Kevin Appier: Hall of Famer?

Kevin Appier had a long DMBL career... but was it worthy of the Diamond Mind Baseball League Hall of Fame?

Looking at the 16 starting pitchers who are or were eligible for the DMBL Hall of Fame -- that is, leaving out the guys who haven't been retired long enough (Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez) and the two guys who are already in the Hall (David Cone and Dennis Martinez), but including pitchers who were eligible but are no longer on the ballot (Shane Reynolds, Pete Harnisch, Denny Neagle) -- Appier ranks first in several key categories.

Most wins (107) -- Appier, followed by Hideo Nomo (87)
Most strikeouts (1,470) -- Appier, followed by Nomo (1,370)
Most innings (1,810.0) -- Appier, followed by Andy Benes (1589.1)
Most starts (300) -- Appier, followed by Benes (274)
Most complete games (35) -- Appier, followed by Harnisch (29)
Most years played (11) -- Appier, tied with Benes (11)

On the other hand, he also ranks first in most hits allowed, most earned runs allowed, most walks allowed, and most losses.

But all this proves is that Appier had a long career. The question is, did he have a good one?

Appier's career ERA of 4.90 ranks puts him 6th out of the 16, between mediocrities Scott Erickson (4.86) and Kirk Rueter (4.96). (Bret Saberhagen leads at 4.35.) He's even lower in WHIP, ranking 10th. (Rick Reed leads with a 1.35; Appier's 1.55 puts him between Nomo at 1.52 and Pedro Astacio at 1.57.) He's just 8th in winning percentage (.471), between Juan Guzman and Reed. (Neagle leads at .565.) And despite having a huge lead in career starts and complete games, his 5 career shutouts leave him tied for 3rd with Reynolds. (Ismael Valdes leads with 8, followed by Nomo at 6.)

Appier is 6th in H/9 (10.2), 11th in BB/9 (3.8), 4th in K/9 (7.3) and 7th in K:BB (1.9). And remember, this isn't all-time... this is just out of the 16 starting pitchers who are or were eligible for the Hall of Fame.

Looking at his career season-by-season, you see Appier got off to a really bad start -- he was 6-28 with a 5.82 ERA and 1.87 WHIP in his first two seasons! If you throw out those two years, his career W% climbs to .523 (101-92) and his ERA drops to 4.78. He also had a brutal end to his career, with four years for the perpetually cellar-dwelling Columbia Rattlesnakes (28-44, 5.55 ERA). If you throw out those years as well, you really see why some people remember Appier as a solid DMBL pitcher -- 73-48 (.603 W%) with a 4.35 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, 31 complete games, and 5 shutouts over five seasons with Tampa and Newark. Looking at him just over that stretch, he has almost as good a HOF case as Cone (109-81, .574 W%, 4.42 ERA, 1.50 WHIP). He also was a two-time All-Star ('93, '98) and won a World Series ring with the 1997 Sugar Bears.

But can you ignore six bad years and focus only on five good years? Does a pretty good (but not great) peak warrant the Hall of Fame? Decide for yourself! Fill out your ballot today!

POINT-COUNTERPOINT: John Olerud, Hall of Fame?

NO, HE'S NOT: A Good Player, But Not A Great One
By Phil Plantier

John Olerud was a mainstay of the early 2000s Arkansas Golden Falcons. A four-time All-Star and both the All-Star and World Series MVPs in 1999, he hit .300 with an amazing .403 career OBP. He won two World Series rings and reached the post-season eight times in his 12-year career.

But was he truly a Hall of Famer? While he was in the league for a long time, he only had in 5,185 career ABs -- he was a platoon player in his first and last season, missed almost all of 1997, and of course 1995 was the strike year. As a result, you won't find him on the career leaderboard in any category.

Most dramatically, Olerud hit just 148 HRs -- 1 HR for every 35 AB. His lack of power (career .457 SLG) dropped his career OPS to .860 despite his amazing OBP. (Not to whine, but I hit one every 13 AB and had an .829 OPS, but I only got one season in the DMBL.) You want power from your corners, and Olerud couldn't supply it.

