Tiger and Edgar
Until more details surface that might change my mind, I'm nominating the Tiger Woods "crash" as the biggest non-story of 2009.
Early reports had Woods involved in a "serious automobile accident," as if it could be life-threatening. Later, we found out that he suffered "lacerations" to his face and was released from the hospital.
Lacerations: n. A jagged wound or cut.
See also: Scrape.
It's like calling a bruise a "contusion." Sounds worse than it is.
I don't care why Woods was leaving his house at 2:30 a.m. And I certainly didn't need ESPN2 running a scroll about the incident every 15 seconds during the Pitt-West Virginia game.
The air bags in his SUV didn't deploy, so he was traveling under 33 mph - which makes sense, since he was, you know, pulling out of his driveway.
I realize that Woods lives in a $2.4 million mansion, so his driveway is longer than most, but I've never been able to get my car past 8 mph before reaching the street.
I'm glad that he's OK. And I realize that he's arguably the most recognizable sports personality in the world, so anything he does is newsworthy. But I think the candlelight vigil was a bit much.
Naturally, the Tigers Woods jokes already have started. My favorite so far:
"When Tiger Woods hit the tree, did police give him the option of a mulligan or a drop?"
I think we all recognize the irony of his wife using a golf club to bust out his back window. I just wonder if she took a few practice swings first. And how did she find the time to put on a glove?
I suppose there's also an irony in a man named "Woods" hitting a tree.
Windermere police Chief Daniel Saylor reported that Woods was "mumbling but didn't say anything coherent." Now he knows what it's like to interview Scott Erickson.
(And you thought there wouldn't be a baseball reference in this entry. Shame on you.)
According to the Toronto Sun, Roy Halladay would be willing to waive his no-trade clause to pitch for the Yankees.
In other news, I'd be willing to waive goodbye to Eldersburg and move in with Megan Fox.
The Seattle Mariners sent out an e-mail that, they hope, will convince Hall of Fame voters that Edgar Martinez deserves induction next year. Here's a sample:
EDGAR MARTINEZ: BATTING TITLES AND AWARDS:
* 2 American League Batting Titles: 1992 (.343) and 1995 (.356)
* 3 American League On-Base Percentage Titles: 1995 (.479), 1998 (.429), 1999 (.447)
* 5 Silver Slugger Awards: 1992, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003
* 5 Designated Hitter of the Year Awards: 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001
* 6 Top-10 finishes in American League in Slugging Percentage: 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001
* 7 All-Star Game Appearances: 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2003
* 7 Top-10 finishes in American League in Average: 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
* 11 Top-10 finishes in AL On-Base Pct: 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003
Martinez hit .343 in 1992, at the time the highest batting average in the American League by a right-handed hitter since Harvey Kuenn hit .353 with Detroit in 1959...in addition to leading the league in hitting, led in doubles (46), was second in slugging percentage (.544) and fourth in on-base percentage (.404). Martinez won his second batting title in 1995, posting a .356 mark, at the time the highest in the AL by a right-handed hitter since Joe DiMaggio hit .381 in 1939...his '95 title made him, at the time, just the seventh right-handed hitter to win two batting titles, the first in the AL since Luke Appling (1936 & 1943)...in 1995, Edgar led the league in average, on-base percentage (.479), runs (121) and doubles (52).
Martinez is one of 20 players in Major League history to have a lifetime batting average over .300, a lifetime on-base percentage over .400 and a lifetime slugging percentage over .500.
Martinez is one of only eight players in Major League history to have collected 300+ HR, 500+ doubles, 1000+ walks, boast an average over .300 and an on-base percentage over .400. All five who are eligible for the Hall of Fame (Musial, Hornsby, Ruth, Gehrig, Williams) have been inducted in Cooperstown. The other two (Ramirez, Helton) are still active.
Martinez finished his career with 2247 hits, 514 doubles, 1,283 walks, 309 home runs, a .312 career batting average and a .418
career on-base percentage.
That's not even half of the e-mail. I'd need to create four blog entries to include everything.
