And Suddenly, I Hate Cano A Little Less: Wakefield HOF Debate

I've never been a fan of Robinson Cano. I've got my reasons, most of which include him looking incredibly lazy on the field most of the time. When I read the headline of Ken Rosenthal's article on Wakefield's chances at being inducted into Cooperstown, I thought it was a joke. The headline said "Cano: Send Wakefield To Cooperstown." (Actually, the title is Peter Abraham's article about Rosenthal's article. Pete's article is here... though it offers little more than Ken's)

I thought he was being snarky and suggesting that Tim just needs to go to Cooperstown. I don't know why I didn't come to the obvious conclusion that he meant Tim should be IN the Hall of Fame. I guess I have to hate him less.

“One-hundred ninety-five wins are impressive, I told Cano, but Wake’s career ERA of 4.38? Too high.
Yeah, but he’s a knuckleballer,” Cano said, surprised that I did not view Wake as a more serious candidate. Cano then offered his own ringing endorsement.

“Tell Wakefield he’s got my vote,” he said, smiling.

Honestly, I don't think we'll ever see Tim Wakefield inducted into the Hall of Fame. If we do, I will make the trip for his induction ceremony. We know Wake meets the criteria of having played in ten seasons, but realistically, does he have a chance? According the the BBWAA, these are the categories that the writers supposedly vote on (but I'll leave my opinion of the voters for another time):

5. Voting: Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.

He's the active leader in wins, he's played any role that the team needs him to, and no one would ever question his character, integrity, or sportsmanship... and if they would dare, I have some kind words and punches to the face for them. If you look at Wakefield's numbers objectively, they aren't fancy... but they have to be looked at in comparison to the era in which he played and the numbers that the batters in that era were putting up. Does being slightly above average for an extraordinary amount of time make one worthy of induction? Again, I don't know. I had honestly never even thought about the possibility before, but I think it would be a fantastic event if he could get elected. But, I hope we're still a few years off from even seriously debating this. I'm not ready to let Tim go yet.

Toronto: What A Beautiful Town

The votes are in. Toronto is favored over Montreal 1-0. I hated Montreal, but Toronto.... wow, what a nice little city. Except for the few Jays fans that booed me and my family members after the terrible Saturday game, I found people in Toronto to be just a little bit happier than the people I usually encounter in Boston. Ah, I love being a tourist and getting to see the best of everyone. I'm sure I'll have pictures uploaded within the next year or so.

Yes, Binky was terrible on Saturday. Dice wasn't nearly as bad, but he also wasn't his sharpest. Manny Delcarmen makes me cringe, guaranteed every time. Lowrider and Grumpy saved the Sunday game, CRW took a wall to the face and the Jays fans in attendance (not ALL of them... the ones sitting next to me were very quiet) booed him for being hurt. I was a little surprised about that. I was also surprised when Gaston took BJ Ryan out of the game after one inning and something like 2 and a half pitches. We swung at everything he threw. It was a very quick inning. But then they brought in this League kid who served up Lowrider's mini-bomb. Good ending. Me, and all the Sox fans around me, left the Rogers Centre happy. By the way, that is one cool ballpark. It rained for a while on Sunday, but halfway through the game, they opened the dome back up. I wish we had one of those...

Wakey was not as shaky as I expected him to be coming off the DL. Glassman is on the DL, Aardvark's on the DL, POS MIGHT not play for the rest of the season, we MIGHT be getting Mark Kotsay, the Commander MIGHT have pissed me off by suddenly being ok but not being ok enough to pitch the damn game I went to, the Pawsox are in the playoffs, Yaz is out of the hospital and is doing good, We're only 3.5 games behind the (Devil) Rays, and 2.5 ahead of the Twins, and Steroid Monkey is still an ugly cheater. Oh, and Elephant-Man Pettite got the loss. Yay. Good few days of baseball over all.

Speaking of baseball (aren't I always?)... the baseball HOF in Cooperstown is pretty damn cool. I took a picture with Ted Williams, saw the no-hitter baseballs, went through the 2007 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox display, walked the hall of plaques, and snapped a picture of Barry Bonds' record home run ball, proudly marked and displayed with the giant asterisk it deserves!

Gargoyle is going tonight against Sidney Ponson. Hope for good results. The stupid Rays are surely not going to keep losing, so we need to keep winning. Oh, and apparently this is like the last Red Sox/Yankees series in this incarnation of Yankee stadium, but since it's not even the original stadium, and they're just moving right across the street, I honestly don't see why everyone is making a big deal out of it. Burn the place down already!