PHILS PHACTS:
Retraction Request – The
lawyer for Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard and Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman is demanding an immediate and complete
retraction to the Al Jazeera report
that linked both to performance enhancing drugs. Multiple reports said William Burck,
who represents both Howard and Zimmerman, sent a letter to Al Jazeera
requesting the retraction. Al Jazeera issued a correction to its written report
online, saying, "An earlier version of this article reported on an
allegation about possible links between Ryan Zimmerman and Ryan Howard and
human growth hormone. The substance alleged was Delta 2, not HGH." That
does not go far enough, according to Howard's and Zimmerman's representation. "Al
Jazeera tried sneaking out a correction which acknowledges major errors in
their story about our clients Ryan Zimmerman and Ryan Howard," Burck said
in a statement. "The original defamatory 'report' connected our clients to
the use of HGH, but Al Jazeera has now admitted this defamatory accusation was wholly
false and unsubstantiated. Al Jazeera's acknowledgment confirms their
unforgivable sloppiness and the recklessness of its publication of this false
story. Al Jazeera must retract the remaining false allegations against our
clients immediately." Earlier this week, Burck called the claims in the
report "outright lies" and vowed to fight them in court. "We
will go to court to hold Al Jazeera and other responsible parties accountable
for smearing our clients' good names," Burck said. Major League Baseball
said it will conduct a thorough investigation of the report, whose source has
already recanted his comments.
A Strong Candidate For Enshrinement – Even
though seven players have been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame
over the past two years, many strong candidates remain on the ballot. With
Baseball Writers' Association of America voters able to pick a maximum of 10
players apiece, and 75 percent of the vote required for enshrinement, several
worthy candidates must travel a difficult road. Results of this year's BBWAA
vote will be revealed on MLB Network on Jan. 6, with a news conference
involving any electees to be held the following day. It's unlikely Curt
Schilling, in his fourth year on the ballot, will be part of that group. The
right-hander, who received 39.2 percent of the vote last time around, has a
long ways to go. Schilling no doubt has suffered from his relatively low total
of wins (216) and lack of a Cy Young Award, perhaps getting overshadowed by his
brilliant contemporaries -- and in some cases teammates -- such as Randy
Johnson, Greg Maddux and Pedro Martinez. But when it comes to the most relevant
numbers, there is a strong case for the six-time All-Star and three-time Cy
Young runner-up as a clear Hall of Famer. Here is a look at that argument: •
Schilling's career value stacks up quite favorably. His 80.7 pitching wins
above replacement (WAR) ranks 26th
all time, according to Baseball-Reference.com, including 14th in the expansion
era (since 1961). He comes in just behind Bob Gibson and ahead of numerous Hall
of Famers, including Don Sutton, Jim Palmer, Bob Feller, Juan Marichal and Don
Drysdale. • Baseball-Reference's wins above average (WAA) compares a player's
performance to the league average instead of to a theoretical replacement
player, as in WAR. By that standard, Schilling's 54.1 ranks 10th among pitchers
since 1901, ahead of such names as Gibson, Steve Carlton and Warren Spahn. • In
1968, baseball witnessed the Year of the Pitcher and responded by lowering the
mound. Over the 47 seasons since then, here is where Schilling's career numbers
fall in several important categories (a minimum of 2,500 innings was used for
rate stats): Strikeout-to-walk ratio: 1st (4.38); Strikeouts per 9
innings: 4th (8.6); WHIP: 4th (1.137); Walks per 9 innings:
6th (1.96); WAA: 6th (54.1); ERA+: 7th (127); Strikeouts:
9th (3,116); WAR: 10th (80.7); Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP):
11th (3.23). • Schilling started slowly, but over his final 12 years
(1996-2007), during an era of extreme offense, he went 173-104 (a .625 winning
percentage) with a 3.43 ERA (134 ERA+), averaging more than 200 innings and 200
strikeouts per season. From 2001-04, at the advanced ages of 34-37, he led all
pitchers in WAR, with an average of 7.8. Schilling also was first in
strikeout-to-walk ratio, second in strikeouts, third in innings and FIP and
fourth in ERA+. For good measure, he won seven postseason games and two World
Series rings. • When it comes to racking up strikeouts and limiting walks -- a
crucial part of a pitcher's job -- few have been better than Schilling. The righty
is one of four pitchers to record at least three 300-strikeout seasons, along
with Johnson, Nolan Ryan and Sandy Koufax. Excluding the 1800s, no pitcher with
even 1,000 career innings can match Schilling's 4.38 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Only one other pitcher with 2,000-plus innings, Martinez, is above 3.78. At his
best, from 2001-06, Schilling posted a 6.75 ratio, putting him way ahead of his
closest challenger, Johnson (4.70). Schilling was responsible for five of the
top 11 single-season marks during that span, and his 9.58 in 2002 was the
second-best in history up until 2010. It still ranks fourth. • For perspective
on Schilling, examine Tom Glavine, who sailed into the Hall with 91.9 percent
of the vote in his first year on the ballot, in 2014. The two pitchers operated
during almost the exact same period. Glavine does hold huge advantages in
starts, innings pitched and victories (cracking the esteemed 300 mark), and
longevity certainly is important. Still, here is how the two compare in some
other areas. Pitching WAR: Schilling 80.7 | Glavine 74.0; Total WAR:
Glavine 81.5 | Schilling 79.9; WAA: Schilling 54.1 | Glavine 39.1; ERA+:
Schilling 127 | Glavine 118; FIP: Schilling 3.23 | Glavine 3.95; K/BB:
Schilling 4.4 | Glavine 1.7. • Still on the fence about Schilling? Consider
that the three-time World Series champion is one of the best postseason
performers in baseball history. In 19 career postseason starts, he went 11-2
with a 2.23 ERA, including a 2.06 ERA over seven Fall Classic outings.
Schilling was the MVP of the 1993 National League Championship Series for the
Phillies, threw a shutout in that year's World Series against Toronto, and he
set a single-postseason record for strikeouts (56) for the 2001 D-backs. That
year, he produced a 1.12 ERA, and Arizona won five of his six outings, which
included three complete games and a shutout.
THE BEGINNING:
The
Phillies finally put an end to the season finishing in last place in the NL
East with a record of 63-99. Given the departures, aging stars, injuries, and
bipolar performances, this has ended up being one of the worst seasons in
franchise history! However, at least Ryan Madson got another ring this year.
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