Cleaning out the inbox

    The inbox could use some sifting through since I haven't done a lot of writing recently.

I'm still struggling with things, but I do see a small amount of progress.

When I do write, it still seems like I have to push myself a little and it feels like every post takes two and three times longer to write but I do see a little progress- even if I'm still not watching a lot of games.

The Athletic writes of newly inducted Hall of Famer Tim Duncan and of Duncan's college career at Wake Forest.

When I was a massive college basketball fan, I had the pleasure of seeing most of Tim Duncan's college career on the various ACC networks, and he became one of my favorite players ever with the classy way that he played the game.

This article focuses on his Wake Forest career and talks to his coaches, including then-head coach Dave Odom along with teammates that include a great story from bench-warming teammate and future actor (including a run on Buffy the Vampire Slayer) Marc Blucas.

It also discusses the story of Duncan's recruitment from the Virgin Islands and I remember no one knowing who Duncan was in a recruiting class that would have three players picked in the top five of the NBA draft in Maryland's Joe Smith and North Carolina's Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace.

The San Francisco Chronicle writes of the final meeting in 1995 of Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Duke Snider at the Baseball Writers Awards Dinner in New York City.

The final appearance of Mantle, who would die shortly after the dinner, was overshadowed by the unexpectedly emotional speech by Mays, who was never known for emoting well in his public speaking.

ESPN's Tim Kurkjian penned an article on Willie Mays as well, writing of Mays on his 90th birthday.

Kurkjian uses the analogy of comparing Mays to gymnasts like Simone Biles and ballet dancers such as Mikhail Baryshnikov along with Jim Brown and Michael Jordan as players that played with such grace that they were above the game.

I wouldn't disagree at all, but Kurkjian breaks each of the traditional "five tools" down and writes of how Mays fit into each of the five tools by asking fellow Hall of Famers and contemporaries during his career about Mays.

Our final note deals with a "Baron"

Wrestling's Baron Von Raschke wrestled for years as an "evil" German, but a recent documentary tells the story of the Baron from his college days at Nebraska for the Cornhuskers through his years in pro wrestling in a documentary titled "The Claw".

The film has the cooperation of Raschke, who appears in the film throughout, and the Baron appears to be in good health for a gentleman that will turn 81 later this year.

And that is all the people need to know- to quote the Baron's most famous quote from his grappling days.

Sayin' goodbye to the Duke and Chuck

Two belated goodbyes to recent passings as Hall of Fame player Duke Snider and former player and more notably manager Chuck Tanner both recently moved onto greener diamonds.

Duke Snider was one of the more underrated players in the history of the game as he had the misfortune to spend his prime in the days of three team baseball in New York.
That would not have been so bad,had the other two teams not had two guys named Mays and Mantle patrolling their center field.
As good as Snider was,he was not the force that either of those two were and as a result,Snider was somewhat pushed to the side,despite his top notch play.
Check this link for a past post by us on the New York centerfielders...
This showed in the amount of time that Snider had to wait before his enshrinement in Cooperstown as his last season was 1964 and his HOF year was 1980..
One thing that hurt Snider and his huge drop in power was the Dodgers move to Los Angeles.
Snider fell from hitting 40+ homers for five years in a row to only hitting more than sixteen once in his final seven years in the game.
The Los Angeles Coliseum's temporary baseball configuration was a dream come true for a righthanded slugger but a stat destroyer to a power hitter from the left side like Snider.
Between age and playing in that ballpark,Snider's career would never recover,although one could make an argument that it was leveling out that Snider hit some homers in Brooklyn's smallish Ebbets Field that would have been outs otherwise.
The Duke did some announcing for the Montreal Expos after his final season that was spent with the Giants as a reserve and ace pinch hitter and was well received for his relaxed style of broadcasting.
Not all was perfect after the game as Snider was convicted for tax fraud in the 1990's for not reporting all of his income from memorabilia shows and was fined heavily,although he avoided jail time..
Farewell to one of the most underrated members of the Hall of Fame-Duke Snider.
The Duke was 84 years old.

Chuck Tanner was a journeyman player in the 50's and early 60's that was better known for his work in the dugouts managing four teams,most notably the 1979 Pirates to the franchise's last world title.
Tanner finished with an under .500 record as a manager,but looking closely at his numbers it took managing two awful clubs (85 Pirates,86-88 Braves)to drop his record that far.
Chuck Tanner also did one of the games most underrated managing jobs in keeping the 1972 White Sox in the AL West race with the powerful Oakland Athletics deep into the final month of the season with a team that basically had Dick Allen as its total offense.
Tanner was also known for a laid back style that helped him get the most out of players that had had issues with other skippers such as Allen,although this backfired on him in the early 1980's when the drug scandal hit the Pirates locker room and basically hurt many careers including Tanner's.
Chuck Tanner was also known for being one of the friendliest persons in the game to fans and media and I don't remember too many negative comments on Tanner as a result,even his teams were struggling....

