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I don't always hit home runs, but when I do, I prefer they clinch the division.

Doc, you're right, as I detailed in the article, that rule is posted in every clubhouse. One key point though, that rule says nothing about Hall of Fame eligibility. The Hall of Fame is a museum, independent of MLB. Rose, in fact, appeared on the ballot for three years before the Hall changed their eligibility rules, prohibiting banned players from appearing on the ballot. The two decisions were independent of each other, baseball banned Rose for gambling, which I think is 100% justified, and should remain...but the decision to ban Pete from the Hall of Fame Ballot was not made by MLB, it was made by the Hall of Fame. It's their museum, they can do whatever they want with the rules, I just happen to disagree with that one. Ban Pete for life, he earned it, absolutely...but let him back on the Hall of Fame ballot for the voters to decide, just like they do with everyone else. Baseball could be irreparably harmed if Pete was allowed back in, the man is a gambling addict. Baseball would not be harmed if fans walked past a plaque on a wall in a museum.

This thread is devoted to Ryan Braun's greatness. Please share your observations in this regard, whether they be baseball-themed, or related to any of Ryan's other worldly activities. I'll begin with this... Yesterday was the five-year anniversary of Ryan Braun’s first major league game. Since his call-up to the majors…Braun has led the Majors with 1,720 total bases and 395 extra-base hits. He ranks second overall with 537 runs scored, he’s third in slugging percentage, at .566, and fourth in both HR and RBI’s, with 173 home runs and 562 ribbies. Whatever you're good at, Ryan Braun is better...

Derek Jeter has his 3,154th career hit, tying him with George Brett for 15th all-time. Next up, Cal Ripken Jr, who retired with 3,184.

I think the best way to judge a player, by far, is to compare him to the players of his own era. It's not perfect, but it brings their achievements much closer together than just counting home runs, strikeouts, etc. There is no doubt, stats would have been impacted, and some missing players would have been very high on these lists, if not for segregation...which was a complete disgrace. There are plenty of other factors too, though, such as....how many career hits would Ty Cobb or George Sisler have if they had played on astroturf? What affect did expansion have on numbers...there were far fewer major league jobs available years ago. What if Ichiro had played his entire career here, how many hits, steals, runs, etc would he have? Exactly how fast did Walter Johnson throw? How many pitchers have moved up on these lists because they pitched after the invention of "Tommy John surgery?" How many hitters added home runs, hits, etc by playing a few extra years as a DH? What would the DH have done to the stats of the pitchers from prior eras? What if the mound hadn't been lowered? What if everyone had traveled by train? What if there were no teams in the Pacific Time Zone today, as there weren't in years past? What if the fielders of the 1920s had used the same gloves they use now? What if Ted Williams had played in Denver? What if Koufax had pitched 5 more years? There are lots of reasons why any player you want to name may have moved up or down on these lists, "if"....what we know for sure is, what they did, when they did it...the rest is up to the voter to interpret and choose. Personally, I think that's the best part of these things. If you think the guy who ate people alive for 5-10 years was better than the guy who was always good for 15-17 years...vote that way, and tell the world why....if not, vote the other way and speak up. Honestly...how do you or I know how Barry Bonds would have done against Cy Young, or vice versa?

Paul Hornung is in the NFL Hall of Fame, and this is a player who was suspended for a season in the prime of his career.

I think the debate of Pedro vs Blyleven is not at all crazy, I think it is warranted. It's classic...it's the guy with the phenomenal peak in a somewhat shortened career, vs the guy who was consistently good over a much longer period. 3and2...I don't see how anyone could think Pedro's best seasons weren't better than Blyleven's, but if you're voting on a guy's entire contribution, I can see why these two pitchers are right on top of each other, they just got there in very different ways. If you're going to get into this level in 409 career starts (Pedro's career total), you have to have an incredible run...which Pedro had. If you're going to get to this spot without ever being that absolute monster, you have to do it for 15+ years, which Blyleven did. Pedro started at least 30 games in a season a grand total of 7 times...to put up HOF numbers under those conditions is remarkable. Blyleven reached the big leagues at age 19, as a starting pitcher, and he pitched through age 39, making at least 30 starts 16 times - the classic, "always good" guy who lasted a long time and got there. Who had the best 5-8 year run...Pedro, in a landslide...who had the better career as a pitcher....I can see why that's undecided...

I think the updates are fun to watch. Right now, Bert Blyleven and Pedro Martinez are tied, while Phil Niekro, Steve Carlton, and Gaylord Perry are within two pts of each other.

