Here come the 1960's. Hall of Fame Blog Part 5.

Well here come the sixties. Groovy Man.

1969-Stan Musial, Waite Hoyt, Stan Coveleski, Roy Campanella
Stan Musial-Yes- Its impossible to find one blemish on Stan the Man’s record that goes against him being one of the greatest players of all time. .331 career batting average, .417 career OBP, with a .559 career slg percentage. That gives him a very salty .976 career OPS. He was a seven time batting champion and nearly won the Triple Crown in 1948. He gathered 3630 career hits, 475 career home runs, 1949 career runs, and 1951 career RBI’s. He was a three time MVP and easily could have won three more, and probably should have. Plus he was just a hell of a nice guy. He is one of the top ten greatest players of all time.

Waite Hoyt-No- The veteran’s committee strikes again. Apparently they thought their job back then were to pick out marginal guys and make their families happy by putting them in the Hall of Fame. Waite had 237 career wins with a 3.59 ERA. Not exactly hall of fame stuff. He pitched 21 seasons, most of them bad with a few good seasons sprinkled in. I don’t really know why he is in the Hall of Fame.

Stan Coveleski- Yes- Now here is a guy that might be worthy of the Vet’s committee’s pick. He only won 215 games, but at a much better percentage than Hoyt. (.602) and he had a much better career ERA. (2.89) Even though his career was somewhat limited he won 20 games five times, with a good percentage each year. I never really count a 20 win season if you lost 20 games as well, that just means you had a ton of decisions, Coveleski could pitch.

Roy Campanella- Yes- A tragic case, Campanella was a great, great player. Roy was a great defensive catcher, and like Yogi Berra he was a three time MVP. The difference between he and Yogi, is that Roy probably actually deserved them, or at least was as good a choice as the competitors. As it is, although his career was shortened due to the car accident that left him in a wheel chair, he had a career OPB of .860 and was an All-Star in every season other than his rookie year and his last. His career was brief, but I don’t really have the heart to exclude a great player who ended his career in a wheelchair.

1968-Joe Medwick, Goose Goslin, Kiki Cuyler

Joe Medwick- Yes- A triple crown winner and MVP winner, and put up a great career average of .324 which he coupled with a career .505 slugging percentage for good measure. He only had 2471 hits, but he was a great player, and had some monster seasons, so that really doesn’t matter. Medwick was a bit of a prickly person and wasn’t particularly well liked in baseball. He wasn’t hated, but he wasn’t exactly liked either.

Goose Goslin-Yes- Goose Goslin was one of the strongest men of his time, and although he was a terrible defensive outfielder, he sure could hit. He has a career .316 BA with a .387 OBP and a .500 Slugging. For good measure he threw in 2734 career hits, 1609 RBI, and 1483 Runs.

Kiki Cuyler- Yes- A little bit marginal, but he was truly respected by his piers as one of the best in the game. He was an excellent defensive centerfielder, with a rocket for an arm, and he could hit as well. He tossed good percentage numbers of .321, .386, and .474. He also led the league in stolen bases 4 times, and in runs twice. He had some decent power, and for a non-RBI slot hitter, had some very respectable RBI totals.

1967-Red Ruffing, Lloyd Waner

Red Ruffing-No- What in the hell was the voters thinking? Less than 2000 career strikeouts, and a 273-225 record. That is a lot of wins, but he pitched 22 seasons, he is supposed to have a bunch of wins. The real issue with him is his career 3.80 ERA, that is entirely too high to be a hall of famer. For at least half of his career he put up an ERA over 4.00. That’s no greatness.

Lloyd Waner-No- Perhaps I am a bit biased, but this is the exact kind of player that I think is overrated. Lloyd did one thing. He hit singles and he hit them well. But that’s all he did. He didn’t walk, and even though he hit .316, he only got on base at a .353 clip. There are lots of players that hit far lower, but were far more productive due to his lack of on base percentage. Not only that he has a tiny percentage of his careers hits that weren’t singles. His career slugging is only .393. An argument could be made that he belongs, because he was a good player. However, I really just dislike this type of player. If he hit .325 plus I would be a bit more likely to take him.

