Joe Posnanski on Frank Thomas
Joe Posnanski, who as a writer for the KC Star saw quite a bit of the Big Hurt's damage, does what JoePos does. He explains in simple, beautiful words why Frank Thomas is one of the two clearest cut Hall of Famers from the last 20 years.
JoePos is never out with the first column - just the best ones.
6 months ago
Bama Hawkeye
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I'll admit
I though Anderson was a known juicer. I’m flogging myself now in penance.
South Side Hitman... employed and on assignment.
by The Hooligan on Feb 15, 2010 2:02 PM CST reply actions
This dude is always absolutely hilarious
Still, by consensus, I would say a Fair Play List might look a little bit like this (feel free to add your own players):
– Frank Thomas
– Ken Griffey
– Greg Maddux
– Pedro Martinez
– David Eckstein
– Jamie Moyer
– Every Royals hitter since 1985.* lmao!
“You know how they say in "Field of Dreams" that the 1960s never came to Iowa. Well, it’s like the steroid era never came to Kansas City and Minnesota. Or, more likely, the Royals and Twins could only afford the steroid users who did not hit a lot of home runs.”
I don’t get it. KC have him and Rany. Even Neyer to a certain extent. How come they have such good national regular writers covering (from a fans perspective) them? Don’t get me wrong I’d love Jim and Cheat to get recognized but is it because the team sucks? Great article.
"You're lucky I'm retired"
Jack Bauer
Mobile rec.
"his ballerness could not be stoped which rose his era to 5.42 "
by Chiburb on Feb 15, 2010 3:05 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
Hard to be humorous about success
Without coming off like an ass. I also wouldn’t be surprised if the bigger markets demand blander, “safer” writing.
by Grinder in Training on Feb 15, 2010 2:38 PM CST up reply actions
Mike Royko was not "safe".
George Vecsey is not “safe”. IMO.Granted, MSM is “safer” than blogs. I’d love to hear SoxMachine’s opinion.
I couldn’t figure it out yesterday, but it came to me at 4am. Then I understood the FOGhat, laughed so hard I farted, and went back to bed.
I read once that the Trib tried to get Poz
But the KC Star is one of the greatest papers to work for, in terms of recognizing and using talent, and giving them a budget. Along with Pos, they had Whitlock, Jeff Passan (now at Yahoo), Wright Thompson (now at ESPN) and Bob Dutton, among others.
Then the layoffs hit, and that knocked them down a peg. But they still have the same editor in place, at least.
Lincicome wasn’t safe. Mariotti wasn’t safe. They weren’t exactly popular.
EVERYBODY PICK US FOR 3RD OR 4TH SO I DINK WE DOIN POOTY GOO
Sox Machine
Thanks for the feedback/perspective.
And “edgy” or “controversial” doesn’t always mean “good”.
I couldn’t figure it out yesterday, but it came to me at 4am. Then I understood the FOGhat, laughed so hard I farted, and went back to bed.
by winningugly on Feb 15, 2010 5:40 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
Who said good?
I thought we were talking “safe.” Although Lincicome was a love-or-hate kind of guy, along the lines of T.J. Simers.
EVERYBODY PICK US FOR 3RD OR 4TH SO I DINK WE DOIN POOTY GOO
Sox Machine
Who said popular?
You and I seem to be on the same side. I was stating that I didn’t think big market papers necessarily demanded bland and “safe” columnists. You brought popularity into it. So I brought in “good”.
Just to muck it up a little further.
I couldn’t figure it out yesterday, but it came to me at 4am. Then I understood the FOGhat, laughed so hard I farted, and went back to bed.
Zach Seward cites James Hamilton on Gawker's scalability:
These pressures pushed papers to try and attain sufficient scale to lower production costs and attract both local and national advertisers. The number of party stalwarts placed a boundary on the potential circulations of strongly partisan papers. If a paper adopted a nonpartisan take on political news, it could draw on a larger segment of the population if readers from either party could be attracted to the outlet.
though i’m not sure if sports sections had to play the same way unless they got tabbed as a biased team-specific supporter.
