1995 Senadores de San Juan

I recently came across the article Remembering the '95 'Dream Team' by Gabrielle Paese from ESPN's MLB webpage and decided to look a little deeper into the Dream Team that made up Puerto Rico's selection for the 1995 Caribbean League World Series. 

Now consider that the 1994-1995 Caribbean League came right on the heels of the 1994 work stoppage that cancelled the 1994 season and World Series. So you can imagine how in Baseball mad places like the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico the sight of real top level Baseball being played was like an oasis to a person lost in the desert. With the final series being held in Puerto Rico, the selection for the Puerto Rican team would have to be one of the best in history. Senadores manager Luis "Torito" Melendez didn't disappoint. Here was the starting lineup for the Senadores:

1B: Carmelo Martínez
2B: Roberto Alomar
3B: Carlos Baerga
SS: Rey Sanchez
OF: Juan "Igor" González
OF Bernabé "Bernie" Williams
OF: Rubén "El Indio" Sierra
C: Carlos Delgado
BD/DH : Edgar Martinez

You have one Hall of Famer in Alomar. A second one (in my opinion) in Edgar Martinez. A borderline third one in Carlos Delgado. A very underrated Bernie Williams, one of the feared sluggers of the era in Juan Gonzalez and defensive whizzes in Carlos Baerga and Rey Sanchez. A young Carlos Delgado was behind the plate, a postition that most fans don't remember he came up to the majors as before being moved to first base by the Toronto Blue Jays. Keep in mind that Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez was not on the roster due to a knee injury. Or else he would have also been playing in this series.

The Puerto Rican dream team went undefeated in the tournament going 6-0 outscoring the opposition by a margin of 49-15. They were led by Series MVP Roberto Alomar who batted .560 with two home runs, 10 RBIs, 9 Runs scored, an .840 Slugging percentage and 2 Stolen bases. Bernie Williams hit .417 with three homers and a .875 slugging percentage, Juan Gonzalez hit .375 with a .667 slugging percentage and Edgar Martinez hit .375 with 9 RBI.

In terms of pitching, the team was led by Puerto Ricans Roberto Hernandez, Ricky Bones, Jose Alberro and imported pitchers Doug Brocail, Eric Gunderson and Chris Haney.

One point stands out to me in the article by Paese. In the article, veteran statistician, historian and journalist Jossie Alvarado is quoted as saying the following:

"I had never before seen a team that so wanted to represent Puerto Rico," said veteran statistician, historian and journalist Jossie Alvarado about the Senadores, who traded the club's name and played with Puerto Rico on their uniforms for the first time in Caribbean Series history. "The front office staff told me that no checks were ever cut for the major leaguers. They all waived any fees they could have charged just because they so wanted the chance to play for the island. It was that big a deal."

Its a shame that Baseball has been on the decline in Puerto Rico since then. There are many reasons such as Puerto Rican players being included in the player draft since 1990, the economics of the island that led to the disruption of play of the Puerto Rican league during the 2007-2008 season and interests in other sports such as Basketball and Boxing. With the possible opening of the Cuban baseball market in the near future, opportunities for Puerto Rican born players will continue to dwindle.

At least we can all look back on the 1995 Caribbean League Champion Senadores de San Juan to see what arguably the peak of Puerto Rican baseball is.

Hasta la próxima, nunca dejaremos de jugar el Beisbol,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

For Further Reading:
- Remembering the '95 'Dream Team' by Gabrielle Paese from ESPN's MLB webpage dated February 2, 2015
- El Dream Team de Puerto Rico aún despierta emociones by David Venn from El Puro Beisbol website dated February 5, 2014 
- Puerto Rican Dream Teams from the My World of Baseball blogpage
- Un equipo soñado y arrollador presentó Puerto Rico en 1995 by Diobert Tocuyo from El Tiempo Newspaper from Venezuela dated February 12, 2012
- Celebran 20 aniversario del Dream Team by David Venn from the Licey Baseball website dated February 4, 2015
- 1995 Caribbean Series from Baseball Reference

Latinos on the Hall of Fame Ballot

Now that the uproar of this past Hall of Fame election has died down, I want to focus on the Latino ballplayers that are currently eligible for the Hall.

The last Latino to get enshrined into Cooperstown was Roberto Alomar in 2011 in his second year of eligibility with 90.0% of the vote. So who is the next one to be inducted.