1966-Ted Williams

Ted Williams- Yes – (Explicit Warning Here) Ted used to refer to himself as Teddy Fucking Ballgame, the greatest hitter than game has ever seen. Now everybody that hears it generally hates that type of arrogance, however, he maybe just have been right. He was a fighter pilot as well, and by all accounts he was exceptional at that too. Ted Williams was a ridiculous player. He refused to hit the ball the other way, and he was a terrible outfielder that could often be seen practicing his swing out in the field, but that doesn’t matter. He was that good a hitter. His career percentage numbers are .344, .484, and .634. Those are video game type numbers. He led the American League in OPS 11 times, and posted an OPS over 1.000 18 times. Keep in mind he only played 19 seasons. Yep, that means he has a ridiculous career OPS of 1.116. He put up 521 homers, 525 doubles, and although he only had 2654 hits, a bit part of that is because he took a ridiculous 2021 walks. And keep in mind he did this even though he missed 3 years of his career right in the prime of it due to WWII and he missed sometime for Korea as well. Truly a legend, even if he was a very unlikeable guy.

1965- Pud galvin-Pre-1900 Player, Pass.

1964- Heinie Manush, Tim Keefe, Burleigh Grimes, Red Faber, Luke Appling
Heinie Manush-Yes- This guy could hit the baseball. He is one of the more unknown of the Hall of Famers but he deserves his place. He hit a very robust .330, .377, and .479. To go with the good percentage numbers he also tossed up 2524, which although not a stellar overall total, is very respectable nonetheless. To be honest, I don’t know a ton about this guy, so I don’t really have any anecdotal research to add to his case, and particularly know very little about his defense, since that is pretty much purely extracted from anecdotal research. Like Bill James I think I will revise this list from time to time and hopefully in its next version I will have more to say about Mr. Manush.

Tim Keefe-Pre-1900 player, Pass.

Burleigh Grimes-No- Another guy I don’t know a ton about. He was a spitballer, the legal kind, and he was one of the last legal spitballers to toe the rubber. Just looking at his stats I would have to say he is probably a no. 270 wins, with a good .560 winning percentage, but his ERA are a bit high at 3.53. His strikeout total is a bit low at 1512, but guys didn’t strike out all that much during the ERA he pitched. For now he is a no, but eventually I will do my due diligence on his anecdotal research.

Red Faber-No-If I don’t take Grimes then I can’t take Faber. They are very similar pitchers. Their careers overlapped, and Grimes one a few more games at a better percentage and Faber had a better ERA. Faber had 1471 K’s to Grimes 1524. Neither pitcher was stellar.

Luke Appling-Yes- Appling could hit the ball pretty well, and he new how to take a walk. He won two batting titles and walked over 100 times in three seasons. His career percentage numbers are .310 .399 and .398. The slugging is a bit low, but the OBP is stellar. He was a sure handed quality shortstop if not spectacular at his position. And oddly he seems to be better at short defensively when he was 40 than he was at 30, which is a pretty unusual trend. Anecdotally he is supposed to be one of the best at defensive position, which would account for that anomaly.

1963-Eppa Rixey, Sam Rice, Elmer Flick

Eppa Rixey-No- Although I know this is always indicative of the quality of a pitcher but Mr. Rixey led the league in losses twice as often as he led the league in wins. Ok that is not quite fair to leave it at that, he led the league in wins once, and losses twice. Still, an interesting fact to note. Other than that it seems Mr. Rixey was about a .500 pitcher, to be more exact a .515 pitcher. He posted a career record of 266-251. Definitely nothing to write home about. He also walked about as many as he struck out and gave up quite a few more hits than innings pitched, which isn’t always a bad thing either, but it does mean he has a relatively high WHIP. All in all, there is no way he was close to one of the best pitchers of his era.

