Hall calls
OK, I'm not going to get preachy today.
Derek Jeter, as we all kind of guessed, finished just short of unanimous approval into the baseball Hall of Fame. One vote, and the search is on for the writer who did not vote for Jeter, who is top six all time in hits and top 11 all time in runs.
His postseason stature was even more impressive, actually. Most postseason games (158), hits (200), runs (111), doubles (32), and triples (5) as well as the third-most homers (20), fourth-most RBIs (61) and fifth-most walks (66), Ever. (Yes, the extra rounds of playoff games of the modern era help the numbers, but still.)
The big issue here is the one vote.
Because even Spy, who is as big a Red Sox homer/Yankees hater as you are going to see this side of Southie, admits that Jeter's a no-doubter.
Hey, whoever cast the vote has every right to vote with whatever reasoning he or she sees fit.
But what's the logic behind not voting for Jeter? It's hard to comprehend.
There is no way the old "Well, I know Jeter gets in so I'm voting for others this year" flies because there were not 10 other names on this year's ballot in dire need of approval.
Plus, the voter's ballot must be blank, because he was clearly the best candidate on the ballot.
In the big picture, however, it's a relatively minor wrinkle in the grand scheme of things, I'd just like to hear the thought process.
And one of the things that makes this more side tone than anything is my current view of the Hall.
It's a shell of what it was and what it should be.
This class will include Jeter (no-doubter) and Larry Walker (who got in on his final year on the ballot, which makes me wonder what Walker has done in the last few years to gain extra support, because it's been 15 years since he played).
Worse, the class also includes Ted Simmons, the latest albatross from the Modern-Era committee who also inducted Harold Baines and Alan Trammell.
Should Jeter have been unanimous? Yes.
Should Walker - who has better numbers than most will recall and is a top-90 WAR guy, with a win-above-replacement number ahead of even Jeter - have been voted in? Most likely. Still it's hard not to see the emotional symmetry that in the last four years there have been three occasions in which a first-ballot entry and a last-ballot entry were elected to the Hall. (According to Jayson Stark, that had happened all of one time in the previous history of Hall voting.)
Should Simmons? Heck no. Dude's WAR is behind Minnie Minoso and fractions ahead of former Braves outfielder Brett Butler.
Should the steroid guys? Well, I vowed not to get preachy.
Speaking of baseball
Before we get to Marcell Ozuna signing with the Braves, a tip of the visor to baseball, which has somehow managed to have an NBA-like offseason.
Yes, the sign-stealing stuff has been controversial, but under the "no such thing as bad publicity" umbrella, it feels like we've tracked more baseball in January than we did in July. That's a good thing for baseball.
And Tuesday was a good day for the Braves, who have moved pieces around this offseason. Whether they are playing a shell game with the rest of the NL or moving deck chairs on the SS Minnow will be discovered soon enough.
Side rant: While we're here, we need help with an official 5-at-10 secretary helping me keep up with the wave of sports broadcasting/analysis clichés to which we are adamantly opposed. Football coaches "dialing up plays/blitz/whatever" (unless they are actually making a phone call, "dialing up a to-go order" or operating a HAM radio) is on the list. The redundant "Quarterback position" is definitely on the list. As is "Score the basketball" and "Arm talent." So is 'Controlling his/their destiny." Pushing someone under the bus is truly tired. (I have converted to "pushing so-and-so into traffic," which may become tired, too, but it's not bus-level tired.) I am now ready to add, "They are playing chess and everyone else is playing checkers," to that list. Do we have nominations from the group?
Anyhoo, baseball driving the collective sports narrative in the middle of the basketball season and neck deep in the NFL postseason is beyond surprising and closing in on surreal.
Now comes news of the Braves adding Marcell Ozuna, which generates a fair amount of attention around these parts.
I'll start with this: I still believe considering the importance of the position he plays and his fit in the locker room, re-signing Josh Donaldson was the best option for a Braves team looking to go from NL contender to title contender.
But, after low-balling Donaldson, adding Ozuna on a one-year, $18 million deal is a very acceptable to very impressive fall-back option.
The pros:
> He has plus right-handed power - 29 homers in 130 games last year and 148 career homers in 931 career games - and is a career .272 hitter.
> He is a plus defender in left field and won a Gold Glove in 2017 with Miami. The Braves outfield will be among the best defensive groups in the game with Ozuna in left, Acuña in center and Markakis in right or Inciarte in center and Acuña in right.
