Answering a "Hey Bill" about Dale Murphy:
"But the problem is that they are very weak MVP seasons. It was just a league in which no one had a season which meets the normal standard of an MVP season. Somebody had to win it, and they picked Murphy, which is fine, but if Mickey Mantle had ever had a season like that, the Yankees would have panicked, or the same with Steve Trout."
Not sure if that's a joke or an old-guy mistake.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 29 March 2022 21:25 (two years ago) link
Maybe he meant Mike Carp.
― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 29 March 2022 21:45 (two years ago) link
In case you were wondering.
I don't know if I have written this, but I categorize Hall of Fame candidates in one of 5 groups. Group 1 is the inner-circle, automatic-unless-there's-a-scandal Hall of Famer--Willie Mays, Mike Schmidt, Roger Clemens or Mike Trout. Group 2 is a player who is above the normal standard of a Hall of Fame player--Al Kaline, Roberto Clemente, Harry Heilmann, Charlie Gehringer, Johnny Bench. Group 3 is a this-type-of-guy-is-normally elected to the Hall of Fame--Duke Snider, Early Wynn, Willie McCovey, Billy Williams, Ferguson Jenkins. Group 4 is the players-of-this-caliber are not usually Hall of Famers, but sometimes they get lucky group...Catfish Hunter, Luis Tiant, Gil Hodges, Tony Perez, Orlando Cepeda, Jack Clark, Willie Randolph, Harold Baines. Group 5 is players who clearly should NOT be in the Hall of Fame, even though some have been selected...Travis Jackson, Chick Hafey, Rick Ferrell, Addie Joss, Lee Smith, Matt Kemp, Ernie Lombardi, Vic Wertz, Bill Mazeroski, Doc Cramer, Mark Buehrle, etc.
― clemenza, Friday, 17 June 2022 19:02 (one year ago) link
"The Searchers is not one of the 25 best John Wayne movies, probably not one of the 50 best."
I really wish he'd add an "If you ask me" or an "I know I'm alone on this" to that, something to make it sound less like an assertion of fact. Just not his nature.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 10 August 2022 01:51 (one year ago) link
lol
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 10 August 2022 01:52 (one year ago) link
you should absolutely demand that he list the first 25 tho
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 10 August 2022 01:53 (one year ago) link
He's also oblivious to the film's history. "It's an almost unwatchable movie much admired by pretentious twits who base their opinions on what the critics tell them." The Searchers would have been totally ignored by whatever pretentious twits walked the earth in 1956--that's not the path it took to its present-day stature.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 10 August 2022 02:00 (one year ago) link
Not behind the paywall, I don't think.
https://www.billjamesonline.com/the_great_player_of_year_x/
― clemenza, Tuesday, 29 November 2022 16:02 (one year ago) link
How to save yourself the cost of hiring someone to poll your demographics:
The first player you clearly remember seeing (live or on TV) was a contemporary of:(If you're too young to remember any, please choose 4th group. Thank you.)— Bill James Online (@billjamesonline) January 17, 2023
― clemenza, Sunday, 22 January 2023 23:38 (one year ago) link
No votes for Old Hoss Radbourn.
― clemenza, Sunday, 22 January 2023 23:39 (one year ago) link
Twitter poll I find funny:
Who do you want to bring back to television?— Bill James Online (@billjamesonline) April 25, 2023
― clemenza, Wednesday, 26 April 2023 16:57 (one year ago) link
Tweet the other day: "If the Yankee fans somehow get Munson into the Hall of Fame, then we DEFINITELY should get Varitek in." (Followed later by "I'm signing off Twitter for the day. Those of you who wish to contribute to the barrage of personal insults following the Thurman Munson jokes will have to wait until tomorrow until I can block you.")
He has this weird hate-on for Munson. I looked at the two of them, Munson and Varitek--if he wasn't joking, and I'm pretty sure he wasn't, I don't see the comparison. They had almost the same number of career PA, and it's hard to find anywhere where Munson wasn't clearly superior, even with the shortened career. Admittedly, he was starting to decline the year of the plane crash, so his career rate stats almost certainly would have been less impressive had he played to 39 like Varitek, but what happened happened.