Sam Rice-Yes- This man could play the game. He was an excellent fielder, with a good arm and he could hit the baseball. He put up a .322 career batting average with a .374 OBP and a .427 Slg. He also came up just 13 hits short of 3000 for his career. He scored 1514 and for good measure stole 351 bases.

Elmer Flick-pass- I am going to take a pass on Flick at this time, I would like to have the input from the peanut gallery on him if I could.

1962-Edd Roush, Jackie Robinson, Bob Feller,

Edd Roush-Yes- Mr. Roush was a capable hitter, he put up some really good percentage numbers of .323 .369 and .446. The career slugging of .446 is really good for his era. He was known as a good defender as well, and how can you not vote for a guy named Edd with 2 D’s.

Jackie Robinson-Yes- He only played for ten years, but this is a situation where you have to give a guy some credit for projected years. There is no reason to think that he wouldn’t have had five or six more years at the start of career that would have been comparable to his prime. As for the years he did have they were quite good. He put up a .311 average a great .409 OBP and a respectable .474 slugging. He was a great player who also put up 197 stolen bags in a era where people didn’t really still bags. As a defender he was adequate but not great, his reputation with the glove has become a bit overinflated. However, he was a professional hitter no doubt about it.

Bob Feller-Yes- This is a guy through the years that probably should have kept his mouth shut on a few different occasions. Despite that he was a mighty quality pitcher. He had some of the same problems as Nolan Ryan, but he corrected his wildness where Ryan never did. He did have over 200 walks in a season once though. He led the league in strikeouts 7 times and has a reputation as a big time strikeout pitcher, which he was at times, but contrary to what most people believe he never got to 3000 k’s. Bob was generally a better pitcher than the teams he was on and lead the league in wins 6 times with a very good .621 career winning percentage. He also lost 4 prime years to wartime service, and of all factors that play upon what could have been, I am more prone to giving people the benefit of the doubt when it
comes to wartime service.

1961-Max Carey-Yes- Max Carey was a great leadoff man. He posted a .361 career OBP with 738 careers steals. Caught stealing stats aren’t available for a good portion of his career, but when it is he stole a very good percentage. Also anecdotally he is known as a very high percentage base stealer. He was also an excellent fielder and amassed 2665 career hits and 1545 career runs. He led the league in steals 10 times.

1960-There were no players elected in 1960.

Retro Movie Review, Our Man Flint 7.25/10.

How many of you enjoyed the Austin Powers movie series? This movie is the original Austin Powers type of character. Our Man Flint is movie that was made in 1966 and was made as a parody to the recently popular James Bond series of movies. The movie chronicles the Ultra cool super agent Derek Flint (play by James Coburn) as he takes on a trio of mad utopian scientists that are controlling the world’s weather. This movie is often described by watchers and cheesy or just plain goofy, but really it’s just a whole lot of fun. It is of course very tongue and cheek and very campy, but this is by design not because it was just a bad movie. The strong point of this movie is the performance that James Coburn put in. Many who know this actor would find it hard to believe he would be able to play the suave, ultra chic, ultra-competent sex magnet that the character Derek Flint is supposed to be, however he pulls it off very nicely. James Coburn is very different than Austin Powers or any of the Bonds in his characterization. He is very polite in his rebelliousness, and instead of being condescending to his superiors he is always polite and says sir. Rather than being the suave rebel he is more that annoying person you know that absolutely knows everything about everything and is the best at everything he does and on top of that is also the most polite person you have ever met. He has a boyish smile and disarming manner that makes him both charming and despicable at the same time. This works exceedingly well for the role of Derek Flint, because it distinguishes him from the Bond role very well. I won’t go into a lot of detail because this is not an incredibly thought provoking movie. What it is though is a very fun movie that if you choose to enjoy it and not take to seriously will provide a good two hours of entertainment.

District 9 Movie Review 9.5/10.

