I try very hard to keep this blog away from discussing drugs, steroids, gambling, public displays family domestic disputes or other such issues.

When one talks or writes about Mark McGwire, one can either focus on the steroids — how many other hitters and pitchers over recent years have used them without the public notoriety of a McGwire or a Barry Bonds and more?  Or they can focus on the player’s contribution to his team and to the sport.

McGwire’s then record-setting 70 homers in 1998 was a source of excitement, as a baseball fan, in my last year in the U.S.  I made Aliyah in March, 1999 and have been following baseball since, including Barry Bonds’ 73 dingers in 2001, from Israel.   Further, McGwire’s on-field and off-field demeanor and attitude toward the fans seemed generally personable.

Here is some of what Mike Lefkow of ContraCostaTimes.com writes regarding Mark McGwire;

Only two players — McGwire and Barry Bonds — hit 70 or more home runs in a single season between 1986 and 2004.

How many of those homers were hit off pitchers who were juiced? As a voter, it’s my job to determine whether a player’s career numbers justify entry into the Hall. McGwire hit 583 lifetime home runs. He broke one of the most cherished records in sports, a mark that had stood for 37 years when he surpassed Roger Maris’ single-season record of 61 homers in 1961.

If a voter can make the argument that McGwire doesn’t belong in the Hall based on merit, fine. He was a .263 career hitter. He clogged the basepaths. He captured one Gold Glove at first base but will never remind anyone of Steve Garvey, Keith Hernandez or J.T. Snow for his brilliance around the bag. He wasn’t an MVP.

But McGwire would be a certain first-ballot choice were it not for the suspicions — remember, we’re still lacking proof — about steroids. And a lot of those people campaigning against McGwire are being mighty self-righteous about it.

Many of us benefited from McGwire’s pursuit of the record — our newspapers, television and especially baseball. As the A’s beat writer for the Times in 1997, I recall the San Diego Padres opening up the left field bleachers earlier than usual so fans could catch bombs hit by McGwire and Canseco in batting practice. I’ll assume the Padres made a few extra concession dollars from the larger-than-normal crowds

At the time, no one gave much thought to steroid use in baseball. It was fun and games, tape-measure shots.

Over the last couple of years, there have been times when I have asked myself if I did a poor reporting job, being in the Oakland clubhouse day-after-day and not being aware of the supposedly rampant steroid use. I have discussed it with a former A’s beat writer who happens to be one of my closest friends. And I have wrestled with how I should vote.

I have come to this conclusion.

Not voting for McGwire means you had better leave Ripken and Gwynn off your ballots, too. They played during the steroids era. Ripken played in a record 2,632 consecutive games. Can we be positive Ripken didn’t use any banned substances to keep himself in the lineup day-after-day for all those years? Not voting for McGwire is singling him out, making him the poster boy for the 1,500 players or so that Gammons estimates used illegal substances between 1986-2004.

Not that it matters when choosing whom to vote for, but McGwire is a decent man whose image has taken a much tougher beating than he deserves. He was a doting father to his son, Matthew. I don’t ever remember him showing up late to games, not hustling or being arrested. He made the Maris family an endearing part of the 1998 homer chase.

In short, Mark McGwire deserves induction to the MLB Hall of Fame by virtue of the compelling fact of his performance, lifetime stats, the run-up to 70 homers in 1998 and the resultant contribution of all of this to the enjoyment and betterment of Baseball as a sport.

Add to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. | del.icio.us | digg | Furl | Reddit | YahooMyWeb |

In the late 70’s, Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Dave Parker, with a sweet swing and athleticism both offensively and defensively, seemed to have all the tools for future Hall of Fame vestiture.  In the years between 1975 and 1979, he hit .308, .313, .338 and .334 respectively while clubbing 114 homers.  And of course, he clobbered Phillies pitching just as he struck fear in nearly every other pitching staff he faced.

He was a crucial cog with that great 1979 Pirates team known as “the Family” that won the National League East Division title, defeated the Cincinnati Reds (minus Pete Rose who went Free Agent and signed a 5 year deal with the Phillies that year) and went on to defeat the Baltimore Orioles in 7 games in the World Series after coming back from being down 3 games to 1.

Parker and Willie “Pops” Stargell supplied the main clout on those Pirate teams of the late 70s, particularly in the 1979 World Series when Parker went 10-29, including 3 doubles, 2 homers and 4 RBIs and “Pops” went 12-30 including 4 doubles, 3 homers and 7 RBIs along with 4 other Pirates who had 9 or more hits in that series.