I'd rather have Rios steal 50 bases than hit 50 home runs. I want production.
What's the consensus on the Masher?
Was it my rose-colored glasses that always had him on my fair play list?
White Sox fan; Jeppson's Malort man
by KarkoviceIsHawt on Feb 15, 2010 3:15 PM CST up reply actions
I was just about to bring this up...
Even though Big Jim is playing for the enemy now, I’m still fairly confident that he’s always been clean.
"I'd rather have Rios steal 50 bases than hit 50 home runs. I want production." - Ozzie Guillen
"I'd rather have Rios hit 50 home runs than steal 50 bases. I want to win." - Servant2LordBeckham
by Servant2LordBeckham on Feb 15, 2010 3:19 PM CST up reply actions
I agree about Thome
HIs overall character gives him the benefit of the doubt that he’s always been clean
by Quickly 0 and 2 on Feb 15, 2010 3:43 PM CST up reply actions
Yeah....
Except I hate the ‘character’ argument just as much when it’s being used to defend a guy as when it’s used to condemn another…
White Sox fan; Jeppson's Malort man
by KarkoviceIsHawt on Feb 15, 2010 4:06 PM CST up reply actions
You're right
And that’s an excellent point. I hate it when people condemn steroid users for a total lack of character. It’s not fair. You give any other person the same upbringing, circumstances, moral compass (or lack thereof) that MLB steroid users had in their overall makeup – and who knows what decision they would make. The choice to use steroids provides a glimpse into how a person’s character has been shaped and formed throughout the course of their life. It doesn’t make them devoid of character.
Jim Thome,however, is a guy who has consistently proven his character both on and off the field in a myriad of ways. And he’s done that for 20 years while being in the spotlight. It appears he’s been shaped and formed in such a way that his compass points in the right direction. He’s earned the benefit of the doubt in my book.
by Quickly 0 and 2 on Feb 15, 2010 4:40 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
A few years ago, I'd have said, yes, definitely clean.
Now, though…I dunno, man. All sorts of players of all sorts of builds and with all sorts of careers have been implicated. Used to be, the CW on ‘roids was that they were a weapon of amoral, juiced-up super-sluggers. I was happy to think of them as such, certainly. Now, PEDs appear to have become a widespread and practically mundane aspect of training regimens. The question isn’t so much, “who tried to give themselves an unfair edge?” as it is, “who chose to abstain from a common competitive practice?”
Would I like to think the Gentleman played clean? Sure. And I like him, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for the time being. But I really don’t know, and I wouldn’t at all be surprised if it turned out he was a juicer.
you can take that opinion and a bag of chips and get the hell outa here,
Big Jim’s a clean man a very very clean man.
Jones,Kotsay,Vizquel < Thome
What did he say to offend you? That was a thoughtful, well written comment.
You could learn from it.
"his ballerness could not be stoped which rose his era to 5.42 "
by Chiburb on Feb 15, 2010 4:27 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
Agreed.
...and then some depressed fucked-cake eating.
by homesickalien on Feb 15, 2010 4:25 PM CST up reply actions
if this is the consensus
then why are we correcting for Bonds’ success exactly?
I'd rather have Rios steal 50 bases than hit 50 home runs. I want production.
by colintj on Feb 15, 2010 4:44 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Because he was the best at PEDs... duh
White Sox fan; Jeppson's Malort man
by KarkoviceIsHawt on Feb 15, 2010 4:48 PM CST up reply actions
But.....
Stanch also says no way damon comes here—-it’s detroit. Forget about it.
by stanchar on Feb 15, 2010 4:54 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
Well, we have to punish *somebody,*
and attacking “the baseball-wide culture of PED abuse with the implied consent of management, the media, and the fans” just isn’t very satisfying.
I'm not saying he's a juicer....
but thats a lot of beef he is missing in this picture.
Kenwo4life=ratings
look at a picture of yourself at 20 and then again at 30. i'd guess most guys are 20-30lbs more. and most guys don't work out.
i’m not saying i think he did or didn’t juice, but i think physical maturation is inevitable for many. slow that metabolism down and we all bulk up, whether purposely or not.
