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From TheSmartMarks.com Movies / TV First off, I am running voting for the All-Time All Stars. Check out the Smart Marks Forums for more information. Voting ends Wednesday, and the results will be a part of next week's column. With the All-Star game approaching, soon the inevitable columns will surface about how the All-Star game has lost its meaning, and that old-timers used to play the game differently. On the second statement, I question its validity. Those looking back at the past are fond of remembering its finest moments without remembering the full picture. There have been far more blowouts than Pete Rose/Ray Fosse incidents. Besides, when those bemoaning the All-Star game keep coming back to that single moment, I question how much evidence they really hold. Recent All-Star games have provided plenty of memorable moments. Pedro Martinez striking out McGwire and Sosa back-to-back. Torri Hunter robbing Barry Bonds of a home run. Hank Blalock gives the American League the lead late in the game with a home run. But our memories tend to recall only the finest moments, discarding the rest. I think people try to make more of the All-Star game than it really is. That said, I believe the All-Star game could use improvement. I propose some initiatives which might make the game more attractive. 1. End the "Home Field Advantage" Rule The 2002 All-Star Game ended in a tie. In the offseason, Major League Baseball looked at the game, and decided they should prevent such an event from occuring again. So they declared the All-Star game winner should recieve home field advantage in the World Series. A noble suggestion, with one small issue. It does not address what happens if and when the game is tied. In fact, it makes the problem worse, with no mechanism in place to address the issue. So we need to junk the rule. There is no problem with simply alternating home sites each year. Besides, home field advantage is approximately 52%, about which is hardly worth fretting. 2. Limit the Rosters to 25 Players The rosters currently stand at 32 players. This is extreme. The expanded rosters take at bats and innings from the best players in the league, and distributes them to the 26th through 32nd best players. This creates a lower quality of play. I will provide more details in subsequent suggestions. 3. Manage the All-Star Game like you would manage a real game As I stated above, an overabundance of substitutions limits the quality of play. I suggested limiting the rosters to 25 players. I would use them for 14-15 hitters, and 10-11 pitchers. The pitchers you would use for one to two innings at a time. Your starting hitters would play most of the game, and you would use your subs like you would if you managed any other game. This keeps the best players in the game. 4. Avoid using all players Until the early 90s, it was customary for several players not to play in the All-Star game. Managers should revert to this practice. Do not put a player into the game just because he is there. 5. Show preference towards starting pitchers At most, the All-Star game should feature one or two closers. Remember Eric Gagne was a mediocre starter before he turned into a closer. Starters are simply better pitchers, and deserve the nod. Middle relievers should almost never appear in the All-Star game. Again, this ensures the best players appear in the game. 6. Use the designated hitter at all games It is just an exhibition game, and no one expects the pitcher to bat. Lets not kid ourselves. 7. Establish an innings limit This suggestion will doubtless raise the most eyebrows. The All-Star game is an exhibition, and its common for exhibition games to limit the innings played. Here's my proposal. The game may go until the 12th inning, and after that it is a tie. No game since 1987 has passed the 12th inning anyway. 8. Limit fan voting overseas In 2001, David Bell nearly became an All-Star thanks to Japan. The Japanese voted Hideki Matsui into the game last season. Matsui and Ichiro Suzuki's games are broadcast in Japan, but that is mostly all of what the country sees. And yet they have the All-Star vote, thanks to the internet. Major League Baseball should take steps to ensure all-star votes are cast primarily by fans who have access to Major League games. 