> The one-year deal gives the club options considering the young OF superstars in the system. If Ozuna comes in and kills it and the team wants to explore a long-term extension with him - remember he won't be 30 until November - they could deal a Pache and some young arms at the deadline for a front-line starter. Or they can just let this play out the year and see where it leads without giving up a parcel of prospects for Arenado or Bryant.
> It also weakens the Cardinals - the team that bounced the Braves last year - and that's a good thing. (Plus, there was a real chance the Nats could have been in on Ozuna, too.)
Hey, at every turn of criticism and uncertainty, Braves GM Alex Anthopoulus continues to play Risk while everyone else is playing Candy Land. (See what I did there, Spy?)
Happy WedneZday
Zion Williamson returns today.
If you have any ESPN channel, you already knew this.
There actually is a Zion countdown clock on SportsCenter.
Overdone? Maybe a touch.
But considering that NBA ratings are sagging, any star power return to the East Coast - especially one with the game and the charisma of Zion - is certainly great news for the league and its broadcast partners.
In fact, I saw a stat that tonight's Zion debut is one of 13 national broadcasts of the New Orleans Pelicans, who are 12th in the 15-team West but got the third-most national TV games this season. Why? Zion, of course.
I hope the kid kills it. He's a physical specimen - freak likely should be added to the above list, dontcha' think? - and has a natural energy and smile that is extremely likable.
Plus, the Pelicans are a likable bunch of young players you have recognized and who could put together a fun nucleus and play a fun brand of basketball. (Let's call them the anti-Rockets.)
So good luck, Zion. Be safe, and we'll be watching.
This and that
- Here's an interesting look at Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke being part of a council of mayors trying to save the minor league baseball connections to their cities. TFP BID-ness whiz Mary Fortune is a real asset to the paper, friends. Good work. My thought on this: These cats are somewhere on the useless scale, not all the way to Don Quixote and his windmill walkabouts, but beyond the vote pandering of keys to the city or citations of excellence for a middle school band being invited to the Macy's Day parade. In the grand scheme of things, this truly feels like the classic scene in "Blazing Saddles" in which the governmental officials decide to give the governor a hearty "Harrumph!"
- One more Hall of Fame voting note: How much more generous are the voters these days - whether that's more transparency or more stats or the advent of the everyone-gets-a-trophy generation - compared to days gone by? Jeter was the eighth player since 2014 to surpass 90 percent approval. Only eight players got into the 90-or-higher percentile in the 1960s, 70s and 80s combined.
- One more: Jeter is the sixth player since 2014 with 97 percent or more of the vote. Before 2014 there were seven players in all previous elections combined that were named on at least 97 percent of the ballots.
- Our college pick went belly-up Tuesday. Air Force got routed by Utah State. We're 16-14 against the number in college hoops. Give me Alabama-Vandy under 153.5, Arkansas plus-3.5 at Mississippi State and UTC minus-10.5 over El Cid.
- Our NBA picks are much better. We're 10-4, OK, against the number. We're going off the board here with over 12.5 and 5.5 in Zion's points and rebounds in his debut tonight. Good times.
- We got a cool chance to talk with Ladd McConkey, the North Murray football player who had a great start to the week when Kirby Smart visited him for a Monday night hoops game and offered him a scholarship. Here are the details and one of those fun stories to read from TFP college football guru David Paschall.
- Details of the NFL Draft - we love the draft; you know this - in Vegas sound amazing. They are shutting the strip down. Seriously. They are putting a stage in the fountains at the Bellagio and the draft players will be transported to said stage by boat. I am so here for NFL Draft decadence in Vegas. Great times.
- Nice win for the UT hoops folks, who rolled a hapless Ole Miss. (I called UT covering on Press Row, but it was casual and hard to count as a pick.) Here's more from TFP UT beat ace Gene of Many Hats Henley.
Today's questions
Which way Wednesday will go this way:
Which one would you rather have - Ozuna at one-year, $18 million or Donaldson at four years, $90 million?
Which player will be next to get 95-plus percent of the vote for the baseball Hall of Fame, David Ortiz, Adrian Beltre or Ichiro Suzuki?
Which rookie debut can you remember being the most excited for? (Mine - and maybe Spy's - never came. It was Lenny Bias.)
As for today, Jan. 22, well, let's review.
Roe v Wade was ruled on this day in 1973.
Heath Ledger died on this day in 2008.
Happy birthday, Diane Lane. Big fan of her fine, fine work. She is 55.
Bill Bixby, who played the Hulk on TV, would have been 76 today.
Rushmore of TV actors who played "superhero" roles.