HARDBALL TIMES POST - The Major League Life of Cliff Dapper

My latest article for the Hardball Times chronicles the life of Cliff Dapper, the former Dodger catcher who was traded for Ernie Harwell.I had written about him before, but thanks to a reader's e mail, I see his life beyond baseball is worth a tribute.READ THE ARTICLE HERE.

The 1978 Kellogg's 3D Super Stars - A Sully Baseball Salute

Today the staff at Sully Baseball are honoring the 3D Super Star cards that used to be shoved into boxes of Frosted Flakes during my youth.1978 was the beginning of me trying to understand and follow baseball. Fortunately for my sanity as a budding Red Sox fan, I didn't understand what was happening with the pennant race and what climaxed with Bucky Dent.I was just trying to learn the team names,

Vazquez won't flop as a fish

I’ve written some nasty things over the last few years about Javier Vazquez… and got an anonymous reader to lash out at me every time I did.I got on his case when he was with the White Sox and I made the easy prediction that he was going to be a flop when he returned to the Yankees.So you might think I am going to kill the Marlins for spending some of their revenue sharing by forking over $7

Rest in Peace, Leslie Nielsen

And thank you for many laughs including this wonderful scene from The Naked Gun.May they never call you Shirley wherever you are.

Take a good look at CitiField, honey...

For this will be the site of my career defining fiasco. You thought Houston and Anaheim were bad? This is New York! They REMEMBER the disasters here!(Seriously... it should be even money Terry Collins doesn't finish the season.)

The Tom House 1979 Topps Card is worth a salute

Today the staff at Sully Baseball salute Tom House and specifically his wonderful 1979 Topps Card.The card is a work of beauty as only Topps could do.First of all, Tom’s look is working big time. The glasses show he is a smart guy (who later really did earn a PhD in psychology) but the porn stache shows it is the 1970s all the way. (The Larry Wilcox blond hair helps too.)Clearly shot at spring

Beware of Birds... Orioles to be specific

What a difference a half season makes.In June, I was telling Orioles fans to save their ticket stub for a 2010 game as proof of their loyalty to the birds. They were on pace for 117 losses and being one of the worst teams in the history of the 162 game schedule era.Now a casual glance at the Orioles would see little to get excited about. They finished the season with the fourth worst record in

Honoring Turkey Stearnes on Turkey Day

Chances are you've never heard of Turkey Stearnes.You might think I am trying to make a joke, pulling an obscure player out of the moth balls and poking fun of his name.Nope.I am taking this moment to honor someone who should have been a legend in baseball history... someone who if he were born a few decades later, would have played in the major leagues and probably have been a star... maybe even

Wondering where some of my anonymous critics are now

I was reading through some old posts of mine and I checked out the Mets Home Grown vs. Acquired entry I did back in December of 2008.For whatever reason it is my most read post ever. And had the most spirited debate in the comments section.And I noticed something interesting. I pointed out that I felt that Billy Wagner's injury caused the Mets to overpay for Frankie Rodriguez and J. J. Putz.And I

Will Cliff Lee's free agency be like the end of Superman 2?

There's a great scene in Superman 2 that I will spoil here.If you haven't seen the movie... it came out nearly 30 years ago. Take your time.In the scene, the evil Kryptonians led by General Zod have been obsessing over one thing: Capturing and defeating Superman.And when they cornered him in the Fortress of Solitude, Superman was forced to go into that chamber that takes all of his powers away.

