Ask Grandstander

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by bigheadache

How much does a Fin weigh?

Hmmm...I'd guess about two pounds.

[LongtimeBravesFan]

Bobby Cox has passed Sparky Anderson for fourth place on the all time wins list. How would you compare the two and do you feel Cox will be inducted into the Hall of Fame as soon as he is eligible?

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by LongtimeBravesFan

Bobby Cox has passed Sparky Anderson for fourth place on the all time wins list. How would you compare the two and do you feel Cox will be inducted into the Hall of Fame as soon as he is eligible?

Answering the second part first, Cox should easily be a first ballot election to the HoF. On what possible grounds would you deny him enshrinement?

I should explain something...in my remarks about Sparky and Whitey and Billy (sounds like a kindergarten class), my championing of the latter two for the HoF should not be taken as an argument that Sparky doesn't belong as well. He does. He racked up the fifth most wins of all time and simply being able to hold onto a MLB managing job long enough to do such a thing, is an accomplishment by itself. There obviously has to be some degree of luck at work, a manager has to have the tools with which to win. Was Casey Stengle an idiot when he managed losing teams and didn't turn into a genius until the Yankees hired him? Was Joe Torre a fool when he ran the Mets and Braves but suddenly gain 50 IQ points when he took over the Yanks? Sparky's good fortune was that he never had to put in those years with bad teams. He came to the Reds just as the core talent base of the Big Red Machine had been assembled. He came to Detroit just as they had assembled the strongest roster for the '80's. It is impossible to know if another manager would have gotten better or worse results, but Sparky did get winning results and we cannot take that away from him. Clearly the team owners and GM's felt that Sparky was doing a good job, they kept him continuously employed.

Martin was the opposite case....with the Twins, the Tigers, the Rangers and the A's, he was handed bad teams, losing teams, and he instantly made them into winners. If you track the specifics, it was never a matter of Martin lucking out and arriving just as some new, great players arrived, Billy took what was on hand and made them all play better. Since he did this again and again, we cannot claim coincidence was at work...Billy Martin had some extraordinary ability to improve ballplayers. And not as often or as instantly as Martin, Whitey Herzog also entered losing situations and turned them around within a short period of time. While Herzog was less instant than Martin, he was better than Martin at sustaining his success.


So, the situation is one where Martin and Herzog are comparable....they were managers who clearly made a difference, where it wasn't luck, it wasn't circumstance....it was them.

Cox first took over a bad team in Atlanta and failed to improve them. (The year after he left, they won the division.) Theb he moved to Toronto and had a Sparky type situation on his hand...taking over a team with a young, powerful roster. (This was the Blue Jays era of Barfield, Moseby, Bell, Stieb, a young Tony Fernansez....tons of talent here.) Cox improved them and had them winning...they took the division in '85.

His second go round with the Braves is of course odd....he took over in 1990 and they played .412 ball. 1991 was the miracle turnaround pennant and the first year of what has been the incredible Braves dynasty since. So in that situation, Cox not only did the Martin trick of instant turnaround, he also did the Herzog trick of sustaining the quality play. He had the Sparky advantage of a terrific roster and an intelligent organization backing him. Whether you wish to say that the Braves won every year because of the smarts of Cox, or that Cox was at least smart enough not to screw up a winning situation, he cannot be denied his success. And because of this, he cannot be denied his place in the HoF. Cox has combined the virtues of Martin, Herzog and Anderson into one package.

[TexasSports22]

Vs match: Ray Bourque vs Jerome Bettis

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by TexasSports22

Vs match: Ray Bourque vs Jerome Bettis

Clearly Bettis was Bourque in cleats, unless Bourque was Bettis in skates.

[LaxD]

Barry Sanders vs. Walter Payton in bball

(BArry played in highschool)

[JoseA]

What is your favorite type of lemonade?

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by LaxD

Barry Sanders vs. Walter Payton in bball

(BArry played in highschool)

Sanders is the superior bocheball player.

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by JoseA

What is your favorite type of lemonade?

I like the frozen or powdered kind better than fresh squeezed. With the former, you can always get a tremendous sugar rush by having a spoonful of the concentrate or a hit of the powder directly ala the Lik-M-Aid candy.

[vtred]

Weekly "what if" fight match-up:

Preacher Roe vs. Dwyane Wade?

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by vtred

Weekly "what if" fight match-up:

Preacher Roe vs. Dwyane Wade?

My understanding is that "Preacher" was just a family nickname bestowed upon Roe at age three and it was not reflective of any special religious inclination. Wade on the other hand has gone so far as to name one of his children "Blessing."

Christian athletes are tolerable to the degree that they keep their mouth shut about THE LORD. Andy Van Slyke managed to complete his playing career and retire before I ever learned that he was a Jesus zombie and in fact was heading up the Baseball Chapel organization. He should be the role model for the others...keep it to yourself. The opposite was Bob Knepper who was always saying really stupid stuff, he once voiced the opinion that if Jesus had been a ballplayer, he would have played hard but clean. Knepper explained that Jesus would have flipped the secondbaseman to break up a double play, but would not have corked his bat or thrown a spitball. I liked that image...of a white robed Jesus sliding into second, but of course I regarded Knepper as an idiot. (He reaffirmed this with his stone age remarks about women as unpires.)

[heyterry]

How did Dreamz become such a scumbag?

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by heyterry

How did Dreamz become such a scumbag?

"Become?" He was always a scumbag. There was never the slightest doubt in my mind that he was going to make the decision that he did. Nor was there the slightest doubt in my mind that the show would arrange for the opportunity for this to happen. The maze immunity was one custom designed for Yau-Man...it called for an orderly, scientific mind. The next immunity was designed entirely for whichever player had the most upper body strength. Gee, can we guess who was going to win that?

[heyterry]

Do you think that Dreamz knows when he's lying and when he's telling the truth?

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by heyterry

Do you think that Dreamz knows when he's lying and when he's telling the truth?

I'd put it this way....I do not think that is an important distinction for him.