New Blog

This of course will continue to be my main blog. My main passion is of course sports, more specifically baseball, but I have decided to create a second blog. This new blog will be dedicated to music. http://ryanhickeymusic.blogspot.com/

In other news, my 1920s article is half finished. I will try to submit it to At Home Plate in a few days. I took a short week off from writing because I had to really focus on my math summer school. Now, I should be hopefully writing more often. Mostly for sports, but sometimes for music. Hopefully this works out well.

Nolan Ryan

http://www.athomeplate.com/ryanexpress.shtml

Nolan Ryan is one of the most underappreciated pitchers ever. Why? It's still a mystery to me. Anyway, I worked on this piece with Ray Flowers of http://www.wildpitch.blogspot.com/.

All-Time Greats By Decade: 1910-1919

http://www.athomeplate.com/greatsbydecade1910.shtml

Here's my latest article on athomeplate.com. Another article about Nolan Ryan should be published soon on AHP. It's a piece that I worked on with Ray Flowers (http://www.wildpitch.blogspot.com/). Also, I will hopefully be submitting my next "Greats by Decade" article within the next few days.

I will hopefully get to writing another article for this blog, too. I got alot of work to do.

Can Oakland Win The AL West?

It has been a year of streaks in Major League Baseball. Brian Roberts had the streak of successful hitting in the beginning of the year and now he has cooled off. The Baltimore Orioles had their first place spot, due to a string of wins and now they are in fourth because of a few bad losing streaks. Washington had their success streak and now their streak of failures. Tino Martinez had his streak of home runs and now it's his downward spiral. Every team or player who had a successful streak has soon after driven themselves into oblivion, with the exception of the Chicago White Sox. (I predict their fall in the first round of the playoffs.) Why have I brought this up? The Oakland Athletics have been the best team in baseball since July 12 (20-5 record), but they can't and won't continue this steak of victorious baseball.

The Oakland Athletics of 2005 are not the same team they were last year, but the '05 A's season will end the same way the '04 A's season ended. They will blow it in the last week or two of the season and the AL West will be handed to its rightful owner, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. How do I know this? Simple. If last year's team blew it, then these guys will blow it.

Last year, Oakland had an experienced starting pitching staff who were used to pitching in clutch situations. Now, Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson, their two best pitchers, are on different squads. Barry Zito has fallen off the baseball map, since winning the Cy Young Award in 2002. Many people believe Zito has gotten back into the groove of things and is becoming once again the pitcher we grew to know and love, but I sincerely doubt that very thing has happened. Zito is one of the streakiest pitchers in the majors right now. He does well for a string of starts, then does horribly in the next couple of starts. Sometimes, he gets into the mindset that he is a bad pitcher and he continuously pitches terribly, like he had done for the last season and a half. With that type of mindset, Zito can't really be the leader of the Oakland Athletics's pitching staff.

The only other starter from last year's squad was Rich Harden. Most fans don't believe it, but I truly think Rich Harden is one of the elite pitchers in all of baseball right now, especially in the American League. Harden might even crack the top 5 best pitchers in the American League, but that's a discussion for another time. Right now, does Harden have the leadership to guide the young pitchers of the Oakland staff? No, simply because he hasn't had too much experience yet in this league and he needs some guidance himself, in certain situations. In time, I do believe Harden will be the leader of this pitching staff, but for now he needs to develop his skills and character a little more and work on becoming a superstar, something he could be by next year.

The other starting pitchers in Oakland's rotation are Danny Haren, Joe Blanton, and Joe Kennedy. Haren was good on the St. Louis Cardinals last year and I believe he will develop into a very good pitcher somewhere down the line, but right now he is only average at best. His 4.08 ERA and 1.29 WHIP are pretty good, but his career 4.42 ERA and 1.34 WHIP say those numbers won't really last. He isn't yet good enough to really take over a team and give them a guaranteed victory, if they need one. He is another player who doesn't have enough experience to yet help out this team. Joe Blanton is a rookie who is having a decent rookie season, but the team isn't giving him alot of run support, which is clear when you see his 7-9 record. With a 4.10 ERA and limited run support, it doesn't look like Joe Blanton is going to matter much, especially in the clutch towards the end of the season. Finally, the last starter in the rotation is Joe Kennedy. Simply put, Joe Kennedy has been decent throughout his career, but he has never truly proven himself in a serious situation. The only teams Kennedy played for before Oakland were the Colorado Rockies and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Obviously, those teams have been the laughing stock of their respective divisions, and even their respective leagues. Joe Kennedy has never really been in a pressure game where every pitch counts, where one mistake means you won't make it to the playoffs this year. It is going to be tough for Oakland because even if Harden and Zito hold their own, can they truly rely on one of these three guys?