I'd still like to see baseball's all-time hits leader in the Hall, but that's a separate topic.
 |
Categories (click for archive)Roch Kubatko | Roch Kubatko Orioles |
Roch,
Do you have a MASN email address so I could forward an article which somewhat addresses my question on Wednesday regarding MLB revenue sharing?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I haven't been able to access my MASN mail in a long time. I did it once and forgot my password (no, seriously). It's probably something like rkubatko@masnsports.com. I'll have to start checking it again. It's on my bucket list. - Roch
Good work by the Mariners, and maybe I'm getting old and grumpy (OK, yes I am), but I wish there were a 'hitters' HOF for Edgar. This is a perfect example of what the DH has done to baseball. If there was no DH, Edgar would have been a platoon/pitch hitter and never would have accumulated all those #'s.
BTW, if you're the Silver Slugger winner, and you're DH, then you're obviously DH of the Year...kind of redundant.
B_O...Only you (and your arrogance) can turn a movie recommendation into a back-handed insult of the O's front office. WTF.
Good work by the Mariners, and maybe I'm getting old and grumpy (OK, yes I am), but I wish there were a 'hitters' HOF for Edgar. This is a perfect example of what the DH has done to baseball. If there was no DH, Edgar would have been a platoon/pitch hitter and never would have accumulated all those #'s.
BTW, if you're the Silver Slugger winner, and you're DH, then you're obviously DH of the Year...kind of redundant.
B_O...Only you (and your arrogance) can turn a movie recommendation into a back-handed insult of the O's front office. WTF.
Lucky you didn't stumble upon CNN. The anchor guy was trying to make this the biggest story of the year. I believe he was interviewing John Roberts (?) and kept asking questions about his career, etc. and Roberts kept trying to defer them since he, and no one else, had no knowledge of any details.
Megan Fox? Geez, you sure like the difficult ones. At her young age she seems to have a lot of gremlins in her life.
A belated Happy Thanksgiving. Keep up the good work.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I attract the crazies. When I shop, I get the dented cans. A belated Happy Thanksgiving to you, too. - Roch
Well Roch, if Ichiro can stay healthy maybe you will.
Oh, forgot to ask this question. If Alomar goes in, what hat does he wear? He never stayed anywhere very long. Toronto 5 yrs and everywhere else 3 yrs. One item against the HOF if someone can't last long in one city.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He won 2 World Series w/ Toronto. Has to be the Jays. - Roch
I would have though that there would be more then 20 life time 300 hitters in all of baseball. DH is part of baseball and should be given consideration for the Hall of Fame. A weak hitter but an exceptional fielder should be given consideration too. I see no reason why Martinez is not elected to the Hall of Fame. He is certainly a dominate hitter.
The Red Sox carpet bombed voters with emails these past few years as well finally winning over the voters to someone who doesn't belong in there. Now I can no longer visit the Hall as the standards have been lowered to where an everyman like Jim Rice is enshrined a nobody like Edgar Martinez has a shot.
Schoolman,
I realized your new post was up when Dave Johnson, your shill, on "Wall to Wall Baseball," was unable to contain the mirth he found in your comments about Eldrick.
Dave was particularly smitten with a guy named Woods hitting a tree - I almost missed that one for the subtlety of the concept. I thought you might go with, "If a Woods hits a tree, does it make a sound that will alarm his wife?"
Also, Dave liked the image of Elin having time to pull on her glove.
The tabloids, of course, are all over this, including a story about Tiger and Elin engaged in a major argument just before Tiger inexplicably used his car attempting a hard-to-make bank shot.
I hesitate making an authoritative statement in the manner of Battling Bob, but the nature of this slice of life seems to have a third-party element to it – probably of the female persuasion.
Please, no feet of clay, Tiger.
Too add a little more irony did she
scream "For" before hitting the car and said
timber while the glass fell?
Baseball News: A lot of fans are chiming for
"Shelley Duncan" trust me if he was so valuable
someone would have taken a flier I mean atleast
Brandon Snyder dosen't try to take out second
basemens legs in Tampa
Finally Brandon Marshall has great hands
enough said "Too many freaks not enough circuses"
Roch,
I don't understand how the people that vote for the HOF can turn their nose up to Martinez because he played his whole career at DH? Edgar was one of the best hitters of all time! It's not his fault the AL instituted the DH rule, and he certainly shouldn't be punished for it. If I had a vote, Edgar Martinez would be on my ballot.
Hey Roch - off topic question...
