Happy Birthday Andres Galarraga!!!

Happy Birthday Andres Galarraga!!!

Andre Galarraga turns 52 years old today.

Andres Galarraga was an offensive stud during his 19-year career in the major leagues. His ability to hit for power and average put him in a rare class of players during his era.

Andres finished his career with a .288 batting average, and hit over .300 10 times. Galarraga also hit 399 home runs in his career, while hitting 20+ homers in 10 seasons.

Never considered the best at any one element of the game, Galarraga was recognized for his overall skills by making the All-Star team 5 times and finishing in the Top 10 for Most Valuable Player 6 times.

Later is his career, Andres battled cancer twice. In 1999 he missed the entire season but made a full recovery and came back to play with the Braves for one more year. When he did come back, he put up impressive stats and made another All-Star team. Then, in 2004 his cancer came back and sidelined him for a month. At this point, Galarraga was unable to regain his outstanding skills and became a bench player. Galarraga retired the next spring with the New York Mets. He finished his career just 1 home run shy of his goal of 400.

Happy Birthday Mr. Galarraga!!!

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Hall Of Fame Debate: Assessing Mike Mussina’s Vote Tally From His First Ballot

Hall Of Fame Debate: Assessing Mike Mussina’s Vote Tally From His First Ballot

Well, as we all know by now, Mike Mussina did not get anywhere close to gaining entry into the Hall of Fame Class of 2014 when the votes were announced a few weeks back.

Actually, he did far worse than what I expected.  Of a total of 571 votes cast, Mussina secured just 116 good for 20.3% of the total, and well below the needed 75% to gain election.

So, what happens now?  Where does the voting for Mike Mussina go from here?

Does he follow the path of Jack Morris and hang around for a long time picking up votes year after year but never gaining access?  Or does, he slowly start to lose votes as new possible inductees take more votes from him, a la Fred McGriff?

Me – I think he will stick around for a while – but never get over the 55-60% mark.  There are a few pitchers on the ballot right now that I think are just as worthy, or possibly more, as Mussina.   And with the guys coming up on future ballots, I think he will be stuck in the shadows for a few more years before he may get a bigger bump from the voters.

What do you think happens?

1997 Headline: Don Mattingly Retires From Baseball

1997 Headline: Don Mattingly Retires From Baseball

On this day in 1997 the above headline, or something very close to it, appeared on every sports page across America.  Don Mattingly, ‘Donnie Baseball’, was retiring from the country’s national past-time.

Don Mattingly gave us 14 years.  14 wonderful years.  14 years of memories that will last and be passed down  from generation to generation.  Never the most talented player on his team, Mattingly was without question the leader of his New York Yankees team.  His incredible vision and skill as a contact hitter were remarkable.  And for a few years in the mid-1980’s he thrilled us at the plate as his batting average hovered close to .350 season after season.

But Mattingly was not a 1-dimensional player.  When needed, he was able to hit for power and do it well.  Mattingly blasted 222 home runs in his career and hit 30 or more homers 3 times.  And then there was the 8-game streak in 1987 in which Mattingly launched a homer in each game.  A truly amazing feat by this great competitor!!

And to round out his play, Mattingly was a dominant defender at 1st base.  A 9-time Gold Glove winner, ‘Donnie Baseball’ could do no wrong when taking the field.  In 1,634 career games at 1st base, Mattingly committed just 64 errors.  That’s just 1 error per 25 games played and just 6 per year.  INCREDIBLE!!!

The Hall of Fame debate about Mattingly always makes for interesting conversation.  He won the MVP award one time, and finished in the Top 10 for the award 3 more times.  He has been to 6 All-star games, won 3 Silver Slugger awards, and has 9 Gold Gloves to his credit.  Whether he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame is an argument that could go on forever, but he will certainly go down as one of the best, if not the best, 1st baseman to play baseball in the 1980’s.

Happy Birthday Mike Mussina!!!

Happy Birthday Mike Mussina!!!

Mike Mussina turns 45 years old today.

Although Mussina has rarely been mentioned as one of the greatest pitcher’s from his era, his numbers are quite impressive.  Having played his entire career for just 2 teams – the Orioles and Yankees – Mussina has compiled some pretty solid stats.

In his 17 years as a full-time starting pitcher,  Mussina recorded double-digit wins in each season.  The most impressive part of this is that accomplished this while playing for a Baltimore Orioles team that was terrible for most of Mussina’s early years with the team.  With a lifetime win/loss record of 270 & 153, ‘The Moose’ finished his career with a very solid 63% winning percentage.

Mike Mussina was only selected as an All-Star 5 times during his playing days; but he did finish in the Top 6 for the Cy Young Award a very respectable 9 times.  Again, this is very impressive for a player that was never known as a dominant pitcher.  Clearly, his reputation as a solid pitcher that was going to give you good innings helped his cause for being one of the decade’s greats.

Happy Birthday Mr. Mussina!!!

Happy Birthday Andres Galarraga!!!

Happy Birthday Andres Galarraga!!!

Andre Galarraga turns 51 years old today.

Andres Galarraga was an offensive stud during his 19-year career in the major leagues. His ability to hit for power and average put him in a rare class of players during his era.

Andres finished his career with a .288 batting average, and hit over .300 10 times. Galarraga also hit 399 home runs in his career, while hitting 20+ homers in 10 seasons.

Never considered the best at any one element of the game, Galarraga was recognized for his overall skills by making the All-Star team 5 times and finishing in the Top 10 for Most Valuable Player 6 times.

Later is his career, Andres battled cancer twice. In 1999 he missed the entire season but made a full recovery and came back to play with the Braves for one more year. When he did come back, he put up impressive stats and made another All-Star team. Then, in 2004 his cancer came back and sidelined him for a month. At this point, Galarraga was unable to regain his outstanding skills and became a bench player. Galarraga retired the next spring with the New York Mets. He finished his career just 1 home run shy of his goal of 400.

Happy Birthday Mr. Galarraga!!!

Did You Know….

Of the ten highest single-season strikeout totals in Chicago Cubs history, Sammy Sosa is ranked in seven of them.

Did You Know…

Mike Mussina played in the majors for 18 seasons.  He was a 5-time All-Star, but it was not until his final season in the big leagues, at age 39, that he won 20 or more games in a single season.

Mussina wrapped his career in 2008 with a record of 20-9, and a career record of 270-153.