Another flaw for Oakland is the inexperience of their starting lineup. The only experienced players in the lineup are Mark Kotsay, Jason Kendall, and Eric Chavez. That is only one third of their starting lineup who have experience and have been consistent veterans of Major League Baseball. I won't even discuss them because as usual they are consistent good players who have proven their worth this season. On the other hand, Erubiel Durazo should be on that list, but he isn't. The 30 year old Designated Hitter has always been an underachiever. Many fans, writers, critics, and even analysts believed this guy to be some sort of superstar in the near future. Well, it's the future and I can tell you he isn't a superstar and he never will be. He was successful last year, but now he has faded into oblivion, where he began and where he will end. He has consistently been an underachiever, as opposed to Kotsay, Kendall, and Chavez, who have been consistently good.

Other than those players, the Oakland team is completely inexperienced and they have undeniably been overachievers. The A's first baseman, Dan Johnson, is a rookie who got called up on May 29 and has since been on a tear. He has a .322 average with ten home runs in only 200 at bats. He has been great, but honestly it won't last. Dan Johnson sudden hot streak will come to a sudden end and by the end of the season he will have about 15 home runs and a .290 average, which is still good, but it won't be too special because it would mean his stats went down awful quick after that great start. Mark Ellis is another serious overachiever. Coming into the 2005 season, Ellis had a career batting average of .257 through two full Major League seasons. Now, he is batting an illustrious .303. All I'm going to say is he WILL cool off by the end of the season and drop his batting average close to his career .257. Bobby Kielty is another overachiever without any experience. His batting average this year has been .278, yet his career average coming into this season was .250. He, like Mark Ellis, will cool off and fade into oblivion where he belongs with Erubiel Durazo.

The final two players in the Oakland Athletics's starting lineup are Nick Swisher and Bobby Crosby. Nick Swisher is Oakland's rookie outfielder. So far, he has been pretty good for a rookie. His .254 average may not impress you, but that's his average as a rookie and frankly, I am a bit impressed. I may be impressed, but that doesn't mean he will do well down the line in the clutch. His inexperience will get the best of him when Oakland needs him to step up. The shortstop Bobby Crosby was expected to be a superstar for Oakland. Last year he won the Rookie of the Year Award and this year he is only improving, as expected. Crosby is the player who was expected to replace Miguel Tejada. Now, I'm not going to say he is as good as Tejada because he sure as hell isn't, but Crosby has done a pretty good job filling in the spot, despite all the pressure on him to do so. If any of the young players have a chance to overcome their inexperience and do well in the clutch, I believe it will be Bobby Crosby because he has already had alot of pressure filling in Tejada's shoes and he has done a pretty damn good job.

Even if you believe Billy Beane (Oakland's GM and founder of "Moneyball") is a genius for what he has done to this ballclub and even if you are a dedicated Oakland fan, you know in your heart that Oakland will not win the division. They may think they have a shot, but in the end they will fall and the Angels will overtake them. I'm sorry to admit this, but it's true. The Oakland Athletics will not make the playoffs in 2005.

My At Home Plate Articles

I write for another website called www.athomeplate.com

Here are my articles from At Home Plate:

http://www.athomeplate.com/redmachine.shtml - Big Red Machine No More.
http://www.athomeplate.com/clifffloyd.shtml - Cliff Floyd: Return To Glory?
http://www.athomeplate.com/newworldorder.shtml - Baseball's New World Order
http://www.athomeplate.com/alldisappointment05.shtml - 2005 All Disappointment Team
http://www.athomeplate.com/greatsbydecade.shtml - All-Time Greats By Decade: 1900-1909


Those are my previous articles from At Home Plate. I will continue to write for them, as well as my new website here.

If I Had A Hall Of Fame Vote...

I wish I had a chance to vote for players to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. If I did, I would contribute my vote to the few players whom I believe deserve it. Here is my list of players I would vote to induct into the Hall of Fame.

ANDRE DAWSON
When Ryne Sandberg was inducted into the Hall this year, he made a very good case for Andre Dawson, so I decided to look over his stats. In his 21 year career, Dawson hit 438 home runs and had 2774 hits. He was only a career .279 hitter, but he does have a career .482 slugging percentage and over 15oo RBIs. Dawson was also an All-Star eight times in his career. He won Rookie of the Year in 1977 and MVP in 1987. Dawson also has eight Gold Gloves and four Silver Slugger Awards. The Hawk should already be in the Hall of Fame.

