More Signings

Chris Grimes will remain the Saving Ute, resigning for 4 years and 50 million.  Troy Lewis, despite a strong push from the Jawa-friendly Green Day Dukes, choose to sign with Big Cheese and the world champion Denver Rabbits.  Lewis will make 60 million over 5 years.

Three catchers sign, with Wiki Diaz going to Green Day for 2 years and 10 million, Ray Brooks to Charlotte for 2/14, and Willie Gomez to Louisville for 2/10.  Mike Hoffman signs with the NY Knights for 5 years and 55 million, and the Knights also bring back 43 year old Stuart Johnson for a season and 10 million dollars.

2 Aces sign

The Miami Stars have reached an agreement on a 6 year, 120 million dollar contract with Jared DeMario.

Baltimore was a strong contender for DeMario, but after falling short they were able to sign Chris Johnson for 7 years and 126 million.

Signings 1-26-2013

George Rivera heads to LA, joining the Shockers for 5 years and 65 million.  He will likely play center and left field for the team, center when Paul Riley is in the lineup, and left when Damon Lewis is in.

Charlie Howard resigns with Utah for 2 years and 20 million.  He's a perfect fit in Battletrap's bases-loaded offense.  Anakin Solo, coming off the best season of his career at age 37, will stay in Charlotte for 2 years and 30 million. 

John Hafner goes to Orlando for 6 years, 102 million.   Paul White goes to Phoenix for 4 years and 66 million.  He'll play first this year, but is likely to finish his career there as a designated hitter.

Mars signs defensive specialist Rafael Jimenez for 2 years, 14 million.  Mike Solar joins Green Day for 2 years, 19 million.

And in the biggest move of the day, Justin Zoolander is heading to Portland for 7 years and 161 million.  This is believed to be the second largest deal ever given to a pitcher, after Pedro Lewis's 10 year, 210 million dollar deal in New York.  While he will not make as much as Suzuke Mazdahonda per season, it is more guaranteed money, and also a million more than Don Law's famous contract.  The stage was set for this deal last week, as Portland traded away Zoolander's rival, Hansel Wilson.  The Decepticons are gambling that Zoolander, 8-15 last year, can learn how to use his otherworldly stuff to win games while pitching after Roger Lewis and throwing to George Kird.

Draft Round 4

Pick	Team	Pos	Player
1	Green Day	P	Broussard, Jim
2	Chicago	OF	Frost, Jack
3	Detroit	SS	Devone, Jeff
4	Alaska	3B	Calderon, Scott
5	Hollywood	OF	Malone, Rob
6	Mars	P	Estevez, Michael
7	Florida	P	Hedden, Mark
8	Springfield	P	Muranaka, Hiroki
9	Boston	C	Grasmick, Stephen
10	Las Vegas	P	Corballos, Miguel
11	Louisville	OF	Durant, Charlie
12	Phoenix	P	Garcia, Brian
13	Hawaii	P	Lezama, Danny
14	Miami	P	Loredo, William
15	St Louis	P	Rivera, Matt
16	Toronto	OF	Polvado, Stephen
17	Portland	OF	Rodriguez, Brandon
18	Toledo	3B	Garcia, Pat
19	Texas	P	Alexander, Cody
20	Cleveland	P	Bowen, Greg
21	Bay Area	OF	Shannon, Warren
22	Orlando	P	Fisher, Jacob
23	Charlotte	P	Latmore, James
24	Denver	P	Seale, Michael
25	Utah	P	Thorpe, Doug
26	Philadelphia	P	Chapel, William
27	Baltimore	P	Ledezma, Ken
28	Los Angeles	SS	Barber, Adam
29	NY Knights	P	Warren, Eric
30	NY Cobra	OF	Figueroa, Thomas

Draft Round 3

Pick	Team	Pos	Player
1	Green Day	2B	Radziewski, Dale
2	Chicago	C	Santarini, Scott
3	Detroit	OF	Santana, James
4	Alaska	SS	Serrano, Felix
5	Hollywood	OF	Ramirez, Marcos
6	Mars	P	Bell, Lance
7	Florida	3B	Lawrence, Ryan
8	Springfield	3B	Santana, Fernando
9	LV (from BOS)	OF	Kramer, Zachary
10	Las Vegas	OF	Madden, Scott
11	Louisville	P	Cook, David
12	Phoenix	P	Steverson, Brad
13	Boston (from Hawaii)	P	Breslow, William
14	Miami	P	Glenn, Larry
15	St Louis	3B	Sullivan, Robert
16	Toronto	1B	Dozier, Maurice
17	Portland	P	Escobar, Ramon
18	Toledo	P	Gonzalez, Maxwell
19	Texas	C	Russell, Jason
20	Cleveland	OF	Baez, Luis
21	Bay Area	P	Colon, Juan
22	Orlando	P	Devlin, Joshua
23	Charlotte	P	Garcia, Gerrit
24	Denver	P	Guerrero, Trevor
25	Utah	P	Wilson, Jake
26	Philadelphia	SS	Martinez, Jesse
27	Baltimore	P	Chandler, Scott
28	Los Angeles	P	Mitchell, Troy
29	NY Knights	P	Hastings, Peter
30	NY Cobra	P	Rojas, Gary

Transactions of the week

Two of the bigger free agents have signed.

