NORTHERN STATES LEAGUE
2018 HALL OF
FAME ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
Class of 2017 Pitchers
Tim Baker- Shoot, didn’t he just pitch against
me this year? I guess probably not as he
retired in 2012. Baker was nothing
special- a back end starter who generally took the ball when needed. He only started 18 games in his first 2
years, then notched 133 over the last 5.
Originally drafted (and played for) by Duneland in the 2nd
round of the 2006 Rookie Draft, he was later traded to Muncie where he had his
best years- 11-8 in 2009 with a 3.80 and 2012 which was his best (and last )
year, 3.05 in 21 starts. He gave up 11
ER in 12 post season IP.
David Bush- Selected in the 2nd
round of the 2005 Rookie Draft by yours truly, Bush turned out to be nothing
more than an inning eater with some mediocre at best results. He only had one sub 3.90 ERA and that was in
his final year with Cleveland in 11 innings.
He did complete 38 games, but that was much more of a function of just
stretching him out and “damn the torpedoes” rather than being unhittable. He finished with 57 wins but 74 losses. After 5 years in Gulf Breeze, he was traded
to York for 2 seasons then Cleveland to wrap it up.
Chris Carpenter- This is Chris Carpenter (with
the h) not Cris Carpenter (without the h). What a fantastic career it could have
been! He posted 15 career years and 40
more wins than losses, a career 3.54 ERA which is fine for this type of
league. He had a whopping 45 CG and 22
shutouts- averaging more than 7 IP per start.
But there was a fly in the ointment, and that would be the
shoulder. Chris missed the entire 2004
and 2008-9 campaigns. He also didn’t
pitch in his rookie year (1998). But in
the meantime, he was a 30+ starter with solid numbers, molding that in to 2 All
Star and 3 All League appearances. In
2006, he was 22-4 with a 2.50 ERA, 222 strike outs, and 241 IP. Following that season he went 18-6 with a
2.72 ERA and 202 punch outs including 8 shutouts. Rebounding then after 2 missed years, he went
20-3, 2.06 in 2010 for Crosstown, winning the Nolan Ryan award. After two more work man like seasons for
Pennsylvania he was done. Drafted in the
third round of the 1998 Rookie Draft by Mick, he only started 47 times in his 4
years there then was traded to Walden through Vermont. He stayed with that club as it became Canaan
then went to Gulf Breeze for his best years.
Too bad- he really could have been something special.
Roger Clemens- This is his 5th ballot, so it’s
now or never- the repeat: I knew that someday I’d have to write this one. What should we do? I guess we all have the belief that he was ‘roiding for lack of a better word, and as mentioned in the
batters- I think our stance is starting to soften as time marches on. The fact of the monograph is this- Roger was
absolutely dominant in the NSL and his 337 wins may not be approached in most
of our lifetimes. To what extent did the
(apparent) drug use help him or hinder him?
Well, it got him on national TV for a few days and we heard how a guy
injected Clemens’ wife in their bedroom with no one else around. Hmmmm. Hey- I’m licensed to do that! But back on subject, Roger was simply
incredible. 24 seasons and he didn’t
even appear his rookie year. Originally
selected by Al Rapp with the 9th overall pick in 1985, he stuck
there for 4 years before a trade with Gulf Breeze (see, I do trade) for future
Hall of Famer Robin Yount, Fisk, and Bryn Smith. I also got Danny Cox in the deal. Hello Gulf Breeze and watch the career take
off. He then cashed in 9 seasons with
the ‘varks, moved to New England for a year, then 6
in East York and 5 in Glenville. There
are 2 Dick Silar awards, 9 All Star teams, and 8 All
League teams on his mantle. Look at
these numbers- led the league in Ks 5 times, top 3 in wins 7 times, IP 4 times,
and ERA 4 times. I just cannot pick out
a “best” season rather I see 17-6, 1.75 for 1993 GB and 22-7, 2.42 for 1998
NE. Forty shutouts are awesome and
although the career ERA seems a little inflated, He was 23-13 in 40 post season
starts. He leads the NSL in almost every
pitched category. His numbers have him
getting in easily, now it is just up to us to forgive or “just say no”. It’s all up to us.
Todd Coffey- What is this, a Gulf Breeze
pitching ballot? I hope not as there
just might not be that much to see. But
fittingly, Coffey came to me the coffee drinker in the 4th round of
the 2006 Rookie Draft. He had 3
different sub- 3.00 ERA season and appeared in a whopping 70 games in 2010, but
I won’t be upset if you move on.
