2012 MLB Season

[Dexter Morgan]

Adam Dunn will set a new precedent, a 500 home run player not in the Hall. If anyone will do it...it's him

Maybe. I don't see Gary Sheffield ever getting in and he's got 509, nor Frank Thomas with 521. Then there's the steroid poster boys, Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Palmeiro, and Manny. That all depends on how voters eventually view the steroids era.

You're nuts if you think Frank Thomas isn't getting it.

Sheffield has a steroid problem. So that probably keeps him out.

That's probably true since the Hall-of-Fame has become the Hall-of-Pretty-Good and they've lowered their standards. Guess I'd better lower mine when it comes to guessing who'll get in and who won't.

I suspect you never saw him play in his prime.

[mania]

How are Frank Thomas' numbers not HOF worthy?

Being the fifth best player of the 1990s - NOT HOF WORTHY, DUH.

[Dexter Morgan]

Thome didn't become a full-time DH until 2006, when he was 36. And he already had an outstanding resume by this point. And while he was never a Gold Glover, he was much better than Adam Dunn at first base.

Thome played most of his career at first base. Dunn was brought up as a left fielder and only moved to first in Washington after Nick Johnson was (predictably) injured. Yet nobody gave him the benefit of the doubt when he was pretty much forced to learn a new position on the fly in the middle of the season. People just assumed his defensive shortfalls were just an inherent product of being Adam Dunn instead of there being a learning curve in the majors.

Adam Dunn's defense is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. His defense is mediocre but by no means is it horrendous. The way the media spins it, you would think Dunn would have trouble remembering which hand to put his glove on before taking the field.

The fact remains that he has 400 homers and is only 32 years old. Even with a slight decrease in his power numbers, it is very possible for him to reach 600 by age 40. And I can't see how you can keep anyone with 600 homers and not a trace of PED involvement out of Cooperstown.

Do you think Dunn is having a good season? this year

[raysfan24]

I think Big Donkey is a Hall of Famer. I mean he is on pace to hit 600 home runs and the fact that he hasn't juiced at all is amazing. I think Adam Dunn is one of the most feared power hitters of our era. His home runs aren't little 388 foot ones down the left field line either; he hits freakin 450 foot home runs! Just look what he did last week in Toronto! He's a great character too. He was the one that chose to sat out in the All-Star game so the other players could get playing time. Just because he can't play defense worth squat or hit for average doesn't mean he isn't a Hall of Famer. I think Adam Dunn is a sure Hall of Famer if everything plays out as planned.

Thome didn't become a full-time DH until 2006, when he was 36. And he already had an outstanding resume by this point. And while he was never a Gold Glover, he was much better than Adam Dunn at first base.

Thome played most of his career at first base. Dunn was brought up as a left fielder and only moved to first in Washington after Nick Johnson was (predictably) injured. Yet nobody gave him the benefit of the doubt when he was pretty much forced to learn a new position on the fly in the middle of the season. People just assumed his defensive shortfalls were just an inherent product of being Adam Dunn instead of there being a learning curve in the majors.

Adam Dunn's defense is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. His defense is mediocre but by no means is it horrendous. The way the media spins it, you would think Dunn would have trouble remembering which hand to put his glove on before taking the field.

The fact remains that he has 400 homers and is only 32 years old. Even with a slight decrease in his power numbers, it is very possible for him to reach 600 by age 40. And I can't see how you can keep anyone with 600 homers and not a trace of PED involvement out of Cooperstown.

Do you think Dunn is having a good season? this year

I think he is. He hit 11 hone runs last year and he has 35 this year. I think he's having a great season.

[smzimbabwe]

Adam Dunn will set a new precedent, a 500 home run player not in the Hall. If anyone will do it...it's him

Maybe. I don't see Gary Sheffield ever getting in and he's got 509, nor Frank Thomas with 521. Then there's the steroid poster boys, Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Palmeiro, and Manny. That all depends on how voters eventually view the steroids era.

You're nuts if you think Frank Thomas isn't getting it.

Sheffield has a steroid problem. So that probably keeps him out.

That's probably true since the Hall-of-Fame has become the Hall-of-Pretty-Good and they've lowered their standards. Guess I'd better lower mine when it comes to guessing who'll get in and who won't.

I suspect you never saw him play in his prime.

