Valediction

Didn't watch Bugs Bunny much, did you? What A Maroon! - YouTube As for the proportionality, people are just reacting to the latest of what seems to be a non stop shots at the fan base. Twinsfest was one of my favorite times of year as a teen/early 20's guy. Meet the players, get autographs, talk baseball, get excited about the season coming up, even if you knew they were likely to struggle. It was fun, affordable, seemed like it was designed to give something back to the fans while at the same time raising some money for charity. I decided to go on a whim this year. $10 for parking, $15 to get in the door, every autograph station was $10-$35 (ok, the minor leaguers were still free), it was just under $15 for a cheeseburger, bag of chips, and a Pepsi. I paid $15 for a 'grab bag' when I got there, should have researched that first. 1:3 had a Twins autograph. Naturally, I fell in the 2:3 that didn't, so I got last seasons yearbook, a poster of the team that avoided 100 losses, a keychain, and a replica Mpls Millers pennant. I broke down and sprung for the $20 to get two of my favorite former Twins, Gladden and Oliva. I had spent $75 so far, and I hadn't even gotten to the baseball card show yet! Same with the games. I took my younger nephew to a game last year, got us some $20 tickets, took the light rail in, had some ballpark food, a yearbook and program for him and I was over $80 for the day. For me and an 11 year old! Pretty much makes sure it isn't going to be any kind of regular excursion unless the lottery comes calling. Then they sign a bunch of marginal pitchers, hoping something will stick, cut payroll, get us that early 80's vibe going again, and then they talk about $15 tickets to see batting practice. I keep hearing about extra security, how much freaking extra security do you need to keep 60 season ticket holders in line before they can even buy a beer? 3 guys maybe? Even at $50/hour that's three guys needed for an extra hour or so, so figure $150 (and I doubt they're paying $50/hr) As they pointed out, open the concession stand here and there. It doesn't take THAT many $4.50 20oz bottles of Mt Dew or $6 hot dogs to cover the extra costs.

He could think that because he looked at the numbers. Look at the numbers straight up and tell me how they are Hall worthy? His closest comparable players are: Don Mattingly, on year 13 and not close to getting elected, Cecil Cooper, who never got one vote, Magglio Ordonez He doesn't seem like a HOF'er to me Carl Furillo, never came close Kiki Cuyler-made the Hall as a Vet Committee selection Cesar Cedeno, Tony Oliva, Minnie Minoso, Cy Williams and Felipe Alou: none of them in the Hall if you compare by age, most of his career is comparable to Mike Greenwell and Al Oliver, He got in because of sympathy for the way his career ended, not by traditional stats and measures. Would he have gotten in if he had finished his career normally? We'll never know. It's impossible to know if he would have kept producing at a level high enough to get to 3,000 or if he would have declined like many others. He was 35 years old in 1995, there could have been a few decent years left that cemented his legacy, or skills can diminish rapidly and he may have still been on the ballot like Mattingly and Murphy.