Longing For Yesterday

It's the weekend before the Super Bowl. Now that may not mean much to most people, but for those of us that were members of the Mike Mussina Fan Club, it was a special time. It was when Moose fans from all across this great land would converge on Williamsport, PA for the annual Mike Mussina Fan Club dinner. What better way to spend the weekend than to celebrate all things Moose. Unfortunately, with Mike retiring last year, there are no more dinners. I found myself reminiscing yesterday about the handful of dinners I was able to attend. It was always a good time.

Hopefully, in about 4 years, the gang will get back together and descend upon the great baseball Mecca known as Cooperstown, where we can celebrate Moose in a whole new way......as a Hall of Famer.

So on this anniversary of the MMFC dinner, raise your glasses and join me in a toast. To Moose. May he continue to enjoy his retirement. See you in four.

J-Boogie

Blyleven Is A No-Go

Color me shocked and disappointed. Bert Blyleven was NOT inducted to the HOF. Bert finished with 74.2% of the vote, falling 5 votes short of induction. Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. The BBWAA should be ashamed of themselves. Epic fail guys.

If there has to be a silver lining it's this: No one who has ever received that high of a percentage has not been inducted. Odds are high that Bert gets in next year, but it's a shame that he has to wait another year. Bert's induction into the HOF can only help Moose's chances. Hopefully the BBWAA gets is right next year. Ridiculous.

J-Boogie

Moose's Competition In 2014

Here is an updated list of the players who will be 1st time nominees on the 2014 HOF ballot:

Moises Alou, Armando Benitez, Sean Casey, Jose Cruz Jr., Ray Durham, Damion Easley, Jim Edmonds, Keith Foulke, Eric Gagne, Tom Glavine, Luis Gonzalez, Mark Grudzielanek, Scott Hatteberg, Jacque Jones, Todd Jones, Jeff Kent, Jon Lieber, Esteban Loaiza, Paul Lo Duca, Greg Maddux, Matt Morris, Mike Mussina, Trot Nixon, Hideo Nomo, Jay Payton, Kenny Rogers, Richie Sexson, J.T. Snow, Shannon Stewart, Frank Thomas, Mike Timlin, Steve Trachsel, Jose Vidro

Here's who I think has a shot:

Greg Maddux - slam dunk
Tom Glavine - slam dunk
Frank Thomas - slam dunk
Jeff Kent - should be slam dunk
Mike Mussina - should get in but I wouldn't be writing this blog if he was a slam dunk

My gut is telling me that Mike won't get in on the first ballot because the writers won't want him going in with Maddux and Glavine. It's BS how the writers withhold votes in year one because they don't think a guy is a "first ballot" HOFer. I don't get that whole "1st ballot HOFer" thing to begin with. You're either a HOFer or you're not. If you think a guy is a HOfer, vote him in. I don't see the point in waiting to vote for him.

If Moose doesn't make it in 2014, 2015 might be hard as well. Randy Johnson announced his retirement and he'll be on the 2015 ballot. The Big Unit is a slam dunk as well. As with Glavine and Maddux, I can see writers withholding votes from Moose because they don't want him getting inducted with Johnson. I really hope it's not the case in either year, but the typical voting history of the writers tells me Moose might have to wait until at least year 3 on the ballot.

The worst thing that could happen, and it probably will, is Pedro Martinez retiring after 2010. That would make his 1st year on the ballot in 2016 and we're looking at the same song and dance all over again. Ideally, Petey doesn't pitch in 2010 and he goes on the 2015 ballot. I think the odds of that happening are really low.

Moose should go in year one, no question. I have a bad feeling he'll have to wait until at least 2017 because of the writers. Looks like we have some convincing to do.

J-Boogie

2010 HOF Class Announced Today

The 2010 HOF class is going to be announced later today. I'm really hoping Bert Blyleven gets inducted. A lot of people argue that Moose shouldn't be inducted if Blyleven isn't in the HOF. I obviously think Moose is a HOFer regardless of what happens to Blyleven, but it would help the case for Moose, so I hope Bert gets inducted. Honestly, I think he deserves to and I'm surprised he's not in the HOF already. I think this is his year. Fingers crossed.

J-boogie

The Mussina Curse?

As you probably know if you're familiar with my other blog, Baseball & The Boogie Down, I'm a huge Yankees fan. I was really excited back in 2001 when the Yankees signed Mike Mussina. It is definitely one of Brian Cashman's best free agent signings. As I watched the Yanks finish off the Phillies, winning the franchise's 27th world title, I couldn't help but to think of Mike, wishing he was still a part of the team. That would have been awesome.

It sucks for Mike that his tenure in Pinstripes fell right between 2 World Series wins. Mike joined the team after their 2000 WS win and left before their 2009 WS win. Jokingly, I'll refer to that 8 year period as the "Mussina Curse." Moose is in good company though. Don Mattingly's time in Pinstripes also fell between WS wins. Sort of. Mattingly joined the Yanks in 1982, a year after the team appeared in the World Series. He departed in 1995, 1 year before the team won it all in 1996.

Mike, at least, appeared in the World Series. He was a hard-luck loser. If not for Mariano Rivera's blown save in game 7 of the 2001 World Series, Moose would have his ring. Those of you that use the argument "he has no rings" when talking about Mike's Hall-worthinees need to remember that.

J-Boogie

It's Been A While

Wow it's been a while since I've posted. I'm still around and I plan on doing quite a few things once the MLB season wraps up. So stay tuned and within the next few weeks I hope to post plenty of new content.

Enjoy the World Series and go Yankees! How awesome would it be right now if Moose was still wearing the Pinstripes? That would be off the hook.

J-Boogie

The Moose HOF Debate Rages On

I was just doing some web surfing and came across an interesting debate about Moose and his HOF-worthiness. Right now it comes in 3 installments and a 4th is on the way. It's kind of like a point/counter-point, back-and-forth between a whole bunch of people. Oh what I would give to get in on this discussion. The author of the blog, Tom I believe, writes this at the beginning of the post: I don’t usually get in to Hall debates because of the stupid subjectivity. But, eventually I found the arguments against to be so bad I had to respond.

I'm finding that most of the "reasons" people come up to keep Moose out of the HOF are stupid and ridiculous, many of which are included in their back-and-forth. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Moose has no rings
2. Moose has no Cy Young awards
3. Moose was only an all-star 5 times
4. Rarely the 3rd best guy on his staff
5. Only one good postseason start
6. Played for teams with almost a 600 winning percentage and only won 20 games once
7. Retired not b/c he didn't want to play anymore but b/c he wasn't getting paid

Wow. Some people need a really good schooling. Normally, I'd pick these arguments apart one-by-one, but that work has already been done for me. I suggest you give their post a look. Remember, it comes in multiple installments so make sure you click on each one.

The sad thing is that I'm sure there are many voting members of the BBWAA who share those opinions. When the time is right, I'll be taking them on.

J-Boogie