Hall Call
Will The Captain get 100 percent?
Derek Jeter becoming the second inductee to be named on every ballot is one of the questions swirling above tonight’s MLB Hall of Fame announcement.
Right now, according to renowned vote tracker Ryan Thibodaux, Jeter has been checked on all 211 ballots that are known.
Last year, Mariano Rivera became the first player ever to get 100 percent, breaking through the flawed, old-school pessimistic view of “Well, if Babe didn’t get 100 percent then no one should.”
(Side note: Never really understood why the mistakes of previous generations must be replicated under the flawed thinking of “tradition” or “That’s the way we’ve always done it.” So it goes.)
Jeter is a no-doubter, and he will be named on at least 99.5 percent of the ballots. Will it be 100 percent? Who knows, but it should be.
The other questions start with the PED folks, and the conversations that the Astros’ cheating scandal may actually help the candidacy of a Bonds or a Clemens or whomever else.
(Side note, part II: We have said in this space before, how anyone can vote for Bonds or Clemens – either you vote for both or neither, right? – is amazingly confusing to me. So it goes. Again.)
Will Larry Walker get the call in his 10th and final year on the ballot? It’s going to be close – he’s projected right now at 74.3 percent, and you need 75 percent to get in – for the former Rockies/Expos slugger.
(Side note, part III: I think Walker is close – very close – but I’ve never understood why non-PED folks gain so much after the first couple of years. It’s not like their career numbers improved or their accomplishments got better. They’re retired, folks. So it goes. Again. Again.)
The names that have surprised me are the rising support for Scott Rolen and the dwindling ballots for Andruw Jones.
Jones is the most under-appreciated player of this generation, with way more than 400 homers and 10 Gold Gloves.
(Side note, part IV: Want to know the other dudes in MLB history to be in that 400-homer, 10-Gold Glove team photo? It’s Andruw, Mike Schmidt, Ken Griffey Jr. and Willie Mays. And that’s it. And Jones will be on fewer than 7 percent of the ballots tonight. So it goes. Again. Again. And again.)
Here’s a guess: Jeter does not get named on every ballot, and Walker squeaks in.
First thought on First Take, Your Take
OK, as most of you know, I cohost an afternoon sports radio show with TFP all-around ace and college football wizard David Paschall. Our show – Press Row – airs from 3-6 p.m. on ESPN 105.1 the Zone locally. (If you want to listen online, go to espnchattanooga.com . And thanks for all you regular, big-brained listeners.)
The national show that is broadcast before us on ESPN Radio used to be the Stephen A. Smith Show.
And we all knew what that meant. It was a lot of Stephen A. doing Stephen A. things. And there are two opinions on Stephen A. – either you like him or you loathe him. It’s that simple.
Well, with the all the responsibilities of being Stephen A., he has relinquished his daily radio show. His replacement is Jason Fitz, who is hosting “First Take, Your Take” from 1-3.
It started Monday. and I listened to a sizable portion of it.
I like Jason Fitz. (In fact, I wish he was running the point guard on the morning show on ESPN National rather than Trey Wingo. But that’s me.)
So I have hopes on Fitz doing his own show.
Monday’s first show was not what I expected, and that may be on me.
The name – First Take, Your Take – is 100 percent what the show is. Fitz reserves opinions from Stephen A. and Max Kellerman and whomever else was on “First Take” on ESPN TV earlier that morning.
They are extended clips – think minutes more than seconds – and Fitz then juggles calls and social media responses.
It makes sense on several levels. The First Take content is already there, and it allows loyal ESPN fans to sound off on Stephen A. and Co.
But, as a fan of Fitz, I was hoping for more Fitz than refashioned First Take.
And yes, any time your listening habits are reworked it takes a little while to get used to it. So there’s that.
Titans losers in ratings too
Got some heat from Titans fans because I have said that I didn’t think they were an attractive match-up for anyone in the playoffs. And, at least nationally, my opinion held true.
Here are the numbers for the AFC Championship viewership, and know that for the most part the NFL saw increases in almost every portal this season:
Sunday: Chiefs-Titans: 41.11 million viewers;
2018/19: Patriots-Chiefs: 53.92 million viewers;
2017/18: Patriots-Jaguars: 44.08 million viewers;
2016/17: Steelers-Patriots: 48.0 million viewers.
Yes, the Pats absence is clear, but according to Sports Media Watch, Sunday’s AFC title game was the least-watched in more than a decade.
The NFC title game had the better window so it was up slightly from last year. The Packers-49ers had a 21.9 rating and 42.75 million viewers, which was up 1 percent in both categories compared to last year, which is saying something considering the outcome was dictated rather early.
So local fans may be upset that the Titans are no longer playing. (But here’s betting Fox executives are quite tickled to have Mahomes and Co. over the overachievers from Nashville.)