When I saw the title of this and then read you leading off with "League of their Own," I thought you were going to talk about Dottie Hinson's transcendent 1943 season in the AAGPBL.
My definition of a best movie is one I will watch anytime it shows up when I'm channel surfing. So for baseball, for me it's Major League, 42 and For Love of the Game.
Anything else depends on my mood at the moment, but my other favorites are A League of Their Own and The Natural. I enjoyed Bull Durham but have never particularly felt like rewatching it. Ditto Field of Dreams.
After that I don’t much care. I find The Natural kinda boring. Bull Durham is fine, but Major League is better in almost every way. Field of Dreams was fine as a kid but I don’t much care for it now. I recall liking Pride of the Yankees but haven’t seen in in decades.
One thing that bugs me with The Sandlot is the game against the organized team, let’s call them the rich kids cause that’s kinda how they come off. The game is at the rich kids field, but Ham yells “Play Ball” with his catcher gear on, implying they were batting second and thus the home team. I can’t believe those rich kids would agree to be visitors at their own field.
I'll preface this with I'm not conspiracy theory guy (buying into them), but I do enjoy following the thread such as who would benefit if it was true.
Every owner will publicly hate it if the Dodgers get Skubal, but will they (other than the Brewers perhaps) actually celebrate it so they can publicly shore up their case to the fans that their proposal is needed to fix the game? Their worst case scenario going into the offseason negotiations would be for the Brewers with Skubal defeating the Rays in the World Series which would allow the players to say "see! the game is fine, in fact better than ever! our proposal is best."
The conspiracy theory would be that if the Dodgers get Skubal then the Rays and the Brewers didn't try as hard as they could have because although the Dodgers getting him hurts them slightly in the short run (reduced chance of winning the WS), it helps them in the long run if salary cap is introduced.
I'm a Tiger fan, albeit born after Cash retired. I tend to forget how good Cash was. I think he's a Hall of Very Good player.
.271/.374/.488 with a 139 OPS+. If he became an everyday player before 26, and/or missed fewer games throughout his career, his case for the HOF could have been interesting.
Yep, a very good player even without that one magical season. In addition to the late start / durability issue you note, he has a few other things going against him for the HOF discussions. In no particular order:
That '61 season really sticks out; his .361 BA was a career best by 75 points and a bWAR roughly equal to his next two best combined.
He played the core of his career in Deadball v 2.0. Move him back to have his core in the 1950s or forward to the 80s and he hits ~450 homers.
He was seen as a bit of a clown, famously coming to bat with a table leg for the final out of one of Nolan Ryan's no hitters.
The Tigers were one of several teams that could have filled the void after the end of the Yankee dynasty. That they didn't is held against him just like it is against Bill Freehan.
That 1961 season was a crazy one. In addition to Gentile’s outlier season Norm Cash hit.361 with 41 homers and 139 ribbies. Gentile finished 3rd for the MVP and Stormin’ Norman 4th behind a couple of guys that hit a bunch of homers.
It makes me feel old that many here would need your identifier to know who Wild Bill was. He was as much a fixture of my childhood as was the rainbow wig wearing John 3:16 sign carrying Dodger fan or Morganna the Kissing Bandit.
Noted that three of your "crazy singular seasons"--Gentile, Anderson and Davis--were Orioles.
His power was unbelievable. There was more than one occasion I saw him get utterly fooled by a pitch as he swung, reach out with one hand on the bat to just get the end on the ball, and yank it up over the right-field scoreboard.
And yeah, the Orioles do their HOF right. Pretty much the only controversy I remember was over Roberto Alomar, because he only played three years in Baltimore. But pretty much anyone who the team wants--players with notable tenures, managers, coaches, clubhouse staff, front-office staff, media, even a couple fans--can get honored.
Orioles fan here, and I wholeheartedly support the team’s approach to the Hall of Fame. Every year, there’s a nice luncheon that fans can attend, there’s a pregame ceremony, and someone who sparks happy memories gets his moment in the sun. I always try and attend this game. It’s fun.
Chris Davis is unique in that he has such a negative end to his career. But the first five full seasons with the team he put up 17.7 bWAR, hit 197 home runs, and led the Orioles to the best record in the AL over that span (though his best seasons were weirdly the years the Orioles didn’t make the playoffs in that period). Pretend he never signed that contract and everyone is happy to welcome him back to Oriole Park this weekend.