In the 1980s, Parker had a number of injuries which cut down his production although he had his best all-round year in 1985 hitting 34 homers, driving in 125 runs for the Cincinnati Reds.

But then his production dwindled with age and additional injuries although he was a cog in those Oakland As teams of 1988 and 1989 which went to the World Series in both  years, winning the series in 1989 in 4 games over the San Francisco Giants.

Parker’s lifetime stats showed 2,712 hits, 339 homers, 1,493 RBIs and a .290 batting average.

MLB’s Ed Eagle wrote of Dave Parker;

There was a time during the late 1970s when Dave Parker was arguably the best player in baseball, and he seemed destined to one day be immortalized in the hallowed halls of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

An intimidating 6-foot-6, 235-pound right fielder with a sweet swing and powerful arm, there was nothing Parker couldn’t do on the baseball diamond during his prime. He epitomized the term “five-tool player.” In a 1978 poll of general managers, he was selected as the best player in the game.

However, after 11 years on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s Hall of Fame ballot, the man known as “The Cobra” is still waiting for the writers to punch his ticket to Cooperstown. His highest vote total percentage was 24.5 percent in 1998, and Parker garnered 14.4 percent of the total on the most recent ballot.

A candidate must get 75 percent of the vote to gain election. Results of the 2007 BBWAA Hall of Fame election will be announced Jan. 9, and the induction ceremony will take place on July 29 in Cooperstown.

“Parker gave 100 percent effort in every inning of every game that he played,” said Chuck Tanner, who was Pittsburgh’s manager from 1977-85. “He was one of the greatest I ever managed and one of the greatest who ever played, in my opinion. He has Hall of Fame credentials.”

An assortment of injuries significantly reduced Parker’s production from 1980-83. During that four-year stretch, Parker batted .280 with an average of just 11 home runs and 56 RBIs per season.

“I wasn’t quite myself as a player,” said Parker. “There were times when I shouldn’t have been out there at all. But [former Pirates teammate Willie] Stargell impressed upon me to be a star and a leader. He said, ‘Seventy-five or 80 percent of you is better than 100 percent of someone else.’ I made those sacrifices because that’s what I was taught. Willie emphasized that to me as a young player and I believed it.

“There were a couple of years where my numbers probably weren’t what they should have been,” Parker added. “But for the majority of those 10 years, from 1975 to ‘80, I was probably the best player in the game.”

Despite being embroiled in the highly publicized drug trial that rocked the baseball world, Parker turned his career back around after signing a free-agent contract with his hometown Cincinnati Reds in 1984. Parker led the NL in RBIs and total bases in 1985 and finished as the runner-up to St. Louis’ Willie McGee in the NL MVP race that season.

Parker later went on to serve as an important cog on the Oakland A’s 1988 American League championship and 1989 World Series championship teams and appeared in the 1990 All-Star Game as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers.

“I won two batting titles, should have won two MVPs, was in three World Series, was the MVP of the All-Star Game, DH of the Year twice, and won the RBI crown,” Parker said. “I did everything that you could possibly do in baseball and I’m not in the Hall?

“I should be in the Hall of Fame,” he said. “Ain’t no doubt about it.”

Good luck to Dave Parker, may the 12th year be the charm for the Hall of Fame.

Add to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. | del.icio.us | digg | Furl | Reddit | YahooMyWeb |

 Every year around Hall of Fame voting time, the great, but heretofore neglected names come out of the woodwork.  Previously, this blog had posts on Tommy John and Jim Rice.  Another largely neglected name until now is Richard “Goose” Gossage whose snarl and nasty 98-mile-per-hour fastball struck fear and awe in the hearts of opposing hitters for 22 seasons.

Gossage was a part of the early evolution of the closer as a role in MLB.  Rollie Fingers, who is a Hall of Famer, had similar stats to Gossage but in 5 less seasons.  But unlike Fingers who carried the role of closer for all but 2 of his seasons in baseball, Gossage  was not a closer during his first 3 seasons (1972-74) with the White Sox.  And after 26 saves in 1975, the ChiSox tried to make him a starter in 1976, but he finished 9-17.  In 1977, he returned to the closer role where he remained for rest of his career.   It should also be remembered that Gossage and Fingers were from the generation of closers who pitched multiple innings per game as opposed to today’s closer, such as Trevor Hoffman who pitches one inning or a part of an inning and receives credit for the save.