― clemenza, Thursday, 25 May 2023 14:27 (eleven months ago) link
Wonder how he feels about Posey
― omar little, Thursday, 25 May 2023 15:37 (eleven months ago) link
I know he was running a Twitter poll the other day on Posey vs. Mauer, and he made some comment about them both being great players. There was a lot of commentary about the numerous Posey/Munson similarities when Posey retired, so, to my mind, there's some inconsistency there (i.e., of course agree with him about Posey, but don't see why he doesn't grant the same to Munson).
― clemenza, Thursday, 25 May 2023 18:33 (eleven months ago) link
Thought this bump was going to be about this.
The only thing I will concede about Thurman Munson is that he was probably a better baseball player than he was a pilot.Note that I said "probably".— Bill James Online (@billjamesonline) May 23, 2023
― TY FRANCE HATES TEXAS CONFIRMED (gyac), Thursday, 25 May 2023 20:00 (eleven months ago) link
Terrible, I agree. I defend him about lots, and he'll always be one of the key influences on me, but that's indefensible--I think he was really taken to task for it, and, as per his follow-up, got really defensive and snippy--and his inability to see how good a player Munson was is perplexing.
― clemenza, Thursday, 25 May 2023 20:11 (eleven months ago) link
Damn:
https://www.billjamesonline.com/a_sunset_over_the_hill/
I complain lots about the way he conducts himself with readers--he recently shot down a Manoah-related question I sent in (not too pointedly, actually)--but knowing I could send in a question any time and count on most of them being answered, that was great. And I liked his right-hand guy, Dave Fleming, a lot.
If a couple of good books come out of this, that'll at least be something.
― clemenza, Saturday, 10 June 2023 16:29 (ten months ago) link
I found gyac's home/road thing with the Rays really interesting, so--possibly the last time I'll ever do this--I sent in a "Hey Bill."
Bill -- I will miss this...Someone on a message board today noticed the Rays' extreme home/road split, wondering if that was unusual. So I looked into it: it would seem so for teams this good. All post-war teams that have won 108 games or more, with their home/road winning percentages: (same data as above) I guess the question is, is this just a meaningless blip, or does it suggest some flukiness to the Rays that will catch up to them?Asked by: Phil Dellio
Answered: 6/15/2023There is not space left in the season that you would PREDICT it would catch up with them. Odds are it will flatten out a little bit.
Not 100% sure, but I take his answer to mean that he also thinks their home/road record will converge a bit as the season goes on.
― clemenza, Thursday, 15 June 2023 12:16 (ten months ago) link
Posnanski wrote about James pulling the plug the other day--paywall, so I put it on a Google Doc if you're interested.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GrfQNWNZm8OiGb3-iu-lwBL-0N7slYCSuTJyasxTsiM/edit?usp=sharing
― clemenza, Saturday, 17 June 2023 15:13 (ten months ago) link
You may argue for Lou Whitaker for the Hall of Fame, but you have to admit that Robinson Cano...Asked by: JackKeefe
Answered: 6/30/2023I think we're done here.
(... = I'm cutting the rest of what you say)
Will miss "Hey Bill" a lot. I won't miss that.
― clemenza, Saturday, 1 July 2023 07:01 (nine months ago) link
If Justin Verlander wins 300 games, how long will it be before someone says that no one else will ever do it?— Bill James Online (@billjamesonline) July 3, 2023
Based on past history, that's funny. But 1) I'd give Verlander about a 1% chance of winning 300, and 2) they'd probably be right this time anyway (barring drastic and unforeseen changes in the game, which, in fairness, is implicit in James's tweet--he's always writing that it's a mistake to assume that what's true now will continue to be true down the road).