Cashing checks and having sex.
Juicer!
I couldn’t figure it out yesterday, but it came to me at 4am. Then I understood the FOGhat, laughed so hard I farted, and went back to bed.
i'm just saying the eye test might cast suspicion on me.
perhaps i’ve been using peds the last few years to try to gain an unfair advantage in the stock market.
Cashing checks and having sex.
by MarketMaker on Feb 16, 2010 10:19 AM CST up reply actions
if you look at it from a legality perspective, sure.
Cashing checks and having sex.
by MarketMaker on Feb 16, 2010 11:02 AM CST up reply actions
completely agree
every professional athlete is going to get a lot bigger when they make the transition from college/hs athlete to pro. You are now going to have better work-out facilities, somebody planning your diet, training you, making your workouts more efficient. The eye test does not tell you anything. I’ve gotten a lot bigger since I started working out on a consistent and better planned basis, does that make me a juicer?
bird law in this country is not ruled by reason
by soxshenanigans on Feb 16, 2010 11:12 AM CST up reply actions
I like this very much, Trooper.
I couldn’t figure it out yesterday, but it came to me at 4am. Then I understood the FOGhat, laughed so hard I farted, and went back to bed.
He did play football at Auburn.
Taj Gibson is the face of Bulls basketball!
by Trey23 on Jan 5, 2010 6:31 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
by Ozzie Montana on Feb 16, 2010 11:22 AM CST up reply actions
Look at that beast. You can tell by the look in his eyes that he's ready to win Game 163.
"I'd rather have Rios steal 50 bases than hit 50 home runs. I want production." - Ozzie Guillen
"I'd rather have Rios hit 50 home runs than steal 50 bases. I want to win." - Servant2LordBeckham
by Servant2LordBeckham on Feb 15, 2010 4:31 PM CST up reply actions
We know one of the effects of steroids never happened though...
Kenwo4life=ratings
by KenWo4LiFe on Feb 15, 2010 4:34 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Comfortable-fitting athletic cups?
...and then some depressed fucked-cake eating.
by homesickalien on Feb 15, 2010 4:37 PM CST up reply actions
first your JD obsession and now this.
does your wife know you’d leave her if Jim Thome came to the door in nothing but a jock?
I'd rather have Rios steal 50 bases than hit 50 home runs. I want production.
leaving your wife for jim thome, who is wearing nothing but a jock?
i rate that above not wearing socks on the homo scale.
by larry on Feb 15, 2010 5:58 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
homo scale?
what did i miss????
"I don’t know how you guys measure worth…but I do know you idiots need a graph to show you that Josh Fields sucks…"
by Where Triples Go to Die on Feb 15, 2010 6:40 PM CST up reply actions
http://www.southsidesox.com/2010/2/12/1308717/reinsdorf-put-thomas-in-hof#30794593
The Boogeyman cometh
by omnipotent grab on Feb 15, 2010 6:45 PM CST up reply actions
Where do Calvin Klein skinny jeans rank on this homo scale?
If it is a prism as larry suggests, where does it start and where does it end? Gay slurs are getting rec’d now? HAVE I BEEN SMOKING TOO MUCH GANJA????
btw, I am one of 10 ;) I was testing larry’s editorial privileges, to see if he could see who rec’d what. He never responded so fuck it.
"I don’t know how you guys measure worth…but I do know you idiots need a graph to show you that Josh Fields sucks…"
by Where Triples Go to Die on Feb 15, 2010 10:01 PM CST up reply actions
anyone can see who rec'd what
"A brief but trenchant analysis of Scott Podsednik
He’s dogshit."
by NYRoyal on Jan 8, 2010 8:56 AM PST
how?
"I don’t know how you guys measure worth…but I do know you idiots need a graph to show you that Josh Fields sucks…"
by Where Triples Go to Die on Feb 17, 2010 11:38 AM CST up reply actions
Gay-dar
Just went off. What’s going on here?