The thing is, they've got people in there who have done all sorts of things - and, "never suffer any consequences"...the man can never work in baseball again. As someone else mentioned, Mays and Mantle were banned from the game in the 70s because they had taken jobs as greeters in a casino...should they have been removed from the Hall of Fame because they were banned? There were very serious allegations that Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker had thrown games for money when they played...I haven't seen those plaques come off the wall. August 25, 1980, Fergie Jenkins is banned by Commissioner Kuhn, following an arrest for cocaine possession...September 22, 1980, he was reinstated by an independent arbitrator...he is in the Hall of Fame. In 1976, Orlando Cepeda was convicted of smuggling marijuana into Puerto Rico...he is in the Hall of Fame. I see this as two separate issues...I think Rose should absolutely be banned from working in baseball again...but the Hall of Fame is a museum, not a court of law. It's there for the fans, to celebrate the game of baseball. The rule was changed after Pete's lifetime ban - for decades - a banned player was still eligible for election...which I think should still be the case. Honestly now, by this rule, Mays and Mantle would have been disqualified from the Hall of Fame for several years...have you noticed how that didn't happen? Can you imagine the uproar if it had? Why change the voting rules? Keep Pete out of the game, but let him back on the ballot...if he never gets the votes, so be it. What's wrong with a plaque that says, "4,256 hits, etc, etc,...Banned for Life from Baseball, 1989."

Pete Rose, yes, or Pete Rose, no...here are the facts... http://www.baseballintheblood.com/?p=481

Roenicke says it may be Parra...

https://twitter.com/#!/DrewOlsonMKE

[sarcasm]"We'll take the racists, the spitballers and the drunks, but the rest of you guys better have good character..."[/sarcasm] I love the Hall of Fame, and the debates that come with it, but sometimes I think this museum takes itself a little too seriously. I don't blame anyone who chooses not to vote for a steroid guy, but I think in time, you'll see a lot of these guys voted in.

I'll bet on Biggio going in this year, based on the 3,000 hits, and I'll go with Piazza as well. I doubt they'll put Bonds, Clemens or Sosa in this year, even though I think it would be better for baseball if they just voted them in and moved on. The longer these otherwise obvious candidates are kept out based on steroid suspicion, the longer it will be debated, which just draws more negative attention. It's probably time to just read the numbers and vote...these guys were allowed to play, and the numbers all counted in major league games. You can't divorce one group of numbers from the others, you can't remove Bonds' stats, and Palmeiro's, etc, without somehow adjusting the stats of the pitchers they faced, for instance. "We think Bonds would have hit 517 home runs without steroids", so adjust him down, which means adjust opposing pitchers to better numbers too...."Except, wait, we think these seven pitchers over here probably cheated too, so don't adjust theirs." That's impossible.

In case you hadn't noticed, there's a current shortage of middle infielders out there... http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120522&content_id=31976794&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb&tcid=tw_article_31976794

Bonds, Clemens, Sosa...the stars of the 90s are now hitting the ballot in waves...this is going to lead to some wild vote totals. Not counting holdovers, I think there are at least six viable candidates for election based on purely stats...but of course, these votes WON'T BE purely on stats. http://www.baseballintheblood.com/?p=472

There was another attack at Dodger Stadium. http://www.fansagainstviolence.org/fan-violence/incident-after-dodgers-game-highlights-need-for-fans-to-make-a-difference-in-eliminating-violence-at-sporting-events/

3and2, I don't seen any way possible to rank Paige highly on an all-time pitchers list...it's not fair, and I hate it, but the facts are, Satchel only got in 476 IP in the big leagues. There's just no way he's ever going to show up on a list like this, he just didn't get in enough time to qualify. You can't "what if" a guy into a high position on a list where voters are given major league stats and asked to pick. He's not the only one, there were plenty of Negro League stars who would have done very well if they'd been allowed into the big leagues, and for that matter, the stats of the guys who did play in the big leagues before integration would have been different too, if the best black players had been on the field with them.

Berkman's MRI showed it's NOT his ACL, it is a meniscus tear. Right now, they're saying he's out 6-89 weeks, but they also said they won't know for sure how much damage there is until his surgery is performed.

Here's the pitchers page...again, as voted by the readers of Baseball-Reference.com. Fair warning, closers do not stack up well against starters... http://www.baseballintheblood.com/?page_id=451

This week's winner...Johnny Dickshot! I'll be adding one lucky winner each week, feel free to make suggestions... http://www.baseballintheblood.com/?page_id=303

My wife and I were at the game today, and there were plenty of Twins fans around us, as well as Brewers fans. The guy sitting right behind me was grumbling constantly about the Brewers, like he was taunting them. One guy at a time, it was, "You call that a swing?!" "Aramis Ramirez, that was money well spent!" "Rickie Weeks, you can't tell me some of these guys in the stands today couldn't hit .160!" He wasn't profane or anything, but everyone around us was starting to whisper about the loud mouth jerk sitting behind us. I thought I'd throw a glance his way, just to see if he was drunk or what, so I whispered to my wife, "I'm going to get a look at that jerky Twins fan behind us." I turned around, and the guy was a Brewers fan! That cracked me up. Trust me, if you had heard him, without ever seeing him, you'd have been convinced there was a loud, pushy Twins fan sitting there ripping the home team. Nope!

Wow, rough crowd...

Speaker momentarily takes #10 back from Mantle...whoa folks, we've got a real barnburner today...

I didn't invent Facebook...