Phillies

[ice grillin you]

fwiw

"There's zero truth to this." -- Phillies owner John Middleton responds to report about being open to trade offers for Zach Wheeler

[PhillyPhreak54]

He's only saying that bc he ain't got a GM to engineer a trade at the moment

[Rome]

Right.  Zero truth.  Just like there was zero truth that tobacco causes about a thousand forms of cancer.   Also - slashing front office jobs where employees have dedicated their entire adult work loves over a few ducats... farg you, John, and your lousy trophy too. 

[MDS]

what is the point of zack wheeler when you have nobody who can get outs in the 8th or 9th inning....just blow it up and try again

god forbid one of the owners refinance the mortgage on their 10th vacation home

[Rome]

Maybe get someone to run the team first before you start nuking it into oblivion?

[ice grillin you]

pretty sure it's already there

[Rome]

Fair point.

[ice grillin you]

https://twitter.com/cdgoldstein/status/1336006951201894401 21

[MDS]

the contract had a lot to do why he went for nothing...cinci trying to cut salary even though if they keep it together they have a good team

there are so many bargains out there for the phillies who stink but their owners are evidently very poor, someone start a gofundme

[ice grillin you]

Dick Allen will hopefully soon be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, like Ron Santo, he will not be able to enjoy his ceremony.

Allen should have been inducted long ago, but in 1997, his final year on the ballot, he received just 16.7 percent of the vote – he would have to be inducted just as Santo was, by the way of the Veteran's Committee (or whatever it is called this year).

Over the course of his 15 year career, he totaled just 1,749 games, but during his relatively short career, his performance was among, if not exceeding, the best in the game. He led all of baseball in wins above replacement (WAR) during two over-lapping ten-year periods, from 1963-72 and 1964-73, sandwiched between Henry Aaron and Willie McCovey. In fact, every single player before him to EVER lead any ten-year period in WAR is enshrined in the Hall of Fame, likewise, every player after him until you get to Barry Bonds from 1985-94.

From 1871 to 1995, just 23 players had put together five or more qualified seasons batting at least .300/.375/.550, of the 23, 22 are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the odd man out – Dick Allen.

Of the 1,020 players in MLB history to amass at least 5,000 plate appearances, Dick Allen ranks 59th in WAR per 162 games played at 5.437, with fellow third basemen Chipper Jones just to his north at 56th (5.530 WAR/162) and George Brett to his south at 69th (5.302 WAR/162).

There are just four players to maintain at least a 150 OPS+ over the course of a career spanning 7,000 or more plate appearances who are NOT in the Hall of Fame:

Barry Bonds – 182
Mark McGwire – 163
Dick Allen – 156
Manny Ramirez – 154
And for what it is worth, the next three on that list are Joey Votto (149), Miguel Cabrera (147), and Albert Pujols (146).

Now, most of you know my feelings on PEDs and the "steroid era." Nonetheless, we are left with four names above – four names steeped in controversy.

Manny Ramirez, of course, had two failed tests when baseball had standards and testing for PEDs. Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire, I contend, were victims of the time in which they played, enabled by Bud Selig and Major League Baseball. Dick Allen, too, was a victim of his time, but in a far more egregious manner.

Often, now, BBWAA invokes the character clause to justify why or why they did not vote for an individual, something that, today, is often viewed through a subjective lens. But this is nothing new, the character clause is, in my opinion, what kept Dick Allen out of the Hall of Fame, and did so in a manner that is objectively wrong.

Dick Allen is not in the Hall of Fame because he was an outspoken black man during a time when black players were expected to keep quiet an play ball — that was his controversy, and it is complete bullshtein.

He had a reputation for being difficult to work with, often called a "troublemaker" or a "bad teammate" by those covering him. The truth is, to borrow from Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt, who I have been fortunate enough to get to know and to discuss the Hall of Fame cases of the likes of both Dick Allen and Jim Kaat, "[he] was a sensitive black man who refused to be treated as a second-class citizen." Schmidt credits Allen both as an excellent mentor off the field and role model in terms of his on field play.

I credit Allen as a baseball pioneer, and I credit him as someone who refused to take any shtein. And I hope the Major League Baseball, an organization that now so proudly holds itself in the highest regard for equality, soon rights a long time injustice, granting him enshrinement.

Rest in peace, Dick Allen, you're a Hall of Famer in my book.

[SD]

Ron Santo and Dick Allen don't belong in the hof.

[MDS]

in a real hall of fame, no. in the current hall of fame where larry walker and jeff bagwell and phil rizzutto are in...decisively yes

[PhillyPhreak54]

Wait - Walker is a HOFer in the real HOF and the imaginary one.

[MDS]

larry walker is very much in the real hall of fame. so is craig biggio and someone named tommy mccarthy

[SD]

in a real hall of fame, no. in the current hall of fame where larry walker and jeff bagwell and phil rizzutto are in...decisively yes

Not sure how Dale Murphy isn't in he had similar numbers to those good not great players