District 9 is one of the most original movie ideas I have ever encountered and I have seen a ton of movies. The idea is relatively simple it is an alien movie that is a comment on the human condition. Think to yourself as you are reading this these questions: What would you do if an alien race came to your city? What would you do if these people were refugees needing sanctuary in your city? What would you do if you discovered they were emaciated and badly in need of food and care? What would you do if it seemed they were not smarter, and perhaps in many ways were not as advanced as we are? These key questions are the pivotal ideas of this movie. We, as humans, do not have a good track record when dealing with people that are different on first contact, and we have an even worse track record of dealing with refugees. I wish to regress a little bit and talk about the production before I continue you into the plot points. It is important to point out that this movie was made on 30 million dollars, which of course by today’s standard is a pittance. Despite the low budget this is an effects heavy movie, and I must say that given the budget the effects look fantastic and the shot of the space ship hovering about J-Berg is fantastic. The main actor has never really been in anything other than this, he is reprising his role from the movie short that this movie was adapted from. It was shot in South Africa and acted by South African’s, which I think is very important, that essentially makes this a foreign film, and this should not be overlooked. Anyway back to the plot at hand. This movie in some ways reminds me of another alien movie, “Signs.” Not because the plot or style is in anyway similar, but because , like “Signs” is an alien movie that isn’t really about the alien part. Yes, this is an alien movie, but despite the fact it’s full of aliens, and DNA shifting and advanced weaponry this is more than any of that a comment on the human condition. And frankly, although riveting, it’s difficult to watch. For example the aliens are referred to always as “prawns” which is what they call shrimp in some other countries. They are called this because they do in fact resemble shrimp in some ways. This is of course a parallel for racial slurs that have been used in South Africa, or as we are in the U.S. some particularly nasty slang that we are all familiar with. In the movie they use the same rationale that people have always used, to paraphrase “well that is what they look like, so it is ok right?” That’s the kind of things people are always saying to rationalize the cruel things that they say. This movie touches on everything that has happens in regards to refugees or to those of the minority race. A termination of rights, thoughts of them being less than human (I mean human in the sense that they are viewed as being below the need for basic rights much the way slave owners used to refer to African Americans) serious exploitation and controlling of monopolies, and every similar theme, such as the common racial epithet “they all look the same.” And of course the usual movie them is there, that everything is always about weapons and money.
As for the actual production of the movie, it was pretty spot on. The actors are talented and perfect for their parts. The movie is shot in a documentary sort of way, it starts out as a documentary on the aliens and on the lead character Wikus, and in the middle it drifts from the documentary footage and starts showing you the actual events in Wikus’ life that lead to his notoriety. The two approaches are very well integrated and it doesn’t seem clumsy at all. This movie is not one that is going to make you feel good. In fact it is going to make you feel like crap more than likely. I realized as I was watching this movie that I totally bought everything they were trying to convey, and I realized at that point that I have very little faith in humanity. However, despite that I think this is the one film this year that I think everybody should see, but be warned it’s depressing and has some fairly gross parts.

Best Scene: When Wikus’ has his hand bandage removed by the Doctor.

Best Line: “there you go, souvenir from your first abortion. “

AFI Top 100 Movies.

So this is the current 2007 list of the AFI's top 100 movies. I, as many of you know, am a huge fan of film. I love to read, but there is just something about a cinematic experience that makes me a bit giddy. I have decided that I would post the list and mark the ones I have read, and then invite you guys to compare your lists to mine. Feel free to do it on facebook, just tag me in the note. Just ignore the extra information to the right of the title, that was just stuff from the rankings I didn't want to go through and delete. The ones I have seen will be underlined.

