As usual in these situations, I’m going to cut to the completely unjustifiable chase.  We’re not getting the All-Star Game in 2012.  Kansas City is getting it.  I’ll give you a moment to recover from the shock before I continue, because believe me, this was one seriously twisted shock.  Okay.  Apparently, Kauffman Stadium recently completed major renovations.  How nice for Kauffman Stadium.  It’s brand-new, nice and clean, and very fan-friendly.  Congratulations, Kansas City; now Kauffman Stadium is just like every other ballpark that completes major renovations.

Just to review, the reason why we wanted the All-Star Game in 2012 is because Fenway Park will turn one hundred years old.  The oldest ballpark still in use in the United States of America will commemorate a century of baseball.  America’s Most Beloved Ballpark will celebrate its one hundredth birthday.  Think about what Fenway Park has seen in that time.  It’s seen the Royal Rooters, Tris Speaker, Duffy’s Cliff.  It’s seen Joe Cronin, Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski.  It’s seen Nomar Garciaparra, David Ortiz, 2004, and 2007.  It’s seen a team of royalty followed by a team that committed cruel and unusual losses year after year after year, followed by royalty’s return.  If there is a structure in this country that embodies the history of the game of baseball within its very foundation, it’s Fenway Park.

And Fenway Park was denied.  Why? I have no idea.  What, they can give it to New York because it’s the last year of Yankee Stadium but they can’t recognize that America’s Most Beloved, and oldest, Ballpark will turn a century old? I mean, okay, so Kansas City hasn’t had the All-Star game in forty years and Fenway last had it thirteen years ago, in 1999 when none other than the Splendid Splinter threw out the first pitch.  But Fenway only turns one hundred years old once in a lifetime.  Kansas City could’ve gotten it in 2013.  In fact, it would’ve been okay by me if Kansas City had it every year for another forty years if only we could have it this one time.  Something just doesn’t seem right here.  I think I speak for all of Red Sox Nation when I say that we are extremely and profoundly disappointed and extremely and profoundly confused.

Zack Greinke won the AL Cy Young.  I’ll be very interested to see how he pitches next year.  I don’t think he’ll be as effective.  But I do think Josh Beckett is in line to have a break-out season so dominant that not even CC Sabathia can squeeze past him in the Cy Young voting.  Tim Lincecum won it for the NL, becoming its first repeat winner since Randy Johnson.  Andrew Bailey of Oakland and Chris Coghlan of Florida were the Rookies of the Year.  Mike Scoscia and Jim Tracy of Colorado were the Managers of the Year.  I don’t think I would’ve picked Mike Scoscia.  In my mind, there were three managers this year who faced significant uphill battles and who powered through them: Terry Francona, and then Ron Gardenhire and Ron Washington.  Terry Francona managed us through a lack of shortstop, the entry of a new starting catcher, a decline in the playing time of the team’s captain, a very public steroid scandal, and the worst slump in the career of the figure at the heard of said steroid scandal.  True, every manager deals with things behind closed doors, but what makes Tito’s job so difficult is that those doors are never closed completely.  It’s the nature of sports in Boston.  Gardenhire took the Twins from zero to one-game-playoff winners without Joe Mauer in the first month of the season, Justin Morneau in the last month, or a particularly effective bullpen.  And Washington almost made it to the playoffs this year without big-name talent.  All I’m saying is that, if the award goes to a Manager of the Year within the Angels organization, it should have gone to Torii Hunter, not Scoscia.  He was the real force in that clubhouse.  MVPs will be announced tomorrow.

Again, not much in the way of business yet.  Jason Bay rejected a four-year, sixty-million-dollar offer in favor of testing the free agent market for the first time in his career.  He’s Theo’s priority, though, and I still say he’ll end up back in Boston.  The Cards have already stated that they’re not interested, preferring Matt Holliday instead.  But I think this has the potential to be one of those long, drawn-out negotiations.  By the way, let’s not forget that Jermaine Dye is also a free agent.

We released George Kottaras, who has been claimed by the Brewers.  PawSox manager Ron Johnson will be our new bench coach.  We’re reportedly interested in Adrian Beltre, and we claimed reliever Robert Manuel off waivers.  Before the offseason is done, we’ll probably re-sign Alex Gonzalez and add a low-risk, high-potential starter.  Remember: in an economy like this, you do not need to, nor should you, empty your pockets to win a World Series, no matter what the Evil Empire might assume is the best practice.

