Month: February 2025

— As I started writing this, Shohei Ohtani hit a home run in his first at-bat of the 2025 Cactus League; Ohtani was a 50-50 guy last year, but this year he figures to get back on the mound too.

Ohtani is 38-19, 3.01 in 86 MLB starts, with a 1.08 WHIP; he is coming back from Tommy John surgery.

Dodgers have spent a boatload of $$$; they’re favored to win the World Series again this year. It has been 25 years since a team won the World Series two years in a row.

— Juan Soto signed a 15-year, $765M contract with the Mets, who went 89-73 last year but lost the NLCS to the Dodgers in six games. Mets have Lindor-Soto-Alonso leading off their lineup, but how good is their batting order after that? 

— New York’s American League team hasn’t won a World Series since 2009, despite having a huge payroll every year; last year was first time since ’09 they were in a World Series. They’ve made the playoffs seven of last eight years, but now they lost Soto, but added Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger and Max Fried.

— Tampa Bay Rays will play their home games this year in a minor league stadium in Tampa, because the Trop was wicked by a hurricane last year. Rays will play ton of home games early in the season, to avoid the humid summer weather in Florida. 

A’s will be playing home games in Sacramento’s minor league stadium the next three years; hopefully they’ll move to Las Vegas for the ’28 season, but since their owner is a cheap bastard, no one knows for sure.

Summer weather in Sacramento is said to be a lot warmer than Oakland, so A’s home games figure to be more high scoring than previous years.

— Still unclear what the Red Sox lineup is going to look like; they signed Alex Bregman, but also have Rafael Devers- they both play third base. Devers is banged-up right now; when he gets back  in the lineup, does Bregman move to 2B? Does Devers move to 1B?

Boston seems to have an excess of hitters; will they trade one for a pitcher (Dylan Cease)?

— Pittsburgh haven’t had a winning season since 2018, haven’t made the playoffs since 2015, but their pitching rotation is pretty good; too bad they won’t spend $$$ on some hitters- they could compete for a playoff spot in a less-than-stellar NL Central.

— Wish they’d put in the ball/strike replay challenge thing in for this season; it seems to be a very good idea, from what I’ve seen in spring training. MLB and the players’ union could get together and make this happen right?

— Famous birthdays, March 1st:
Elvin Bethea, 79
Brian Winters, 73
Ron Howard, 71
Catherine Bach, 71
George Eads, 58

Chris Webber, 52
Trevor Cahill, 37
Michael Conforto, 32

Tyreek Hill, 31
Ja’Maar Chase, 25

— Watching spring training games is fun (to a point); watch lot of Dodger games, listen to Rick Monday do analysis- he does radio during the season. He is 79 years old, has a great voice.

When I was a little kid, Rick Monday was an outfielder for the A’s; he was the first player taken in the 1965 amateur draft, which was the first-ever amateur draft.

He played 19 years in the majors and since has had an excellent broadcasting career.

— Read that All-Stars will be wearing their team’s uniform during the All-Star Game this year, which is a good thing, a throwback to the old days.

— Jose Altuve is going to play LF for the Astros this year; Christian Walker will play 1B, Isaac Paredes will replace Bregman at 3B, and it looks like Brendan Rodgers will play 2B.

Altuve’s defensive metrics at 2B weren’t good last year, so they’re moving him to the outfield. Left field in Houston’s stadium isn’t big; am curious where he’ll play in road games.

— Will Nolan Arenado remain a Cardinal, or get traded to a contender? He is on the books for $32M this year, $27M next year, $15M in 2027; he said he wanted to get traded to a contender, but apparently vetoed a trade to Houston.

Cardinals don’t appear to be a contender this season, so unloading a big contract makes some sense for St Louis.

— Mike Trout is moving to right field this year, as he tries to stay healthier; Trout will be 34 in August, has played in only 266 games the last four years, 41% of the Angels’ games. Not ideal for a guy who is on the books for $37M a year through 2030.