My absolute favorite Chris Davis memory has nothing to do with his hitting, however. It’s a two inning scoreless pitching appearance on May 6, 2012. The Orioles were off to a surprising 18-9 start and had won four in a row at New York and Boston, but no one was really sure if the team was actually any good. Then they played a 17-inning marathon in the final game at Boston and ran out of pitchers. Davis threw a scoreless bottom of the 16th, the Orioles scored 3 in the top of the 17th off the Red Sox’s own position player pitcher, and then Davis threw a scoreless 17th, getting the final out in a double play. O’s win, and Birdland believes. They went on to earn a wild card and the AL playoffs for the first time in 15 years.
My grandmother went into hospice care that morning, already in the coma she would pass away from later that night, and my family gathered in her room as sort of a goodbye vigil. We were watching the game in the meantime, and around the point it went into extras we decided that we would stay until the game ended and (we hoped) come back the next day. But the game just...wouldn't...end. Finally when it went into the 16th it was getting late and we decided we had to leave, so I listened to the end on the radio. But it was so weird that on that day of all days they played that game.
When I saw the title of this and then read you leading off with "League of their Own," I thought you were going to talk about Dottie Hinson's transcendent 1943 season in the AAGPBL.
It would've been nice if you included some context for those crazy singular seasons so we could understand just how "crazy" they were.
My definition of a best movie is one I will watch anytime it shows up when I'm channel surfing. So for baseball, for me it's Major League, 42 and For Love of the Game.
Anything else depends on my mood at the moment, but my other favorites are A League of Their Own and The Natural. I enjoyed Bull Durham but have never particularly felt like rewatching it. Ditto Field of Dreams.
I liked league of their own. May beat out bull Durham for second place. But nothing beats the magic of field of dreams
My personal baseball movie list:
1. Major League
2. A League of Their Own
3. The Sandlot
After that I don’t much care. I find The Natural kinda boring. Bull Durham is fine, but Major League is better in almost every way. Field of Dreams was fine as a kid but I don’t much care for it now. I recall liking Pride of the Yankees but haven’t seen in in decades.
One thing that bugs me with The Sandlot is the game against the organized team, let’s call them the rich kids cause that’s kinda how they come off. The game is at the rich kids field, but Ham yells “Play Ball” with his catcher gear on, implying they were batting second and thus the home team. I can’t believe those rich kids would agree to be visitors at their own field.
I'll preface this with I'm not conspiracy theory guy (buying into them), but I do enjoy following the thread such as who would benefit if it was true.
Every owner will publicly hate it if the Dodgers get Skubal, but will they (other than the Brewers perhaps) actually celebrate it so they can publicly shore up their case to the fans that their proposal is needed to fix the game? Their worst case scenario going into the offseason negotiations would be for the Brewers with Skubal defeating the Rays in the World Series which would allow the players to say "see! the game is fine, in fact better than ever! our proposal is best."
The conspiracy theory would be that if the Dodgers get Skubal then the Rays and the Brewers didn't try as hard as they could have because although the Dodgers getting him hurts them slightly in the short run (reduced chance of winning the WS), it helps them in the long run if salary cap is introduced.
They're absolutely cheering for the Dodgers. I'd love to see the reaction of the winning owner if their team knocks the Dodgers out.
Joe, I’m surprised you didn’t mention Tommy Pham’s .300/.400/.500 season in 2017 considering you’re such a big Phamnmnmn.
Here a couple of other outlier seasons- 1961 Norm Ca$h (Cash) -.361 41 132 - his only season in a 17 yr career in which he hit .300. 2000 Darin Erstad
.355 25 100 with 240 hits - his only .300 season, 20 hr season and 100 rbi season in a 15 yr career
"see, how it works is, the train moves not the station" - always loved that line. Jon Lovitz making the absolute most of a small part
"We’ll discuss if David Strathairn is the best minor baseball character actor ever."
Were James Earl Jones' roles too big to be a baseball character actor? Field of Dreams, The Sandlot, & Bingo Long. Quite the showing.
...
Was Norm Cash too good overall for his '61 season to be crazy singular? How about Davey Johnson 1973?
...
I like team halls of fame being inclusive and retiring of uniform numbers to be stingy.