What is your favorite and least favorite city to visit when you travel with the Orioles, and why? Just curious.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not much going on in Detroit. I don't know many writers who look forward to that trip (except for the ones who love the casinos). I always liked Cleveland because it was a short flight and you could walk from the downtown Marriott to the ballpark, which is a great place to work. NY also has a certain appeal (especially because you can take the train, and you can get a good meal at just about any hour). I always like St. Pete and The Trop, but I'm in the minority there. - Roch
I lived in Orlando for five years and drove through the town of Windermere quite often (not because I owned a mansion or anything, but because it was the easiest way to get to the other side of the town). Now in Windermere the speed limit no matter what road you are on is 35MPH and the town police enforce that as if their very lives depend on it. So what amazes me is that Tiger was already at cruising speed before he even got out of his driveway.
I think the best joke I've heard so far was "Tiger probably should have used his driver."
The M's use to be my pet team back in the mid 90's and Edgar Martinez was a big part of that (so was the young and untainted Alex Rodriguez). There are men who've been inducted into the Hall of Fame for their batting statistics who never won a gold glove, just because Edgar spent most of his career as a DH doesn't mean he isn't just as worthy. Let him in, I say. Let him in!
I don't know how much you can penalize a guy for being a DH. It is a position in the AL. I could see holding them to a higher standard offensively, but only by so much. Do you think Manny Ramirez (ignoring his recent suspension for the sake of argument) will go in to the HOF? He's a poor fielder with awesome offensive stats. How does that compare to a guy with awesome offensive stats and no fielding?
Should be interesting to see if Edgar goes in.
Megan Fox? I don't know, Roch, she might be well-positioned on the hot/crazy scale. And Mrs. Woods herself gives an example of picking the wrong value there.
I'd let Edgar into the hall just so Seattle fans have something to be happy about if the O's resign Erik Bedard.
yes on blyleven, alomar and EMart.
No on your TW cracks --- unconscious for six minutes is not a joke.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He wasn't unconscious for 6 solid minutes. Haven't you read the scrolls? - Roch
Hi Roch:
I am stressing and I need your help. I just saw that Selig may step down in 2012. McPhail has always been rumored as the replacement. When does McPhail's contract run out. He has the organization heading in the right direction and I am hoping we do not change course anytime soon. Any insight?
Thanks
Bart
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I couldn't find your answer during a quick search, but I'm fairly certain it's done by 2012. But George Bush also is rumored to be in line for the job. - Roch
Brummie said..."....a time when our beloved GM will be up for the Hall..won't that be a special time in Baltimore ?"
Brummie, as a matter of fact, yes, it WILL be a special time in Baltimore. The man has done a far more creditable job in baseball than you post your caustic remarks here. Roch is remarkably patient. Let's hope there's never a vote here for removing specific posters.
Jim
P.S. To everyone else, I highly recommend the movie "The Blind Side" if you have any sensitivity towards others whatsoever.
Roch, It's true that all of what you relate about the Woods incident puts it in the category of a non-story, but there is one aspect of this not mentioned that won't let it rest just yet: the on-going police investigation. Charges could be pending. After all, how it is that he crashes his new Cadillac Escalade in front of his own home, having driven there for how many years now? It's not exactly like he was unfamiliar with the terrain.
And just what was he doing leaving his house at that time of the morning? Did he remember that they were out of milk and decided to head over to the convenience store, where he'd also buy some scratch-off lottery tickets, a couple of Slim Jims and a Slurpee? Or was he trying to escape a club-wielding Elin, enraged with his philandering (watching his sideview mirror more than the road)? Enquiring minds want to know and scandal mongers need to know! (LOL)
Seriously, though, Huffington Post is claiming that Woods' wife has already changed her story to the police and that his scratches came from her and not the accident, so maybe there is a something going on beneath the surface.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/27/tiger-woods-injured-in-ca_n_372324.html
Incidentally, I think you go a little overboard in dismissing the extent of his injuries, Roch. Yeah, maybe those lacerations may have been just scrapes (I haven't seen any post-accident pictures of Tiger yet), but there were more to his injuries than just those. He was knocked unconscious and was said to be going in and out of consciousness when the FHP arrived. In other words, he sustained a concussion. Also, though not mentioned, I'm wondering if his surgically-repaired knee was affected.
Shifting gears, congratulations on getting to vote for HOF. Having read you for as long as I have, I think you're very much deserving, as I know you will make every effort to weigh all the pros and cons for each candidate as thoughtfully and impartially as possible.
