Andre Dawson, who will be entering the Hall of Fame this year, is a die-hard Cub.  Dawson played for the Chicago Cubs from 1987-1992, winning an MVP trophy even though the team was in the cellar that year.  He’s actually the only player to do that playing for a team in last place, by the way.  Hiss lugging p-ercentage with the Cubs, .507, is the fourth highest in team history (which, when you think about it, is a lot more exciting than if he were fourth in, say, Rangers or Rays history.)

So, Dawson should be headed in as a Cub, right? He’s made it clear that’s his choice, and the stats and achievements he had with the Cubbies are more than adequate.  Instead, however,  he’ll head into Cooperstown as an Expo.  The Montreal team (which is now the Washington Nationals), is the team Dawson came up with.

The HOF used to let people pick their hats, but Wade Boggs changed all that when rumors flew that the Rays offered to pay him to wear their hat.  At the time this was perfectly allowed, and rather than ban it, the Hall of Fame simply decided they would now decide who gets to wear what hat.

We understand the issue that has to do with payment.  Money + baseball player = generally bad, when the money coming in is anything besides straight up salary.  One isn’t quite to Black Sox territory here,  but the slope is a slippery one.

Of course, this could lead to some icky little issues, baseball politics-wise.  For example, let’s say Clemens makes the Hall of Fame.  We’re guessing he’d avoid the whole stupid Yanks-Sox-Jays (Jays? Really?) issue, and choose to go in as an Astro, since that’s his hometown team.  But clearly the guys at the Hall aren’tt aking sentiment into account, if Dawson’s case is anything to go by.

This isn’t the only issue with the Hall of Fame–there’s that whole big performance-enhanced elephant in the room, for starters.  But if history is to be served well by the museum at Cooperstown, players’ preferences should be just as much a part of it as they were when they demanded trades and signed contracts.

The players, after all, are the point, right?

Interestingly, the article under the headline on ESPN is a Favre lovefest (typical) about how he won’t let his streak of 270 straight starts get in the way of what’s best for the team.
But what we’re reading? He isn’t really sure he can or wants to play a full season.
Calling Roger Clemens…

It might make a big difference, and the difference it makes might be to the players.

We first noticed it while watching the Hall of Fame game–and boy, did we miss football–when the kicker for the Buffalo Bills, Rian Lindell, tried a fieldgoal…relatively routine anyplace but Buffalo, where it is always windy as hell no matter what, that is.  And the TV told me that, in fact, he had a 98% fieldgoal percentage from 40 yards or less.  So for Lindell, that’s less than nothing to hit–even in Buffalo, because he knows he can do it.  The man has the second-highest fieldgoal completion percentage in the NFL.  That makes any kick easier.

Simultaneously, we were watching the Sox and the Yankees on ESPN Sunday night baseball, and thinking about baseball stats.  A lot of the time, pitcher-hitter splits don’t really matter, but when they get to more than ten at-bats between a duo, they begin to do so in two cases.  One is when the batter’s average is over .325 or so versus a pitcher in that many at bats.  The batter starts thinking he has the guy figured out.  For example, Trot Nixon used to have  Roger Clemens figured out.  The solid but non-HOF left fielder for the Sox had a .371 average versus Clemens in THIRTY FIVE at bats.

Another instance is when a pitcher has a batter figured out: when A-Rod walked into Yankee stadium this evening, he was 1-12 in his career versus Jon Lester.  For a sensitive soul like A-Rod–and we say that without irony, because whatever else the man is, he’s clearly pretty worried about expectations, etc. More on this sometime.–that’s a big deal, and you could see it in his first two at-bats: he walked into the box like someone who was already walking out.

A third and final (since we don’t want to talk your ear off) time split-stats matter?  When a pitcher and catcher–like Posada and Pettite–have worked together so often, it’s like they have a mind-meld.   Pettite and Posada have been battery-mates 173 times, counting tonight.   That’s the most of any pitcher and catcher all-time.  At that point, you’ve got a big advantage.

So don’t mock the statheads, OK? Players don’t, and we see a reason.

The List-That-Would-Not-Freakin’-Die keeps…well..not. Even Hank Aaron wants the list put out now, and we agree with him.  Here’s why.

1. Some of the players on the list probably don’t know they’re even there.  Did they take sketchy supplements that year? Sure. Did they probably know they kinda sorta shouldn’t do that? You bet.  But let these poor guys get some sleep.  And for the few that did take something unknowingly, UPH for one would like to let them have their say.  Will some of them be lying? Probably. But let’s put it out there and let the public decide, yes?

2. People are speculating like crazy.  Even players.  Bronson Arroyo of the Reds “wouldn’t be surprised” if he’s on the list, for example.  Which brings us to…

3. MLB is lucky none of the leaked players has sued them yet.  How long will it be before the fact that the test results were supposed to be destroyed means a lawsuit?  How about all the speculation you (and we, and everyone else) have been doing?  Libel, perhaps?  And furthermore…

4. The people one thinks are on the list may not actually be the people on the list.  In fact, UPH has heard some convincing arguments recently that many of the people on the list are liable to be pitchers: journeymen relievers, fourth and fifth starters, people who were looking for that extra couple MpH, or coming back from injury. Meanwhile, everyone’s busy looking back and seeing which batter had suspiciously large arms.  Knowing whose actually on the list will provide some closure, certainly, but it may also give a sense heretofore lacking of who, exactly, used, and thus of what may well have been the prevailing culture for a decade or more of baseball.

As John McCain might say, steroids are “a matter of history.” (Go ahead and skip to 1:47 on that video, this isn’t a political blog.)

Point is, they happened.  So let’s put them in the past, allow those on the list to all put out their press released at once, and move on.  It’s killing the players, it’s killing UPH, and let’s be honest….too much more of this and it’ll start killing the fanbases, too.  It’s hard to get excited about taking your kid to a game when you aren’t sure whether the jersey you just bought him has a tainted player’s name on it. So let’s just find out, ‘fess up, and move on.

Anyone with me?

Duh?

Clearly, we can’t be bothered to get off the couch….there’s a game on!  What if we miss it? Watch it at the gym, you say?  But if we’re  out of breath, how are we supposed to yell loudly enough?

Of course, this article is suspect in general….

First of all, the article claims that “fervent sports fans have worse dietary habits and exercise less than those who don’t follow a particular team that closely.”

a team? Singular?

Now, we’re not sure about you, dear readers, but UPH follows multiple teams. After all, baseball only goes on for part of the year, and “Player x used steroids, maybe, we think, back when nobody cared, I guess” is only a compelling off-season read the first couple times.  So, we, who started baseball-only, branched out. Football.  Good college sports. Less…um…prestigious college sports….

What kind of amateur roots for only one team?

According to this study, our BMI should be through the roof.  We’ll make a doctor’s appointment just as soon as it’s halftime. In the meantime, pass the buffalo wings…

(and, if you’re a real glutton for punishment, calculate your BMI here….