1 CITIZEN KANE (1941) 1 0

2 GODFATHER, THE (1972) 3 1

3 CASABLANCA (1942) 2 -1

4 RAGING BULL (1980) 24 20

5 SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952) 10 5

6 GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) 4 -2

7 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962) 5 -2

8 SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993) 9 1

9 VERTIGO (1958) 61 52

10 WIZARD OF OZ, THE (1939) 6 -4

11 CITY LIGHTS (1931) 76 65

12 SEARCHERS, THE (1956) 96 84

13 STAR WARS (1977) 15 2

14 PSYCHO (1960) 18 4

15 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) 22 7

16 SUNSET BLVD. (1950) 12 -4

17 GRADUATE, THE (1967) 7 -10

18 GENERAL, THE (1927) N/A

19 ON THE WATERFRONT (1954) 8 -11

20 IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) 11 -9

21 CHINATOWN (1974) 19 -2

22 SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959) 14 -8

23 GRAPES OF WRATH, THE (1940) 21 -2

24 E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982) 25 1

25 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962) 34 9

26 MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939) 29 3

27 HIGH NOON (1952) 33 6

28 ALL ABOUT EVE (1950) 16 -12

29 DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944) 38 9

30 APOCALYPSE NOW (1979) 28 -2

31 MALTESE FALCON, THE (1941) 23 -8

32 GODFATHER PART II, THE (1974) 32 0

33 ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975) 20 -13

34 SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937) 49 15

35 ANNIE HALL (1977) 31 -4

36 BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, THE (1957) 13 -23

37 BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, THE (1946) 37 0

38 TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, THE (1948) 30 -8

39 DR. STRANGELOVE (1964) 26 -13

40 SOUND OF MUSIC, THE (1965) 55 15

41 KING KONG (1933) 43 2

42 BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967) 27 -15

43 MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969) 36 -7

44 PHILADELPHIA STORY, THE (1940) 51 7

45 SHANE (1953) 69 24

46 IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934) 35 -11

47 STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, A (1951) 45 -2

48 REAR WINDOW (1954) 42 -6

49 INTOLERANCE (1916) N/A

50 LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE (2001) N/A

51 WEST SIDE STORY (1961) 41 -10

52 TAXI DRIVER (1976) 47 -5

53 DEER HUNTER, THE (1978) 79 26

54 M*A*S*H (1970) 56 2

55 NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959) 40 -15

56 JAWS (1975) 48 -8

57 ROCKY (1976) 78 21

58 GOLD RUSH, THE (1925) 74 16

59 NASHVILLE (1975) N/A

60 DUCK SOUP (1933) 85 25

61 SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (1941) N/A

62 AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973) 77 15

63 CABARET (1972) N/A

64 NETWORK (1976) 66 2

65 AFRICAN QUEEN, THE (1951) 17 -48

66 RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) 60 -6

67 WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1966) N/A

68 UNFORGIVEN (1992) 98 30

69 TOOTSIE (1982) 62 -7

70 CLOCKWORK ORANGE, A (1971) 46 -24

71 SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998) N/A

72 SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, THE (1994) N/A

73 BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969) 50 -23

RANK FILM 1997 CHANGE SEEN IT OR NOT

74 SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, THE (1991) 65 -9

75 IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967) N/A

76 FORREST GUMP (1994) 71 -5

77 ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1976) N/A

78 MODERN TIMES (1936) 81 3

79 WILD BUNCH, THE (1969) 80 1

80 APARTMENT, THE (1960) 93 13

81 SPARTACUS (1960) N/A

82 SUNRISE (1927) N/A

83 TITANIC (1997) N/A

84 EASY RIDER (1969) 88 4

85 NIGHT AT THE OPERA, A (1935) N/A

86 PLATOON (1986) 83 -3

87 12 ANGRY MEN (1957) N/A

88 BRINGING UP BABY (1938) 97 9

89 SIXTH SENSE, THE (1999) N/A

90 SWING TIME (1936) N/A

91 SOPHIE'S CHOICE (1982) N/A

92 GOODFELLAS (1990) 94 2

93 FRENCH CONNECTION, THE (1971) 70 -23

94 PULP FICTION (1994) 95 1

95 LAST PICTURE SHOW, THE (1971) N/A

96 DO THE RIGHT THING (1989) N/A

97 BLADE RUNNER (1982) N/A

98 YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942) 100 2

99 TOY STORY (1995) N/A

100 BEN-HUR (1959) 72 -28