Francisco Cordero- Here was the first of many
guys with fake dates of birth that got through immigration and grew magically
older on NSL rosters as they were caught.
Cordero came to the states with a date of birth of 8-11-77 and Erik
Burnham of the Derby Wolverines nabbed him in the 3rd round. After a couple of formative years, he missed
the entire 2002 season and had 3 birthdays in one year, magically changing his
DOB to 5-11-75. The team was Duneland at
this time and Dan kept putting him out there- but after a few years of an aging
reliever he was sent packing to Jericho.
The Roscoes put him in a closer role in two
different seasons (26 saves in 2008 and a career best 36 in his final year-
2012 for the transferred team now known as Kalamazoo. But after the 2012 season he went AWOL-
showed up in the Mexican Leagues for a spell, and was gone. Like all those
guys- Anyway, I wonder if we now have his correct birthdate? Guess they’re tighter on that stuff now. He
didn’t have a bad career, just not a great one.
Kyle Davies- The ballot seems remarkably void
of first year on the ballot considerations.
Davies won’t shoot holes in that hypothesis. Losing more than 3 times for every win, his
5.71 ERA is tops on the ballot. That
would be tops in a bad way. In his
career, he had a 5-18 season and a 2-14 season.
Originally a 2nd round draft pick of Magic City in 2006,
after 2 stinker seasons he went to Canaan for 2, to New England for one, and
back to Canaan for the final 2, retiring with… Canaan. Did you know his real first name was Hiram? No wonder he used Kyle.
John Grabow- There
is no truth to the rumor that John Grabow’s mother
paid me for him to appear on the ballot.
But he did get in a lot of career games (343) and at least held his own
at 4.41. His best year was 2008 for the
Pennsylvania Pounders when he checked in with a 2.04 ERA in 38 games. He pitched in a career high 66 in
2009.Drafted by the Imperials in the 5th round of the 2005 Rookie
Draft, he was cut and grabbed by the Pounders in the Waiver Draft- hanging on
there for 5 season in what is I believe a record for a Waiver Draft signee.
Livan Hernandez- He
came over on a Cuban flotilla and had a fine NSL career with 422 career starts,
80 CG, and 185 wins. But he made one big
mistake- he never played for a great NSL team, and as such, over his 15 year
career he pitched just one post season inning.
His page is full of color and solid performances, starting less than 25
games just twice in the 15 years. Not
only that, but he had 32 or more starts 8 times. He was 185-144 for his career, but with a
team like Cleveland or East York he might have been +25 to that. A work horse in every respect his 2878.1 IP
is tops for a newcomer to the ballot as is his win total. 256 IP in 2005, 2.56 ERA in 2004, 216 Ks in
2005- the numbers are there. But, there
were a few ugly ones- 10-15 in 2007, 9-16 in 2000, and 6.87 in 30 starts for
that same Jericho team. But you could
bet he’d take that ball every 5th day. He was the 7th pick overall by
Jericho in 1998, pitched there for 3 ugly years, then spent a couple of years
in East York where in 2001 he was an All Star for the 1st of his 2
times. Moving to New England for 2003,
he slipped on through the next year to Creekside where things settled down for
a set of 5 years including his 2004 career best year (18-11, 2.56) and 2nd
All Star appearance. After 2008 he was
just about done, and finished it up with 3 teams in 4 years. He certainly was a different breed and worked
hard to get to this country- making it not surprising that he worked hard after
he got here.
Trevor Hoffman- This is his 3rd ballot-
If we elected Lee Smith into the Hall of Fame, shouldn’t we have to vote Trevor
Hoffman in? Well, that will be our
decision, won’t it? So let’s talk
closers for a minute, and unlike the Mariano Rivera 15 years of closing no
matter what his grade is consider what goes on in the league. With the notable exception of Lee Smith, who
generally was the Parker City closer for 16 years, most of us use the best
grade, hopefully with a Z, as the closer for our teams. Things were no different for the glory years
Hoffman spent in Creekside after a short stint with New England. Hoffman led the league in saves in 1999 (50),
2000 (51), and 2010 (46). He was in the
top 10 in saves 5 other times. But,
there were years where another better suited closer did the closing and Hoffman
was just the setup guy. Witness 2001
when Hoffman posted a 1.67 ERA, yet took a back seat
to closing. Ditto, 2003, when he had
just 1 save despite a 1.93 ERA, and 2006 with no saves and 1.92 ERA. So my point is that he accumulated a bunch of
saves, yet the total could have blown Lee Smith out of the water. Oh, Smith was affected the same way but
Hoffman’s save total and ERA rank right there with Lee. He pitched in more games, and even had a year
(2004) when he did not have a card. He
was a 6 time All-Star and 4 time All-League, yet all were when he was closing,
never as a set up despite the fantastic ERAs.