Good luck Victor Martinez

Victor Martinez has moved on from the Red Sox. There was no post season glory with him behind the plate. Heck the Sox never won a post season game in the year and a quarter he called Fenway home.But he got a few hits for the Sox, made an All Star team and was a likable enough guy to root for.This Red Sox fan wishes him well as he goes off to Detroit.Meanwhile with Martinez gone and Beltre certain

The Red Sox need to offer Mariano Rivera a three year contract

Wait a second! The Yankees are playing hardball with Mariano Rivera?Um… wow.That is the most staggeringly stupid thing I have ever heard in free agent history.YES, stupider than the Cubs offering Milton Bradley a long term deal.YES, stupider than the Rangers making Chan Ho Park one of the top paid pitchers in baseball.If there is ever a lynch pin to the success of the Yankees since 1996, it has

Latest Post on THE HARDBALL TIMES - If Jamie Moyer had been average in his 20s

My latest article for The Hardball Times ponders the question "If Jamie Moyer had pitched better in his twenties, would he be a Hall of Fame candidate?"The debate over the value of wins in determining a pitcher's worth found an interesting case study with Felix Hernandez and the Cy Young Award this year.Imagine if Jamie Moyer was on the cusp of 300 wins?CLICK HERE to read the article.

Would someone else PLEASE bid on Derek Jeter?

Derek Jeter will be a New York Yankee in 2011.Everyone on the planet Earth knows that.I am sure there is a bushman in the Kalahari desert bewildered by a Coke bottle who when asked about Jeter's contract status would reply "Jeter? *Click* He's not going anywhere! *Click*"And yet both Jeter and management are playing out a bizarre charade as if he could play elsewhere.One Yankee executive (whose

Mets search to REPLACE Terry Collins starts tomorrow

So the Mets are going to do it.They are going to hand the keys to one of the most expensive rosters in baseball and what SHOULD be one of the marquee franchises in the game to a guy who couldn't handle the baseball pressure cookers that are Houston and Anaheim.Now you are going to put him in the New York media market who want to run managers out of town on a rail AFTER they win a World Series?The

I didn't get an A in math but...

Some word problems were kind of easy.Like "If you are going to play a football game in a stadium, and the league needs to have 100 yards of playing space, 20 yards of end zone space and six feet on either side beyond the endzone... how big does the playing field have to be?"Simple addition.And if the playing space is less than the sum total of space needed, should they play there?The whole fiasco

Sully Baseball Honors... The 1981 Houston Astros Future Stars

When I was a kid collecting Topps cards, I used to love the Future Stars card.I always trusted the Future Card. Why would Topps lie to me? The players on the card were ALL destined for stardom.Granted, they didn't look 100% reliable when they picked players like Mike O'Berry and Keith MacWorther for future Red Sox stardom... but hey! Everyone can make a bad pick from time to time.Now I stumbled

I always get in trouble when I criticize the Pirates, but...

You can never accuse Pirate fans of being apathetic... at least not the ones who read what I write. As I've said before, I like the Pirates and want them to do well. And I hope that Neal Huntington helps assemble a winner and Clint Hurdle manages them back to the post season.But whenever I point out that their trades have left something to be desired or the team doesn't look that good for next

THE KING IS CROWNED!!!!!!

YES!Felix Hernandez won the Cy Young Award that was rightfully his.And we can all breathe a nice sigh of relief that the writers voting didn't say "Hey! He didn't get as many wins... how good could he be?"Best WAR for Pitchers.The best ERA.Best Hits per 9 IP.2nd best WHIP.Most innings pitched.2nd in strikeouts (1 strikeout behind the leader.)Most games started.2nd most complete games (1 behind

Mack, Grove and Foxx are ghosts trapped between worlds

Baseball loves to honor their ghosts.The legends of Yankees past hover over the Bronx, even after they crossed the street.Ted Williams’ legend is honored inside and out of Fenway.Roberto Clemente … Gil Hodges… Ty Cobb… all are honored in their old cities.Even some players who never played in their team’s new homes are honored by their transplanted franchise.Fan bases that never knew Jackie

Sully Baseball Presents The “No Not THAT One” All Time Roster

There's a great scene in Office Space where David Herman's character, whose name is Michael Bolton, explains why he won't go by "Mike" instead of "Michael.""Why should I change? He's the one who sucks."Alas that character was stuck with a name that everyone today associates with someone else.And some baseball players are stuck with that same fate.Some played before their namesake became famous...