Jack Collins heads to Toronto for 6 years and 138 million.  Alex Williams goes to Boston for 8 years and 168 million.  It's a good winter for people who can play third base.

Portland trades Hansel Wilson and Delvis Winchester to Bay Area for Brad LaRatta.  Bay Area then trades Wilson to Detroit for Chris Mendez and Ryan Justice.  Bay Area needed pitching depth, and was able to spin Brad LaRatta, a guy who may not have had a starting spot in their outfield, for 3 young arms.

Miami trades Kevin Ribaudo (#1 draft pick), Rich Almanzar, and Jim Payton to Portland for Jesse Paulino, Roman Matos, Peter Rabbit, and a player to be named later.

Hall of Fame Inducts Four

Leading the class of 2013 with 87.5% of the vote is Mahatma Russell, the greatest third baseman in league history.

Reaching 75% are a pair of left handed aces who just cleared the 250 win level, David Lefevre and Stuart Coppolla.

And in a shocking turn of events, the one time write in campaign of Drummond Peltier has achieved immortality, also with 75%. Sadly, Drummond passed away last week. His speech will be made by his only surviving adopted son, former outfielder Chili Willis.

Missing induction by only one vote, Jake Decker and Bob Zygyk will try again next year. Leon Wolf, John Conner, Vern Terrell, and Sammy Swopa also received enough support to stick on the ballot.

Drummond Peltier

You've seen the names. These guys only need one name to clue you in to who they are. Conan. Holmes. Langford. Grayson. Zygyk. Pudge. Drummond.

What's that you say? Who? Drummond? Drummond. That's right Drummond. You know the stats. You know the records. What you may not know is the story. After some investigative reporting, Kenny was able to do what Kenny do. Kenny was able to find out the rest of the story. The story of Mr. Drummond Peltier...

Drummond was a tall kid with a killer fastball. Growing up in a wealthy family and practically raised by his housekeeper, he threw harder than anyone at his boarding school. After an amazing little league career where he went 47-0 (completing every game he pitched) he lit up the Jr High circuit going 33-0 in 3 seasons where, yep you guessed it, he completed every game. Drummond then pitched for the famed North Rockland High School team in the early 90s leading them to 3 consecutive Class A state championships. This time he went 52-0 over three seasons with, you guessed it, 52 complete games. North Rockland remains the only Class A team in New York state history to win 3 consecutive state championships.

After being the most successful high school pitcher in state history, Drummond went to LSU and along with Todd Walker, led the Tigers to their 2nd National Championship in 1993 going 7-0 (with 7 complete games) as a red shirt freshman. What about the rest of his college career? Drummond played through his full elligibility and led the Tigers to two more National Championships! When all was said and done he ended his career at LSU a remarkable 74-0 with 74 complete games and 3 National Championships. This is also where he got his nickname..."Mr. Drummond"

Perhaps equally amazing in this story was that Mr. Drummond was raising his daughter, Kimberly, as a single parent throughout his pitching dominance. Once he was drafted by the Chicago Winds he was called up and pitched his first and only game of his career where he won in the only way he knew how...by pitching a complete game. During his rookie season however, his beloved houskeeper Lucy took ill and passed away. Her death-bed wish was that Mr. Drummond would take care of her two sons, Willis and Arnold. In the end Mr. Drummond did what he had to do. He moved back to New York, leaving baseball behind, and became a single parent of 3 wonderful children.

Now Kenny ain't the sentimental type. Kenny don't be shedding no tears for no one. But one thing Kenny knows...Mr. Drummond is a saint. Probably the most dominant pitcher of his generation, he belongs in the Hall of Fame. There are all types of players in the Hall and remember, it takes Differn't Strokes to move the world. (rumor has it he has been recruited by King Lewis to pitch for his beer league softball team this season)

UPDATED 2013

Here is a picture showing how great an athlete Drummond was.  He was also a heavily recruited QB.