South Side Hitman... employed and on assignment.
by The Hooligan on Feb 15, 2010 9:44 PM CST up reply actions
welcome.
"I don’t know how you guys measure worth…but I do know you idiots need a graph to show you that Josh Fields sucks…"
by Where Triples Go to Die on Feb 15, 2010 10:02 PM CST up reply actions
to HELL!
"I don’t know how you guys measure worth…but I do know you idiots need a graph to show you that Josh Fields sucks…"
by Where Triples Go to Die on Feb 15, 2010 10:02 PM CST up reply actions
Wait...
Wrigley Field? That’s where dreams go to die.
South Side Hitman... employed and on assignment.
by The Hooligan on Feb 15, 2010 11:39 PM CST up reply actions
Thanks
I am back from a place where I was bludgeoned by Cub-fan co-workers daily and have found a new home.
South Side Hitman... employed and on assignment.
by The Hooligan on Feb 15, 2010 11:40 PM CST up reply actions
haha I like your style lately!!!
"I don’t know how you guys measure worth…but I do know you idiots need a graph to show you that Josh Fields sucks…"
by Where Triples Go to Die on Feb 15, 2010 6:39 PM CST up reply actions
Non-ludicrous attire?
White Sox fan; Jeppson's Malort man
by KarkoviceIsHawt on Feb 15, 2010 4:43 PM CST up reply actions
Please refrain from posting anything i've posted in the past without citing properly.
thank you.
"I don’t know how you guys measure worth…but I do know you idiots need a graph to show you that Josh Fields sucks…"
by Where Triples Go to Die on Feb 15, 2010 6:43 PM CST up reply actions
Would this be the proper format?
Die, Where Triples Go To. “Please refrain from posting anything i’ve posted in the past without citing properly.”
South Side Sox. 15 Feb. 2010. Web. 16 Feb. 2010. <http://www.southsidesox.com/2010/2/15/1311507/joe-posnanski-on-frank-thomas>.
White Sox fan; Jeppson's Malort man
by KarkoviceIsHawt on Feb 16, 2010 9:11 AM CST up reply actions 2 recs
talking about the picture he posted of thome...
same one i used to argue thome’s roid use.
"I don’t know how you guys measure worth…but I do know you idiots need a graph to show you that Josh Fields sucks…"
by Where Triples Go to Die on Feb 17, 2010 11:17 AM CST up reply actions
Jimmy
Kind of looked like McVeigh when he was younger.
South Side Hitman... employed and on assignment.
by The Hooligan on Feb 15, 2010 9:45 PM CST up reply actions
You're missing the biggest one
Bill James. He’s a big reason for the trickle-down.
EVERYBODY PICK US FOR 3RD OR 4TH SO I DINK WE DOIN POOTY GOO
Sox Machine
Yeah i don't know why I neglected him
I was just thinking more current. But yeah it all started with him. Everybody understands the saber angle but forget about the surrounding witty prose that makes it all so fun. Baseball Abstract will always be one of my favorite books.
"You're lucky I'm retired"
Jack Bauer
There's a used bookstore in Cooperstown
And a guy must’ve sold his collection. I’ve been picking one or two up over visits, and I have 84-88 covered.
EVERYBODY PICK US FOR 3RD OR 4TH SO I DINK WE DOIN POOTY GOO
Sox Machine
Nothing today
I’ll be shocked if the Tigers don’t sign him by the end of the week
by Quickly 0 and 2 on Feb 15, 2010 4:22 PM CST up reply actions
The TIgers don't have the cash..
And their outfield is already crowded. Methinks Boras is playing games. $14 million for two years agreed upon… In Detroit… I’ll call bullshit… He’s using Detroit as a chip to try and get Damon more scratch. So, who’s getting played? Kenny or the Braves??
no, but like stanch noted (thereby jinxiing us)
that it would normally be good news not to hear anything.
I'd rather have Rios steal 50 bases than hit 50 home runs. I want production.