― clemenza, Tuesday, 4 July 2023 19:11 (nine months ago) link
Quite likely my last "Hey Bill" (site shuts down next month):
Bill - Thanks for answering my many questions over the years (117 by my count--I went through and saved them). One more before you go. What I am I missing with Rougned Odor--meaning, how does he keep a job? His batting averages the last five seasons (working backwards) have been .203, .207, .202, .167, .205. In fairness, the first of those seasons he hit 30 HR, and he was in double figures the next three seasons (but probably not this year). He doesn't appear to be an outstanding fielder, he strikes out a lot and doesn't walk much, and he doesn't steal bases anymore. Does he have a reputation as the greatest clubhouse guy in the world? I may be a little biased here as a Jays fan who remembers his dust-up with Bautista.Asked by: Phil Dellio
Answered: 8/21/2023Juan Samuel syndrome. Juan Samuel was kind of a sensation when he first came up, very young, a second baseman, extremely fast. He was perceived as a potential superstar in the building. He struck out a lot, couldn't actually play second base (or any other position) very well, and he didn't get better. His weaknesses kind of swallowed him up, but it took a long time for the league to come to grips with what had happened to him. He was still a "great athlete," still had star potential. It took a long time for EVERYBODY to accept that this is just what he is. No matter where you put him, there is some reason that it doesn't work.
Assume that was supposed to be "budding," not "building." Anyway, signing off on the Juan Samuel Rule. (Weirdly, I think James once wrote about Juan Samuel in one of the Abstracts in terms of what he called the Walter Matthau Rule--as in, "For everything he brings to a team, what exactly do you do with him?" That was early in Samuel's career, when he was still piling up some impressive bulk numbers.
― clemenza, Monday, 21 August 2023 18:52 (eight months ago) link
Juan Samuel was definitely an exciting player, and it's hard to dismiss a young guy who puts up 30+ doubles, mid to high teens in terms of triples, and the same for HRs. Not to mention 40-70 SBs. His rookie year was truly eye-popping, even w/the lack of walks. It was good enough that he actually landed a single first place ROY vote in a year when the runaway winner with all the other top votes was Dwight Gooden. I also recall some favorable comps to NL MVP Ryne Sandberg; i think that mostly boiled down to the impressive fact they tied for the league lead with 19 triples.
After his 1987 season, it looked like he was going to break through into superstar level, but he never improved and only had a couple more full-time seasons. from '84-'87 i would say he was definitely valuable at the plate, but he was vv memorable as a disappointment thereafter.
― omar little, Monday, 21 August 2023 19:21 (eight months ago) link
Great answer from Bill. Jay Bruce also comes to mind. He was good for many years (but not the superstar that everyone thought he would be) but still got chances from several teams even though he declined rapidly in his 30's.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Monday, 21 August 2023 20:35 (eight months ago) link
Early Juan Samuel: a potential superstar in the buildingAfter six or seven seasons: Juan Samuel has left the building
― clemenza, Monday, 21 August 2023 21:24 (eight months ago) link
I'd like to nominate Angel Hernandez to be the next Speaker of the House. Just anything to get him off the baseball field. . . .— Bill James Online (@billjamesonline) October 4, 2023
― clemenza, Thursday, 5 October 2023 14:25 (six months ago) link
Bill James, despite his faults, does pop out some all time tweets
― H.P, Thursday, 5 October 2023 14:26 (six months ago) link
Now that his site's closing down, I'll probably have to do something I've never done before, follow somebody on Twitter.
― clemenza, Thursday, 5 October 2023 14:28 (six months ago) link
Noooo, it's a trap!
― WmC, Thursday, 5 October 2023 14:35 (six months ago) link
I was thinking that Angel Hernandez must be the most unifying force in baseball.
― clemenza, Thursday, 5 October 2023 16:00 (six months ago) link
There’s several Jomboy videos about him, there’s one with Kyle Schwarber absolutely losing it at him and getting (deservedly) tossed, and then the Phillies manager is out there trying to put a diplomatic face on it. Incredible guy.
