We're Headed Up My Mom's Ass!

The Gipper about to wipe 'that smile' off Tommy Lasorda's face

Ryne Sandberg thinks that Tommy Lasorda should be named manager for the US team at next's Baseball World Classic and I think he might be serious :

4. Who should manage the United States in the World Baseball Classic next year?

My top four candidates on current major-league teams are Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa, Joe Torre and Frank Robinson. On the other hand, Tommy Lasorda is a guy that thrives in that kind of situation – representing the country and the game of baseball. He would be an excellent choice.

I've had Lasorda as a manager before in All-Star games, and he makes the game a lot of fun. He has great motivational stories and also brings a lot of humor to the clubhouse, which I think is important in an experience like the World Baseball Classic.

This is the same Tommy Lasorda who hasn't managed a pennant winner since Reagan was in the White House. He hasn't managed in the majors since 1996. Why not get Tim Wallach and Andre Dawson to play? They haven't been involved in a game that's counted since 1996 either (neither has Jason Kendall for that matter). Lasorda did manage the US to an Olympic Gold in 2000, but back then he was a spry 73 year old. Lasorda makes Jack McKeon seem young.



Sandberg proves that you can play baseball for 16 seasons still not have a clue about it.

Ryne Sandberg wrote :

3. Is Manny Ramirez a Hall of Famer?

I think the Boston Red Sox outfielder has taken advantage of Fenway Park. He's very comfortable there hitting balls off the Green Monster, and he's been very constant in what he contributes year in and year out with his run production.

At this point of his career, Ramirez reminds me of Jim Rice and Andre Dawson. Both of them hit over 400 home runs in their careers, but they're not in the Hall of Fame yet. Ramirez could have six or seven years left and wind up with 500-plus home runs. At that point, you could talk about Manny as a Hall of Famer. But not now.

Five hundred career home runs used to be the magic number to get into the Hall. Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa reached the 500-home plateau the past couple of seasons. They'll test whether 500 homers is still a first-ballot lock due to baseball's explosion of home runs from all different factors – first and foremost the steroid issue.

There are so many reasons why Sandberg's argument is ridiculous. First of all Ramirez hit 400 homerruns in 500 fewer games than Rice and 1,000 fewer than Dawson. Ramirez has never had an on base percentage lower than .377 in a full season, Dawson never topped that even in his monster 1987 season. Rice's best was .384, Ramirez's was .457. Ramirez has scored 100 runs in a season, four times in a career that spans 12 seasons. Rice only scored as many as 100 runs three times in 16 seasons and Dawson even when he was considered the best player in the NL only managed 90 and has only topped 100 runs twice.

Ramirez has similar career totals over a much shorter time and his batting average, slugging percentage, and on base percentage are much higher than Dawson's and Rice's even at their peaks. Even at his peaks Dawson isn't even the same class as Ramirez and Rice just barely comes close.