cecil cooper? I used his baseball card in the spokes of my bike's back tire. nothin' beats good players from the 80's though, give me Molitor, Yount, George Brett, Brett Butler, Orel Hersheiser any day...

ozzie smith too...

Glad you have one black guy--sheesh.

Sorry OJ but I'm not buying. During Cooper's 7 best years (1977 - 1983) he was indeed outstanding, but Eddie Murray was a little more so. While Cooper has a little bit better batting average, Murray leads in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and home runs. Both men won 2 Gold Gloves during that time and played in four All-Star Games.

Also, remember that Rod Carew was still hitting about .330 every year during that time, won the MVP in 1977 and played in all 7 all star games.

Cretin High School?

I suppose that Gorman Thomas stands no chance?

Robert:

I'm afraid his lifetime .225 batting average is a bit of a hinderance. He didn't hit 'em often, but when he did they went a long, long way.

Gorman was certainly the most likeable--his at-bat against Dave LaRoche the funniest moment in the history of the sport.

Jeff:

and Murray both got to play at a younger age (Coop was stuck, inexplicably, behind George Scott in Boston) and lasted longer. But that they were comparable for that time and Murray is in the Hall easily suggests how good Cooper was.

OJ:

Bill James makes the same point in his Historical Abstract. While Cooper's best seasons were HOF worthy, his career numbers are a little light, sort of like Don Mattingly. I never understood why the Sox never figured that out. Fenway has historically been kind to left handed line drive hitters (Williams, Pesky, Runnels, Lynn, even Buckner).

There was never any better defensive first baseman than Keith Hernandez in any year that he played.

Matt:

He was the most overrated defensive player, other than Roberto Alomar, of my lifetime.

For every extraordinary pick that he made, there'd be an idiotic attempt to field a bunt spectacularly which he'd turn into at least two bases.

Barry--

Pronounced "Creetin." Molitor is the best ballplayer ever produced there, but they also had Terry Steinbach, and Joe Mauer, 2002 overall #1 pick (Twins should have taken Prior but Mauer is widely considered the best hitting prospect in baseball).

Jack Morris was a St Paul guy too.

Gorman was certainly the most likeable--his at-bat against Dave LaRoche the funniest moment in the history of the sport.

Nah -- I gotta go with Tony Horton's at-bat for Cleveland against the Yankees' Steve Hamilton in 1970. Only time in history a batter has crawled back to the dugout after a strikeout...

Thanks Brian.

I couldn't figure out why a Minnesota high school was named after a Canadian prime minister.

(Maybe they should seriously consider renaming the place Diamond High.)

Barry--

It is however the source of many jokes and I'm quite sure the students have heard them all.

What's really odd is that the high school's own home page doesn't even tell us the origin of the name--Cretin was the first bishop of St Paul as the also funnily-named Fulton Klinkerfues reminds us.

St Paul's original name was Pig's Eye.

I couldn't figure out why a Minnesota high school was named after a Canadian prime minister.

It IS run by the Christian Brothers (in French "Les Freres des Ecoles chretiennes")--so close, and yet so far.

Re the HoF: How did Ryne Sandberg get passed over again?

Re Gorman Thomas: While he was still and active player, a Brewers fan asked him to sign a baseball that was already autographed by Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle. Gorman refused to sign it, telling the fan that someday she'd appreciate that he didn't mess up her ball.

oj-

I NEVER saw it that way with Hernandez. 11 straight National League Gold Gloves tells me the sportswriters didn't either. ELEVEN!!!!!

Matt:

Alomar has a pile too and Bill James long ago showed his range is mediocre.

oj -

I'm not talking about Alomar, but anyone who watched Toronto's teams in the early 90's can't claim that Alomar didn't have phenomenal range, at that stage in his career at least.

Maybe we should do away with award voting. We can just let Bill James decide who should win everything each year using statistical software without watching a single game.

Matt:

I think that's an excellent idea.

oj

Maybe as conservatives we can consider making a "Bill James" exception to the cloning ban, just to make sure baseball's major decisions are handed down fairly in perpetuity.

I have so much (straight) love for this website.

Matt:

His formulae will long outlive him.

Cooper was a free-swinger, so his old-fashioned stats like batting average, homers, and RBI's look better than the more sophisticated stats now in use, like on-base average and slugging average.

Molitor had a fine career but his totals were extended by the great leap forward in offense in 1993, and by playing DH. He had some underachieving years during the early 1980s snowstorm, like Keith Hernandez did. I wonder if it was for the same reason?

Steve:

It was, he was an addict and did rehab.