Eckersley and Molitor are Cooperstown bound
Dennis Eckersley and Paul Molitor were elected to the Hall of Fame today. I'll
post the rest of the results as soon as they're available online. I wonder if
Eck will go in wearing a Tribe hat :-)
RESULTS (380 votes or 75% needed for election, Indians in bold)...
Paul Molitor 431 85.2
Dennis Eckersley 421 83.2
Ryne Sandberg 309 61.1
Bruce Sutter 301 59.5
Jim Rice 276 54.5
Andre Dawson 253 50
"Goose" Gossage 206 40.7
Lee Smith 185 36.6
Bert Blyleven 179 35.4
Jack Morris 133 26.3
Steve Garvey 123 24.3
Tommy John 111 21.9
Alan Trammell 70 13.8
Don Mattingly 65 12.8
Dave Concepcion 57 11.3
Dave Parker 53 10.5
Dale Murphy 43 8.5
LESS THAN 5% -- REMOVED FROM FUTURE BALLOTS
Keith Hernandez 22 4.3
Joe Carter 19 3.8
Fernando Valenzuela 19 3.8
Dennis Martinez 16 3.2
Dave Stieb 7 1.4
Jim Eisenreich 3 0
Jimmy Key 3 0
Doug Drabek 2 0
Kevin Mitchell 2 0
Juan Samuel 2 0
Cecil Fielder 1 0
Randy Myers 1 0
Terry Pendleton 1 0
Danny Darwin 0 0
Bob Tewksbury 0 0
CIR UPDATE: Terry Mulholland gone
Mark Shapiro was quoted in the Plain Dealer this morning that Terry Mulholland
will not re-sign with the Indians.
Quick thoughts on yesterday's moves, I'll save the details for tomorrow.
Scott Stewart has shown he can be a dominant lefty in the back of the 'pen when
healthy. But, he's arbitration eligible this season (expected to sign for
similar dollars as David Riske) and could be looking at a $2 million plus
contract for 2005 which could/might price him out of the Indians price range.
Does this make him a one-year player? Hmmm....
Ryan Church struggled last season with injuries and would likely be far down the
Indians prospect lists this spring (realize that's also a reflection of the
Indians overall system depth) but it wasn't that long ago that the powers that
be at Jacobs Field were comparing him to Jim Edmonds. He also was protected on
the 40-man roster the last two years which indicates a fair amount of value.
It's true that the road ahead of him was blocked by many an outfielder but did
we move him for the right return? And, of course, it's impossible to not think
of Brian Giles for Ricardo Rincon when thinking about this deal.
Jeff D'Amico is a decent minor league pickup. He's shown it once before and
maybe lightning will strike twice. Yeah, you'd like to see someone more proven
(or just plain better) but at least they didn't throw guaranteed money at him
(and even if there is some, it's probably not a whole lot of jack).
Anyone know where Kevin Orie played last season?
Luther Hackman is cool but if he spends a lot of time in Cleveland this season
something has gone wrong in the bullpen (or something went very right for
Luther).
Matt Miller is more triple-A insurance for the bullpen and if this is the guy
who pitched in Colorado Springs last year he posted some pretty nasty numbers
(83 K in 63.1 IP).
The Indians also announced that Carl Sadler was re-signed to a minor league
contract. With Stewart aboard, he'll likely start next year in Buffalo unless he
has a dominating spring. That's probably the best thing for him after his
disappointing 2003.
The Hall of Fame will announce the class of 2004 this afternoon and you can
listen to the announcement live on mlb radio.
The 31 players (former Indians in bold) on the ballot are: Bert
Blyleven, Joe Carter, Dave Concepcion, Danny Darwin, Andre Dawson,
Doug Drabek, Dennis Eckersley, Jim Eisenreich, CeCil Fielder,
Steve Garvey, Rich Gossage, Keith Hernandez, Tommy John, Jimmy
Key, Dennis Martinez, Don Mattingly, Kevin Mitchell, Paul Molitor,
Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Randy Myers, Dave Parker, Terry Pendleton, Jim
Rice, Juan Samuel, Ryne Sandberg, Lee Smith, Dave Stieb, Bruce Sutter, Bob
Tewksbury, Alan Trammell, Fernando Valenzuela.