Kenny is sad to announce the passing of Mr. Drummond.  A great pitcher, father, and generous man who will be missed.  God Bless you Drummond Peltier.  You were one of the greats deserving of recognition of the highest honor in the ABPA Hall of Fame!  

2013 HOF Candidates

The 2013 Hall of Fame Candidates have been announced.

New to the ballot is third baseman Mahatma Russell.  He began his career as a singles hitting defensive specialist, but developed power as he matured.  In 1995 he hit .331 with 28 homers and 100 RBI, winning the MVP award.  He repeated as MVP with even better numbers, a .337 average, 27 homers, and a .447 OBP in the strike shortened 1996 season.  On defense, he won 8 gold gloves.  Mahatma returned to Denver in 2010 for his 21st season, and passed the 3000 hit mark.  Russell is the greatest third baseman to ever play in APBA, holding position records for homeruns (439), RBI (1713), hits (3006), walks (1570), runs (1670), doubles (606) and gold gloves (8).

Sammy Swopa hit 445 homeruns, including 6 seasons of 40 or more.  In 1999 he became one of 6 players to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in a season.  In 2003 Sammy hit 49 homers, drove in 147 runs, and won the Superior League MVP award.  A fine defender, Sammy won 4 gold glove awards.  Sammy did not have a long career, fading in his 30's and retiring at age 35.

Bob Zygyk and Leon Wolf had great years with the Utes, and for other teams after 1998.  Zygyk played in a record 10 world series.  In 1997 Zygyk led the league in batting (.354) and RBI (123).  A platoon player in his years with Utah, Wolf hit as high as .382 in limited playing time.  Given a chance to play every day later in his career, Wolf won back to back batting titles at ages 33 and 34 with averages of .357 and .344.  In 2007, Leon won another batting title at age 39 (.322).

John Conner had 2875 hits, and had his best season in 2001 (.314-34-132) as Springfield won their only world series.  Vern Terrell also played for that team, hitting 30 homers and driving in 120, on the way to 408 career homers.

Hal Tobin caught for 18 seasons and was regarded as a fine defensive catcher.  He won a gold glove and hit 238 homers, including 29 in 1999.

David Lefevre won 19 games 4 times in his career, and 252 overall.  He is a 4 time winner of the Cy Young award.  His Cy seasons were 1995 (15-4, 1.58), 1999 (17-8, 3.01, 239 strikeouts), 2002 (19-7, 3.27), and 2006 (19-8, 3.40).  He pitched his entire career for the Miami Stars.

Stuart Coppolla has almost identical career record to Lefevre (250-162).  He won 20 games in 1995, and 19 3 other times.  He won the 2004 Cy Young award (19-4, 2.65) and has 3 world series rings.

Jake Decker and Randy Wagner rank 5th and 6th on the all time saves list. As a rookie Decker pitched 138 innings and struck out 158, numbers that will likely never be seen again by a reliever.  He saved 35 games and posted a 2.09 ERA.  Wagner saved 51 games for the 1999 Snow Sox, helping the team to 95 wins and their last playoff appearance.

Drummond Peltier completed and won every game he ever started.

In addition, Yoda is up for consideration as a manager, and general lifetime achievment.  His record is 1029-938 over 13 seasons.  Yoda managed the 1994 Rugrat world championship team.  He later managed the 2001 Florida Penguins, and led them to 95 wins and a world series loss to Springfield.  As a player, Yoda played so long ago that numbers are not available.  He was a shortstop whose best skill was drawing walks due to his tiny strike zone.

All the candidates can be found here:

http://www.baseballprojection.com/apba/hof2013.htm

Guest column on the MLB Hall of Fame

Hello and welcome to the Rush Pigboy show.  It's been a busy day, between fighting for the rights of our schoolchildren to bear arms, lowering the tax rates for me and my neighbors, and keeping illegal Ewoks, Rodians, and Gamorreans out of our country.  But this time of year one question overshadows all the others:  Who should go into the baseball hall of fame? It just so happens that I am an expert on the sport, so I will share my judgment on the 2013 candidates.  I put far more weight on the impact the player has had on the game and his legacy than I do with any of these newfangled statistics, but I do look at the stats.  When I hear the player's name, what do I think of?  I don't necessarily care about steroids, unlike so many of the human reporters.  Once you've seen a Wookie throw a 125 MPH fastball you tend to not be impressed by the miniscule level of playing field differences among humans who might have taken a few teeny weeny chemicals and those who didn't.

So on to the players, what I think when I hear the name, and my verdict

Julio Franco:   Old. Like Yoda.  Just being old is not enough.

Steve Finley: Wasn't he into new age crap?  Like hippies? I don't like hippies, so no.