Before I go into who is next allow me to elaborate in who can get elected to the Hall of Fame. To be eligible for induction, players must have spent 10 years in MLB and must be five years removed from their playing das. If a player receives less than 5 percent of the vote, he is no longer eligible. In addition, if a player appears on the ballot 15 times and does not reach the necessary 75% then he is no longer eligible for enshrinement. Now that I got the rules out of the way, here is who I think will be the next Latino(s) to get in the Hall of Fame.

I would have to say that the next one to get in is Pedro Martinez who will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in the year 2015 with Vladimir Guerrero and Ivan Rodriguez in 2017. Vlad just announced that he will be attempting to make a comeback this season. If he happens to play one game for a MLB team then his first year for eligibility would be pushed back. I feel these three players are all first ballot caliber players. Manny Ramirez is also eligible for induction in 2017 but with his two positive tests and suspensions for violation of the MLB Drug Policy who can really say if he ever gets in. Talk of positive tests and suspensions brings me to Rafael Palmiero.

Palmiero is a member of a rare club of one of four players to reach BOTH the 500 Home Run and 3000 hit plateaus. Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray are the other three and are members of the Hall of Fame. I believe that Palmiero will not be joining them since I feel that this will be his last year on the ballot. Look at his showing in the last three years:

11.0% in 2011
12.6% in 2012
8.8% in 2013

He lost ground in a year that saw first year eligible candidates Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Mike Piazza and Craig Biggio not get elected. Take into consideration that next year's first ballot eligibles include Frank Thomas, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Jeff Kent and Mike Mussina among others. Next year will prove to be the deepest Hall of Fame ballot ever and the voters can vote for up to 10 players. I really have a hard time seeing Palmiero getting more than 8% let alone the necessary 5% to stay on the ballot.

The other Latino who is still on the ballot after multiple years is Edgar Martinez. Martinez is considered by many as being the best Designated Hitter of all time. He has been much more consistent when it comes to his standing on the Hall of Fame ballot. In his first year Martinez received:

36.2% in 2010
32.9% in 2011
36.5% in 2012
35.9% in 2013

Given the fact that next year is a stacked ballot, Martinez might drop a bit in terms of percentage but is in good shape to recoup his losses and even move up closer to the necessary 75% within the next five to ten years.

Sammy Sosa received 12.5% in his first year and who can tell where he'll rank in the next few years. Bernie Williams received 3.2% of the vote this year and is no longer on the ballot.

So what do you gals and guys think. Agree? Disagree? Leave me a comment and let me know what your thoughts are.

FH

Latino showing in 2012 Hall of Fame Balloting

It was announced earlier in the week that Barry Larkin received the minimum of 75% of the vote necessary in order to be enshrined into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. So I've decided to look at the performance of those Latino baseball players that were on this year's ballot and to take a look into the future to see which Latino ballplayers might be eligible for the Hall of Fame.

There were a total of six Latinos on this year's Hall of Fame ballot and before I talk about them individually, here is where they stood in terms of votes, percentage received and year of eligibility:

Edgar Martinez 209 votes (36.5%) in his 3rd Year
Rafael Palmiero 72 votes (12.6%) in his 2nd Year
Bernie Williams 55 votes (9,67%) in his 1st Year
Juan Gonzalez 23 votes (4.0%) in his 2nd Year
Vinnie Castilla 6 votes (1.0%) in his 1st Year
Ruben Sierra 0 votes (0.0%) in his 1st Year

Edgar Martinez of Venezuela has remained consistent with his Hall of Fame vote showing. Where he posted 36.5% of the vote in his first year and a drop of 32.9% in his second year, Martinez has jumped back up with a 3.6% increase to 36.5%. It is favorable for him to stay close to where he was as opposed to losing votes. To be honest, with the plethora of players becoming eligible for the Hall in the next few years (Bonds, Clemens, Sosa, Piazza, Maddux, Biggio, Schilling in 2013 and Glavine, Maddux and Thomas in 2014) votes might be hard to come by. Out of the current crop of eligible Latinos, Martinez still has the best shot to get in over the long haul.

Rafael Palmiero of Cuba still has the steroid issue surrounding him and was able to make a small increase from 11.0% his first year to 12.6% this year. We'll have to see how next year's vote comes about since steroid era players such as Bonds, Clemens and Sosa will join McGwire and Palmiero on the ballot. It will remain to be seen whether or not the voters will continue to not vote for Palmiero because of the steroids or vote for him regardless of the steroids.

