A Pair of Geese

by RJ Anderson on Jan 8, 2008 6:45 PM EST in Positional Reviews

Rich "Goose" Gossage finally got his, and the only call to the Hall of Fame today, but to much dismay Bert Blyleven did not - falling 12% shy. Not too long ago Marc Normandin did a great post on the so called Ray Lankford Wing of the Hall, listing Gossage and Blyleven amongst the top of their respective positions.

Gossage, 56, compiled a 124-107 record with a 3.01 earned run average and 310 saves in 1,002 games for nine clubs with his best seasons coming with the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees and San Diego Padres. The hard-throwing righthander led the American League in saves three times, twice won the Sporting News' AL Fireman of the Year Award and was selected to nine All-Star teams.

For more on Gossage and the other voting results visit the HOF's official site. Obviously some of the notable misses include Mark McGwire, Lee Smith, and of course Travis Fryman!

One more thing, this from the St. Louis Dispatch, via Deadspin:, Scott Boras on Rick Ankiel

"You have a player whose contributions came first as a pitcher, then as a position player," the agent said. "The last player you're really talking about is Babe Ruth."

Boras says "contributions", and thus fair Ankiel has done well as a hitter, and was okay as a pitcher - prior his meltdown and injuries - but come on, just look at Brooks Kieschnick's career ERA+ and OPS+ compared to Ankiel's thus far. Make no mistake Ankiel is and will be a better player than Kieschnick, but Ankiel is hardly the only player to contribute both ways and do so around league average, here's a look at Kieschnick's career OPS+ and ERA+ compared to Ankiel's.

Ankiel 118 ERA+ 93 OPS+
Kieschnick 94 ERA+ 93 OPS+

Note that Kieschnick did both - serve as a relief pitcher and a pinch hitter - during the latter years of his career, Ankiel is an outfielder only now.

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i think you are missing the real issue. Arbitration is supposed to be about what a player is going to be worth in the following year. Unless Ankiel is all of the sudden going to rediscover how to throw a baseball, his contributions in 2008 will only be from the plate. His contributions as a pitcher several years ago should not have any bearing on his arbitration case.

Scott Boras is truly delusional at times. Kinda like how he tried to sell ARod (the first time) as the "Quarterback" of a baseball team. Ignoring the fact that a quarterback is directly involved in every single offensive play, where as a shortstop is directly involved in 4-5 offensive plays.

The Revolution will begin soon...

by Devil Ray Guevara on Jan 8, 2008 8:46 PM EST reply actions