Here is a short comparison of Gossage’s stats with other prominent closers of his generation as well as all-time saves leader, Trevor Hoffman.
Richard “Goose” Gossage
124-107   22 yrs  3.01 ERA  IP 1,809.1  SV 310   1972-1994

Dennis Eckersley - In Hall. Final 12 years as a closer of 24 yrs.
197-171 (45-43 as reliever) 788 IP  390 SV  3.14 ERA 1987-1998 (Closer)
Rollie Fingers -   In Hall.
114-118  17 yrs  2.90 ERA  1,701.1 IP   341 SV    1968-1985
Trevor Hoffman
49-55    14 yrs    2.71 ERA      885.1  IP   482 SV    1993-2006
  
MLB.com’s Barry M. Bloom writes this about the “Goose”;

 Rich Gossage is hoping that his eighth year on the Hall of Fame ballot will be sprinkled with some magic. Each year since the Baseball Writers Association of America has had the opportunity to vote for him, Gossage, one of the top relief pitchers in history, has been less and less optimistic about his chances.

“I’ve felt the best this year, though, about the possibility of going in,” Gossage said from his home in Colorado Springs. “I don’t know if that’s because of the feedback I’m getting from the writers who are calling me or what. The funny thing is, I always hear the good things. Nobody ever calls to tell me why they didn’t vote for me. I guess they never would, but I never even hear it through the grapevine.”

The man they called “The Goose,” who strode to the mound to close games with his spitfire fastball, was heartened by the fact that Bruce Sutter, another premier reliever from his era, was elected during the class of 2006. Sutter was preceded by Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers and Dennis Eckersley, three closers, like Gossage, who also started during their stellar careers. Sutter was the first reliever inducted who hadn’t made at least one start.

But Gossage still believes he separated himself from the rest.

“I don’t think anybody did it the way I did it,” Gossage said. “Power against power. There was no messing around. All those strikeouts I had, none of that is padding. Just about every one of them meant something because the game was on the line.”

The Goose’s baseball career line over 23 seasons is a road map of baseball stops around world: Chicago (White Sox), Pittsburgh, New York (Yankees), San Diego, Chicago (Cubs), San Francisco, Yankees again, Fukuoka, Japan, Arlington, Tex., Oakland and Seattle.

Gossage finished 124-107 with 1,502 strikeouts — nearly one an inning — and a 3.01 ERA. His 310 saves are 16th on the all-time list, but he never had more than 33 saves in a single season — reaching that mark in 1980 with the Yankees.

A power pitcher who snarled beneath his mustache and intimidated hitters with his 98-mile-per-hour fastball, along the way Gossage went from rookie closer to starter back to veteran closer and finally finished as a setup man. Near the end of his career, Goose set up for A’s closer Dennis Eckersley, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2004 and may have broken some ground for relievers. Eckersley had the added advantage of spending the first 12 years of his career as a competent starter. 

The role of the closer has so dynamically changed since Gossage played that there’s no criteria for how writers vote.

But Gossage’s star has been rising among that privileged class. In 2006, when Sutter was elected, Gossage’s name was penned on 64.2 percent of the ballots, up from 55.2 percent in 2005 and a big rise from the scant 40.7 percent he garnered in 2004. A former player needs to be named on 75 percent of the ballots cast to be elected and has 15 years of eligibility.

Gossage would routinely pitch multiple innings in big games. Eckersley, with his 390 saves in 12 seasons as a reliever, Hoffman with his 482 saves, and Rivera with 413, usually were and have been restricted to one or two innings. Most of the time, the trio would be handed the ball with a lead to open the ninth.

“I think I had a lot to do with setting the bar for relievers and doing the job the way it should be done,” Gossage said. “I went and set up for Dennis (1992 and 1993), so I know the way he was handled, how pampered he was over there. Not to take anything away from these guys, to compare what I did with what they did … It was even a joke with the coaches. We joked with Eckersley all the time. He’s a good buddy of mine.

Add to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. | del.icio.us | digg | Furl | Reddit | YahooMyWeb |

I find very interesting contrast and irony here.  Bounty hunter free agent  Jeff Suppan, a pitcher with a lifetime 106-101 mark, a 4.60 lifetime ERA and who played for five teams during his 12 year career thus far signs a  $42 million, 4 year contract leaving his previous team, the St. Louis Cards for big bucks in Milwaukee while former outfielder Jim Rice struggles hoping to win induction to Baseball’s Hall of Fame having played 16 years compiling 2,452 hits, 382 homers and a lifetime .298 batting average — all with one team; the Boston Red Sox.