David Wells: Gout. And sloppy uniform.  No chance.

Sammy Sosa: Hit a lot of homers, but never won anything.  No.

Craig Biggio: Hit .234 in the postseason.  Never won. No.

Kenny Lofton: Speedy. Made the postseason 10 times with 6 different teams, yet never won the big one.  Made the last out in 2002.  No.

Curt Schilling: Gamer. Best candidate so far. Won the series twice in Boston and once in Arizona.  But what about 1993?  Threw a shutout in game 5, but watched helplessly from the bench in game 6 as Joe Carter took Mitch Williams deep.  Had Curt done what Randy Johnson did for him in 2001, coming out of the bullpen to bail out his team, I'd say yes.  But he didn't, so no.

Mike Piazza:  Best hitting catcher, but couldn't throw, never won, and hit poorly in the postseason.  Also let us down in homerunderby.  No.

Roger Clemens:  I remember him limping off the mound in 2005 and 2007 as his team was eliminated.  He also pitched poorly inthe 2004 elimination game, but Mussina, Rivera, and Aaron Boone bailed him out.  Never could beat Dave Stewart.  Won 2 World Series with Yankees but he was not the ace, just along for the ride. Only their 4th best starter in 1999. For all his exploits he never won a big postseason, nail-biting elimination game. OK, one, game 4 of the NLDS in 2005, but that was in relief.  So no on Roger. 

Barry Bonds: The homerun king.  But he never won. There's the Sid Bream game,and despite all the homers he hit in 2002, what happened when the Angels mounted their game 6 comeback? He fell flat on his ass when Garret Anderson hit the ball in his direction.  This 8 timeglover could not field in the clutch.  So no on Bonds.

Bernie Williams: Pop gun for an arm, but Bernie could win.  4 time champion with 22 homers and 80 RBI in the postseason.  Bernie gets my vote.

Rafael Palmeiro:  The finger wagging in front of congress. Sure, I said I don't care about steroids, but Raffy made that his defining image and that does not speak of greatness.  Never won anything big or hit well in the postseason anyway.

Dale Murphy:  A fine player and a fine Republican.  But he never had a postseason extra base hit or won a postseason game.  No.

Don Mattingly: Yankees went to the world series in 1981.  They didn't make it back until 1996.  Mattingly played from 1982 to 1995.  He's no Mantle, Ruth, or Jeter, just the best player on a bad team of Mels, Alvaros, Azocars, and Melidos.  No on Don.

Mark McGwire: Hit .217 in the postseason.  His only world series win was overshadowed by an earthquake.  No.

Larry Walker: Never won. OPS of 1.366 against Red Sox in 2004, but it didn't even lead to a single win.  No.

Fred McGriff:  I like the Crime Dog.  Only won a single world series, but a fine .917 postseason OPS. I'll bite: Yes

Edgar Martinez: I remember his 1995 hit chasing Griffey around the bases.  But did you know that in the next series he was 2 for 23? No vote.

Alan Trammell: Played great in 1984 world series.  Never got back there.  No on Trammell.

Tim Raines:  Only world series wins were as a part timer for the Yankees.  I prefer to reward the dominators like Bernie. No.

Lee Smith: I think of Steve Garvey taking him deep in the 1984 choke job.  More postseason losses(2) than saves (1), and an ERA of 8.44. No.

Jeff Bagwell: .226 postseason hitter.  Pass.

Jack Morris:  I think of game 7 in 1991.  Forget all the rest.  Jack's got my vote.

To summarize: Yes votes for Jack Morris, Bernie Williams,and Fred McGriff.

Almonte to Chicago

Danny Almonte has reached an agreement with the Chicago Winds on a 5 year, 60 million dollar contract. In addition, the team has signed OF Larry Mo Pena for 2 years and 16 million, and is reportedly working on a deal with infielder Steve Werden.

Draft Order, Round 2

Pick	Team	Pos	Player
1	Green Day	C	Sinski, Gus
2	Chicago	P	Pepsi, Phil
3	Detroit	SS	Meyers, Craig
4	Alaska	P	Tebow, Elijah
5	Hollywood	OF	Salazar, Alfredo
6	Mars	SS	Hunter, Jose
7	Florida
8	Springfield
9	Boston
10	Las Vegas
11	Louisville
12	Phoenix
13	Detroit (from Hawaii)
14	Hawaii (from Miami)
15	St Louis
16	Toronto
17	Portland
18	Toledo
19	Texas
20	Cleveland
21	Bay Area
22	Orlando
23	Charlotte
24	Denver
25	Utah
26	Philadelphia
27	Baltimore
28	Detroit (from LA)
29	NY Knights
30	NY Cobra