1967 SF CYA McCormick, a one-time Yankee, dies at 81.

Mike McCormick, a lefty who won the NL CYA in 1967, died at the age of 81 from Parkinson’s Disease.

McCormick pitched for the NY and SF Giants (1956-1962), Baltimore Orioles (1963-1964) Washington Senators (1965-1966), back with the Giants (1967-1970), Yankees (1970), and Kansas City Royals (1971).

He led the NL in ERA in 1960 with a 2.70 ERA. In 1962, he was 5-5, 5.38 in 28 games (15 starts) for the NL Champion Giants but did not pitch in the WS against the Yankees.

In the days where there were two All-Star Games a year, McCormick was named to both All-Star Games in 1960 and 1961.

Ironically, he was NOT an All-Star in 1967, but won the CYA that year and also finished 6th in MVP voting. He led the majors with 22 wins in going 22-10, 2.85, ERA+ 118 in 40 games, 35 starts. Also, he, not teammates Juan Marichal or Gaylord Perry, was the first Giant to win the Cy Young Award. (Marichal never won it, and Perry’s two came with the Indians and Padres).

He was briefly a Yankee, finishing the 1970 season as a Yankee after a midseason trade with SF. As a Yankee he went 2-0, 6.10 in 9 games, 4 starts. ERA+ 59. He was released by the Yankees the following spring.

For his career, he was 134-128, ERA 3.73, ERA+ 96 (100 is average). His 162 g. average is 40 games, 28 starts, 11-11, 3.73.

When he made his MLB debut, he was still 26 days away from turning 18.

As a hitter he hit .156 with 7 HR and 39 RBI.

 

 

 

HOF Induction set back a year.

Derek Jeter’s HOF induction ceremony (along with Ted Simmons, Larry Walker and Marvin Miller) will have to wait until 2021, when they could be joined by Curt Schilling, as well as others like Gil Hodges.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the ceremony has been postponed. A crowd of 70,000 or so is not exactly social distancing, and the elderly are more susceptible to the virus.

A lot of Hall of Famers come back for the ceremony, and many are over the age of 70 and some are over 80. For example, I was at the ceremony last year for Mariano Rivera. Hank Aaron (now 86) and Sandy Koufax (now 84) were there.

 

Jeter dissenter remains anonymous.

Today was the day that the public ballots for the Hall of Fame vote became public.

315 of the 397 votes cast were public. The other 82 were private.

To no surprise, all of the 315 public votes had Derek Jeter’s name checked off.

So the one voter who didn’t vote for Jeter decided to remain anonymous.

Now that voter may or may not have had a good reason.

Someone may (and they have) been mad that I called that voter a coward.

But hey, when you decide something take a stand, but then hide behind the cloak of anonymity, what else do you call it but cowardice?

You believe in something, stand up for yourself and your beliefs. This person had to know that they may be the only dissenter.

They had to know that people would want to know why that person was the only one of 397 who didn’t vote Jeter for the Hall of Fame.

Maybe that person had a good reason. Fine. Maybe not. Maybe that person is just moronic.

By not standing up for themselves and by hiding behind the cloak of anonymity, we do know what that person is.

A coward.

There. I said it. And I am not taking it back.

And the same goes for the three who remain anonymous who didn’t vote for Ken Griffey, Jr. a few years back.

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Greg Bird finally found a home (or is it nest?) He signed a minor league deal with Texas.

KC wins Super Bowl LIV, 31-20.

The San Francisco 49ers had a 20-10 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but the comeback kids, the Kansas City Chiefs, outscored the 49ers 21-0 in the fourth quarter to win Super Bowl LIV (54 for those of you who hate the roman numerals), 31-20.

The Chiefs overcame 10 point deficits in each of their postseason victories.

It is the second Super Bowl win for the Chiefs, who were playing in their first Super Bowl in 50 years. They lost Super Bowl I 35-10 to Green Bay, and won Super Bowl IV 23-7 over Minnesota.

KC QB Patrick Mahomes was named the Super Bowl MVP. He was OK, 26 for 42, 286 yards, 2 TDs but also 2 picks. I think Damien Williams (17 carries, 104 yards) or Tyreek Hill (9 catches, 105 yards) may have been a better choice, though.

For Andy Reid, a Super Bowl title after 21 years of being a NFL head coach (14 years with the Eagles, 7 with the Chiefs).

Yanks make a minor signing. Thoughts on comparing players.