As for Martínez (and Harold Baines, for that matter), I can't see why designated hitters should be barred entrance into the Hall of Fame. Each year a Silver Slugger award goes to a DH, so they already are getting some recognition. Granted a DH has a more limited worth to a team than a player who also fields, but likewise a closer has less value than a starter (wouldn't it be a crime--not to mention, ridiculous--to say Mariano Rivera isn't deserving a plaque in Cooperstown because he only has 1006 career strikeouts?).
Whenever the subject of DH eligibility comes up, we invariably hear the argument that lack of any defensive value should disqualify a DH from HOF consideration. My counter to that is to look at position players already in the Hall. Were they all Gold Glove caliber fielders? (For the record, in 1992 when Edgar won his first batting crown he was a third-baseman, albeit a below average one, so it quickly became obvious that he was best suited for DH.)
Clearly, the answer is no. In fact some HOF players were awful fielders whose skills at the plate so overshadowed their defensive liabilities that they were deemed worth of election. Such as who? Such as Harmon Killebrew, Ralph Kiner and Hank Greenberg, who were all poor to mediocre in the field.
Now if some HOFers actually hurt their teams with their gloves, are they to be held as somehow better than DHs who didn't hurt their teams with their poor fielding? That doesn't make sense. If anything, it should increase the value of the best DHs, because their contributions were all on the positive side.
Sure, a lot of people don't like the DH, but it's been a staple of American League for more than a generation and it's not going away any time soon. It's part of its era and must be factored in as such, just as much as the dead ball era, the depleted rosters during World War II, the year of the high mounds and low earned run averages (1968), the steroid era, the various expansion years, etc.
When Martínez' name can be put on a short list with hitting legends like Williams, Ruth, Musial and Hornsby for singular offense prowess, then in my mind he certainly deserves serious HOF consideration. In his prime he was one of the most feared hitters in baseball and there wasn't a single major league team that wouldn't have benefited from having in the middle of its lineup. While his career totals were not uniformly high, but he didn't have his first full season until he was 27 with the Mariners and only played 12 seasons of 100 or more games. He made the most of it though and 838 of his 2247 hits were for extra bases, with nearly a quarter of them (514) going for doubles.
In fact, you could call him a doubles machine. He has more two-baggers than many greats who had significant more at bats than he did, including: Ruth, Mel Ott, Jimmy Foxx, Brooks Robinson, Al Kaline, Lou Brock, Reggie Jackson, Joe Morgan, Rickey Henderson and Don Mattingly, to name a few.
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/hitting/hi2b1.shtml
Martínez Statistical Quirk: As great a hitter as he undoubtedly was (two AL batting titles, seven times in the Top 10, lifetime .312 hitter), Edgar never had a 200 hit season. In fact, he never even reached 190, his highest mark for any one year was 182 in 1995.
As for Halladay to the Yankees, if they get him should New York should given their 2010 World Series Trophy on Opening Day, because the rest of the season will be a mere formality.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Even if Tiger sustained a concussion - and if that's the case, he should have been kept in the hospital - it wasn't worth the constant scrolls on ESPN and ESPN2. Would they care as much if it was Fred Funk? - Roch
I sure am glad that Tiger's wife gets half. He is quite the perfect husband. Marry a hot lady, have 2 kids and then get a girl friend. No wonder she punched him out. What a LOSER!!! Tomorrow I get to fall on my face [ again.] Been talking on your blog about Dennis Dixon for a year and a half. Also Jameel Sewell QB at UVa. This could end my career after today and tomorrow night. FOR SURE - the Raven game will be over at half time. Ben and the whole team loves the kid. SO - Mr. Personality vrs. Vick look alike. Thanks Please excuse spelling, gotta watch UVa.
I read your post a couple of hours ago & have been googling pics of Megan Fox since.....freakin wow man
Edgar Martinez is an enigma. For some reason he never stood out. Maybe b/c he was a DH? You cant argue w/ this #'s. I think the standards for getting in have been raised...steroids, smaller ballparks, more teams watered down pitching etc
my favorite Tiger line so far...
"It's taken a while, but this morning I finally outdrove Tiger Woods."
Roch wrote:
"Even if Tiger sustained a concussion - and if that's the case, he should have been kept in the hospital - it wasn't worth the constant scrolls on ESPN and ESPN2. Would they care as much if it was Fred Funk?"
Fred Funk. LOL
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Former Univ. of Md golf coach, if I'm not mistaken. - Roch