I started watching baseball on a regular basis in 1982 and followed it ever since. Does that count as his prime?

Part of my complaint is that the Hall of Fame has truly been watered down to become the Hall of Pretty Good. Frank Thomas was a pretty good player, I won't deny that. But was he one of the game's all time elites? I don't think so, so in my Hall of Fame, he doesn't get consideration. In Cooperstown he will, because he was pretty good.

Starting with the 2000 class, I feel that only Rickey Henderson, Tony Gwynn, Ozzie Smith, and Carlton Fisk deserved to be in. Maybe Sparky Anderson and Cal Ripken too, haven't decided one way or another on them. The rest of those inducted during that time, they were great players, but they weren't the elite of the game.

Pretty soon the Hall of Fame will start giving out participant ribbons so nobody feels left out.

[Dexter Morgan]

I think Big Donkey is a Hall of Famer. I mean he is on pace to hit 600 home runs and the fact that he hasn't juiced at all is amazing. I think Adam Dunn is one of the most feared power hitters of our era. His home runs aren't little 388 foot ones down the left field line either; he hits freakin 450 foot home runs! Just look what he did last week in Toronto! He's a great character too. He was the one that chose to sat out in the All-Star game so the other players could get playing time. Just because he can't play defense worth squat or hit for average doesn't mean he isn't a Hall of Famer. I think Adam Dunn is a sure Hall of Famer if everything plays out as planned.

Thome didn't become a full-time DH until 2006, when he was 36. And he already had an outstanding resume by this point. And while he was never a Gold Glover, he was much better than Adam Dunn at first base.

Thome played most of his career at first base. Dunn was brought up as a left fielder and only moved to first in Washington after Nick Johnson was (predictably) injured. Yet nobody gave him the benefit of the doubt when he was pretty much forced to learn a new position on the fly in the middle of the season. People just assumed his defensive shortfalls were just an inherent product of being Adam Dunn instead of there being a learning curve in the majors.

Adam Dunn's defense is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. His defense is mediocre but by no means is it horrendous. The way the media spins it, you would think Dunn would have trouble remembering which hand to put his glove on before taking the field.

The fact remains that he has 400 homers and is only 32 years old. Even with a slight decrease in his power numbers, it is very possible for him to reach 600 by age 40. And I can't see how you can keep anyone with 600 homers and not a trace of PED involvement out of Cooperstown.

Do you think Dunn is having a good season? this year

I think he is. He hit 11 hone runs last year and he has 35 this year. I think he's having a great season.

someone hitting barley over .200 is having a great season. lol

[The Six]

Melky Cabrera is too stupid for words. What a waste of time.

[Kramerica Industries]

Adam Dunn will set a new precedent, a 500 home run player not in the Hall. If anyone will do it...it's him

Maybe. I don't see Gary Sheffield ever getting in and he's got 509, nor Frank Thomas with 521. Then there's the steroid poster boys, Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Palmeiro, and Manny. That all depends on how voters eventually view the steroids era.

You're nuts if you think Frank Thomas isn't getting it.

Sheffield has a steroid problem. So that probably keeps him out.

That's probably true since the Hall-of-Fame has become the Hall-of-Pretty-Good and they've lowered their standards. Guess I'd better lower mine when it comes to guessing who'll get in and who won't.

I suspect you never saw him play in his prime.

I started watching baseball on a regular basis in 1982 and followed it ever since. Does that count as his prime?

Part of my complaint is that the Hall of Fame has truly been watered down to become the Hall of Pretty Good. Frank Thomas was a pretty good player, I won't deny that. But was he one of the game's all time elites? I don't think so, so in my Hall of Fame, he doesn't get consideration. In Cooperstown he will, because he was pretty good.

Starting with the 2000 class, I feel that only Rickey Henderson, Tony Gwynn, Ozzie Smith, and Carlton Fisk deserved to be in. Maybe Sparky Anderson and Cal Ripken too, haven't decided one way or another on them. The rest of those inducted during that time, they were great players, but they weren't the elite of the game.

Pretty soon the Hall of Fame will start giving out participant ribbons so nobody feels left out.

You're Hall of Fame would have, like, 50 players in it, by your standards.