He was originally an Elite- Waller taking him with his 2nd
pick in the 1994 rookie draft, and was traded in 1996 to Creekside where he
posted most of his numbers. He was
traded 3 times in the 2007 off season, winding up in Vermont for 86 more saves
over his final 4 seasons. In 37 post
season games, he had 15 saves. His BB/K
ratio is better than Smith’s. He was as
dominant as you could be given the roles he played. His saves total is 4th on the
all-time career list.
Brad Lidge- Here was
the usual decent NSL reliever- solid enough, a closer when his grade was up
there, and a relatively short career. Waller grabbed him in the 2nd
round of the 2004 Rookie Draft, and after a so-so season he went to Vermont and
became the ‘chuck closer in 2005 and 2006, the latter being his one All Star
year. Over that 2 year period he saved
73 games with an ERA under 3.00, good enough for the time. He later moved on to Keystone where once
again he was a closer- but just in 2009- saving 34 games in 51
appearances. But other guys took control
of both teams’ closer positions and they had to settle for lesser roles. His walks to innings Is okay, hits to innings
fine, and 113 saves is nice for his grandchildren to look at.
Ted Lilly- I don’t think I ever saw him
smile. Do you think he did when his wife
delivered a baby? Maybe when the
McDonald’s kid said his big mac was ready?
Who knows, but life could not have been that bad for him. His 11 year NSL career was highlighted by an
All Star appearance in 2010 (18-4, 2.09 for Kalamazoo) and his W/L was much
better than I had thought it would be- i.e. something to smile about! He did win 16 in 2007 for Jericho and chipped
in a decent 2.68 ERA for Crosstown in 2003.
Crossie originally drafted him in the 5th
round of the 2002 Rookie Draft- and a 12 year career of 24 more wins than
losses is a pretty decent payoff for a #5 pick.
After a pair of seasons with the ’dales, he moved on to Glenville for 2
and on to Jericho/Kalamazoo to close it out.
In his final year he was 14-9 over 185 IP and was 2-2, 2.57 in that
year’s post season. His stats actually
look pretty good when tossed up there against Carpenter.
Scott Linebrink- 42
saves in 2006 for East York can pretty much highlight his career. He gave up too many hits per IP, and his main
claim to fame was being available. 421 games over 9 seasons is solid. He was originally Albany’s 3rd
round pick in 2004, was traded twice before the third time’s the charm and he
headed back to Albany for his final 4 seasons.
In his 42 save season for East York, his ERA was just 1.89, and although
you can’t really call him a one-year wonder, there’s not much else to be
excited about.
Rodrigo Lopez- As long as
there are Oriole fans in the league, draft picks will continue to be wasted on
pitchers such as Lopez. As a starting
pitcher with 28 starts, Canaan took him with his 1st round rookie
pick in 2003. He produced a fine 10-13,
3.88 with 11 CG for the Polar Bears and was quickly dealt to TMI in a deal of
like 11 players and a draft pick where you had no idea what the clubs were
trying to accomplish. But, Ash was an
Oriole fan and on it went. He pitched
for the Tigers for 4 seasons going 39-32 then went to Glenville for one season
and Muncie for a pair, notching a 12-9 in 2011 with 33 starts. His strike out
rate was never that good and BB/IP rate was awful. Everyone knows I hate the Orioles, but there
are countless Red Sox that also fit this Lopez liker bill. All hype, no value. Yet we still read fantasy magazines and
believe everything they say.
Mike MacDougal- I know he’ll be back. He’s probably on a minor league contract
somewhere this year. But, for now at
least, he’s eligible for the prestigious NSL Hall of Fame. He was never a true closer because he usually
had a W. He pitched some tight innings,
because he was usually an A&C. He
almost always disappointed with few innings pitched. But, he did carve out 7 seasons and actually
did save 46 contests including 20 for the 2006 East Hardwick Giants. His career
ERA of 4.00 was not disastrous but just 300 IP in 7 seasons just about lets you
know that he wasn’t always there for you. Jack got him in the third round of
the 2004 draft, and he was later traded 4 times and went through 2 FA
drafts.
Guillermo Mota- I
swear he pitched for the Giants last year.