There have been a lot of players with career OPS's in the mid-800s -- Harold Baines (.846), Ellis Burks (.850), Ken Caminiti (.846), Tim Salmon (.869), Mo Vaughn (.842) -- who were passed over by the voters.

In a few years there will be guys like Brian Giles (.886), Ryan Klesko (.891), and Bernie Williams (.881) on the ballot. If you let in Olerud, I guess they are all Hall of Famers, too?

YES, HE IS: Fuck you, Phil Plantier
By John Olerud

I think spending all that time in Triple-A must have made you soft in the head. (Maybe you should've worn a helmet all the time like I did.) You don't seem to understand that a career .403 OBP means that I was one of the best players in baseball for a very long time. I didn't hit a lot of home runs, but that's why we had Barry Bonds and Juan Gonzalez. My job was to get on base, and I was one of the best in league history at doing that.

Among all players eligible for the Hall of Fame, I rank 7th in on-base percentage. Seventh! Plantier, didn't you read Moneyball? Or at least see the movie? OBP is where it's at, kid.

Oh and P.S., hell yeah Klesko will be a Hall of Famer. Dude could rake.

---

What do you think? Let us know by casting your ballot for the Hall of Fame!

Career Owner Records Updated!

Check it out! The all-time Career DMBL Coaching Records page has been updated.

Here's a little factoid about each of us:

The Calvosa Brothers have had back-to-back 90+ win seasons. The Sardine City Straphangers have won almost as many games over the last two seasons (183) as they did in their first three (189)! Last year's 92-70 record brought up their career winning percentage by 27 points, to .459.

For the second straight year, Brent Campbell's Hillsborough Hired Hitmen finished with a winning record, but missed the playoffs. Campbell is 573-562 as the owner of the Hitmen, 348-300 as the owner of the Lousiana Lightning and 149-175 as the owner of the Scranton Sparrows.

The Newark Sugar Bears had their worst-ever season -- by 41 games! Prior to 2011, Butch Garretson's worst season was 90-72. Last year, he was 49-113. The disaster cost him 22 points in career winning percentage, from .650 to .628. However, he's still comfortably ahead of the second-place Iron Fist (.589). However, the Fisters will be within striking distance if the Sugar Bears have two more 49 win seasons in '12 and '13, which would put him at .592!

On the other hand, Mike Hornick had his best-ever season with New Jersey Team Buddah. It was only good enough for 12th place, but his 69 wins were one more than his previous all-time high in 2007. Still, it's a step in the right direction, and the second straight year he's gone up from 2009's last-place finish at 58-104.

And another best-ever performance, this one from Mark Hrywna. The Hoboken Cutters won 94 games -- eight wins more than their previous high, accomplished in '02 and '07. It was also their best performance in terms of standings (3rd), and the first time they've won a post-season series. If the Cutters can win 98 or more games next year, Mark's career winning percentage will be over .500 for the first time in franchise history!

David Landsman had his third straight winning season, but finished in 7th place. It was the first time since '08 that Matthew's Mighty Men of Marietta didn't make the playoffs, win more games than he did the previous year, or raise his career winning percentage (.542). His teams have called three different cities home, but it doesn't really matter where they play -- Landsman is 529-443 (.544) in Marietta, 431-379 (.532) in Stanhope, and 444-366 (.548) in Jerusalem!

After winning the World Series in '10, Jamie Landsman's Bridgewater Mallers took a big step backward in '11, going 64-98 to drop his career winning percentage by 16 points to .475. It was his second-worst performance after his 61-101 debut in 2006. Looking for a good omen in '12? Even with that awful '06, Jamie is 241-245 (.496 W%) in even-numbered years, but 221-265 (.455 W%) in odd-numbered years.

For the fifth straight year, Mike "Stump" Matiash missed the playoffs -- after reaching the post-season for the previous 14 consecutive years. The Arkansas Golden Falcons' 73-89 performance was the second-worst in the history of this once-proud franchise, following last year's 62-100 collapse.