The Yanks made a minor signing on Wednesday, signing lefty reliever Luis Avilan to a minor league deal.

Avilan, 30, pitched for the Mets in 2019, going 4-0 but with a 5.06 ERA (ERA+ 81). Not so good.

Avilan has pitched for the Braves (2012-2015), Dodgers (2015-2017), White Sox (2018), Phillies (2018) and Mets (2019).

His MLB record is 23-10, 3.28, ERA+ 121 so 2019 was a really off, bad year for him.

His 162 game average is 4-2, 3.28, ERA+ 121. He is a lefty specialist (averaging 68 appearances a year but only 52 IP per year) so how these new rules would affect him would be interesting.

He has pitched in 11 postseason games, going 0-0, 0.00 in 7 2/3 IP. Nice.

Not a bad signing on a minor league deal. Good track record, hoping for a bounce back season.

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Some people comparing Derek Jeter to other greats miss the point. You cannot compare across positions. If you are going to compare Jeter to anyone, it has to be against a Honus Wagner, Cal Ripken, A-Rod (when A-Rod was a SS), Nomar, Ernie Banks (as a SS), Nomar, etc.

You can’t compare Jeter to  Griffey, Mays, Aaron, Musial, Mantle, DiMaggio, etc.

Really. You have to compare him to other SS. You can’t compare a SS to a CF.

Do you really want to compare HOF credentials Rizzuto vs. DiMaggio?

Ozzie Smith vs. Pujols?

Luis Aparicio vs. Mickey Mantle?

Ridiculous.

I wish people would stop saying  “Jeter isn’t Mays or Aaron.”

Of course not. Jeter was a SS.

Stop comparing SS against OF.

Make similar comparisons. Like Jeter vs. Cal Ripken, Miguel Tejada, etc.

 

Another time the BBWAA really screwed up (and there have been many).

I don’t care what Ken Rosenthal, Joel Sherman or others say, I am still upset about one voter not putting Derek Jeter on his or her ballot.

Don’t tell me how to think, Ken. In other words, STFU. (By the way, you still look like Pee Wee Herman with those bow ties).

By the way, Ken, when you say “this is a democracy”, as you do on your Fox video telling people to “just pipe down”, go back to school. The USA is not a democracy. It is a constitutional republic. Learn the difference.

A democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what is for dinner.

And you know what? I’m still upset that three voters didn’t include Ken Griffey, Jr., nine didn’t include Henry Aaron, 23 (!) didn’t include Willie Mays, and that Mickey Mantle only got 88% of the vote.

I could go on and on.

But here is one of the worst cases of BBWAA stupidity that you may not know about.

It happened in 1960, when Lefty Grove, the former Philadelphia A’s and Boston Red Sox great (1925-1941) got 2.2% of the votes.

Now Grove, one of the greatest lefty pitchers ever, with 300 wins and 9 ERA titles, deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

The point is, he WAS ALREADY ELECTED IN 1947!

And it wasn’t one voter. It was SIX. SIX who voted for Lefty Grove in 1960 despite the fact he already was in the HOF.

Now maybe they meant to vote for Lefty Gomez. Gomez pitched for the Yankees (1930-1942) and one game for the Washington Senators in 1943. Gomez won 2 ERA titles and was, along with Red Ruffing, one of the key pitchers on six WS Champion teams (1932, 1936-1939, 1941).

Gomez did make it into the HOF—by veteran’s committee—in 1972.

But to think, six voters in 1960 couldn’t get Lefty Grove vs. Lefty Gomez straight.

Stupidity in the BBWAA goes back a LONG ways.

 

Finally official. Jeter in HOF with Larry Walker. Jeter misses being unanimous by ONE vote.

It’s finally official. SS Derek Jeter is headed to Cooperstown.

ONE voter kept Jeter from being unanimous. ONE. Sorry, Joel Sherman and Ken Rosenthal, but I welcome a witch-hunt to find out who the jerk was.

Really. I want to know who and what stupid rationale he or she has. See below for more comments and my opinion.

Jeter is sixth all-time with 3465 hits. Two of the five players above him (Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker) were born in the 1880s and last played in 1928. A 5x World Series Champ, Jeter hit .310 in his career. His 162 game average was .310-15-77 with 21 SB. OPS+ 115.

He also played in 158 postseason games, hitting .308 with 20 HR.

He was SI’s Sportsman of the Year for 2009.