Congratulations to John Henry on winning the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship.  Again, corporate social responsibility in this day and age is the way to go.  Unfortunately, though, ticket prices are up this year.  About half the seats were increased by two dollars, including the infield grandstand, right field boxes, and lower bleachers.  The field and loge boxes and Green Monster seats and standing room were increased by five dollars.  The outfield grandstand and upper bleachers weren’t increased.  Whenever you hear about price increases or decreases for tickets at Fenway, remember to always take them with a grain of salt.  Obviously we’d prefer a price freeze, but how many of us really purchase our Fenway tickets at face value anyway? I’m just saying.

So, as per usual this early in the offseason, we have more wait-and-seeing ahead.  Theo never reveals the tricks he has up his sleeve, so that’s really all we can do.

The Bruins suffered a particularly painful loss to the Islanders, 4-1.  I’d rather not talk about it.  We did best Atlanta in a shootout, though, and we eked out a win against the Sabres in sudden death.  That last one was particularly heartening, being that the Sabres are first in the division.  For now.  We’re only two points behind.  And now for the grand finale, let’s discuss Bill Belichick’s oh-so-positive judgment call on Sunday.  In the fourth quarter with a six-point lead, the Pats had the ball on their 28.  Tom Brady’s pass was incomplete.  With two minutes and eight seconds left on the clock, Belichick decided to go for it.  But Kevin Faulk fumbled the ball, and suddenly it was fourth and two.  Needless to say, we lost, 35-34, to the Colts, who are still undefeated.  I mean, it’s a tough call.  Belichick made the same decision against Atlanta and we won.  Then again, we had the lead, we had the time, and we had an opponent that wasn’t Indianapolis.  It was just bad.  It was just really, really bad.

Sawxblog/Derek Hixon

Red Sox GM Theo Epstein had just finished praising JD Drew’s statistics for “runs scored” and “on-base percentage” during a Sept. 30th radio interview, when he expounded on the topic of RBIs.

“You guys can talk about RBIs if you want,” Epstein told interviewers Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti on “98.5:  The Sports Hub,”  “I just…we ignore them in the front office.  , and I think we’ve built some pretty good offensive clubs.  If you want to talk about RBIs at all, talk about them as a percentage of opportunity, but, it’s not a way or something we use to evaluate offensive players.”

Theo knows his stats, but, I don’t like to hear him downplay RBIs that much.   Call me a baseball “traditionalist,”  but I place a lot of weight on RBIs.  I know it’s the rage to harp on OBP and OPS, but, to me, the important, intriguing side of baseball is often who can knock in runs – especially against a front-line pitcher when the game is on the line.  Usually, who gets key RBIs involves far more than mathematical probability.  

I prefer focusing most on what I see with my eyes on the field.  I look at the human part of the game – the intangibles.  I notice which hitters get RBIs, especially on the Red Sox, but, also on other teams.  Consider the just-completed post-season, which, to me, illustrated the limited value of stats.  First, in the Angels’ LDS and LCS series, which Angels’ hitter got the most hits and RBI?  It was Vladimir Guerrero, who most baseball pundits had written off as a player in decline.  Meanwhile Chone Figgins, the Angels’ electric leadoff hittter, had another horrible postseason, barely getting the bat on the ball, and Jeff Mathis, a backup catcher, hit better than most of his Angel teammates.

Do stats explain this?  No.  Are there intangible factors that seemed to come into play?  Yes.  The Angels, including Figgins, did not look confident or loose at times.  Maybe Vlad and Mathis were loose. 

Then, consider a few Yankees to further make the point.   Alex Rodriguez had his best post-season.  Again, stats were irrelevant in predicting that.  Instead, A-Rod’s performance likely had more to do with him feeling looser and feeling less internal or external pressure.   Maybe Kate Hudson helped.  Who knows?  Mark Teixeira didn’t hit that well, but, it was his first post-season for the Bombers.  Robinson Cano didn’t hit that well, but, I’ve noticed he’s seems to tighten up a bit in the playoffs.

My point here is that it takes skill, attitude, focus and learned habits to become a great RBI hitter.   Manny Ramirez has hit a TON of RBIs, perhaps because of his being loose, but focused in his at-bast, including the big ones.