Bernie Williams of Puerto Rico was the only player in his first year of eligibility in this year's ballot to garner the necessary 5% minimum of the vote to stay on the ballot. Being a pivotal part of the New York Yankees' dynasty of 1996-2000 it will be interesting to see if in fact Williams will be able to rise up the voting ladder. His career .297 batting average with 2336 hits (449 2B/55 3B/287 HR), 1257 RBI, 147 SB, 1069 BB, 1212 K's with an OPS of .858 (.381 OBP/.477 SLG) are decent. Even with his 5 All-Star appearances, 4 Gold Gloves and 1 Silver Slugger, Williams never placed better than 7th in the MVP voting and only finished in the top ten twice in a 16-year career. He was a consistent player but I don't think he'll ever get the necessary 75% of the vote.

The other three latinos who did not get the necessary 5% of the vote was two time AL MVP Juan Gonzalez of Puerto Rico (.295 average with 1936 hits of which were 434 HR, 1404 RBI, a .904 OPS and suspicions of steroid use), Vinnie Castilla of Mexico and Ruben Sierra also of Puerto Rico.

To be perfectly honest, the only Latino I see getting into the Hall of Fame any time soon is Pedro Martinez who if he stays retired is eligible for the Hall of Fame in the ballot of 2015. Carlos Delgado is also eligible for the 2015 ballot and he will be an interesting player. I'll go into more about Pedro Martinez and Carlos Delgado at a later date. I don't see Sammy Sosa in 2013 or Rafael Palmiero getting in anytime soon. They'll garner votes just as McGwire has but the steroid issue is still a raw and sensitive issue for many of the voters.

Here is the list of eligible Latinos for the Hall of Fame as of the next ballot:

2013 (Sammy Sosa, Roberto Hernandez, Jose Mesa, Julio Franco, Sandy Alomar, Tony Batista, Antonio Alfonseca)

2014 (Luis Gonzlez, Moises Allou, Armando Benitez, Jose Vidro, Esteban Loaiza)

2015 (Pedro Martinez, Nomar Garcia-Parra, Carlos Delgado, Kelvim Escobar)

FH

Casi casi Roberto, good showing for Edgar and a tear for El Gato

This past week was the election for the class of 2010 Baseball Hall of Fame. First off congratulations to Andre Dawson who was only player elected by the Baseball writers. Puerto Rican Roberto Alomar came very close to achieving election to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Falling 8 votes short of enshrinement, Alomar received 73.7% of the vote (75% is needed for enshrinement). Had Alomar received the necessary 75% of the ballot, he would have been the first Latino ballplayer since Rod Carew was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1991. Alomar would have been the first Puerto Rican elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility since Roberto Clemente was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1973.

Roberto Alomar was the model of consistency at both second base forming one of the best double play combinations (with future Hall of Famer Omar Vizquel) and at the plate. In 17 seasons, Alomar had a career batting average of .300 where he amassed 2724 hits (504 2B, 80 3B, 210 HR) and 1134 RBI. In terms of modern metrics, Alomar had a career OBP% of .371 and a SLG% of .443 for an OPS of .814 and had 474 SB. His best season was 1999 with the Cleveland Indians where he came in 3rd in the MVP race batting .323 with 182 hits (40 2B, 3 3B, 24 HR) and 120 RBI and led the league in runs scored with 138. That season Alomar also had an OPS of .955 (.442 OBP and .553 SLG). Alomar was a 12-time All-Star, a 10-time Gold Glove award winner and also won 4 Silver Slugger awards.

Current second-basemen like Robinson Cano and Dan Uggla can thank Roberto Alomar (and future Hall of Famer Jeff Kent) for laying the foundation for the second-baseman that can superb on both the field and at the plate.

The Latino presence on the Hall of Fame ballot was also augmented by the great show of support for Puerto Rican Edgar Martinez. The funny thing about the situation with Edgar is that there were many writers that predicted that he wouldn't even get the necessary 5% of the vote to remain eligible for next year's ballot. Why? These writers felt that since Martinez was a Designated Hitter and not a "complete" ballplayer (not playing the field) it would diminish his chances to make it into the Hall of Fame. We're not talking about Dave Kingman here, Edgar Martinez is not only a DH, he's the best DH (hey, the award for the best DH is named after him). Well, 195 votes good for 36.2% of the vote is an excellent starting point for Martinez.

