Long Live The Mang

When Albert Pujols won his second MVP on Monday, he became just the 29th player in Major League history to win the award more than once. The top 5 finish tied Yogi Berra all time with seven. The only players with more: Hank Aaron and Lou Gherig with 8, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial, Ted Williams and Willie Mays with 9, and Barry Bonds with 12. Of the 28 other multiple MVP winners, 24 have been retired for more than five years, making them eligible for the Hall of Fame (Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Frank Thomas and Juan Gonzalez the others). Of those 24 eligible, 22 are in the Hall (Roger Maris and Dale Murphy the exceptions).

In some other historical comparisons, here’s where Pujols ranks all time. Remember he’s just 28 years old and 8 seasons into his career.

Batting average: .334, 23rd
On-base percentage: .425, 13th
Slugging percentage: .623, 4th
Home runs: 319, 98th (Five more seasons at his current average would give him 518, ranking 21st all time – at age 33)
RBI: 977, tie for 279th (Five more seasons at his current average would give him 1587, ranking him 35th; Imagine if the Cards had put decent lead-off hitters ahead of him his whole career)

If Pujols were forced into retirement right now, I think he’d have a very strong case for Hall election. Some voters would hold the HR and RBI totals against him, ensuring he didn’t get in on first ballot. But I think he’d get in eventually. But if his elbow comes back fine as expected, and he puts up another 5, 7 or even 10 years at his current rate of production, he won’t just go into the Hall on first ballot. He’ll go down as one of the greatest hitters to ever swing a bat.

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Anybody else shocked Maris isn’t in the Hall? His name is prominent in baseball history because he held the single season home run record for so long, but he really wasn’t a power hitter. He hit a total of 100 in 1960 and 1961 (the season he hit 61), but only had one other season where he hit over 30 (33 in ’62) and ended up with 275 for his career. Add that to a career .260 batting average and you have a guy who reached the top very briefly, then fell back to Earth with a fairly resounding thud. Over his last two seasons with the Cardinals, at ages 32 and 33, he hit just 9 and 5 homers, respectively. With the exception of perhaps Shoeless Joe Jackson and Pete Rose, who were both banned, Maris has to be the best known player in baseball history to not make the Hall of Fame.

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Back to the top 5 finishes in MVP voting for a moment, Lance Berkman and Manny Ramirez moved up to the group with four top 5 finishes, Ryan Howard got his third and Justin Morneau got his second. Ryan Braun, Carlos Quentin, Kevin Youkilis, Joe Mauer and AL MVP winner Dustin Pedroia got their first.

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I know this puts me on the left of this issue, but I support a bail out for the Big Three auto makers. It’s not that I think they necessarily deserve it. And I can certainly see the value of telling them “you made your bed, now lie in it.” But the sad truth of the situation is that if GM, Ford and Chrysler are allowed to go into bankruptcy, it’s going to be the workers who get fucked in the end. Bankruptcy will allow the companies to cut promised benefits to retired workers, get out of negotiated contracts with the unions and generally wreak havoc on the work forces. We’re talking more than a million jobs here, and the ripple effect could be much, much larger. Whole towns could be completely wiped out (think Flint, Michigan, in Michael Moore’s Roger & Me, before Moore became one of the most detestable people in America).

The fact is if the Big Three are allowed to go under, they are going to take hundreds of thousands of families down with them. That’s bad for them, and it’s bad for everybody else. I don’t like the concept of handing money to incompetent corporate assholes any more than anybody else, but I’d be willing to hold my nose and do it under these circumstances. There are just too many families at risk to let the market sort it out (because “the market” is a cold hard bitch).

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“Cubs, Dempster agree to four-year deal”

“Cubs now the only suitors for Jake Peavy”

“Cardinals pursuing lefty relievers”

Not that there’s anything wrong with left relievers, but those three headlines pretty much say it all. The Cubs are locking up Depster and chasing Peavy. The Cards are keeping busy by bidding up Will Ohman and Arthur Rhodes.

I’m beginning to think John Mozeliak is just a powerless errand boy sent to be the face of ownership’s “just get by” policy of player procurement. It’s either that or he just sucks at his job. Either way, if the Cubs land Peavy the Cards are once again looking at no better than second in the division.

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It occurred to me I never re-capped the NBA D-League draft. Sadly, things did not go as well as I had hoped.

The good news was that four former Arizona Wildcats got drafted. The bad news was that none of them went to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. The four: Jawaan McClellan (4th round, Dakota Wizards), Kirk Walters (5th round, Anaheim Arsenal), Isiah Fox (6th round, Austin Toros) and Chris Rodgers (7th round, Iowa Energy).

I was especially happy to see Walters get the shot. He got completely screwed over by Kevin O’Neill last season and didn’t get a chance to show what he could do. I’m hoping he can establish himself as a legitimate threat in the post in the D-League so he can earn a shot at the NBA, or at least a decent contract overseas.

Some other familiar players college hoops fans will recognize and where they ended up:

Chris Richard, part of Florida’s two national championship teams, was drafted by the Tulsa 66ers. James Mays, All-ACC at Clemson, was drafted by the Colorado 14ers. Jermareo Davidson, All-SEC at Alabama, was drafted by the Idaho Stampede. Gary Forbes, the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year in 2007-08 at Massachusetts, was drafted by the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Derrick Byars, the SEC Player of the Year at Vanderbilt in 2006-07, was drafted by the Bakersfield Jam. Taj McCullough, a critical member of the exciting Winthrop teams over the past few years, was drafted by the Erie BayHawks. The BayHawks also picked up All-Conference USA guard Oliver Lafayette, who went to Houston. Russell Robinson, a key member of Kansas’ 2008 NCAA Championship team, was drafted by the Reno Bighorns. Smush Parker, a former starter for L.A. Lakers, was drafted by the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. (From the Lake Show to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Dude, that’s got to hurt.) David Noel, a former All-ACC guard and member of North Carolina’s 2005 national title, was drafted by the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, who also picked up David Monds, a starter on Oklahoma State’s 2004 Final Four squad, and Fred Gibson, a former football star at Georgia who played in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Cartier Martin, All-Big 12 at Kansas State, was drafted by the Iowa Energy. And Robert McKiver, All-C-USA at Houston, was drafted by the Austin Toros.

As for the Mad Ants roster, it’s a fairly overwhelming disappointment:

Coleman Collins: 6-9 forward was in training camp with the Suns in October, All-ACC at Virginia Tech

Toree Morris: 6-10 center played in three games for Raptors in 2005-06 season, played in Portugal in 2007-08

Shawn Hawkins: 6-6 guard was All-Big West at Long Beach State

Ryan Bright: 6-6 forward earned All-Southland honors at Sam Houston State

Brian Morrison: Guard was in camp with Spurs in October, played for D-Fenders last season

Jerod Adler: 6-9 forward played at Indiana State

Derrick Allen: 6-5 guard drafted by RGV in 2007

Reggie Nelson: 6-7 forward from Tenessee Tech

Isaiah Kottke: 6-4 guard played at Master's College

Sean Sonderleiter: 6-9 center from Australia, played college ball at Iowa

I’m going to have a hard time convincing myself to get invested in these guys.

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In other D-League news, former Missouri State guard Blake Ahearn once again has made the Big Show, getting the call up to play for the San Antonio Spurs.