Man as we get older they fall in together, don’t they? It shows me here that he did not pitch in the
NSL after the 2012 campaign, so I’ll write him up. Yes, if he comes back, I’ll do it again. Mota’s career ERA
of under 4 is nice but his hits/IP ratio is awful for a short reliever. 477 games in 13 seasons (one as a no card) is
nice, but his HR allowed is ugly. He
pitched in as many as 65 games (Cleveland 2004) and an astonishing 104.1 frames
of relief in that season (gee- not that long ago, eh?). Al grabbed him in the third round of the 2000
Rookie Draft and he stayed a career Cleveland Hit Man over his entire 13 year
career and pitched 33 post season innings in just 19 post season
appearances.
Jamie Moyer- This is his 2nd
ballot- I am absolutely positive he could get batters out today. His career is highlighted by longevity- 23
seasons is 2nd on the ballot just to Clemens, and a 242-169 career
Win/Loss is currently 25th all time, and is not necessarily a
reflection of the teams he played on- many were just not that good. But he’s 5th in career wins, yet
now inning his 100th game until his 12th season. 88 career CG for that slightly built lefty
and a whopping 40 shutouts! He was
unspectacular, but solid to start.
Burnie took him in the 1987 Rookie Draft- but not until the 4th
round. This was an astute pick by the
elder Burnham brother. In 1988 he was
12-11, but 7.17 and things looked sad- but he got started on the right foot in
1989 with an 18-6, 2.92 season, and his first of two All-Star selections. He then sat out 2 years- likely to marry
Digger’s daughter, and upon his return everything was not rosy. He was AWEOL for 1992-4, then was the #2 pick
of the 1994 Free Agent Draft by South Amherst and the return to form basically
began in 1995 (8-9, 4.01). He went to
New England for a year, then back to the Canucks. After a 17-9, 3.12 with the 1999 Canucks, he
moved to Gulf Breeze (see Burnie- we have made deals) and over 4 seasons won 53
games, his final year with the ‘varks being his 2nd
All-Star selection. On to the Wizards,
then Canaan, then Longstown, then Canaan again, then
finally Sparrow Lake. Do you think we
have a trading problem? But no matter
all that as Moyer’s numbers are fantastic.
He was in the top ten in ERA 3 times in his career, and top 10 in
shutouts 7 times. He pitched in as many
as 234 innings (1999) and won 20 in 2009 for the Prospectors. He quietly put up big numbers, and his 5
missed years would have made things look even better.
Mike Mussina- This is his 4th
ballot now- and the facts remain close to the same- It’s going to be tough for
Mike, and not because of his career numbers which are really solid. The problem is that this is clearly the
ballot of the pitcher and where he fits in to the pecking order is up to you. His 241-165 career W/L record is excellent
and a sub 4.00 ERA is fantastic in this league.
Much like Maddux, Moose was always there to hand the ball to and he
started 22 or more games in every one of his 17 seasons. He was the first guy on this ballot who was a
#1 rookie pick- and he went to Magic City with it. Remember this was pre-rookie draft pick
trading and soon after the draft was over, Bryan traded him to the Williamsport
Millionaires for Sam Militello, Chad Cordero, and a
#1 FA pick. That same day he was traded
to Longstown and for 13 seasons he was the Prospectors
#1 starter. He posted an eye-popping
21-4, 3.13 in 2003, and won 17 twice and 18 twice, including a 17-8, 3.83 in
his final season. But he got out a year
early instead of a year late and left us with our 6th highest win
total career wise (241) and 7th all-time in whiffs (2808) and IP
(3433). He was only 3-11 in 15 post
season starts with an ERA approaching 7.
So just like the kid in the back seat- “don’t forget about me!”
Joel Pineiro- Man-
speaking of Jekyll and Hyde! Joel won 42
games combined in 2003 and 2004, He had a 6.94 ERA in 189 innings in 2006. He was 19-6, 2.31 in 2010. 5-13, 4.51 in 2011. I believe it’s safe to say he had an up and
down career. Originally drafted in the 1st
round of the 2002 Rookie Draft (as part of the ARod
deal) he was awesome, especially at first.
In 2004 he was 21-5 (2.68) and won the Nolan Ryan award. The year before he was 21-4 and immediately
after was 9-7. This was for some potent
Cleveland teams, and as the team started to slide in the mid-00s, he was part
of that slide with his awful 10-13 in 2006 and 12-15 in 2007-8 combined. It was then on to the Sparrow Lake shuttle
for 2009 (6-9, 4.30) and on to Longstown for a solid
year (19-6, 5 shutouts in 2010) before the final 2 stinkers. He was 6-05 in over 100 post season innings
and was an All Star and All League in 2004 (the Ryan winning year). The career ERA is okay, but wouldn’t it be
fun to look at the career without 2006?