In 18 seasons, Martinez had a career a career batting average of .312 where he amassed 2247 hits (514 2B, 15 3B, 309 HR) and 1261 RBI. In terms of modern metrics, Martinez had a career OBP% of .418 and a SLG% of .515 for an OPS of .933. Martinez also walked more (1283) than he struck out (1202) further cementing his status of a dependable hitter, His best season was the memorable 1995 season with the Seattle Mariners where he came in 3rd in the MVP race batting a league leading .356 with 182 hits (52 2B, 0 3B, 29 HR) and 113 RBI and led the league in runs scored with 121. That season Martinez also had an OPS of 1.107 (league leading .479 OBP and .628 SLG). Martinez was a 7-time All-Star and won 5 Silver Slugger awards.

In my opinion, if you are asked to do a job as Edgar Martinez was in being written in the lineup as a DH, and you are superb in that position, then why should you not be both considered the best in the game at your position and best in the game to be inducted in the Hall of Fame. The DH is used in mostly all levels of baseball from College, Minor League, Japanese League and the American League (The National League is the only one that does not use the DH for regular league play). At some point the anti-DH bias that is often seen with baseball traditionalist has to be broken and it would be amazing if the player to do it is the same player that raised the position to the level that it occupies today.

Sadly, Andres Galarraga is no longer eligible for the Hall of Fame. Galarraga who hails from Venezuela was unable to get the necessary 5% of the vote (22 votes for 4.1%). In 19 seasons, Galarraga had a career a career batting average of .288 where he amassed 2333 hits (444 2B, 32 3B, 399 HR) and 1425 RBI. In terms of modern metrics, Martinez had a career OBP% of .347 and a SLG% of .499 for an OPS of .846. His best season was 1996 with the Colorado Rockies where he led the league with 47Hr 150 RBI and had a .304BA. Galarraga a 5-time All-Star, 2-time Gold Glove award winner and also won 2 Silver Slugger awards.

Galarraga was a personal favorite of fine who played the game with class and grace even when faced with personal turmoil. I didn't think he would be elected in, but I wish that he would have at least been given the chance to get his 15 years to get the necessary votes. He can eventually get in by getting elected by the Veteran's committee. I don't think it will happen, but it doesn't diminish how good of a player he was.

What do you think. Any opinions or comments? Feel free to add to the conversation.
Hasta Luego,
FH.

2010 Hall of Fame Ballot

January 6th is the day that the voting results for the 2010 Hall of Fame candidates are announced. Before I list who my predictions for election are, let me describe what the conditions are for eligibility. Candidates must have completed 10 full major league seasons and be retired for 5 full seasons. Once eligible, candidates must receive a minimum of 5% of the vote in order to stay on the ballot for the next year. The player need to amass 75% of the vote for induction into the Hall of Fame and upon receiving the minimum 5%, the player is allowed to stay on the ballot for 15 years before moving onto the ballot for the Veterans Committee. Now that we have that out of the way, here are the main candidates for election.

2009 Candidates (With previous years percentage of the vote. Bold is 1st year on Ballot)
Andre Dawson 67%
Bert Blyleven 62.7%
Lee Smith 44.5%
Jack Morris 44%
Tim Raines 22.6%
Mark McGwire 21.9%
Alan Trammel 17.4%
Dave Parker 15%
Don Mattingly 11.9%
Dale Murphy 11.5%
Harold Baines 5.9%
Roberto Alomar
Andres Galarraga
Barry Larkin
Edgar Martinez
Fred McGriff
Robin Ventura
Other Candidates

Here are my predictions for who will get in this year:

1. Andre Dawson:
The Hawk has steadily climbed up the ladder since he first received 43.5% of the vote in his first year of eligibility. At 67%, Dawson is in prime position to get the remaining 8% needed for induction. In 21 season, Dawson had a career batting average of .279 where he amassed 2774 hits (513 2B, 98 3B, 438 HR) and 1591 RBI with 314 SB. In terms of modern metrics, Dawson had a career OBP% of .323 and a SLG% of .482 for an OPS of .806. His best season was his MVP season of 1987 with the Chicago Cubs where he led the league with 49Hr 137 RBI and 353 total bases. Dawson also registered his career best OPS of .896 (.328 OBP and .568 SLG). Dawson was the Rookie of the Year in 1977 with the Montreal Expos, a 7-time All-Star, 8-time Gold Glove award winner and also won 4 Silver Slugger awards.

Tim Kurkjian of ESPN.com has an article on why Andre Dawson should be elected to the Hall of Fame. Click here.


