Note for Ryan

I know it may seem like I've been lagging here, and to some degree I have. I've been working on a few update posts over on the Observatory about the leg situation, I'm just not ready to post them yet.

I have another post I've been working on here too, a post about truth and the world, among other things.

But here, as a (not so) quick interlude, I have a post that's tailor made for my good friend Ryan, and my mom, and my dad as well, if he's taking a look. It's about baseball.

This has been an extremely exciting year for baseball, for me anyway, and not just because the Yankees are kicking everybody's ass. (They lost to Ryan's A's tonight, which is cool for the A's.) There are a number a teams that are coming up (Nationals, Pirates, Dodgers, White Sox, Orioles) and a whole slew of young kids, the proverbial changing of the guard in terms of star power. Now, Joey Votto is too old for the list that will follow, but his presence on the Reds is pretty clutch. A-Rod and Jeter are getting old, and it's about time for a new wave of talent to come through and get everybody excited again for baseball.

Okay. So the criteria I'm looking at is historical eras and how they shaped up with awesome players and they're being 25 years-old or under.

This is a pretty good year for elite talent performing well at 25 or under.

2012
Mike Trout; Angels, on pace for both MVP and Rookie of the Year;
Bryce Harper; Nationals, 19 year-old All-Star kid lighting it up in DC;
Giancarlo Stanton; superstar in the making in Miami;
Chris Sale; lefty pitcher striking out everybody on the White Sox;
Andrew McCutchen; MVP candidate in Pittsburgh, making them relevant again;
Jason Heyward; slugger in Atlanta, potential like crazy;
Steven Strasburg; best pitcher on the potent nationals team, and just turned 24;
Clayton Kershaw; reining Cy Young Award winner, incredible pitcher for the Dodgers;

(Yoenis Cespedes; slugging Cubano with the A's who hit a homer tonight against the Yanks.)[My bad; Cespedes is 26 and technically too old for this list. He is, though, an exciting rookie to keep an eye on, fueling the A's recent stretch of 11-2 ball, becoming the hottest team in the game in July. Cespedes has hit .424 over the stretch.]

I'm telling you, this is an exciting year if you care.

So how do some of our other eras look? Next is:

1984
Tony Gwynn; Hall of Famer;
Cal Ripken Jr; Hall of Famer;
Ryne Sandberg; Hall of Famer;
Kirby Puckett; Hall of Famer;
Tim Raines; should be in the Hall of Fame;
Dwight Gooden; elite talent at 19 years old, fast life in NY eventually helped lead to his non-HoF status.

In 1984, all those guys were 25 or under. Pretty good year.

1984 seemed more fondly remembered than this next year (save for Fred McGriff)(and Larkin).

1987
Barry Bonds; likely Hall of Famer, even though, well, DRUGS;
Barry Larkin; Hall of Famer;
Roger Clemens; like Bonds, likely Hall of Famer, but, eh, DRUGS;
Mark McGwire; highest percentage of value based on home run, and, eh, DRUGS;
Fred McGriff; why isn't he in the Hall?

1974
Gary Carter; Hall of Famer;
Jim Rice; Hall of Famer;
Mike Schmidt; Hall of Famer;
Dave Winfield; Hall of Famer;
George Brett; Hall of Famer;
Robin Yount; Hall of Famer;
Bert Blylevin; Hall of Famer;
Goose Gossage; Hall of Famer.

I just cut and paste all of those "; Hall of Famer;" parts, and it was great. That was a wave of young talent coming through, kinda like this year. Now don't get me wrong; I'm not claiming that the nine guys listed above from 2012 are all future Hall of Famers, but it is a slew of great talent this summer.

1969

Tom Seaver; a rookie in '67, Seaver went on to be maybe the best pitcher in the game's history, HoF;

Johnny Bench; also rookie in '67, probably the second-best catcher ever, HoF;

Reggie Jackson; also rookie in '67, electric and outspoken slugger, HoF;

Rod Carew; damn good year for rookies, 1967, early incarnation of Ichiro, slap hitter, HoF;

Jim Palmer; HoF;

Don Sutton; HoF;

Catfish Hunter; HoF;

Nolan Ryan;HoF;

Steve Carlton; HoF.

Those last five guys are all pitchers, and, with the changing of the rules in favor of pitchers, it makes sense that some of the games most dominant pitchers during the modern era were young guns during this time. 1967 was a good year for rookies, for sure.

For folks who have a keen memory, I once wrote a post about the best pitcher ever. I did, though, just claim that Tom Seaver could make a case for "best pitcher ever". The game was significantly different before and after WWII, let alone a fifty year stretch spanning WWII, and Seaver's accomplishments, in the modern game, in terms of the new stats Win Shares and WAR (Wins Above Replacement; how much better a player would do against a replacement player), and the shifting of the game towards the hitters, the modern pitchers should get more respect. I'm talking to you Greg Maddux, and you Randy Johnson, and before we knew all about the drugs, Mr. Clemens, you were in this discussion as well. And fucking Pedro. How did little Pedro Martinez, 5'10", 168 lbs,dominate the game in the middle of the Steroid Era? Guy throws a 1.74 ERA in 2000. How is that possible? In any case Seaver, looking though the lens of the modern game, could be the best.

Now we get to the creamy filling. This next year is probably the highest stocked year of  mind-blowingly crazy young 25-and-under kids ever in the game.

1955

Hank Aaron;

Willie Mays;

Mickey Mantle;

Roberto Clemente;

Ernie Banks;

Al Kaline;

Eddie Mathews;

Harmon Killebrew;

Frank Robinson.

The big guns. I don't want to sully the list with a lot of jabbering. The Hammer. The Mick. Mr. Cub. Bobby Clemente. The Say Hey Kid. All of these guys are Hall of Famers.

The next year on this list is a little further away:

1939

Ted Williams;

Joe DiMaggio;

Bob Feller.

Like the last list, pretty goddamned good. All Hall of Famers, all young phenoms that lived up to the hype, and all rather iconic players.

(I pretty much lifted this list from Jonah Keri (I think), a writer for Grantland, among other things?)

Young baseball players...

I will be returning to the regularly scheduled topics in short order...