The Chris Moeller Archives

Induction Tuesday

There are various sports issues to discuss today...

First, congratulations to Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg on their induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Boggs was a no-doubter for me, but not because of his 3,000 hits. I'm not a big believer in the magic numbers for induction, especially the ones that have their own "club"- 3,000 hits, 500 home runs, 300 wins, etc. Certainly, 500 career home runs meant more in 1980 than it did in 2000, and 300 wins meant less in 1980 than it did in 2000. What makes Boggs one of the greats is the five batting titles. That's an achievement that tells you a little about how he stacked up against his peers.
Sandberg proved your team doesn't have to win for you to reach the Hall. Frankly, I always thought "Ryno's" offensive stats were the product of his home ballpark, Wrigley Field. Furthermore, he was the first of these middle infielders playing out of position. He was sure-handed of course, but he had very little range at second base, and I can't remember ever seeing him dive for a ball. You have to wonder if his numbers would be worthy of the Hall if they had been achieved at third or first base where he was more suited defensively. He was also painfully quiet, and I've always wondered whether his unwillingness to assume a leadership role kept the Cubs from winning during the Sandberg era.

My favorite memory of Boggs was during my one and only trip to Fenway Park in 1987. My father, brother, and I were crowding the dugout before the game as Boggs played catch along the first base foul line. At Fenway, the fans can get very close to the field, and an annoying kid kept shouting out, "Wade... Wade... Wade." Boggs yelled, "Shut up, kid."
I have a couple of fond memories of Sandberg. During the course of this year, you'll no doubt hear a lot about the day Ryno hit 2 homers off Bruce Sutter and the Cardinals on the NBC Game of the Week in 1984. It was a great ballgame. Willie McGee hit for the cycle, and had already been named the NBC Player of the Game when Sandberg hit his first homer in the ninth inning. Keep in mind when you hear about this game that it took place in June. What does it say about the Cubs that their shining moment in the Cardinals series took place three weeks before the All-Star Game?
My other fond memory of Sandberg is that he was my good friend David Levenhagen's favorite player. Dave owns a Sandberg #23 jersey, and he and I have enjoyed a few nice afternoons at Wrigley Field and Busch Stadium with him in his jersey and me in my Ozzie #1 jersey. (See Saturday's blog for Ozzie's ranking as the most famous #1 in sports history.) When we wear them together at the park now, years after both players have retired, we get a lot of nice comments from both Cards and Cubs fans. The two players were frequently double play partners in the All-Star Game, and best embody the rivalry during the '80s and early '90s. After Musial and Banks, Gibby and Fergie- and before McGwire and Sosa, it was Ozzie and Ryno.

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For the record, my Hall of Fame ballot would have been very sparse. I would have put Boggs at the top of my ballot. I would have put former Cubs' and Cards' reliever Bruce Sutter second, for having pioneered the closer's position. He racked up 300 saves, 2 or 3 innings at a time. He shut down Game 7 of the 1982 World Series, which should be the equivalent of about 50 more saves. He invented the split-finger fastball, and he won five Rolaids' Relief Man Awards to Goose Gossage's three- which means he should go in first. I'll support Gossage's effort after Sutter gets in. My third and final vote would have gone to Willie McGee, for winning an MVP, two batting titles, and being the most Christ-like ballplayer in the game's history. I hope Boggs and Sandberg will display McGee-like humility when they make their induction speeches. I'm pleased to announce that Willie got 26 votes in his first year- and he needed all 26 of them to hit 5 percent. Reaching that plateau means he'll stay on the ballot next year. I would have made Ryno sweat it out for a few more years.

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The ABC play-by-play man started tonight's Orange Bowl with the line, "This is what all the teams play for." I couldn't help but wonder what the Auburn Tigers and Utah Utes must have been thinking when they heard that. Both those teams won every game they played this year. They were left out of the championship game basically because their schedules- made out four years ago, weren't tough enough.

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The sports media is gullible to believe the Yankees are dropping out of the Carlos Beltran bidding. They're just posturing, people! That's what they do. Did anyone doubt that the Randy Johnson trade wouldn't work itself out? Beltran's agent, Scott Boras, needs the Yankees to spike the auction, and Steinbrenner's pretending he's a virgin on his wedding night. The Mets might wind up throwing more money at Beltran, but the Yankees have not made their last offer. The good news is that the Bronx Bombers are continuing to disintegrate. There have now been four franchises that have won the World Series since the Yankees. They continue to get older, more fragile, and less suited to their ballpark- which is a lefty pitcher's and lefty slugger's paradise. Steinbrenner's wild spending simply reveals his rampant insecurity. They can still buy the horses to flatten their division rivals, but the intangibles they relied upon in the post-seasons of the late '90s- the tough at-bats and the professional execution- have left the building.

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I must now watch the Orange Bowl. I rented an HDTV for the night. I'm going to get out a magnifying glass and search for O.J. in the stands.

posted by CM @ 8:33 PM