Having an ability to hit different pitches from different pitchers when men are on base involves skill, but, also, a special focus and some intangibles that aren’t always reflected in stats.    For instance, take Mike Lowell on the Red Sox.  He’s a good fastball hitter who often struggles hitting breaking pitches, but, when Lowell is up with guys on base and facing two strikes, Lowell chokes up on the bat to improve his chances for making contact.  Lowell is a better hitter with men on base and gets more RBIs than some of his teammates.  He has a good attitude at the plate and does whatever he can to knock the ball to the outfield.

Derek Jeter is about the best example imaginable of having an “RBI mentality.”  With men on base, Jeter adjusts his swing – often to that “inside-out” approach – and often sticks his bat out to make contact.  How many times have we seen Jeter poke a hit just past the infield or line the ball to right to knock in key runs in a playoff game?

Well, I’d argue that this kind of ability at the plate is an invaluable skill for a player.   It means far more than OBP or runs scored.  Lowell, by the way, in my view, is a much better baseball player than JD Drew.  Yeah, Drew knows how to draw walks and get on base, but I’d take Lowell hitting with guys on base – and, Lowell will win more games knocking in runs than Drew will with his walks.

I don’t understand these “modern” arguments that RBIs have such limited value.  Maybe Big Mike, who knows baseball stats more than me, can explain it.  But, I’m sure, in the end, I’ll still have my own interpretation.

I’ve watched far too much baseball to not have my own theories and impressions.  I watched in 1967, when Carl Yastrzemski (Yaz) had perhaps the best “clutch” season of any player I’ve seen.  It wasn’t just that Yaz knocked in one key run to help win one big game after another;  it was that the more critical  the game, the more Yaz came through.  I’m thinking about how Yaz went 7-8 in the last two games of that season and the Sox won those two games vs. the Twins and barely squeaked into the playoffs.  Years later, I watched Yaz get another big clutch hit at the 1978 one-game playoff against the Yankees.  It was his first at-bat and he was facing Ron Guidry, who went 25 – 3 that year and was on fire.   Yaz belted a line-drive home run around the right-field foul pole and I recall viewing the hit, at that moment,  as a loud “Fuck You” to the Yankees.  It gave the Sox a wake-up jolt.   A key RBI, I’d say!

Flash forward to the Sox playoff game in 1986 vs the Angels, when the Sox were down 3-1 – in an elimination game, trailing 5-2 going into the 9th inning.   First, Don Baylor, miraculously, reached out to hit an outside pitch for a two-run homer, making it 5-4.  Then, Davd Henderson, a utility outfielder till then, came up and the count ran to two strikes against him.  The Sox were one strike away from elimination.  Henderson hit a 2-run HR, the Sox won the game, then, the ACLS, before losing to the Mets in the crazy Buckner game.

Something gave Baylor and Henderson the concentration to hit those incredible clutch home runs,  but, I’m convinced many players would NOT have been equipped to do so.

 As Theo Epstein tries to strengthen the 2010 Red Sox, he should confront the fact that he lacks enough players who are good at hitting RBIs in clutch situations.  In fact, it was a huge problem on the team in 2009.  The team always left a lot of men on base, often struggling to make contact against above-average pitching.  Kevin Youkilis is good at driving men in.  Lowell is good.  Victor Martinez is good.  Yet, the rest of the lineup is not impressive with  men on base:  That includes Ellsbury, Pedroia, Ortiz , Drew, Gonzalez.  (Ortiz his many RBIs in “garbage time” and often failed to hit with men on base)  That leaves Bay, and, believe it or not, even Bay has limitations with RBIs.  Many of his RBIs come with his home runs and, Bay went into long slumps.  Further, Bay often cannot drive players in when he’s facing pitchers with breaking stuff.  

So, the 2010 Red Sox are a far cry from the 2004 Sox;  yet, sometimes I get a sense Theo is in denial about the huge disparity in hitting that has been exposed.   Ramirez and Ortiz were RBI machines.  They’re gone and you can’t just put a few good OBP guys in a lineup and expect the same results.

So, Theo, while we know we need Red Sox players who can get on base, we also need a few guys with the makeup to drive them in.   RBIs are very important. 

When I was a young man, I swore I would not visit the Baseball Hall of Fame until Roger Maris was properly enshrined.

I retreated on the vow after making another vow. My oldest son, Mike, was a Johnny Bench fan. When Bench retired in 1983, Mike asked if he would make it to the Hall of Fame. I assured him that Bench would be voted in on the first ballot. Mike asked what year that would be. I said 1989. Mike asked if we could go to the induction ceremonies. I said sure. What kid remembers a promise like that five-plus years later?

