Sammy Sosa Hall of Fame Material?

This kind of an awkward entry. I want to start maintaining this blog again, but need a place to begin. I tried just writing a regular post... but it just didn't feel right. Instead, for this post only, I'll diverge a bit with a slightly off-topic idea. An interesting question posed in an entry from The Morning After: Should Sammy Sosa be in the Hall of Fame?

Personally, I'm of the belief that the Hall has too many inhabitants and that the requirements for admission are too lax. However, judging by the current policies, we well er... judge Slammin' Sammy's credentials.

Sosa's career statistics are quite something. From a slugging standpoint, he would seem to be a shoe-in. With 604 (and counting) homeruns and a .534 slugging percentage, conventional wisdom would say that he has paved a path to the Cooperstown. Unfortunately, he seems to have a few drawbacks.

Firstly, if you take away the slugging, there isn't much left. The Adam Dunn of the 90's, if you will. In his 17 years in the bigs, he's only produced a mediocre average of .273, and OBP of .344 (which of course includes all those intentional walks).

His second downfall is the simple fact that he's never had the complete limelight. His hay-day was coincidentally also that of Mark McGwire, who eclipsed much of Sammy's work. Shortly after McGwire's retirement, Barry Bonds shattered Sosa's dreams of the homerun throne by by way of steroids.

Steroids, however opens an entirely new can of worms. Lemme give you a quick before and after. You draw your own conclusions.

Obviously, something changed. I sincerely feel that steroid use should be a major factor when considering a player for the Hall of Fame. Hopefully the voters will agree with me. Will Sammy end up in Cooperstown? Most likely. But should he?

Opinions are like assholes. Everyone's got one.

Crennel's Future in Question?

It has come to my attention that many Browns fans feel a change is in order. Apparently, Romeo Crennel doesn't have many fans. Granted, he may not be the second coming. In fact, I know he's not. But I also know that a neither a new front office nor a coach is going to make things better for our beloved Brownies.

If you recall... the first thing Romeo did in Cleveland was switch us over to a 3-4 defense.... not an easy task. Then he came up with the Browns first immediately productive draft pick in their 10 year history with Kamerion Wimbley. In that very same off-season, he signed numerous free-agents who brought some desperately needed experience to the team.

Now let's look at this and reflect for a few moments. Think back to 2 years ago. If I told you that we could get a coach that could improve our defense, draft bona-fide talent, and sign pro-bowl caliber free agents, you would have hopped right on that bandwagon. I guarantee it. Now, however... you're having second thoughts?

I have to say... that's pretty ignorant. Injuries? Underperformance? A losing record? Come on... we both know that's not gonna change with a new head coach.

In fact, a new head coach would most likely wipe out the 3-4 (AKA another year of adjustment) we've worked so long to achieve. Plus, based on past experience, he would probably draft a injury-prone bum in the first round next year. And if you can think of better off-season moves in terms of free agents, you have my vote for the position.

If anybody here can explain to me what exactly a new coach can do for this team that Crennel isn't already doing... please, feel free to catch me up to speed.

Peralta in the Doghouse

Supposedly, Wedge simply wanted to take a good look at Hector Luna. It had nothing to do with Jhonny Peralta's performance this year. It's all a big misunderstanding.

Any way you put it, Peralta was a bystander in three games this week, seeing no action whatsoever. And according to the educated English of Jhonny-P himself, "One day or two days is fine. Three days is not so good. Apparently, that 24 hour difference has made him take the rest personally. Like maybe it's punishment for poor performance.

You know it's in the back of every Tribe fan's mind. Peralta signs the big contract in the off-season, so he no longer has to prove himself. Maybe he slacks off a bit. He's got his money, he's got his position... what does he have to worry about?

I dunno... just off the top of my head... a 40 point drop in batting average, and a homerun count sliced in half. I don't see anyone else to blame...

You don't like 3 days off, Jhonnyboy? Tough toenails. If I were managing, it would have been longer.

Sowers Last Stand

Maybe he put a tad more pressure on himself. Maybe the Royals were just seeing the ball well. Maybe, heaven forbid, Jeremy Sowers is human. The Tribe had decided that this would be his last start for the season, and it appears that it was the right time to do so. He went five, threw 89 pitches, and gave up 4 in the Indians 5-3 loss to the Royals.

You can't blame the kid. Prior to that game, he'd been 6-0 in his last nine starts, never giving up more than 2 runs in a single game. Did I mention he's a 23 year old rookie? Nobody expects him to be the next Johaan (yet), so he's due for a loss sooner or later. Unfortunately, it had to be in his last start of the season.

The official reasoning is that Wedge didn't want to risk injury, or over-working the kid in a non-contesting season. Better safe then sorry... and hopefully a better next year for the rest of the team.

Braylon...........

I can't believe you dropped that pass. It might have cost us a W. I guess it kinda depends on how streaky Charlie got... but Braylon.... that was awful.

Short and sweet. That is the letter I'm sending to the Browns Clubhouse this week. In case none of you saw the play, let me explain myself. The final drive of the game, Cleveland down 5. After two sacks, Charlie fights his way back to a manageable 3rd down. He drops back, hits a streaking Edwards (in the chest, I might add), and Braylon completely misses it, deflecting it into the hands of a nearby DB. Makes me wonder if maybe Braylon should be a DB... especially with our secondary.

You can't put all the blame on him, but... if I was a 6'5" 230 lb. wideout, I would have caught it. That's all I'll say.

It started out pretty ugly, but towards the end (but not at the end as you may be able to tell), the Browns showed signs of life. Charlie looked good for a 5th game QB, especially considering the unusual amounts of pressure the defense was bringing.

But... it's Cleveland, and optimistic news does not come without an equal and opposite force. Joe Jurevicius broke his ribs on a 25 yard pass that shouldn't have even happened... as it was called back on a holding penalty.

The Gods don't like these hometown boys... Bentley, now my main man Joe. I guess that means Charlie's next... knock on wood.