He was never a strike out pitcher and his hits/IP ratio is okay. 31 games over .500 is really related to the
teams he played on as well as those incredible early 00s.
Chris Ray- Si’s been waiting for one of his
guys to get on the ballot all day. As
they say, “the waiting is the hardest part”.
Si’s laughable 2nd pick in the 2006 Rookie Draft lasted just
7 years, one as a no card and one as a 2 IP pitcher for Magic City in
2012. He did save 27 games for the 2007
First Caps.
J.C.Romero- Let’s continue on with Si if we can, and the
pick-up of J.C.Romero. Si has always been an outstanding judge of
future talent and he was all over Romero in the 2007 Waiver Draft. But you have to hand
it to Everyone’s Hero, his Waiver pick up pitched for 5 seasons for the Caps
and notched 52 saves. Other players
aside, this might have been the most astute Waiver Draft pick-up ever. It pains me to say that about Si, but it is
what it is. Romero’s career started with
a 4th round Longstown pick in 2001, and
after two years as a failed starter, he settled in to a set-up role with the
club and carried that for 4 more seasons.
High water marks included 68 games in 2005 and a 2.19 ERA in 2003. After the waiver pick-up, J.C. was 3-1 with
an incredible 0.71 and 19 saves in 2008, following that with his 33 save, 2.44
season in 2009. Who says Si knows
nothing about pitching. Well, we all do,
but that’s another story for another time.
Let him just bask in the glory of his best pitching pick ever was in the
Waiver Draft.
Curt Schilling- Here is now his 5th
and final ballot- I’m not really sure what to think about the Bloody Sock. I mean, if it was blood, wouldn’t it have
gotten darker through the game as it dried?
Why didn’t he change his sock in between innings and put on a fresh
gauze pad or something? Nah- I’m with
Gary Thorne on this one. It’s a nice
story, but… But let’s not dwell on that.
What is a nice story is Schilling’s career. If Clemens were not on the ballot this year,
you’d be all over Curt. He was a 6-time
All-Star, but somehow was never an All-League.
He won 20 once (20-5 2005) and led the league in punch outs (282 in
1999). He won nearly 100 times more than
he lost, and 17 of his 18 years were with middle of the road Pennsylvania
teams. Goody took him with the 3rd
round pick in the 1991 Rookie Draft, and particularly the middle of his career
was fantastic- 156-71 from 1996-2005. I
had forgotten that he began his career as a reliever (5-10, 9 saves in 1991-2
in the NSL) and dabbled with it a little more later in the 2006 season. He was traded to Crosstown for his final
season- 13-5, 3.28 in 2008 then went to Bryan’s back yard. We saw
him at the World Series, and have heard his cancer and money issues. I will believe what I wish to, but we all
have to believe that his NSL career was downright fantastic, worthy of a bloody
sock at least.
John Smoltz- Here is his 3rd ballot- This is really incredible- just look at all the candidates we have
this year and although there are some fine batters, it’s like all the pitchers
have arrived at once. I like Smoltz
almost as much as a commentator as a pitcher and he made the sacrifice of
becoming a closer for the Braves when good sense told you to leave him in the
rotation. But he was injured in all of
2001 and the Brave brass must have thought he’d be better suited to relieving-
which he did for 4 seasons (79 saves including a league leading 45 in 2004),
but got back into the rotation for his final 3+ seasons. So how does this affect his HOF
credentials? To start, his win/loss mark
might be less than anticipated. This
could also be a function of some ratty teams though, so let’s look
elsewhere. 3.90 ERA- check, but maybe
not quite what was expected- yet better than Nolan Ryan who is in the
Hall. 3306.1 IP is 9th on the
all-time list and 2836 whiffs is good for 5th. Still, though, the thinking is 4 more seasons
at prime Smoltz would have made him a shoe-in one would think. He led the league in ERA in 1997 (2.60) when
he won the Nolan Ryan award, and punched out 273 that season. He was in the top 10 9 times in whiffs and 6
times in IP. But after 8 seasons in the
league for 4 different teams, he was only 70-100 with an ERA approaching
5. Something clicked in 1997 as that
Nolan Ryan award came out of almost nowhere, and the rest was solid including
the 4 relief years. Maybe not Clemens
solid- but solid. Eric drafted him in
the 2nd round of the 1989 rookie draft for the Wizards, and he moved
to Keystone, New England, and East York in quick succession before Mick worked
with him to make him the pitcher he became.
