How to use Tim Wakefield

There are many great ways to use Tim Wakefield. The Red Sox have been lucky to have him all these years.

Here's one new way that just occurred to me (apologies to anyone else who has already suggested this). Have him pitch to the first 9 batters only, and do this every two or three games. Then bring in the normal starter in relief. This could be a great way to throw off every hitter's timing and swing for the rest of the game.

Baseball and Race

Gary Sheffield's recent statements that MLB prefers Latin players over black players because Latinos are easier to "control" strikes me as absurd and downright silly. But it got me thinking about the various recent concern about the decline in the number of black players. I looked up the statistics, and here's what I see:


1991
White 68%
African-American 18%
Latino 14%

2006
White 59.5%
African-American 8.4%
Latino 29.4%
Asian 2.4%
Other 0.3%

Basically, there's a big drop in black and white players and a big rise in Latino players. (The number of black players does seem to have declined at a higher rate, though.) What, if anything, should be taken from this? There are certainly plenty of innocent explanations, such as MLB realizing there were many talented and Latino players out there and paying more attention to them; or Latinos now having a stronger interest in basesball than other groups. I'm not sure there is really much reason for concern based solely on these baseball statistics, though. If the decline in black participation were seen across all sports, I might be worried. But that doesn't seem to be the case.

Schilling for the Hall of Fame!

Curt Schilling just announced he'll stick around through 2008, which is a reminder that he won't be around forever. With that in mind, let me state right now that, in my view, Schilling should be in the Hall of Fame some day. His numbers won't necessarily support it, although they are close. But when it came time for a big playoff performance, this guy delivered three times: 1993 with Philly, 2001 with Arizona, and 2004 with Boston. To me, that puts him over the edge.

He may not get in on the first ballot (although it could be close). But by the second or third ballot, I think he should (and will) be in.

UPDATE: His wife wants him in, but he is skeptical:

Shonda Schilling said Wednesday she's pushing her husband to keep playing because she wants their children, particularly the youngest, who is 4, to have memories of seeing their father pitch. She also wanted him to have a chance to boost his bid for the Hall of Fame.

"He will tell you right away that he won't make the Hall of Fame, but I just felt in my heart, just give it a couple more years," she said.

McGwire in the Hall?

From the AP:

While the door to Cooperstown swung open for Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn on uesday, McGwire was denied baseball's highest honor, picked by less than a quarter of voters. ... The result that raises doubts about whether Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa or other sluggers from baseball's Steroids Era will ever gain entry.

I think feelings will soften over time for most of these guys, and they'll eventually get in. But I think it would help them a lot to admit it and apologize. Right now, we know (with reasonable certainty) they did it and that they are lying about it. It would be better for them to get rid of the lying part.

Money MLB

Two thoughts about money and Major League Baseball.

First, it is being reported that:

Among the teams with the 10 highest averages, only San Francisco ($3.8 million) had a losing record (76-85). Among clubs with the 12 lowest averages, the only one with a winning record was Toronto (87-75).

Based on this, can there really be any doubt that unequal payrolls among teams undermines the competitive balance of baseball? On average, money buys wins. It's that simple. So, as long as money is not balanced roughly equally among the teams, there will be some teams with a much better chance to win than some other teams.

The second thought is, how do we fix this? Revenue sharing helps. But I think what would also be good is to eliminate some of the inefficiences in the current system. For instance, the Yankees and Mets have a huge advantage because they are in the New York market. There are two teams sharing a market that is far more than twice as big as many other markets. I say add one or two more New York teams to the mix (not to mention Boston and other cities). If New York could sustain three teams long ago, they should certainly be able to do it now. And if MLB won't let this happen (which presumably they won't), then somebody should start a competing league. Perhaps the USLB?

J.D. Drew to the Red Sox

The Red Sox are paying $70 million over 5 years to J.D. Drew? That seems like a bit much for a guy who has never played more than 146 games in a year and probably won't do much for team chemistry. I suppose they liked his on-base-percentage, though.

Pujols Needs to Tone it Down

Albert Pujols is one of my favorites. He's the best hitter in the game today, and could be one of the all-time greats. But this is not how players should be talking:

Albert Pujols thinks he was snubbed.

The St. Louis Cardinals' slugger is upset he lost out to Philadelphia's Ryan Howard for the National League MVP award, saying Wednesday the honor should go to someone on a playoff team.

"I see it this way: Someone who doesn't take his team to the playoffs doesn't deserve to win the MVP," Pujols said in Spanish at a news conference organized by the Dominican Republic's sports ministry.

...

Pujols, the 2005 NL MVP, said he has bigger dreams -- a spot in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. The BBWAA also votes for the Hall of Fame.

"It is still early but it is a dream I have," Pujols said. "My hope is that in good time I will have sufficient numbers to get to Cooperstown."

First, there's no need to whine about losing to Ryan Howard. Pujols makes a valid point (although I disagree with him on it), but while it's fine to say that kind of thing to your friends in private, he should keep it out of the media. Phillies fans are going to let him hear it when he plays in Philly next year.

Second, don't talk about how your goal is to be in the Hall of Fame. We know it is, but you don't say that to everybody. It's a bit unseemly. Just say you're going to play your best and see what happens.

UPDATE: Pujols seems to have apologized:

"I feel so bad because I love Ryan Howard," Pujols told USA TODAY. "I never said he didn't deserve the MVP. He is deserving of that award. He earned it. That's why he got it. I'm not trying to defend myself; I just want to tell him that I'm sorry for all of this because he earned the MVP. The last thing I want to do is spoil this for him."

I'm not quite sure how this reconciles with his earlier statements, but it's good to hear.

Baseball Hall of Fame

McGwire, Gwynn and Ripken are on this year's Hall of Fame ballot. I think Ripken should be a nearly unanimous choice, Gwynn should get in with a bit of room to spare, but McGwire needs to wait a year as punishment.

Ryan Howard over Albert Pujols for MVP

Howard over Pujols for MVP was a tough call, but I'll go along with the decision. I watched a lot of the Phillies games in the stretch run, and opposing teams were terrified of Howard. I don't know how many intentional walks he got, but it was a lot.

It seems to me there is an unstated bias against previous award winners (MVP and Cy Young). To repeat, you can't just do what you did last year -- you have to do better. (Unless there is no one close to you). I think Greg Maddux lost a Cy Young because of that, and it probably hurt Pujols here.