17 HR and 46 rbi including a massive 7 HR and 15 rbi in 12 games in 2003. Good numbers here and a very fine career especially given the position played for most of the time.

Mike Lamb- Isn’t there another Mike Lamb in this year’s rookie draft? It’s time to get out the middle initial sheet. This Mike Lamb was an early riser, yet fizzled badly thereafter. Coach Kerr got him in the 2^nd round of the 2001 Rookie Draft and he had a fine rookie campaign by batting .267 with 47 XBH and 64 rbi. He batted .303 in a part time role the following year, but sadly that was it as he’d never be a starter again and faded to part time status for 4 years before being peddled to Pennsylvania then finishing things in Crosstown. Hopefully, Kerr got that big bonus money back.

Barry Larkin- his 5^th ballot and final chance: Whoa, Nellie! Lots to look at here, let’s see what I mean. It has not always been that there were offensive SS on every roster. Larkin might have been 5 years ahead of his time, or maybe ARod, Jeter, Tulowitzki were 5 years too late. Regardless, Larkin brought offense to a defensive position and as such transposed the game a bit as most others have not. His numbers don’t scare you, but you have to remember he manned a “skill” position and was only in the top 10 in errors 1 time. Mick’s 2^nd rookie draft with us was in 1987 after his woeful 1986 expansion club took the field. Larkin was his 2^nd round pick and part of the transformation from perennial 100 loss teams to the 7 time league champion that he is. It wasn’t instant, in fact took 5 years or so to get over .500, but Larkin was part of it and if the 66ers had ever had a captain, Barry would have been it. The 7 time All-Star and 4 time All-League player posted a career .277 batting average with nearly 1000 rbi. He batted over .300 just 4 times in his career and drove in more than 82 just once (123 in 1997), but was a needed piece of the 66er offense. He stole 53 bases in 1996 for his high water mark, and played in 158 games in 1991. His numbers won’t compare to the big boppers, but tell me a SS with more impact through the 1990s. As a function of the teams he played for, Larkin appeared in 80 post season games with 86 hits in 327 at bats with 31 rbi. Late in his career he moved to Canaan for one season before winding up in Magic City for his final 2 campaigns.

Paul LoDuca- Here was an anti-Mike Lamb if you will, LoDuca started slowly and finished very well thank you. After a couple of seasons totaling 50 games, he became the everyday catcher for New England for a couple of years batting a robust .320 in 2002 before moving on to Canaan. With the Polar Bears things really began to click and he posted stellar 2004 in the first of 2 All Star appearances. He batted just .259 that year but played 147 games and drove in 63 for a fairly ineffective offense. Back to New England he went in 2005 and after a .321 career best 17 HR season, out the door he went to Keystone for his final 4 seasons as a solid yet unspectacular part of the puzzle. His 10 year career was marred by his first 2 seasons totaling just 50 games, but for the next 7 years he was the go to catcher.

Kenny Lofton- His 2^nd ballot- So which was he? A Vince Coleman steal any time kind of guy or a Rickey Henderson ultimate lead-off hitter type of guy? When he was playing, I thought the latter. Now looking at the stats, I’ll go with the former. Bill Waller took him with the 4^th overall pick in the 1993 Rookie Draft, and he stayed on NE for 2 seasons- a rarity in itself. But it was a career of 2 halves. For openers, he played 5 seasons with NE and GM, stealing 454 bags and being elected to all 5 All Star and All League teams. Nothing could stop him! A return to NE for 1998 showed the speed wasn’t there anymore, as he grabbed just 34 SB and was caught 25 times. He did bat .328 that year, and perhaps he was being molded into a true hitter. But 1999 for the Farmland Chieftones showed 55 SB (his last +28 mark) and a .253 BA. What happened? None of us will ever know, of course, and he did get two more All Star berths with TMI in 2006 and 2008. But after 120 games in 2008, he vanished (likely in to Wil’s back yard). His batting average for the career was a little better than I thought it would be and the SB a little less- especially when posted against the caught stealings. But he batted more than .300 seven different times and despite a putrid .198 for Albany in 2002 and .217 in 2003, he was .253 or over every season. He was the Rookie of the Year (now Burnham award) in 1993. He was traded 5 times in his career and played for 5 different teams, yet appeared in just 20 post season games. His start was as good as any player in the NSL ever, but the SB fall off took away the best part of his game.

