JimH5

I think that's a cynical response. You're right that we shouldn't believe that everyone is clean. But we know for sure that Bonds wasn't. There is evidence. Should writers ignore that and give a player the highest honor in the sport anyway? Voting rules specify integrity, sportsmanship and character as part of the package. That's why I would vote no on him. If he gets in through a veterans committee later on, then so be it. But that's not up to the writers.

Marge Schott, what a compelling person. I think there's a movie waiting to be made. Wife of a car dealer, is widowed at 39 and then is left managing the family business. Buys into the hometown baseball team, they win a World Series under her ownership, and then the racism & suspension. She was pretty horrible, but also very generous. Doubtful that film would be part of the MLB Network offseason rotation.

Yeah, but it's not about liking the guy. Barry Bonds was not just a great player, a historically great player well before the PED's(which I think we can pinpoint pretty clearly). If Mike Trout continues to dominate for another 7-8 years, even if you find out he's the real version of what people THINK Ty Cobb is, would you say he's not a HOF'er? I think there are lots of things that a historically great player could do that would make me withhold my hypothetical vote. If someone had a history of fighting with teammates, opponents, umpires, fans, spouses, etc. If they had episodes of demonstrably not trying to make plays. If they committed serious off field crimes. Think about all the crappy behavior we've seen from athletes over the years...Albert Belle, Lenny Dykstra, Denny McLain, Kobe Bryant, Michael Vick, Dave Kingman, John Rocker, Ray Rice. There are lots of things that a great player can do that would make it reasonable and understandable for a voting body to not want to give them the highest honor. When they put someone in the Hall of Fame, it's not just hanging their plaque. They get welcomed into the club. They get time on the stage with other Hall of Famers. They get to speak to the crowd and cameras behind a podium with the HOF emblem. They get the full endorsement of the organization. Having said all that, it makes me rethink my vote for Curt Schilling at the top of this thread. And I agree that Bonds appeared to be a Hall of Fame player before 1999. But he spent 9 more years in the game, and was at the center of a huge PED scandal, with evidence and testimony that he used a regimen of illegal drugs to help make him better at baseball. To demand that writers ignore that part of his career and only remember the good parts seems unreasonable.

It's not abusing language. It's interpreting language. From the HOF: Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played. That leaves it up to individual writers' discretion. They get to decide how much they want to weigh those criteria against each other.

Most of the controversial selections have been made by special committees, outside of the BBWAA. Have the writers elected or denied someone you think was treated wrongly? Yes, the fact that Barry Bonds is not in the "Hall of Fame" is an absolute joke. If Bonds is not in the hall then nobody else belongs in the hall except maybe Ruth or Williams or a handful of others. His statistical achievements were accomplished with the aid of illegal drugs. That causes some writers to withhold their vote for him, per their interpretation of the election rules. Isn't that a reasonable explanation for why he hasn't been elected?

Most of the controversial selections have been made by special committees, outside of the BBWAA. Have the writers elected or denied someone you think was treated wrongly?

This year's ballot is loaded with candidates for the HOF. There are 35 guys on there, and I count nearly 20 with arguable cases. Some of those guys have PED histories, and may not get to 75 percent, but I think the effort to keep them out is softening, with some doubt over some of the guys elected in recent years, plus Bud Selig's election. In any case, here's the list: Rick Ankiel Jason Bay Lance Berkman Barry Bonds Roger Clemens Freddy Garcia Jon Garland Travis Hafner Roy Halladay Todd Helton Andruw Jones Jeff Kent Ted Lilly Derek Lowe Edgar Martinez Fred McGriff Mike Mussina Darren Oliver Roy Oswalt Andy Pettitte Juan Pierre Placido Polanco Manny Ramirez Mariano Rivera Scott Rolen Curt Schilling Gary Sheffield Sammy Sosa Miguel Tejada Omar Vizquel Billy Wagner Larry Walker Vernon Wells Kevin Youlilis Michael Young My own ballot would be: Mariano Rivera Roy Halladay Mike Mussina Curt Schilling Billy Wagner Edgar Martinez Fred McGriff Larry Walker Jeff Kent Omar Vizquel I'm still steering clear of the PED guys for now, though it seems like Clemens and Bonds will get there eventually. I don't think Manny, Sheffield or Sosa will. I would vote for Pettitte if it weren't for his PED history. I think Rolen, Andruw Jones, Helton and Berkman fall a little short for me. Have at it...

For their 50th year in Milwaukee, I'd like them to do a young Bud Selig or Bonnie Brewer or Tommy Harper bobble. Or maybe a figure of 1970 County Stadium.

I think the stat you're looking for is Win Probability Added. Hader finished 6th on the NL Leaderboard this year on BB-REF. Smith had 5 top 10 seasons, including a 3rd and two 4ths. I'll grant, though, that Smith's case is mostly built around the save stat that you find less meaningful. I do, too. But for years, MLB teams didn't. And during that era, Smith did something that required many years of quality. He delivered what they were looking for. And I don't buy the speculation that others could have done it. Because no others did.

FYI--Cooperstown remains an awesome place to visit. Harold Baines and Bill Mazeroski and Rick Ferrell and Tommy McCarthy don't make it any less so. It's not like they are crowding out Ruth and Mays and Grove. Baines will have a plaque and maybe a jersey on display. Hold your nose and walk past them, and soak in the rest. It's awesome.

