Odds 'n ends

Wow. That show was fun. We had some fun topics to talk about, and we got to beat up on Ron like old times. It'll be back to normal next week though.

A few notes:
-The Cards are now 0-2, and I'm not thrilled. Carp's arm is sore and will miss 1 start. I hope it's not an indication of something more serious than that. At least Kip pitched pretty well today (6 innings, 2 ER). Who knows, maybe D. Dunc has actually whipped him into a legit #2. Let's hope. What concerns me more though is the lack of offense. 2 games, 2 runs is not good. Maybe its just sluggishness, but I have a small hunch the Cards' underlying injury problems (Enc, Edmonds, Eck, Rolen) may hurt us in a big way this year. I'd put good odds on Walt being forced to trade for a bat or 2 eventually, or selling high on some older players (Edmonds, Enc, perhaps even Eck or Rolen) if the price is right at the deadline and settling for "next year." I guess it's WAY too early to be talking like that, but I haven't had a great feeling since we failed to sign at least 1 impact bat in the off season.

-I am not too down on Dana Altman pulling a Saban-esque switcheroo on Arkansas. (I realize it's not the same scenario as Saban but the indecisive coach comparison is there.) For those who haven't heard, Altman left Creighton for Arkansas only to rescind and successfully ask for reacceptance at Creighton today. I can understand (and he said it was for his family) not wanting to leave a place where you and your family are comfortable, and where the pressure on winning is pretty much just to get to the Dance, and anything past that is gravy. Much better than the seemingly stark raving mad Razorbacks administration and the SEC. I also really don't see the Arkansas job as a marquee one now, anyway. They haven't been a major player since the days of Nolan Richardson, and I think his leaving really threw the program into dismay. Plus, with the emergence of the football team, the pressure will be increased on the basketball team, probably with lesser resources devoted to it. Not a situation I would want to step into.

As I touched on in the show Saturday, I think there is a common feeling and trend toward coaches being content at lower-pressure jobs. We saw it with Tubby Smith going to Minnesota; Alford moving to N.M.; Billy Gillispie at A&M; Chris Lowery at SIUC; Calipari at Memphis; Jeff Bzdelik at Air Force (for now anyway) ; and by my odds, Billy Donovan, who I think will stay at UF. Now there will always be those schools that can lure the guy they want away, and there will always be guys willing to move on from their jobs on to bigger and better things (see Beilein to Michigan), but I think the "traditional powers" don't hold the stature in younger coaches and players' eyes. And that's why these mid-major teams and up-and-coming programs (Tim Floyd at USC, Bob Huggins at K-State, Mark Few & Gonzaga) have been successful on the court and in recruiting. Personally, I like it. I guess it sounds funny to talk about more parity in the game when for the first time in 15 years a team won back-to-back championships and the final 4 featured 2 of the most storied programs of all time, but I think the playing field is becoming more even, and I think it's a good thing.

Ok, that was a lot to write on 2 things, so I'm gonna head out. Maybe I'll try to arrange some stuff better for a column in the Argus this week. We'll see. And I'll see you later.

EDIT: for those of you who care and didn't know, you can check out the Argus online at www.iwu.edu/~theargus.
There you'll find my column this week, and whenever I publish one (which isn't as often as I'd like).

I'm back!

Wow...I haven't done this in a while.

It appears my account was shut down or something for some reason, and only through a very clever backdoor email searchy-thing have I been able to reaccess my account, but all appears to be the same, so all is well. Thought I'd let anyone who is checking this before tomorrow's show (all zero of you) that we will have a few guest hosts. Josh is out of town so I've brought in a couple of very sports and radio savvy gents from back home, Michael (Opie) and Nic. Oh ya, and also a kid named Ron, but he's no good. To give you an idea of who he is: He lives in Central Illinois and is a Dolphins and Spurs fan. Go figure. Anyway, it should be fun, as there's plenty to talk about with NCAA B-ball, the MLB season kicking off, some NFL personnel moves...
BE THERE. Sat. 10 a.m.-noon. WESN 88.1

p.s. Hopefully my schedule will permit me to do this more often so we can avoid another shut down fiasco. Cheers

HOF 3rd Basemen

Hey guys,

Here (finally) is the finished Stats comparison of the HOF 3rd basemen plus some modern-day candidates who are probably just a little below the grade. To explain a few of the stats:

OPS+= On Base plus Slugging Percentage measured against the league average, and adjusted for ballpark factors. An OPS+ over 100 is better than average, less than 100 is below average.