Sure Suppan was 2006 NLCS MVP, but I’m a throw-back to the days when baseball players were identified with one team, as Rice was with Boston, as  Lefty Carlton and Mike Schmidt were with the Phillies, as Spahn and  Burdette were with the Boston, and then Milwaukee Braves, Carl Yastrzemski was for the Red Sox and as Stan Musial was with the Cardinals.  All of them either played their entire careers, or the prime of their careers with one team and who only appeared for other clubs once their careers wound down and their talents were dissipating.

Rice didn’t make the big bucks until late his career and we all know that Boston did not win a World Championship between the years 1919 and 2003 primarily because of the “curse of Ruth” which curse lore claims occurred because;

Boston owner and theatrical producer Harry Frazee used the proceeds from the sale to finance the production of a Broadway musical, usually specified as No, No, Nanette. In fact, Frazee backed many productions before and after Ruth’s sale, and No, No, Nanette did not see its first performance until five years after the Ruth sale and two years after Frazee sold the Red Sox. 

At any rate, in 1986, Rice was in the same lineup with perennial All Star infielder Wade Boggs who possessed a .328 lifetime batting average, fellow power-hitting outfielder Dwight Evans, outfielder/first baseman Don Baylor and, of course Billy “Buck” Buckner who’s error lost the 6th game in the 10th inning of that year’s World Series. Boston lost the Series in game 7 after having held 2-1 and 3-2 leads in games won.

Boston Globe staff writer Nick Cafardo reports on Jim Rice and the Hall of Fame;

Jim Rice tries not to think about it anymore. When he does it only raises his ire and his blood pressure. All of the instincts he has about what’s right and what’s wrong are thrown askew.

In this often unmarked, confusing road to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., he did it the right way.

He knows his numbers match and surpass those of Orlando Cepeda and Tony Perez. He knows that along with Dave Winfield and Eddie Murray he was the dominating slugger of the mid 1970s-mid ’80s. Last year more voters understood the numbers — 64.8 percent of them, just 10.2 percent (or 53 votes) short of induction. He’s only got two years of eligibility remaining after this.

If there is truly justice, when the balloting closes Dec. 31, there will be enough voters who have checked off his name, as this voter has for the last 13 years.

If there’s any justice, he will be elected along with Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn, and Mark McGwire will not.

He did it the right way. McGwire is suspected of taking performance-enhancing drugs. Until McGwire’s name is cleared, if it ever will be, he will not receive the support of voters who would rather wait until there’s evidence one way or the other.

“So do you think you’ll get inducted this time?” Rice was asked after returning to Boston from his other home in South Carolina.

“I don’t know the answer to that,” he said. “I don’t understand the voters sometimes. If you have the numbers to get in, if they compare to other people you’ve already put in, if the numbers are there, then why aren’t you in? Why is Bert Blyleven not in with all of those wins and all of those strikeouts? Why is Lee Smith not in? Goose Gossage? Doesn’t he have the numbers to get in? If the numbers are there, then why not? Why are so many people excluded? I never understood it.”

Nor should he. The voting is subjective. It takes many factors into consideration, including the character issue, for which McGwire will be penalized. “If you cheated, you shouldn’t be in. If you broke the rules, you shouldn’t be in. That’s why Pete Rose isn’t in. He gambled on baseball,” said Rice. “McGwire, you know, he was always a power hitter, but if he took something he shouldn’t have taken then he shouldn’t be in.”

Most observers of Hall of Fame voting feel Rice would have a better shot next season because this time the focus is on Ripken, Gwynn, and McGwire. But why should that matter? Voters are allowed to put 10 players on each ballot. Why wouldn’t Rice get all the votes he got last year? Why wouldn’t some of those voters who are ignoring McGwire stand up and say Rice played the game hard, played the game right, and amassed the numbers. Why can’t Rice get in now?

“I’ve been an advocate for Jimmy for years,” said former Sox second baseman and NESN color man Jerry Remy. “I played with him and I knew compared to the rest of the league for those five or six years there was nobody better. He was the most feared hitter. Nobody wanted to pitch to him. I think there were times Jimmy played when he shouldn’t have. But playing every day whether he was hurt or whether he felt fine was important to him. He respected the game and wanted to help his team win.

“There’s got to be a place for him in Cooperstown. People have to understand what he was.”

