Thursday Links (15 Sep 11)

I’m up to my eyeballs researching players who walked a lot. Did you know that the longest streak of drawing one or more walks in consecutive games since at least 1919 is 22, by Roy Cullenbine, who did it in 1947? Did you also know that the longest such streak by a currently active player is 16, by Chipper Jones, who did it in 1999?

Well, now you do. And you also have links…

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18 Responses »

  1. No wonder the Ems got bumped, they moved from the Northwest League to the more advanced competition of the MWL!

  2. It’s hard not to forget about 2011 and think about 2012 for the Padres. Where do they go from here? Besides Headley not being in the lineup, their current lineup is pretty lackluster

  3. I understand the discussion on Trevor and the HOF (at least I think I do). I don’t think it’s a discussion on Trevor and the HOF as much as it is a discussion of Closers/Firemen/Relievers and the HOF. I suppose some of it could be bias against him due to his playing in San Diego and being overlooked by large parts of the public/fans and media, but I think it’s more about whether a reliever, particularly a modern closer who works 1 inning at a time and very few innings over the course of a season, has enough value to be a HOF.

    If you take a historical look at the HOF, of course, there aren’t many relievers. It’s only very recently they have started to go in, but it appears the gates are now open; although one could look at the voting history and say it took until 1985, about 50 years, for one to be elected, therefore relievers are not wothy of the HOF. Indeed, although another followed in 1992, it wasn’t until 2006 that the 3rd went in. Still, Gossage followed quickly thereafter and Rivera is a shoo in. I think this makes room for Hoffman.

    Potential hold ups for him, IMO, are the looming backlog and the likelihood Rivera will retire before Hoffman becomes eligible, which, again IMO, may cause some writers/voters to withhold their vote until Rivera goes in first. The latter is speculation on my part, but HOF voters do have some weird ideas; the former is undeniable. Take a look at the potenital ballot in 2015, the year before Trevor hits it:

    http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/hof_2015.shtml

    Oh, after all of that, I read the Fat Lady post. What a waste of time. The jist, Trevor isn’t as good as Rivera so he shouldn’t go in. Wow, thoughtful!

  4. I think Hoffman will get in, but it will take a while. The backlog which Pat mentions is a big part of the reason.
    Also, it took Gossage and Sutter a long time to get elected, so I can certainly see the same thing happening with Hoffman.