Mike did. And we spent a marvelous weekend in Cooperstown watching Bench, Carl Yastrzemski, Red Schoendienst and Harry Caray inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The museum was fabulous, even crowded with induction-weekend fans. I didn’t spend much time in the hall itself. Maris wasn’t there and his absence cheapens the honor for those who are. If the selection process and the electors are obviously biased and skewed, how much can it mean to get in?

If that museum in Cooperstown were the Hall of Longevity or the Hall of High Batting Averages, then fine, leave Maris out. Those are the only two legitimate knocks against him. But it’s the Hall of Fame. And Maris is more famous than most of the players there.

First Maris broke the most famous record in baseball. Then he held it for 37 years, losing it only to players who clearly used performance-enhancing drugs. During that 37 years, you never had to explain what record Maris held. Whoever hit a lot of homers in April was on pace to pass Roger Maris and every baseball fan knew what that meant because Maris and his record were that famous. His record was so famous that when Billy Crystal made an HBO movie about that season, all he needed was the number and the unjust asterisk: 61*. Everyone knew who the movie was about. And for 37 years, all those guys who were on pace to pass Maris didn’t make it and his fame grew.

Maris set the record in 1961, an expansion year for baseball. So the Maris haters who wanted to diminish his record said he broke the record only because of watered-down pitching. But baseball expanded again in 1962 and ‘69 and ‘77 and no one came close to 61*. They even juiced the ball in 1987 and no one came close. Finally people started coming close in the ’90s when baseball expanded again. But of course, expansion had nothing to do with all the homers hit in the 1990s.

Roger Maris is not in the Hall of Fame because he didn’t suck up to baseball writers during his chase of Babe Ruth. Period. Commissioner Ford Frick hated him for breaking Ruth’s record and baseball writers hated him for not being their buddy and not being Mickey Mantle or Babe Ruth. Every other excuse anyone gives for him not being in the Hall of Fame is fiction.

He was not a one-hit wonder. Maris was a Most Valuable Player the year before he broke Ruth’s record. He was a winner, playing in five World Series for the Yankees and two more for the Cardinals, winning three championships altogether. Injuries (and negligence by Yankee doctors trying to keep him in the lineup) cut short his career, so he didn’t rack up big career numbers. He was a Gold Glove outfielder. His batting average, .260, was low, but not too low for the Hall of Fame (four points higher than Harmon Killebrew, two points higher than Rabbit Maranville, two lower than Luis Aparacio, Gary Carter and Ozzie Smith, seven lower than Bench and Mike Schmidt.) 

Maris’ 275 career homers were not too few for a Hall of Fame slugger. Hack Wilson, who holds the single-season RBI record, hit only 244. And he’s in the Hall of Fame.

But statistics aren’t the reason Maris has to be in the Hall of Fame. It’s quite simply because it’s the Hall of Fame and Maris was one of baseball’s most famous players ever. Let’s go back to 1998, back when most fans were pretending that the surge in homers was genuine. Remember what a great year that was — Big Mac and Sammy chasing Roger Maris. The Hall of Fame gets hung up on lots of arbitrary magic lines — 300 wins, 3,000 hits, 500 homers. Cross those lines (pre-steroid era, at least) and you’re in the Hall of Fame. Maris didn’t cross any of those magic lines that dozens of players have crossed.

But here’s a line that only a few have crossed: If your ghost and your record dominate a magical baseball summer decades after you retired and years after you died, you are not one of a few dozen baseball immortals. You are one of a few. Only Ruth and Lou Gehrig did that. And Maris. DiMaggio will do it if anyone ever comes close. No other record or player is so special.

Without such players, the Hall of Fame lacks credibility.

Ah yes, the checklist. There’s no worse feeling than ripping open a pack of cards and seeing one of these sitting on top. You basically just got screwed. Nobody actually wants the checklist cards, but any complete set must have them. Sadly, this is one of the crispest cards I have in the set — sharp corners, great color on the back, and nothing marked off.

And helpfully, Topps just went ahead and put a check mark next to card #188 for you — since you actually have to have the checklist to check it off on the checklist. I always hoped that Topps would make a checklist for checklists.