Edgar Martinez- His 5^th and final ballot: So much is said about him being one dimensional and a dh type. Hard to remember that he played almost a dozen years at third and was at least adequate doing so. That OBP is no misprint- Edgar was in the top 10 in walks in the league for 5 straight years, 1996-2000. His power was fine- not fantastic- but fine, and his rbi compares to Belle pretty well. In addition, Martinez was a doubles machine, leading the league with 56 in 1993 and was 2^nd in 1996 with 53. He hit more than 40 HR just once in 2001, but had more than 20 7 other times. Originally a 4^th round rookie pick by Si (see- I told you I want him for my scouting department), he was moved to Gulf Breeze where he did most of his work, from 1991-1997, then after a 3 year stint in New England, returned to Gulf Breeze for 2, NE for one, and finally Crosstown for 2. He was an 8 time All-Star including 5 of the 6 seasons 1996-2001, and was on two All-League teams. He struck out more than 100 times just once, and that was just 104 times, the same season he walked 98 times. The term “professional hitter” has always been used to describe him, and surely the numbers show you why.

Kevin Mench- As in stench. He had a seven year career with the highlight being a .419 batting average in 2004 (134 at bats) and 25 HR the following year. I guess it wasn’t that bad a career as he did have 84 dongs and 306 rbi all for the Jericho Roscoes that became the Kalamazoo Black Knights. He was a starter in 2005-7 and also chipped in 22 HR in 2006 for Jericho- his one season in the playoffs where he was 3 for 27. He was the first round pick of Kevin in the 2003 Rookie Draft and by my count was the third guy on this ballot released by Chuck Brown in 2009.

Doug Mientkiewicz- One thing I never learned about collecting- how do you know what you say is the real story? So he grabbed the final out of the 2004 World Series for the Sawx and never relinquished it- so where is it? His house? A safety deposit box? The moon? Well, only Doug can tell us that and if he were shrewd, he’d have like 200 balls in his possession that he could say was “the” ball. Anyway, we sort of labelled him as a defensive specialist and although it is true he lacked power from a traditional power position, he did chip in with a career .270 mark and a BB/K ratio that is excellent. He was originally drafted by the Elite in the 4^th round of the 2000 Rookie Draft and was traded 2 weeks later (what a surprise) to the East Hardwick Giants (now Muncie). He was the Giant starter at 1^st for 3 seasons, 2002-5 and batted over .300 with 100 doubles in that span. He went to New England for a year in 2006 then wound up his final 3 seasons with the Greys, falling off dramatically. Eventually, he’ll be auctioning that baseball off and will be set for life. Let the auction begin!

Kevin Millar- Or is it Mike Butcher? Many of you are too young, but in the early 2000s, several players would not join the MLB player’s union and the game company had to print fake names for those involved players. So, for 1999-2001, Millar was Butcher and the rest is history. Unless he’s hiding something and he really is Mike Butcher! Get over all the “cowboy up” crap and look a little deeper in to his NSL career. He hit over .300 for 4 of his 1^st 5 NSL campaigns and checked in with a 2^nd best in the league .343 in 2002 with New England. That year he had 53 doubles and it was the first of his 3 career All Star teams. He hit .323 for the 2004 Elite and tasted the post season (.429) then followed that with another good season- .302with 81 rbi for the 2005 ‘chucks. Sort of like the ball hog above, Millar didn’t give a ton of power from the 1B position and his career highs were 24 HR and 98 rbi. Yet 656 rbi in 10 seasons (1 as a no card) is nothing to sneeze at. However he was traded 6 times and actually cut in the 2010 waiver draft as Nathaniel picked up Emmanuel Burriss. He was drafted by Glenville in the 3^rd round of the 2000 Rookie Draft and was traded to East York and then New England before the month of February had gone by. Decent career no matter what his name is/was.

Greg Norton- I’d like to write about him, but all I can think about is the Honeymooners and Jackie Gleason hollering, “Norton”. You know what I’m saying and probably can envision that line better than you can Greg’s contribution to the NSL. He was a career back up IF/DH and played in over 100 games just once for Walden in 2000 (now Frankfort). He actually had a pretty good platoon season in 2007 for Glenville where in 78 games he blasted 21 HR and drove in 55. Most everything else points to what his career was- a backup. Ah Ralph Cramden- where are you now?