He was a 3 time All-Star and 2 year All-League, finishing up his career in
Glenville for 3 and Sparrow Lake for the finale. Here was really a tale of many pitchers- the
potential guy who did little with poor teams, turning it on for a league
juggernaut before the injury, reinventing himself as a reliever before
reestablishing himself as a bona fide starter.
Yes, the East York effect might have been important in his career (great
offense, usually in the post season), but the multiple transformations of his
career make him one of the most interesting guys on the ballot.
Javier Vazquez- Speaking of taking the ball
every 5th say, Vazquez basically did so from 2001 to 2012. He started an incredible 428 times in 14
seasons with the lowest total being 24 starts in his rookie year (1999). A sub-.500 W/L won’t get him elected and
although he was steady and spent little time on the d.l.,
his career was just a shade too short for the longevity to out weight the other
numbers. His 2382 career strike outs is
nice and the walk total is not quite as high as I would have expected. The biggest problem for Vazquez is for every
action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. No- not Einstein here, just for every 21-5,
3.14 (2002) there’s a 2003: 14-14, 5.16.
Loved his 2008- 15-10 3.99? What
about his 2011: 1-16, 7.39. Yes, there
is color all over his stat sheet. Some
of it is ugly color though. Man oh man-
more hits than IP in his career? The HR
allowed is way up there as well. But
face it- we all could have used him as an inning eating starter with a good
year mixed with a bad year. Just hope
the good are before you trade him. He
started out with Pennsylvania in 1999 (in the 2nd round by Goody)
and after 9 seasons moved to Sparrow Lake for 5.
Billy Wagner- His 2nd ballot- Whoa
Nellie! Let’s talk closers for a while,
shall we? Lee Smith (371 saves, 2.93
ERA, 16 years) is in our Hall of Fame.
Trevor Hoffman (341 saves, 2.82 ERA, 17 seasons) was not elected last
year. Billy Wagner (347 saves, 2.71 ERA,
15 years) joins Hoffman on the ballot this year. I guess if the last two don’t get in, we need
to get Smith out, right? I hope everyone
thinks about this closely, do we want all relievers with similar numbers to get
in, or was Lee just that much better than them all? Wagner was the 1st pick of the
Vermont Woodchuck in the 1997 Rookie Draft and pitched there for 3 seasons with
one total save. Oh he was still good
(2.01 in 1998, 3.49 in 1999) but there were others ahead of him in the pecking
order. Enter here the Farmland Chieftones and Billy became the closer there in 2000 (35
saves). He was boxed around in 2001 then
he saved 26 for a weak Albany team in 2002.
Crossie then gave up 3 rookie picks and E.Diaz for Wagner in 2003.
It paid off big time for the ‘dales as Wagner saved 230 games for
Crosstown over the next 6 seasons including 2 All Star and one All League
appearances. He rode with Crosstown in
to the Championship Series of 2004 and 2005 saving 8 games in those 2 post
seasons. He went to Mud Creek in 2009,
then East York, and finally Glenville, where in his last year (2011), he saved
35 games for the Greys. That’s leaving
your career on a high note. But whatever
you do, be sure to look closely at Billy, compare him to Smith and Hoffman, and
decide how we want to deal with relievers.
Wagner’s career ERA best on the ballot.
Tim Wakefield- Wouldn’t it be cool if he and Varitek got in together?
Ah- neither will probably make it and Wakefield’s 4.66 ERA will probably
freeze him out. The perfect team guy,
Wake did whatever was needed including closing in the majors, though he saved
just one game in the NSL. When the
knuckle ball was right, he was fine, when it wasn’t- look out. All this being said, though, he never pitched
200 innings in a season in the NSL and his best win total was 15. He’s 22 games under .500 for his career and both
the walks per 9 and hits per 9 are obscene.
I drafted him in the first round of the 1993 rookie draft, and cut
him. He was out of baseball for 3 years
then came back with Farmland in 1996 as the #1 pick in the 1996 Free Agent
Draft, posting his 1st and only All-Star appearance. That year he was 14-10, 2.85 and rarely got
close to those numbers the rest of the way.
In 1997 he was traded to York then spent two years in New England before
finishing his true home in Indiana for his final baker’s dozen seasons.