The 1996 ROY was also a 14x All-Star, won 5 Gold Gloves, 5 Silver Sluggers, and was both the 2000 All-Star Game and 2000 WS MVP.

He finished in the Top 10 of MVP voting eight times.

He spent his whole career with the Yankees, 1995-2014.

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Larry Walker joins Jeter (as well as Ted Simmons and Marvin Miller, both voted in by committee last month). Walker played for Montreal (1989-1994), Colorado (1995-2004) and St. Louis (2004-2005). He was a 5x All-Star, 7X Gold Glove, 3x Silver Slugger, won 3 batting titles and was the 1997 MVP.

Besides winning the 1997 MVP, Walker had three other top 10 finishes.

He hit .313 in his career with 383 HR. His 162 game average was .313-31-107 with 19 SB and a fabulous 141 OPS+.

The right fielder played in 28 postseason games, hitting .230 with 7 HR and 15 RBI.

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From MLB.com: (298 needed for induction)

COMPLETE VOTING TOTALS

Derek Jeter: 396 votes (99.7 percent)   1 vote short of unanimous.

Larry Walker: 304 (76.6)  Made it barely.

Curt Schilling: 278 (70.0)  Missed by 20.

Roger Clemens: 242 (61.0)

Barry Bonds: 241 (60.7)

Omar Vizquel: 209 (52.6)

Scott Rolen: 140 (35.3). Big drop off from the publicized ballots, here down.

Billy Wagner: 126 (31.7)

Gary Sheffield: 121 (30.5)

Todd Helton: 116 (29.2)

Manny Ramírez: 112 (28.2)

Jeff Kent 109: (27.5)

Andruw Jones: 77 (19.4)

Sammy Sosa: 55 (13.9)

Andy Pettitte: 45 (11.3)

Bobby Abreu: 22 (5.5)

20 votes were needed to stay on the ballot. Abreu barely made the cut.

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The following drop off of the ballot:

Paul Konerko: 10 (2.5)

Jason Giambi: 6 (1.5)

Alfonso Soriano: 6 (1.5)

Eric Chávez: 2 (0.5)

Cliff Lee: 2 (0.5)

Adam Dunn: 1 (0.3) Guy below?

Brad Penny: 1 (0.3)

Raúl Ibañez: 1 (0.3)

J.J. Putz: 1 (0.3)

If the same guy who voted for Putz didn’t vote for Jeter, then who IS the Putz?

Josh Beckett: 0 apparently he did get ONE vote, see below. IS BELOW REAL OR FAKE?

Heath Bell: 0

Chone Figgins: 0

Rafael Furcal: 0

Carlos Peña: 0

Brian Roberts: 0

José Valverde: 0  As with Beckett, apparently he did get one vote, see below.

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Ok, here are some thoughts. It’s a shame that Jeter did not join Mariano Rivera as unanimous selections because to me, it was important, after all that went on this week with the cheating allegations from Houston and Boston, three managers and a GM fired as a result of it, and after all that has gone on with steroid allegations over the last two decades or more, to send a message.

That message is to not only play the game well, but to play the game RIGHT.

To carry yourself a certain way. To gain and EARN the respect of your teammates and opponents.

Mariano Rivera did so and was awarded with a unanimous selection.

Derek Jeter did so as well, and should have been rewarded the same way.

It’s too bad one voter disagreed. I have a lot of thoughts and words for that voter which I (for the sake of children who may be reading) won’t repeat here.

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UPDATE:

Apparently Dave Williams was the jerk (and I won’t take it back) who did NOT vote for Jeter.

UPDATE 2: TRYING TO FIND OUT IF REAL BALLOT LISTED OR FAKE

UPDATE 3: FAKE. Apparently Dave Williams isn’t a BBWAA voter, but put up a fake ballot on Barstool blog which people thought was a real ballot (sure looked like one). Now that Jeter fell one short of being unanimous, Williams is (rightfully?) being hammered.

Hey, even if it wasn’t him, serves him right for being a jerk.   So…. yeah, rightfully.

 

 

What is worse is who this guy did vote for:

Josh Beckett? Really?

Barry Bonds

Adam Dunn? Really? And leave Jeter off?

Jason Giambi

Paul Konerko

Jose Valverde? Please.

Billy Wagner

Anyway,

Whoever it was, he/she WILL be found out. — unless the person, in cowardice, requested anonymity.

 

 

 

HOF announcement tonight.