I'm a Tiger fan, albeit born after Cash retired. I tend to forget how good Cash was. I think he's a Hall of Very Good player.
.271/.374/.488 with a 139 OPS+. If he became an everyday player before 26, and/or missed fewer games throughout his career, his case for the HOF could have been interesting.
Yep, a very good player even without that one magical season. In addition to the late start / durability issue you note, he has a few other things going against him for the HOF discussions. In no particular order:
That '61 season really sticks out; his .361 BA was a career best by 75 points and a bWAR roughly equal to his next two best combined.
He played the core of his career in Deadball v 2.0. Move him back to have his core in the 1950s or forward to the 80s and he hits ~450 homers.
He was seen as a bit of a clown, famously coming to bat with a table leg for the final out of one of Nolan Ryan's no hitters.
The Tigers were one of several teams that could have filled the void after the end of the Yankee dynasty. That they didn't is held against him just like it is against Bill Freehan.
Jimmy Dugan after getting kicked out for telling the umpire he looks like a ***** with a little hat on:
Now, you misunderstood me...
That 1961 season was a crazy one. In addition to Gentile’s outlier season Norm Cash hit.361 with 41 homers and 139 ribbies. Gentile finished 3rd for the MVP and Stormin’ Norman 4th behind a couple of guys that hit a bunch of homers.
William "Wild Bill" Hagy is in the Orioles Hall of Fame - and they named a special award after him.
The guy on the dugout leading the cheer is "Wild Bill":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMKVE-RleJ0
It makes me feel old that many here would need your identifier to know who Wild Bill was. He was as much a fixture of my childhood as was the rainbow wig wearing John 3:16 sign carrying Dodger fan or Morganna the Kissing Bandit.
Noted that three of your "crazy singular seasons"--Gentile, Anderson and Davis--were Orioles.
His power was unbelievable. There was more than one occasion I saw him get utterly fooled by a pitch as he swung, reach out with one hand on the bat to just get the end on the ball, and yank it up over the right-field scoreboard.
And yeah, the Orioles do their HOF right. Pretty much the only controversy I remember was over Roberto Alomar, because he only played three years in Baltimore. But pretty much anyone who the team wants--players with notable tenures, managers, coaches, clubhouse staff, front-office staff, media, even a couple fans--can get honored.
Can they finally induct John Miller now that the Angelos family is out of the picture?
Probably not. He only had 227 IP of below average ERA+ in his up and down Orioles career. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/millejo03.shtml
But maybe Jon Miller instead.
P.S. There will come a day when I don't have a typo. Today will not be that day. But it doesn't stop me from gently mocking others'.
For your best baseball movies, don't forget "Bang the Drum Slowly."
Orioles fan here, and I wholeheartedly support the team’s approach to the Hall of Fame. Every year, there’s a nice luncheon that fans can attend, there’s a pregame ceremony, and someone who sparks happy memories gets his moment in the sun. I always try and attend this game. It’s fun.
Chris Davis is unique in that he has such a negative end to his career. But the first five full seasons with the team he put up 17.7 bWAR, hit 197 home runs, and led the Orioles to the best record in the AL over that span (though his best seasons were weirdly the years the Orioles didn’t make the playoffs in that period). Pretend he never signed that contract and everyone is happy to welcome him back to Oriole Park this weekend.
My absolute favorite Chris Davis memory has nothing to do with his hitting, however. It’s a two inning scoreless pitching appearance on May 6, 2012. The Orioles were off to a surprising 18-9 start and had won four in a row at New York and Boston, but no one was really sure if the team was actually any good. Then they played a 17-inning marathon in the final game at Boston and ran out of pitchers. Davis threw a scoreless bottom of the 16th, the Orioles scored 3 in the top of the 17th off the Red Sox’s own position player pitcher, and then Davis threw a scoreless 17th, getting the final out in a double play. O’s win, and Birdland believes. They went on to earn a wild card and the AL playoffs for the first time in 15 years.
My grandmother went into hospice care that morning, already in the coma she would pass away from later that night, and my family gathered in her room as sort of a goodbye vigil. We were watching the game in the meantime, and around the point it went into extras we decided that we would stay until the game ended and (we hoped) come back the next day. But the game just...wouldn't...end. Finally when it went into the 16th it was getting late and we decided we had to leave, so I listened to the end on the radio. But it was so weird that on that day of all days they played that game.