Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Morris’ Last Shot
January 8th, 2014 | 
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Later today the announcement will come. Like Dale Murphy, who spent 15 years on the ballot without winning a spot, Jack Morris could end his 15-year stint without being named to the Hall of Fame. But unlike Muprhy, Morris has come very close to being named to the Hall. And if he doesn’t make it, it could as easily be blamed on the current climate around the ballot as anything else.
Morris was on 67.7% of the ballotts last year — the year no one was named to the Hall. That level was 2nd overall last year, behind Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, and a host of other big names, names like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa—the names of those who we know were better players than Jack Morris, but who we also know used steroids. There seems little question that last year’s vote was meant symbolically to say: we would rather not put anyone in the Hall of Fame than elect you who used steroids.
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Harper reaches Derby finals
Bryce Harper reached the finals of last night’s Home Run Derby, but despite a remarkably consistent performance (Harper hit 8 home runs in each of 3 rounds), Harper was passed by the Oakland A’s Yoenis Céspedes, who dominated the first round with 17 home runs and then easily passed Harper in the final round, hitting the winning home run with 5 of his 10 outs to go.
The Mormons on your All-Star Ballot
When I went to a recent ballgame, I discovered that the All Star ballots have been prepared and are available already. So, I thought I should point out who the Mormon candidates on the ballots are.
Appearing on the ballot isn’t terribly significant — each team’s starters at each position(except for pitcher) appear on the ballot, backup players are ineligible. Of course who the starter is changes during the season, so those who appear on the ballot reflect what the team expects or has early in April, and apparently makes allowances for those on the DL — such as the Cubs’ Mormon 2nd baseman, Darwin Barney, who spent most of April on the DL, but still appeared on the ballot.
Still, unless readers go through our listings and compare them to the All Star ballot, it might be possible to miss someone, so here is the list of the Mormons on the printed All Star ballot:
We’re “incredibly reliable-looking”
Sean McKissick over at Curveball City, which has covered all things Oakland Athletics since 2005 (!), paid us the very nice compliment above in his post today about the trade of minor leaguer Stephen Parker (who we have on our list of Mormon players). Sean apparently came upon Mormon Baseball in a google search, and filled out the trio of Mormon “proto-Athletics” that have been so impressive in Spring Training this year.
Wow! Thanks for the shout out, Sean!
Sorry, Murphy!
Despite a heartfelt campaign led by his children, LDS baseball star and former Massachusetts Boston Mission President Dale Murphy was not inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame, according to the results announced this afternoon. While that result was expected, the fact that fellow Mormon Jack Morris was also not selected was almost as suprising as the fact that the BBWAA selected none of the eligible players this year. The group last failed to add any players to the Hall of Fame in 1996.
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Two Mormons in massive Toronto-Miami Trade
Two Mormon players are part of the massive trade between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Miami Marlins last week that involved a total of 10 players and gutted the highly-paid Marlins team. High performing pitcher Josh Johnson and struggling catcher John Buck were both traded to the Blue Jays as the Marlins reduced their payroll following a losing season. The deal is pending league approval.
Harper named NL Rookie of the Year
The Washington National’s Bryce Harper has been named the 2012 National League Rookie of the Year. Harper was selected over fellow finalists Todd Frazier of the Cincinnati Reds and Wade Miley of the Arizona Diamondbacks, both of whom had strong seasons through most of the year but struggled in the final months. In contrast, Harper struggled in July and August and then finished very strong in September, helping his team make the playoffs.