Baseball makes its HOF announcement tonight, as we see who the writers put in the Hall to join Ted Simmons and Marvin Miller, who both were selected by committee earlier.

You need 75% to get in.

As of this writing, 211 votes, 51.2%, are known.

Derek Jeter is still running unanimously at 100%, we will see tonight if that still holds up and if Jeter will join Mariano Rivera as the only unanimous selections.

Larry Walker, in his last year on the ballot, is at 83.7%. Curt Schilling is at 78.7%.

But only a little over half of the votes are known. Usually when the other, non-publicized part comes in, players drop, and someone like Schilling then is really on the bubble.

Barry Bonds and one-time Yankee Roger Clemens are at 71.6 and 70.6% respectively, thus a little short and expected to drop once more votes become known.

So it appears as if Jeter and Walker get in and the question is whether Jeter is unanimous and if Schilling joins them

Other notables: staying on the ballot would be Omar Vizquel, Gary Sheffield (the one -time Yankee at 36%), Scott Rolen, Billy Wagner, Jeff Kent, Todd Helton, Manny Ramirez, one-time Yankee Andruw Jones (23.7%), Sammy Sosa, Andy Pettitte (the Yankees’ great is at 10.4%) and another former Yankee, Bobby Abreu (6.2%).

You need 5% to stay on the ballot. Abreu is on the bubble. Pettitte stays on, but isn’t getting much support.

It appears like these notables will drop off the ballot, among others:

Ex-Yankees Jason Giambi (1 vote), Alfonso Soriano (0). Eric Chavez (one vote). Brian Roberts (0) and Raul Ibanez (0). 

Also dropping off would be Cliff Lee (1), Adam Dunn (0), and Paul Konerko (1).

The bold is players with Yankees’ connections, even if ever so briefly.

Boone AL All-Star Game Mgr.?and Yanks make a minor deal.

OK, with Hinch, last year’s pennant winning manager gone, and same with Cora, does this mean Aaron Boone, who lost last year’s ALCS, now is the AL All-Star game manager?

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The Yanks made a minor deal. When Gardner’s contract was finalized last week, LHP Stephen Tarpley was DFA’d. Today they traded him to Miami for a prospect, James Nelson, 3B. Nelson will most likely be with A+ Tampa.

From MLB.com:

Nelson, 22, spent his 2019 season with Class A Advanced Jupiter, batting .228 (98-for-429) with 36 runs, 13 doubles, two triples, four homers and 36 RBIs in 121 games. Over four Minor League seasons, the right-handed hitter has hit .259 with 14 homers and 147 RBIs in 328 games, playing exclusively at third base.

Tarpley, 26, made 31 Major League appearances (one start) for the Yankees from 2018-19, going 1-0 with two saves and a 5.88 ERA (22 earned runs in 33 2/3 innings).

 

Less than a week to go before the HOF announcement…

With less than a week to go before the HOF announcement, Derek Jeter is still running at 100% with 37.4% of the votes known.

Larry Walker is at 85.1%
Curt Schilling 79.9%
Barry Bonds 75.3%
Roger Clemens 74.0%

You need 75%.

But the unknown votes that haven’t come in yet, and the votes that remain anonymous usually drop people by as much as 10%, thus Jeter and Walker could be the only two getting in, and even Walker could be on the bubble.

Will Jeter join Mariano Rivera at 100%?

Others: Despite hitting over 400 HR each, Adam Dunn and Alfonso Soriano have no votes. Jason Giambi has one, as does Paul Konerko.

LHP Cliff Lee has only one. It looks like these players, among others, will drop off the ballot.

You need 5% to stay on the ballot.

Some Notables: Bobby Abreu 7.1%, Andy Pettitte 12.3%, Sammy Sosa 18.2%, Andruw Jones 27.9%, Manny Ramirez 35.7%, Gary Sheffield 39.6%, Scott Rolen 50.6% …..

For the whole list:     http://www.bbhoftracker.com/

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CC Sabathia has been hired by the Yankees as a special advisor. Don’t know about him in the booth, however, as rumors are he doesn’t get along with Michael Kay.

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So Alex Cora and the Red Sox have parted ways. Nice way of saying he resigned before he got fired or suspended. I’m waiting to see what the suspension will be like. After all, he was involved in BOTH places—at Houston, who just got hammered, and Boston, whose investigation is still ongoing. I think his punishment will be quite severe.