WARP3 Lines

Career
Blyleven: 147.7
Morris: 85.0

Best Three Seasons
Blyleven: 33.9
Morris: 23.3

Five Year Peak
Blyleven: 49.1
Morris: 36.0

Even with WARP’s failings. . . that’s pretty ridiculous.

He had a good career, but I fail to see why he should be in the hall. He had some good seasons, but never truly dominant. He had a lot of good seasons, but didn’t have enough of those type of seasons to make it in based off that.

Morris holds a special place in a lot of people’s hearts. Twins fans will remember him forever for his wacky commercials in 1991 and of course for his amazing playoffs. The world series game 7 was truly something special. As a former employee of the Twins I can attest to how people and fans alike appreciate the guy.

That being said, I think there is no way the guy should be in the hall of fame. Not only is he not one of the best pitchers of all time, he was hardly one of the best pitchers of his generation. His best qualification is his durability and ability to pitch deep into games. The guy pitched a TON of innings for a good number of years. He did fail however to win any titles in another other quality statistical category except for strikeouts, which he did once. His career ERA+ is 105, barely above league average. I like Morris, but he belongs only near the Hall of Fame, not in it. If Blyleven doesn’t deserve to be in than Morris definitely does not belong to be in.

That being said, I think Blyleven should be in.

2 Rangers

9. Justin Smoak, 1b
Peoria Javelinas (Rangers)

One of four 2008 first-round picks to play in the AFL this year, Smoak entered the fall with just 56 at-bats at low Class A Clinton and was a taxi squad guy for Surprise. Compared to a Mark Teixeira at South Carolina and signed for $3.5 million this summer, the switch-hitter showed a good swing from both sides and at times the power that made him a first-rounder. Even better, he earned praise for pitch recognition, on his his hallmarks in hs college days. Scouts also were impressed with how comfortably he played first base, where Smoak showed soft hands and didn’t become flustered on the quick plays around the bag.

13. Julio Borbon, cf
Surprise Rafters (Rangers)

A first-round pick in 2007 out of Tennessee, Borbon earned high marks as a line-drive hitter who takes a plan to the plate and enhances it with a good approach. Some see Borbon as a leadoff hitter who also could hit lower in second half of the order. He doesn’t have a ton of power, but he has decent speed and his arm is playable in center. He still needs to learn the nuances of stealing bases and playing center, as he tries to make the spectacular play when a smarter, safer approach would be better. In 2008, he opened at high Class A Stockton and reached Double-A Frisco in late June, with roughly the same strikeout-to-walk ratio but far less success on stolen base attempts.

Q: Joseph from Fort Worth, TX asks:
Thanks for the chat Kary. As far as the Ranger prospects on this list, how far do you think Smoak and Borbon are from contributing in Arlington. I was very impressed with Smoak’s plate discipline. Do you think Bakersfield for Smoak and OKC for Borbon as starting points next year? Thanks again.
 A:

Kary Booher: This would be a good question when the Rangers’ Top 10 comes online, but I think Smoak will open in Bakersfield but Borbon goes back to Double-A Frisco. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Smoak opened in Double-A as well. With that bat, why not? The Cardinals showed that it wasn’t a stretch to send Brett Wallace to the TL late in the year, and I think Smoak would handle it. As for Borbon, he could benefit with another half-season in Frisco. His routes to the ball need polishing, and Triple-A is really no place to learn on the fly.

Once they’re there, they’re there. Like it or not. So I chose “both in”.

Here’s a great start to a column:

Baseball fans are disillusioned, and here’s why: Pumped up with money and medication, the sport has gotten ever bigger and badder – and more boring.

The one thing that has always distinguished baseball is the feeling of history in the making. Each season, records fall, milestones are passed, boundaries are broken. That’s all been eclipsed by the asterisk of cash and steroids. It’s hard to feel excited at new benchmarks when the bench is dipped in 24-karat gold and the marks are injection scars.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/03/DD2U14GE9U.DTL

Blyleven > Nolan

And Sutton.
And Perry.

My Dad played with Blyleven in high school. So I am kind of a huge Bert Blyleven homer.

The fact that he’s not in the HOF already is a travesty, and if he doesn’t get in this time it’ll be a crime against humanity.

That’s a lot of years pitching

Jack Morris with 18

Bert Blyleven with 22

and all those SO’s:

Blyleven with 3,701 SO’s

Morris with 2,478 SO’s

20-Win Seasons:

Morris 3

Blyleven 1

shutouts:

Blyleven with 60

Morris with 28

WS Rings and Wins

Morris 3-4

Blyleven 2-2

I’ve gone back and forth via e-mail and blog comments with TR on this one. Do a search for his ‘reasons’ for not supporting Blyleven last year and read his comments and mine in the discussion thread. His arguments are extremely unconvincing to say the least…yet he claims that he’s seriously thought the arguments through. I think he merely says that because he knows that we “statheads” will argue about Blyleven until we’re blue in the face and he doesn’t want to deal with us.

Anyways, it’s amusing to me that he claims that Blyleven shouldn’t be in the HoF because he couldn’t win many games “in his prime.” He considers his prime the 70s even though he was still an All-Star and receiving CY Young votes in the late 80s. He claims that Nolan Ryan was an “all-time great’ and an "elite” pitcher, yet the two pitchers have the same number of seasons with 15+ wins. Of course, Nolan Ryan, the “elite” pitcher is actually very comparable statistically to Blyleven. What’s the biggest difference and the primary reason that Nolan Ryan is a legend and Blyleven isn’t in the HoF? It’s simply because a devastating fastball is much more exciting than a deadly curve.