― I’m going to get fined for being right, again (gyac), Thursday, 5 October 2023 16:18 (six months ago) link
lol I'd take Ángel Hernández over Jim Jordan or Steve Scalise as Speaker any day
― felicity, Thursday, 5 October 2023 20:56 (six months ago) link
Win-win, as the saying goes.
― clemenza, Thursday, 5 October 2023 21:30 (six months ago) link
The site is lingering longer than it was supposed to, but nothing new has been posted for a while. The starting pitcher rankings seem to have been updated, though, right through to the end of the World Series going by Merrill Kelly's placement. Last one ever, then:
http://www.billjamesonline.com/polls_ratings/starting_pitcher_rankings/
1. Gerrit Cole2. Zack Wheeler3. Blake Snell4. Corbin Burnes5. Merrill Kelly6. Zac Gallen7. Spencer Strider8. Shohei Ohtani9. Justin Verlander10. Logan Webb
― clemenza, Saturday, 4 November 2023 20:02 (five months ago) link
First I've heard about this:
About a week ago I suffered a stroke. I am more or less OK. I am not in ANY pain. I can walk normally and take care of myself, but my right hand is messed up and interferes with my ability to do things like tweet. Thank you all for your support.— Bill James Online (@billjamesonline) January 26, 2024
― clemenza, Friday, 26 January 2024 22:39 (three months ago) link
Regarding Bauer, there is loud contingent shouting "There is only ONE acceptable opinion here, you HAVE to agree with us or you're a terrible person." Whenever one side of the argument sounds like that, I take a more careful look at the other side.— Bill James Online (@billjamesonline) March 26, 2024
here’s our lovable brain damaged legend
― brony james (k3vin k.), Tuesday, 26 March 2024 23:32 (one month ago) link
Funny, cos I’m sure Bill is more empirical about things like “four separate accusers”, “once harassed a teenage girl by sending her dozens of tweets because she said she didn’t like him” and so on. Honestly beyond me that someone didn’t delete his account for his own good years ago.
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Tuesday, 26 March 2024 23:34 (one month ago) link
Saw this come up again in light of his recent comments:
Was explaining to my wife and our friends about the time I got into a Twitter spat with Bill James that directly led to the MLBPA rebuking him and the Boston Red Sox distancing themselves from him, a real Twitter highlight for me https://t.co/z8H7mPcTEB— Chris Towers is the Riley Greene Preservation Soc (@CTowersCBS) July 20, 2022
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Tuesday, 26 March 2024 23:38 (one month ago) link
bill has been brain damaged for years now. sad but just is what it is
― brony james (k3vin k.), Wednesday, 27 March 2024 00:08 (four weeks ago) link
from his daughter on bluesky:
any time you think "wow i'd like to be a nepotism baby" i encourage you to think about what your dad might post were he in the position to give out said nepotism
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 27 March 2024 19:46 (four weeks ago) link
lol, sympathy acquired
― H.P, Thursday, 28 March 2024 00:05 (four weeks ago) link
his latest tweet is praising Joe Lieberman as "the only Democrat who would stand up for Rush Limbaugh's right to speak" (???)
― jaymc, Thursday, 28 March 2024 01:04 (four weeks ago) link
mods, please change the title of this thread to "Bill James RIP".
signed,
OP
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 28 March 2024 01:06 (four weeks ago) link
Philosophical Q. Suppose your dog has been taught not to do something and usually doesn't, but has a breakdown and does it, and gives you that guilty look. Is that the same as knowing right from wrong, for a human & in a legal sense? Or is knowing right from Wr a broader concept?— Bill James Online (@billjamesonline) March 28, 2024
― brony james (k3vin k.), Thursday, 28 March 2024 19:40 (four weeks ago) link
i prefer not to speak.gif
― Roman Anthony gets on his horse (gyac), Thursday, 28 March 2024 20:02 (four weeks ago) link
Wait Bill's dogposting now? Refollowed
― H.P, Thursday, 28 March 2024 20:18 (four weeks ago) link
Is Bill working up to a confession here or
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 28 March 2024 23:44 (four weeks ago) link