Look at the top ten-twenty players listed at each position. Which is the most likable group of...

Look at the top ten-twenty players listed at each position. Which is the most likable group of guys? The third basemen, I think. Four of them are famous for being nice people (Robinson, Mathews, Molitor, Hack), as were Pie Traynor and Buddy Bell, and the others are all OK, not a real asshole among them. Well, Graig Nettles could be a jerk sometimes.... The left fielders are the worst of the bunch; in the top thirty you've got Ted Williams, Rickey Henderson, Joe Jackson, Goose Goslin, Jim Rice, Jesse Burkett, Joe Medwick, Ralph Kiner, and Albert Belle. Boy, there's a family re-union you can leave me out of...

--Bill James, The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, 542-543.

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over 3 years ago Matt Klaassen 15 comments 0 recs |

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Shoeless Joe takes a hit (by inclusion)

And deservedly so. I hate it when people act like he was just a victim of circumstance. He agreed to throw the series. He took the money. He admitted both of these things. The fact that he might have double crossed the people he conspired with and actually played well doesn’t make him an ok guy. He was a cheat and a crook. His ban should never, ever be lifted.

This is just my opinion. I could easily be wrong.

by Scott McKinney on Sep 27, 2008 12:01 AM EDT reply actions

Don't hold back

Tell us how you really feel about it.

Sometimes you just gotta roll the potato.

by CentralChamps2009 on Sep 27, 2008 1:48 AM EDT up reply actions

How do you feel about

Buck Weaver?

Sarcasm™. It's the new gravy.

by jonfmorse on Sep 27, 2008 9:22 AM EDT up reply actions

Can someone explain to me the deal?

I know the general story, but everything I read on the internet makes it sound like his confession was borderline coerced, etc., and he always defined it later, and the other guys later said he didn’t actually take the money and they only said he was in on it. Any definite stuff?

Given that pretty much the only stories I’ve ever read about him relate to the 1919 series, I wonder what the stories are that made James put him on the “jerk” list.

OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG

by Matt Klaassen on Sep 27, 2008 12:26 PM EDT up reply actions

James seems to feel Jackson was the worst of the lot

because not only did he conspire to cheat, then he went and backstabbed the guys he was cheating for. Double-whammy.

Sarcasm™. It's the new gravy.

by jonfmorse on Sep 27, 2008 2:31 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah

that’s easier to understand than trying to figure out if the triples were his fault or not 80+ years later.

James is quite the contrarian. He would be a God around here if he was 30 years younger.

OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG

by Matt Klaassen on Sep 27, 2008 2:49 PM EDT up reply actions

or a Satan, you never know.

OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG

by Matt Klaassen on Sep 27, 2008 2:49 PM EDT up reply actions

The Longevity Of

Red Sox’s LF’ers has been truly remarkable. Starting with Williams, they went almost seamlessly to Yaz, Greenwell and Manny. Bay could be poised to add another decade to the Green Monster Patrol, giving us essentially 5 LF’ers in Fenway in almost 80 years.

I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.

by philofthenorth on Sep 27, 2008 1:10 AM EDT reply actions