Anthony "Bocci" Pucci won his first-ever division title, his first-ever Commissioner's Cup, his first-ever second round series... but lost in the World Series. His 96-66 campaign boosted his career winning percentage to .495 -- just 23 games under .500. If the Philadelphia Endzone Animals can win 93 games or more next year, he'll climb above .500 for the first time ever.

The Mudcats bounced back from their last-place finish in '10 to reach the playoffs, and give Chris Pucci his second Ian Rintel Front Office Executive of the Year Award. But his 89-73 finish dropped his career winning percentage to .493 -- two points behind brother Anthony!

Check out Nick Pucci's career numbers -- no, it's not a typo. He's gone exactly 71-91 in each of the three years he's been in the league! Each time he's finished in 11th place.

Erick Wickstrom won his first-ever division title and his first-ever World Series after going 95-67, the second-best performance in his franchise history. The Rat Pack haven't had a losing season since 2007, when they won just 52 games. They followed that up with 106 wins in '08. Prior to this four-year streak, the Rat Pack had just one winning season in their first seven years.

After losing 101 games in his first season and 99 in his second, Tom Zagenczyk won 83 games in 2010, but took a step backward in '11 after winning just 78 games. Still, that was good enough to bring his career winning percentage up 14 points to .440 -- putting him ahead of retired owners Scott Boehler, David Schlossberg and Brian Dissler.

Our beloved commissioner won more games than the previous year for the second straight season, and also had his fourth-straight winning season. But it was the second straight season that his Vancouver Iron Fist were bounced from the playoffs in the second round. Yaro Zajac now has 1,903 wins, opening up his head over second-place Arkansas by 74 wins. Yaro better be careful -- he's had three straight years that have lowered his career winning percentage, from .595 in '08 to .589 today. If the Iron Fist Retired brother Steve Zajac is lurking at .586 -- if the Fist don't win at least 83 games next year, Steve takes the Zajac family title!

DMBL Eligibility Report!

We added two more teams this year, but didn't change the eligibility requirements. That means there will be as many as 60 fewer players in the free agent pool this year! Will we have enough players to go around?

There are a total of 313 eligible batters this year.

Catchers: 41, including 3 who are eligible at one other position, and 7 who are catcher only (can't DH).

First base: 56, including 29 who are eligible at first base and at least one other position.

Second base: 56, including 35 who are eligible at second base and at least one other position.

Third base: 56, including 30 who are eligible at third base and at least one other position.

Shortstop: 51, including 23 who are eligible at shortstop and at least one other position.

Corner outfield: 133, including 25 who are eligible at corner outfield and at least one other position. (This includes all center fielders, who are eligible at corner outfield as well.)

Center field: 58, including 4 who are eligible at center field and at least one other position (in addition to corner outfield).

Designated hitter: Anyone can be a DH (except the 7 players who are eligible only as catchers). But there are five players who didn't play 10 games in the field at any position last year, and are only eligible to be used as a DH.

Remember, every team is required to field a team (one player for each position), plus a backup catcher.

Wait... only 41 catchers this year? Since we have 16 teams, and every team is required to carry two catchers, that only leaves at most nine catchers in the free agent pool! And some teams will draft more than two catchers. What if several catchers get injured at the same time and we run out of catchers (or players eligible at any other position)?

We invoke the Tom Prince Rule: If we run out of catchers, the ineligible unsigned player who had the most plate appearances without qualifying and appeared in at least 10 MLB games as a catcher last year becomes eligible, but only for the duration that no other catcher is available. Once an eligible catcher becomes available, the ineligible player must be released and the eligible available catcher signed. This year's "Tom Prince" is Rob Johnson, who was just one plate appearance shy of eligibility with 199. Johnson is a remarkably bad hitter (.190 BA, .259 OBP, .285 SLG), so hopefully you won't need him! What if we need two catchers? The next guy on the list is Hank Conger, who also just missed qualifying -- 197 PA. He hit .209 with a .282 OBP and .356 SLG, so you don't want him either. But if we need three ineligible catchers? Now you're talking -- Jose Molina hit .281 with a .342 OBP and .415 SLG. By the way, in the history of the league, this rule has never been invoked (not even for Tom Prince). But now that we're up to 16 teams, who knows? It could be Rob Johnson's lucky year!