Rice hit .298 with 382 career homers, 1,451 RBIs, and an MVP award in 16 seasons . He points to former teammate Perez and to Cepeda (who played in Boston in 1973, a year before Rice’s debut) as comparable players. Cepeda hit .297 with 379 homers, 1,365 RBIs, and one MVP (1967) in 17 years. Perez hit .279 with 379 homers and 1,652 RBIs in 23 seasons with the Big Red Machine.

“If you look at the numbers, we’re close,” Rice said. “But Tony played 23 years. Cepeda played longer than I did. I played 16. If I had played 23 years what would my numbers look like?”

Though in fairness when Rice was done, he was really done.

What Remy likes to point out is Rice was not only a slugger, he was a hitter. Rice is the only player in history with 35 or more homers and 200 or more hits in three consecutive seasons. He’s one of 31 players with more than 350 homers and a .290-plus career batting average.

If voters had a negative perception of Rice it appears it’s fading. He is now perceived positively against this generation of steroid-tainted players. We’ll soon find out whether his new image, of the clean, hard-working, and, most importantly, natural ballplayer, wins him the recognition many of us feel he deserves.

Somehow, I think that the fans today don’t look at players as embodying the spirit of the home club as they did in years past, and it takes something away from the spirit of the game when both players and teams have no loyalty.  But then, that’s my opinion.

In my humble, players like Jim Rice and Tommy John deserve a whole lot more consideration for the Hall of Fame than does Mark McGwire. 

Here’s hoping that Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Cole Hamels, Brett Myers and Freddie Garcia remain with the Phillies for many successful seasons.

Add to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. | del.icio.us | digg | Furl | Reddit | YahooMyWeb |

As baseball talk turns more a more to the annual Hall of Fame balloting in January, it seems a hall of shame why Tommy John didn’t make the Hall long ago.

As a Phillies fan, I remember how John continually baffled the Phillies with his no-speed pitches.  He drove the Phils crazy over his 6 years (1972 thru  1978) with the L.A. Dodgers, particularly when the two teams locked up during the National League Championship Series in both 1977 and 1978.

 Baseball Library writes this about Tommy John;

A sinkerballer with impeccable control, John’s major league career spanned 26 seasons and seven U.S. presidents, both ML records. In mid-career, he made history by becoming the game’s first “right-handed southpaw” when he had a tendon transplanted from his right forearm to his left elbow to remedy a tear that threatened to drive him from baseball.

In 1973 he led the NL in winning percentage with a 16-9 record. John seemed to be embarking on his best season in 1974, posting a 13-3 mark before injuring his pitching elbow in July.

Dr. Frank Jobe performed the revolutionary surgery that saved John’s career, and it was amazingly successful. The soft-throwing John joked that he told Jobe to “put in a Koufax fastball. He did, but it was Mrs. Koufax’s.” He underwent rehabilitation for a year and a half, missing the entire 1975 season, and his 10-10 record in 1976 earned him the Comeback Player of the Year Award. He then won 20 games in three of the next four seasons. John was 20-7 for the Dodgers in 1977 and 17-10 in ‘78, helping them to the World Series each year. But the Dodgers lost to the Yankees both times. John then signed with the Yankees as a free agent before the 1979 season and won 21 and 22 games in his first two seasons in New York.

• Oct 5, 1978 - Tommy John notches a 4-hit shutout to beat the Phils 4-0‚ as Davey Lopes drives in 3 runs. The Dodgers lead 2 games to none.
• Nov 2, 1977 - The Phillies Steve Carlton outpoints the Dodgers Tommy John to win his 2nd Cy Young Award. Carlton led the NL with 23 wins‚ losing 10‚ and posting a 2.64 ERA.
• Oct 8, 1977 - The Dodgers clinch the NL flag with a 4-1 win in front of an LCS-record crowd of 64‚924 at Philadelphia. Dusty Baker‚ the playoff’s MVP‚ hits a 2-run homer and scores twice as Tommy John allows 7 hits in 9 innings of work.

Tom Singer of MLB reports on Tommy John’s feelings about the Hall of Fame;

At some point, having more wins than anyone not in the National Baseball Hall of Fame loses its distinction and becomes just a festering frustration.

Tommy John, winner of 288 games, reached that point a long time ago. And he still appears a better bet to make the American Medical Association’s Hall of Fame than baseball’s.

As a pitcher, consistency was his chief asset. He won 13-plus games 11 times, with an amazing 22 seasons spanning the first (1965) and last (1987).

As a Cooperstown candidate, John has been just as consistent, which, in this case, isn’t such a good thing.

The left-hander is in his 13th year on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot. He reached his highest vote total percentage of 29.61 in 2006, but his annual support has been in that same range since his first year of eligibility, in 1995.

