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LONGSHOTS: Mail bag asks about Rice, the Hall and wild-eyed liberals
by Dave Long
With things being calm for a few more days until the Patriots get to Arizona, it’s a good time to hit some neglected topics that have shown up in the mail bag — where we haven’t been for a while.
Dear Dave: Do you think Jim Rice should be in the Hall of Fame? B. Holm Byeleven, 287 Winds St., Sour Grapes, Minn.
Dear B. Holm: I go back and forth. There are two schools of thought. The first is sheer numbers. If you get 500 homers, 300 wins and 3,000 hits you’re in even if you voted for Dennis Kucinich. The second is how great you were and how long did your peak last.
I think the Hall is about greatness. Not being very good and healthy enough to last a long time to rack up stats. Sandy Koufax won just 165 games before retiring at 31 and wouldn’t get a whiff from the numbers-only crowd. Instead they’d like probably Don Sutton, who won 324. But there was NO COMPARISON, where in his last five years Koufax was every bit as good as Michael Jordan at his peak. During the time he won five ERA titles, 25, 26 and 27 games in three of those years when he had 74 complete games, threw 311, 335, and 323 innings and struck out 306, 382 and 317. Sutton was a consistent number two, who won 20 once in 23 years when it was routinely done and didn’t get over .500 until his ninth season!
If Rice gets in, he’ll have to be Koufax, not Sutton, as he fell off the table quickly after being among baseball’s scariest hitters for 10 years. People are talking Craig Biggio for his amazing versatility and 3,000 hits. Over Rice? NO WAY! Ditto for Wade Boggs, who definitely belongs — but he wasn’t nearly as good. And then there’s the “if he’s in, Rice should be too” list, which includes Richie Asburn, Sunny Jim Bottomley, Gary Carter, Nellie Foxx, Ralph Kiner, Tony Perez and Kirby Puckett. So though he’s borderline, I vote for Jim.
Dear Dave: What do you think of stat guy Bill James? Halbert Heinstein, E-2 Relativity Way, Princeton, N.J.
Dear Halbert: I think he’s a crackpot. Well that’s a tad harsh. Some of his ideas are interesting, maybe even useful, but stat geeks take him way too seriously. Like Sunday, when, in talking about Coco Crisp and Julio Lugo’s 2007 production, the Warner Wolf of the UL, Alex Speier, goes to the OPS rankings quicker than Warner goes to the videotape. That’s ignoring the obvious. I was no fan of the Lugo signing. But even with his horrid first three months his 73 RBI were more than Dustin Pedroia’s (50), fifth-hitting J. D. Drew’s (64) and Jason Varitek’s (68). Not bad for a guy who didn’t get a hit until July. And numbers don’t account for emotion, leadership, brains and grit. His college coaches and the combine crowd ignored the wins Tom Brady put on the board at Michigan, because someone else always scored better in things that don’t count. The Patriots brass saw the intangibles and look who’s got the rings. Basically, I think an overemphasis on what James is selling leads to giving a Lugo $9 million per and stat man’s dream Drew $70 million over five years.
Dear Dave: What do you think about playing games in the weather the teams faced on Sunday in the AFC and NFC title games? Bud “Frosty” Wizer, 6 Title Way, Lombardi, S.D.
Dear Frosty: The players and coaches make big money from the TV deal so I guess the league has a right to say suck it up and play no matter what. I’ll also like later weekend starting times, which I wish they did when the weather was nice. Although I like a 1 p.m. start on championship Sunday since it’s my favorite day of the sports year. And if I’m in my family room watching it played where the wind chill is 20 below after the sun goes down, who cares. But still, it’s a disgrace how the NFL takes its fans for granted because TV wants to maximize audience size with later times. If it’s in a dome or a warm- weather site, I’ve got no problem. But since a New York team was in the game, even if the Pats were playing in San Diego on Sunday I’ll bet it still would have been the early game. The NFL should treat the paying customer at the games with more respect and drop night games in January like the one a few years back when the Patriots beats the Titans on a brutal night at Foxboro.
Dear Dave: What are you doing while waiting to see the undefeated Patriots in the Super Bowl? Mercury Morris, 22 Clueless Road, Miami, Fla.
Dear Merk: I’m going to see undefeated Bentley when it visits SNHU on Thursday night. They are 16-0 in 2007-08 as I write this and have won 43 straight regular-season games. They pass, pick, rebound and can shoot. Anyone who likes watching basketball as it is intended to be played should get down to the field house on Thursday. Plus we get to see local lad Joey Fremeau. He’s not getting much time to date, but he’ll be there.
Dear Dave: Why do always pick on the conservatives when you mix politics with sports? Is it because you’re a biased, wild-eyed liberal? Bill O. Riley. 1 Fox Plaza, Right Wing, Texas.
Dear Bill: I don’t always do that, although as Dick Lombardi the insurance mogul points out, that’s the way it’s been lately. Agreed, but I’ve said things about Sen. Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry and Kathy Sullivan, to name four, when I thought they were wrong. But you get branded depending on who you disagree with. Thus I’ve been called a liberal, a conservative and a libertarian. Personally, I see myself as an American who decides based on the facts in front of me. So while I am a registered Democrat, I haven’t voted for one for president since Jimmy Carter. And I only did that because Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon. Although to be fair, I didn’t really vote for Junior, I voted against Gore and Kerry.
Thanks for the letters.
Dave Long can be reached at dlong@hippopress.com. He hosts the Absolute Sports Experience at Billy’s Sports Bar in Manchester each Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon that is broadcast live on WGAM – The Game, 1250-AM Manchester, 900-AM Nashua.
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