2. Roberto Alomar
In his 1st year of eligibility, Roberto Alomar was the model of consistency at both second base forming one of the best double play combinations (with future Hall of Famer Omar Vizquel) and at the plate. In 17 seasons, Alomar had a career batting average of .300 where he amassed 2724 hits (504 2B, 80 3B, 210 HR) and 1134 RBI. In terms of modern metrics, Alomar had a career OBP% of .371 and a SLG% of .443 for an OPS of .814 and had 474 SB. His best season was 1999 with the Cleveland Indians where he came in 3rd in the MVP race batting .323 with 182 hits (40 2B, 3 3B, 24 HR) and 120 RBI and led the league in runs scored with 138. That season Alomar also had an OPS of .955 (.442 OBP and .553 SLG). Alomar was a 12-time All-Star, a 10-time Gold Glove award winner and also won 4 Silver Slugger awards.

Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com has this article on Roberto Alomar and his hopes for a 1st ballot election. Click here.

Alomar helped to lay down the foundation (along side future Hall of Famer Jeff Kent) for the slugging 2nd basemen such as Dan Uggla and Robinson Cano. The only way I see him not getting in on his first try would be his time with the New York Mets. On track to break 3,000 hits, Alomar's career tanked (compared to his past seasons with Toronto, Baltimore and Cleveland) and just faded away playing his last season with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox. Many a current Hall of Famer had diminished numbers at the end of their careers. They were elected in, as should Roberto Alomar.

3. Barry Larkin
Also in his 1st year of eligibility, Barry Larkin was one of the two premier Shortstops in the National League (along with Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith). In 18 season, Larkin had a career batting average of .295 where he amassed 2340 hits (441 2B, 76 3B, 198 HR) and 960 RBI. In terms of modern metrics, Larkin had a career OBP% of .371 and a SLG% of .4444 for an OPS of .815. His best season was his MVP award season of 1995 with the Cincinnati Reds (who he played his whole career for) batting .319 with 158 hits (29 2B, 6 3B, 15 HR) and 66 RBI with 51 SB. That season Larkin also had an OPS of .886 (.394 OBP and .492 SLG). Larkin was a 12-time All-Star, a 3-time Gold Glove award winner and also won 8 Silver Slugger awards.

Mark Sheldon of MLB.com has an article stating how Barry Larkin helped to redefine the Shortstop position. Click Here.

I believe that if Larkin had played in an era where he wasn't behind Ozzie Smith year in and year out, there would be no doubt as to whether or not he's a Hall of Famer. Ozzie had the glove, but Larkin had the bat to go along side his leather.

Honorable Mention
4. Edgar Martinez
In his first year of eligibility, Martinez is the player that may finally put an end to the Designated Hitter bias that exists throughout baseball. Considered by many as the Best DH in the history of the game (the award for the best DH is named in his honor), I believe Martinez to be a Hall of Famer since he was asked to do a particular job as a ballplayer and did it as well, if not better than everyone else. The fact that he did not play defense on an everyday basis seems to be his Achilles heel but no one can dispute that as a DH, he was stellar. In 18 seasons, Martinez had a career a career batting average of .312 where he amassed 2247 hits (514 2B, 15 3B, 309 HR) and 1261 RBI. In terms of modern metrics, Martinez had a career OBP% of .418 and a SLG% of .515 for an OPS of .933. Martinez also walked more (1283) than he struck out (1202) further cementing his status of a dependable hitter, His best season was the memorable 1995 season with the Seattle Mariners where he came in 3rd in the MVP race batting a league leading .356 with 182 hits (52 2B, 0 3B, 29 HR) and 113 RBI and led the league in runs scored with 121. That season Martinez also had an OPS of 1.107 (league leading .479 OBP and .628 SLG). Martinez was a 7-time All-Star and won 5 Silver Slugger awards.

David Schoenfield of ESPN.com has written this article making his points for why Edgar Martinez should be in the Hall of Fame. Click here.

I think baseball's traditionalists and snobs within the Baseball Writers Association lack the foresight to see past the fact that Martinez was a DH. He was more than that. Martinez was a player that was asked to do a job, and he did it not only to the best of his capacity but also better than anyone else. In my book if you can do all that is asked of you and put up impressive numbers to back it up, then you have proved your worth as Edgar Martinez has. We'll see what the election results show.

I think the rest of the candidates for election will get the necessary 5% of the ballot to remain eligible for next years election with Bert Blyleven moving to the top of the list. PS, after today's announcement of the retirement of 303 game winner Randy Johnson, there will be no doubt who gets in 1st ballot in 2015.

Later FH.