Thursday, December 20, 2012

 

Rivera mentioned in discussion of Hall of Fame status of late inning reliever on 2013 Hall of Fame ballot

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12/19/12, "My 2013 Hall of Fame ballot," NY Post, Ken Davidoff

"This marks my seventh year as a Hall of Fame voter, and I’d rank this ballot as my most fun. Not heart-wrenching. Not sleep-losing. Not difficult. Fun....I post my ballot annually, but this is my first since I joined The Post. I like to discuss every player on the ballot. Mostly to explain my thinking all the way through, but also to pay tribute to all of these players. Remember, it’s an accomplishment in itself just to make the ballot....

Lee Smith

Ah, the closer conversation.

It’s not as hard to find a closer as you think. As Tom Verducci wrote here, in the past 10 seasons, 91 different pitchers have recorded 25 or more saves in a season. That’s why closers don’t score well at all in value equations like WAR and JAWS.

The obvious exception is Mariano Rivera, because he has been so elite for so long.

Smith pitched long enough to collect 478 saves.

But he’s no Rivera. No one is. 

Smith is a No."...

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Mariano has said Edgar Martinez was the toughest batter he's faced. Mr. Davidoff votes yes for Edgar in the Hall of Fame:

"Edgar Martinez

This is his fourth year on the ballot, and it’s the fourth time he’s a Yes for me. Martinez was such a good offensive player, putting together a .933 OPS and 147 OPS+ over 18 seasons, that he overcomes the visceral and statistical bias against him being primarily a designated hitter."...via BTF

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Ed. note: Please excuse unpleasant white background behind most of this post. It was illegally put there by my longtime hacker who has a big problem with free speech and no fear of going to jail.





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