John Olerud- his 4^th ballot this year- Dave Burnham has been around forever. He revived the old Chagrin Valley franchise in 1982 and has appeared in 12 post seasons including a league title in 1991. Remember that the Crusaders (the original ones- sorry, Dan) were 68-94 in our first year and even worse (67-93) in 1981 before Dave purchased the club. The Crusaders you may recall drafted a little differently than most- grabbing 16 B or better relievers in the stocking draft then holding on to all of them when we were all given an opportunity to supplement our drafts. Well, the pen was good but not surprisingly the offense was not and we were certainly blessed (as we have been many times) by Dave coming on board and making it one of the most successful franchises ever. I link this to Olerud simply because he was a Woodchuck 3 different times, helping the team coming out of their 1991 title to competitiveness the rest of the way to date. Now looking at Olerud, he played on 10 teams (2 multiple times) and was traded 11 times in his career. Why? Well- this one is a little tough to figure, but I’m guessing that a little bit like Mueller and a lot like Mark Grace, he covered a position that you’d expect a lot of power from, and Ole just didn’t have enough- especially in the steroid era- to take teams deep into the playoffs. His career high in HR was 26, but that was his high and he averaged less than 20 per season. Ditto the rbi- a whopping 124 in 1994, but next best was 98 (twice). Sure- great glove and a wonderful career BA of .300. More walks than whiffs- lots of doubles, but Chicks dig the long ball- and 11 others on this year’s ballots have more. His career best was 1994- the first of 3 All Star years- when he batted .352 (2^nd best in the league), had 54 2B, 91 BB, and those 124 rbi. Note I didn’t mention HR (23). He had two nice stints for the Elite batting .334, .328, .330 in 1998-9 and 2003 respectively- and played in 90 games or more 15 of his 16 seasons. But you sneered at Mark Grace and you probably will Lyle Overbay when his time comes. You sure could have done worse than Olerud though. He was originally the 9^th overall pick in the 1991 rookie draft by Jericho and was traded the very next year for Andy Benes of the Northeast Kingdom RatPack. Except for 1 year in 2000 with East York, he played his entire career in the Vermont region.

Rafael Palmeiro- his 5^th and final chance- I actually took a day off on the ballot to decide what to do with Raffy. It was easy to think we could just blow him off like McGwire. I mean after all, weren’t they the same type guy? Didn’t they both use the steroids whether they admit to it or not? Ah, guilty until proven innocent. But wait just a second- Palmeiro’s numbers are so much better than McGwire’s. They’re both right there on the stat sheet- take a second and compare them. Wow! Raffy is 3^rd on our All-Time list in rbi, 8^th in doubles, 5^th in HR, and 11^th in BB. That’s very impressive. He was a 4 time All-Star and 2 time All-League. So what’s the beef? I guess the, “Senator- I didn’t use steroids, period” line has me hedging. Maybe it was the Viagra stuff. Who knows, but all I’m going to say is how great his numbers are- the steroid stuff is for us to judge- it’s our league and we’ll vote in who we want. But Palmeiro’s numbers are more than enough to get in; what do we think about his questionable past? Maybe if he and McGwire both stood up and said, “yes, I used”, we’d forgive? It’s a tough subject, but Raffy did test positive at one point. We’ll go back into the archives of my brain and come up with all the guys who used speed in the 80s, and other things in the early 1900s. I mean- it’s always been there, hasn’t it? What was in the Babe’s hot dogs? Did Dock Ellis really throw a no hitter “high as a kite”? Did Bernie Carbo come to the ball park high every day? I’m not siding with Raffy or McGwire. I have a bottle of vitamins here from the 1920s which had Dextroamphetamine in it. Yeah- regular multivitamins, and that was before anyone knew what ADD was. If Ellis was on LSD- he sure didn’t get tested after the game for it. What are we going to hold against a player, and what are we not? Raffy originally was the 9^th overall pick of the original James Gang in the 1988 Rookie Draft. After the team moved to Tod Delaricheliere, he was traded to New England in 1993 and on to York the next year for the rest of his career. It’s tough to pick out his best year, but 1996 showed a .316 average, 51 HR, and 131 rbi. He had 14 straight years of more than 20 HR and drove in more than 100 8 times in 10 seasons. His career best rbi mark was 152 in 2000. Unlike most players, he finished with a 154 game season in 2005 still poking 36 long balls and driving in 97. There would be a swan song 30 at-bats in 2006, and he rested on his numbers after 2005. He had 20 HR in 72 career post season games along with 21 doubles and 56 rbi. You have the information you need to make your choice.