— Terry Francona is the new manager in Cincinnati; Reds have made the playoffs only once since 2013, the short season in 2020, but Francona is a Hall of Fame-level manager, winning two World Series in Boston, winning an AL title in Cleveland.

Reds have had three winning seasons the last five years, but were 77-85 last year, going 15-28 in one-run games. Reverse that stat, and Cincinnati would’ve been a playoff team.

— Arizona Diamondbacks lost the World Series in 2023, then won five more games last year than they did in ’23, but narrowly missed the playoffs.

Arizona added P Corbin Burnes, 1B Josh Naylor, but lost Christian Walker; they’re trying hard to win, but being a division rival of the Dodgers can be discouraging. More than likely, they’ll be hunting for a Wild Card spot, like the one they got in 2023. 

Mariano Rivera is the only Hall of Famer who was elected unanimously.

Here are 13 Hall of Famers who also should’ve been elected unanimously…….

13) Hank Aaron
755 home runs, 2,297 RBI, 6,856 total bases. He wasn’t unanimous?
Knocked in 100+ runs in eleven different seasons.
won World Series ring in 1957 with Milwaukee Braves.
OPS didn’t exist when he played, but his career OPS was .928.

12) Willie Mays
660 home runs, 1,909 RBI, won 12 Gold Gloves; who didn’t vote for him?
Had five seasons with a slugging %age over .600.
In 1954, he hit .345 with a 1.078 OPS, after he was in the military during the ’53 season.
Giants also won the World Series in 1954.

11) Ted Williams
.344 career batting average, .482 on-base %age, career OPS of 1.116.
In 1941, he hit .406, playing 143 games, with 147 walks.
He hit .316 in his last season, when he was 41 years old.
Missed three years due to military service; he was a fighter pilot.

10) Babe Ruth
714 home runs, 2,214 RBI, career OPS of 1.164
From 1920-31, he hit 40+ home runs in 10 of 12 seasons.
Hit 15 homers, had 33 RBI in 41 World Series games.
Oh yeah, he was 94-46, 2.28 in 147 starts as a pitcher.

9) Bob Gibson
251-174 with a 2.92 ERA in 482 career starts (255 complete games)
in 1968, he was 22-9, 1.12 in 34 starts, with 13 shutouts.
made All-Star team seven years in row, from 1964-70.
won two World Series MVP’s (1964/1967)

8) Rickey Henderson
scored 2,295 runs, stole 1,406 bases, both the most ever.
drew 2,190 walks, had a career on-base %age of .401
won two World Series rings, with A’s/Blue Jays.
scored 47 runs in 60 postseason games.
played for nine teams in his 25-year career. 

7) Mickey Mantle
536 home runs, 1,509 RBI, a career on-base %age of .421
won seven World Series rings.
scored 42 runs, had 40 RBI in 65 playoff games.
had eight seasons with an OPS over 1.000.

— Famous birthdays, February 11th:
Tina Louise, 91
James Silas, 76
Carey Lowell, 64
Jennifer Aniston, 56

Damian Lewis, 54
Jacque Vaughn, 50
Dansby Swanson, 31
Josh Jacobs, 27

6) Tom Seaver
was 311-205, 2.86 in 647 career starts (231 career games)
made 12 All-Star Games, won three Cy Young awards.
led the Mets to the 1969 World Series title.

5) Ichiro Suzuki
career batting average of .311, scored 1,420 runs.
made 10 All-Star games, won ten Gold Gloves
was Rookie of Year/MVP in the same year (2001)

4) Greg Maddux
was 355-227, 3.16 in 740 starts in his 23-year career.
helped Braves win the 1995 World Series
made 8 All-Star games, won 18 Gold Gloves

3) Stan Musial
.331 career batting average, career OPS of .976.
made seven batting titles, won three World Series titles.
had 3,630 hits, knocked in 1,951 runs in his career.

2) Frank Robinson
won an MVP in both leagues, for Reds/Orioles.
Hit 586 career home runs, had an OPS .926.
from 1960-62, had three years in row with an OPS of 1.000+.