Unsurprisingly, old checklists can command quite a price if kept in NM condition or better. Mostly, this is because a lot of people actually used the checklists for their intended purpose, and checked the boxes (and I have a few that demonstrate this). Of course, marking the cards instantly makes them virtually worthless, which most serious collectors figured out over the years. Thus, checklists are almost never used for utilitarian purposes, and really don’t make much sense anymore. This particular card lists in SMR for $12 in NM condition — $4 more than a common player from this series.

Seven Hall of Famers are listed on this particular checklist — Harmon Killebrew, Sandy Koufax, Nellie Fox, Carl Yastrzemski, Brooks Robinson, Al Kaline, and Frank Robinson. Also, Yastrzemski appears on #182 “Sox Sockers.”

On this day in 1979 Carl Yastrzemski collected hit #3000 of his amazing baseball career!!!

On the road and taking on the New York Yankees in front of 34,000+ Yankee fans, Carl Yastrzemski and the Boston Red Sox made this game a memorable one.  Winning easily 9-2 against their divisional foes, ‘Yaz’ and the Red Sox enjoyed both team and individual success on this historic day.

In the bottom of the 8th inning, ‘Yaz’ connected for a single off of Yankees’ pitcher Jim Beattie.  Hit #3,000 was 19 years in the making, but Carl Yastrzemksi’s dedication to the game and the art of hitting certainly helped earn him a spot in this legendary club.

Conrats ‘Yaz’!!!

So, it is far too often that news involving the New York Yankees is blown way out of proportion.  A clubhouse tiff becomes fodder for pundits nationwide, a decent starting pitcher gets higher name recognition than a better pitcher on 75% of the other MLB rosters, or a promising prospect is incessantly hyped as “The Next Big Thing”.

It’s all so ponderous and predictable that it can sometimes be easy to tune out when there is news out of the Bronx that is worthy of our attention.

And, Derek Jeter’s pursuit of the Yankees all-time hits record is just that. 

Derek Jeter

Now, I’m not about to deify Jeter – he’s a great shortstop who rose to prominence in an era of great shortstops, many of whom (Miguel Tejada and current teammate Alex Rodriguez, for example) have been exposed as partial frauds, at best.  We hold our breath on Jeter, and hope that he never ends up on a positive test list.

But making the relatively safe assumption that he is clean, establishing an all-time record for a franchise as storied as the Yankees simply must be recognized. 

Jeter is three hits shy of tying Lou Gehrig’s franchise record of 2,721, although he missed a chance to make up some of that ground in yesterday’s doubleheader with the Tampa Bay Rays.  Even while pulling an 0-8, his first back-to-back hitless games in almost two months, Jeter remains a candidate to catch fire at any moment and end the anticipation that has put all eyes on the captain of the club with the best record in baseball.

MLB.com provides some great perspective on the milestone with statistical analysis of the Yankees’ hitting history to go along with a chart of the all-time team-by-team hit leaders.  Those numbers, through games of September 6th, look like this:
 
Tigers – Ty Cobb 3,900
Cardinals – Stan Musial 3,630
Braves – Hank Aaron 3,600
Red Sox – Carl Yastrzemski 3,419
Reds  – Pete Rose 3,358
Giants  – Willie Mays 3,187
Orioles – Cal Ripken Jr. 3,184
Royals – George Brett 3,154
Brewers/Pilots – Robin Yount 3,142
Padres – Tony Gwynn 3,141
Astros – Craig Biggio 3,060
Pirates – Roberto Clemente 3,000
Cubs – Cap Anson 2,995
Twins/Senators – Sam Rice 2,889
Dodgers – Zack Wheat 2,804
White Sox – Luke Appling 2,749
Yankees – Lou Gehrig 2,721
Angels – Garret Anderson 2,368
Mariners – Edgar Martinez 2,247
Phillies – Mike Schmidt 2,234
Rockies – Todd Helton 2,110
Indians – Napoleon Lajoie 2,046
Athletics – Bert Campaneris 1,882
Rangers/Senators – Ivan Rodriguez 1,734
Nationals/Expos – Tim Wallach 1,694
Blue Jays – Tony Fernandez 1,583
Mets – Ed Kranepool 1,418
Diamondbacks – Luis Gonzalez 1,337
Marlins – Luis Castillo 1,273
Rays – Carl Crawford 1,270

Note that these are not representative of total hits by player by career, but rather those that came while wearing the uniform of the franchise in question.

And while it is surprising, though not shocking, to note that no player in Yankee history has managed 3,000 hits during his Yankee tenure, it is rather hard to believe that not one of the 27 players who eventually reached 3,000 hits during their careers started out in the Yankee organization. 