Mike Piazza- His 2^nd ballot- Stop speed reading my ballot! Here’s someone to pay attention to. He’s young enough that we all remember him and perhaps I don’t have to write a monograph to tell you how things were 30 years ago. Check this out- Piazza was drafted #1 overall by the Williamsport Millionaires in 1994, and proceeded to be an All-Star for 9 consecutive seasons. Likewise, he was on 5 All League teams. The career just started with such a bang- and not a Kenny Lofton kind of bang- but a huge start to the career. He caught 140 games for Williamsport in 1994 and smoked 30 HR with a .289 average, earning him the 1994 Burnham Award (rookie of the year). Then it just got better. .362 in 1996, ,339 in 97, then he led the league in both 98 and 99 with .372 and .360 marks. All that and power, too! 43 HR in 1998, 42 in 2000, and 39 in 1996. Yes- this was Josh Gibson all over again. After 32 HR and a .282 mark in 2002 for Albany (which was still the same franchise- drafted by Williamsport which became Farmland and then Albany), he left for the greener pastures of Dunkirk and smacked 27 HR for Chad, yet watched his average tumble to .251. The down turn had begun and despite a couple of nice power years, his average was falling off until in 2008 he batted just .211 with 3 HR in 58 games. Take nothing away from Piazza, though, he was a dominant, and I mean dominant catcher of the not so distant era. Check out the career- 424 long balls (did he do ‘roids? No one is asking), a .300 average which is fantastic, being a catcher or not, and 1231 rbi in his 15 seasons. It looks pretty good from this angle. I would say we got what we expected from him and more. Of course additionally, he was an everyday catcher.

Dave R Roberts-Yeah, THAT Dave Roberts. He really should have played for modern day Albany don’t you think? But just like real life, his talent was on the base paths and he was blessed to have been able to play his entire career for computer game managers who could use that to the fullest. Vermont drafted him in the 6^th round of the 2000 Rookie Draft (we drafted all the rookies in the early 00s) and after 2 years and just 3 at bats, he caught fire in his real calling and swiped a league high 69 bags in 2003 with White River as well as a league high 16 caught stealing. He was 2^nd in the league in SB in 2004 (47) and again led the league in 2005 (67). His 289 SB is good for 39^th on the All Time list and 58 CS is good for 30^th. This for a guy who never played 125 games in a season nor had 500 at bats. His triple total is nice, but he was probably too one dimensional to be a prime timer. He was an All Star in 208 for Sparrow Lake, but his best batting average year was 2007 when he batted .290.

Sammy Sosa- His 2^nd ballot this year- Bonds, Palmeiro, now Sosa- all on the same ballot. Man oh man, what do we do? Well, you can be like Devin Wilburn who had a poster of Sammy over his bed as a kid and ripped it down. You can watch the old Pepsi commercials and laugh at his looks. Or you can do all those stupid hand gestures he did after he did his stupid little hop as he hit another long one. Yes- owners looked the other way as guys grew 4 hat sizes in one off season and were “in the best shape of their careers”. But my opinion is that the ball was also juiced after the strike- helping to develop long ball wars and put the fannies in the seats. But no matter now- it’s all history. If we look at Sosa without the juice, 520 HR and 1526 rbi would get him in. A .259 batting average is sort of average- nothing special. 2170 whiffs? Are you kidding me? He was in the top ten in whiffs 9 out of 10 seasons and led the league 3 times. Rapp original selected Sammy in the 1^st round of the 1990 Rookie Draft, and it was a work in progress. After an ugly .192, 7 HR campaign in 1992, he left for the wilds of Vermont and the Jericho Roscoes. In 2001 he went to Magic City where Bryan could instruct Devin how to throw darts at his likeness, and he finished his final 4 seasons with 3 teams. After totaling just 71 HR in his first 6 seasons, the hat size changed and he hung up 43 in 1996, swatting more than 40 for 7 of the next 8 years. But for what price? Do yourself a favor right now- and match Sammy’s numbers against Palmeiro. See what I mean? With the possible exception of Sammy’s long ball percentage and SB, Rafael takes the cake. Back to Sosa now- he was a 7 time All Star and was on 5 All League teams. He had 20 HR in just 288 post season at bats. I had no idea he would have +200 SB, but he does. I think you have time to make a decision here- but just look at the big picture and remember where his poster is now.

Frank Thomas- I think we tend to look very closely at NSL players on the ballot that have already been elected in to the “real” Hall of Fame. Well, here’s one to really look at and for whatever reason was never linked to steroids. I think most everyone knows he went to Auburn and also played football for a bit, but obviously his true calling was to play baseball. He was drafted in the 3^rd round (that’s 3, as in 1,2,3!!!) round by the Pounders in 1993. For 15 years, Goody would not talk trade about any of the “Holy Trinity” which included Tony Clark and Jim Thome. Once Thome lost his 3^rd base rating, Goody just benched one of the three and this did cut in to Thomas’ 2006 season (.171, 6 HR in 55G). But usually it was Clark that sat and the other two just ripped. Thomas amassed 493 long balls (10^th all time) and had 1594 rbi (also 10^th). It would have been great to see 500 HR and perhaps if the trinity had been broken up we would have. Big Frank was a 10-time All Star and was on 4 All League teams. In 229 post season at bats he had 15 HR and 47 rbi. The strikeouts were way up there before it was popular to be a big strike out guy with a league leading 185 in 2002 and 162 in 2004, yet he walked a bunch also with 900 of ‘em for 1997-2005. His walk total is 4^th all-time and whiffs way down at 75^th. Somehow, he posted a + BB/K ratio and for a big power guy that is almost unheard of. He led the league in HR in 2004 with 59 and was in the top 10 3 others times. He was in the top 10 in rbi 4 times. Walks 7 times. You get my drift. In 2008 he was traded for the first time to Duneland, for 3 seasons, then moved on to New England and finally Vermont. The numbers are great, and the fact that he has never been linked to steroids appears to be a factor to us.