1) Steve Carlton
won 329 career games in 709 starts (254 complete games)
won two World Series rings, won four Cy Young awards.
in 1972, he was 27-10, 1.97 in 41 starts for a Phillies team that went 59-97. 

Here is my list of the 13 best QBs of the Super Bowl era; I left Johnny Unitas out, because he was at the end of his career when I saw him play, couldn’t really evaluate him. Otto Graham was also really, really good, but he retired five years before I was born.

Make your own list; this was harder than I’d thought it would be, to get them ranked where I think they should be.

13) Kurt Warner
Started three Super Bowls for two different teams……

Before the Rams won the Super Bowl 25 years ago, in Warner’s first year as an NFL starter, they hadn’t made the playoffs in ten years.

Warner led the Cardinals to the Super Bowl in the 2008 season; before that year, Arizona also hadn’t made the playoffs in ten years.

Not only did he lead two franchises to a Super Bowl, he transformed two losing franchises into conference champions. Thats why he’s a Hall of Famer.

12) Terry Bradshaw
121-56 as an NFL starter, 14-5 in playoff games; was the underrated field general for a Steeler team that won four Super Bowls in a six-year span.

He played when teams ran ball more and threw less, but his TD pass to Franco Harris in a 1972 playoff game (the Immaculate Reception) is one of the most famous plays in NFL history.

Bradshaw won and he won a lot; he parlayed that winning into a TV career that is still going on.

Bradshaw played in college at Louisiana Tech; the QB at Tech before him was Phil Robertson, the father on the TV show Duck Dynasty.

11) Jim Kelly
110-67 as an NFL starter, won four consecutive AFC titles. Was 9-8 in playoff games, albeit 0-4 in Super Bowls. His teams were great fun to watch.

He also went 23-15 with the USFL’s Houston Gamblers.

He threw for 35,467 yards in the NFL, 237 TD’s. 

10) Matthew Stafford
The two greatest seasons by a receiver, in terms of yardage, in NFL history:
1,964 yards- Calvin Johnson, 2012 Lions
1,947 yards- Cooper Kupp, 2021 Rams

The common thread between those two seasons? Stafford was the QB both years.

From 2014-18, Lions were 36-28 with Stafford at QB under coach Jim Caldwell, but he got fired and they stupidly hired Matt Patricia as coach, because he worked with Belichick/Brady in New England. Matt Millen was the GM then; he wasn’t good at his job. 

Three years later, Detroit traded Stafford to the Rams; he is 5-2 in playoff games with LA, with a Super Bowl title, and he ain’t done yet.

9) Drew Brees
Played five years for the Chargers, 15 years for the Saints; he was 181-123 as a starter, 9-9 in the playoffs, winning a Super Bowl for New Orleans 15 years ago.

As a rookie, Brees backed up Doug Flutie as the Chargers’ QB.

In 2005, Brees tore up his shoulder, when he was hit by John Lynch, who is now GM of the 49ers; a free agent, Saints/Dolphins were interested in signing him. 

Miami’s doctors wouldn’t endorse signing Brees, because of his injured shoulder, so Miami signed Daunte Culpepper instead, and Brees signed with the Saints.

Dolphins went 6-10 that next year; their coach quit and went back to a college job, where he became arguably the greatest college coach ever.

Drew Brees’ shoulder is why Nick Saban became the coach at Alabama.

8) Dan Marino
He was 155-103 as a starter, 8-10 in playoff games.

Marino threw for 61,361 yards, 420 TD’s. Tremendous passer.

Somehow, he was the 27th pick of the 1983 draft, the sixth (6th!!!) QB taken that year. Three of those six QB’s are in the Hall of Fame.

The other QB’s picked in the first round that year:
John Elway
Todd Blackledge
Jim Kelly
Tony Eason
Ken O’Brien
Dan Marino…….every team in the AFC East picked a QB that year. 

—  Famous birthdays, February 6th
Mike Farrell, 86
Richie Zisk, 76
John Dutton, 74
Tom Tupa, 59

Kris Humphries, 40
Pavin Smith, 29
Kevon Looney, 29
Adley Rutschman, 27

7) Bart Starr
Won five NFL titles, including the first two Super Bowls.
Was 9-1 in playoff games, back when there weren’t as many playoff games. 

