Quincy

So what? He WALKS more and also usually misses 10 games a year. He also has had hit for a much higher average than Rice, higher OBP, slugs more. He's also hit a lot more HRs lifetime than Rice. I don't mean to belittle Rice's career, but there are more important things than having 200 hits in a year when it comes to being a great hitter.

Hey, thanks for mentioning that as I'm a fan of Anderson Valley too. And yeah baby, it is a treat when you find a place that has precious stuff like that on tap! We have a bar that moves kegs around all the time so you have to be there at the right time. I've missed the days that Old Rasputin Imperial was broken out. I wish they had some sort of email system to warn me. Maybe they'd rather people go every day.

Bresc's many points were very compelling. Here are but a few: CAREER (1974-1989) Led A.L. with 382 HR and 1451 RBI in his 16-year career, all with Boston. A hitters' park in its day. Had he played his career in Oakland he likely would have been a .275-.280 hitter with fewer homers. Doesn't sound as compelling does it? 1978 A.L. MVP (.315 AVG, 46 HR, 139 RBI, 406 TB, .600 SLG, 213 H, 15 3B) 1978 Home: .361/.416/.690 | Road: 269/.325/.512 Only A.L. player with 400+ TB since 1937 (Joe DiMaggio) Only A.L. player with 46+ HR between ’69 (Killebrew) and ’87 (McGwire) Roger Maris hit 61 HR in '61. George Foster only N.L. player to hit 52 HR from 1966 to 1998. As far as I know we don't put guys in the Hall for one great year. Only player in M.L. history with 3 straight seasons of 35+ HR and 200+ hits That's nice. That's what happens when you walk less than 60 times in a year too. Personally I'll take Pujols 4 straight years of at least 177 hits, 41 HR and .330 AVG. Or Frank Thomas 7 straight years of .300+/.430+OBP & 100+ RBI. Also the "3 year stretch" argument brings up a lot guys like Mattingly, Parker, Foster, Gonzalez and so forth. What's so magical about a 3 year stretch? Ruth and Foxx are the others in A.L. with 3+ straight 39+ HR, .315 seasons. Why 39 homers? What happens if you make it 38, or 37? What if you make it .310 and 35, or .316 and 37? Thirty-nine? Please. Anytime you see something like "only guy to hit 35 doubles, 9 triples, 34 homers and steal 8 bases while hitting .294" (so I exaggerate) a light should come on and a bell go "ding-ding-ding" that some self-serving self-selected stats are coming your way. A DOZEN YEARS OF DOMINANCE (1975-1986) Why is he leaving off the last 3 years of Rice's career? If we include those last 3 years does Rice no longer lead that period? My guess is that he gets bumped. (Do I hear chants of Reg-gie Reg-gie?) Twenty M.L. players have hit .300+ with 350+ HR over a 12-season stretch (Babe Ruth was the first, from 1915-1926), but Jim Rice stands alone in his dozen years (1975-86). Gee, he beat all the other guys who started their careers in 1975 (take that Fred Lynn!) and played through '86 (but again, let's not include those final years, even though he wasn't that old.) From 1975 to 1986 Jim Rice was the most dominant player in the American League. During that 12-year stretch he led the league in 12 categories and ranked among the top five in two others. His numbers are indicative of a player who was dangerous in nearly every situation. A 4 year stretch of "close & late" stats (roughly 80-90 AB per year) 1982 .279/.337/.500 1983 .237/.314/.441 1984 .182/.243/.374 1985 .259/.308/.506 Hardly seems like the guy you'd most fear to face. And yes, I cherry picked the bad just for fun. His RISP for some of those same years above are very good. It's just this "most dangerous man" stuff is a bit thick. He led the league over that period with 350 home runs but unlike most sluggers of his day, he ranked fourth with a .304 batting average. Ever notice what happened with Reggie when he got out of Oakland and moved to Yankee? Had Reggie been in a favorable hitters' park he would have had a higher batting average too. He legged-out 73 triples, including 15 in 1977 and 1978, The recognition of the triple is my favorite part of all of this. I'm a big fan of the triple. Outside of those 2 years he hit 8 once and 7 once for his next best totals. His best 2 triple years he split 'em fairly evenly (for an odd number) between the home & road, so it's not like he was benefiting from going the other way at Fenway (as some righties did playing at Forbes Field.) and he was the most dangerous outfielder to run on in the American League. Balderdash! He must be confusing Rice with his teammate Evans. Or Dave Parker (oops, wrong league.) Even Reggie had a better arm, though getting to the ball was another matter. Rice was very good and benefited a great deal from the park he played him. I'm not upset that he was inducted but if you put Rice in then I think a whole lot of other "very good" players should get in too.

The Thelonious brew may not be special but the Sweatshirt they sell with the Cool Monk painting sure is. They may sell it online as well. Picked mine up a few years ago at the Monterey Jazz Fest. They have a great eye for design. I like the Red Seal logo and many of their other labels too. And yes, you can wear Brother Thelonious.