HOF Monitor: A Bill James invention; I couldn't begin to explain the formula for it, but believe me, the guy knows what he's talking about. He's a likely future HOFer himself for his work in revolutionizing the way baseball people look at statistics.

MVP awards: For those who won at least 1, the number of MVPs is listed. For those who never did, their highest finish in voting is listed.

*Denotes still active

Gold Gloves were first awarded in 1957, and the first All-Star game was held in 1933. It's also important to note that my HOF list omits Negro League players, because of inconsistencies in the keeping of stats for them and the level of competition to compare, mainly for Ron Santo, whose case is the reason for this post. It also includes only players whom I subjectively considered to have been primarily 3B, thus omitting some names like Edgar Martinez and Paul Molitor.

Again, to state my finding: Ron Santo's numbers are about a half-tier below the greats of his era at the position, and thus did not warrant election on the normal ballot. His numbers are solid, though, especially when compared to some of the more old-timey players. Add that with his broadcasting career, humanitarianism and diabetes struggle, I say he should get in via the Vet's Committee (which my money says he will in 2 years). However, if he gets in, the VC will have to look at some other guys, too, namely Ken Boyer and Greg Nettles. It could also open the door (and this is what people fear), based on sheer numbers, for some debates over guys like Gary Gaetti and the others I've listed. Honest! Look at the numbers!