JIM RICE
Jim Rice is an icon in Boston. I am a Yankee fan, so I don't honestly care too much for him, but I do want to give a vote for Don Mattingly and if Mattingly makes it, Rice makes it. Rice hit 382 home runs and 2452 hits in his career. He's a career .298 hitter with an OBP of .352 and a slugging percentage of .502. Rice was also an eight time All-Star and he won the AL MVP in 1978. Jim Rice definitely deserves a spot in the Hall.

BRUCE SUTTER
I was considering not voting for Bruce Sutter. He had good stats, but not a very long career. Then, I looked over Goose Gossage's stats. Sutter has 300 saves in only twelve years, while Gossage has 310 in 22 years. I then realized the significance of Bruce Sutter's accomplishments. 300 saves is difficult to achieve and he did it with a career 2.83 ERA. The six time All-Star won the Cy Young in 1979 (a rare accomplishment for a reliever) and was Rolaids Relief Man of the Year four times.

BERT BLYLEVEN
Most baseball experts say Blyleven should be in the Hall. Now, I'm not calling myself an expert, but it's clear he should be there. 287 career wins, 3701 career strikeouts, and 3.31 ERA. He was also an All-Star twice.

LEE SMITH
Lee Smith is the All-Time Saves leader. He is a seven time All-Star with three Rolaids Relief Awards and a career 3.03 ERA. Do I need to say anymore?

TOMMY JOHN
I would vote for Tommy John because he was a consistent pitcher almost every year for 26 years. He had maybe 5 or 6 bad years towards the end of his career. He has 288 career wins and a 3.69 ERA. John also has 2245 career strikeouts and 4 All-Star appearances. I would give him a vote, but I'm not so sure alot of other voters would. I gave him the edge because of his consistency for at least twenty years.

DAVE PARKER
Dave Parker only got 65 votes last year. It surprises me because when you look at his career numbers, he was pretty damn good. He has a .290 average, .339 OBP, 2712 hits, 1493 RBI, and 339 home runs. Parker was also NL MVP in 1978. This seven time All-Star won 3 Gold Gloves and 3 Silver Slugger Awards, as well. I can't understand how he got such few votes last year.

DON MATTINGLY
Don Mattingly's career was cut short because of numerous injuries. I think he is a Hall of Famer. I know the impact he had. I'm from New York and ten years later, fans still worship him. If his career wasn't cut short, who knows what he would have done? In his 14 year careeer, he was a .307 hitter with over 21oo hits. Mattingly had three 200 hit seasons, over 1000 RBI, and 222 home runs in his career. Mattingly was an All-Star six times and MVP in 1985. He won the Silver Slugger 3 times, but his best accomplishment may have been his 9 Gold Gloves. Mattingly is one of the most underappreciated players in baseball history and he really should have a spot in the Hall.

JOHN WETTELAND
Wetteland only pitched for twelve years, yet he was great. If you vote for Bruce Sutter, you have to vote for this guy. In twelve years, he had 330 saves and a career 2.93 ERA. He was only a three time All-Star, but he was great. In 1996, he won the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award and the World Series MVP. John Wetteland was a beast for his short tenure in the Major Leagues.

Those are the players I would give my Hall of Fame vote to. I was thinking about Orel Hershiser or Goose Gossage or Jack Morris, but give me a year or two to think about it.

Best Sports Journalists

I have to write a first entry real quick, so I am making a list of my favorite sports journalists:

- Bill Plaschke (LA Times)
- Bob Ryan (Boston Globe)
- Bill Simmons (ESPN Magazine)
- Dan Shaughnessy (Boston Globe)
- Eric Neel (espn.com)
- Gene Wojciechowski (espn.com)
- J.A. Adande (LA Times)
- Jackie MacMullan (Boston Globe)
- Jay Mariotti (Chicago Sun Times)
- Kevin B. Blackistone (Dallas Morning News)
- Peter Gammons (espn.com)
- Skip Bayless (espn.com)
- Michael Holley (formerly of Boston Globe)
- Michael Wilbon (Washington Post)

-Mike Lupica (New York Daily News)
- Richard Justice (Houston Chronicle)
- Tony Kornheiser (Washington Post)
- Stephen A. Smith (Philadelphia Inquirer)
- Tim Cowlishaw (Dallas Morning News)
- Tim Kurkjian (espn.com)
- Woody Paige (Denver Post)

Also, I write for a website called www.athomeplate.com