Dan Wheeler- It seems as if the ballot this
year is lined with one year wonders, and Wheeler certainly fit that bill as the
Comanche closer in 2007 (37 saves) and little else to hang his hat on. Selected in the third round of the 2004
Rookie Draft, J.B. rode him to 124 games in 2006 and 7 combined, eventually
moving him to Sparrow Lake after 6 semi-productive seasons. His numbers are fine- not great- just
fine. It seems as if 72 HR in 458.2
innings is a little high. He had his
best ERA in 2006 (1.61) and his best IP total (72.2) that same year- propelling
him in to the closer role the year after.
He was only 4-6 for the Stallions.
Dontrelle Willis- He brought the most
excitement to the game since arguably Fernando Valenzuela. Nothing was going to stop the D-train and he
showed that by getting two All Star nods in his first 3 seasons in the
league. He was 15-4 3.09 as a rookie in
2004 after Mick snagged him in the first round and after a sub-par year, went a
gaudy 22-6, 2.17 in 2006. In 2007 he
slipped a bit to 10-10 with 9 CG, but an alarming 35 HR allowed and a 5.38
ERA. It was clear something as wrong in
2008 (5-7, 7.28) and that was basically his career. He might have been as much fun to watch as Fidrych, and was certainly as effective as Pedro in his
first couple of years. But in 3 of his
career years he totaled just 1 inning and her was never effective again. He was an All-League pitcher in 2006 (the
22-6 season) and was 5-3 in 9 post season starts. In the 2006 post season he was 5-1 in 7 total
starts with 6 CG in 59.1 IP. Some guys
couldn’t do that in a season. He was
traded to Canaan in 2011 (why?) and cut (oh- I see) and wound up on Creekside
for his 1 inning 2012. He’s only 36 now-
and the Marlins are not competitive…. Just sayin’.
Kerry Wood- No one can ever forget that 20
strike out game. I watched and still
don’t understand how the ball could move as it did that day- and maybe Kerry
doesn’t know wither. But he worked that
in to being the #1 overall pick in the 1999 Rookie Draft by Framland,
and quickly showed that pitching 20 Ks might not be so good after all. After a so-so rookie year, he had to sit out
2000, then came back in mid-stream 2001 (6-11, 9.00) obviously before he was
ready. The club moved to Albany in the
off season, and the more stable Nathaniel environment seemed to work as he was
reinventing himself as a pitcher. The
desire was there, but the results were not and a pair of 17 loss seasons
followed. After yet more arm troubles in
2005, he took another 2 years off and resurfaced as a reliever in late 2007-
this time for Magic City. He was okay as
a reliever- just okay- and hung around long enough to claim an NSL pension,
retiring in 2012 for Duneland with a 5.79 ERA.
Yes, the teams he toiled for were basically losing teams, and yes, his
numbers aren’t that great almost across the board. But if Wood’s 20 strikeout game wasn’t enough
to get a general manager fired then shame on the Cubs. Maybe they won’t win it after all in my
lifetime. Hey- wait a minute…
|
Eligible Hall of Fame Pitchers |
|||||||||||||||||
|
Class of 2017 |
|||||||||||||||||
|
Player |
Year |
G |
GS |
CG |
Sho |
W |
L |
Sves |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
HRs |
BB |
SO |
ERA |
YOB |
|
Baker,Scott |
7 |
153 |
151 |
11 |
1 |
47 |
48 |
0 |
888.2 |
971 |
473 |
423 |
119 |
240 |
737 |
4.28 |
|
|
Bush,David |
8 |
178 |
172 |
38 |
10 |
57 |
74 |
0 |
1071.1 |
1199 |
645 |
603 |
157 |
329 |
749 |
5.07 |
|
|
Carpenter,Chris |
15 |
286 |
277 |
45 |
22 |