The Tom Princes for the other positions, where 250 plate appearances are required for eligibility:
1B: Luke Scott (.220 BA, .301 OBP, .402 SLG in 236 PA)
2B: John McDonald (.229 BA, .269 OBP, .308 SLG in 245 PA)
3B: Also McDonald, but if he's taken: Blake DeWitt (.265/.305/.413 in 243 PA)
SS: McDonald again, but if he's gone: Tsuyoshi Nishioka (.226/.278/.249 in 240 PA)
Corner OF: Shelley Duncan (.260 BA, .324 OBP, .484 SLG in 247 PA)
Center field: Bryan Petersen (.265 BA, .357 OBP, .387 SLG in 241 PA)

Here's another way to look at the position breakdown:

One position:
Catcher: 38, including 7 who are catcher only (can't DH)
First base: 27
Second base: 21
Third base: 26
Shortstop: 28
Corner outfield: 50
Center field: 54 (can also play corner outfield)

Two positions:
Catcher and first: 3
First and third: 2
Second and third: 6
First and center field: 2
First and corner outfield: 9
Second and corner outfield: 4
Second and shortstop: 8
Third and outfield: 2
Third and shortstop: 2
Shortstop and corner outfield: 1

Three positions:
First, second, and third: 4
First, second, and corner outfield: 2
First, third, and corner outfield: 2
First, third, and shortstop: 1
Second, third, and center field: 1
Second, third, and shortstop: 9
Second, shortstop, and corner outfield: 1
Third, short, and center field: 1

No position:
DH only: 5

And now... the pitchers.

There are a total of 382 eligible pitchers this year. There are 167 eligible starting pitchers; 203 eligible relief pitchers; and 12 guys who are eligible as swingmen (starter or reliever).

What if run out of pitchers? It's impossible. Even in a 16-team league, if each team drafted 10 starting pitchers, there would still be seven left in the pool. Every team could draft 12 relievers and we'd still have 11 left over. And that doesn't include the 12 swingmen.

By the way, the minimum league requirement is five starting pitchers and four relief pitchers per team.

End of the road for Pudge?

Ivan Rodriguez's DMBL record 18-year career may have come to an end.

The catcher only had 137 plate appearances in MLB in 2011, leaving him 63 short of DMBL eligibility. Pudge had played in every season since 1993 and is the DMBL career record holder in most seasons played (18) and consecutive seasons played (also 18).

He's a career .282 hitter (.313 OBP, .439 SLG) with 490 2B, 263 HR and 1,100 RBIs. He has 8,401 career ABs in the DMBL.

Pudge had a great year last year as a platoon player, hitting .386 (.860 OPS), but in only 83 ABs. His best year came in 2001, when he hit .318/.350/.604 (.953 OPS) with 108 R, 200 H, 50 2B, 41 HR and 102 RBI.

He played most of his career with the Columbia Crusaders (later named the Rattlesnakes), playing with that now defunct organization from 1993 through 2005. He's since played for the D.C. Bushslappers, Sardine City Straphangers, New Jersey Team Buddah, Arkansas Golden Falcons and Amityville Ant Slayers.

I-Rod was released by the Nationals, but he hasn't officially hung up his catcher's mask just yet. There have been rumors he's being eyed by the New York Mets, Tampa Bay Rays and Houston Astros. We'll see if he can get to 200 plate appearances next season and return in 2013 for a 19th DMBL year.

BUT WAIT... isn't there a chance Pudge could surface in the DMBL in 2012? Yes! Under the Tom Price Rule, if every eligible catcher is already on a roster, the player with at least 10 games started as a catcher and the most plate appearances will become eligible. Currently, that honor goes to Rob Johnson, who just missed eligibility with 199 plate appearances. But after Johnson is signed, and another team also needs a catcher... eligiblity would go to Hank Conger. But if Conger isn't available... and if injuries also strike Jose Molina, Buster Posey, Chris Stewart, Carlos Corporan, David Ross, J.R. Towles, Salvador Perez, Koyie Hill, Brett Hayes, Brian Schneider and Francisco Cervelli, then Ivan is eligible again! Here's hoping.