My first article for The Hardball Times

Today at The Hardball Times I have posted my first article. It's about the Pirates and no doubt Pirate fans will hate me for it because I imply that they weren't good last year and that there is no excuse for 18 straight losing seasons.Shooting the messenger will be in the cards today.CLICK HERE to give it a read.I'll be doing articles for them from time to time.But don't worry. I'll be writing

Prove me wrong, baseball writers... vote for the King

Come on, Voters... make the right call.Felix Hernandez was the best pitcher in the American League for 2010.And if you've been reading this blog (which you are right now), you know I've covered this in detail why Felix Hernandez should win BECAUSE of his win loss total.There's nothing left to do but wait... and hope the writers made the correct choice.

How many Buchholzes are we going to get?

You get the feeling that Theo is messing with us Red Sox fans?We now have two Buchholzes for 2011... just in time for us to get confused during a game."Buchholz got hammered.""Which one?"And it gets muddled if the good Buchholz pitches poorly or the mediocre one pitches great.I hear Theo is working on bringing in another pitcher named Daisuke O'Malley.

Rookie of the Year Synergy Happens Once Every 3 Decades

Neftali Feliz and Buster Posey won the Rookie of the Year for 2010 and frankly the picks are spot on.They both had great years, both look like future stars and both sparked their teams to the post season.Voters made their selection before the post season began, so they had no idea that Feliz’s Rangers and Posey’s Giants were going to meet in the World Series. It was a nice coincidence. And it got

Sully Baseball Presents THE ALL STAN TEAM

You don't meet too many Stans any more. Not sure why. It is a good reliable name. But for whatever reason it has faded away as a name the way that Edith and Ethel have fallen out of style for girl names.But to honor that fading from memory name, I decided to create a 25 man roster using only guys named Stan.As always, I list 8 starting players, 5 starting pitchers, 5 relievers, a pinch hitter, 2

Twins... don't change a damn thing about Target Field

Justin Morneau is complaining about the dimensions of Target Field and he wants them changed?Um, Justin. Your team was 52-28 at home. That's a .654 winning percentage. If the Twins played to a .654 winning percentage for a full season, you'd win 106 games.If I were you, I wouldn't want a DAMN THING changed about Target Field. So a few homers turn into doubles... keep winning there and it will

Didn't you used to be Andrew Miller?

In 2006, the Tigers drafted Andrew Miller, a top prospect out of UNC. He was a Golden Spikes nominee, the top pitching prospect in college and the #6 pick overall.He was in the big leagues later that year and looked like he was going to be the real deal.By the end of the 2007 season he was a key part of the trade to bring Miguel Cabrera, one of the legit MVP candidates in the game, and was off to

Who didn't deserve a post season MVP? Who should have won it instead?

Edgar Renteria very well may have ended his long and solid career as a World Series hero. He showed his class by refusing to have a parade in his Colombian home town, wanting those resources to go people who NEED it after a series of floods in the region.(A ballplayer REFUSING adoration? What a concept!)He certainly deserved his MVP award with his unexpected heroics at the plate. But sometimes

Rest in Peace Dave Niehaus

One of the great things about having the XM Radio and the MLB package on the computer is I can listen to broadcasters that normally I would NEVER hear.And when I had the chance to hear the Mariners broadcast, I loved Dave Niehaus... his great pipes, his humor, his "My oh My" calls and of course his grand slam descriptions. "Get out the rye bread and mustard it is GRAND SALAMI TIME!"So it is sad

Batting a thousand

This is my 1,000th post of 2010...more than I posted in 2007 and 2008 combined.Not all the posts have been great.This one won't be my most memorable either. BUT I felt it was worth noting.OK, back to writing about baseball in this off season.