127 |
87 |
1 |
1927.2 |
1639 |
848 |
759 |
200 |
621 |
1460 |
3.54 |
|
|
Clemens,Roger |
24 |
674 |
673 |
152 |
40 |
337 |
207 |
0 |
4760.1 |
3650 |
2070 |
1858 |
561 |
1659 |
4334 |
3.51 |
5 |
|
Coffey,Todd |
7 |
268 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
16 |
13 |
375.2 |
362 |
174 |
155 |
34 |
125 |
262 |
3.71 |
|
|
Cordero,Francisco |
13 |
597 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
42 |
53 |
106 |
729.1 |
568 |
309 |
268 |
83 |
265 |
635 |
3.31 |
|
|
Davies,Kyle |
7 |
123 |
119 |
10 |
1 |
18 |
59 |
0 |
680.2 |
796 |
469 |
432 |
98 |
296 |
501 |
5.71 |
|
|
Grabow,John |
7 |
343 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
18 |
9 |
6 |
369.0 |
364 |
192 |
181 |
49 |
171 |
293 |
4.41 |
|
|
Hernandez,Livan |
15 |
422 |
422 |
80 |
36 |
185 |
144 |
0 |
2878.1 |
2775 |
1466 |
1306 |
331 |
1036 |
1916 |
4.08 |
|
|
Hoffman,Trevor |
17 |
779 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
51 |
52 |
341 |
912.1 |
674 |
315 |
286 |
92 |
299 |
805 |
2.82 |
3 |
|
Lidge,Brad |
9 |
355 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
25 |
33 |
113 |
435.0 |
311 |
193 |
162 |
61 |
162 |
428 |
3.35 |
|
|
Lilly,Ted |
11 |
301 |
289 |
16 |
7 |
120 |
96 |
1 |
1723.1 |
1687 |
876 |
801 |
210 |
646 |
1465 |
4.18 |
|
|
Linebrink,Scott |
9 |
421 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
27 |
23 |
48 |
562.0 |
519 |
284 |
260 |
87 |
161 |
471 |
4.16 |
|
|
Lopez,Rodrigo |
8 |
198 |
177 |
30 |
8 |
64 |
65 |
1 |
1162.1 |
1269 |
697 |
639 |
189 |
413 |
815 |
4.95 |
|
|
MacDougal,Mike |
7 |
219 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
15 |
46 |
301.1 |
273 |
147 |
134 |
26 |
148 |
244 |
4.00 |
|
|
Mota,Guillermo |
13 |
477 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
39 |
28 |
4 |
761.2 |
716 |
377 |
337 |
91 |
275 |
588 |
3.98 |
|
|
Moyer,Jamie |
23 |
561 |
546 |
88 |
40 |
242 |
169 |
0 |
3566.0 |
3419 |
1790 |
1634 |
461 |
1071 |
2375 |
4.12 |
2 |
|
Mussina,Mike |
17 |
515 |
515 |
84 |
32 |
241 |
165 |
0 |
3433.0 |
3059 |
1667 |
1506 |
455 |
1032 |
2808 |
3.95 |
4 |
|
Pineiro,Joel |
11 |
258 |
232 |
47 |
11 |
117 |
86 |
1 |
1644.0 |
1636 |
826 |
750 |
183 |
530 |
1053 |
4.11 |
|
|
Ray,Chris |
7 |
200 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
15 |
17 |
50 |
230.2 |
229 |
145 |
134 |
36 |
92 |
199 |
5.23 |
|
|
Romero,J.C. |
12 |
358 |
8 |
2 |
0 |
24 |
18 |
68 |
479.0 |
343 |
198 |
178 |
54 |
254 |
402 |
3.34 |
|
|
Schilling,Curt |
18 |
514 |
424 |
101 |
30 |
223 |
126 |
10 |
3149.0 |
2768 |
1430 |
1273 |
362 |
819 |
2828 |
3.64 |
5 |
|
Smoltz,John |
21 |
635 |
446 |
53 |
16 |
201 |
185 |
79 |
3306.1 |
2922 |
1623 |
1431 |
400 |
1167 |
2836 |
3.90 |
3 |
|
Vazquez,Javier |
14 |
429 |
428 |
54 |
13 |
157 |
165 |
0 |
2741.2 |
3005 |
1604 |
1456 |
392 |
824 |
2382 |
4.78 |
|
|
Wagner,Billy |
15 |
751 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
40 |
49 |
347 |
852.1 |
590 |
282 |
257 |
77 |
308 |
927 |
2.71 |
2 |
|
Wakefield,Tim |
18 |
441 |
344 |
99 |
20 |
135 |
157 |
1 |
2572.2 |
2710 |
1490 |
1331 |
338 |
973 |
1744 |
4.66 |
|
|
Wheeler,Dan |
9 |
340 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
24 |
20 |
40 |
458.2 |
391 |
221 |
202 |
72 |
142 |
434 |
3.96 |
|
|
Willis,Dontrelle |
8 |
118 |
117 |
33 |
5 |
61 |
34 |
0 |
851.0 |
775 |
401 |
371 |
100 |
273 |
613 |
3.92 |
|
|
Wood,Kerry |
14 |
293 |
158 |
25 |
5 |
60 |
86 |
20 |
1271.1 |
1274 |
773 |
682 |
182 |
614 |
1284 |
4.83 |
|
|
YOB= Years |
|||||||||||||||||
|
on ballot |
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