BERT BLYLEVEN (1981-1985)
Acquired from the Pirates along with Manny Sanguillen (who never played for the
Indians) for Gary Alexander, Victor Cruz, Rafael Vasquez, and Bob Owchinko (man
that was a great deal for the Tribe) at the 1980 winter meetings, Blyleven spent
four and a half seasons pitching for the Tribe from 1981-1985, posting a 48-37
record and 3.23 ERA. His 1984 season was the highlight of his Indians tenure as
he went 19-7 with a 2.87 ERA, allowing just 204 hits in 245 innings with 170
strikeouts. Traded to the Twins on August 1, 1985 for Curt Wardle, Jim Weaver,
Rich Yett, and Jay Bell, his Indian legacy can be felt to this day as Bell was
later traded to the Pirates for Felix Fermin who was eventually dispatched to
Seattle for Omar Vizquel. Blyleven finished his career with 287 wins (25th
all-time), 3,701 strikeouts (5th all-time), 60 shutouts (9th all-time), and a
3.31 career ERA (as compared to the 3.81 league average during his career).
Possessing one of the most memorable curveballs in history along with one of the
best Bermanisms ("Be Home" Blyleven), he's definitely the best product
of the Netherlands to ever grace the diamond but I'm not so sure he's a hall of
famer. If there was a "Hall of the Very Good", he'd be a lock.
JOE CARTER (1984-1989)
Joltin' Joe was involved in two of the biggest Indians trades of the 1980s when
he was first acquired from the Cubs in June 1984 along with Mel "The
Gunfighter" Hall, Darryl Banks, and Don "The Rock" Schulze for
Rick Sutcliffe, George Frazier, and Ron Hassey and then was shipped to the
Padres in December 1989 for Sandy Alomar, Chris James, and Carlos Baerga in the
deal that began the Indians rise to prominence in the mid-90s.
Carter was a good, not great, player for the Indians. In five seasons, he
smacked 151 homers and drove in 530 runs but managed to post an OPS over .800
only once. That figure came in his career-year (OPS-wise) of 1986 when he hit
.302/.335/.514/.849 with 36 doubles, 9 triples, 29 homeruns, drove in 121 runs,
stole 29 bases, which led to all sorts of false expectations that eventually led
Sports Illustrated to pick the Indians as their preseason American League
favorite in 1987 (oy vay). While it's true he was an "RBI machine"
(thanks to Brett Butler and Julio Franco hitting in front of him), his inability
to draw a walk (.309 Cleveland OBP, .306 career OBP) will forever make baseball
analysts wonder "what if" he could have exercised a little more
judgment at the plate.
Carter will forever be remembered by baseball fans for his homerun off Mitch
"The Stitch" Williams ($1 to Dr.Sale) in the 1993 World Series but
Indians fans will likely remember him more for his countless popups to second
base with the game on the line. Not to mention his run-in with Tribe management
over the right for families to fly with the ballclub (or something like that).
Carter finished his career with averages of .259/.306/.464/.771 and 396
homeruns. He also earned $47 million (according to baseball-reference.com)
during his career which is just an astounding figure to me. Good, solid career
but no hall of famer.
DENNIS ECKERSLEY (1975-1977)
Originally drafted by the Indians in the 3rd round of the 1972 draft, the Eck
made his major league debut in 1975 and spent three seasons with the Tribe
before being dealt, along with Fred Kendall, to the Red Sox in March 1978 for
Rick Wise, Mike Paxton, Ted Cox, and Bo Diaz. I was seven years old and I all
remember thinking was that Mike Paxton and Ted Cox were going to be awesome.
They had to be if we traded Eckersley for them, right? Yeah, right.
Eckersley's best season with the Tribe was his rookie year of 1975 when he went
13-7 with a 2.60 ERA (186.2 IP, 147 H, 152 K) and his three-year tenure (40-32,
3.23) was highlighted by his May 30, 1977 no-hitter against the California
Angels. Of course, Eckersley went on to greater fame and fortune, first as a
starter with the Red Sox and then as a closer with the A's and he finished his
24-year major league career with a 197-171 record, 3.50 ERA, and 390 saves.
It's going to be very interesting to see how the voters evaluate his body of
work as his career is distinctly broken down into 12 years as a starter (with
some very good years and some very bad years), six years as a dominant closer,
and six years as an average closer. He doesn't hit any of the automatic starting
pitcher benchmarks (250 or 300 wins, 3000 strikeouts) and relievers have not
gotten a whole lot of respect from the voters in recent years (see Bruce Sutter,
Goose Gossage, Lee Smith). He was good, even great at times, and he and Tony
LaRussa changed the way late innings are managed (I'll let you decide if that's
good or bad) but does that make him one of the best players of all-time? Like I
said, it's going to be interesting.