Chris Rock inspired a post about the All Star Team

In the DVD extras for The Tenth Inning, Chris Rock talked about “Affirmative Action Home Runs.” He was referring to the level of play in baseball before integration and how major league baseball’s all white competition lowered the level of the game. He asked us to imagine the All Star Game with no black players and no Latino players.“David Wright would be the best player in baseball.”The staff

Does Omar Vizquel have 201 hits left in him?

Omar Vizquel is going to be 44 next season… and he has a contract to play for the White Sox.He will be a mentor to the talented young infielders with Chicago. Gordon Beckham at second, Alexei Ramirez at short and Dayan Viciedo at third could be as talented a collection of infielders as you will see in the bigs… and each can learn a little from the master.Vizquel will always be considered one of

My wife and I got very different things out of The Tenth Inning

I was watching the second part of The Tenth Inning last night with my wife.I found it to be a wonderfully produced retrospective of the exciting, controversial and tumultuous past 15 years of baseball. I was moved by the heroics of Ripken, Big Unit, the post September 11th World Series and Maddux.I was challenged by the steroid era and its legacy and got goose bumps reliving the roller coaster

THIS is why part of me will always support the White Sox

I watch The Tenth Inning last night, and no surprise at all, it was terrific.But I can't help but think of how a White Sox fan would be annoyed by it. They spend a huge chunk of the episode chronicling the Red Sox, their fans and their agony and the jubilation of 2004.They break down the underrated agony of the San Francisco Giants and the crushing 2002 World Series defeat.They review the Cubs,

HEY BASEBALL!!! Embrace new technology!

New technologies had swept through virtually every home in America… connecting people in ways that had never been seen before. Information traveled at unprecedented speeds. The news cycles were no longer contained by the daily newspaper but became 24 – 7. People were glued to their new devices, constantly being updated, constantly being entertained.The entertainment industry at first feared it,

TERRY COLLINS?

Are the Mets REALLY considering Terry Collins as a managerial candidate?Evidently they are!A guy who flamed out in Houston... a guy who had the players revolt against him in Anaheim... not exactly the two biggest baseball media pressure cookers in the land... is being considered to manage in New York City?And be asked to take over a team that has a combination of veterans and young players... a

It gets lonelier for Don Mattingly

I started thinking about Don Mattingly at the end of the 2010 World Series.Why?Because, as I wrote in a previous post, the Giants had three former Mattingly era Yankees on their coaching staff.Dave Righetti, who was the Rookie of the Year in the AL for 1981, just before Mattingly arrived.Roberto Kelly, who was supposed to be the next great Yankee superstar and make a 1-2 punch with Mattingly.And

Is Bobby Valentine just interviewing poorly?

Seriously, it wasn't that long ago that it looked like Bobby Valentine would have the pick of the litter of terrific manager jobs.Everyone knew the Braves job was going to go to Fredi Gonzalez... but the Cubs job looked available, as did the Marlins and Dodgers.The Mets were out there as were the Mariners and Blue Jays. And a place like Milwaukee could be a fit. And the challenge of Pittsburgh

Rest in Peace, Sparky Anderson

One of my favorite figures in all of baseball died today. Sparky Anderson was one of the great managers of all time and don't let any moron tell you differently.He turned the Cincinnati Reds into one of the great teams in history without a legit Cy Young contending ace.He turned around a Detroit Tigers team and put together one of the great all together ass whuppin' seasons of the past three

And now it is quiet

If the Rangers bats didn't go in hibernation, the 7th Game of the World Series would have been played tonight.For the 7th straight year, the World Series has failed to go the distance... which is as much of a reason as any for the drop in viewership. Only one of the last 7 World Series even went to 6 games... so it is hard to build up any drama there.Either way, the World Series has been clinched

The All Time Home Grown vs. Acquired San Francisco Giants without a ring Rosters

With the Giants and their fans still celebrating their stunning World Series victory, it is as good a time as any to pay honor to those who played their hearts out for San Francisco but finished their playing career without a ring.So I decided to do a Home Grown vs. Acquired entry to honor those San Francisco Giants who never got to be crowned a World Champion.As I did before, I created two 25