9. Let the fans vote on the Starting Pitcher Honestly, why not? 10. End the representaion rule The representation rule is that every team is represented in the All-Star game. With 25 man rosters, and 14-16 teams in each league, this rule is unfeasible. One exception, the hosting team should have a represenative. Those are a few suggestions I have been kicking around. I am not certain all would work, but they sound good enough. The big keys here are giving more playing time to the best players, and changing the way the game is managed. A few steps in these areas would vastly improve the quality of the All-Star game. THE GREATEST TEAMS OF THE LAST 25 YEARS On Tuesday night, ESPN will air a program counting down the greatest teams of the last twenty-five years since the network hit the airwaves. I cannot profess vast knowledge in other sports, but I figured I could produce a list of the best teams Major League Baseball has seen in the last twenty-five years. When compiling my list, I took multi-season records into account. I find this helps separate the truly great teams from teams simply benefiting from a fortunate year. You will find a lot of teams that did not win the big prize, but I feel that these teams were better. I am looking for the best teams, not the most successful. I only took one team from each dynasty as well. This team came as a surprise, but they show up as a solid club on every list I compiled. They truly were a respectable club, featuring Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, Luis Gonzalez, Mark Grace, Matt Williams, and Steve Fnley. Only Johnson's a clear Hall of Famer, but these guys would crowd a Hall of Very Good. And there is value in the Hall of Very Good. The Diamondbacks are easily baseball's most successful expansion franchise. For the most part, the Orioles are a forgotten team. Still, they were very good from Earl Weaver's arrival all the way into the early 80s. This team came out game away from winning the World Series. They featured stars such as Eddie Murray, Ken Singleton, Lee May, and Jim Palmer. Along with Weaver's managerial acumen, they were a formidable team. But great? I think so. They won 90+ games every year from 1977-1932 (their strike-shorted '81 season works out to 91 wins when when weighted for 162 games). They won 100 games two seasons in a row. No team was better at maintaining success than the Baltimore Orioles. Set the American League record for regular season wins, with 116. Ichiro Suzuki, Edgar Martinez, John Olerud and Bret Boone led the offense. Freddy Garcia, Aaron Sele, and Jamie Moyer supplied the starting pitching. And Kazahiro Sasaki, Arthur Rhodes, and Jeff Nelson provided a solid bullpen. So why are they this low? They never finished withing 20 wins of 116 again. They never won another division title during their run. They performed badly over the postseason. All that combines to give the Mariners an eighth place finish on this list. One of the best offensive teams of all time, the Indians featured three great hitters: Albert Belle, Jim Thome, and Manny Ramirez. The lineup also featured Hall of Famer Eddie Murray and lead-off man Kenny Lofton. The '95 squad dominated like no other Indians team during their run because they cobbled together a half-decent pitching staff. Thanks to Charles Nagy, Dennis Martinez, and Orel Hershiser, the Indians led the league in pitching. The Indians never again reached the level they reached in 1995, but they did win five consecutive division titles, and two American League pennants. The '92 and '93 squads are of relatively equal quality. The Blue Jays succeeded on the strength of their offense. John Olerud hit 363/473/599 in 1993. Roberto Alomar, Paul Molitor, and Tony Fernandez provided stellar hitting. Joe Carter added his usual low OBP, high home run total season. (Here's a thought, Tony Batista is the Joe Carter of our generation). Despite an abundance of names, the pitching staff falls below what we would consider great. The '93 club did feature a terrific bullpen. As seen in Moneyball. The great knock on the Athletics is their inability to win in the playoffs. I say four games does not break a dynasty. These Athletics featured a terrific pitching staff with Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito leading the way. Miguel Tejada and Eric Chavez supplied the offense. Team chemestry is a load of crap. I hereby present Exhibit A, the New York Mets. This group is famous or not getting along, getting in brawls, and making a lot of headlines. In between they won 108 games, and the survived greatest postseason of all time. The Mets were not just a one year wonder, winning 90 games every year from 1984-88. The Mets of course are an exercise in how young talent does not always develop as you expect, for one reason or another. The Mets collapsed occured in 1991, when the Mets lost Darryl Strawberry to free agency, and decided Vince Coleman was a suitable replacement. Coleman is an object lesson in why not to fall in love with the stolen base. Hiring Jeff Torberg as manageris an object lesson in itself. If not for a bad Championship Series, this team could have reached the fall classic and given the 1998 Yankees, and the fans, an epic World Series. Still, this team won 106 games during the regular season, the second best total in the decade. The Braves featured, without exaggeration, the greatest pitching staff ever assembled. Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux are future Hall of Famers, and John Smoltz is attempting to build his resume. Kevin Millwood and Steve Avery filled out the staff at various points during their run. The offense featured Andruw and Chipper Jones, Javy Lopez, and various supporting members. Even if you count 1994, this team won nine consecutive division titles. They are just an amazing team. Apparently ESPN ignored this team entirely, which is a crime. Many remember Canseco's antics and their postseason failures, but they were a memorable team. The hitting of course contained the Bash Brothers, Canseco and Mark McGwire. Beyond those two, this team was a precursor to the Moneyball team. Rickey Henderson and Tony Phillips are stat-head favorites. The pitching featured the rejuvenated Dave Stewart and Bob Welch, as well as the famous bullpen, featuring Dennis Eckersley and Rick Honeycutt. Even over a four or five year period, only the Braves and Yankees top this squad. You can apply any standard you like, and this team comes out on top. Great hitting, great pitching. Probably the most balanced team to hit baseball. The Yankees simply had no weaknesses in the late 90s. The late 90s team has been written to death, so I'll address a different point. The 2001-03 squad is just as good, except for their postseason failings. The team actually got better when Scott Brosius and Paul O'Neill left after 2001. In any case, this team dominates the regular season. THE MLB ESPN-ERA TEAM Next week I plan on listing MLB's all time all stars. This week, we compile an All-Star team of the last 25 seasons. Statistics listed as of the 2003 season. Catcher: Mike Piazza .319 career batting average. 358 career home runs. .572 career slugging percentage. Piazza is often maligned for his defense, but his teams made the playoffs four times, so it obviously was not detrimental to his teams. First Base: Mark McGwire .394 career On Base Percentage. .588 career slugging percentage. 583 career home runs. 1,317 career walks. Second Base: Roberto Alomar I could say Craig Biggio, but it is close, and let us avoid controversy for once. .301 career batting average. .372 career On Base Percentage. 474 career stolen bases. Twelve All-Star appearances, and six Gold Gloves. Shortstop: Alex Rodriguez Greatest shortstop since Honus Wagner. .581 career slugging percentage. 345 career home runs. 177 steals. .340 career postseason batting average (compared to .314 for Jeter). Two Gold Gloves, seven All-Star appearances, and an MVP award complete A-Rod's impressive resume. Third Base: George Brett Mike Schmidt is close, but too much of his value falls before 1979. Brett hit .390 in 1980, and .305 lifetime. Brett posted an astounding 337/397/627 line in postseason play. Twelve All-Star appearances, and an MVP award. Left Field: Barry Bonds .433 career On Base Percentage. .602 career slugging. 658 career home runs. 2,070 career walks. 500 career stolen bases. Eight Gold Gloves, and SIX MVP awards. Center Field: Ken Griffey Jr. 481 career home runs. .562 career slugging percentage. Ten Gold Gloves. An MVP award. Led his league in home runs four times. Right Field: Tony Gwynn .338 career batting average. Five Gold Gloves. 15 All-Star appearances. Led the league in batting average eight times. One of baseball's most likeable players. Starting Pitcher: Roger Clemens 310 career wins, with a .660 winning percentage. 2nd all time in strikeouts. Career ERA+ of 140. Six Cy Young awards. Closer: Dennis Eckersley Eckersley redefined the closer's role. As a reliever, he almost never walked a batter, and his 1990 season (0.61 ERA) is absolutely incredible Good players I would have liked to include: Dan Quisenberry, Ozzie Smith, Craig Biggio, Rickey Henderson. RAUL MONDESI UPDATE Less than two weeks after he signed with the Anaheim Angels, Raul Mondesi tore his quad, and is likely out for the season. I stated the signing was a bad move two weeks ago, and damn do I look good now. The Angels are paying Mondesi $1.75 Million. For that money, Mondesi played eight games, and hit .118, with one home run (presumably, it went very far). In those three games, the Angels posted a 3-5 record. Hear that? That is the sound of money flushed down the toilet. The Bill Bavasi Revolution is in full effect in Anaheim. BERNIE WILLIAMS, HOFer? Bernie Williams collected his 2,000th hit this week. The daily talk shows (Around the Horn and Pardon the Interuption) brought up his Hall of Fame prospects. All dismissed Williams as a Hall of Fame player. Are they on the mark? I believe they are right. Williams played at a Hall of Fame level for four or five seasons. But he did not play at an outstanding level long enough. For an outfielder to make a Hall of Fame case nowadays, he needs an exceptional resume. Williams is good, but he does not stand out. Only twice did he finish in the top ten in MVP voting. Now if Williams can return to his .400 OBP, .500 Slugging seasons, and post a few more, he could make the Hall. But for now, he falls short. One final note for Mets fans. Super-prospect David Wright was promoted to AAA Norfolk. Keep an eye on him. Send feedback to:Alan Keiper © Copyright by TheSmartMarks.com |