A candidate must get 75 percent of the vote to gain election. Results of the 2007 BBWAA Hall of Fame election will be announced on Jan. 9, and the induction ceremony will take place on July 29 in Cooperstown.

While puzzling, John’s steady-but-not-sensational Hall of Fame run appropriately reflects his reputation during his active years. He didn’t put fear into batters who, quite the contrary, couldn’t wait to grab a stick against his soft stuff. Then they would go to bed muttering about another hapless night of flailing at it.

Similarly, the sum of his accomplishments have been no more impressive to voting members of the BBWAA.

John, who had every right to expect to be quickly ushered into Cooperstown, has dealt with his disappointment.

“I have no control over it. I don’t really worry about things I can’t control. Let it fall where it may,” he has told MLB.com.

He was the epitome of the crafty left-hander, a soft-thrower who kept infielders busy dealing with the products of his sinker. For John, however, it was just another form of dominance.

He had 162 complete games. Randy Johnson, a left-hander on the opposite end of the spectrum perceived as the ultimate southpaw poison, is still looking for his 99th as he heads into his 20th season. John had 46 shutouts; Johnson is stuck on 37.

John will always be synonymous with a historic elbow operation that now bears his name. Dr. Frank Jobe performed the medical miracle, transplanting a ligament into his dead left arm, but John performed the ensuing pitching miracle.

He won more games following the surgery (164) than before it. But Hall voters who recently rewarded Dennis Eckersley for having two successful careers (as a starter, then a closer) haven’t shown John the same consideration.

John must wonder whether he would at least be closer to Cooperstown, if not already on the wall, had he won 40 fewer games but taken six fewer seasons to do it.

To the skeptic, he hung around from 1984-89 to chase personal goals, persistence now perhaps being held against him.

To John, it was a matter of still being able to pitch at a high level and still being asked to do so. He didn’t pitch out the string in Detroit or Pittsburgh or some other doormat of the times, but in the Bronx, going 29-24 for the Yankees in his last four seasons.

“I was one of the five best pitchers the Yankees could find in baseball for the last four or five years,” he recalled, with some pride and some lingering bitterness.

“I didn’t strike guys out and I gave up hits, but I didn’t let runs score and I won ballgames. That’s what you’re supposed to do,” John has said. “I think my win total, my longevity, coming back from the arm surgery, all of the wins I had post-surgery — that should be enough.”

Tommy John’s eligibility for the BBWAA ballot for the Hall of Fame expires in 2009 after 15 years.

Add to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. | del.icio.us | digg | Furl | Reddit | YahooMyWeb |

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard has had an awards-filled November.  If  Reggie Jackson is forever remembered as “Mr. October”, than Howard is worthy of “Mr. November” for the multitude of awards, plaques and honors bestowed upon him this month which still has 8 more days to go.

Well actually, the honors started flowing Ryan Howard’s way 11 days into October with his receiving the Sporting News Player of the Year Award.  Then on October 29, he was honored along with Derek Jeter with presentation of the Hank Aaron Award.  But the deluge of awards was yet to begin.

The MLB All Stars travelled to Japan to take on the Japanese All Stars in what has become an annual exhibition series.  During the first 9 days of November, Howard decimated Japanese pitching with 5 homers, some monumental tape-measure jobs, in the 6 games (including the opening “friendly” exhibition game) and was awarded Japan Tour MVP honors.

On November 9, Howard received more honors outpolling Albert Pujols for Player of the Year and NL Outstanding Player Awards.

And finally, 2 days ago on November 20, Howard won the most coveted award of all, the NL MVP award once again outpolling Pujols for the honor.  Howard thus is one of the few to win MVP honors in his second year after first winning Rookie of the Year honors in the previous season, 2005.

Philadelphia Columnist Bill Conlin says it all at the conclusion of a column devoted to Ryan Howard and his awards;

Mr. November has pretty much won it all. Any of the 11 major awards to fall his way in less than two full seasons would have been career highlights for a lesser star. Or, enough for a good team during a hot decade.

Now it is time for Gillick to delve back into the Rolodex he keeps in his head and continue the most important job he has had since taking the helm of baseball’s Flying Dutchmen.

Gillick has to start putting the pieces in place that will make a new and even more important nickname possible for Ryan Howard, 2006 National League MVP:   Mr. October.

(*Pat Gillick is the Phillies General Manager.)

Add to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. | del.icio.us | digg | Furl | Reddit | YahooMyWeb |