Frank Thomas was more than just a "pretty good" player. He was a two time MVP, hit over 500 home runs without being suspected of using PED's, more walks than strike outs, and drove in over 1700 runs.

Is Chipper Jones a Hall of Famer, by your standards?

[pmoehrin]

Melky Cabrera is too stupid for words. What a waste of time.

It just shows you to what ends players will go to to cover up cheating.

He's probably looking at jail time if this is proven true. And I'm not talking about just a few months either. Its bad enough for a doctor to do it, but for somebody with no medical background at all, you could be looking at years in federal prison.

As for the Hall of Fame and it getting easier to get in now versus yesteryear, by my count there are 204 players in the Hall of Fame, not including Negro League players (Satchel Paige, Monte Irvin, Cool Papa Bell, etc.) or Pioneers (George Wright, Alexander Cartwright, Candy Cummings, etc.) I took the first year they came into the league and the final they played in the league and averaged it out to get an idea of what decade they played most of their career in. (For guys like Johnny Evers I ended his career at 1917.)

Its not perfect and a few guys could be considered either decade (is Lou Gehrig 20's or 30's?), but for determining what eras are over/under represented in the Hall I think its sufficient. This is what I got.

1880's 12

1890's 10

1900's 20

1910's 12

1920's 26

1930's 30

1940's 14

1950's 16

1960's 22

1970's 18

1980's 17

1990's 7

[DDR]

I started watching baseball on a regular basis in 1982 and followed it ever since. Does that count as his prime?

Part of my complaint is that the Hall of Fame has truly been watered down to become the Hall of Pretty Good. Frank Thomas was a pretty good player, I won't deny that. But was he one of the game's all time elites? I don't think so, so in my Hall of Fame, he doesn't get consideration. In Cooperstown he will, because he was pretty good.

Rob Neyer thinks Frank Thomas is a Hall of Famer. I think Rob Neyer is smarter than you (about baseball things, at the very least). Therefore, I think Frank Thomas is a Hall of Famer.

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/2364/big-hurt-even-better-than-you-think

[NJTank]

Frank Thomas won two MVP awards, and hit 500 home runs if that is not a Hall of Famer, than I dont know what is.

[Funky Bunky]

I think Big Donkey is a Hall of Famer. I mean he is on pace to hit 600 home runs and the fact that he hasn't juiced at all is amazing. I think Adam Dunn is one of the most feared power hitters of our era. His home runs aren't little 388 foot ones down the left field line either; he hits freakin 450 foot home runs! Just look what he did last week in Toronto! He's a great character too. He was the one that chose to sat out in the All-Star game so the other players could get playing time. Just because he can't play defense worth squat or hit for average doesn't mean he isn't a Hall of Famer. I think Adam Dunn is a sure Hall of Famer if everything plays out as planned.

A career .240 hitter should be not be in the Hall of Fame. He'll probably have an even worse average when he retires, so no, he's not a Hall of Famer. If Dunn wasn't so great at hitting home runs, he probably wouldn't even be playing in the Major Leagues, as he's average or below average in pretty much every other asset of the game. He's slow, can't hit for average very well, and he's an average to below average fielder.

[smzimbabwe]

Adam Dunn will set a new precedent, a 500 home run player not in the Hall. If anyone will do it...it's him

Maybe. I don't see Gary Sheffield ever getting in and he's got 509, nor Frank Thomas with 521. Then there's the steroid poster boys, Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Palmeiro, and Manny. That all depends on how voters eventually view the steroids era.

You're nuts if you think Frank Thomas isn't getting it.

Sheffield has a steroid problem. So that probably keeps him out.

That's probably true since the Hall-of-Fame has become the Hall-of-Pretty-Good and they've lowered their standards. Guess I'd better lower mine when it comes to guessing who'll get in and who won't.

I suspect you never saw him play in his prime.

I started watching baseball on a regular basis in 1982 and followed it ever since. Does that count as his prime?

Part of my complaint is that the Hall of Fame has truly been watered down to become the Hall of Pretty Good. Frank Thomas was a pretty good player, I won't deny that. But was he one of the game's all time elites? I don't think so, so in my Hall of Fame, he doesn't get consideration. In Cooperstown he will, because he was pretty good.

