22 thoughts on “Half-Baked Hall: 2003”

1. Cone has a credible if borderline case.
   I'm only voting for Rickey.

   1. Yup.

   2. Same.

      I will only be returning to this thread for awesome Rickey stories.

      1. I was at a Twins game in the early 90's against the A's. We were near left field. My dad's friend got up and yelled, "Hey Rickey, you're a f'ing a**hole!" Rickey turned to him and gave him the finger.

         At the time I was like boo Rickey. Now I'm on team Rickey. My dad's friend is kind of a jerk.

      2. One time David Cone stole 130 bases in a season.

         1. That seems pretty impressive, actually. Might have to rethink this.

         2. Most of them were against the Twins; he gets a "no!" from me

         3. One time Rickey saw David Cone join a team midseason and the win three World Series. Rickey thought that was interesting, so he joined the same team midseason the next year. They also win the World Series. There was a guy on that team who always wore a helmet. A few years later, Rickey joined another team midseason that came up just short of going to the World Series. Rickey thinks David Cone used to be on that team, too. They also had a guy who always wore a helmet.

2. Caveat - not a Rickey story. He was amazing, but I detested the A’s.
   Growing up, I always liked the Giants and specifically looked for Will Clark & Matt Williams cards. I knew people thought Clark was a jerk, but I felt towards him like I later felt towards Anthony John - he was ‘our’ jerk. But ... I digress. Williams at the hot corner was fun to hear about, but following a West Coast National League team in the early 90’s was tough. I just really liked the unis, Mays history and Candlestick “culture”. If I’m being honest, it probably wasn’t until he was coaching the Nats (& terminated a year after winning Manager of the Year) that I thought to revisit my affinity for those pre-Bonds Gigantes.

   1. I rooted for Williams as a kid, mainly because I so badly wanted someone to break Maris's record. I was also a McGwire fan from 1987 on for the same reason. Loved me some dingers. Williams not getting a chance at Maris was one of my biggest beefs with the strike

      1. Good lord, Knobby had 45 doubles already in '94

         1. Yeah, I didn't care about doubles, because I didn't know about his chase until a few years ago

   2. I catered an event in Florida that Will Clark was at in 1990, or 1991. Everyone said he was a jerk. Of course, most 27 year old millionaires can be that way.

      Regarding Ricky. I just remember being at a few Twins games in which Ricky played and everyone in the left field bleachers was jeering him all game. Personally, I loved watching him play. I miss the league having guys like him and Tim Raines stealing bases at will.

      1. I miss that, too. I understand the stats about the running game, and I don't dispute them. But it was an exciting brand of baseball, and it was a lot of fun to watch.

         1. Co-sign

            1. Agreed. That's why I was so disappointed in Billy Hamilton's ability to hit his weight.

               1. I wonder how much pushback is brewing against the TTO-style of play because of its slow pace & poor aesthetics. We all understand it’s efficiency within the current environment, but I don’t get the sense that there’s a lot of love for it.

                  Considering how the home run has “saved” baseball more than once, it’s interesting how thoroughly MLB has inflated its frequency and thus diluted some or much of what made it special. I won’t go quite so far as to say MLB has mediocritized home runs, but if everyone is an above-average power hitter, then something about the game seems unhealthy to me.

                  There’s a lot MLB could be doing to change the environment of the game to shift to more exciting, fast-paced play. Limiting mound visits, imposing minimum batters faced, pitch clocks, and other Manfred policies might be well-intentioned, but I don’t think they begin to address the root of the problem. De-juicing the ball might help shift the game, but doing that while a postseason was in contest was galling.

                  1. I would say how awful it is that Manfred makes me long for the Selig days, but, ugh, I hate both equally so I don't long for it.

                     But to the running game point, I desperately want Buxton to be able to stay healthy so he can be the mega-souped up version of Hamilton that he is.

                     Also, I can't come to any other conclusion about the juiced balls other than it was all done to try to benefit the Yankees. Like, Manfred might have changed them at, say, the all-star break, but kept them juiced to try to let the Yankees catch and pass the Twins, then had them de-juiced in the playoffs because the Yankees play in that embarrassing band box,

                     1. I keep wanting a team with little to lose to build a Pennant Porch like Charlie Finley did at KC Municipal Stadium, just to drive home how obsequious the waiver for the inauthentic the Bandbronx is. It’s like Ford getting waivers from the NHTSA to sell exact replicas of a ‘55 F100 or ‘78 Bronco, but then filling them with modern drivetrain, HVAC, & infotainment, while every other manufacturer gets told their new vehicles must meet all modern safety standards and are mandatory hybrids.

3. One of my favorite Ricky Henderson stories is once the Twins were playing at Oakland and the Twins score 10 runs in the first inning. I think runs 8-10 were on a 3-run HR by Kirby Puckett*. The HR was a no doubter and Ricky just stood in left field and didn't move a muscle, didn't look up, etc as the ball soared over his head into the stands. He just stood there like he has ready for a pitch to be delivered. He was taken out of the game after that half inning by the manager.

   * My memory may be shaky. The twins did have a 10-0 lead on A's, but it may not have all been in the first inning. Puckett did hit the HR and Ricky acted as described above. But it may not have been runs 8-10. Maybe this afternoon I'll search Baseball Reference and see if I can find that game.

   1. Pretty good memory. It was the fourth and a two-run home run for runs nine and ten. RIckey didn't make it another pitch.

      1. I was just coming to post the same thing. Yup, looks like he got changed out with the pitching change.

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