He's vacationing in Hawaii....
that’s the reason for the holdup.
he has to personally be there
for his agent to work on a deal?
I'd rather have Rios steal 50 bases than hit 50 home runs. I want production.
Pending a physical?
"his ballerness could not be stoped which rose his era to 5.42 "
by Chiburb on Feb 15, 2010 5:22 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
don't deals typically get announced as
“pending a physical” ?
I'd rather have Rios steal 50 bases than hit 50 home runs. I want production.
what impetus does anyone have to get a deal done.
maybe it’s boras bluster but i wouldn’t interrupt my vacation either.
I don't know but deal is getting real close (to the Tigers) according to an MLB
source. That’s the new lead on MLB traderumors. Then again there is a reference at the bottom that the Sox might be lurking.
Thanks!
Great article.
"People shouldn’t bust your chops just because you’re a Sox fan on a Cub board — but I know it happens. FWIW, I think sites like this are more interesting when fans of other teams join in the conversation." by Shanghai Badger on Mar 13, 2009
Female knuckleballer Eri Yoshida gets a win in the AWL.
Her second start was against Team Canada. At 5’1" and 114 pounds she is not the most intimidating presence on the mound, but Team Canada was flustered by her mixture of a sidearm knuckleball, curve ball and fastball that she shut them out for four innings, only giving up four hits. She struck out one without walking a hitter to pick up her first win.
Yeah, going four innings against players who couldn’t get a spring-training invite isn’t that impressive, but I hope she can at least get an independent-minor-league contract. I mean, seriously, a tiny female Japanese knuckleballer? That’s awesome.
a tiny female sidearming japanese knuckleballer
is that a willy wonka candy?
Please find Jay Cutler some help...
Either that
or a fetish site.
South Side Hitman... employed and on assignment: Hate-fucking Cubs fans in their own houses since 1977.
by The Hooligan on Feb 16, 2010 10:08 AM CST up reply actions
5'1, 114 lbs. ?
I’d be afraid to see what happens with a line drive up the middle. Would be fun to watch her shut out the men though.
by Grinder in Training on Feb 16, 2010 12:44 PM CST up reply actions
Is YPZEN pronounced "Shawn"?
"his ballerness could not be stoped which rose his era to 5.42 "
by Chiburb on Feb 16, 2010 1:05 PM CST up reply actions 3 recs
I like this very much.
I couldn’t figure it out yesterday, but it came to me at 4am. Then I understood the FOGhat, laughed so hard I farted, and went back to bed.
Yes.
ha!
...and then some depressed fucked-cake eating.
by homesickalien on Feb 16, 2010 2:54 PM CST up reply actions
And I like how the two hosts prettied up their Mom's basement for the interview!
Too bad Cheat couldn’t be there with them in the “studio”.
"his ballerness could not be stoped which rose his era to 5.42 "
Ditto. But my excuse is I've only met him once.
"his ballerness could not be stoped which rose his era to 5.42 "
larry's excuse is white guys all look the same to him.
...and then some depressed fucked-cake eating.
by homesickalien on Feb 16, 2010 4:03 PM CST up reply actions
I thought it was Adam Sandler.
I couldn’t figure it out yesterday, but it came to me at 4am. Then I understood the FOGhat, laughed so hard I farted, and went back to bed.
More Joe Pos on Jim Bibby's death:
In his 19 victories, he had a 2.50 ERA and the league hit .194 against him.
In his 19 losses, he had a 9.23 ERA* and the league hit .359/.443/.589 against him. To give you an idea of just how awful this, the league leading core numbers were .364/.433/.563 (Carew/Carew/Allen).
*Yes, that’s right, 9.23 ERA — and this was in 1974 when Dick Allen led the American League with 32 home runs. No one else even hit 30. Two players drove in 100 runs and nobody scored even 95.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/joe_posnanski/02/18/jim.bibby/index.html
Any excuse to remember how good Dick Allen was, especially during the energy/power shortages of the early ’70’s. And I liked Bibby, too – RIP.
I just don’t feel like killing anyone else for as long as I can help it.
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