Starting with the 2000 class, I feel that only Rickey Henderson, Tony Gwynn, Ozzie Smith, and Carlton Fisk deserved to be in. Maybe Sparky Anderson and Cal Ripken too, haven't decided one way or another on them. The rest of those inducted during that time, they were great players, but they weren't the elite of the game.

Pretty soon the Hall of Fame will start giving out participant ribbons so nobody feels left out.

You're Hall of Fame would have, like, 50 players in it, by your standards.

Frank Thomas was more than just a "pretty good" player. He was a two time MVP, hit over 500 home runs without being suspected of using PED's, more walks than strike outs, and drove in over 1700 runs.

Is Chipper Jones a Hall of Famer, by your standards?

50 players sounds about right, though I'm not going to go through and list who I think should and should not be in there. I just think the Hall of Fame should be more exclusive than it currently is.

No, Chipper Jones would not make my Hall-of-Fame.

Just curious, but how many of you not living in Chicago went to a baseball game when the White Sox were in town just to see Frank Thomas play?

[Funky Bunky]

Frank Thomas won two MVP awards, and hit 500 home runs if that is not a Hall of Famer, than I dont know what is.

He finished in the top-5 in the MVP voting six times, he should be in the Hall. He has some very impressive numbers, and if he was able to stay healthier, he probably would've made both the 3000 hit and 600 home run clubs.

[Don]

HUGE series between the Nats and Braves to start tomorrow. This is exciting!

[TrueYankee26]

I know I called the Angels a paper tiger last night.

Maybe I was jumping the gun on saying that, seeing what happened tonight. NOW I can safely call them paper tigers.

They have the ability to be good, the 8 runs in the first 3 innings of tonight's game proves it. But the Rays have had some serious rally innings recently. Rays score 10 unanswered to win 10-8. That's 29 runs in 27 innings since being perfected.

C.J. Wilson has been absolutely horrific since the calendar turned to August, but I didn't think for a second that he would be capable of that kind of implosion. His WHIP is over 1.3 right now, which is fairly pedestrian. And as excellent as Weaver's been, sans last night, I've never viewed him as some kind of unhittable ace on a given day. His road numbers are far less impressive than his home numbers.

I picked Anaheim to win the AL West this season. They started slow, but at the start of the month, they were 57-47, only three back of Texas, and playing Texas and surging.

Then they had that disastrous game where they blew a 7-1 lead, then a 10-7 extra innings lead, and lost. And I said

Rangers deal the Angels a sucker-punch-to-the-gut loss, with the kind of win that turns around the fortunes of both teams.

I expect Texas to win tomorrow and to go on a nice run now.

They are 5-12 since that game. They are now 3 games behind Oakland for 2nd place in their own division, and 3.5 behind Baltimore for the 2nd WC spot, and 4.5 behind Tampa Bay for that top spot. The AL West? Eight games back. That's long gone for them.

Their record since they acquired Greinke? 8-14!

How did we continue to heap so much hoopla on that team, first in the off-season and then at the deadline? They have done nothing but underachieve all season long. All the Angels, and their fans, can hope for is that tonight really was rock bottom, and they can only get better from there. Things are spiraling out of control in poor man's Los Angeles.

This isn't the 1st time they sputtered after being called the favorites... Angels got Mark Teixeira in 2008 and were supposed to cruise according to the media, then they get pounded in the ALDS.

Wow... a 19 inning marathon in St. Louis. 4-3 Pirates up right now.

[lordsketor]

And the Pirates win 6-3 in 19-innings.

[raysox]

Well for the most part the team is completely different. They got two of the biggest free agents in baseball, a former cy young winner at the deadline, and two of the best young players in the game.

Rays won 8-3. 37 runs scored in a series is a record for the Rays. They really beat the out of them all year, and will finish 9-1 in the season series.

[Raysfan12]

Well for the most part the team is completely different. They got two of the biggest free agents in baseball, a former cy young winner at the deadline, and two of the best young players in the game.

Rays won 8-3. 37 runs scored in a series is a record for the Rays. They really beat the out of them all year, and will finish 9-1 in the season series.

Maybe it's time for all of the other teams take notes on the Rays success for the last few years.

[Kramerica Industries]

What notes could you possibly be talking about?

An excellent farm, rotation, and magic bullpen potion?

The Rangers have done much of the same, and they have two American League pennants (and two playoff series victories over the Rays) to show for it.