I dearly loved Munson - he was one of my favorite players as kid and thus always favored him over Fisk when Thurman was alive. But no, I don't think he belongs as he just doesn't have enough great seasons. He was having back & knee troubles in his final season. They had been trying him in the outfield in his final years to save him from some wear & tear but it was too late. To paraphrase Bill James, death is just another form of injury, a very bad one, but lots of guys had their careers cut short by injury, and we don't make special allowances for them (unless the name is Kirby.) He does have the "aura of greatness" with having been a Yankee captain, being a big part of bringing that franchise back to glory after all those years of sucking, and he has great World Series numbers. But if you're going to put in a guy who played some catcher who isn't in, Joe Torre deserves it more. Though poor Joe has no post season at bats. Poor guy, never got a taste of winning. Oh wait...

It's okay. Unless you really want the label artwork I'd say save your money and buy a real Belgian. I love North Coast's Old Stock Ale & their Old Rasputin Stouts (they have an Imperial as well), but their Belgian just isn't in the same class as those 2.

It'll be interesting to see over the years how many "last ballot" HoFers we get. As far as past Hall of Famers getting elected in the final year of eligibility, it's Red Ruffing & Ralph Kiner.

Congrats to Rice. But Rickey's still the best. So I was looking at the SI site for HoF voting results and saw the following under "Truth & Rumors." "Could Fielder be headed to the BoSox?" Hmmm... And then there's this one. "Pedro are interested in Marlins." He are?

Not a chance mister! It's a magical closet you have. Drawings of ships, old receipts, letters and all the other things you dig up are fun to look at and read over. Thanks.

Wow! Where did you pick this up for $19? Tower (of power!)

I think he's deserving of a better band. He should sue! All Music Guide entry for Vida Blue.

Finally a use for the mostly disappointing Neyer/James Guide To Pitchers. Well, not really as there's no info about the end of his career. The book lists Blue's pitch selection as 1. Fastball 2. Curve 3. Change 4. Blue developed a slider in 1978. The sources are the 1972 book Vida and a 1979 Sporting News article. Given he threw 312 innings at age 21 and a bunch more years of heavy use it's not hard to imagine he had elbow or shoulder trouble later! If the elbow (and I think that's right) one sure wouldn't want to throw the curve anymore. Once past 1980 he was below 200 IP and then he got caught up in the Pittsburgh drug trials. I recall Bill James, then King Stathead writing when Vida was traded to the Royals he couldn't help but get all dreamy thinking "Vida Blue, oh boy we have Vida Blue!", even though in his head he knew he wasn't the player he once was. It is such a great name - symmetrical too.

It might have been this one.

Oh yeah, what I was complaining about is the opposite of flash. And how could I forget about Hargrove? Well, maybe all those years in Texas & Cleveland with no playoff appearances has something to do with it!

To me it's the endless stepping out of the batter's box that drives me nuts. I recall George Foster doing it but only in retaliation of Al Hrabosky's stalking around in the back of the mound to get psyched. Not to say he didn't do it elsewhere, that's just the only at bat I remember. I don't remember Reggie being one to step out of the batter's box endlessly. I have distinct memories of him leaning back while in the box spitting sunflower seeds. When Nomar started all of that obsessive compulsive disorder batting glove nonsense MLB should have put a stop to it then (for all the players who stepped out), along with getting on pitchers to pick up the pace.

I went hunting thinking I'd namely stick to those going OOP now, specifically the McLeans I don't have and the Morgan and Green "Standards" titles, maybe Blakey "Jazz At The Corner Of The World" and a couple of others. Then I noticed how much I've been enjoying Grant Green of late and how few titles of his I have relatively speaking, and added several. Also some titles on other labels. The majority have no current going out of print warnings, but I "trust in Chuck." At Tower you can search by label then sort by price, which is very handy. Thanks mjzee for mentioning J&R - I had forgotten about that place. I had taken something of a Blue Note sabbatical for the past year or so. Playing Freddie Hubbard Blue Notes brought me back. Thanks Mr. Hubbard.

Yes we do, or try to. Thanks for taking the time to do it!

Ready For Freddie, but I'm playing Blue Spirits right now and may have a new favorite. It's almost hard to believe (and this is true of many of the musicians he played with) that one person did all of that. It's staggering really. Takin' Off, Speak No Evil, everything he played with Dolphy, The Turnaround, Ugetsu! And so many more that I love, never mind all I like.

Maybe this birthday you're dancing with 23 year old skanks! Have a good one.

They've been doing that in Britain since 2004. Is it a new thing in America? MG Time flies! I'm guessing it happened here around the same time too. I'm still recovering. It doesn't really bug me, but it did look classier to have a bunch of Shorters and Silvers lined up without "big red."

And because of that I almost held off on buying the Horace Parlan set. But I've been here long enough now that I'm warped and consider the cost of a 5 disc Mosaic set to be dirt cheap. One way to get over your gripe is to adopt a stance that the RVG's sound too hot (even if you don't really believe this) and pat yourself on the back for having some big cool photographs that the RVG buyers don't get. Plus the spines of your Mosaic discs (assuming you shelve them) look classier ever since the red EMI logo appeared on the Blue Note releases.

I believe that Orville Kart, Larry's "mean" uncle. Sorry. Thanks for the link Bev.

It looks right. I noticed if you enter the titles into the All Music site they will come up with RVG and 2009. Nice that the other Parker is being released, and also good to see that a title from the now out of print Parlan Mosaic is getting out as well. The Turrentine is included in the Mosaic, but for those who want the artwork, now's your chance! Thanks for the notice.

Shucks, that's tough. My sympathies.

I suppose they can be a Christmas bird as they stay year 'round wherever they live. Er...so celebrate them all year!