MLB Lukewarm Stove Edition

[phanan]

Originally posted by shrmn8rpoptart in the last MLB thread
i predict we win 80 games this year. and in the nl west, that could be enough to win the division.

 

[cjboog]

Yes, and the Sonics will win the NBA title too...things are good in Seattle these days.
(45,764 days of straight rain will cloud your judgement of reality just a tad.)

You just wait....Jarrod Washburn and Carl Everett are going to save the Mariners! If Beltre actually makes contact this year, we are going a long ways!

 

[redsoxfan]

You just wait....Jarrod Washburn and Carl Everett are going to save the Mariners! If Beltre actually makes contact this year, we are going a long ways!

Carl Everett will make it an interesting year for the Mariners. Maybe he'll start talking again about how he doesn't believe that dinosaurs existed. I guess its better that he talks about that than taking things out on umpires. I was sure glad when he became a former Red Sox player.

 

[speedracer]

Apparently A-Rod is a new Duke fan. Somehow, I am not surprised.

 

[Hewson]

You just wait....Jarrod Washburn and Carl Everett are going to save the Mariners! If Beltre actually makes contact this year, we are going a long ways!

I'm very patient.
I can wait.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i thought i'd read it all... but that was until someone said that carl "don't tell me 'bout no dinosaurs" everett and jared washburn would carry a team to the promised land.

now, i think i've read it all.

 

[phanan]

As long as we post here, I doubt it...

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

point

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

ESPN.com's Buster Olney

We are a week away from pitchers and catchers reporting, and Rafael Palmeiro still doesn't have a job. It could be that his career is over, and an arc of the Steroid Era that began at Mississippi State more than two decades ago is now complete.
Will Clark and Palmeiro were teammates at Mississippi State. In the spring of 1985, Clark was the star prospect, while Palmeiro was highly regarded -- but not in the same way as Clark. A major league scout filed these reports in early May of that year.

About Clark, he wrote, in blocked handwriting: "Has all the tools. Powerful stroke -- makes contact." Clark received a power rating of 8 at that time. About Palmeiro, the same scout reported: "Continues to generate great bat speed and make contact. Line drive power -- ball jumps off the bat." Palmeiro received a power rating of 6.

A month or so later, a scout with the same team wrote this about Clark: "Home run type stroke. Upper deck type of power." And he gave him a power rating of 9 -- very good. The first scout saw Palmeiro a second time, and again rated his power at a 6 -- high average. "Graceful, laid-back type player, but do not mistake this for laziness!" the scout wrote. "Quiet type with fragile ego. Type who cannot be screamed at. Very important to get off on right foot in pro ball."

Clark was taken second overall, by the Giants. The Cubs picked Palmeiro late in the first round, at No. 22.

And Palmeiro was a good player right away. He batted .276 in 84 games in 1987, and in his first full season, in 1988, Palmeiro hit .307, with eight homers, five triples, 41 doubles, and 124 singles.

His old college teammate? Clark was a bona fide star immediately. Four months older than Palmeiro, he broke into the big leagues with a home run in his first at-bat, against Nolan Ryan. In 1987, Clark clubbed 35 homers, 29 doubles, five triples and drove in 91 runs, with a .308 batting average. He would quickly become the face of the Giants franchise, hitting his 150th career homer in 1992, when he turned 28. In the same summer, Palmeiro was still shy of his 100th career homer.

But Clark had started to show signs of wear and tear. And suddenly, in the summer of 1993, Palmeiro went from being a good power hitter to something very different, hammering 37 home runs. It was his first full season as a teammate of Jose Canseco.

Both Clark and Palmeiro became eligible for free agency after the 1993 season, and Orioles executives wanted to sign Clark. But new owner Peter Angelos vetoed that deal because of concerns about whether Clark's body would break down, and he signed Palmeiro instead. By then, Palmeiro was open about how frustrated he was with the attention Clark received; he had always been lost in Clark's shadow. His jealousy of Clark was an open secret.

As the former teammates each moved beyond his 30th birthday, they were changing places. Palmeiro was either approaching or surpassing 40 homers every year, while Clark was going through a regression that had once been fairly typical. The nagging injuries reduced his playing time: At age 32, he managed just 117 games; the next year, 110. He was having a hard time staying healthy, but Palmeiro and some of Clark's other generational peers were generating staggering production.

Clark had a nice, if unspectacular, finish to his career, wrapping up at age 36, a typical career path -- Jackie Robinson played his last game at 37, while Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle each retired at 36. In Clark's final season, he batted .319 with 21 homers and 70 RBI in 2000. In Clark's last summer, Palmeiro blasted 39 homers and drove in 120 runs. It was as if he was ageless, compared to his college teammate.

Clark closed a very good career with 2,176 hits and 284 homers. Palmeiro, however, was destined to hit 169 homers after Clark retired, including his 500th homer in 2003, his 550th homer near the end of 2004.

Palmeiro had Hall of Fame numbers. His college teammate, once considered to be more talented, more dynamic -- and once even a markedly better major league hitter -- wasn't a serious Hall of Fame candidate. His respectable numbers have been obliterated by Palmeiro and others in their generation.

In July of 2005, Palmeiro picked up his 3,000th career hit, but observers said at the time they found him to be strangely subdued.

As it turned out, his appeal for a positive steroid test was being heard -- and a couple of weeks later, the appeal was denied. And Palmeiro became the most prominent player ever to be suspended for steroid use.

When Clark was asked in a radio interview what he would say to Palmeiro, his response was blunt: Partner, you got caught. Their careers, and their relationship, could be the prism through which we could view the entire steroid era.

 

[Hewson]

So Raffi's steroid use was to get out of Will the Thrill's shadow.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

it is a fascinating comparison to look at the two careers side by side... you can really see the effect of steroid use

 

[Hewson]

No doubt.
And Palmeiro's jealousy of Clark was well documented 15 or so years ago, so its certainly plausible that the steroid use was correlated to a desire to outshine Clark.

 

[phanan]

What will be just as fascinating is to see what their health will be like as they age.

 

[Hewson]

And who uses more Viagra.

 

[phanan]

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

And who uses more Viagra.

are you suggesting that the thrill is gone?

 

[Numb1075]

Will had one of the best "strokes" that i've ever seen

 

[Hewson]

The Natural

 

[phanan]

He was a great swinger.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

he really knew how to use the wood

 

[Hewson]

He had the ability to place his balls all over the field.

 

[phanan]

He scored quite often.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i heard he once considered being a switch hitter

 

[phanan]

I heard he used to pinch hit for others...

 

[Numb1075]

Will enjoyed gripping his lumber

 

[Numb1075]

Report: Sosa mulling retirement

He appears to be embarassed that he's only gotten 1 offer to play and it is for mere pennies compared to his $17 Million per season that he's used to getting.


I don't want to point fingers or accuse anyone of cheating, but he certainly has fallen off the pedastel real quick these past couple of years.

 

[phanan]

Well, what did he expect, anyway? I'm surprised he got even one offer.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i'm surprised omar didn't even offer him anything, actually... even a minor league contract

alas... there's still time.

 

[Numb1075]

well, didn't Omar sign Brett Boone to a minor league deal? LOL

He's another one who did nothing and then hit 37 dingers and 141 rbi's or something ridiculous like that - and then fell off the face of the earth, ala Brady Anderson.