The Girl Who Loved Andy Pettitte

The second Andy day of 2008 went pretty well, he threw 2 2/3 innings, gave up 3 hits (1 homerun), 2ER and had 2Ks. He hit some guy, but I bet the batter had it coming.

Per Pete Abe, here’s what he had to say about today:

Andy Pettitte was thrilled with his performance. “From the first pitch of the game everything felt good,” he said. “I really feel good about everything.”

The home run came on a backdoor curveball that was down. “I give (Victor Diaz) credit for hitting it,” he said. “Sometimes that happens.”

Some guy named Mariano Rivera also came out threw a few pitches and got some guys out. I don’t know how that went because I missed it while getting some coffee.

The bullpen situation continues to look…not so great. I know it’s just Spring Training but it’s already giving me a headache/making me want to kill others and myself. Just take a look!

Ohlendorf is pitching in the next game, so we’ll see how he does. For the time being I’m sticking with my guesses and hoping Hawkins’ performance today is not standard.

2k Sports (via IGN) has reported what their unlockable teams for Major League Baseball 2k8 are. Most of them are rookie teams, and some have a few strange things (like Derek Jeter, 1996 AL Rookie of the Year being on the 1997 rookie team) but the most bizarre by far is the “Living Legends” team.

While specifics weren’t noted, looking at the roster I assume it’s all active players with at least 10 years of service time. I’m listing all the positions as what IGN published here instead of correcting obviously wrong ones so this is a critique of both 2K and IGN all at once.

• Pedro Martinez (P) - Yep, he is a living legend.
• Curt Schilling (P) - Okay, I guess I can fight this but you’ve got to fill a roster spot.
• John Smoltz (P) - Same as Schilling.
• Greg Maddux (P) - No arguments here!
• Randy Johnson (P) - Even if he wasn’t so good, he would be a living legend because he’s so frightening.
• Tom Glavine (P) - 300 wins makes you a legend, even if wins are the worst stat in the universe. (And no, I am not arguing that he isn’t anything but an excellent pitcher.)
• Kenny Rogers (P) - Uhhhh??????
• Trevor Hoffman (P) - Overrated but relief pitchers of his quality for so many years are very hard to find.
• Mariano Rivera (P) - No brainer.
• Tom Gordon (P) - Uh, okay I guess. Before he was Torre’d to death he was very good.
• Billy Wagner (P) - Same as Hoffman.
• Ivan Rodriguez (C) - No arguments.
• Mike Piazza (C) - No arguments.
• Jason Giambi (1B) - ?!?!
• Jim Thome (1B) - No arguments.
• Frank Thomas (1B) - No arguments.
• Jeff Kent (2B) - No arguments.
• Ray Durham (2B) - ?!?!
• Chipper Jones (2B) - Not a second baseman!
• Omar Vizquel (2B) - ?!?! + Not a second basemen!
• Ken Griffey Jr. (LF) - If we’re going with “not horribly injured Griffey” he should be in CF, but okay.
• Jim Edmonds (CF) - Not really in the “Living Legends” category outside of St. Louis.
• Gary Sheffield (RF) - I’ll buy it.
• Moises Alou (LF) - Arguments could be made either way.
• Kenny Lofton (CF) - Legendary annoyance, I suppose.

I’m not sure of the intricacies behind making the list but here are some players it makes no sense to leave off, especially when compared with the players that made the cut.

Mike Mussina (P) - Yes, once upon a time broken old Mike Mussina was one of the best pitchers in baseball. And this was true for many years, even when the Orioles became terrible after 1997. Nobody ever seems to remember this, but that is the Mike Mussina story in a nutshell.

Manny Ramirez (LF) - This is seriously a no-brainer.

Alex Rodriguez (SS/3B) - I don’t even think the point has to be argued.

Derek Jeter (SS) - He isn’t very good at fielding sure, but unlike Vizquel he doesn’t suck at that hitting thing.

This trade is possibly the only thing to ever happen in MLB history that makes Red Sox, Yankees and Mets fans all happy at the same time.

Vegas Watch has a really good post up outlining the worst HOF arguments of 2008. It should be of no surprise that this includes a lot of laughing at anti-Blyleven/pro-Morris arguments from sportswriters.

And here’s Joe Posanski’s take as well.

Here’s the ballot for this year. Names in bold are who my votes would go to.

New on 2008 Ballot
Brady Anderson
Rod Beck
Shawon Dunston
Chuck Finley
Travis Fryman
David Justice
Chuck Knoblauch
Robb Nen
Tim Raines
Jose Rijo
Todd Stottlemyre

Holdovers from Previous Ballot
Harold Baines
Bert Blyleven
Dave Concepcion
Andre Dawson
Goose Gossage
Tommy John
Don Mattingly
Mark McGwire
Jack Morris
Dale Murphy
Dave Parker
Jim Rice
Lee Smith
Alan Trammel

It’s a pretty weak class, I don’t think there are any first timers on it this year. Tim Raines should be in the Hall of Fame, but will most likely not make the cut because he’s not Rickey Henderson and that whole drug scandal thing.

What this weak class means, hopefully, is that Bert Blyleven will finally be in the Hall of Fame. This is Jim Rice’s 14th time on the ballot, so he has one time left but I wouldn’t be surprised if he got the sap vote. Goose Gossage belongs in there as well, and the (lack of) strength of the rest of the ballot might push him.