Javier Valentin- Seems as if everyone was named J.Valentin in the 2000s. This is Jose Javier Rosario Valentin, the catcher, not to be confused with Jose Antonio Valentin (the SS) who got no votes last year. Javier played in as many as 81 games just once- for the 2005 Crusaders where he batted .309 with 10 HR. He had 13 dongs for East York in 2006 with 47 rbi in 61 games, but the rest of his career was pretty much a wash. He did have 10 rbi and 3 HR in 17 post season games for the 66ers or 2006. He was traded 6 times in his career and that might be all you need to know about him.

Larry Walker- His 4^th ballot now- Now would probably be a good time to stop walking the dog and look at a player’s record. We can start with a career (6822 ab) batting average of .299- third to Bagwell and Olerud on the ballot. Larry batted a career best in 2000 for the Cleveland Hit Men (.387) and as with most players, the power peaked in the middle (58 HR, 146 rbi in 1998), then numbers were pretty solid on either end as well. Marc Delarichelierre and the East Hardwick Hurricanes took him in the 1991 rookie draft in the first round, but he was quickly moved to the James Gang and then to Green Mountain before the season even began. It was a sluggish beginning (.246-.261-.293) over his first three years though he was an All Star for the Canucks in 1993. After another GM year, it was on to New England and “hello nice NSL Career!”. He batted .360 that year with 22 bombs, then moved to Cleveland for his final 11 seasons- six of which were All Star. You know about the career bests in 1998, but a .348 50D, 9HR season in 1999 was great and further his 123 rbi 2000 season. Interestingly, in 2002 suddenly his OBP was way up as 95 BB that year can attest. Another +.300 mark (.326) carried the club into the post season one more time. In fact- he has as many post season at bats (326) as most players I’ve looked at. He fell 1 HR short of 400 for surely someone you don’t consider a HR hitter- even in the steroids era. The BB/K ratio is pretty nice and 1372 BB is 3^rd on the ballot- remember many (347) coming over his final 5 years. I always got a kick out of him being announced in Montreal as they switched from French to English over the P.A. He’s only 45 years old- shouldn’t he still be dh-ing somewhere? Nice numbers- do some thinking.

Brad Wilkerson- Man, what happened to this guy anyway? Like Soriano, remember when they went to Washington to revitalize baseball in the capitol and turn the Expos around? Well it appeared that would happen as Brad stroked 41 in 2005 for the Canucks with 114 runs and 93 rbi. Not only that, he walked 94 times (and whiffed 155). No matter as the power starved Green Mountain club would ride him to glory- right? In 2005 145 games, 41 HR. In 2006 143 games 10 HR. Must be that Canuck winter, right? But the incredibly fast drop off is more than just aging. .284 at the high water mark, then .246 the next year. 93 rbi and 67. Something happened which appears to be something more than a shoulder injury. He was drafted in the third round of the 2002 Rookie Draft by Duneland and was swapped even up for Adam Kennedy in 2003. Three decent years and the swan dive began, going to East York for a season, then Indiana for 2. He was on one All Star team.

Dmitri Young- Vanna, can I buy a vowel please? There appears to be an I missing, don’t you think? One thing is certain- the guy could hit and although that might have been the sum total of his career, he put that ability into a fine career. He played his way on to 3 All Star teams and one All League team. Drafted in the 2^nd round of the 1997 Rookie Draft by Magic City, Bryan sat him for a year then after a decent 1998, he exploded with a .340 average and 93 rbi (despite just 15 HR) in 1999. After 2000, he was traded to Jericho and had 2 plus .300 seasons with 154 rbi combined. In what has been the one and only Yk/Jericho deal ever, he was traded in 2003 to York for Chad Zerbe (yes, that was all) and in 2004 he helped York to the title with 70 XBH, 108 rbi, and a .269 BA. Si rode him through 2008, then he finished off his career in Sparrow Lake as a Waiver Draft pick up. He was caught stealing more than steals as one would expect.