Sully Baseball Honors... Bobby Murcer's 1977 Topps Card

I am currently putting together a Giants blog post with lots of baseball card pictures. I needed to find one of the late Bobby Murcer in a Giants uniform and this one kept popping up on Google Images.And I can't lie to you, dear readers. I am fascinated by it.This was the picture that the Topps editor decided to go with.This is TOPPS mind you... not Fleer who, as I wrote before, had a tendency to

MY WIFE DEFEATS A FISH!!!!

As I wrote before, my wife and my fish both predicted a Giants and Rangers World Series.My wife knows a little more than my fish, and yesterday she proved it once and for all.Wifey picked the Giants to win it.Red the fish picked the Rangers.And I've never seen my wife more proud than when she reigned supreme over a fish.I can make fun of wifey half watching the games and my fish swimming around..

Say what you want about New York fans... they don't burn stuff

I know it is chic to trash New Yorkers and their fans... and Lord knows as a Red Sox fan, I get trash from them and I throw it right back.But let's tip our caps to them for a minute.They don't burn stuff when their teams win.I've lived in Los Angeles County for three years and the Lakers have won 2 NBA titles since then. Both times, people turn over cars and burn stuff.When the Red Sox won the AL

I know these are going to be popular in San Francisco but...

Why are World Champion hats always so cluttered and ugly?I was toying with the idea of getting of one these for my son... but look at it.Half of it is in 5 point Helvetica Font.

Color me impressed, Rangers fans

Soak it in Rangers fans.It's called passion for baseball. It's a long season... it's not 16 Sundays. It's every day and investing time emotion and having moments of great joy and winters of agony.And if your team wins, you are overwhelmed with joy that can make each summer after wards a celebration.Enjoy it. This frustration will pay off.I started the post season needling Rangers fans but from

The World Series doesn't top Toy Story yet

As I was watching the Giants whittle the outs away to a World Series title, my sons and a friend were in the other room watching Toy Story.When it got to the bottom of the 9th, I wanted to watch this historic moment with them... especially Aidan who has adopted the Giants as HIS team.But they were at the point when Buzz learns he can't really fly.So I watched the final pitch with my wife and our

Ladies and Gentlemen... the WORLD CHAMPION SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

There's so much to write about..There's so much to say...But right now I just want to say how happy I am for all of my friends who have lived and cried with the San Francisco Giants.And most of all I am happy for my dad.You will never see or meet a more devoted Giants fan. One whose fandom predates Willie Mays and now has taken him all the way to seeing his team win it all.Hum Baby.Enjoy it Giant

Something I DON'T want to hear from Giants fans

I do NOT want to hear Giant fans before this game saying crap like “I’d rather see the Giants clinch at home.”You can’t be picky about how you want your franchise’s defining moment.When the Red Sox were closing in on the 2004 World Series title, I had a couple of people who were RED SOX FANS say “I wouldn’t mind seeing them drop a few games and clinch in Fenway Park.”I of course beat those people

Jonathan Sanchez should start today... and here's why

The Giants should take Sanchez's sorry arm out of the ice pack and throw him today... against Cliff Lee.And I am kind of serious.Right now they have Lincecum going up against Lee. It could be a wash. Two awesome aces, neither had their best game in Game 1.And Lee knows that a win tonight could help him get that $100 million contract in the off season.So I am basically going back to the logic I

Hey Giant fans... wouldn't it have been nice to clinch in those hats?

For old time's sake... seeing the San Francisco Giants finally clinch a World Series title while wearing the orange brim John Montefusco special hats would have been a nice nostalgic touch.Ah well... I suppose you can't pick how to win it.As a Red Sox fan, I can tell you that you will attach some nostalgic value to the unis your team wears while clinching.Part of me wouldn't have mind seeing the