Wade Boggs 1982-‘99	George Brett 1973-‘93	Mike Schmidt 1972-‘89
BA: .328	BA: .305	BA: .267
SLG: .443	SLG: .487	SLG: .527
HR: 118	HR: 317	HR: 548
H: 3,010	H: 3,154	H: 2,234
RBI: 1,014	RBI: 1,595	RBI: 1,595
R: 1,513	R: 1,583	R: 1,506
BB: 1,412	BB: 1,096	BB: 1,507
OPS+: 130	OPS+: 135	OPS+: 147
FP: .962	FP: .951	FP: .955
2 Gold Gloves	1 Gold Glove	10 Gold Gloves
N.h.t. 4th-MVP	1 MVP	3 MVPs
12-time All-Star	13-time All-Star	12-time All-Star
HOF Monitor: 267.0	HOF Monitor: 210.5	HOF Monitor: 249.5
Brooks Robinson 1955-‘77	Eddie Mathews 1952-‘67	Avg. HOF 3B post-‘57
BA: .267	BA: .271	BA: .288
SLG: .401	SLG: .509	SLG: .473
HR: 268	HR: 512	HR: 353
H: 2,848	H: 2,315	H: 2,712
RBI: 1,357	RBI: 1,453	RBI: 1,414
R: 1,232	R: 1,509	R: 1,469
BB: 860	BB: 1,444	BB: 1,264
OPS+: 104	OPS+: 143	OPS+: 132
FP: .971	FP: .956	FP: .959
16 Gold Gloves	0 Gold Gloves	6 Gold Gloves
1 MVP	0 MVPs-2 2nds	1 MVP
15-time All-Star	9-time All-Star	12 All-Star n/a
HOF Monitor: 128	HOF Monitor: 152.5	HOF Monitor: 201.5
George Kell 1943-‘57	Fred Lindstrom 1924-‘36	Traynor, Pie 1920-’37
BA: .306	BA: .311	BA: .320
SLG: .414	SLG: .449	SLG: .435
HR: 78	HR: 103	HR: 58
H: 2,054	H: 1,747	H: 2,416
RBI: 870	RBI: 779	RBI: 1,273
R: 881	R: 895	R: 1,183
BB: 621	BB: 334	BB: 472
OPS+: 111	OPS+: 110	OPS+: 107
FP: .969	FP: .959	FP: .947
Gold Gloves n/a	Gold Gloves n/a	Gold Gloves n/a
N.h.t. 4th-MVP	0 MVPs-1 2nd	N.h.t. 6th-MVP
10-time All-Star	0 All-Star	2-time All-Star
HOF Monitor: 90.0	HOF Monitor: 56.0	HOF Monitor: 96.0
Frank Baker 1908-‘22	Jimmy Collins 1895-1907	Avg. HOF 3B pre-‘57
BA: .307	BA: .294	BA: .308
SLG: .442	SLG: .409	SLG: .434
HR: 96	HR: 65	HR: 80
H: 1,838	H: 2,000	H: 2,344
RBI: 987	RBI: 1,006	RBI: 1,192
R: 887	R: 1,180	R: 1,123
BB: 473	BB: 426	BB: 465
OPS+: 135	OPS+: 113	OPS+: 115
FP: .943	FP: .929	FP: .950
Gold Gloves n/a	Gold Gloves n/a	Gold Gloves n/a
N.h.t. 3rd-MVP	MVP n/a	MVP n/a
All-Star n/a	All-Star n/a	All-Star n/a
HOF Monitor: 81.0	HOF Monitor: 39.5	HOF Monitor: 72.3
Ron Santo 1960-‘74	Gary Gaetti 1981-‘00	Vinny Castilla 1991-‘06
BA: .277	BA: .255	BA: .276
SLG: .464	SLG: .434	SLG: .476
HR: 342	HR: 360	HR: 320
H: 2,254	H: 2,280	H: 1,184
RBI: 1,331	RBI: 1,341	RBI: 1,105
R: 1,131	R: 1,130	R: 902
BB: 1,108	BB: 634	BB: 423
OPS+: 125	OPS+: 96	OPS+: 95
FP: .954	FP: .968	FP: .965
5 Gold Gloves	4 Gold Gloves	0 Gold Gloves
N.h.t 4th-MVP	N.h.t. 10th-MVP	N.h.t.11th-MVP
9-time All-Star	2-time All-Star	2-time All-Star
HOF Monitor: 88.0	HOF Monitor: 51.5	HOF Monitor: 69.0
Ken Boyer 1955-‘69	Bobby Bonilla 1986-‘01	*Chipper Jones 1993-‘06
BA: .287	BA: .279	BA: .304
SLG: .462	SLG: .472	SLG: .542
HR: 282	HR: 287	HR: 357
H: 2,143	H: 2,010	H: 1,944
RBI: 1,141	RBI: 1,173	RBI: 1,197
R: 1,104	R: 1,084	R: 1,188
BB: 713	BB: 912	BB: 1,070
OPS+: 116	OPS+: 124	OPS+: 142
FP: .952	FP: .931	FP: .953
5 Gold Gloves	0 Gold Gloves	0 Gold Gloves
1 MVP	N.h.t. 2nd-MVP	1 MVP
7-time All-Star	6-time All-Star	5-time All-Star
HOF Monitor: 74.5	HOF Monitor: 64.5	HOF Monitor: 128
Ron Cey 1971-‘87	Matt Williams 1987-‘03	*Scott Rolen 1996-‘06
BA: .261	BA: .268	BA: .285
SLG: .445	SLG: .489	SLG: .515
HR: 316	HR: 378	HR: 253
H: 1,168	H: 1,878	H: 1,454
RBI: 1,139	RBI: 1,218	RBI: 954
R: 977	R: 997	R: 899
BB: 1,102	BB: 469	BB: 681
OPS+: 121	OPS+: 113	OPS+: 129
FP: .961	FP: .963	FP: .966
0 Gold Gloves	4 Gold Gloves	7 Gold Gloves
N.h.t. 8th-MVP	N.h.t. 2nd-MVP	N.h.t. 4th-MVP
6-time All-Star	5-time All-Star	5-time All-Star
HOF Monitor: 36.0	HOF Monitor: 70.0	HOF Monitor: 64.5
Greg Nettles 1967-1988	Robin Ventura 1989-‘03	*Eric Chavez 1998-‘06
BA: .248	BA: .267	BA: .271
SLG: .421	SLG: .444	SLG: .489
HR: 390	HR: 294	HR: 212
RBI: 1,314	H: 1,885	H: 1,143
H: 2,225	RBI: 1,182	RBI: 716
R: 1,193	R: 1,006	R: 667
BB: 1,088	BB: 1,075	BB: 516
OPS+: 110	OPS+: 115	OPS+: 118
FP: .961	FP: .958	FP: .968
2 Gold Gloves	6 Gold Gloves	6 Gold Gloves
N.h.t. 5th-MVP	N.h.t. 6th-MVP	N.h.t. 14th-MVP
6-time All-Star	2-time All-Star	0-time All-Star
HOF Monitor: 63.0	HOF Monitor: 32.5	HOF Monitor: 29.0