CECIL FIELDER (1998)
Signed as a free-agent on August 13, 1998, the big guy didn't even make it
through the end of the season as a 5-for-35 performance resulted in his release
on September 18. A memorable player, mostly due to his prodigious girth as well
as the prodigious longballs he smacked into the upper reaches of Tiger Stadium,
Fielder finished his career with a .827 OPS and 319 homeruns. Twenty years from
now, it will be interesting to see how his son, Brewers uber-prospect Prince
Fielder, compares to the father.
KEITH HERNANDEZ (1990-1991)
"Nice game pretty boy." I couldn't have said it any better myself,
Newman. Signed to a two-year, $3.5 million contract as a free-agent in December
1989, Hernandez accumulated only 130 at-bats (.200 with one homerun) with the
Indians before choosing to spend the next year and a half rehabbing from various
ailments on the dance floors of New York City discos. Pretty boy, indeed.
TOMMY JOHN (1963-1964)
Signed with the Tribe as a free-agent in 1961 (draft began in 1965) and went
2-11 with a 3.61 ERA in two seasons with the Indians before being dealt to the
White Sox in 1965 in a three-team deal that brought Rocky Colavito back to the
North Coast. Unfortunately for the Tribe, the Rock was pretty much washed up and
John went on to pick up 286 more wins in a 26-year major league career. Known
more for the ligament transplant surgery that bears his name, John posted a 3.34
career ERA along with all those wins. I did find it interesting, however, that a
pitcher that close to 300 wins would have allowed more than a hit an inning for
his career.
DENNIS MARTINEZ (1994-1996)
One of the best free-agent signings of the John Hart era, El Presidente made 72
starts and went 32-17 with a 3.58 ERA in his three seasons with the Indians. He
also made several memorable starts in the 1995 postseason and finished his
career with a 245-193 record and a 3.70 ERA. Those numbers would be even better
if not for a rough four-year period from 1983-1986 when Martinez went 29-42 with
a 5.14 ERA. It's not unreasonable that he could have finished with 280 wins and
a 3.50 ERA with four good/normal seasons and we'd probably be looking at a
near-lock hall of famer.
KEVIN MITCHELL (1997)
Hit .153 with four homeruns in 59 at-bats to start the 97 season before being
released in June. Perhaps best known during his days with the Indians for
failing to complete the dreaded Warrior run in spring training.
JACK MORRIS (1994)
Spent more time tending to his farm in Montana between starts then he did
pitching for the Indians and that ultimately led to his release on August 9
before he could complete one season with the Tribe. He did make 23 starts,
however, and went 10-6 with a 5.60 ERA. Morris is a strange player for me to
evaluate as a hall of fame candidate because growing up in the 80s there was no
doubt that Morris was one of the best pitchers in the game and a surefire hall
of famer. Now, however, when you look back at his numbers, while they are
impressive, a 254-186 record and a 3.90 ERA (compared to the league average of
4.06) pales next to Bert Blyleven and they're certainly not anymore (or less)
impressive than Dennis Martinez in my opinion. He pitched some big games and
pitched extremely well against the Indians (which may explain my 80s bias) but I
don't see him worthy of selection to the hall. Another candidate for the Hall of
the Very Good.
As for my ballot, I think I would have voted for Ryne Sandberg and left it at
that. Baseball Prospectus conducted the STAT-LG
Internet Hall of Fame Voting again this year and the results are now posted
for your review.
Kenny Lofton signed a two-year, $6.2 million contract with the Yankees and his
signing will likely move Bernie Williams to the DH spot (with Matsui and
Sheffield manning the corners). After bottoming out with a .721 OPS during his
final season with the Indians in 2001, Lofton has actually raised both his OBP
and SLG (.763 and .800 OPS respectively) the last two seasons which is unusual
for a 36-year old. He's not a bad sign but did the Yankees really have to give
him two years?
Julio Franco re-signed with the Braves on a minor league deal that will pay him
a reported $750k if he makes the big league roster.
Damian Jackson is close to signing with the Rockies.
Troy Cameron signed a minor league deal with the White Sox, Jacob Cruz hooked up
with the Reds, Joe Roa with the Twins, and Jon Hamilton with the Cardinals.
Pokey Reese signed with the Red Sox for one year and one million dollars. Chris
Stynes signed a one year, $975k deal with the Pirates. Eric Young is close to
signing with the Rangers.
On the starting pitcher front, Shane Reynolds and Steve Sparks signed with the
Diamondbacks for $1 million and $500k respectively. Jason Johnson got a
two-year, $7 million deal from the Tigers while Cory Lidle signed for a year and
$2.75 million with the Reds.
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