Kuzul

To the surprise of no one, the recent Barry Bonds perjury trial ended with a result that satisfied neither party and only really succeeded in stirring up another round of PED-related articles.  One of the most common type article to enter the fray is how the Hall of Fame will view such candidates; after all, Bonds (and others guilty/suspected of usage) put up some impressive numbers during his career.  Some writers are calling for the Hall of Fame to establish new guidelines on voting procedures for the next election; others are calling for an outright ban of all PED users. Both of these ideas strike me as rather unnecessary.  I mean, isn’t it the job of the HOF voters to decide who is worthy of induction?  Besides, a lot of the arguments that are being used against PED users don’t really hold water—and could set a serious double-standard when it comes to past ...

Let's say there is a university going through a rough patch. Previously, it was viewed as one of the best schools in the nation, and it pulled in billions of dollars in endowments. Teachers who succeeded there, would go onto academic fame and be set for the rest of their lives financially. However, a teacher's strike in 1994 had ruined the university's reputation. The public thought the strike showed that the university and its teachers only cared about the size of their bank accounts. When the strike was over, enrollment was at an all time-low. Many parents had pulled there kids out of school and applications for admission, which once flowed in like the Mississippi, now trickled in weakly.  Realizing the rewards success at the school could give them, some teachers began grading easier than Paula Abdul in order to have more students get A's. The school had never explicitly forbade teachers from artificially enhancing students grades, ...

After hearing that Tampa Bay Rays slugger Manny Ramirez tested positive for performance enhancing drugs for the second time in three years, I started to wonder..."Should we let steroid users into the Hall of Fame?"I think the answer is, yes, we should.  Now before I get bashed and people tell me I am not a real fan of the game, hear me out on why I think it is time to accept this "cheating."  For the longest time I was against this but recent events have changed my opinion.Since the adoption of the drug policy, we have seen some big name players connected with performance enhancing drugs.  Manny Ramirez, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Ivan Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Roger Clemens and Mark McGwire just to name a few.While there are many more who have been linked to steroids, just the names listed above would make one hell ...

Today the Baseball Hall of Fame celebrates its 73rd birthday.Personally, nicknames are just as much a part of baseball as beer and hot dogs. For as long as the game has existed, teammates and announcers have provided the fans with colorful names that turn celebrities into part of the family.Nicknames are part of baseball history, so where better to look than Cooperstown?The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY is loaded with great players and equally interesting nicknames. Everybody has heard about "The Babe," "Stan the Man" and the "Say Hey Kid," but with 240 former players and 19 managers, there are dozens of others that go completely unnoticed.Without further ado, here are the top 10 rarely heard nicknames from the Baseball Hall of Fame...Begin Slideshow

There once was a time when players spent their entire careers with the same team.In most cases, the team a player was on was the one that originally scouted and drafted him. Unless a guy was traded or he wore out his welcome with his employers, he wasn't likely to ever don another uniform.Now, that's all changed.Teams have played the service clock game with their young players, manipulating the timing of their arbitration seasons to delay their walk years as long as possible. Once they hit the open market, all that matters is cash.In honor of the way things used to be, here is my list of the best homegrown starting pitcher in the history of each MLB team. Black-and-white headshots are public domain images, courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.Begin Slideshow

For the first time since Richard Nixon was president, no big league team will break spring training camp with a Ken Griffey on its roster—Senior or Junior. Every April from 1974 through 2010, there was a Ken Griffey in the majors. First it was the original Griffey—Senior—who broke into the bigs with the Cincinnati Reds and who kept playing until his baby boy grew up and was old enough to be his teammate with the Seattle Mariners in 1990. Then there was Junior, making his big league debut in 1989 with peach fuzz as a 19-year-old with the Mariners. Junior gutted it out until age 40, when his body creaked for the last time, and he retired last June, once again a member of the Mariners after a couple of stops in between. Now there are no more Ken Griffeys, for the first time since 1973. Combined, Senior and Junior ...

Johnny Damon is on the cusp of reaching a statistic that almost guarantees entry into the Hall of Fame: 3,000 hits.  Since Damon burst onto the scene in 1995 as a Kansas City Royal, he has developed into one of the most consistent hitters this game has seen since 2004 inductee Paul Molitor.  When I thought about writing this, Molitor was the first person I thought of as a comparison because of his consistency. Neither was flashy or made as many headlines as their team-mates, but they were both solid hitters who never had years of lacking production.  Below are 162 game average’s for Damon, Molitor and Robin Yount. Damon AB    R    H  2B  3B  HR  RBI  SB CS  BB   SO   BA  OBP  SLG 637  111  183  35   7  15   75  27  7  67   81 .287 .355 .436 Molitor AB    R    H  2B  3B  HR  RBI  SB  CS   BB   ...

In light of a recent article I wrote concerning Baseball Hall of Fame voting criteria, or lack thereof, I would like to submit the following for your perusal. First and foremost, the voting should be snatched away from the Baseball Writers Association of America, like a thief in the night. They have taken a national shrine to baseball greats and made it a ridiculous load of fodder.   Irresponsible comments coming from the writers’ own pen is a good place to begin. Concerning Roberto Alomar, one of them said that he was being “punished” by not being elected on the first ballot. The alleged punishment would be restitution for his spitting at umpire John Hirschbeck in 1996. Hirschbeck subsequently forgave him and they became acquaintances. I must say the incident soured me on Alomar as well, but not to the point that I am blinded by the fact that if any middle infielders belong in ...

For the first time in 17 years Andy Pettitte won't be putting on pinstripes (he even wore pinstripes during his Houston stint). Pettitte suited up for the Bronx Bombers in 13 of his 16 seasons in the big leagues. In his career he amassed 240 wins and 138 losses (Yankee record: 203-112). Pettitte is third all time in career wins in the Yankees organization. Think about that for a minute. Andy Pettitte is third all time in wins for an organization that's done nothing but win since they won their first World Series way back in 1923. So is he get the call to Cooperstown? It's not an easy question to answer. Why he is a Hall a Famer: Andy Pettitte joined the Yankees back in '95. In '96 he went 21-8 and the Yankees won their first World Series since 1978. He played 11 more seasons in New York after that, and was the ...

Center fielder and Cardinal great Jim Edmonds is retiring. After deciding his injury is too severe to risk a comeback, the eight-time Gold Glove winner is retiring as a member of the team he is most associated with. It’s a shame, too, as he was very productive last year with the Brewers and Reds.  Nevertheless, as with all retiring greats, talk now moves to Edmonds’ chances to make the Hall of Fame. And if you don’t think of Edmonds as a good choice for the Hall, you may want to reconsider.His straight counting stats do not immediately jump out as Hall of Fame numbers; he only reached 393 home runs and 1949 hits. His .284 batting average may also seem lackluster.However, there is much more to these facts than meets the eye. For example, as Aaron Gleeman at Hardball Talk notes, Edmonds compares quite well to center fielders already in ...