Houston isn't on the list, Cleveland isn't on the list. They're going with games that deliver a known audience. There's no reason in December to lock in games featuring teams that might not be interesting to a national audience.

With some of the other closers that are in, he should be in... but many of the other closers shouldn't be in. It's a joke. There are probably hundreds of forgettable starters who could have been great closers. In fact, most closers are just that... failed starters. But you can close games and throw 95 m.p.h. heat or cut fastballs all the time without your arm falling off and voila, you're suddenly great. It's so stupid. Being an unhittable closer doesn't actually result in a lot more wins than just being an effective one. And Smith was far from unhittable. It's just laziness to look at what happened in the 9th inning and say that's what determined the game. It may have a disproportionate share of the suspense and tension you experience while watching, but it does not have any disproportionate influence on the outcome compared to other innings. There aren't hundreds of forgettable starters who could have done what Smith did. We know that because there was nobody who did what he did. Saves might be an unimportant stat by today's lens, but it has been counted and celebrated by MLB since Jerome Holtzman, and when Smith retired, he was number 1 on the list. He did what he was assigned, and was the most prolific guy in history at it. The HOF has more than 200 players enshrined. I think there's room for the top guy, even though 2018's sensibilities tell us that saves aren't the be all and end all. For a point in history, they were considered pretty important.

I applaud the Lee Smith selection. He retired as the career leader in saves. Pitched in over 1000 games. Finished more than 800. That's enough for me to think he was one of the best in the role that he was assigned. He threw in multi inning appearances through the 1980s and only became a one inning guy when everybody else did.

It clearly is not a committee that considered WAR or other advanced stats. I would think Baines's case was made by his 2866 hits, and having Hall of Famers all around him on the leaderboard. He also had over 900 XBH and only struck out 100 times once. His throwing arm was good for around 10 OF assists per year until he lost it due to injury. I DON'T think Baines is a good selection, but he isn't without merit. Edit-- I was wrong on the reason for Baines leaving RF for DH. He suffered a knee injury that led to chronic problems. It wasn't his arm.

Lee Smith and Harold Baines were selected by the Today's Game committee. Smith had a small amount of buzz, but Baines had none, and now both will join the class of 2019 in Cooperstown.

As someone who celebrated a 30-year wedding anniversary this fall, here is my recommendation on how to handle your situation: Let her eat whatever she wants to eat and quit playing tricks with her food. What difference does it make to you what she eats? Don't tell her the truth that you don't believe her and that you thought it would be a good idea to treat her like a lab animal. If you want to suggest she goes to a nutritionist or an allergist, to see if there are other foods that she might find harmful to her, that's fine. Maybe the severity (or absence) of her gluten intolerance will come up during the doctor prescribed tests.

I don't think it's a lopsided trade at all. Diaz is perhaps the best closer in baseball, Cano is still an above average 2nd baseman who can transition to 1st base in a couple of years. The Mets play in the biggest market in the country. The money issue should not be a concern.

This from the JS: https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/2018/11/28/milwaukee-brewers-take-over-miller-park-shops-cut-prices-add-items/2127203002/ This should be a good thing, as it sounds as though there will be some reduced prices on Brewers merchandise. In the past, it often felt like it required a 2nd mortgage to buy a hooded sweatshirt. Maybe not so much anymore. Though the SSH discount days did offer some price relief. I wonder if they'll continue to offer that discount.

Fans of The Dick Van Dyke Show and actress/comedian Rose Marie might be interested in this auction of some items from her estate: Julienslive.com

You only need to tip once. But I wouldn't add a tip online, and would tip the driver directly instead.

Wisconsin seems to have no shortage of high school players willing to play non-scholarship football in college. Whitewater, LaCrosse, Oshkosh all have over 100 players listed on their rosters. Presumably all of those guys are paying full tuition. I don't know if they pay athletic fees to be on the teams. So, as a way to boost enrollment, it might make sense to have a football program that is ostensibly playing a notch above a club sport. I don't know how much it costs to run a football program. I suspect they do need some fan support, and one thing that's a concern in CFB is a drop in attendance, especially students. Add in the health concerns, the challenge of starting a low level program from scratch, and the willingness of the Green Bay community to turn out, and I think it's pretty unlikely that they'll play. But you never know.

This has to fall on the stadium operations people. The Brewers actually made a formal apology statement today: "We are aware that there was significant congestion on several major routes as people traveled to Miller Park last night, and the process of moving cars into the lots was slower than anticipated. Our goal is to always provide the best fan experience possible and for many fans last night, we did not deliver. There are several factors related to hosting a concert that are different than a baseball game that created challenges. Regardless, we need to do better and we apologize for the inconvenience." Part of my not renewing my ticket package next year is all about this kind of stuff. The traffic in and out of Preferred Parking from the west is frequently terrible, and getting into the stadium (especially when there is a giveaway) is unacceptably slow. Add in the overpriced, inconsistent food and pricey merchandise and it's much less fun than it could be.

The Nieves ball sold for $168. Seems like a bargain.

Very tight leash on Jeffress, please.

I think it's sustainable from a physiology and winning perspective. But only if it is acceptable to players from a financial perspective. None of the Brewers pitchers are being paid at the top of the market, and that's understandable, based on workload. But few will want to come or stay here if more money can be made elsewhere.