Jeter is not leaving the Yankees for the foreseeable future and at his age (35), one would have to believe that he will end that streak as he is likely to reach the vaunted number sometime early in the 2011 season.

Appreciate him for what he is – a steady performer at one of the toughest positions on the diamond who has shined brightly in the glare of constant attention.  Four-time World Series Champion has a nice ring to it too.

And for a little perspective on the degree of difficulty of “making it” in New York, New York, just take a look back at that list and note that Ed Kranepool, the all-time hits leader during the nearly 50-year history of the crosstown Mets, sits at a number not even halfway to the magical 3,000.  And that’s why they are once and forever the Amazin’ Mets. 

As for Jeter and the Yankees, hold your nose a little if you must as you absorb the media’s obsession with all things Yankees.  But don’t let it detract from another huge accomplishment in a fantastic, Hall-of-Fame career.

Before you ignore this post because you’ve heard it all about Pete Rose and you’re sick of it, give it a chance. I think this is a different argument than you’re expecting.

"Charlie Hustle"

The recent steroid scandals in Major League Baseball have undermined the legitimacy of the sport and many of its players’ accomplishments. The hallowed season and career homerun records, held by Barry Bonds, are considered by many to be the product of cheating, and many other big names have been linked to steroid use including Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez. These players allegedly took drugs that, to put it simply, made them stronger so that they could hit the ball farther, throw the ball harder, hit more homeruns, and strike more batters out.

To me, this makes betting on baseball seem almost inconsequential, like who cares? I am, of course, alluding to the infamous Pete Rose controversy. Rose was kicked out of baseball years ago as a manager for making bets on major league teams, possibly even betting on his own Cincinnati Reds team. While I understand the rule against betting on your own sport while simultaneously managing, it doesn’t seem to me that he went as far as cheating. He didn’t do anything illegal to help his team hit more homeruns or strike more batters out, yet he is banned from baseball all together, while steroid users are not.

There are many arguments for and against Pete Rose being allowed into Cooperstown, baseball’s Hall of Fame, and just about all of them – like mine above – have to do with whether or not his life-long ban from the game is fair. No argument that I’ve ever seen questions his actual ability and value to his respective teams. It’s always taken for granted that he was good enough. Here’s what I’m wondering: was Pete Rose actually good enough to make the Hall of Fame?

Players are often stacked up against others of their same position in order to make fair comparisons. Pete Rose played seemingly every position. 673 games in left, 590 in right, 73 in center, 939 at first, 634 at third and 628 at second. While versatility is a trait managers enjoy, it also tends to lead to mediocrity, and in Rose’s case, submediocrity. Throughout the course of his career, baseball-reference estimates that Rose cost his teams over 50 runs on the defensive side.

As for hitting, sure Rose holds the career record for hits. But the value of that record exists only in the fantasies of people who like records, not on the actual diamond. While he hit safely often, he lacked power and only finished one of his 24 seasons with an On-base plus Slugging (OPS) over 0.900. Though “Charlie Hustle” was his nickname, his aggression on the base paths hurt his ballclubs. Rose succeeded on just 57% of his steal attempts, making his base running counterproductive to scoring runs.

Carl Yastrzemski

Rose’s primary competition in his Hall-of-Fame class would have been Carl Yastrzemski, who also played the majority* of his career in either left field or at first base. Yastrzemski finished his career with a higher OPS than Rose, even after adjusting his numbers for the fact that he played every other game in Fenway (a hitter’s park). Baseball-reference estimates that Yastrzemski saved the Red Sox about 180 runs with his glove, as opposed to costing his team as Rose did.

In the end, I plugged all their stats into my Runs Above Average (RAA) formula to determine the value of each player in the currency of runs (taking into account ballpark biases). The results are listed below in terms of RAA per 162 games (RAA/162).

For those of you who like career totals, Yastrzemski saved the Red Sox nearly 755 runs over an average player, dwarfing Pete Rose’s figure of 411. Though there aren’t really rules about who gets in and who gets left out, the Hall of Fame generally admits the best player at each position every decade or so, unless there is more than one obvious choice. However, Yastrzemski pretty much blows Rose out of the water. In my humble opinion, while Rose should be re-admitted into baseball, he does not deserve a spot in Cooperstown, gambling or no gambling.

*If we’re getting technical, Rose only played a plurality of his games in either left or at first. Look it up.