Green Bay was 105-35 with Vince Lombardi as coach; Starr was his field general.

His only playoff loss was 17-13 to the Eagles in the 1960 NFL title game.
I decided not to mention that he ruined my 8th birthday party, but he did, when Green Bay beat the Rams 28-7 in the playoffs. There is a chance I was a weird kid.

6) Peyton Manning
200-92 as an NFL starter, 14-13 in playoff games. He threw for 71,940 yards, 539 TD’s.

He won Super Bowls for the Colts/Broncos; he and Tom Brady are the only guys on this list who won a Super Bowl for multiple teams. 

He also threw for 11,201 yards, 89 TD’s in college at Tennessee; the QB at Tennessee before him was baseball Hall of Famer Todd Helton. As excellent as Manning was, the Vols won a national title the year after he left, with Tee Martin under center.

Manning was 32-32 in his first four years as a starter, but then he won 10+ games the next 12 years he played. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2021, the first year he was eligible.

5) Roger Staubach
96-35 as an NFL starter, 11-6 in playoff games.
Played at the Naval Academy, served four years in the Navy after that; he didn’t play in the NFL until he was 27 years old, didn’t become a full-time starter until he was 31. Dallas was 45-14 in his starts his last four years in the NFL.

He won two Super Bowls for the Cowboys (1971/1977 seasons); he was so universally respected, thought that if he had wanted to become President, he would’ve been.

Today (Wednesday) is his 83rd birthday.

4) Joe Montana
Won four Super Bowls with the 49ers, one of them before they had the great WR Jerry Rice. 

Why is the NFL Draft awesome? Montana was a 3rd round draft pick, the 82nd player taken in the 1979 draft. Go figure.

Montana ruined a lot of my Sunday afternoons; he won back/back titles in 1988/89, but lost the NFC Championship Game 15-13 to the Giants in 1990, when they were trying to three-peat, like the Chiefs are trying to do Sunday.

3) Patrick Mahomes
When I do this list ten years from now, chances are Mahomes will be #1 on the list.

He is 17-3 in playoff games, winning three Super Bowls, and he is only 29. His career record is 106-26; before he got the Chiefs, from 1994-2016, the Chiefs were 1-8 in playoff games.

Why is the NFL Draft awesome? Mahomes was the 10th player taken in the 2017 draft; he didn’t play until the last game of his rookie season. He’s made up for it since. 

By the way, Bears had the #3 pick in 2017; they traded two extra draft picks to the 49ers to move up to the #2 spot, so they could draft QB Mitch Trubisky.

Whoops. 

2) Tom Brady
Brady has accomplished the most of any NFL QB ever, winning seven Super Bowls. He was 286-65 as an NFL starter, 35-13 in playoff games. 

He threw for 89,214 yards, 649 TD’s. Not bad for a 6th round draft pick. He’s become pretty good as a TV analyst, too.

That said, if we were choosing up sides on the playground and I had the first pick of any QB ever, I’d choose the last guy on this list. 

1) John Elway
Elway was 162-89-1 as an NFL starter, 14-7 in playoff games; he won the Super Bowl the last two years he played in the NFL. He was mobile, he was clutch, throwing for 51,475 yards, 300 TD’s in his career. He also played pro baseball for a year, in the NY-Penn League. 

Baltimore Colts drafted Elway with the first pick of the 1983 draft; they traded him to Denver, four years before the Colts moved to Indianapolis. Mike Pagel/Art Schlichter played QB for the Colts after that, a big part of why the Colts wound up moving.

Remember the Stanford Band play in 1982, when Stanford led 20-19 with 0:04 left, but Cal ran the kickoff back for TD, while the Stanford Band marched on the field before the game was over?

That was John Elway’s last college game; the loss prevented Stanford from going to a bowl that year. Elway never played in a bowl (they were a lot fewer back then) other than the Super Bowl.