Farewell to both Duke Snider and Chuck Tanner and our condolences to their families...


For a far better writer than I's thoughts on Snider and Tanner,click their names to the left.

Photo Credits
Unknown

Willie,Mickey or the Duke?

That was the question asked by most baseball fans in the 1950's,but most often and most intently by the fans in New York City.
Which center fielder of the three teams in the city truly was the best of the bunch?
Was it Mickey Mantle of the Yankees,Willie Mays of the Giants or Duke Snider of the Dodgers?
All three are members of the Hall of Fame and deservedly so.
But which one was truly the best?

Well,despite my personal opinion on Duke Snider (I like him),one can quickly discount the Duke.
Snider hit over 400 homers, finished with a career batting average of .295 and was a fine defensive centerfielder as well.
But in none of those categories was he the superior to either Mantle or Mays and after the Dodgers left Brooklyn for Los Angeles,his numbers dipped quickly at the age of 31 and he was pretty much finished as a top level player at 32.
Mantle has the charisma,the focus of the "what if" game and the factor of being the first true superstar of the television age.
Mays has the edge in numbers,his prime was longer,played in the tougher league (at the time) and played his home games in two parks that had they played fairer could have made Mays the first player to reach Babe Ruth's home run record.

Both players were packed with power,but Mantle likely had a small edge,while both were loaded with speed,Mays certainly pulled away after the multiple knee injuries that Mantle suffered after Mantle had a scant edge in the early days of his career.
Mays certainly was the smarter player having been noted as being able to recite the entire game from his position with recall and seemed to be the more dedicated player as one rarely hears the wild off the field stories about Mays that one hears about Mantle.
Mays also lost one entire year and most of another to military service,while Mantle never missed those years as he could not pass the physical with his damaged knees.

However,Mantle won a Triple Crown,which is something Mays never won and Mantle led teams to seven world titles to Mays and his squads one and that says something as well.
Both players were surrounded by top notch teammates,so both were protected in the batting order by quality bats.

Defensively,Mays likely gets a slight advantage,but Mantle's arm played just as strongly as Mays.
Mays has the better career numbers overall,but Mantle's peak years look very favorably to Willie's and one can make the argument that they are even better.
SO which one would you pick for your team?
From a fantasy baseball perspective,I think a peak Mantle would be a thread more valuable than Mays,although both would be early first round picks due to his edge in power.
From a pure baseball angle,I would take Mays although you truly cannot lose either way.
Mays seemed a little more baseball oriented and a bit more of the type that showed up every day,along with the durability issues of Mantle......

Tell me your preference-Mays or Mantle?
Or you think Duke Snider at his peak trumps them both????

Bullpen Notes

Something seems on the upswing at the Muni,as the Hagerstown Suns are having their first Meet the team party next week and it is open to the public,but free to season ticket holders.
The season hasn't started yet,but I like what I have seen thus far!!!

Minor league cutdown day for most teams.
A few notable names and one that unless there is an injury involved that I would love to see Pittsburgh take a shot at signing...

The Pirates released a handful of organizational soldiers as our friend Wilbur Miller calls them and one faded former prospect in Wardell Starling.
Starling looked to be a prospect after decent years at Hickory and Lynchburg,but was never able to get over the AA hump and didn't throw a pitch last year.
I didn't even know Wardell was in Pirate camp!

Houston cut a slew of former Lexington and Salem players,but one that I was astonished to see on the list was David Qualben.
Qualben turns 24 in July,so age may have been a factor and I have no idea if Qualben had injury issues or not,but when I saw him in 2007 as a Lexington Legend,he was dominant.
Qualben even was one of our award winners in 07 in being an honorable mention for best non-Sun pitching prospect.
Qualben's numbers for 2008 are not very good,but if he is OK physically,I would love to see the Pirates sign him and send him to Lynchburg......

Another Astro cut that gave me a chuckle (through no fault of his own) was Brett Robinson.
Robinson was the player that former Astro farmhand (now Yankee) Matt Cusick pretended to be when another collector attempted to get Cusick to sign a card for him.
Makes a fellow proud to be an Astro!
If you are that bad in the SAL,it gets no better for the collectors out there.

The Orioles cut one of our favorites in Blair Johnson.
Blair had signed with the Orioles organization after being granted free agency as a six year man and I was hoping he would do well there.
Good luck to Blair in getting another shot or in whatever endeavours he chooses.

The Cubs cut former first rounder Mark Pawelek after four disappointing seasons.
Going into the 2005 amateur season,Pawelek was looked at as a possible top five pick and fell to the mid first round to the Cubs.
Pawelek never found his stride in pro ball compiling a 3-7 record and never rising above a two game stint for Low A Peoria over the four years....

Back later with the Devils PATHETIC effort in Pittsburgh that was so bad (and I was so angry) that I needed to do a fun post to get my mind of it!

Photo Credits-Topps